So far, the triple-SIM phones segment has largely been dominated by budget phone manufacturers like Intex, Zen Mobile and Micromax. However, according to reports, Korean giant LG too is planning to enter the fray with a phone dubbed A290.

According to a report in GSM Arena, the triple SIM smartphone-A290 will sport a 2.2-inch display with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels. The candy-bar shaped phone is reported to measure 113.5 x 51 x 12.95mm. Other features include, 1.3 megapixel camera with flashlight and a 500 mAh battery.

The report, however, doesn't confirm if users can keep their all three SIM cards active at the same time. A290 is expected to hit markets in Russia by late February for about 75 euros (roughly Rs 4,950).

Though there are no details available on the phone's global launch, A290 may hit Indian shores considering the popularity of multiple-SIM phones in the country. Akai, Intex, Micromax and Zen Mobile are some of the companies who have launched their triple-SIM phones in India.

LG reported on Wednesday an October-December operating profit of 23 billion won ($20.5 million). South Korea's LG Electronics Inc, the world's No. 2 TV maker, swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as its latest smartphone model helped its ailing handset unit post a small profit after six straight quarters of losses.

"We were very bullish about this category and thought it would be an addition to a business phone or laptop. But it's not taken off," says a disappointed Nilesh Gupta, managing partner, Vijay Sales. Gupta is not the only one who expected tablet PCs aka tablets to take the Indian market by storm.

It seemed likely considering they worked their magic elsewhere. A Gartner report in September last year estimated total global tablet sales at 63.6 million for 2011 and 326.3 million units by 2015. In its last quarter, Apple sold 15.43 million iPads, a 111% increase from last year.

After over a decade or so in development and many cumbersome metamorphoses, tablets suddenly took the market by storm with the success of iPad. It made just about every electronics/computer brand bet on its own version of a tiny touchscreen powered device.

Many of these reached India, some of them via simultaneous global launches. And yet, the category's performance has been lacklustre. Depending on who you ask the total sales hover between 150,000 and 180,000 units in India; everyone is in agreement the number is well below 200,000.

The most obvious obstacle is price. Apart from aberrations like the ultra low budget Aakash tablet (Rs 2,999 for the Ubislate 7+), most products start at a little over Rs 15,000 and go up to near Rs 45,000. Some of today's budget tablets were launched at twice the price just a little over six months ago.

The BlackBerry PlayBook offered a massive 50% discount towards the end of 2011. While initially advertised as a week long scheme, the price cut was still in effect at the time of going to print. PlayBooks flew off the shelves and some retailers even reported shortages. Krishnadeep Baruah, director, marketing, BlackBerry, says the schemes had begun as early as Diwali when a free entry level smartphone was bundled with the PlayBook: "The tablet by itself is an indulgence. We wanted to make sure there was a good value."

With the year end gifting season looming, BlackBerry decided to fill the market with PlayBooks and halved its asking price, doing away with the free phone. The price tag on Samsung's Galaxy Tab plummeted shortly after launch. Ranjit Yadav, country head – mobile and IT, Samsung explains, "The tab came bundled with some special offers. After a couple of months, those introductory offers were taken away, and the product sold at a price which has remained more or less consistent." Even the notoriously premium Apple made its original iPad more affordable once the iPad 2 was launched.

Price has taken many back to the drawing board. The so-called magic price point is missing in action: the tag at which a purchase seems a bargain to the value conscious Indian consumer; and the sheer volume of sales ensure the marketer is happy too. Brands and retailers alike are racking their brains over this conundrum, with high manufacturing costs leaving them little room to manoeuvre.

Skewing the mix is the market leader, the iPad which calls the shots on pricing. With a relatively small price gap between the most famous product and everyone else, many potential consumers opt for it by default, according to Gupta. He believes sales will rise once manufacturers supply a 32GB 10 inch tablet with Wi-Fi and 3G at Rs 19,990.

Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst at Gartner is even more conservative: "The price needs to be in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for a 10 inch screen and connectivity via Wi-Fi, 3G and dongle." Some brands see hefty discounts as evidence of a faulty strategy. Lenovo, Motorola and now Samsung have several different options at various price points thus appealing to a broad swathe of consumers, with at least one model in the super premium bracket.

