Its time to say Good Bye to the free INTERNET we know, where your packet is never discriminated based on what it contains, where it is coming from and where it is going. Senate Commerce Committee, rejected the compromise language on Net Neutrality by splitting11-11, which would  mean a defeat for Net Neutrality.

The Senate Commerce Committee, splitting 11 to 11 and therefore rejecting compromise language, set the stage for a carrier-controlled Internet. If the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the President, you can kiss the Net you know "goodbye." Farewell, open networks and open standards. Soon every packet will be subject to inspection and surcharges based on what it carries and who sent it or where it is going. [ZDNet: Saying "goodbye" to the Net  ]

So very soon carriers will be empowered to inspect the packet and charge a premium not only based on the content, but possibly where it is coming from and where it is going. or a Tiered internet based purely on content type, means carriers will now offer a package Internet connection deal which literally says basic internet connection is $14.99 with which you can access emails and visit a few allowed websites, with optional adds ons : music internet $4.99 (you can listen and download MP3s), Video internet $4.99 (you can watch and download videos) and the list goes on. Having a package like cable television will not be a big surprise even.  America Top 60 for $15.99, which allows you to access top 60 websites mostly news and general. America Video Classics, $11.99 which allows you to watch and download videos from any video website. America top 100 Music, that allows to listen and download music from 100 listed websites. In a variation, carriers may set Band Width limitations where if you visit carrier owned music site, you will have unlimited Bandwidth while if you visit a site like Youtube or Flickr, every byte is counted towards the bandwidth limit and the consumer will have to pay premium charge for the additional bandwidth if he chooses to use.  Or something very creative and unbelievable package deal, but you have pay like $140 to goto any website you like.

We just have to watch and see how creative these Telcos can go. This is particularly interesting keeping in view the fact that most Telcos have been threatened by internet innovation and have been lossing business starting from IM to Skype phones. Recent hurried consolidiations is nothing but an indication that they can not compete for the same already cutdown pie and possibly survive longer. So, now its time for them to take a revenge and show internet companies what it feels like to be threatened. Time again to put some bucks on these telcos, after a long long time.

During the christmas, be ready to hear the analysts, confirming "Christmas sales revenue is down 5% from last year owing to increase in internet access fees".

Tags: internet, netneutrality, senate, telecom, packet inspection, cable, Inspions

Another cool feature from snapfish. Now you can turn your photos to US Postal stamps.

Turn your photos into real U.S. Postage Use PhotoStamps for: Baby announcements Thank you notes Birthday and anniversary parties Your favorite pets Vacation photos Scrapbooking Gifts for any occasion Get started now!

Snapfish and the Snapfish logo are trademarks of the Hewlett-Packard Company. All rights reserved. Snapfish, 303 Second St, South Tower, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94107

Tags: snapfish, postal, stamp, photostamps, photos, inspions

C.K. Prahalad, Professor from Ross School of Business, Univ. of Michigan reiterates that Software is chaging and can change a lot more sectors for India, if the vibrant energy is properly tapped . In his keynote speach at Software2006, Prahalad explains how the High Technology echo system like Software can combine with other sectors like Automobiles, Pharma to create a whole new platform of advantage for India to grow. Key excerpts from his key note address:

• One key excerpt from his presentation is how Indian IT industry transformed over the last decade to differentiate with Innovation rather than pure cost advantage.
  • Cost ( 1980 - 1990)
  • Cost + Quality (1990 - 1995)
  • Cost + Quality + Technology (1995 -2000)
  • Cost + Quality + Technology + Innovation ( > 2000)
• The world is recognising India as its key INNOVATION center with a wealth of skilled and knowledge professionals rather than just a low cost IT production center or outsourcing partners. This is very important differentiator for India, particularly interesting in the wake of the new low-cost-IT facilities being opened in the rest of the world. If you see the number of employees in India-owned IT Companies and other multinationals like IBM, INTEL, MICROSOFT, the difference is quite striking and convincing the argument. As per estimates in year 2005, MNCs employ more Indian professionals than Indian companies.
  • Indian Companies - 295,000
    • Indian IT Companies - 190,000
    • Indian BPO - 105,000
  • MNCs - 350,000
    • Tech Companies - 60,000
    • MNC IT Companies - 80,000
    • MNC BPO - 210,000
• Indian IT is no longer confined to just the top 5-10 companies which are known more for evangelising the outsourcing, professionals-on-hire, labs-on-hire concepts. As per NASSCOM estimates, there are about 3000 Indian companies/startups who are differentiating India as a key Innovation hub, have revenues less than $25Million, hinting the surge of Entrepreneurial ventures by ambitious Indian professionals and business people alike.

The presentation also highlights a few interesting facts about Indian Auto industry and how software/IT advantage can bring innovation and capture one of the largest markets. Very interesting and striking features of Indian Auto industry have been presented; the gap between a motor cycle that costs around $1000 and a car that costs about $6000. A $3000 car is going to be a killer for India. And the same or similar car that costs $6000 in India  costs around $20000 in US. Can this huge cost barrier turn American Auto to look for innovation and electronic and embedded component manufacturing in India? Big question but a definite opportunity.

It is pretty clear that Software or IT industry not only brought so much vibrancy in the Indian markets and fuelling aspirations of Indian middle class, it has also changed and can impact literally every aspect of common Indian life.

Tags: India, software, IT, Automobile, ITES, MNC, Inspions

The Telephia Mobile Game Report for Q1 2006 has some startling figures about mobile gaming.  As per  news report at Yahoo, which  is a  Press Release by Telephia, Women dominate the mobile gaming arena accounting for 65% of the revenues while Tetris and Tetris Deluxe combined accounts for around 8.8% of the revenues. Read the press release here.

Tags: mobile, mobilegame, tetris, women, telephia, inspions, news

India’s Bharti Airtel figures at number 10 in the Business Week’s world top Infotech/Telecom comapanies list, ahead of international power houses Motorola (11th), Google (13th), Microsoft (37th) and Hewlett-Packard (44th).

Excerpts from the News URL

Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Satyam, and Wipro figure in the annual BusinessWeek list of top 100 infotech/telecom companies.

India ties Hong Kong in fourth spot with five companies in the top 100, after the US with 45, Taiwan (13), and Japan (9). As against this, there’s no company from mainland China.

Bharti Airtel is the only Indian company in the top 10, ahead of international biggies such as Motorola (11th), Google (13th), Microsoft (37th) and Hewlett-Packard (44th).

The factors that BusinessWeek focused on to rate the companies included return on equity, revenue growth, shareholder return, and total revenues.

The Top Ten

1. America Movil (Mexico)

   1. Hon Hai Precision (Taiwan)
   2. High Tech Computer (Taiwan)
   3. Apple Computer (the US)
   4. Softbank (Japan)
   5. Telefonica Moviles (Spain)
   6. Telefonica (Spain)
   7. China Mobile (Hong Kong)
   8. Nokia (Finland)
   9. Bharti Airtel (India)

Tags: india, bharti, airtel, businessweek, wipro, tcs, infosys, satyam