Indian News India enters new technology era from internet.org to drones

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India enters new technology era from internet.org to drones
New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) While "net neutrality" and its ensuing debate kept Indian policymakers and the social media busy for most part of the year, what took the country to the centre stage was a statement from social networking giant Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg that if the world needs to be connected then it is very important to connect the billion-plus people in India.

"It is central to our plans of connecting the next billion people and then the whole world," Zuckerberg said during the townhall meeting held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi in October during his maiden visit to India.

Facebook rechristened its free internet platform internet.org -- which it developed in conjunction with Reliance Communications Network -- as "Free Basics by Facebook" in September. Today, nearly 15 million people in 24 nations have access to internet as a result of Facebook's free internet efforts.

Although India has no regulations yet on "net neutrality" a draft report on this from the department of telecommunications (DoT) is with the government for clearance.

"Net neutrality" means that governments and internet service providers treat all data on the internet equally and, therefore, not differentially charge users, content, platforms, sites, applications or mode of communication.

Amid the debate, Satya Nadella, the Indian-born chief executive of US-based technology major Microsoft, visited India in November and announced a string of partnerships, programmes and products to help Indian organisations and governments explore unchartered business areas and enrich customer and citizen experiences.

Referring to the newly-launched local Microsoft Cloud, Nadella said during a conference in Mumbai: "With Microsoft Cloud and Surface Pro 4, our customers here in India have the digital technology they need to seize incredible new growth and opportunity on a global scale."

Just a month back in San Francisco, top Oracle executive Thomas Kurian announced that the leading cloud services provider fully supports the latest digital initiatives launched by the Indian government.

"Oracle is committed towards ambitious 'Digital India' initiative. In the days to come, the world will see Oracle investing in more Indian cities to open new product development centres," Indian-born Kurian, Oracle's president of product development, announced.

Oracle has already hired 2,300 engineers in product development in India this year. The company has 12 development centres in India, including facilities in many emerging cities like Vijayawada, Thiruvananthapuram, Noida and Ahmedabad.

Cloud computing is a general term for the delivery of hosted services over the Internet. It enables companies to consume compute resources as a utility -- just like electricity -- rather than having to build and maintain computing infrastructures in-house.

When it came to wearable technology in India, the year saw some tough competition to the leader Apple. While Apple smartwatch was finally launched in India this year, at around Rs.30,000, it still burnt a hole in people's pocket.

Later this year, Lenovo-owned Motorola introduced five new variants of its android wear Moto 360 (2nd Gen) collection for the Indian consumers.

The Rs.19,999 Moto 360 smartwatch gives users complete control right from the wrist so you can stay in the moment without constantly grabbing your phone from your pocket or purse.

The new Gear 2 smartwatch from Samsung was also billed as an evolved smartwatch that can be used to answer calls while driving.
Titan, India's largest watchmaker, also announced a "smartwatch" jointly designed and built with global computing major HP Inc in India and select international markets by December.

Although Apple launched two iPhones with new touch technology, a 13-inch iPad and an enhanced Apple TV this year, its smartwatch - especially Watch OS 2.0 - is still an ultimate wearable experience.
Not just smartwatches, Panasonic launched a wearable, ultra-compact, lightweight and tough camera for the Indian market in November.

Next tech trend that took the country by storm this year was the launch of "Mobile Wallet" or "credit card killer" as some referred it to.