However, price is only part of the problem. The larger issue is that brands have been unable to sell the concept of tablets to the Indian consumer. It's a secondary device that sits somewhere between a notebook computer and smartphone. Giving people a reason to fork out cash, even less cash than before, is a huge ordeal.

Says Shailendra Katyal, marketing director – Lenovo, "People find it funky but are not sure what they will do with it. It's not an alternative to either PC or smartphone and more of a consumption device than a creation device. Education is the biggest challenge as people think they can do everything but find they can't. These are category issues and not brand level issues."

Many brands tried to create a splash with gimmicky launches, PlayBook was unveiled by Salman Khan and Lenovo launched its range on an air field. But the greater focus has been on hooking potential consumers: both tech savvy early adopters as well as people who are curious but not as well informed.

For the first category, what works are mentions and reviews in well regarded tech blogs and an effective social media presence. Brands hope the second category will get influenced by the first. Says Sachin Thapar, head – IT and mobile business, Sony, "Once we have first movers, we want to harness word of mouth aggressively. Hardly anyone in our friend circle owns a tablet. It's easier to familiarise people with a new product via this route."

Marketers are spending time and money training store staff, placing several unusual demands on their teams. For instance, making sure display environments have a Wi-Fi connection; something that many tablets are crippled without. Or making sure the other devices a tablet can interact with are close at hand. The ultimate objective is a demo calculated to wow a person who'd never considered the product before, to the point where it gets on the shopping list; even if the purchase is not made immediately.

Conspicuous by its absence are mass media spends, apart from Samsung and Reliance. BlackBerry's communication strategy for PlayBook involves testimonials from satisfied users; however they can only be seen on its website.

Retailers like Gupta are starting to suspect the lack of mainstream brand building is perhaps another reason for the category underperforming: "Marketing and advertising is more important here than anywhere else. You need to make people feel this is convenient, easy to use and here to stay." Experiential marketing works but only for people who walk in and have leisure enough to browse. Admits Gupta, "People are time poor. They come in, buy and leave."

Tripathi adds, "Apple has not really marketed itself. More than any other player, Samsung made people aware of the category. There are currently 20 to 25 players but tablets have not been marketed that well. Even Samsung's focus appears to have shifted to the Samsung Galaxy Note (smartphone). Efforts need to be made by other vendors, since one cannot market to 1.3 billion."

Device manufacturers have a lot to talk about on the rational impulses to go in for a tablet. BlackBerry's Baruah cites the many enterprise friendly features and the power of multitasking. Rajeev Karwal, founder & CEO, Milagrow Tab Tops, talks about how his firm's tablets are customised to various professions. Thapar points to Sony's tablet being an "ultimate convergence device", incorporating games from PlayStation, doubling up as an infrared remote control and as a media player that can stream content to TVs and other devices.

What's missing is a solid emotional reason to make what is as of now, a fairly irrational purchase. Maybe in the thick stew of social media connections and experiential branding, a good old fashioned commercial is just what the doctor ordered.

Korean giant Samsung plans to unveil yet another Android-powered smartphone in its Galaxy S range in the lead-up to what industry insiders are hoping will be a big year for mobile developments at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February.

Samsung is rumoured to be launching the successor to the popular Galaxy S II handset (the Galaxy S III) at MWC — a dual or quad-core device with a 12 megapixel camera and a 4.5-inch or larger HD display.

Additional rumors suggest that Samsung will instead unveil a larger Galaxy Tab.

The tablet is said to have a 11.6" display and a 2 GHz processor and to support the same stylus input as Samsung's Galaxy Note.

Blogs are also suggesting that Nokia will take the wraps off its 12 megapixel Lumia 910 handset, Sony will unveil up to 10 new phones, and Huawei will show off the "smartest, fastest and most high-performing smartphone."

While MWC rumors abound, the company is touting an entry-to-mid-range Android smartphone called the Samsung Galaxy S Advance.

