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ViewSonic Corp. has launched its new versatile super short throw projector, the PJD5351 in India. The company said the new projector promises to enhance versatility, functionality and usability to support professional, hassle-free and dynamic presentations in both boardrooms and for multimedia lessons in the classroom.

Equipped with an extreme-short-throw projection technology, PJD5351 is capable of producing a 60-inch image from a distance of 0.9 meter with a throw ratio of 0.9:1. This technology allows users to save space by enabling them to place the projector in front of their table and still display large and crisp images.

Featuring XGA native resolution (1024 x 768), 2500 ANSI lumens and 2400:1 contrast ratio the projector delivers bright crisp images even in spaces with ambient light and guarantees presentations to be vibrant even in the brightest office environment.

ViewSonic’s BrilliantColor technology provides richer, more lifelike images by using a wider range of the color spectrum, making presentations brighter and more dynamic than before and shades through a short-throw lens, giving users big image flexibility in smaller spaces.

Gautam Ghosh, Country Manager, ViewSonic Technologies India Pvt. Ltd., said, “Delivering on our commitment of providing efficient projection solutions for India, this new lightweight projector, PJD5351 has been specially launched to combine ease-of-use with optimal performance across a variety of applications. Combining one of the lowest total cost of ownership projection in the industry, this Super Short Throw technology allows users to create Big Picture experience even in smallest of spaces.”

Featuring exceptional versatility, the PJD5351 from ViewSonic is a full-functional multimedia projector with multiple inputs, including RGB x 2, component, composite and S-video to connect to a variety of display sources.

For added convenience, ViewSonic offers its Off to Go Feature, which allow users to simply unplug the projector at the conclusion of a presentation, saving “cool down” time without risking damage to the bulb. Together with ECO mode, the projector increases lamp life by up to 4,000 hours and reduces the voice disruptions during presentations.

According to Basel Action Network (BAN), the global pollution watchdog group, EarthECycle, the electronic waste handler for two recent Humane Society charity e-waste collection events held in the Pittsburgh area, did not recycle the collected e-waste as claimed, but instead crammed the collected techno-trash into at least 7 sea-going containers and exported it to developing countries.

Despite assurances made by EarthECycle owner Jeffrey Nixon, in a Pittsburgh press conference held with Western Pennsylvania Humane Society Executive Director Lee Nesler and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato in March, that all recycling would be done locally, BAN proved otherwise.

BAN followed the trucks, to two area warehouses and then some days later observed the waste being reloaded onto 40 foot ocean-going containers. They then tracked 6 of the containers to Hong Kong and one to South Africa. BAN has warned authorities about their imminent arrival and actions are now underway to halt and return the shipments.

“Sadly, once again the American public appears to have been duped by a fake recycler and become the unwitting accomplice in what is really an international crime,” said BAN e-Stewardship Director Sarah Westervelt. “People think they are doing a good deed helping animals, and that their old stuff is getting recycled safely, but the reality is that this is a scam.”

In 2002 and 2005, BAN released two documentary films “Exporting Harm” and “The Digital Dump” shining a spotlight on the horrors of the global e-waste trade and its very damaging impacts of toxic constituents in electronic products on the workers and environments of communities in Africa and China. Recent studies in Guiyu, China, “ground zero” of the international waste trade, and where much of the Humane Society collection waste was likely to have ended up, show some of the highest levels of dioxin, lead and other cancer-causing pollutants ever recorded. Blood levels in 80% of the children in Guiyu are elevated and already demonstrable brain impairment has been recorded.

Last fall BAN was featured in a CBS “60 Minutes” episode when they exposed a Colorado recycler now under investigation by U.S. EPA. While exporting most e-waste remains legal in the United States, the export of cathode ray tubes (CRTs), found in old computer monitors and TVs, without notification and consent from the importing countries is illegal under U.S. law. BAN has photographs showing CRTs inside the containers. Even when the exports are not illegal under U.S. law, they are likely to be illegal in the countries of import.

After BAN warned importing country governments of the Humane Society/EarthECycle waste, Hong Kong authorities took immediate action and asked the shipping company to return the containers to sender. Five of the six Hong Kong bound containers, three of which were expected to be trans-shipped to Vietnam, have so far been intercepted and returned to EarthECycle. The shipment to South Africa is due to arrive in the port of Durban today.

