The Analjit Singh-promoted Max India Limited is raising Rs 450-550 crore through a preferential allotment to a financial investor, a
person familiar with the situation told ET. The money will be used to fund the existing businesses of the company -insurance and healthcare.
The company's board is meeting on Saturday to approve the fund raising programme. When contacted, the Max India spokesperson declined to give details about the fund raising programme.
Max India has been looking at raising funds through the equity route for quite some time. It had originally planned to mop up Rs 1,000 crore through right issue. Subsequently it changed its plan and decided to raise only Rs 400 crore through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route. It has now finally decided to raise the money through a preferential allotment.
Max India has a market capitalisation of Rs 5,200 crore and its shares closed on Thursday at Rs 224. The company operates its main businesses of life insurance and healthcare through two subsidiaries-Max New York Life Insurance and Max Healthcare.
Besides, Max produces specialty plastic products such as niche and high barrier bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films, thermal lamination films and leather finishing foils. The company has also tied up with Bupa to make a foray into the health insurance sector.
The life insurance business constitutes around 84% of Max's revenues with the healthcare business accounting for another 8%. Max India reported consolidated revenues of Rs 4,166 crore in the first half of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 2,245 crore to the corresponding period last fiscal.
Meanwhile, the company's consolidated losses have come down Rs 87 crore in the same period this year from Rs 268 crore in the 2008-09 fiscal.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Gold prices decline
Gold prices declined in the national capital during the last week of the year 2009 on emergence of selling at existing higher levels influenced by a weakening trend in overseas markets.
Selling in gold emerged as metal prices declined to $1,075 an ounce in the international market, which normally set the price trend here on the domestic front.
With fall in demand at existing higher levels and a brief break of 10 days in the current marriage season also put pressure on gold prices.
Standard gold and ornaments commenced slightly higher but soon met with heavy selling in tandem with weakening global trend and dropped to Rs 16,700 and Rs 16,500 before recovering to finish at Rs 17,040 and Rs 16,890 per ten gram respectively, still dow n by Rs 70 each from the previous week’s close.
Sovereign, after moving on both ways, on alternate bouts of buying and selling settled around previous level of Rs 14,000 per piece of eight gram.
On the other hand, silver ready commenced on a strong note and in day-to-day buying it rose further to close at Rs 27,900 per kg, showing a sharp rise of Rs 620.
However, silver weekly-based delivery lacked necessary follow up support and declined by Rs 180 to Rs 27,500 per kg.
Selling in gold emerged as metal prices declined to $1,075 an ounce in the international market, which normally set the price trend here on the domestic front.
With fall in demand at existing higher levels and a brief break of 10 days in the current marriage season also put pressure on gold prices.
Standard gold and ornaments commenced slightly higher but soon met with heavy selling in tandem with weakening global trend and dropped to Rs 16,700 and Rs 16,500 before recovering to finish at Rs 17,040 and Rs 16,890 per ten gram respectively, still dow n by Rs 70 each from the previous week’s close.
Sovereign, after moving on both ways, on alternate bouts of buying and selling settled around previous level of Rs 14,000 per piece of eight gram.
On the other hand, silver ready commenced on a strong note and in day-to-day buying it rose further to close at Rs 27,900 per kg, showing a sharp rise of Rs 620.
However, silver weekly-based delivery lacked necessary follow up support and declined by Rs 180 to Rs 27,500 per kg.
Monday, December 7, 2009
LG LAUNCHES BL40
The latest LG Chocolate edition handset dubbed LG BL40 has been launched in India by the company for providing Indian customers a slim and sleek device supported by cutting edge technology and very user friendly features.
The luxurious handset is very similar to the LG Chocolate BL20 and the firm tried to epitomize style and elegance with the help of newly launched device. Major attractions of LG Chocolate device include a 4-inch wide HD LCD screen with 800 x 345 pixel resolution.
The new phone is also loaded with high quality 5 megapixel cameras with Schinder-Kreuznach lens and flash that would make photography experience very interesting in addition to superior quality. The device, with cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio, also supports Wi-Fi connectivity for accessing broadband at a high speed while FM transmitter makes it easy for listening high quality music and media services.
The device also represents S-Class UI featuring finger-friendly 3D graphics and it is capable to offer faster email and internet services. It is available for Rs 30,000 across all mobile stores in the country.
COPENHAGEN CLIMATE SUMMIT
Delegates from 192 countries are gathering in the Danish capital Copenhagen for the opening of the long-awaited UN summit on climate change.
The conference has been described by some scientists as the most important the world has ever seen.
Security is tight as organisers expect 15,000 delegates and 100 world leaders to attend over the next two weeks.
On the eve of the summit, the UN's chief climate negotiator Yvo de Boer said the talks were in excellent shape.
He told the BBC that many countries were now making pledges over curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
ANALYSIS
Matt McGrath, BBC environment correspondent
According to one UN official, this meeting of negotiators is the biggest show on Earth. While that is possibly an exaggeration, organisers say they have been inundated, with more than 34,000 people applying to attend a venue with a capacity of 15,000.
Intense global interest has been heightened by the sense that this is an opportunity for the world to deal decisively with the causes and effects of climate change.
The UN negotiating process has been gradually moving forward for the past two years - but so slowly that officials and government leaders began to acknowledge that a legally binding treaty would not be reached.
But new pledges made in the past few weeks by the US, China and India have re-invigorated the talks - as has confirmation that more than 100 global leaders will be attending.
"Never in 17 years of climate negotiations have so many different countries made so many pledges. It's unprecedented," he said.
Mr de Boer said offers of finance for clean technology for poor countries were also coming through and talks were progressing on a long-term vision of massive carbon cuts by 2050.
South Africa became the latest country to make an offer on cutting emissions - its first quantifiable target.
On the eve of the summit it offered to cut by one-third the growth of its carbon emissions over the next decade - subject to getting more funding and technological help from wealthier countries.
Meanwhile, a new poll commissioned by the BBC suggests that public concern over climate change is growing across the world.
In the survey, by Globescan, 64% of people questioned said they considered global warming a very serious problem - up 20% from over a decade ago.
At the deal's heart must be a settlement between the rich world and the developing world
Jointly written editorial in 56 newspapers in 45 countries
Richard Black: Widening divide?
BBC poll: Climate fears on rise
To stress the importance of the summit, 56 newspapers in 45 countries will publish the same editorial on Monday, warning that climate change will "ravage our planet" unless action is agreed, the London-based Guardian reported.
The editorial - to be published in 20 languages - has been thrashed out by editors ahead of the Copenhagen talks, the newspaper said.
"At the deal's heart must be a settlement between the rich world and the developing world," the editorial says.
Environmental activists plan protests in Copenhagen and around the world on 12 December, to encourage delegates to reach the strongest possible deal.
Tens of thousands marched in London and other UK and European cities on Saturday.
'Long-term goal'
Any agreement made at Copenhagen is intended to supplant the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Targets set at Kyoto run out in 2012.
COPENHAGEN TALKS
Begin 7 December
To discuss emissions targets and financial measures to combat climate change
Hard bargaining expected in last days of meeting
Due to end 18 December
Climate change in graphics
Where countries stand
Q&A: Copenhagen summit
Negotiations at Copenhagen begin on Monday and more than 100 world leaders will arrive next week to thrash out a deal.
Speakers at the opening session will include Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN's panel of climate experts.
World leaders who have pledged to attend include US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The main areas for discussion include:
Targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions, in particular by developed countries
Financial support for mitigation of and adaptation to climate change by developing countries
A carbon trading scheme aimed at ending the destruction of the world's forests by 2030
Outlining his ambitions for the summit, Mr de Boer said: "I think what we will see coming out of Copenhagen is a package of decisions that define a long term goal.
CLIMATE CHANGE GLOSSARY
Select a term from the dropdown:
Mitigation - Action that will reduce man-made climate change. This includes action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or absorb greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Suggest additions
Glossary in full
"Then, first of all, what will rich countries do to reduce their emissions. Secondly, what will major developing countries do to limit the growth of their emissions and thirdly prompt finance that will allow developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change."
However, the BBC's Roger Harrabin, in Copenhagen, says Mr de Boer's optimism is not shared by everyone.
Some small island states most vulnerable to climate change fear the level of international expectation is so high that leaders will agree to any deal, he adds.
And new research unveiled on Sunday suggests that less than one-third of money raised by major airlines in carbon trading schemes goes directly to reducing emissions.
Carbon Retirement based its report on a sample of UN data.
Under the system - set up by the Kyoto protocol - travellers pay for projects which offset emissions caused by their journey.
The conference has been described by some scientists as the most important the world has ever seen.
Security is tight as organisers expect 15,000 delegates and 100 world leaders to attend over the next two weeks.
On the eve of the summit, the UN's chief climate negotiator Yvo de Boer said the talks were in excellent shape.
He told the BBC that many countries were now making pledges over curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
ANALYSIS
Matt McGrath, BBC environment correspondent
According to one UN official, this meeting of negotiators is the biggest show on Earth. While that is possibly an exaggeration, organisers say they have been inundated, with more than 34,000 people applying to attend a venue with a capacity of 15,000.
Intense global interest has been heightened by the sense that this is an opportunity for the world to deal decisively with the causes and effects of climate change.
The UN negotiating process has been gradually moving forward for the past two years - but so slowly that officials and government leaders began to acknowledge that a legally binding treaty would not be reached.
But new pledges made in the past few weeks by the US, China and India have re-invigorated the talks - as has confirmation that more than 100 global leaders will be attending.
"Never in 17 years of climate negotiations have so many different countries made so many pledges. It's unprecedented," he said.
Mr de Boer said offers of finance for clean technology for poor countries were also coming through and talks were progressing on a long-term vision of massive carbon cuts by 2050.
South Africa became the latest country to make an offer on cutting emissions - its first quantifiable target.
On the eve of the summit it offered to cut by one-third the growth of its carbon emissions over the next decade - subject to getting more funding and technological help from wealthier countries.
Meanwhile, a new poll commissioned by the BBC suggests that public concern over climate change is growing across the world.
In the survey, by Globescan, 64% of people questioned said they considered global warming a very serious problem - up 20% from over a decade ago.
At the deal's heart must be a settlement between the rich world and the developing world
Jointly written editorial in 56 newspapers in 45 countries
Richard Black: Widening divide?
BBC poll: Climate fears on rise
To stress the importance of the summit, 56 newspapers in 45 countries will publish the same editorial on Monday, warning that climate change will "ravage our planet" unless action is agreed, the London-based Guardian reported.
The editorial - to be published in 20 languages - has been thrashed out by editors ahead of the Copenhagen talks, the newspaper said.
"At the deal's heart must be a settlement between the rich world and the developing world," the editorial says.
Environmental activists plan protests in Copenhagen and around the world on 12 December, to encourage delegates to reach the strongest possible deal.
Tens of thousands marched in London and other UK and European cities on Saturday.
'Long-term goal'
Any agreement made at Copenhagen is intended to supplant the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Targets set at Kyoto run out in 2012.
COPENHAGEN TALKS
Begin 7 December
To discuss emissions targets and financial measures to combat climate change
Hard bargaining expected in last days of meeting
Due to end 18 December
Climate change in graphics
Where countries stand
Q&A: Copenhagen summit
Negotiations at Copenhagen begin on Monday and more than 100 world leaders will arrive next week to thrash out a deal.
Speakers at the opening session will include Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN's panel of climate experts.
World leaders who have pledged to attend include US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The main areas for discussion include:
Targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions, in particular by developed countries
Financial support for mitigation of and adaptation to climate change by developing countries
A carbon trading scheme aimed at ending the destruction of the world's forests by 2030
Outlining his ambitions for the summit, Mr de Boer said: "I think what we will see coming out of Copenhagen is a package of decisions that define a long term goal.
CLIMATE CHANGE GLOSSARY
Select a term from the dropdown:
Mitigation - Action that will reduce man-made climate change. This includes action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or absorb greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Suggest additions
Glossary in full
"Then, first of all, what will rich countries do to reduce their emissions. Secondly, what will major developing countries do to limit the growth of their emissions and thirdly prompt finance that will allow developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change."
