The World's First Flexible Cell Phone...

Samsung Galaxy Skin: So tough it can be hit with a hammer

Your flexible friend? Samsung to release bendy-screened phones 'in Spring 2012' - so tough they can be hit with a hammer

By Rob Waugh

The Galaxy Skin phone will be so flexible you can roll it up - and may be in shops early next year

Demonstrations of 'bendable' screens have been a staple of technology shows ever since there were screens small enough for us to carry.

This week, Samsung has given the strongest sign yet that the hi-tech devices might become reality.

The company demonstrated 'bendable' AMOLED screens 4.5 inches across and just 0.3mm thick in January this year.

Reports this week hint that phones using the technology - which can be 'rolled up' and survive hammer blows - will appear in the second quarter of next year.

The technology relies on atom-thick layers of 'graphene' - sheets of carbon atoms - sandwiched together, protecting a layer of liquid crystal 'screen'.

Earlier this year, reports leaked that Samsung had the capacity to manufacture large amounts of the screen by 'early 2012' - but no one knew what they might be for.

Samsung later released pictures of a concept phone using the technology - the Galaxy Skin.

The phone would be no mere novelty.

Phones using Graphene screens would be practically unbreakable, and offer an instant advantage over every other smartphone on the market.

Now, according to reports in the International Business Times, the handsets could be on sale early next year.

The report was remarkably specific, stating that the handset would offer specifications including a high-resolution 800×480 flexible AMOLED screen, eight megapixel camera and 1Gb of RAM as well as a 1.2GHz processor.

Those specifications sound suspiciously similar to the spec of Samsung's current flagship, the Galaxy S II, however.

Will Findlater, editor of Stuff magazine told Mail Online today, 'AMOLED is already the mobile screen technology to beat, so if it’s as good as promised, flexible AMOLED could put an end to smashed smartphone displays - and tablets, which are even more fragile.'

Samsung's Galaxy Skin - unveiled as a concept earlier this year - could be on sale as early as Spring 2012, according to recent reports

Layers of 'Graphene' - atom-thick layers of carbon - will be used to create paper-thin 'foldable' screens in the Samsung Galaxy Skin

'The potential for tablets that can fold to the size of a smartphone is especially exciting – you could have two gadgets for the price of one,' says Findlater.

It's perhaps wise to be a little sceptical however.

Samsung has made no official announcement regarding the product, and while they definitely can manufacture the technology - it was freely on show earlier this year - the 'gulf' between that and a working phone ready to go into mass production is huge.

'Flexible' screens have been demonstrated in various forms since as early as 2004 - with tech insiders suggesting that laptops or e-Book readers might one day take the form of a 'pen' housing a processor with a 'sheet' of paper-like screen wrapped around them.

Other ideas have included using tiny, flexible screens like electronic Post-it notes.

Mizoram Gets Another World-Class Turf

Aizawl, Sep 28 : Close on the heels of Aizawl, Lunglei is all set to become the second town in Mizoram to have its public ground covered with artificial turf.

The Hyderabad-based Great Sports Infra, which had successfully laid world-class artificial grass at the Assam Rifles Ground in Aizawl, began the task of greening Thuamluai Mual, the largest public ground in Lunglei in southern Mizoram Parliamentary Secretary to sports minister, S Laldingliana, who dig-started the ground works this morning, said this was a major achievement not only for Lunglei district, but for the entire state of Mizoram.

He urged the youths to make the best use of world-class ground to sharpen their sports talents for Mizoram and for India.

High power committee-Lunglei (HPC-L) vice-chairman Joseph Lalhimpuia, who was also present on the occasion, praised the Congress government for its remarkable works for the welfare of the youth. He said lighting system would be fitted at the ground to make usable at night, thanks to the efforts of Chief Minister and HPC-L chairman Lal Thanhawla.

The Great Sports Infra, which represents FieldTurf Tarkett in India, the country s leader in next-generation artificial grass and sports surfaces, had successfully executed the state government’s ambitious project of laying international standard artificial grass on the 80,000 square feet ground in Aizawl.

The sub-level works will take at least 75 days, provided no rains disturbance. We hope to complete the entire project within four months, Abhijit S Dessai, consulting engineer for FieldTurf Tarkett, said in Lunglei today.