BAN, together with the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) is seeking national legislation to ban the export of toxic e-waste to developing countries as European countries have already done. And BAN has created the e-Stewards Initiative, a list of responsible e-cyclers that have agreed not to export hazardous e-wastes to developing countries.

“This toxic trade is the height of global irresponsibility,” said Sarah Westervelt. “Our country must pass loophole-free federal legislation to put a stop to what happened in Pittsburg and what is happening all over America every day,” said Sarah Westervelt. “And, consumers must be very careful and make use of the e-Steward recyclers who have agreed not to export toxic e-waste to developing countries.”

EarthECycle promises charities up to $10,000 for every 100,000 pounds of e-waste collected. The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society event was thought to have collected 150,000 pounds of e-waste from the public. It is not known whether the charity ever got paid. Meanwhile EarthECycle appears to be hiring organizers all over the country to create a large nationwide e-waste network to “partner” with other charities in other cities and collect more of the public’s accumulating mountains of techno-trash.

NComputing Inc., a provider of ultra low-cost computing solutions, announced that it is partnering with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) to bring computer access to primary and secondary schools in developing countries around the world.

The initiative has strong support from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and aims to provide 500,000 workstations to schools in developing nations by 2012. The program is being developed by the UNDESA Global Alliance for ICT Development (GAID).

“Access to computing technology is a cornerstone for education, social and economic development in the 21st century,” said Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of UNDESA-GAID. “This initiative will play an important role in closing the digital literacy gap that exists in the world’s developing nations.”

The first pilot project was completed in Burkina Faso, with additional projects spanning Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania scheduled for 2009. These projects will use 1,000 NComputing Linux-based virtual desktops. NComputing said its virtual desktops are ideal for the project because they provide very low-cost computing, are simple to ship and install, require almost no maintenance and use 1 watt of electricity. In addition to the product donations, NComputing will also provide its logistical and operational expertise with large-scale rollouts.

The NComputing solution is based on the fact that today’s PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of applications use only a small fraction of the computer’s capacity. NComputing taps the unused capacity in a PC and shares it among multiple users as if each person had their own computer. Each person enjoys a full PC experience by connecting their own monitor, keyboard and mouse to an NComputing access device, which is then connected to the shared PC.

The company said its access devices snap into place in seconds, are almost impossible to break and save on maintenance costs because only the shared PC requires ongoing service or upgrading. The NComputing solution supports both Linux and Windows platforms.

Dr. Paul Jhin, who is leading the initiative, will present the details of the program to education ministers and other attendees at the eLearning Africa conference in Dakar, Senegal on May 29. Planning sessions with ministers from African countries will also be held to discuss additional pilot projects and large scale deployments.

“The NComputing virtual desktops give us an important opportunity to significantly expand computing access and simplify deployment,” said Dr. Paul Jhin. “This maximizes the use of donated and refurbished computers and simplifies deployment and power requirements, which are key issues in many parts of the developing world.”

NComputing has sold over one million virtual desktops in over 140 countries in the last 24 months. Many are used in education, where more than 20,000 schools and millions of students are already benefiting from the technology.

“Closing the digital divide is a key mission for NComputing,” said Stephen Dukker, CEO and chairman of NComputing. “We are honored to partner with the United Nations on this very important initiative; it will have an enormous impact on the lives of millions of children throughout the world.”

The initiative is developing a number of partnerships with commercial enterprises, computer recyclers, universities and non-profit organizations to provide technology, logistical support, content development and training for the deployments in Africa and other developing countries.

TVS Electronics Ltd. announced that its Director S. S. Raman has been appointed as the Whole Time Director and CEO of TVS-Electronics, and Managing Director for TVS-E Servicetec.

Raman joined TVS Electronics in 2005 as President. Later, he was appointed as Whole Time Director, President and CEO in TVS-E Servicetec in 2007.

TVS Electronics said Raman’s formidable leadership and a strong ability to mentor his workforce has made him a great motivator for TVS Electronics as well as TVS-E Servicetec.

Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS-Electronics and TVS-E Servicetec, said, “In view of the strong synergy between the businesses of TVS Electronics and TVS E Servicetec, and given Raman’s dedicated expertise in the field of IT, we are confident that his role will drive the goal of the organizations and add greater value to both the businesses.”