However, the BBC's Roger Harrabin, in Copenhagen, says Mr de Boer's optimism is not shared by everyone.
Some small island states most vulnerable to climate change fear the level of international expectation is so high that leaders will agree to any deal, he adds.
And new research unveiled on Sunday suggests that less than one-third of money raised by major airlines in carbon trading schemes goes directly to reducing emissions.
Carbon Retirement based its report on a sample of UN data.
Under the system - set up by the Kyoto protocol - travellers pay for projects which offset emissions caused by their journey.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
APPLE IPOD TOUCH EBAY AMAZON
Introduction
MacInTouch reviewed the original iPod Touch in 2007, concluding that the device — essentially an iPhone sans phone and camera — served as a feature-rich iPod and the least-expensive way to explore the revolutionary "multitouch" interface that made the iPhone so famous. The "iTouch", as it's sometimes dubbed, had the interface, operating system and most of the hardware of the iPhone, while bypassing the 2-year AT&T contract, a $1680+ pre-requisite for the iPhone in the U.S.
The original iPod Touch lacked email and applications (other than Web apps via its Mobile Safari browser), and it had other deficiencies, as well: no volume buttons, no speaker, no camera and no Bluetooth, although it featured WiFi networking, along with USB. As a media player, this iPod Touch was limited to 8 or 16 GB of storage vs. the iPod Classic's 80 or 160 GB capacity.
Today's second-generation iPod Touch improves a bit upon the original hardware, but it was the 2008 introduction of Apple's iTunes App Store that has turned the device into a full-fledged mobile computer with tens of thousands of third-party applications available.
To date, the iPod Touch is the only device other than the iPhone that works on Apple's mobile application platform. And that is the reason to buy one.
Platform
The iPod Touch uses the same operating system as the iPhone, which is a (massively) slimmed-down version of the "OS X" operating system used for Apple's Macintosh computers. The Mobile Safari browser is based on Apple's desktop Safari browser (though it doesn't support Flash content), but the user interface is completely different. The iPhone/iPod Touch UI is designed from the ground-up for fingers and small screens rather than the mice and relatively large screens of desktop and laptop computers, and every other phone vendor has been scrambling to catch up with it. [See our first iPod Touch review for more details about the underlying hardware platform and user interface, as well as our iPhone reviews, listed in the "Links" section below.]
In 2008, the year after the iPod Touch's debut, Apple rolled out "OS 2.0" for its mobile platform (dropping "X" from its name). Aside from some performance improvements and bug fixes, the real news was support for Apple's new iTunes App Store, which opened up a whole world of third-party apps, drastically expanding the usefulness of the device and justifying many more purchases.
In other words, iPod Touch is not a Walkman-like, single-purpose device. It is an evolving, general purpose computing platform that fits in the palm of your hand.
OS 3.0
iPhone OS 3.0 is due this summer. Like OS 2.0, it should run on all previous iPod Touch models, with an upgrade price of $9.95. Apple gave a public preview, focussing on features for developers but also showcasing new features for end users. Notable enhancements include MMS messaging (to support sending and receiving pictures, contacts, audio messages and map locations); voice memos; calendaring enhancements; cut-and-paste (like Mac OS X has); and a new Spotlight system for searching the iPod's contents (including third party app data, if the developer writes a plug-in).
Other anticipated features include WiFi auto-login, support for Stereo Bluetooth headphones, Notes sync, Safari anti-phishing security improvements and form auto-fill, improved parental controls, true YouTube login, and the ability to get movies and TV shows directly from Apple's store without having to use your Mac or PC to buy-and-sync them over iTunes.
Apple also promises a developers' interface to the Dock port in OS 3.0 for enabling custom hardware and software access — think audio recording, data acquisition, 3G cellular data or fax modems... and ultimately anything the homebrew hardware community can dream up! (A little keyboard, like the fold-up ones that used to be made for the Palm III and Palm V series, would be quite welcome.)
But, as we await OS 3.0, what does the second-generation iPod Touch have for you today?
Hardware
The second-generation iPod Touch (available with 8, 16 or 32 GB of memory) adds external volume controls and a speaker for sound effects. It also has a faster processor, although Apple doesn't mention this in any of its marketing materials. We found that applications launch faster, Safari displays web pages faster, email fetches faster and everything feels quicker. When running the same apps side-by-side with an iPhone 3G, the second-generation iPod Touch was a clear winner — faster and more responsive. (It probably doesn't hurt that the iTouch doesn't have to run the cell phone communication software in the background like iPhone does... but that software spends most of its time idle on iPhone anyway.)
The speaker is hidden inside the headphone jack. It has a much smaller opening to broadcast its sound than the iPhone, so it's a lot quieter. But it's adequate for casual gaming, and makes the alarm and timer functions useful, finally. The iPod Touch makes a pretty good alarm clock; just make sure the volume is turned up before you go to bed!
The newer iTouch has a lower-capacity battery than the original, yet claims longer life — 36 hours of music vs. the original's 22 hours, and 6 hours of video playback vs. 5 hours. We didn't perform an exhaustive test, but we did watch TV shows for a couple of hours on a plane flight (with the volume up to overcome aircraft noise) and noted the battery indicator was still more than half-full at the end. This follows the trend of Apple's previous iPods; with time, more power-efficient electronics enable longer operation with smaller batteries.
While the second-generation iPod Touch adds Bluetooth hardware, you can't do anything with it yet. Apple says the upcoming OS 3.0 will enable it to support stereo Bluetooth headphones. Third party developers will be able to use it, too — for multiplayer games among iPods, exchanging virtual business card, or whatever else they think up. This flexibility limits interoperability, though; it doesn't use the standard Bluetooth OBEX protocol for sending data objects, so it won't work with non-Apple devices.
Additionally, the new iPod Touch supports the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which previously worked only with the iPod Nano.
Limits and Potential
The iTouch platform has distinct hardware limits compared to its desktop computer predecessors. It has just 128 MB of memory for the system and apps to share, and no virtual memory to handle overflow. So, even though the core OS supports memory protection, pre-emptive multitasking and other basics of modern computing, Apple has had to place sharp limits on third-party applications.
The limit that most affects end users is non-Apple apps cannot run in the background, like they can on a Mac or PC. This effect is usually unnoticed by users because most iTouch apps compensate by launching and quitting quickly, and preserve the user state as much as possible. But, you can't run apps that provide instant messaging or Internet radio while you surf the web or read email.
Apple has announced a "notification framework" for developers that partly addresses this. Developers can use Apple's servers to send notifications to iTouch applications, including text popups, sound effects and badge icons — just like Apple's Mail and Calendar alerts. This is a viable solution for server-driven applications such as instant messaging, banking alerts, and scheduling.
The notifications system is currently in pre-release testing with developers; apps using this will be released after OS 3.0 this summer.
But, this still doesn't address the desire for true background apps for apps like Internet radio. The big problem, says Apple, is the effect on battery life. On Windows Mobile and Android smartphone platforms, running a background instant messaging application can reduce battery life by as much as 80% — not exactly a great user experience.
There are credible rumors that Apple is working on this, with ideas ranging from Apple allowing backgrounding on a case-by-case basis, to special Home Screen designs enabling users to manage backgrounding, but nothing has been announced yet.
Software and Services
The second-generation iPod Touch includes more Apple applications than the original did. Email is now built-in, with support for IMAP, POP and Microsoft Exchange servers. MobileMe subscribers, Exchange users and Yahoo Mail users can get "push" email notifications, so email arrives on your iTouch as soon as it arrives at the server.
Apple's Calendar and Contacts apps work as stand-alone tools but are much more useful when integrated with desktop calendaring. iTunes syncs over USB between iCal on the Mac or Outlook calendars and address books on Windows. Apple's MobileMe subscription service "pushes" automatic updates "over-the-air", as long as you're within range of a WiFi network, for $99/year ($67 at Amazon). Exchange users get calendar and contact sync for free — assuming they have a corporate Exchange server. (MobileMe also includes email, web hosting, plus photo- and video-sharing services.)
There is also a free option for anyone with a Gmail account: Google has implemented part of Microsoft's Exchange protocol for Google Calendar and the Gmail address book. We experienced a few glitches with it. When importing the Mac Address Book using a Google tool, all addresses, emails and phone numbers of type "Other" (rather than Work, Home, Mobile) failed to appear in Google's address book (and thus didn't carry through to the iPod Touch Contacts database). And, after a few weeks, one Google Calendar simply disappeared from the iPod Touch; we had to reset the device using iTunes and re-set up Google sync to fix this.
"Push" email isn't available from Google either. For that, you'll have to use Apple's MobileMe, a real Exchange server or Yahoo Mail. Now over its initial teething pains, MobileMe seems to provide more reliable data sync, not to mention much easier setup.
iTunes App Store
Like its predecessor, the second-generation iPod Touch plays music, movies, TV shows and podcasts. But, with iPhone OS 2, you can now buy music and download podcasts directly from the iPod Touch, accessing the iTunes Store over WiFi with no Mac or PC intermediary required. (OS 3.0 this summer will add support for buying movies and TV shows too.)
In contrast with other "iPods", the iTunes App Store is where the iPod Touch's real value lies. With tens of thousands of applications written in the past year, and more appearing daily, you can find all kinds of things you might need. For example, Apple neglected to provide any sort of to-do list in its software package, but there are dozens of these applications available at the App Store, ranging from free and simple to expensive and feature-rich.
You name it; someone wrote it, and you can get it: Games. Instant messaging. Fitness goals. Diet tracking. Movie listings. A koi pond. Wine databases. Frommer's travel guides. Alternate web browsers. Birth contraction tracking. Algebra tutors. Yoga guides. The New York Times. Zip code lookup. Instrument simulations. Brewing calculators. Slick Wikipedia front-ends. Live major league baseball coverage. Databases of gluten-free foods and restaurants. A bubble level. Stupid fart jokes. (Sadly, we're not kidding about that last one.)
You can access the App Store directly on your iPod Touch over WiFi or within iTunes on your Mac or PC. iTunes provides a richer environment for browsing, but to subsequently move apps onto your iPod Touch, you'll have to sync via the USB cable. If you purchase on the iTouch itself, it downloads over WiFi, and the next time you plug into your Mac or PC via USB, iTunes copies a backup of the apps you've purchased onto your Mac. (Note that apps you purchase can be used on up to five iPod Touch or iPhones registered to your iTunes account.)
The App Store controls all distribution and sales for iTouch apps — it's a convenient one-stop shop, but it's also the only store in town. And while you can browse and search the App Store freely on your iPod Touch, you must create an AppleID/iTunes Account to download even free apps.
Apple has a vested interest in the App Store — the company takes a 30% cut of every sale. At a recent Apple quarterly financials call, CEO Steve Jobs said the App Store does a gross revenue of $1 million per day. That makes Apple's cut something like $109,500,000 a year — and growing — not a large fraction of Apple's $10 billion per quarter revenue, but nothing to sneer at either.
Apple controls exactly what appears in the store too. Every developer must be approved by Apple before their products can go on sale, and all third party apps are reviewed by Apple for compatibility, security and content.
In theory, this ensures that no dangerous software makes it onto your iPod, but the review process is not very consistent. Applications have been blocked because they accessed "objectionable" content that wasn't actually part of the app. For example, the popular Twitter client Tweetie had an update blocked, because a popular Twitter topic that day involved a "dirty" word, and so appeared in the "Trending" list that Twitter sent to Tweetie. And, more recently, nin: access, an app from industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, was blocked for providing access to the same music sold by Apple in the iTunes Store.
Most recently, the Eucalyptus e-book reader that accesses the Project Gutenberg archive of free books was blocked because the Apple reviewer searched for the Kama Sutra on his own initiative. Each of these cases has been resolved successfully in the end, but they highlight the degree of control Apple exercises over developers for the iTouch platform.
This total control over the iTouch ecosystem is a bit worrisome. But the experience as a customer is so compelling that we have bought in, purchasing and downloading dozens of paid and free apps for this iPod Touch. These applications turn it from an expensive toy into an incredibly useful tool (not to mention a great little gaming device).