The handset runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and sports a dual-core 1GHz processor, a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 5 megapixel and 1.3 megapixel cameras, and Samsung's ChatON cross-platform communication service.

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance will arrive in Russia in February. A gradual rollout is then planned for other CIS countries, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Southeast and Southwest Asia, Latin America and China. Pricing has not been announced but it is expected to fall in the mid- to low-end smartphone pricing bracket.

Mobile World Congress runs from February 27 to March 1 in Barcelona, Spain.

The path of evolutionary enlightenment, like all enlightenment teachings, is one of ego-transcendence that's a means to a higher end, to open up some space within the self – space for evolution to occur.

Being inspired by the idea of conscious evolution is one thing, while actually engaging in the process of evolution is something else altogether. Many people are moved by the notion of evolutionary becoming. But within themselves they are not free. They are trapped in psychological hang-ups and attachments, with little or no space for that which is new. Their souls are not liberated, and their choices and actions are still being shaped by unconscious adherence to values and perspectives that have nothing to do with being a liberated vessel for the evolution of consciousness and culture.

Merely being inspired by the potential for conscious revolution does not automatically give us access to the fearless inner freedom to actualise that potential. In order to find that freedom, to open up that space for the new, it is essential that you liberate yourself to a significant degree from your personal fears and desires and your culturally conditioned values.

This inner freedom is not different from the goal of traditional enlightenment where freedom is an end in itself. Ideally, freedom becomes the foundation from which to engage in conscious evolution. So the foundation of the path and practice of evolutionary enlightenment is nothing less than the position of traditional enlightenment itself. In order to release your own consciousness and psyche for the wider and deeper embrace of the life process that evolutionary enlightenment demands, you must disentangle yourself, free yourself from your karma, your history, culture and personal ego.

How does one discover enlightened awareness? There are two ways that you can gain access to the intoxicating joy and ecstatic wakefulness of that timeless spiritual attainment: spontaneously, or through making noble effort.

Like an unexpected visit from God, for no particular reason, the doors of perception can spontaneously open, expanding your awareness to reveal a higher and deeper dimension of your own consciousness. This kind of spontaneous experience often happens in the company of a spiritual master who has access to this unmanifest ground, or among a group of inspired individuals who have come together to share mystical truths.

You can also, however, assume the posture of freedom and experience enlightened awareness simply through disciplined effort…The way to practise this radical position is to literally take the posture the Buddha is taking – to engage with what i call "the art and science of stillness" or the traditional practice of meditation.

The ability to be very still is foundational, because stillness is the perennial portal that gives us access to the dimension of ourselves and of life itself that is the source of traditional enlightenment. In learning how to be still, you are choosing to stand for and express that deepest part of yourself – that empty no-place before the beginning of time, before anything ever happened. That formless ground of Being is always the deepest dimension of who we all are, and it is the ultimate source and wellspring of all that is. In that ground, nothing ever moves, because there is no time, no form, no subject or object.

There is only One, eternally at rest and at peace. By assuming the inner and outer position of stillness, you are bearing witness to the deepest part of yourself in the world of time and space.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sam Pitroda, advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, launched the country's first cloud-based tablet solution for school students called 'e-tutor tablet'.

This can be used by students from Class 1 to 12.

Priced at Rs 7,500, inclusive of content, the product would be available in the market from April onwards.

The e-tutor tablet is a joint effort of Technopark-based e-tutor and Oztern Technology.

Ranjith Balan, founder and managing director of e-tutor, said that this will be the first complete solution for education to be made available on Tablet PCs.

"The teacher can easily explain concepts using the digital whiteboard that is set up in the Tablet PC. Using e-tutor learning tablet the students can access what was taught in the classroom and can also access the collaborative learning platform for discussions on relevant topics taught in the classroom," said Balan.

The product is also aimed at making internet a safer place for children. E-tutor tablet safeguards the connectivity from the personalized Tablets PCs provided as a part of the solution, and restrict it to connect to internet only through the synchronization module in the product.

