What is a BarCamp?

BarCamp is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join. There are no registration fees or any charges for a barcamp as this is a user-generated conference. You are invited to volunteer for various activities for putting up a successful camp.

BarCamps are unconferences, which mean
NO SPECTATORS, ONLY PARTICIPANTS

Attendees must give a demo, a session, or help with one, or otherwise volunteer / contribute in some way to support the event. All presentations are scheduled the day they happen. Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the wall. The people present at the event will select the demos or presentations they want to see.

Presenters are responsible for making sure that notes/slides/audio/video of their presentations are published on the web for the benefit of all and those who can’t be present.

To know more about BarCamp Kerala, log on to www.barcampkerala.org and get registered.

In order to try this you should have a 32-bit system and 4 GB or above of memory (RAM). Then follow these steps:

Step 1: Check out the system properties

Right click “My Computer” & click Properties. You’ll get a window showing your system configuration. This will look similar to the image below. Here only 2.96 GB is available out of 4 GB.

Step 2: Download the patch from here

Step 3: Run this software with administrative privileges

Right click on the downloaded file “Staforce-4GB” and click “Run as administrator” and press “Yes” on the following window.

Step 4: To use this patch

Follow the images as shown here.

Step 5: Restart your system

Now when the system boots choose “Microsoft Windows > 128 G Memory”.

Now your Windows 7 boots as usual. Now you can completely use your RAM with full efficiency.

India, although boasts of 585 million subscribers, still uses mobile phones primarily for voice calls. With spiraling voice call rates, it is no surprise that India along with Brazil are the countries with lowest ARPU’s in the mobile wireless communications sector[1]. Therefore it is of critical importance that VAS (Value Added Services) market is monetised.[2]

The VAS market in India contributed to 7% of the total revenues for the mobile operators in 2006. It was $679 million at the end of 2006 with non voice revenues increasing every year.[2] In 2009, the VAS market contributed Rs 6000 crore accounting to 10% of the operators revenue. The figure is predicted to go up by 18% by the end of 2010.[3]

A pattern regarding the growth of mobile entertainment can be derived from the following data:

VAS Performance- 2005[2]

VAS Performance- 2006[2]

VAS Performance- 2009[1]

The most noticeable trend is the shift in the SMS usage by the mobile consumers. The year 2005 had 80% of VAS being used for SMS (P2P,A2P P2A), 2006 had 55% and 2009 has 49% of the VAS being used for SMS. This phenomenon is due to consumers engaging other VAS products such as CRBT, Games, Email and Data. CRBT’s has had an appreciable rise in terms of percentage consumption. 13%, 35%,49% for the year’s 2005, 2006, 2009 respectively.  Another area of promising growth on the VAS front is data. Email, data and GPRS usage has grown over the years. From an insignificant 1.5% in 2005 and 2006, GPRS has grown to a significant 8% in 2009. Games had a noticeable rise from 1% in 2005 to 3% in 2006. The above figures indicate the consumer’s deflection from the voice model to more data oriented applications.

Data and Voice Break up[2]

The above bar graph indicates the penetration of VAS in the Indian market. Although the growth has been gradual, the VAS intake may go up with the introduction of 3G. According to Mr. Pankaj Sethi, Tata Teleservices, Data services have been contributing to 10% of the VAS market. With 3G, the data consumption could go up. Pricing is also important as India is a price sensitive market.

Currently the EVAS (Entertainment VAS) has been contributing in the fashion as stated below : [1]

The Hindi film industry is the biggest driver as far as EVAS is concerned, followed by regional content, cricket and devotional.

The influence of 3G on the mobile entertainment growth could be accurately studied by analysing the pre 3G and the post 3G scenarios. Unfortunately 3G is yet to be fully functional in the country. Although this is a limitation, few logical predictions can be made about the changes in VAS and EVAS with the introduction of 3G.

• There is a fair chance that data usage would significantly increase. This means that the consumer would be able to stream audio – video content whenever he or she wishes to. BSNL, currently in its 3G offering facilitates the user to watch television content (ex: reality shows) on mobile phone.
• With adequate data bandwidth available, the content creators may not hesitate to invest in made-for-mobile content. These are content that are specifically designed and produced to be accessed on a mobile screen. A current example for made-for-mobile content is Airtel Talkies which provides audio clips of hindi films for its subscribers.
• SMS’s are one of the mediums to  facilitate access to content in mobile phones.  Provided the right pricing, there is a major possibility of SMS’s contributing less in the VAS revenue mix when 3G is established. We may ape the ‘American model’ wherein Emails are use over SMS’s for accessing content as well as text communication.
• A major hindrance to accessing content on mobile phones are the mobile devices themselves. As per Mr. Subash Ghosh,UTV New Media, of the 500 million subscribers in the country, only 10%- 12% have high end handsets. Still a smaller percentage above use data services. On the other hand, Mr Pankaj Sethi believes that this issue would be bypassed as OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Micromax have come up with 3G enabled mobile device priced conservatively at Rs 3500- Rs 4000.