Jailbreaking
Before Apple introduced its App Store, there was a thriving community of "jailbreak" developers, who figured out how to bypass Apple's iPhone/iTouch lock-down in order to write their own software applications for the devices. Now, many applications originally developed for the jailbroken iTouch have migrated to "legitimate" App Store apps. Still, jailbreaking remains alive and well, as there are always those who want iPod Touch to do even more than Apple has allowed so far — such as running background applications to play Internet radio while checking email, or recording audio from microphones hacked into the Dock port.
Ultimately, jailbreaking is beyond the scope of this review, but if you're feeling adventurous, there is an active community to help you break out of iPod Touch's remaining limits.
Hands-on
In the hand, the latest iPod Touch feels just right; its gently-curved back lays nicely in the fingers, like the iPhone 3G but even slimmer. Its shiny metal back is prone to scratching, like all the classic iPods. Apple includes a microfiber polishing cloth, which we use as much for the metal back as for cleaning the glass face where you manipulate the user interface with your fingers.
As described in the MacInTouch review of the original iPod Touch, this interface is nothing like using a desktop computer. Instead, the iPod Touch is a unique, gesture-driven, tiny tablet that has to be experienced first-hand (if you're not already familiar with the iPhone). It's a compelling experience in which you directly manipulate everything on-screen, without the disconnected tools of mouse and keyboard. It's the first commercially successful computer that takes advantage of tools we have decades of experience using: our fingertips.
On the downside, the device's home screen doesn't scale well to the dozens and dozens of apps that the App Store encourages acquiring. (It's a little like flipping through a notepad without an index.) Some better organization scheme is clearly needed, but there's no word yet from Apple about having anything helpful in the works.
Battery life seems as good as advertised. With heavy daily use for email, calendaring, web browsing, and light gaming, our test unit wanted to be charged a couple times a week.
iTunes
Any urge to rip the packaging off and start playing with your new toy immediately is quickly thwarted. Like all other iPods, you must first plug it into your Mac or PC and use the latest version of iTunes to set it up. iTunes does make setting up email on the iPod Touch easier, though; it can copy the settings from all of your Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook email accounts to the iTouch, saving you entering server addresses, passwords and ports. It also can copy all of your Safari bookmarks to the iPod Touch and keep them in sync with your desktop as they change over time. (MobileMe subscribers can sync bookmarks wirelessly.) And iTunes backs up your iPod Touch every time you connect it, so if you lose your iPod Touch, you can replace it and restore all your apps and data, just like an iPhone.
Playing music is every iPod's raison d'etre, so audio quality was one of the first things we evaluated after activating the iPod in iTunes. The original iPod Touch had some excess noise in its amplifiers, noticeable during very quiet passages, but Apple seems to have fixed this. We couldn't detect any in the new model. The iPod Touch's improved audio circuitry is masked by mediocre earbuds, however, as with the 3rd generation iPod Shuffle. Using higher quality earbuds is definitely recommended (see links to some favorites at the end of the review).
The iTunes Genius feature, introduced with iTunes 8, works on iPod Touch, and it's great. We occasionally stumped it with obscure international music or little-known local music acts, but for the most part it knew all about our music and created pleasing playlists. As in iTunes, you can save a Genius playlist — the next time you sync, iTunes picks it up (just like it does "On The Go" playlists from other iPods), so you can listen to it on your Mac, PC or other iPods.
CoverFlow, the horizontal album-flipping interface featured on the original iPhone, is even more fluid on the new iPod Touch than it is on an iPhone 3G or earlier devices — perhaps thanks to the new, faster processor.
Display
As before, the iTouch display is remarkably bright and crisp with 167-pixel/in. resolution (a finer dot pitch than Apple's desktop displays use). Though the iPod Touch can't play HD video like a desktop Mac, its display is only a quarter the size of HD, so this isn't really a deficiency. Apple's iTunes Store includes iPhone/iTouch-compatible files along with HD video downloads, and we watched TV shows purchased from the store.
Safari and WiFi
Safari is faster and snappier than on iPhone 3G. It also appears to cache more content, perhaps due to lacking the memory overhead of cellular network software. Whatever the cause, it doesn't have to reload pages from scratch as often, which dramatically improves the web browsing experience, especially if you use tabs. (We recently discovered iCab Mobile — it's even faster still, and much more feature rich, a bargain at $1.99!)
WiFi 802.11 b/g wireless range is fair; neither exceptionally good nor poor. (There's still no 802.11n support.)
PDA Features
As a PDA, the iPod Touch is weak, with a basic calendar (named "Calendar") and a basic address book ("Contacts") but no task management, no linking or grouping, and no ability to sync its otherwise-handy Notes with a Mac or PC. (Apple says Notes sync is coming with OS 3.0 this summer.)
For those who need more, the App Store can make up for these deficiencies with everything from basic to-do lists to full-fledged project management apps. For the truly hardcore, there are at least five different iTouch apps for the popular Basecamp project management system from 37signals. And, for Mac-based customers, Bento is worth a look; the $4.99 iTouch version can sync with Bento 2 on the Mac over WiFi — it's pretty slick, though version 1.0 was crash-prone in our testing.
Games
Games, first introduced in different form with the iPod Video in 2005, have really come into their own on the iPod Touch platform. Some game developers have even programmed their games to use higher-quality graphics on the faster second generation iPod Touch.
Games range from traditional phone/PDA games, such as Bejeweled, to novel interfaces that exploit iTouch's unique motion sensor and multitouch screen, such as Rolando, Radius and Bloom. Many games have free "light" versions, with more levels or features in the paid versions.
MacInTouch reviewed the original iPod Touch in 2007, concluding that the device — essentially an iPhone sans phone and camera — served as a feature-rich iPod and the least-expensive way to explore the revolutionary "multitouch" interface that made the iPhone so famous. The "iTouch", as it's sometimes dubbed, had the interface, operating system and most of the hardware of the iPhone, while bypassing the 2-year AT&T contract, a $1680+ pre-requisite for the iPhone in the U.S.
The original iPod Touch lacked email and applications (other than Web apps via its Mobile Safari browser), and it had other deficiencies, as well: no volume buttons, no speaker, no camera and no Bluetooth, although it featured WiFi networking, along with USB. As a media player, this iPod Touch was limited to 8 or 16 GB of storage vs. the iPod Classic's 80 or 160 GB capacity.
Today's second-generation iPod Touch improves a bit upon the original hardware, but it was the 2008 introduction of Apple's iTunes App Store that has turned the device into a full-fledged mobile computer with tens of thousands of third-party applications available.
To date, the iPod Touch is the only device other than the iPhone that works on Apple's mobile application platform. And that is the reason to buy one.
Platform
The iPod Touch uses the same operating system as the iPhone, which is a (massively) slimmed-down version of the "OS X" operating system used for Apple's Macintosh computers. The Mobile Safari browser is based on Apple's desktop Safari browser (though it doesn't support Flash content), but the user interface is completely different. The iPhone/iPod Touch UI is designed from the ground-up for fingers and small screens rather than the mice and relatively large screens of desktop and laptop computers, and every other phone vendor has been scrambling to catch up with it. [See our first iPod Touch review for more details about the underlying hardware platform and user interface, as well as our iPhone reviews, listed in the "Links" section below.]
In 2008, the year after the iPod Touch's debut, Apple rolled out "OS 2.0" for its mobile platform (dropping "X" from its name). Aside from some performance improvements and bug fixes, the real news was support for Apple's new iTunes App Store, which opened up a whole world of third-party apps, drastically expanding the usefulness of the device and justifying many more purchases.
In other words, iPod Touch is not a Walkman-like, single-purpose device. It is an evolving, general purpose computing platform that fits in the palm of your hand.
OS 3.0
iPhone OS 3.0 is due this summer. Like OS 2.0, it should run on all previous iPod Touch models, with an upgrade price of $9.95. Apple gave a public preview, focussing on features for developers but also showcasing new features for end users. Notable enhancements include MMS messaging (to support sending and receiving pictures, contacts, audio messages and map locations); voice memos; calendaring enhancements; cut-and-paste (like Mac OS X has); and a new Spotlight system for searching the iPod's contents (including third party app data, if the developer writes a plug-in).
Other anticipated features include WiFi auto-login, support for Stereo Bluetooth headphones, Notes sync, Safari anti-phishing security improvements and form auto-fill, improved parental controls, true YouTube login, and the ability to get movies and TV shows directly from Apple's store without having to use your Mac or PC to buy-and-sync them over iTunes.
Apple also promises a developers' interface to the Dock port in OS 3.0 for enabling custom hardware and software access — think audio recording, data acquisition, 3G cellular data or fax modems... and ultimately anything the homebrew hardware community can dream up! (A little keyboard, like the fold-up ones that used to be made for the Palm III and Palm V series, would be quite welcome.)
But, as we await OS 3.0, what does the second-generation iPod Touch have for you today?
Hardware
The second-generation iPod Touch (available with 8, 16 or 32 GB of memory) adds external volume controls and a speaker for sound effects. It also has a faster processor, although Apple doesn't mention this in any of its marketing materials. We found that applications launch faster, Safari displays web pages faster, email fetches faster and everything feels quicker. When running the same apps side-by-side with an iPhone 3G, the second-generation iPod Touch was a clear winner — faster and more responsive. (It probably doesn't hurt that the iTouch doesn't have to run the cell phone communication software in the background like iPhone does... but that software spends most of its time idle on iPhone anyway.)
The speaker is hidden inside the headphone jack. It has a much smaller opening to broadcast its sound than the iPhone, so it's a lot quieter. But it's adequate for casual gaming, and makes the alarm and timer functions useful, finally. The iPod Touch makes a pretty good alarm clock; just make sure the volume is turned up before you go to bed!
The newer iTouch has a lower-capacity battery than the original, yet claims longer life — 36 hours of music vs. the original's 22 hours, and 6 hours of video playback vs. 5 hours. We didn't perform an exhaustive test, but we did watch TV shows for a couple of hours on a plane flight (with the volume up to overcome aircraft noise) and noted the battery indicator was still more than half-full at the end. This follows the trend of Apple's previous iPods; with time, more power-efficient electronics enable longer operation with smaller batteries.
While the second-generation iPod Touch adds Bluetooth hardware, you can't do anything with it yet. Apple says the upcoming OS 3.0 will enable it to support stereo Bluetooth headphones. Third party developers will be able to use it, too — for multiplayer games among iPods, exchanging virtual business card, or whatever else they think up. This flexibility limits interoperability, though; it doesn't use the standard Bluetooth OBEX protocol for sending data objects, so it won't work with non-Apple devices.
Additionally, the new iPod Touch supports the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which previously worked only with the iPod Nano.
Limits and Potential
The iTouch platform has distinct hardware limits compared to its desktop computer predecessors. It has just 128 MB of memory for the system and apps to share, and no virtual memory to handle overflow. So, even though the core OS supports memory protection, pre-emptive multitasking and other basics of modern computing, Apple has had to place sharp limits on third-party applications.
The limit that most affects end users is non-Apple apps cannot run in the background, like they can on a Mac or PC. This effect is usually unnoticed by users because most iTouch apps compensate by launching and quitting quickly, and preserve the user state as much as possible. But, you can't run apps that provide instant messaging or Internet radio while you surf the web or read email.
Apple has announced a "notification framework" for developers that partly addresses this. Developers can use Apple's servers to send notifications to iTouch applications, including text popups, sound effects and badge icons — just like Apple's Mail and Calendar alerts. This is a viable solution for server-driven applications such as instant messaging, banking alerts, and scheduling.
The notifications system is currently in pre-release testing with developers; apps using this will be released after OS 3.0 this summer.
But, this still doesn't address the desire for true background apps for apps like Internet radio. The big problem, says Apple, is the effect on battery life. On Windows Mobile and Android smartphone platforms, running a background instant messaging application can reduce battery life by as much as 80% — not exactly a great user experience.
There are credible rumors that Apple is working on this, with ideas ranging from Apple allowing backgrounding on a case-by-case basis, to special Home Screen designs enabling users to manage backgrounding, but nothing has been announced yet.
Software and Services
The second-generation iPod Touch includes more Apple applications than the original did. Email is now built-in, with support for IMAP, POP and Microsoft Exchange servers. MobileMe subscribers, Exchange users and Yahoo Mail users can get "push" email notifications, so email arrives on your iTouch as soon as it arrives at the server.