Detailing on the technology, Saiju V Stella, CEO of Oztern Technology, said cloud computing technology can bring about a major leap in the way technology is being used in the educational sector.

"Most of the technology products available in the market today for education act as teaching aids rather than learning aids. Cloud computing also fulfills another major social commitment by reducing the carbon emissions, from dedicated servers and data centres that consume huge amounts of energy, thus making computing more energy efficient and green," said Stella.

Lessons will be made available to the learner through personalised Tablet PCs, and regular content updates will be made available through a unique cloud – tablet synch mechanism, thus making sure that the device connects only to the relevant locations to access content.

Rajinish Menon, director, Business Strategy and Operations, Microsoft, who was present at the occasion, expressed his happiness to see partners like Oztern coming up with innovative solutions in the education sector using Microsoft Windows Azure which is Microsoft's cloud computing infrastructure.

Cloud computing is a technology that uses internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications. Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with internet access. This technology allows for much more efficient computing by centralising storage, memory, processing and bandwidth.

For nearly 40 years, we've had the keyboard and the mouse. Point, click. Point, click. It works, but it's indirect. You may be too young to remember, but the mouse wasn't always the easiest thing to learn. (I spent many years working as a personal computer tutor, paying house calls to frustrated adults who were struggling to enter the digital age.)

But then came the Wii. We could control a computer by waving a wireless remote in space. There was the iPhone and iPad: we could control a computer by pointing and dragging a finger on glass. There was the Microsoft Xbox Kinect: we could control a computer without touching it at all, just by moving our limbs in space. Then came Siri on the iPhone 4S, which took voice control to a much more sophisticated, fluid level.

Each of these breakthroughs works brilliantly in its particular niche – but we're not done yet. At the International Consumer Electronics Show a couple of weeks ago, I'd heard buzz about a company called Tobii, which was demonstrating a laptop with built-in eye-tracking software . (That's Tobii, "with two eyes," get it?)

Now eye tracking isn't new. It is available, at huge cost, in the military, in specialized industries , for disabled people, and so on. But it's one thing to pay millions for a heads-up display in a fighter jet, and quite another to have it on your laptop.

I found the company's booth out in the deepest reaches of C.E.S.'s 37-football-fieldsbig exhibition halls.-.the Siberia of tiny booths from companies without a lot of money to spend. The entire booth was pretty much one laptop and one desktop PC.

A representative helped me through the demo on the laptop. First, the system finds and learns where your eyes are by using a 10-second calibration procedure, in which you simply look at an orange dot as it jumps to four positions around the screen. Then you're ready.

The first demonstration was an Asteroids game, in which you're supposed to blow up incoming asteroids just by looking at them. You discover that Tobii's system works perfectly , flawlessly, exhilaratingly. Your hands are free, your body is relaxed, and you're blowing up space rocks instantly with nothing but the awesome power of your gaze.

Another demonstration involved Google Maps: the software automatically focuses and zooms in wherever you seem to be focusing.

There was a slide show app, in which you see the thumbnails of many photos, and whenever you gaze at one in particular, it automatically blows up full screen.

On a PC running Windows 8, you could click toolbar buttons in Word, click tile buttons and swipe through screens, all using your eyes. In an architecture-design program, you could effortlessly move around a large blueprint with your eyes, using the mouse's scroll wheel to zoom in at any point. (For the disabled , Tobii makes a kit that lets you "click the mouse" by blinking or staring, but the system really works best in conjunction with a regular trackpad or mouse.)

The demo that really rocked my world, though, was something much less glamorous: reading. Imagine a Web page or Word document on the screen before you – and the page scrolls automatically, gracefully and effortlessly as you proceed through the article. The system knows where your eyes are and how fast you are going, so it keeps your place centered on the screen, scrolling automatically as you go, even if you jump back to reread something. It feels as if this is how reading on a computer screen was always meant to be.

The rep said that the company was marketing this system to computer manufacturers, not individuals (although the company also sells hugely expensive add-on kits for existing computers – for disabled people, for example). And he said it would take a couple of years before you could buy it.