S. S. Raman was earlier associated in various senior positions in TELCO, Birla Yamaha, TVS Whirlpool and Whirlpool Corp.

Lenovo India has named K. Ramakrishnan as Country Manager – Marketing. Ramakrishnan will be responsible for the management and development of the Lenovo brand, and overseeing the marketing strategy for Lenovo’s product line-up across enterprise, consumer and small-medium business segments in India.

“We are pleased to have Ramakrishnan head our brand and marketing efforts and join Lenovo’s leadership team in India. His skills in conceptualizing long-term strategy, innovation management, brand development and rich experience of customer-focused communication will aid the growth of a young brand such as Lenovo,” said Amar Babu, Managing Director, Lenovo India.

Ramakrishnan joins Lenovo with a rich experience of more than 16 years in consumer marketing, product/brand management, sales and strategy development in diverse sectors such as automobiles, FMCG, services and consumer durables.

Prior to joining Lenovo, Ramakrishnan was the General Manager – Marketing for TVS Motor Co., where he managed the complete portfolio of motorcycles and mopeds, played an integral role in the successful launch of TVS Apache and TVS Star, and designed and managed market development programs for entry-level vehicles among small businessmen.

Before this, Ramakrishnan was the Head of Sales and Marketing at TTK Services Pvt. Ltd., where he defined the marketing strategy for NRIs across multiple countries, and developed a physical distribution strategy for concept-selling.

Ramakrishnan has also held managerial roles at Tata Tea Ltd., TTK Prestige Ltd. and MAC Industries Ltd., where he was closely involved in brand strategizing and management, advertising, product development, planning and budgeting.

Ramakrishnan holds an MBA degree from the Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirapalli and a B.Tech. degree in Chemical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai.

Belkin India has launched its latest Laptop Cooling Hub and Cooling Pad in India. Stylish and brilliant, these innovatively designed laptop cooling products enable users to prevent their laptops from overheating.

While most laptop cooling pads are designed to work well on a table or desk, the Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad enables users to use their laptops while sitting anywhere at home or office. Its extra width and adjustable height are ideal for instant messaging and surfing comfortably, while the cooling fan keeps the heat off one’s legs.

The Laptop Cooling Pad’s gentle slope improves typing comfort and reduces wrist strain, while the grip pads prevent the laptop from slipping. Its sleek design makes it easy to pack in a bag while traveling. The Cooling Pad is available in white and black color.

The Belkin Laptop Cooling Hub is elevated by a flip-out stand at the back and it has slip-resistant rubber pads that cover the laptop contact points to keep notebook elevated at a prime viewing angle. The stylish, ergonomically designed raised platforms are equipped with an embedded fan that helps cool down a hot laptop and features four USB ports that can be used to connect USB-enabled devices like an external hard drive or mouse.

The Cooling Hub can accommodate up to a 17-inch laptop. It is available with a rubber padding and runs on external AC adapter or laptop battery power via attached USB cable.

“In scorching summer conditions, working with a hot laptop can be quite uncomfortable,” said Mohit Anand, Country Manager, Belkin, India. “Designed to offer maximum cooling comfort and easy connectivity for USB-enabled external devices, the sleek and slender Belkin laptop cooling hubs make it more convenient and comfortable to use laptops anywhere in a home or office.”

Backed with a lifetime warranty, the Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad and Cooling Hub are available in India at estimated street prices of Rs. 1,311/- and Rs. 2,428/-, respectively.

Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad

Belkin Laptop Cooling Hub

IBM has unveiled its first indigenous Dynamic Infrastructure Lab in Pune, India set up using the skill-base from its India workforce. The lab, located at the IBM Software Lab in Pune, showcases state-of-the-art technologies to address clients’ business challenges and brings more intelligence, automation, integration and efficiencies to the digital and physical worlds.

IBM said the Dynamic Infrastructure Lab will enable businesses and governments to better respond to and manage challenges presented by today’s globally integrated planet. The lab aims to help organizations deliver the visibility, control and automation needed to address quality service, manage risk and compliance besides maximizing return on investments, and accelerate business growth.

Dr. Ponani Gopalakrishnan, Vice President, IBM India Software Lab, said, “It’s time to start thinking differently about infrastructure. In this smarter world, we need our assets to propel us forward, not hold us back. A dynamic infrastructure transforms physical and digital assets into higher valued services. It is highly optimized to achieve greater results with improved service management, and leverages new technologies and strategies to reduce costs, manage risk and deliver superior business and IT services with agility and speed. With the launch of this lab, we are today in a position to showcase some of our own best practices with our clients in India/South Asia region.”