Apple's Calendar and Contacts apps work as stand-alone tools but are much more useful when integrated with desktop calendaring. iTunes syncs over USB between iCal on the Mac or Outlook calendars and address books on Windows. Apple's MobileMe subscription service "pushes" automatic updates "over-the-air", as long as you're within range of a WiFi network, for $99/year ($67 at Amazon). Exchange users get calendar and contact sync for free — assuming they have a corporate Exchange server. (MobileMe also includes email, web hosting, plus photo- and video-sharing services.)
There is also a free option for anyone with a Gmail account: Google has implemented part of Microsoft's Exchange protocol for Google Calendar and the Gmail address book. We experienced a few glitches with it. When importing the Mac Address Book using a Google tool, all addresses, emails and phone numbers of type "Other" (rather than Work, Home, Mobile) failed to appear in Google's address book (and thus didn't carry through to the iPod Touch Contacts database). And, after a few weeks, one Google Calendar simply disappeared from the iPod Touch; we had to reset the device using iTunes and re-set up Google sync to fix this.
"Push" email isn't available from Google either. For that, you'll have to use Apple's MobileMe, a real Exchange server or Yahoo Mail. Now over its initial teething pains, MobileMe seems to provide more reliable data sync, not to mention much easier setup.
iTunes App Store
Like its predecessor, the second-generation iPod Touch plays music, movies, TV shows and podcasts. But, with iPhone OS 2, you can now buy music and download podcasts directly from the iPod Touch, accessing the iTunes Store over WiFi with no Mac or PC intermediary required. (OS 3.0 this summer will add support for buying movies and TV shows too.)
In contrast with other "iPods", the iTunes App Store is where the iPod Touch's real value lies. With tens of thousands of applications written in the past year, and more appearing daily, you can find all kinds of things you might need. For example, Apple neglected to provide any sort of to-do list in its software package, but there are dozens of these applications available at the App Store, ranging from free and simple to expensive and feature-rich.
You name it; someone wrote it, and you can get it: Games. Instant messaging. Fitness goals. Diet tracking. Movie listings. A koi pond. Wine databases. Frommer's travel guides. Alternate web browsers. Birth contraction tracking. Algebra tutors. Yoga guides. The New York Times. Zip code lookup. Instrument simulations. Brewing calculators. Slick Wikipedia front-ends. Live major league baseball coverage. Databases of gluten-free foods and restaurants. A bubble level. Stupid fart jokes. (Sadly, we're not kidding about that last one.)
You can access the App Store directly on your iPod Touch over WiFi or within iTunes on your Mac or PC. iTunes provides a richer environment for browsing, but to subsequently move apps onto your iPod Touch, you'll have to sync via the USB cable. If you purchase on the iTouch itself, it downloads over WiFi, and the next time you plug into your Mac or PC via USB, iTunes copies a backup of the apps you've purchased onto your Mac. (Note that apps you purchase can be used on up to five iPod Touch or iPhones registered to your iTunes account.)
The App Store controls all distribution and sales for iTouch apps — it's a convenient one-stop shop, but it's also the only store in town. And while you can browse and search the App Store freely on your iPod Touch, you must create an AppleID/iTunes Account to download even free apps.
Apple has a vested interest in the App Store — the company takes a 30% cut of every sale. At a recent Apple quarterly financials call, CEO Steve Jobs said the App Store does a gross revenue of $1 million per day. That makes Apple's cut something like $109,500,000 a year — and growing — not a large fraction of Apple's $10 billion per quarter revenue, but nothing to sneer at either.
Apple controls exactly what appears in the store too. Every developer must be approved by Apple before their products can go on sale, and all third party apps are reviewed by Apple for compatibility, security and content.
In theory, this ensures that no dangerous software makes it onto your iPod, but the review process is not very consistent. Applications have been blocked because they accessed "objectionable" content that wasn't actually part of the app. For example, the popular Twitter client Tweetie had an update blocked, because a popular Twitter topic that day involved a "dirty" word, and so appeared in the "Trending" list that Twitter sent to Tweetie. And, more recently, nin: access, an app from industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, was blocked for providing access to the same music sold by Apple in the iTunes Store.
Most recently, the Eucalyptus e-book reader that accesses the Project Gutenberg archive of free books was blocked because the Apple reviewer searched for the Kama Sutra on his own initiative. Each of these cases has been resolved successfully in the end, but they highlight the degree of control Apple exercises over developers for the iTouch platform.
This total control over the iTouch ecosystem is a bit worrisome. But the experience as a customer is so compelling that we have bought in, purchasing and downloading dozens of paid and free apps for this iPod Touch. These applications turn it from an expensive toy into an incredibly useful tool (not to mention a great little gaming device).
Jailbreaking
Before Apple introduced its App Store, there was a thriving community of "jailbreak" developers, who figured out how to bypass Apple's iPhone/iTouch lock-down in order to write their own software applications for the devices. Now, many applications originally developed for the jailbroken iTouch have migrated to "legitimate" App Store apps. Still, jailbreaking remains alive and well, as there are always those who want iPod Touch to do even more than Apple has allowed so far — such as running background applications to play Internet radio while checking email, or recording audio from microphones hacked into the Dock port.
Ultimately, jailbreaking is beyond the scope of this review, but if you're feeling adventurous, there is an active community to help you break out of iPod Touch's remaining limits.
Hands-on
In the hand, the latest iPod Touch feels just right; its gently-curved back lays nicely in the fingers, like the iPhone 3G but even slimmer. Its shiny metal back is prone to scratching, like all the classic iPods. Apple includes a microfiber polishing cloth, which we use as much for the metal back as for cleaning the glass face where you manipulate the user interface with your fingers.
As described in the MacInTouch review of the original iPod Touch, this interface is nothing like using a desktop computer. Instead, the iPod Touch is a unique, gesture-driven, tiny tablet that has to be experienced first-hand (if you're not already familiar with the iPhone). It's a compelling experience in which you directly manipulate everything on-screen, without the disconnected tools of mouse and keyboard. It's the first commercially successful computer that takes advantage of tools we have decades of experience using: our fingertips.
On the downside, the device's home screen doesn't scale well to the dozens and dozens of apps that the App Store encourages acquiring. (It's a little like flipping through a notepad without an index.) Some better organization scheme is clearly needed, but there's no word yet from Apple about having anything helpful in the works.
Battery life seems as good as advertised. With heavy daily use for email, calendaring, web browsing, and light gaming, our test unit wanted to be charged a couple times a week.
iTunes
Any urge to rip the packaging off and start playing with your new toy immediately is quickly thwarted. Like all other iPods, you must first plug it into your Mac or PC and use the latest version of iTunes to set it up. iTunes does make setting up email on the iPod Touch easier, though; it can copy the settings from all of your Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook email accounts to the iTouch, saving you entering server addresses, passwords and ports. It also can copy all of your Safari bookmarks to the iPod Touch and keep them in sync with your desktop as they change over time. (MobileMe subscribers can sync bookmarks wirelessly.) And iTunes backs up your iPod Touch every time you connect it, so if you lose your iPod Touch, you can replace it and restore all your apps and data, just like an iPhone.
Playing music is every iPod's raison d'etre, so audio quality was one of the first things we evaluated after activating the iPod in iTunes. The original iPod Touch had some excess noise in its amplifiers, noticeable during very quiet passages, but Apple seems to have fixed this. We couldn't detect any in the new model. The iPod Touch's improved audio circuitry is masked by mediocre earbuds, however, as with the 3rd generation iPod Shuffle. Using higher quality earbuds is definitely recommended (see links to some favorites at the end of the review).
The iTunes Genius feature, introduced with iTunes 8, works on iPod Touch, and it's great. We occasionally stumped it with obscure international music or little-known local music acts, but for the most part it knew all about our music and created pleasing playlists. As in iTunes, you can save a Genius playlist — the next time you sync, iTunes picks it up (just like it does "On The Go" playlists from other iPods), so you can listen to it on your Mac, PC or other iPods.
CoverFlow, the horizontal album-flipping interface featured on the original iPhone, is even more fluid on the new iPod Touch than it is on an iPhone 3G or earlier devices — perhaps thanks to the new, faster processor.
Display
As before, the iTouch display is remarkably bright and crisp with 167-pixel/in. resolution (a finer dot pitch than Apple's desktop displays use). Though the iPod Touch can't play HD video like a desktop Mac, its display is only a quarter the size of HD, so this isn't really a deficiency. Apple's iTunes Store includes iPhone/iTouch-compatible files along with HD video downloads, and we watched TV shows purchased from the store.
Safari and WiFi
Safari is faster and snappier than on iPhone 3G. It also appears to cache more content, perhaps due to lacking the memory overhead of cellular network software. Whatever the cause, it doesn't have to reload pages from scratch as often, which dramatically improves the web browsing experience, especially if you use tabs. (We recently discovered iCab Mobile — it's even faster still, and much more feature rich, a bargain at $1.99!)
WiFi 802.11 b/g wireless range is fair; neither exceptionally good nor poor. (There's still no 802.11n support.)
PDA Features
As a PDA, the iPod Touch is weak, with a basic calendar (named "Calendar") and a basic address book ("Contacts") but no task management, no linking or grouping, and no ability to sync its otherwise-handy Notes with a Mac or PC. (Apple says Notes sync is coming with OS 3.0 this summer.)
For those who need more, the App Store can make up for these deficiencies with everything from basic to-do lists to full-fledged project management apps. For the truly hardcore, there are at least five different iTouch apps for the popular Basecamp project management system from 37signals. And, for Mac-based customers, Bento is worth a look; the $4.99 iTouch version can sync with Bento 2 on the Mac over WiFi — it's pretty slick, though version 1.0 was crash-prone in our testing.
Games
Games, first introduced in different form with the iPod Video in 2005, have really come into their own on the iPod Touch platform. Some game developers have even programmed their games to use higher-quality graphics on the faster second generation iPod Touch.
Games range from traditional phone/PDA games, such as Bejeweled, to novel interfaces that exploit iTouch's unique motion sensor and multitouch screen, such as Rolando, Radius and Bloom. Many games have free "light" versions, with more levels or features in the paid versions.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
IS YOUR ROLEX WATCH ORIGINAL?
10 TIPS THAT TELL A REAL ROLEX FROM A FAKE
1.Rolex has never manufactured a watch with a see-through case. If you see a glass-back case on a watch, move on. You’re not looking at a Rolex.
2.Rolex has never fabricated a case or a band with even the smallest amount of rubber. You know it’s a fake if you feel rubber.
3.Skeleton dials display the moving parts of a timepiece. Rolex has never made a skeleton dial.
4.Oyster Perpetual Rolex watches always have a screwed-back case – never a pop-up.
5.Rolex Oysters are fabricated of stainless steel, gold or platinum. Chrome or chrome-plate is never used.
6.Only men’s full-size Rolex watches have day and date features.
7.The case of a Rolex President is platinum, 18-karat yellow or white gold – never stainless steel or two-tone stainless and gold.
8.Rolex watches are not gold-plated – ever. When it comes to gold, a Rolex is either 14 or 18-karat gold.
9.Surprise, surprise. Rolex does indeed, make a quartz movement watch — the perpetual Oyster. But, be careful before you buy. Quartz movement Rolexes comprise fewer than 10% of all Perpetual Oysters. The other 90% are conventional automatic Rolex movements.
10.Rolex is a Swiss company that has in years past manufactured watches in various other countries including the U.S, Mexico, Italy and Venezuela – but never China. A “Chinese-made Rolex” is a genuine fake.
Dayan, who has bought tens of thousands of Rolex watches over the past 16 years says the smartest Rolex collectors seldom concern themselves with how to identify a Rolex watch, “because they depend on industry professionals they trust to guide them.”
ROLEX ‘LAWS TO LIVE BY’
“Rolex pros have ‘laws’ they live by,” says Dayan. They are:
•Never buy a watch on the street.
•Never buy from an Internet dealer – unless the dealer also operates a brick and mortar store situated in a secure, respectable location, preferably in the United States. A customer should always have the option to visit the proprietor’s store to personally inspect a watch. And, a used Rolex, like a new one, should always come with a warranty.