Even before the introduction of 3G, there was a pattern change happening in the VAS market. With low voice call rates and lower ARPU’s, the fraternity has to think of alternate ways to generate income. This makes VAS and EVAS a logical choice. As per my opinion the VAS market in India will continue to evolve gradually with newer and innovative products/services coming in. 3G may will make the process quicker.

References.

1.  Mr. Pankaj Sethi, Tata Teleservices

2. Future of Mobile VAS in India, December 2007, Mr.Mohit S Gundecha, Prof Tom Kosnik, Stanford University/ Mr. Kunal Bajaj, BDA India

3. Mobile VAS summit 2009 Report, September 23- 24, 2009

4. Mr. Subash Ghosh, UTV New Media

BSNL-Wimax

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited launched its first mobile 4G broadband Internet access network in Kerala on Saturday. Kerala bags the fame that it is the first state to get Mobile WiMax in India. With 900 BTS (Base Transmitting Stations) this technology will deploy a very high speed of up to 37 Mbps and the entire project is expected to cost about Rs 100 crore.

WiMax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access) has been provided by AVIAT, formerly Harris Stratex. 450 BTS are being set up to cover major cities, district headquarters and important towns. 25 BTS will cover Ernakulam, Tripunithura, Kalamassery, Aluva and Angamally muncipalities.

Alluva and Angamally was commissioned on the same day and the remaining 59 are to be commissioned soon. It has two tariff plans – Home Plan with a fixed monthly charge of Rs 999 while the Business plan is Rs 1,999 for a band width 512 to 2 mbps. It provides features like high speed broad band connectivity anywhere, anytime for devices like Desktop, Laptop on wireless.

According to IEEE, 802.16e standard for WiMAx is a scalable wireless access technology designed to provide high throughput over long distances. It is a common portal for wireless technology, fixed, portable, and mobile environments.

WiMax is designed to address following concerns broadband service can be expensive, depending on the provider, and it certainly isn’t available in many rural areas; WiFi has very limited range, again limiting coverage, and dial-up is simply slow and can’t come close to meeting requirements for today’s applications.

Subscribers will be required to procure CPE (customer premise equipment) which will be available for Rs 40 for indoor & outdoor CPE while Rs 30 will be the charge for USB dongles. The CPEs can also be bought on a outright basis. For indoor CPEs, the charge will be Rs 4,200, Rs 5000 for outdoor CPEs and Rs 2,800 for USB dongles.

Source :BSNL

GlobalMojo is the first socially conscious Internet browser that gives 50% of gross revenue to nonprofits and schools. GlobalMojo is built on the popular Firefox browser structure, so it’s fast, safe, and secure. GlobalMojo has added powerful tools that help people generate revenue for the causes they care about through their normal online web browsing.

With GlobalMojo Travel you can simultaneously search all the top travel sites with one easy search (Orbitz^®, Expedia^®, Travelocity^®, Kayak^™, Priceline^® and more!). It’s the easiest way to find the best prices on travel and raise money for the causes you support. Just click the travel button in the upper right corner of your browser to get started.

• GlobalMojo Comparison Shopping helps you find the best prices on any product and generates money for the causes you support. Simultaneously compare prices from over 900 top online merchants so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal (Best Buy, Zappos, iTunes, Overstock.com, Buy.com). You can also see how much revenue your causes will receive before you purchase! Just click on the shopping button in the upper right corner of your browser to get started.
• Search using Yahoo! and each search will generate revenue for the causes you support. You still have the ability to set any search engine as your default but searching with Yahoo produces good mojo for nonprofits and schools.
• As GlobalMojo grows, it will continue to add new partners and helpful features that generate revenue for the nonprofits and schools you support.

The year 2006  saw the revolution in Social Media – A call for for new media marketing. Yeah it was Twitter. A strategy to quote what’s in your mind when you are in the move. For 2 years Twitter remained neglected (didn’t realize its possibilities) by the world as a influence of the social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. But the year 2009 saw the growth of Twitter. Users found out that having huge followers would help them in promoting their business or promoting their web resources (like website or blog). Everybody started “tweeting” and automated retweets were implemented for “just spamming”. Now the first word for web based promotion is Twitter.