Furthermore, as excited as I was by my first experience with everyday eye tracking, I later discovered that not all of it is new. Tobii , it turns out, has competitors. And Tobii isn't a new company, or even a small company ; it's a big Swedish outfit that makes eyetracking products for all kinds of uses. Even the laptop wasn't new; a Google search indicates that Tobii has been demonstrating it at trade shows for a year.

Even so, you know right away when you try it: There is something here. It may be a couple of years away, but the technology is stunning – and the possibilities are limitless.

BANGALORE: Senior executives in research and development (R&D) firms are less prone to shift loyalties and rise up the corporate hierarchy compared with their peers in industries like information technology.

Most of the top brass in R&D firms have worked only with three to four companies and around 60% of directors have four or even fewer company changes, according to a study by management consulting firm Zinnov.

The study was done across 20 R&D companies based in India with roots abroad, including Google, Cisco, Samsung, General Motors and Microsoft. Over 520 senior executives were surveyed.

Those who have worked with one company reached the post of director or above in 13 years, while those with experience across two firms have reached the top in 14.7 years.

Those whose resumes show three company shifts have taken 15.3 years to become directors, says the study. In the IT industry, job shifts are far greater, and only those who have Esops linked to their salaries stay for longer periods, says Chandramouli CS, director, Zinnov.

In terms of career path, the growth charted in an R&D-based firm is horizontal, with more exposure to different products, while movement in the IT sector is vertical and dependent on product complexity. Expertise in an R&D centre is focused on products and customer satisfaction, while that in an IT industry is based on personal skill set along with technical and process knowledge.

Further, 70% of executives in the R&D industry who have less than two company changes have postgraduate degrees to their credit, while 50% of those surveyed have completed their higher education from an Indian tier-I, tier-II institute or one outside the country.

BRAZZAVILLE: Africa has its first tablet to rival the iPad and similar western inventions, which went on sale in the Republic of Congo, its inventor Verone Mankou said Monday.

"We have set up a team and logistics to sell the tablet since Friday. Today, anyone can buy one," if they are in the main cities of the capital Brazzaville and the oil port of Pointe-Noire, the 26-year-old told AFP.

The tablet is called the Way-C – "the light of the stars" in a dialect of northern Congo. It measures 19 x 17 x 1.2 centimetres (7.4 x 6.7 x O.5 inches) and weighs 380 grammes (13.4 ounces) and has integrated Wi-Fi circuitry and a 4.0 GB memory.

"In technological terms, this tablet is equivalent to all those to be found on the market," said Mankou, referring to the US giant Apple's iPad and its competitors.

The Way-C was conceived in Congo, where it was first presented to the public in September 2011, but it is assembled in China, "for the simple reason that Congo has no factories and for price reasons," Mankou added.

This tablethas been priced at 150,000 CFA francs (229 euros / 299 dollars), which the developer, who is also an advisor on new information technologies to the ministry of communication, considered "acceptable and relatively low, considering the technology used."

For the moment, the Way-C will be sold exclusively in Airtel Congo stores in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, a private mobile telephone company which is a subsidiary of the Indian group Bharti.

Mankou's firm, VMK, has cut a deal with Bharti. "With this company, we are also going to conclude a partnership to use 3G (mobile telephony), because the tablet only has an integrated wi-fi."

The financing of the project, launched in 2006, cost more than 80 million CFA francs (almost 122,000 euros), essentially provided by VMK. The tablet is planned to be marketed in 10 west African countries, and in Belgium, France and India from February 15.

Indian Army Chief V K Singh today launched the digital version of Indian War Comics (IWC), which will be available for users of upcoming version of Aakash tablet PC to be supplied by Datawind.

"This particular idea itself is not only laudable, but I think each one of us must realise that there is something which will make tremendous difference," Army Chief V K Singh said while releasing digital version of comics.

Singh launched digital version of comics on Param Vir Chakra winner Bana Singh, Captain Vikram Batra and Mumbai 26/11 war hero Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan 'Ashok Chakra'.