•Never buy Rolex watches in the Far East or Turkey, even if the dealer has a storefront presence.
•Always pay with a credit card – not cash or check. A credit card purchase provides flexibility in case you need to return the watch.
•Never buy a watch on Craig’s List.
1.Rolex has never manufactured a watch with a see-through case. If you see a glass-back case on a watch, move on. You’re not looking at a Rolex.
2.Rolex has never fabricated a case or a band with even the smallest amount of rubber. You know it’s a fake if you feel rubber.
3.Skeleton dials display the moving parts of a timepiece. Rolex has never made a skeleton dial.
4.Oyster Perpetual Rolex watches always have a screwed-back case – never a pop-up.
5.Rolex Oysters are fabricated of stainless steel, gold or platinum. Chrome or chrome-plate is never used.
6.Only men’s full-size Rolex watches have day and date features.
7.The case of a Rolex President is platinum, 18-karat yellow or white gold – never stainless steel or two-tone stainless and gold.
8.Rolex watches are not gold-plated – ever. When it comes to gold, a Rolex is either 14 or 18-karat gold.
9.Surprise, surprise. Rolex does indeed, make a quartz movement watch — the perpetual Oyster. But, be careful before you buy. Quartz movement Rolexes comprise fewer than 10% of all Perpetual Oysters. The other 90% are conventional automatic Rolex movements.
10.Rolex is a Swiss company that has in years past manufactured watches in various other countries including the U.S, Mexico, Italy and Venezuela – but never China. A “Chinese-made Rolex” is a genuine fake.
Dayan, who has bought tens of thousands of Rolex watches over the past 16 years says the smartest Rolex collectors seldom concern themselves with how to identify a Rolex watch, “because they depend on industry professionals they trust to guide them.”
ROLEX ‘LAWS TO LIVE BY’
“Rolex pros have ‘laws’ they live by,” says Dayan. They are:
•Never buy a watch on the street.
•Never buy from an Internet dealer – unless the dealer also operates a brick and mortar store situated in a secure, respectable location, preferably in the United States. A customer should always have the option to visit the proprietor’s store to personally inspect a watch. And, a used Rolex, like a new one, should always come with a warranty.
•Never buy Rolex watches in the Far East or Turkey, even if the dealer has a storefront presence.
•Always pay with a credit card – not cash or check. A credit card purchase provides flexibility in case you need to return the watch.
•Never buy a watch on Craig’s List.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
SAMSUND LAUNCHES LED TV IN INDIA
SAMSUNG INDIA, one of the renowned electronics giants, launched the new and upgraded LED High Definition televisions in the Indian market.
It is the first organisation to introduce the LED TVs in India. The organisation had earlier launched LCD TVs and Plasma TVs. Light Emitting Diode (LED) is an updated version of LCD screens which offers standard quality picture.
The new LED TVs are more energy efficient and environment friendly. The Samsung authorities also announced that LED TVs reduce energy consumption by over 40 per cent.
Samsung India launched 3 LED HD TV Series - Series 6 (40-inch), Series 7 (46-inch), and Series 8 (55-inch). Presently, Series 6 and 7 are available in market, but the Series 8 would be available by May.
The LED HDTV Series features mega contrast ratios (ultra-high contrast ratios). The new television sets use LEDs as their primary light source, avoiding the traditional Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL).
The new LED TV series offer ultra-high contrast ratios, slim depths, artful designs and increased energy savings. The LED HDTV series of Samsung has a number of interesting features to reduce motion blur and image judder.
The Samsung LED series would cost between INR 1.25 to 3.5 lakh, LCD series between INR 17,000-1.7 lakh and Plasma Series between INR 59,000-1.35 lakh.
It is the first organisation to introduce the LED TVs in India. The organisation had earlier launched LCD TVs and Plasma TVs. Light Emitting Diode (LED) is an updated version of LCD screens which offers standard quality picture.
The new LED TVs are more energy efficient and environment friendly. The Samsung authorities also announced that LED TVs reduce energy consumption by over 40 per cent.
Samsung India launched 3 LED HD TV Series - Series 6 (40-inch), Series 7 (46-inch), and Series 8 (55-inch). Presently, Series 6 and 7 are available in market, but the Series 8 would be available by May.
The LED HDTV Series features mega contrast ratios (ultra-high contrast ratios). The new television sets use LEDs as their primary light source, avoiding the traditional Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL).
The new LED TV series offer ultra-high contrast ratios, slim depths, artful designs and increased energy savings. The LED HDTV series of Samsung has a number of interesting features to reduce motion blur and image judder.
The Samsung LED series would cost between INR 1.25 to 3.5 lakh, LCD series between INR 17,000-1.7 lakh and Plasma Series between INR 59,000-1.35 lakh.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
INDIA'S GOOGLE EARTH-BHUVAN
Hi every body today is a golden day for india's space technology as it launched BHUVAN.Bhuvan, an ambitious project of ISRO was started to take Indian images and thematic information in multiple spatial resolutions to people through a web portal through easy access to information on basic natural resources in the geospatial domain. Bhuvan showcases Indian images by the superimposition of IRS satellite imageries on 3D globe. The degree of resolution showcased is based on the points of interest and popularity, but most of the Indian terrain is covered upto at least 5.8 meters of resolution with the least spatial resolution being 55 meters from AWifs Sensor.”It can be downloaded from here www.bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/ TAKE PRIDE IN INDIA'S TECHNOLOGY.But keep in mind that GOOGLE ARE ALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
WHAT IS A LOAN?
A loan is a debt that is usually required to be repaid. There is a borrower and a lender involved in the loan and most often the loan is repaid with interest. Loans have evolved over the years like any good industry would.
Let's take a look at the different types of loans and the terminology involved in getting a loan.
All loans are created based on the Annual Percentage Rate or APR for short. This is the interest rate that will be paid on a loan. APR makes it easier for consumers to compare lenders and their loan options. Interest and fees are how lenders make their money.
When a loan is created it becomes debt to the borrower. Debt is something that is owed. A debt is usually granted with the borrower expected to pay it back plus interest. There are many different types of debts, but in this article we want to look at loans.
Today there are mainly two types of loans, secured and unsecured. A secured loan is most closely associated with a mortgage loan. The lender is loaning money to buy the home with the home itself as security for the loan. If the borrower defaults the mortgage lender can foreclose on the home and use the proceeds to pay back the loan.
Car loans can be secured loans as well. This is known as a title loan. As long as the payments are on time the loan is fine. Once the borrower begins to default on their payments the auto lender may reposes the car and sell it to pay off the loan. Since the lender owns the title they have security in the automobile and can do this.
An unsecured loan is defined as a loan that is not backed by any collateral. An unsecured loan is a greater risk to the lender and generally requires better credit to receive. Some unsecured loans will require a co-signer who is responsible to pay for the loan if the borrower does not make the payments.
Credit Cards are a type of unsecured loans and are revolving charges where interest is charged if the full balance is not paid off each month.
Student loans are another type of loan. Student loans are loans offered to students to assist in payment of the costs of professional education. These loans usually carry lower interests than other loans and are usually issued by the government.
Often they are supplemented by student grants which do not have to be repaid. Because of the high cost of college, and trade schools most students can qualify easier for a student loan or a parent loan to help pay it back.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is known as FAFSA. This is a form that can be filled out every year by students (both undergraduate and graduate) and their parents to determine their eligibility for federal student financial aid. In addition, most states and schools use information from the FAFSA to award non-federal aid.
The FAFSA consists of numerous questions regarding the student's finances, as well as those of his or her family to determine how much they will qualify for.
Along the lines of student loans are Stafford Loans. A Stafford Loan is a student loan offered to students enrolled in American institutions of higher education to help finance their education. The loans are offered under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (with subsequent amendments) and are therefore guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education either directly or through guarantee agencies.
In 1988, Congress renamed the Federal Guaranteed Student Loan program the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan program, in honor of Senator Robert Stafford of Vermont, for his work on higher education.
Another loan that is gaining in popularity and credibility is a payday loan. A payday loan or paycheck advance is a small, short-term loan that helps who is in need of cash before payday.
Payday loans are also sometimes referred to as cash advances, and do not require good credit to get as long as you have a checking account and verifiable income.
Many payday borrowers may not able to repay their loans loan in full at their first paycheck. This leads to loan flipping, which is the practice of renewing a loan at maturity by paying additional fees without reducing the balance owed.
Pawnbrokers are willing to lend money on the value of something. Before payday loans people who needed money would take something to a pawnshop and trade it for a small amount of money less the fee the pawnbroker kept. When you were willing to repay the pawnbroker you would get your item back.
Many pawnshops are full of items that have never been paid back. The pawnshop can sell these and make more money.
This is a few different types of loans and the terminology associated with them. Getting a loan today is easier than in the past because of the many different types of loans and lenders available to cater to every type of customer.
Let's take a look at the different types of loans and the terminology involved in getting a loan.
All loans are created based on the Annual Percentage Rate or APR for short. This is the interest rate that will be paid on a loan. APR makes it easier for consumers to compare lenders and their loan options. Interest and fees are how lenders make their money.
When a loan is created it becomes debt to the borrower. Debt is something that is owed. A debt is usually granted with the borrower expected to pay it back plus interest. There are many different types of debts, but in this article we want to look at loans.
Today there are mainly two types of loans, secured and unsecured. A secured loan is most closely associated with a mortgage loan. The lender is loaning money to buy the home with the home itself as security for the loan. If the borrower defaults the mortgage lender can foreclose on the home and use the proceeds to pay back the loan.
Car loans can be secured loans as well. This is known as a title loan. As long as the payments are on time the loan is fine. Once the borrower begins to default on their payments the auto lender may reposes the car and sell it to pay off the loan. Since the lender owns the title they have security in the automobile and can do this.
An unsecured loan is defined as a loan that is not backed by any collateral. An unsecured loan is a greater risk to the lender and generally requires better credit to receive. Some unsecured loans will require a co-signer who is responsible to pay for the loan if the borrower does not make the payments.
Credit Cards are a type of unsecured loans and are revolving charges where interest is charged if the full balance is not paid off each month.
Student loans are another type of loan. Student loans are loans offered to students to assist in payment of the costs of professional education. These loans usually carry lower interests than other loans and are usually issued by the government.
Often they are supplemented by student grants which do not have to be repaid. Because of the high cost of college, and trade schools most students can qualify easier for a student loan or a parent loan to help pay it back.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is known as FAFSA. This is a form that can be filled out every year by students (both undergraduate and graduate) and their parents to determine their eligibility for federal student financial aid. In addition, most states and schools use information from the FAFSA to award non-federal aid.
The FAFSA consists of numerous questions regarding the student's finances, as well as those of his or her family to determine how much they will qualify for.
Along the lines of student loans are Stafford Loans. A Stafford Loan is a student loan offered to students enrolled in American institutions of higher education to help finance their education. The loans are offered under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (with subsequent amendments) and are therefore guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education either directly or through guarantee agencies.
In 1988, Congress renamed the Federal Guaranteed Student Loan program the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan program, in honor of Senator Robert Stafford of Vermont, for his work on higher education.
Another loan that is gaining in popularity and credibility is a payday loan. A payday loan or paycheck advance is a small, short-term loan that helps who is in need of cash before payday.
Payday loans are also sometimes referred to as cash advances, and do not require good credit to get as long as you have a checking account and verifiable income.
Many payday borrowers may not able to repay their loans loan in full at their first paycheck. This leads to loan flipping, which is the practice of renewing a loan at maturity by paying additional fees without reducing the balance owed.
Pawnbrokers are willing to lend money on the value of something. Before payday loans people who needed money would take something to a pawnshop and trade it for a small amount of money less the fee the pawnbroker kept. When you were willing to repay the pawnbroker you would get your item back.
Many pawnshops are full of items that have never been paid back. The pawnshop can sell these and make more money.
This is a few different types of loans and the terminology associated with them. Getting a loan today is easier than in the past because of the many different types of loans and lenders available to cater to every type of customer.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
MICHAEL SHCUMAKER BACK FROM RETIREMENT
It is now confirmed that the legendary formula one driver has denounced his retirement and at last agreed to make a comeback.He replaces injured ferrari driver filepe massa.Lends come back and make their come back count.Massa was injured himself earlier and cannot compete this year.Schumaker has made this season interesting as this season f f1 was hard hit by various controversies as well as due to global recession.