Once completed, Thuamluai Mual will become the fourth football ground in India to have FIFA standards artificial grass, after Aizawl s AR Ground, Chowgule College football ground in Goa and the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

SSA Mizoram Lose Match And Temper

Chandigarh, Sep 28 : Strong contenders Chandigarh Football Academy, a venture of the Chandigarh Administration, expectedly qualified for the semi-finals from Group A by logging nine full points from their three matches in the 9th Administrator’s Challenge Cup All India Football Tournament (Under-17) here today.

In their last league fixture CF Academy routed Indian Tigers by 9-0 at the Sector 42 Football Ground.

The highlight of the one-sided match was fine three goals by Aotan Mawia (11th, 64th, 79th minutes). Their other scorers were Jatinder (5th), Samuel (41st, 46th), Inder (64th, 76th) and Harsharan (82nd). In another match at the same venue, Mahilpur Football Academy got the better of Dalbir Football Academy by 1-0 in a group C fixture. Both Punjab teams play same brand of football. Long passes and body play were the main features of the match. The all-important goal came in the 30th minute.

Medio Kulwant Singh sent a defence-splitting pass to Behan Singh whose powerful shot was partially saved by Dalbir Academy goalkeeper Simranjeet Singh and on the rebound a defender tried to clear it but the ball took spin and crossed the goalline. The second half remained goalless despite both teams initiating good moves.

All five teams in Group C are heavy weights. Putting them in one pool is beyond any justification. In another tough Group C encounter, Mohun Bagan humbled Sarv Sikshaya Abhuiyan of Mizoram by 4-1.

The match was marred by rough and violent play by both teams, resulting. With a view to controlling the temper of the players, referee Arun Kumar had to show red and yellow cards. CL Alhlimpuia was sent off the field for indulging in violent conduct. Mizoram’s Zia and David Lal Hruaia were shown yellow card for kicking their opponents from behind. Devajeet Bose, Tanwar Laskar, Mod Tarique and Suman Hazara of Mohun Bagan were cautioned and shown yellow card for indulging in cautionable offences during the match.

Mohun Bagan took the lead through Mrinal Adhikari in the 16th minute while Joseph made it 2-0.

Mizoram were able to reduce the margin in the 51st minute through Lalvensanga. Sumanta increased the margin in the 71st minute while Sonu Kumar rounded of the winners tally in the 89th minute.

Economic Blockade: Manipur To Airlift Condoms

When the people of Manipur are worried about high prices of commodities, MACS has ordered to airlift condoms...

By Pankaj Sharma

Guwahati, Sep 28 : A blockade-choked Manipur could be facing an HIV epidemic because of condom shortage, forcing the AIDS Control Society to consider airlifting rubber to the state.

The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee imposed an economic blockade along Imphal-Jiribam and Imphal-Dimapur highways on July 31 in support of the creation of Sadar Hills district.

The United Naga Council imposed another blockade on August 21, to oppose inclusion of Naga villages when the Sadar Hills district is created.

The government has been trying to maintain minimal supplies through an alternative route, but condoms are certainly not part of the consignment.

Jittery over the shortage, the Manipur State AIDS Control Society has decided to take probably the last way out — airlift condoms.

Official sources told The Telegraph that that not a single condom was left with the AIDS control society for distribution and the road blockade is preventing fresh stocks from reaching Manipur — counted as a high HIV/AIDS prevalence state in the country.

According to the latest study of the Manipur State AIDS Control Society, the number of HIV-positive people has gone up to 38,016. Of these 10,109 are women and 2,578 children.

“The AIDS control society society ran out of condom stock almost a couple of months ago. Distribution of condoms among high-risk groups for sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS has been seriously affected in the state,” the source said.

“The society has written to the National AIDS Control Organisation asking for the estimated cost of airlifting condoms. We hope to make necessary arrangements to bring in condoms by air within the next two to three days,” he said.

According to the source, manufacturers can send the condoms by air but the Manipur State AIDS Control Society will have to the bear additional costs since the Union ministry of health and family welfare has contracts with condom manufacturers for surface transport only.

He said the society was ready “in principle” to bear the additional cost and a final decision would be taken when they get the exact estimate of additional cost from the National AIDS Control Organisation.

Manipur is among the six high HIV/AIDS prevalence states in India, with the first HIV case being reported in the state in 1990.

The state government constituted the Manipur State AIDS Control Society as the nodal agency in March 1998 to combat an epidemic. Manipur, with hardly 0.2 per cent of India’s population, is contributing 8 per cent of the country’s HIV-positive cases.