Keenly observing this Google has launched its brand new creation – Buzz. Although it is presently launched for iPhone and other android phones it stands out as the first real enemy for Twitter.The name “Buzz” itself implies the same. Tweets are the sounds made by the birds whereas buzz is associated with bees. MediaSplash observes Buzz as a quick blog on the move. In Buzz users can easily show their current locations with integrated Google Maps. In addition users can find out what their neighbours are doing at present and easily track their locations. It is obvious that Google will implement strategies to add more options in Buzz.Integration with Gmail is another feature of Buzz. The biggest advantage of Google Buzz is that it would help tackle the problem of information overload. The Internet giant claims to have worked on algorithms to help people find the information most relevant to them. This claim surely holds a lot of ground as it comes from a company which redefined how we search on the Internet.

What Buzz does

Google Buzz will allow users to quickly share messages, web links and photos with friends within its popular email service GMail. It will work similar to Twitter but will be integrated with the GMail Inbox. Buzz also comes with a built-in circle of friends, which will be automatically selected by Google based on the people that a user communicates with most frequently in GMail and GTalk.
Google Buzz will also allow users to choose between sharing their posts publicly with the world or privately to a small group of friends. It has also taken a giant step by integrating applications like Picasa, Flickr, Google Reader, and Twitter on it. The integration of Twitter comes as a surprise as Google plans to take it on with ‘Buzz’.

Many critics are already raising doubts about the timing of Google Buzz. They feel that Google might have opened its eyes a bit too late. But real user reviews are yet to come. In the end it is too early to predict the future of Google Buzz. Had such a thing come out of nowhere people would have written an obituary of it but Buzz comes from Google which has a cult following among it’s users. Let us not forget how Google Chrome browser took over an overwhelming market share just days into its launch. It remains to be seen if Google can buzz with ‘Buzz’.

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter on Monday announced plans to hold its first conference for developers interested in making applications to synch with the wildly popular microblogging service.

“We’re happy to tell you that Chirp has now officially launched!” members of Twitter’s “Chirp Team” said in an email message.

Speakers at the two-day event will include Twitter founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone.

The first day of the conference on April 14 will take place in the Palace of Fine Arts theater in San Francisco’s Marina District and be devoted to topics including business strategies, geolocation services, and streaming content.

The second Chirp day will be a 24-hour, nonstop hackathon at Fort Mason where developers will get to adapt applications to Twitter’s software platform.

The Chirp team promises attendees a “sneaky peak” at Twitter features poised for release and an after-party to be missed “at your peril.”

Twitter said there will be 800 tickets for the event, with the first “wave” of 100 tickets made available on Monday. The sign-up cost for Chirp was 469 dollars, according to an official chirp.twitter.com website.

Critical moment

The remaining small pool of the existing IP addresses marks a critical moment in IPv4 address exhaustion, ultimately impacting the future network operations of all businesses and organisations around the globe.

NRO chairman Axel Pawlik said in an official release that it was vital for the Internet community to shift to a new addressing scheme using six sets of numbers (IPv6), and called for determined action to ensure global adoption of IPv6.

“Key infrastructure”

“The limited IPv4 addresses will not allow us enough resources to achieve the ambitions we all hold for global Internet access. The deployment of IPv6 is a key infrastructure development that will enable the network to support the billions of people and devices that connect in the coming years,” Mr. Pawlik said.

Internet Protocol is a set of technical rules that defines how devices communicate over a network. Of the two versions of IP addresses, IPv6 includes a modern numbering system that provides a much larger address pool than IPv4. With so few IPv4 addresses remaining, the NRO is urging all Internet stakeholders, including governments, vendors, enterprises, telecoms operators, and end users, to take immediate action by planning for the necessary investments required to deploy IPv6, says the release. The NRO specifically asks the business sector to provide IPv6-capable services and platforms, including web hosting and equipment, ensuring accessibility for IPv6 users. Software and hardware vendors should implement IPv6 support in their products to guarantee that they are available at production standard when needed. Governments should lead the way by making their own content and services available over IPv6 and encouraging IPv6 deployment efforts in their countries. IPv6 requirements in government procurement policies are critical at this time. Civil society, including organisations and end users, should request that all services they receive from their ISPs and vendors are IPv6-ready, to build demand and ensure competitive availability of IPv6 services in coming years.

Positive results

The NRO, alongside each regional registry, has actively promoted IPv6 deployment for several years through grass-roots outreach, speaking engagements, conferences and media outreach. To date, their combined efforts have yielded positive results in the call to action for the adoption of IPv6.

“Many decision makers don’t realise how many devices require IP addresses — mobile phones, laptops, servers, routers, the list goes on,” said NRO secretary Raul Echeberria. “The number of available IPv4 addresses is shrinking rapidly, and if the global Internet community fails to recognise this, it will face grave consequences in the very near future. As such, the NRO is working to educate everyone, from network operators to top executives and government representatives, about the importance of IPv6 adoption.”

IP addresses are allocated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), a contract operated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). IANA distributes IP addresses to regional registries, which, in turn, issue them to users in their regions.