May this season the formula one legend MICHAEL SCHUMAKER MAKE THE F1 MORE INTERESTING.BYE.
May this season the formula one legend MICHAEL SCHUMAKER MAKE THE F1 MORE INTERESTING.BYE.
WHAT IS Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart,[1] the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.[2] Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases risk of other asbestos-induced cancer.[3] Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma (see asbestos and the law).
The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. It has also been suggested that washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.[2] Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking greatly increases risk of other asbestos-induced cancer.[3] Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma (see asbestos and the law).
The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung. Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Nun paraded half-nude after rape
In a sensational disclosure in the Kandhamal nun rape case, Orissa government has admitted that the victim was paraded half naked after being allegedly
raped at K Nuagaon last year in the riot-hit district.
This was part of the white paper presented by the home department in the Assembly.
The torture on the Catholic nun was described under the heading: 'Some complicated cases and police investigation in 2008'.
Stating that communal riot erupted in Kandhamal in the aftermath of the killing of Laxamananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008, the white paper said "suspected Christians were behind the murder while the Hindus attacked churches and set afire houses of people belonging to the minority community".
During the riots, the report said, Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre at K Nuagaon was set on fire by some anti-socials.
"The inmates of Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre - Father Thomas Chelan and Sister Meena Lalitha Barua - took shelter at the house of one Prahallad Pradhan out of fear," it said.
"About 40 to 50 rioters on August 25, 2008, forcibly entered house of Pradhan and assaulted the Father and the Sister," the report said.
"Some of the rioters lifted the Sister into Jana Bikas Kendra where one of them raped the nun," the report said, adding both the Father and the Sister were later taken to K Nuagaon block office in "half-nude" condition and handed over to the block development officer.
Thereafter, the BDO handed them over to the police, it said.
Maintaining that a case under section 147, 148, 354, 355, 506 And 376 of the IPC was registered at Baliguda police station on August 26, 2008, the report said at least 10 persons were arrested during 2008 in this connection.
The case was being investigated by crime branch of police since October 4, 2008. The clothes and blood sample of the nun was sent to the Kolkata-based Central Forensic Laboratory for DNA test, the report said.
Official sources, however, said 18 persons had so far been arrested in the nun rape case besides holding of two Test Identification Parades.
raped at K Nuagaon last year in the riot-hit district.
This was part of the white paper presented by the home department in the Assembly.
The torture on the Catholic nun was described under the heading: 'Some complicated cases and police investigation in 2008'.
Stating that communal riot erupted in Kandhamal in the aftermath of the killing of Laxamananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008, the white paper said "suspected Christians were behind the murder while the Hindus attacked churches and set afire houses of people belonging to the minority community".
During the riots, the report said, Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre at K Nuagaon was set on fire by some anti-socials.
"The inmates of Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre - Father Thomas Chelan and Sister Meena Lalitha Barua - took shelter at the house of one Prahallad Pradhan out of fear," it said.
"About 40 to 50 rioters on August 25, 2008, forcibly entered house of Pradhan and assaulted the Father and the Sister," the report said.
"Some of the rioters lifted the Sister into Jana Bikas Kendra where one of them raped the nun," the report said, adding both the Father and the Sister were later taken to K Nuagaon block office in "half-nude" condition and handed over to the block development officer.
Thereafter, the BDO handed them over to the police, it said.
Maintaining that a case under section 147, 148, 354, 355, 506 And 376 of the IPC was registered at Baliguda police station on August 26, 2008, the report said at least 10 persons were arrested during 2008 in this connection.
The case was being investigated by crime branch of police since October 4, 2008. The clothes and blood sample of the nun was sent to the Kolkata-based Central Forensic Laboratory for DNA test, the report said.
Official sources, however, said 18 persons had so far been arrested in the nun rape case besides holding of two Test Identification Parades.
BILL GATES IN INDIA
Microsoft founder Bill Gates in India backed the need for more institutions of higher learning and technology transfer in the form of skilled workers between India and US.
And one of India's most ambitious citizens mapping exercise, the Unique ID project, also got approval from him. He suggested that the government put the unique ID for multiple use and make sure that the quality of data is very good. Given the experiences of multiple countries that have rolled out a project of a similar kind, Gates had a few suggestions for the Indian government.
The Bangalore-based India unit of Microsoft Research has completed five years and is now attracting very good talent from across the world. Gates said that India needed to set up more and more such institutions so that research could get a big boost. But with falling number of students opting for higher education, he wants the government to take urgent steps.
Gates also suggested that US government should allow more skilled techies into the country to ensure that the edge of the US is not blunted. The number of visas for techies has fallen from 195,000 earlier to over 65,000 now, choking US companies and institutions.
And one of India's most ambitious citizens mapping exercise, the Unique ID project, also got approval from him. He suggested that the government put the unique ID for multiple use and make sure that the quality of data is very good. Given the experiences of multiple countries that have rolled out a project of a similar kind, Gates had a few suggestions for the Indian government.
The Bangalore-based India unit of Microsoft Research has completed five years and is now attracting very good talent from across the world. Gates said that India needed to set up more and more such institutions so that research could get a big boost. But with falling number of students opting for higher education, he wants the government to take urgent steps.
Gates also suggested that US government should allow more skilled techies into the country to ensure that the edge of the US is not blunted. The number of visas for techies has fallen from 195,000 earlier to over 65,000 now, choking US companies and institutions.
US COPS ARRENT INDIAN ENGINEER
In possibly the first such case involving an Indian in the US, police in Pennsylvania have arrested an Indian engineer on charges of using Internet for soliciting young girls for sex.
In a statement, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said Nityanand Gopalika, 30, who is in the US on a work visa, allegedly, used an Internet chat room to approach what he believed was a 13-year old girl from the Pittsburgh area.
The "girl" was actually an undercover agent from the Child Predator Unit.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit, Gopalika engaged in a series of chats over several days questioning the girl about her sexual experience and describing the sex acts he wished to engage in.
Gopalika is also accused of sending the girl two web cam videos that showed him nude or masturbating in front of his computer.
Gopalika was arrested on July 1 when he arrived at a predetermined meeting location.
Following a search of his vehicle, agents seized two laptop computers, a digital camera, a cell phone allegedly containing a partially completed text message to the "child," directions to the meeting location and a bag of condoms.He was also possessing a large amount of Viagra.
Gopalika was preliminarily arraigned on July 1 and lodged in the Butler County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash bail, pending a preliminary hearing on July 24.
He is charged with one count of attempted unlawful contact with a minor (related to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse), a first-degree felony, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Additionally, Gopalika is charged with two counts of unlawful contact with a minor (related to obscene performances), along with one count of criminal use of a computer, all third-degree felonies which are each punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 fines.
In a statement, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said Nityanand Gopalika, 30, who is in the US on a work visa, allegedly, used an Internet chat room to approach what he believed was a 13-year old girl from the Pittsburgh area.
The "girl" was actually an undercover agent from the Child Predator Unit.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit, Gopalika engaged in a series of chats over several days questioning the girl about her sexual experience and describing the sex acts he wished to engage in.
Gopalika is also accused of sending the girl two web cam videos that showed him nude or masturbating in front of his computer.
Gopalika was arrested on July 1 when he arrived at a predetermined meeting location.
Following a search of his vehicle, agents seized two laptop computers, a digital camera, a cell phone allegedly containing a partially completed text message to the "child," directions to the meeting location and a bag of condoms.He was also possessing a large amount of Viagra.
Gopalika was preliminarily arraigned on July 1 and lodged in the Butler County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash bail, pending a preliminary hearing on July 24.
He is charged with one count of attempted unlawful contact with a minor (related to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse), a first-degree felony, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Additionally, Gopalika is charged with two counts of unlawful contact with a minor (related to obscene performances), along with one count of criminal use of a computer, all third-degree felonies which are each punishable by up to seven years in prison and $15,000 fines.
GANGULY'S SECOND INNINGS AS KKR CAPTAIN
Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders is likely to have Sourav Ganguly back as a captain due to skipper Brendon McCullum's non-availability, according to sources on Saturday.
It has been learnt that Sourav Ganguly and franchisee owner Shah Rukh Khan have discussed KKR captaincy in London.
Controversy-ridden Knight Riders, which floated the idea of 'multiple captaincy' to replace Ganguly with Brendon McCullum a day before the tournament, finished at the bottom of the table in IPL 2009 season.
With Brendon McCullum finding it tough to inspire his struggling team, former cricketers also felt Sourav Ganguly should have been handed back the captaincy of the side.
It has been learnt that Sourav Ganguly and franchisee owner Shah Rukh Khan have discussed KKR captaincy in London.
Controversy-ridden Knight Riders, which floated the idea of 'multiple captaincy' to replace Ganguly with Brendon McCullum a day before the tournament, finished at the bottom of the table in IPL 2009 season.
With Brendon McCullum finding it tough to inspire his struggling team, former cricketers also felt Sourav Ganguly should have been handed back the captaincy of the side.
AT LAST TATA NANO HITS ROADS
The Tata Nano is a rear-engined, four-passenger city car built by Tata Motors, aimed primarily at the Indian market. The car is very fuel efficient, achieving around 26.00km/l on the highway and around 22.00km/l in the city.[4] It was first presented at the 9th annual Auto Expo on 10 January 2008, at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India.[5] Nano had a commercial launch on March 23, 2009 and a booking period from April 9 to April 25, generating more than 200,000 bookings for the car.[6][7] The sales of the car will begin in July 2009,[8] with a starting price of Rs 115,000 (rupees), which is approximately equal to UK£1,467 or US$2,421 as of June 2009. This is cheaper than the Maruti 800, its main competitor and next cheapest Indian car priced at 184,641 Rupees.[9][10][11] Tata had sought to produce the least expensive production car in the world[12] — aiming for a starting price of Rs.100,000 (approximately US$2,000 in June 2009).[13][14]
In early 2008 the news magazine Newsweek identified the Nano as a part of a "new breed of 21st-century cars" that embody "a contrarian philosophy of smaller, lighter, cheaper" and portend a new era in inexpensive personal transportation — and potentially, "global gridlock".[15] The Wall Street Journal confirmed a global trend toward small cars, which includes the Nano.[16]
"Nano" from the SI prefix for one-billionth is often used to mean "small" in colloquial English.[17] Coincidentally, it also means "small" in Gujarati, the language of the founders of the Tata Group.
In early 2008 the news magazine Newsweek identified the Nano as a part of a "new breed of 21st-century cars" that embody "a contrarian philosophy of smaller, lighter, cheaper" and portend a new era in inexpensive personal transportation — and potentially, "global gridlock".[15] The Wall Street Journal confirmed a global trend toward small cars, which includes the Nano.[16]
"Nano" from the SI prefix for one-billionth is often used to mean "small" in colloquial English.[17] Coincidentally, it also means "small" in Gujarati, the language of the founders of the Tata Group.
MICHAEL JACKSON'S HAIR MADE INTO DIAMONDS
Since Michael Jackson's sudden death on June 25, the rumor mill over details of his bizarre personal life has ground away nearly non-stop, and on Friday, one company said it was turning his hair into diamonds. That one is true.
The claims this week included a report in Rolling Stone magazine that a prosthetic nose he wore apparently went missing when he was taken to the morgue, and a British tabloid trumpeted a headline that he fathered a secret love-child.
In one by-product of the "Thriller" singer's death, a Chicago company said on Friday it had obtained some of the hair Jackson burned while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial and planned to create a limited edition of diamonds from it.
"Absolutely this is for real," said Dean VandenBiesen, founder of LifeGem, which has a patent on a process that extracts carbon from hair, turns it into crystals and then into high-quality laboratory diamonds.
VandenBiesen told Reuters he thought the company could make about 10 diamonds. No sale price has been set but VandenBiesen said LifeGem created three diamonds from locks of Beethoven's hair in 2007, and sold one of them for around $200,000.
Separately, the Aug. 6 issue of Rolling Stone magazine reported that not only was the left arm of Jackson's dead body "scored with needle marks" -- claims that have arisen before -- but he wore an artificial nose that was missing when he was taken to the Los Angeles county morgue.
