IntellectBeat

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has  issued regulations in favour of net neutrality  ruling against differential pricing. Read the full text of TRAI's Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016: TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART III, SECTION 4 TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA NOTIFICATION NEW DELHI, 8TH FEBRUARY, 2016 PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATORY TARIFFS FOR DATA SERVICES REGULATIONS, 2016 (No. 2 of 2016) In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under sub-section (1) of section 36, read with sub-clause (i) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) and sub-section (2) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India hereby makes the following regulations, namely:- CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY 1. Short title and commencement. - (1) These regulations may be called the Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Reg...

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued regulations in favour of net neutrality ruling against differential pricing. 'The Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016' ( Read full text ) says that no provider should offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data on basis of content. TRAI will also levy Rs 50,000 a day penalty for discriminatory tariffs charged by service providers, subject to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh. The authority also prevents service providers from entering into any arrangement or contract that has the effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services. The regulations come into effect immediately. The authority may review the regulations after a period of two years. This is a major setback for Facebook's Free Basics service, and its high voltage campaign, which provides free access to select content. In its regulations, TRAI has made it clear it "providing limited free data that enables a user to ...

Lenovo has launched its all-new Yoga 900 2-in-1 laptop device powered by Windows 10 along with the Yoga Tab 3 Pro. The 13-inch Yoga 900 hybrid device is just 0.59-inch thick, 1.92 kg light, and is designed for both personal and business use. Powered by Windows 10, the laptop is touted to be the world's thinnest Intel Core i convertible. It features the Yoga signature watchband hinge for ultraportability. It comes equipped with Intel's newest 6th gen Core i7 processor with 8 GB of RAM. The laptop can be used in four different modes- laptop, stand, tent, and tablet. Lenovo claims the Yoga 900 comes with an improved battery life with 50 per cent greater battery density that allows it to offer up to 9 hours of local video playback. On the audio front, the device comes with JBL stereo speakers with Dolby DS 1.0 for better entertainment experience. Other than the Yoga 900 hybrid laptop, Lenovo also launched its Yoga Tab 3 Pro, touted to be world’s smallest home theatre. The tab...

Smartphone users spend as much time on seeking entertainment as texting to connect with friends and family, according to a recent study. The survey, conducted by US-based media and consumer research company GfK MRI from September-November 2015, found that 22 per cent of time spent on smartphones was devoted to games, music, web surfing, and watching streamed content, which was the same proportion devoted to texting. Researchers asked 5,900 smartphone owners which smartphone activities are most important to them first thing in the morning. The respondents mentioned texting most often (67 per cent), but also placed entertainment apps like streaming music services above Twitter and other well-known platforms. Phone calls also accounted for another 22 per cent of time, while social media and emails each accounted for 10 percent of respondents' time. The recently published study Mobile Now also revealed that roughly four in ten (39 per cent) of smartphone owners are either ardent ...

To catch manipulators, markets regulator Sebi has begun looking into social media accounts of suspected persons, with 'mutual friends on Facebook' being cited as evidence for the first time in an insider trading case. While Sebi has been examining Twitter and Facebook for quite some time for investigation purposes, this is the first time the regulator has used Facebook account as evidence for proving charges against an individual. In an insider trading case, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has ordered impounding of unlawful gains of over Rs 2 crore from 15 individuals. These individuals were allegedly 'connected entities' and had traded in the shares of Palred Technologies Ltd (PTL) while possessing price-sensitive information and allegedly made unlawful gains in the process, Sebi found. These persons are Palem Srikanth Reddy (CMD of PTL), P Soujanya Reddy, Ameen Khwaja, Noorjahan Khwaja, Ashik Ali Khwaja, Rozina Hirani Khwaja, Shefali Ameen Khwaja, S...

Suspected Pakistan-based groups have hacked the official web portal of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) belonging to the Income Tax department. Officials said the website-www.irsofficersonline.gov.in-- was hacked early Saturday and it has been rendered inaccessible since then. They said messages were posted on the link like "Pakistan Zindabad" and "we are team Pak cyber attacker". The website, which acts as an official communicator for official work between the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the IT department field offices in the country, has put up a message saying, "We'll be back soon! Sorry for the inconvenience but we're performing some maintenance at the moment." The technical team handling the website has sent a report in this regard to the Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), which is the nodal agency to combat hacking, phishing and to fortify security-related defences of the Indian Internet domain. They said a secur...