He added that the idea is to inspire children. "Those of you who have been lucky to read the Amar Chitra Katha and know what it did to you, to know your own history, I think these war comics are going to make a fantastic difference. Specially when they are loaded on to the Akash tablet," he said.

These digital version of comics will be available free of cost on Aakash and Ubislate Tablets of Datawind.

"We will put these comics on both Aakash and Ubislate tablets," Datawind CEO Sunit Singh Tuli said.

The print version of these comics are available in the open market through Om Books and Westland.

Promoter of IWC and a Merchant Navy officer Aditya Bakshi said he will launch hindi version of these comics in next four months and later a copy in mother-tongue of war heros will be launched.

Born in a remote Odisha village in 1942, Satyanarayan Gangaram (Sam) Pitroda — the man who heralded India's communication revolution — does not know his exact date of birth. Simply because his village did not have a hospital neither did it keep records of babies born. Which is why Pitroda feels the the unique identity number Aadhaar can bring in social innovation at the bottom of the pyramid.

An advisor to the Prime Minister on public information, infrastructure and innovation, Pitroda draws on his wealth of experience to dicuss issues plaguing the government like internet censorship and his vision of social innovation. Excerpts from an exclusive chat with Harsimran Julka and Paramita Chatterjee :

How do you compare social innovation in India with that in developed nations?

The problem is the best brains globally are busy solving the problems of the rich who really don't have problems. And problems of the poor don't really get the attention they deserve. Most modern innovations that have taken place over the last 50 to 60 years have come only out of the US. Now, all US innovations focus on the top of the pyramid and they are primarily from areas such as biotech, genetics or laser technology.

Inherently they are expensive. A few days back, I was told that 60 million people in India have liver ailments. The number is higher than those battling AIDS. But AIDS gets more money and attention because it is a rich man's disease. Look at all the global institutions in the world – the United Nations, the World Bank or the IMF. All these institutions were set up by America for America after the Second World War. We need institutions for tomorrow. That's where innovation comes in.

What's been the most important change since the telecom revolution?

A very important thing has happened over the last 20 years. It is the invention of the Internet. I would say nothing like this has happened in last 15,000 years, It is as big as the invention of languages.

Do you support the idea of controlling the internet? Are we going the China way?

Nobody can control the internet. It is impossible. We cannot go the China way. Even China is not going the 'China way'. It is finding it difficult controlling the Net. The problem crops up because the older generation wants to impose its values on the younger generation. I always tell the youth not to listen to the stifling values of the old. If someone wants to want some content, who are we to control him or her. Instead, India should have its own locally relevant social networks.

Can the unique identity project be the basis of all financial inclusion programmes?

I was born in 1942 in a small little village, Titlagarh in Odisha. There were no doctors, no pharmacies, no running water, no electricity. Who is going to give you a birth certificate there? When I went to the school, I was told I was too young and I had to submit an affidavit. People are always quick to criticise.

If you have 1.2 billion people and want to build a 21st Century infrastructure, you need to build robust information systems. When you begin to organise databases of people, you realise the importance of Aadhaar.

Last year, about 7,50,000 people were released from Indian prisons. Many of them were undertrials without any identity. Aadhaar will give them an identity and allow them to say you better recognise me.

How has been your experience working in India? What more needs to be done?

I have had the best time of my life in India. In the early 1980s, Rajiv Gandhi saw that computers could play a very important role. I had a background in telecom and technology.

So, I decided to look at telecom as an instrument of change. Despite having battled cancer and two heart bypass surgeries, I wouldn't like to retire. I don't like to look at the past. I only look at the future. I don't watch any films, don't read any newspapers. Retirement would be so boring. I just enjoy working. There is so much more that needs to be done in India. Some of it may happen in my lifetime, some 20 years after I have gone. But it has to be done.

Can innovation solve India's challenges?

First, we need to find out a way to train 100 million people in vocational education. These include the truck drivers, the plumbers, the carpenters and the electricians. We have to use technology and internet to do that. Our banks give low-cost loans for higher education. But if a carpenter wants training, we don't give him a loan. What kind of system is this? Either you give them more money through schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or empower them to do things on their own.