The Mahanagar Telephone Nagar Limited (MTNL) is set to become the first mobile service provider in india to launch 3G services. The state owned telecom company is set to launch the next generation telecom services in the national capital, Delhi, within 10 days.
The services are slated to be launched by the Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh at the Indian Telecom Summit in New Delhi on Wednesday, 21st January, 2009.
MNTL would provide the services for a period of two months on a trial basis without any additional charge to its existing premium subscribers. The 3G services will enable the users to get high-speed data services, video streaming and better voice solutions.
The company has already acquired the requisite equipment and aslo anounced its plans to launch similar services in Mumbai till February.
However many expected the company to launch some high end 3G mobile devices for the launch. The company also did not announce any tie-ups for this launch and said that their IPTV providers would be providing them the content. BSNL, another government owned telecom service provider, on the other hand is said to be in talks with Apple to offer their iPhone 3G model for the same purpose.

For Indians, terror has taken on a new meaning of late. With frightening dimensions, Indians fear that the outsourcing that it provides, the very backbone for global MNCs could also become soft targets for terrorists.

The BPO industry alone employs close to seven lakh employees, who all can potentially access sensitive data. They are thus under great scrutiny of late. Every IT and BPO company is now stepping up background checks on its employees to avoid terrorist attacks. As almost 70 per cent of the outsourced work from the US and Europe is received by the back offices in India, there are crucial data and operations that reside here and employees have access to it all. Should an unforeseen event like an attack take place it can seriously hamper a substantial amount of their businesses.

Of course it will be some time before the government can bring in uniform identity system in place as most of the data is still not digitalised and available for screening centrally. Companies, meanwhile, are resorting to police verifications and employee referrals and even external agencies looking afresh at identities of existing employees and the new hires.

Although relatively new, Chipless tag technology is attracting considerable attention as an emerging technology offering similar functionalities to those of RFID but at potentially lower costs. The ability to provide key features of RFID such as track and trace without the line of sight and real-time information delivery, if required, indicates great promise for this technology.
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Palo Alto, Calif, United States, Tuesday, May 08, 2007 — The radio frequency identification (RFID) market is an emerging one but is expected to receive a major boost with the standardization of frequencies and reduction of tag prices. Mandates from retail giants such as Walmart and Tesco, technology innovations, and emerging applications are also likely to drive market growth in the long term. Read more

Palo Alto, Calif, United States, Tuesday, May 08, 2007 — The radio frequency identification (RFID) market is an emerging one but is expected to receive a major boost with the standardization of frequencies and reduction of tag prices. Mandates from retail giants such as Walmart and Tesco, technology innovations, and emerging applications are also likely to drive market growth in the long term. Read more

Counterfeiting is a problem that seems to be prevalent all over the world. Cheap alternatives for expensive products are bound to sell - but at what cost? To answer the question simply, it is at the loss of the original products. With alternatives looking better than the real thing, people today are opting for the former - as long as one is talking about clothes or watches this problem can be brushed off, but it is only when one starts looking into issues such as medicines that the enormity of the problem comes to light. Drug manufacturers are fighting a losing battle to ensure that their drugs do not get counterfeited and sold overseas - a seemingly perfect solution to this problem can be found in RFID today.
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With the phenomenon of global warming reaching alarming proportions, there has been much concern over the emanation of harmful greenhouse gases from the usage of fossil fuels. This has heightened the focus on developing renewable sources of energy and photovoltaics (PV), which draw their energy from the sun, and represent one of the cleanest and most easily renewable sources of energy. In areas such as grid power and power for portable devices, photovoltaics are considered a leading technology and will continue to be the focus of many a researcher in the next 10 to 20 years. Read more

The radio frequency identification (RFID) market has witnessed higher interest levels as compared to similar technologies such as barcodes and wireless networks. The initial hype surrounding the technology is on the decline since 2005 with industry participants adopting a more realistic perspective on the potential benefits of RFID. There is an increased focus on integrating RFID technology to work with existing business process and applications. Read more

RFID Special

Soaps that talk and pens that sing

RFID – The Basics

You probably heard of it somewhere, or maybe you have come across those four letters in some movie, journal or website. Whatever the media, the chances have you seen read or heard about RFID somewhere. RFID, touted as the next big thing in the world of technology, in a HT Technology Special just for you.

RFID- An Introduction

Imagine a world where everything is traceable. From a ball point pen to soaps to shampoos to diamonds, to highly sophisticated aeroplane parts to space jet parts, to human organs, babies, animals to just about anything. Imagine a supply chain where manufacturers, distributors, and retailers can automatically locate any of the items that were shipped in a given case or pallet. Where receiving facilities know immediately whether a shipment’s contents match the advance shipping notice, and the right personnel are immediately notified of any discrepancies. Where manufacturers and retailers automatically adjust forecasts and orders based on sales velocity during promotions. Where theft or tampering is immediately evident, without requiring product inspection. Read more

RFID Special
Interview
EPC-RFID is a part of GS1 India under the Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India. Our Technology Columnist Mr.Puneet Mehrotra spoke to Mr.Ravi Mathur, the CEO of EPC-Global India.
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