"The prosthesis that he normally attached to his damaged nose was missing, revealing bits of cartilage surrounding a small dark hole," the magazine said in an unsourced report.
While that report could not be confirmed, Los Angeles coroner's officials did say earlier this week they were probing security breaches in their offices.
The coroner's office is expected to release an official cause of death next week which could shed light on some of the reports, including Jackson's possible use of powerful drugs.
And even as custody of Jackson's three children is set to be decided in court on Aug. 3, The Sun newspaper speculated the singer may have had a love-child raised in Norway.
Omer Bhatti, 25, sparked interest when he was spotted sitting with the singer's immediate family at Jackson's public memorial earlier this month. Bhatti reportedly spent time with Jackson at his Neverland Valley Ranch in the 1990s and was known as "Little Michael".
But another of Jackson's former proteges, singer Ricky Harlow, told celebrity website People.com on Friday that although they were close he doubted Bhatti was Jackson's son.
"They had a father-and-son type of connection," Harlow, 26, told People, "but I never thought he (Jackson) was his biological father."
In Jackson's 2002 will, the singer listed only three children now living: Prince Michael Jackson, Jr, Paris Michael Kathering Jackson and Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II.
The claims this week included a report in Rolling Stone magazine that a prosthetic nose he wore apparently went missing when he was taken to the morgue, and a British tabloid trumpeted a headline that he fathered a secret love-child.
In one by-product of the "Thriller" singer's death, a Chicago company said on Friday it had obtained some of the hair Jackson burned while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial and planned to create a limited edition of diamonds from it.
"Absolutely this is for real," said Dean VandenBiesen, founder of LifeGem, which has a patent on a process that extracts carbon from hair, turns it into crystals and then into high-quality laboratory diamonds.
VandenBiesen told Reuters he thought the company could make about 10 diamonds. No sale price has been set but VandenBiesen said LifeGem created three diamonds from locks of Beethoven's hair in 2007, and sold one of them for around $200,000.
Separately, the Aug. 6 issue of Rolling Stone magazine reported that not only was the left arm of Jackson's dead body "scored with needle marks" -- claims that have arisen before -- but he wore an artificial nose that was missing when he was taken to the Los Angeles county morgue.
"The prosthesis that he normally attached to his damaged nose was missing, revealing bits of cartilage surrounding a small dark hole," the magazine said in an unsourced report.
While that report could not be confirmed, Los Angeles coroner's officials did say earlier this week they were probing security breaches in their offices.
The coroner's office is expected to release an official cause of death next week which could shed light on some of the reports, including Jackson's possible use of powerful drugs.
And even as custody of Jackson's three children is set to be decided in court on Aug. 3, The Sun newspaper speculated the singer may have had a love-child raised in Norway.
Omer Bhatti, 25, sparked interest when he was spotted sitting with the singer's immediate family at Jackson's public memorial earlier this month. Bhatti reportedly spent time with Jackson at his Neverland Valley Ranch in the 1990s and was known as "Little Michael".
But another of Jackson's former proteges, singer Ricky Harlow, told celebrity website People.com on Friday that although they were close he doubted Bhatti was Jackson's son.
"They had a father-and-son type of connection," Harlow, 26, told People, "but I never thought he (Jackson) was his biological father."
In Jackson's 2002 will, the singer listed only three children now living: Prince Michael Jackson, Jr, Paris Michael Kathering Jackson and Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II.
WHAT IS WEB HOSTING
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation.
Contents [hide]
1 Service scope
2 Hosting reliability and uptime
3 Types of hosting
4 Obtaining hosting
5 See also
6 References
Service scope
The scope of hosting services varies widely. The most basic is web page and small-scale file hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are usually delivered to the Web "as is" or with little processing. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service free to their subscribers. People can also obtain Web page hosting from other, alternative service providers. Personal web site hosting is typically free, advertisement-sponsored, or cheap. Business web site hosting often has a higher expense.
Single page hosting is generally sufficient only for personal web pages. A complex site calls for a more comprehensive package that provides database support and application development platforms (e.g. PHP, Java, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, and ASP.NET). These facilities allow the customers to write or install scripts for applications like forums and content management. For e-commerce, SSL is also highly recommended.
The host may also provide an interface or control panel for managing the Web server and installing scripts as well as other services like e-mail. Some hosts specialize in certain software or services (e.g. e-commerce). They are commonly used by larger companies to outsource network infrastructure to a hosting company.
[edit]Hosting reliability and uptime
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)
Multiple racks of servers.
Hosting uptime refers to the percentage of time the host is accessible via the internet. Many providers state that they aim for at least 99.9% uptime (roughly equivalent to 45 minutes of downtime a month, or less), but there may be server restarts and planned (or unplanned) maintenance in any hosting environment, which may or may not be considered part of the official uptime promise.
Many providers tie uptime and accessibility into their own service level agreement (SLA). SLAs sometimes include refunds or reduced costs if performance goals are not Types of hosting
A typical server "rack," commonly seen in colocation centres.
Internet hosting services can run Web servers; see Internet hosting services.
Hosting services limited to the Web:
Many large companies who are not internet service providers also need a computer permanently connected to the web so they can send email, files, etc. to other sites. They may also use the computer as a website host so they can provide details of their goods and services to anyone interested. Additionally these people may decide to place online orders.
Free web hosting service: Free web hosting is offered by different companies with limited services, sometimes advertisement-supported web hosting, and is often limited when compared to paid hosting.
Shared web hosting service: one's Web site is placed on the same server as many other sites, ranging from a few to hundreds or thousands. Typically, all domains may share a common pool of server resources, such as RAM and the CPU. The features available with this type of service can be quite extensive. A shared website may be hosted with a reseller.
Reseller web hosting: allows clients to become web hosts themselves. Resellers could function, for individual domains, under any combination of these listed types of hosting, depending on who they are affiliated with as a provider. Resellers' accounts may vary tremendously in size: they may have their own virtual dedicated server to a collocated server. Many resellers provide a nearly identical service to their provider's shared hosting plan and provide the technical support themselves.
Virtual Dedicated Server: also known as a Virtual Private Server (VPS for short) divides server resources into virtual servers, where resources can be allocated in a way that does not directly reflect the underlying hardware. VPS will often be allocated resources based on a one server to many VPSs relationship, however virtualisation may be done for a number of reasons, including the ability to move a VPS container between servers. The users may have root access to their own virtual space. This is also known as a virtual private server or VPS. Customers are sometimes responsible for patching and maintaining the server.
Dedicated hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server and gains full control over it (root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, the user typically does not own the server. Another type of Dedicated hosting is Self-Managed or Unmanaged. This is usually the least expensive for Dedicated plans. The user has full administrative access to the box, which means the client is responsible for the security and maintenance of his own dedicated box.
Managed hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server but is not allowed full control over it (root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, they are allowed to manage their data via FTP or other remote management tools. The user is disallowed full control so that the provider can guarantee quality of service by not allowing the user to modify the server or potentially create configuration problems. The user typically does not own the server. The server is leased to the client.
Colocation web hosting service: similar to the dedicated web hosting service, but the user owns the colo server; the hosting company provides physical space that the server takes up and takes care of the server. This is the most powerful and expensive type of the web hosting service. In most cases, the colocation provider may provide little to no support directly for their client's machine, providing only the electrical, Internet access, and storage facilities for the server. In most cases for colo, the client would have his own administrator visit the data center on site to do any hardware upgrades or changes.
Cloud hosting: is a new type of hosting platform that allows customers powerful, scalable and reliable hosting based on clustered load-balanced servers and utility billing. Removing single-point of failures and allowing customers to pay for only what they use versus what they could use.
Clustered hosting: having multiple servers hosting the same content for better resource utilization. Clustered Servers are a perfect solution for high-availability dedicated hosting, or creating a scalable web hosting solution. A cluster may separate web serving from database hosting capability.
Grid hosting: this form of distributed hosting is when a server cluster acts like a grid and is composed of multiple nodes.
Home server: usually a single machine placed in a private residence can be used to host one or more web sites from a usually consumer-grade broadband connection. These can be purpose-built machines or more commonly old PCs. Some ISPs actively attempt to block home servers by disallowing incoming requests to TCP port 80 of the user's connection and by refusing to provide static IP addresses. A common way to attain a reliable DNS hostname is by creating an account with a dynamic DNS service. A dynamic DNS service will automatically change the IP address that a URL points to when the IP address changes.
Some specific types of hosting provided by web host service providers:
File hosting service: hosts files, not web pages
Image hosting service
Video hosting service
Blog hosting service
One-click hosting
Pastebin Hosts text snippets
Shopping cart software
Obtaining hosting
Web hosting is often provided as part of a general Internet access plan; there are many free and paid providers offering these services.
A customer needs to evaluate the requirements of the application to choose what kind of hosting to use. Such considerations include database server software, scripting software, and operating system. Most hosting providers provide Linux-based web hosting which offers a wide range of different software. A typical configuration for a Linux server is the LAMP platform: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. The webhosting client may want to have other services, such as email for their business domain, databases or multi-media services for streaming media. A customer may also choose Windows as the hosting platform. The customer still can choose from PHP, Perl, and Python but may also use ASP .Net or Classic ASP.
Web hosting packages often include a Web Content Management System, so the end-user doesn't have to worry about the more technical aspects. These Web Content Management systems are great for the average user, but for those who want more control over their website design, this feature may not be adequate.
Most modern desktop operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) are also capable of running web server software, and thus can be used to host basic websites.
One may also search the Internet to find active webhosting message boards and forums that may provide feedback on what type of webhosting company may suit his/her needs. However some of these message boards and forums will require not only registration, but a paid subscription to be able to access the sections and sub forums with such information.
Contents [hide]
1 Service scope
2 Hosting reliability and uptime
3 Types of hosting
4 Obtaining hosting
5 See also
6 References
Service scope
The scope of hosting services varies widely. The most basic is web page and small-scale file hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are usually delivered to the Web "as is" or with little processing. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service free to their subscribers. People can also obtain Web page hosting from other, alternative service providers. Personal web site hosting is typically free, advertisement-sponsored, or cheap. Business web site hosting often has a higher expense.
Single page hosting is generally sufficient only for personal web pages. A complex site calls for a more comprehensive package that provides database support and application development platforms (e.g. PHP, Java, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, and ASP.NET). These facilities allow the customers to write or install scripts for applications like forums and content management. For e-commerce, SSL is also highly recommended.
The host may also provide an interface or control panel for managing the Web server and installing scripts as well as other services like e-mail. Some hosts specialize in certain software or services (e.g. e-commerce). They are commonly used by larger companies to outsource network infrastructure to a hosting company.
[edit]Hosting reliability and uptime
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)
Multiple racks of servers.
Hosting uptime refers to the percentage of time the host is accessible via the internet. Many providers state that they aim for at least 99.9% uptime (roughly equivalent to 45 minutes of downtime a month, or less), but there may be server restarts and planned (or unplanned) maintenance in any hosting environment, which may or may not be considered part of the official uptime promise.
Many providers tie uptime and accessibility into their own service level agreement (SLA). SLAs sometimes include refunds or reduced costs if performance goals are not Types of hosting
A typical server "rack," commonly seen in colocation centres.
Internet hosting services can run Web servers; see Internet hosting services.
Hosting services limited to the Web:
Many large companies who are not internet service providers also need a computer permanently connected to the web so they can send email, files, etc. to other sites. They may also use the computer as a website host so they can provide details of their goods and services to anyone interested. Additionally these people may decide to place online orders.
Free web hosting service: Free web hosting is offered by different companies with limited services, sometimes advertisement-supported web hosting, and is often limited when compared to paid hosting.
Shared web hosting service: one's Web site is placed on the same server as many other sites, ranging from a few to hundreds or thousands. Typically, all domains may share a common pool of server resources, such as RAM and the CPU. The features available with this type of service can be quite extensive. A shared website may be hosted with a reseller.
Reseller web hosting: allows clients to become web hosts themselves. Resellers could function, for individual domains, under any combination of these listed types of hosting, depending on who they are affiliated with as a provider. Resellers' accounts may vary tremendously in size: they may have their own virtual dedicated server to a collocated server. Many resellers provide a nearly identical service to their provider's shared hosting plan and provide the technical support themselves.
