India

HP's "gesture keyboard" -- a digitized pen and pad packaged with handwriting-recognition software -- allows people to quickly jot down words in Hindi script on the digitized pad that transmits them to a desktop computer screen. Indians can use it to type a report, chat on instant messengers or search the Web. The new system could prove more convenient than tediously typing combinations of characters from the Indian script-based languages that, if assigned their own computer keys, would require a keyboard with close to 1,000 buttons.

Gamasutra is covering a report by Pearl Research that forecasts the Indian gaming market to be worth USD 200 million by 2010.

In addition, there were more than 100,000 Internet cafes in India in 2005. Internet cafes can derive 30% to 40% of revenues from users playing games. Games are a “sticky” activity, thus users tend to spend more time and money at Internet cafes that offer games, according to the report. The latest trend is the opening of gaming-oriented cafes such as Sify’s Gamedromes to satisfy the growing demand for games. Internet cafes with broadband connections and fast PCs are increasingly replacing many of India’s outdated Internet cafes that use dial-up.

The ISPAI has refuted claims by the IMI that ISPs facilitate music piracy on the Internet.

"We reiterate that an ISP who merely provides such access is not in any way violating the provisions of the Copyright Act or the IT Act 2000," the ISPAI President, Mr Sanjay Dwivedi, said in the letter.

Light Reading is carrying a succinct article on why telco majors in India believe WiMAX will be the one. The article also outlines the reasons why the Indian broadband industry is where it is today, along with a few choice quotes like the following:

"It's absolutely abysmal compared to other countries with equal per capita GDP," says Ravi Bhagavan, vice president at consultancy Galileo Global Advisors, noting that the government's broadband policy target was to have 3 million subscribers by the end of 2005. "Talk about aiming at the sky and shooting the treetops...in fact I think they hit the trunk."

The IMI has threatened to:

take "appropriate civil and criminal action" against over 600 websites and 30 Indian Internet service providers (ISPs) — including the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) — for "not preventing" the unauthorised downloading of online music.

Besides addressing music downloads, the IMI is also trying to take action against websites offering pirated ring-tones.

An article in the Hindustan Times states that a report by market research firm eTForecasts places India's online population at 50.6 million. This places us in fourth spot behind the US [197.8 M], China [119.5 M] and Japan [86.3 M].

It is however unknown how exactly these figures were calculated. An earlier report released by the TRAI placed the number of Internet subscribers in the country at 6.1 million.

Intel launched its new dual-core mobile processr - the Centrino Duo, a couple of days ago in Bombay. The processor was largely designed in Intel's Bangalore centre.

"We view it as the second major leap forward for the company since the launch of the Pentium processors in 1993. In the context of mobility, the technology is nothing short of a revolution," Mr. Anand said. Lavish in praise for the development team from Bangalore, he said that by the year 2007, almost every laptop being sold would have a component designed by Intel India.

As covered previously, BSNL appear to be actively pursuing FTTH as a viable last-mile solution.

"BSNL is keen to procure Fibre to the Home (FTTH) equipment for providing the next generation broadband services to its customers. We have invited expression of interest for procurement of GPON-based FTTH equipment, being the new technology," said a BSNL official. Equipment vendors, including Alcatel and Cisco, are expected to bid for the project.

As part of the SEA-ME-WE-4 network, India and Pakistan will be linked together via a fibre-optic land cable system, across the Wagah border. Both Bharti and VSNL have stakes in the cable consortium, while PTCL represent Pakistan's interests.