To check piracy, Bollywood is looking to use the Electronic Sell Through (EST) mechanism for the digital sale of films, according to a study by global advisory firm Deloitte. Through EST, consumers can buy digital copies of films for unlimited viewing on demand via the Internet, mobile and cable in exchange of a transactional fee. "The country's film industry continues to lose around Rs 50 billion in revenues and over 50,000 jobs every year due to piracy. India is one of the top countries witnessing peer-to-peer file-sharing infringement worldwide," the report said. Although there is no immediate solution to curb piracy, the filmmakers are trying to counter the menace with increasing digitisation of the movie prints, it added. In India, about 60 per cent of the box-office collections are made during the first week of release of a movie. Digital cinema distribution firms are going for digital prints of the films, the report said. "A big-budget Hindi movie, whic...

With India becoming a global hub for manufacturing of mobile phones, the country may reach production of 500 million units in next two years on the back of an incentive policy and availability of good talent, a top official of Department of Telecom (DoT) said today. In 2015, production of mobile phones in the country has already reached 100 million. "The number of phones being manufactured was 10 million sometime back (now it has increased) to 100 million. The time has come when we will reach 500 million, may be in 2 years," Telecom Secretary J S Deepak said here. He was speaking on the second day of a seminar on Telecom and Broadcasting theme ART (Adjudication, Regulation, Telecommunication) of Convergence, TDSAT. He added that apart from phones, the differential tariff is helping domestic manufacturers to get into other areas like medical electronics, consumer electronics as well as broadband equipment and set up boxes. "Today, with base of talent and incentive p...

To check piracy, Bollywood is looking to use the Electronic Sell Through (EST) mechanism for the digital sale of films, according to a study by global advisory firm Deloitte. Through EST, consumers can buy digital copies of films for unlimited viewing on demand via the Internet, mobile and cable in exchange of a transactional fee. "The country's film industry continues to lose around Rs 50 billion in revenues and over 50,000 jobs every year due to piracy. India is one of the top countries witnessing peer-to-peer file-sharing infringement worldwide," the report said. Although there is no immediate solution to curb piracy, the filmmakers are trying to counter the menace with increasing digitisation of the movie prints, it added. In India, about 60 per cent of the box-office collections are made during the first week of release of a movie. Digital cinema distribution firms are going for digital prints of the films, the report said. "A big-budget Hindi movie, whic...

Domestic handset maker Micromax is expanding its international business, foraying into markets like Middle East, Africa and CIS countries, as it aims to be among the top five global players in the next 3-4 years. Micromax, which ranked tenth at the end of June 2015 quarter as per research firm Gartner, said it has a strong presence in markets like Russia, Bangladesh and Nepal. "We started our international business a few years back with markets like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We have since then grown our presence to other markets as well. We have a five per cent share in Russia," Micromax Senior Vice-President (International Business) Amit Mathur told PTI. He added that about 15-20 per cent of overall volume comes from international business. "The ambition is to be a part of the top five (global players) in the next 3-4 years. We are exploring Middle East and a cluster of countries in Africa that will allow us to quickly expand. We will enter these markets in ...

App developers have launched a series of uniquely African emojis of characters dressed in colorful traditional attire using popular local expressions and gestures. Afro Emoji  founder Nigerian-American Ayoola Daramola said there was a gap in the market for images representing African mobile phone users. The app offers 50 characters in 300 different stickers and translates the local expressions. The characters mainly use popular Nigerian phrases like "Abeg," meaning "I beg of you." Afro Emoji spokeswoman Jessica Hope said the Washington DC-based company plans to expand its gallery to include images from other African cultures. Emojis, small digital icons used to express an emotion or idea, are popular among mobile users, having evolved from simple emoticons made of punctuation marks to an array of symbols from winking faces to flags.