Virtual Dedicated Server: also known as a Virtual Private Server (VPS for short) divides server resources into virtual servers, where resources can be allocated in a way that does not directly reflect the underlying hardware. VPS will often be allocated resources based on a one server to many VPSs relationship, however virtualisation may be done for a number of reasons, including the ability to move a VPS container between servers. The users may have root access to their own virtual space. This is also known as a virtual private server or VPS. Customers are sometimes responsible for patching and maintaining the server.
Dedicated hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server and gains full control over it (root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, the user typically does not own the server. Another type of Dedicated hosting is Self-Managed or Unmanaged. This is usually the least expensive for Dedicated plans. The user has full administrative access to the box, which means the client is responsible for the security and maintenance of his own dedicated box.
Managed hosting service: the user gets his or her own Web server but is not allowed full control over it (root access for Linux/administrator access for Windows); however, they are allowed to manage their data via FTP or other remote management tools. The user is disallowed full control so that the provider can guarantee quality of service by not allowing the user to modify the server or potentially create configuration problems. The user typically does not own the server. The server is leased to the client.
Colocation web hosting service: similar to the dedicated web hosting service, but the user owns the colo server; the hosting company provides physical space that the server takes up and takes care of the server. This is the most powerful and expensive type of the web hosting service. In most cases, the colocation provider may provide little to no support directly for their client's machine, providing only the electrical, Internet access, and storage facilities for the server. In most cases for colo, the client would have his own administrator visit the data center on site to do any hardware upgrades or changes.
Cloud hosting: is a new type of hosting platform that allows customers powerful, scalable and reliable hosting based on clustered load-balanced servers and utility billing. Removing single-point of failures and allowing customers to pay for only what they use versus what they could use.
Clustered hosting: having multiple servers hosting the same content for better resource utilization. Clustered Servers are a perfect solution for high-availability dedicated hosting, or creating a scalable web hosting solution. A cluster may separate web serving from database hosting capability.
Grid hosting: this form of distributed hosting is when a server cluster acts like a grid and is composed of multiple nodes.
Home server: usually a single machine placed in a private residence can be used to host one or more web sites from a usually consumer-grade broadband connection. These can be purpose-built machines or more commonly old PCs. Some ISPs actively attempt to block home servers by disallowing incoming requests to TCP port 80 of the user's connection and by refusing to provide static IP addresses. A common way to attain a reliable DNS hostname is by creating an account with a dynamic DNS service. A dynamic DNS service will automatically change the IP address that a URL points to when the IP address changes.
Some specific types of hosting provided by web host service providers:
File hosting service: hosts files, not web pages
Image hosting service
Video hosting service
Blog hosting service
One-click hosting
Pastebin Hosts text snippets
Shopping cart software
Obtaining hosting
Web hosting is often provided as part of a general Internet access plan; there are many free and paid providers offering these services.
A customer needs to evaluate the requirements of the application to choose what kind of hosting to use. Such considerations include database server software, scripting software, and operating system. Most hosting providers provide Linux-based web hosting which offers a wide range of different software. A typical configuration for a Linux server is the LAMP platform: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. The webhosting client may want to have other services, such as email for their business domain, databases or multi-media services for streaming media. A customer may also choose Windows as the hosting platform. The customer still can choose from PHP, Perl, and Python but may also use ASP .Net or Classic ASP.
Web hosting packages often include a Web Content Management System, so the end-user doesn't have to worry about the more technical aspects. These Web Content Management systems are great for the average user, but for those who want more control over their website design, this feature may not be adequate.
Most modern desktop operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) are also capable of running web server software, and thus can be used to host basic websites.
One may also search the Internet to find active webhosting message boards and forums that may provide feedback on what type of webhosting company may suit his/her needs. However some of these message boards and forums will require not only registration, but a paid subscription to be able to access the sections and sub forums with such information.
LUCK REVIEW
Fasten your seat belts and get ready for hardcore stunts and thrills, Hollywood ishtyle. Come to think of it, Bollywood hasn't churned out stylised action movies as regularly as it churns out comedies and rom-coms. There's a vacuum for sure. But Luck fills that lacuna. Be rest assured, you haven't watched such thrills since Dhoom 2.
Buzz up!
Luck is more of a hi-concept film. Three decades ago, Krishna Shah's Shalimar narrated the adventures of a billionaire who assembles/invites criminals/gangsters from across the globe to perform the heist of a precious diamond that he possesses. The concept isn't similar here, but in this case too, a gambler assembles people from across the globe for a concept called human betting.
Luck may not be high on story, but the concept and at least four stylised thrilling sequences make a big difference. Simply put, it makes Luck lucky. Luck may have loads of thrills, but director Soham Shah ensures that the grand canvas and stylised thrills appeal to every strata of movie-going audience. Only thing, had screenplay writers Soham Shah and Rensil D'Silva worked doubly hard to come up with a watertight script, it would've only worked wonders.
After weighing the pros and cons, it can be said that Luck rides on star power, its concept and adrenaline-pumping thrills primarily. If you're into thrillers or have been missing one, Luck holds the key. Luck tells the tale of mafia kingpin Musa [Sanjay Dutt], who has one obsession: To revolutionize the betting industry. For him, life is a gamble and what better way to skew the odds than play with those with luck on their side.
Different characters from different parts of the world, each with Lady Luck in their favour, are brought in to play the game of death. With millions at stake, how far will each of them go in courting danger and deceit? The very start of the film transports you to a different world. The viewer is drawn into a world where bets are placed on humans and death-defying stunts are the order of the day. The train sequence at the very start says it all. It's a sequence that not only introduces you to the plot, but also makes a hammer-strong impact. You haven't watched something like this on the Hindi screen before.
The game of death is far more dangerous than those witnessed in the reality shows. The revolver sequence [the first challenge], the helicopter jump, the underwater sequence with sharks and the train sequence in the climax give you goose bumps and remain etched in your memory. There's a scene involving a lighter too, which is sure to draw whistles and claps.
But the film slips due its ineffectual writing. It gyrates from engrossing to bas-theek-hain towards the second hour. The romantic track, to be specific, is flaccid. Also, the climax should've concluded the moment Imran wins the jackpot money of Rs. 20 crores. Wasn't that his motive when he entered the game with his eyes wide open? So why this sudden urge to confront Sanjay Dutt after the game is over? Had the prize money doubled to Rs. 40 crores, it would've made sense. Or, for that matter, if he had a personal score to settle with Sanju, the game of death would've looked plausible. There's no motive in the first place.
Moreover, the sequence in the hospital, towards the end, may be true, medically speaking, but the question is, was it necessary in a film of this genre? Frankly, it robs the film of its seriousness and even compels you to break in a full-throated roar, a reaction that is completely unwarranted. Even Shruti Haasan's double role doesn't cut ice.
Soham Shah has made a stylish film and the fact remains that he has an eye for visuals. But Soham should've stuck to the spirit of the film, instead of getting into diversions [romance and the penultimate scene]. Salim-Sulaiman's music is vibrant and 'Aasma' is easily the pick of the lot. The background score [Amar Mohile] is electrifying. Santosh Thundiyil's cinematography matches international standards. Ditto for the sound design by Dwarak Warrier. Allan Amin's stunts and thrills are a major USP.
Sanju is perfect for this part and enacts it with natural ease. Actually, here's one role that only he could've portrayed so effectively. Imran is getting better with every film. Watch his helplessness at the start or his confidence when he takes to the stunts. Even towards the latter reels, he's very much in sync with his character. Shruti Haasan is a star, no two opinions on that. The confidence with which she carries off this role just cannot be overlooked. Ravi Kishan is another scene-stealer. You are under the impression that he may get lost in the crowd, but he stands tall. The masses will love him.
Mithun Chakraborty is controlled and delivers a truly fine performance. Danny Denzongpa is, as always, so perfect. Very few actors have that ability to stand out in a crowd. He's one of them. Chitrashi is excellent. The sequence in the hospital is superb. Rati Agnihotri gets no scope.
On the whole, Luck rides on star power, adrenaline-pumping thrills and a concept that's novel for the Indian screens. Despite some loose ends, these three factors primarily would ensure a Lucky journey at the box-office.
Buzz up!
Luck is more of a hi-concept film. Three decades ago, Krishna Shah's Shalimar narrated the adventures of a billionaire who assembles/invites criminals/gangsters from across the globe to perform the heist of a precious diamond that he possesses. The concept isn't similar here, but in this case too, a gambler assembles people from across the globe for a concept called human betting.
Luck may not be high on story, but the concept and at least four stylised thrilling sequences make a big difference. Simply put, it makes Luck lucky. Luck may have loads of thrills, but director Soham Shah ensures that the grand canvas and stylised thrills appeal to every strata of movie-going audience. Only thing, had screenplay writers Soham Shah and Rensil D'Silva worked doubly hard to come up with a watertight script, it would've only worked wonders.
After weighing the pros and cons, it can be said that Luck rides on star power, its concept and adrenaline-pumping thrills primarily. If you're into thrillers or have been missing one, Luck holds the key. Luck tells the tale of mafia kingpin Musa [Sanjay Dutt], who has one obsession: To revolutionize the betting industry. For him, life is a gamble and what better way to skew the odds than play with those with luck on their side.
Different characters from different parts of the world, each with Lady Luck in their favour, are brought in to play the game of death. With millions at stake, how far will each of them go in courting danger and deceit? The very start of the film transports you to a different world. The viewer is drawn into a world where bets are placed on humans and death-defying stunts are the order of the day. The train sequence at the very start says it all. It's a sequence that not only introduces you to the plot, but also makes a hammer-strong impact. You haven't watched something like this on the Hindi screen before.
The game of death is far more dangerous than those witnessed in the reality shows. The revolver sequence [the first challenge], the helicopter jump, the underwater sequence with sharks and the train sequence in the climax give you goose bumps and remain etched in your memory. There's a scene involving a lighter too, which is sure to draw whistles and claps.
But the film slips due its ineffectual writing. It gyrates from engrossing to bas-theek-hain towards the second hour. The romantic track, to be specific, is flaccid. Also, the climax should've concluded the moment Imran wins the jackpot money of Rs. 20 crores. Wasn't that his motive when he entered the game with his eyes wide open? So why this sudden urge to confront Sanjay Dutt after the game is over? Had the prize money doubled to Rs. 40 crores, it would've made sense. Or, for that matter, if he had a personal score to settle with Sanju, the game of death would've looked plausible. There's no motive in the first place.
Moreover, the sequence in the hospital, towards the end, may be true, medically speaking, but the question is, was it necessary in a film of this genre? Frankly, it robs the film of its seriousness and even compels you to break in a full-throated roar, a reaction that is completely unwarranted. Even Shruti Haasan's double role doesn't cut ice.
Soham Shah has made a stylish film and the fact remains that he has an eye for visuals. But Soham should've stuck to the spirit of the film, instead of getting into diversions [romance and the penultimate scene]. Salim-Sulaiman's music is vibrant and 'Aasma' is easily the pick of the lot. The background score [Amar Mohile] is electrifying. Santosh Thundiyil's cinematography matches international standards. Ditto for the sound design by Dwarak Warrier. Allan Amin's stunts and thrills are a major USP.
Sanju is perfect for this part and enacts it with natural ease. Actually, here's one role that only he could've portrayed so effectively. Imran is getting better with every film. Watch his helplessness at the start or his confidence when he takes to the stunts. Even towards the latter reels, he's very much in sync with his character. Shruti Haasan is a star, no two opinions on that. The confidence with which she carries off this role just cannot be overlooked. Ravi Kishan is another scene-stealer. You are under the impression that he may get lost in the crowd, but he stands tall. The masses will love him.
Mithun Chakraborty is controlled and delivers a truly fine performance. Danny Denzongpa is, as always, so perfect. Very few actors have that ability to stand out in a crowd. He's one of them. Chitrashi is excellent. The sequence in the hospital is superb. Rati Agnihotri gets no scope.
On the whole, Luck rides on star power, adrenaline-pumping thrills and a concept that's novel for the Indian screens. Despite some loose ends, these three factors primarily would ensure a Lucky journey at the box-office.
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