Sikkim Earthquake Casts Shadow on Northeast Hydro Projects

Experts from IIT asked to analyse seismic data, assess quake impact on hydropower projects of state-run companies

By Utpal Bhaskar

New Delhi, Sep 28 : India’s power ministry has asked seismic experts from the Indian Institute of Technology-Roorkee (IIT-R) to conduct earthquake impact studies at the dam sites of state-owned NHPC Ltd and North Eastern Electric Power Corp. Ltd (Neepco).

The Sikkim earthquake has raised questions on the future of India’s hydropower development. The 18 September 6.8 magnitude earthquake on the Sikkim-Nepal border has wreaked havoc in the Himalayan country and the Indian state, and scientists say the likelihood of a much greater earthquake in north India remains. At least 118 people have been killed in Sikkim, West Bengal and Bihar in the quake.

Uphill task: Disaster management officials at a collapsed building in Gangtok. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit earthquake-hit areas of Sikkim on Thursday. By PTI

Teesta Urja Ltd, which is building the 1,200MW Teesta-III project in Sikkim, suffered losses of personnel, with 17 people killed, one missing and 10 hurt.

The decision to take IIT-R’s help was taken at a review meeting last Thursday that was chaired by minister of state (power ministry) K.C. Venugopal.

“It was decided to avail the services of seismic experts from IIT-R to analyse earthquake data and conduct the earthquake impact study at the dam sites of NHPC in the region, and more specifically those in Sikkim,” the ministry said in a statement. “Neepco was also asked to compile the seismic data collected from its power stations in north-eastern states for further analysis at IIT-R.”

The total hydropower generation potential of India’s north-eastern states and Bhutan is about 58,000MW. Of this, Arunachal Pradesh alone accounts for 50,328MW. Sikkim, as well as most of north India, falls in seismic zones 4 and 5, regions classified as highly vulnerable to high-intensity quakes.

Any delays in construction of hydropower projects in the region, particularly those on rivers originating in China, would affect India’s strategy of establishing its prior-use claim, according to international law.

India is concerned that hydropower projects planned in Arunachal Pradesh may be affected by China’s plan to divert water from rivers that flow into the Brahmaputra to the arid zones of Xinjiang and Gansu.

“India’s hydro potential is locked in the North-East,” said former power secretary Anil Razdan. “You can’t plan for this kind of thing. It is a grey area. Earthquake prediction is very difficult.”

Hydropower projects come with their own set of problems. Their construction requires specialized technology and design. They also have to deal with geological surprises such as earthquakes, floods and landslides. With the share of hydropower generated in the country falling from 40% to 25% in the past 20 years, the government is worried as this makes up only 38,206MW of the 181,558MW power generating capacity.

“We and Neepco are the major hydropower developers active in the North-East. We’ll study data from our monitoring centres to know the impact of the quake for future references,” said D.P. Bhargava, director, technical, NHPC. “We’ll first study it internally and then send it to IIT-R.”

NHPC has a power generation capacity of 5,295MW that includes two operating projects in Sikkim. It is constructing a 2,000MW project in Arunachal Pradesh and also has plans to set up projects having a total capacity of 6,696MW in north-eastern states such as Sikkim, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

Bhargava defended the design of his projects. “There has been no damage to our projects,” he said. “We design our projects for earthquakes and such an incident should not stop us for planning for projects in the region.”

Several hydro projects have been delayed and India has met less than half the target of 14,393MW set for hydropower generation in the 10th Five-year Plan period (2002-07).

The country plans to add another 16,501.17MW of hydropower capacity by 2012. While the country has a hydropower potential of 300,000MW, around 145,000MW of this can be exploited.

Utpal.b@livemint.com

Facebook Is Tracking Your Every Move on the Web; Here’s How to Stop It

By Alan Henry

The Issue: Facebook's Social Apps are Always Watching

Over the weekend, Dave Winer wrote an article at Scripting.com explaining how Facebook keeps track of where you are on the web after logging in without your consent. Nik Cubrilovic dug a little deeper, and discovered that Facebook can still track where you are, even if you log out. Facebook, for its part, has denied the claims. Regardless of who you believe, here's how to protect yourself, and keep your browsing history to yourself.

The whole issue has stirred up a lot of debate in privacy circles over the past few days. Here's what the fuss is about, and what you can do to protect your privacy if you're worried.

For quite some time now, Facebook's user tracking hasn't been limited to your time on the site: any third-party web site or service that's connected to Facebook or that uses a Like button is sending over your information, without your explicit permission. However, Winer noticed something mostly overlooked in last week's Facebook changes: Facebook's new Open Graph-enabled social web apps all send information to Facebook and can post to your profile or share with your friends whether you want them to or not.

Essentially, by using these apps, just reading an article, listening to a song, or watching a video, you're sending information to Facebook which can then be automatically shared with your friends or added to your profile, and Facebook doesn't ask for your permission to do it. Winer's solution is to simply log out of Facebook when you're not using it, and avoid clicking Like buttons and tying other services on the web to your Facebook account if you can help it, and he urges Facebook to make its cookies expire, which they currently do not.

Digging Deeper: Logging Out Isn't Enough

Nik Cubrilovic looked over Winer's piece, and discovered that logging out of Facebook, as Winer suggests, may deauthorize your browser from Facebook and its web applications, but it doesn't stop Facebook's cookies from sending information to Facebook about where you are and what you're doing there.

Writing at AppSpot, he discovered that Facebook's tracking cookies-which never expire, are only altered instead of deleted when a user logs out. This means that the tracking cookies still have your account number embedded in them and still know which user you are after you've logged out.

That also means that when you visit another site with Facebook-enabled social applications, from Like buttons to Open Graph apps, even though you're a logged out user, Facebook still knows you're there, and by "you," we mean specifically your account, not an anonymous Facebook user. Cubrilovic notes that the only way to really stop Facebook from knowing every site you visit and social application you use is to log out and summarily delete all Facebook cookies from your system.

Why You Should Care

If you're the type of person who doesn't really use Facebook for anything you wouldn't normally consider public anyway, you should take note: everything you do on the web is fair game. If what Cubrilovic and Winer are saying is true, Facebook considers visiting a web site or service that's connected to Facebook the same thing as broadcasting it to your friends at worst, and permission for them to know you're there at best.

Facebook says that this has nothing to do with tracking movements, and that they have no desire to collect information about where you are on the web and what you're doing. They want to make sure that you can seamlessly log in at any time to Facebook and to sites and services that connect with it and share what you're doing.

In fact, a number of Facebook engineers have posted comments to Winer's original post and Cubrilovic's analysis pointing this out. There's also some excellent discussion in this comment thread at Hacker News about the issue as well. Essentially, they say this is a feature, not a problem, so if you have an issue with it, it's up to you to do something about it.

What Can I Do About It?

Whether or not Facebook is tracking your browsing even when you're logged out, if you don't want third-party sites to send data to Facebook, you have some options. You could scrub your system clean of all Facebook.com cookies every time you use Facebook, but a number of developers have already stepped up with browser extensions to block Facebook services on third-party sites. Here are a few:

• Facebook Privacy List for Adblock Plus is perfect for those of you who already have AdBlock Plus installed (get ABP for Chrome or Firefox). Just download the subscription and add it to AdBlock Plus to specifically block Facebook plugins and scripts all over the web—including the Like button-whenever you're not visiting Facebook directly.
• Facebook Disconnect for Chrome keeps Facebook from dropping those tracking cookies on your system in the first place, and disables them when you're finished using Facebook-enabled services. It's essentially an on/off switch for third-party access to Facebook servers, meaning you'll still be able to log in to Facebook and use the site normally, but when you're visiting another site or using another application, that site or service won't be able to use your information to communicate with Facebook.

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  Disconnect for Chrome and Firefox is a new plugin from the developer behind Facebook Disconnect, but it doesn't stop with Facebook. Disconnect takes protection to a another level and blocks tracking cookies from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Digg, and Yahoo, and prevents all of those services from obtaining your browsing or search history from third party sites that you may visit. The app doesn't stop any of those services from working when you're visiting the specific sites, for you can still search at Google and use Google+, but Google's +1 button likely won't work on third party sites, for example. The extension also lets you see how many requests are blocked, in real time as they come in, and unblock select services if, for example, you really want to Like or +1 an article you read, or share it with friends.

Ultimately, the goal of all of these tools is to give you control over what you share with Facebook or any other social service, and what you post to your profile, as opposed to taking a backseat and allowing the service you're using to govern it for you. What's really at issue is exactly how deep Facebook has its fingers into your data, and how difficult they-and other social services-make it to opt out or control what's sent or transmitted. That's where extensions like these come in.

However you feel about it, Facebook likely won't change it in the near future. If you're concerned, you should to take steps to protect your privacy. As a number of commenters at Hacker News point out, it's not that there's anything inherently "good" or "evil" about what Facebook is doing-that would be oversimplifying an already complex topic. It's really an opt-in/opt-out issue.

What do you think of the assertions? Do you think Facebook has a vested interest in knowing as much about you and your browsing habits as possible, or is this much ado about nothing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

source: lifehacker.com

An End to India's Longest Insurgency?

By Biswajyoti Das

This photo shows a Naga rebel in the in northeastern Indian state of Nagaland.

Guwahati, Sep 28 : An end may at last be in sight to India's longest running insurgency, which has killed tens of thousands, with talks between the government and tribal rebels in the troubled northeast inching closer towards a peace deal.

A myriad of violent insurgencies have beset India's northeastern region for decades, killing over 50,000 people since the country's independence in 1947.

But the oldest insurgency launched by Naga rebels over 60 years ago in the remote mountainous region of Nagaland may soon see an end after 14 years of protracted negotiations. The rebels have been demanding a separate homeland for the ethnic Naga people.

About 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict. A 1997 ceasefire truce has largely capped the violence, but inter-factional fighting has continued.

Leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) faction -- headed by T. Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu -- and federal authorities in New Delhi are now in the last stages of a final agreement.

Officials say a deal which includes giving increased powers to lawmakers in Nagaland, as well as creating autonomous councils for Nagas in their stronghold regions of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh could well be the solution.

Both officials and rebel leaders have said the deal could be signed sometime in November or December this year, but have refused to divulge more details. "There has been progress although some of the issues are yet to be sorted out. It would be difficult to give any dates,” said R.S. Pandey, interlocutor for the Naga talks told the Hindustan Times newspaper.

Nagaland has a history of tribal and ethnic rifts. All past peace initiatives have failed to resolve the age-old animosity between the various Naga tribes and many remain sceptical saying that without all factions involved, there can never truly be peace.

"Even if an accord is signed with the NSCN, a new group will definitely come up opposing the deal. History is witness to it in Nagaland," said a senior journalist in Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland.

India Wants To Double Trade With Myanmar

New Delhi, Sep 28 : Leveraging the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, India wants to double its commerce with Myanmar and diversify the bilateral engagement to agro-research and natural gas exploration.

The India-Myanmar trade, comprising pulses, meat, products, timber and pharmaceuticals, is only USD 1.5 billion at present.

"I propose that we work towards doubling of bilateral trade by 2015. We also need to work towards broad-basing our trade basket," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said while chairing Joint Trade Commission meeting along with Myanmar Commerce Minister U Win Myint here.

Sharma said business community of the two countries should utilise Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme and the ASEAN FTA channels to diversify the bilateral trade.

India has operationalised its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a leading member.

Sharma said construction of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project comprising waterway and roadway by 2013 would transform the trade between India's north-eastern states and the rest of the world.

Being built at USD 120 million, the project envisages a direct trade corridor between Indian ports on the eastern seaboard and Sittwe Port in Myanmar and then through riverine transport and by road to Mizoram.

The two countries have recognized the need to collaborate in building a land customs station at India-Myanmar Border (at Mizoram).

It was noted that the border trade point at Moreh, on Indian side and Tamu, on Myanmar side, is stabilising.

Sharma invited his Myanmar counterpart to inaugurate the second border trade point at Zowkhatar (Mizoram) that will connect to Rhi in Myanmar. The ministers stressed the need for two additional border trade points - Pangsau Pass (in Arunachal Pradesh) and Avangkhung (in Nagaland).

India and Myanmar have also expanded the list of items for border trade from 22 to 40.

Sharma offered India's assistance for capacity building in agricultural research and improving the seed variety in Myanmar.

He said India is keen to participate in the gas sector of Myanmar. Indian companies have shown interest in setting up of gas-based units and invest in LNG infrastructure.

He also pushed for Indian participation in allocation of gas blocks in Myanmar. The Myanmar side showed strong support for the proposal, a Commerce Ministry statement said.

Myanmar is source of one-third of India's imports in pulses and one-fifth in timber.

With the implementation of India-ASEAN FTA and the Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme, the two countries can step up the commercial engagement, it was noted at the meeting.