IBM Software Labs in India supports a heterogeneous environment and hence is very similar to a typical growing organization’s IT infrastructure. Using energy monitoring systems along with advanced Virtualization and automated management, IBM is looking to increase operational efficiency by over 20% and in turn increase its green footprint.

“In today’s challenging business environments, customers see the value that IBM brings to the table. The Dynamic Infrastructure Lab will help clients reuse existing capital and increase optimization of their assets by better monitoring their infrastructure and increase operational efficiency,” said Rekha D. Garapati, Director, IBM India Software Labs.

Global connectivity is driving increasingly complex supply chains, ultra-empowered consumers, and making issues such as governance and compliance, managing risk and fending off security threats increasingly difficult and complex. With one-third of the world’s population on the Internet by 2011, four billion mobile Web subscribers today, and the staggering amount of data and intelligence being driven by the rapid proliferation of smart sensors, RFID tags and intelligence being built into everything from pets to power grids, IBM said the world’s infrastructure is at a breaking point. The company has a broad set of offerings for servers, storage, networking, software and services that help clients with their implementation of a dynamic infrastructure.

Given the significance of India in the global software development ecosystem and the huge local community of software developers, the lab has built a robust support structure to provide technical support, education, training, migration and design assistance to our Business Partners, System Integrators and Independent Software Vendors. Last year, the team successfully supported over 1000 engagements and trained over 1200 Partner consultants in the Asia-Pacific region.

Volvo Car Corp. and Swedish game studio, SimBin Development Team, have released Volvo – The Game. The game features all of Volvo’s racing legends over the years and also introduces the Volvo S60 Concept. The game can be downloaded free of charge to a PC from www.volvocars.com/intl.

The company said one person who definitely will play Volvo – The Game is Swedish racing star Robert Dahlgren. He has achieved immense success for Volvo in STCC, the Swedish Touring Car Championship, since 2004 and is currently competing in a Volvo C30. Like many other professional race drivers, Robert Dahlgren uses virtual racing games to practice between real life races. “Playing racing games helps me train my ability to concentrate and to maintain my level of concentration over many laps,” said Dahlgren.

Volvo – The Game features six different cars and the race is run on two authentically reproduced racing tracks. The lead roles are played by the Volvo S60 Concept, the Volvo C30 that is currently competing in the STCC, the previous Volvo S60 that also competed in the STCC, the Volvo S40 that notched up many notable successes in the BTCC (the British Touring Car Championship), the Volvo 850, the estate car that became a legend in the BTCC, and finally a true racing classic from the past, a Volvo 240 Turbo Group A. The two tracks are the Gothenburg Eco Drive Arena in Göteborg, Sweden and Chayka outside Kiev in the Ukraine. Volvo – The Game is the only virtual racing game in the world to feature the Ukrainian racing track.

In order to recreate the older cars interiors as authentically as possible, SimBins art team visited the Volvo Museum to study the former racing legends.

“In terms of audio quality we’re also remarkably close to reality. One example is the S40. For that car we pulled one of the race cars out of hibernation last autumn and gave it a thorough full-speed workout, recording the engine sound straight from the racing track,” said Magnus Ling Executive Vice President at SimBin.

The two racing tracks have been reproduced with faithful detail and immense precision. It takes about 1000 hours to create a virtual racing track. Even the kerbs alongside the track have to be of exactly the right height. Many of the people playing the game are experts and they are very particular about the tiniest details, said SimBin.

Dahlgren is convinced that his own Volvo C30 will be the best car in the game. But he will of course be testing them all, and one of the contenders seems to be exerting a particular attraction.

“How cool is it going to be to race the Volvo 240 on the Gothenburg track! When I was growing up, all my friends were driving 240s. But not me. I was out competing. Now I finally get the chance,” said Dahlgren.

The goal from SimBin and Volvo is to reach out to a broader public than usual for simulation type games. This approach to the development means anyone can have fun with it and for more serious gamers and racers there is still plenty of challenge to be found in the game’s many advanced features.

For the most authentic feel, Volvo – The Game should be played with a steering wheel and pedals connected to the computer. However, it is also possible to operate the car via the PC’s keyboard or with a game-pad. The game offers a choice of skill levels: “novice” with all the driver assistance technology activated such as ABS brakes, “semi-pro” and finally “pro” where there is no assistance whatsoever.

It is possible to select the Volvo of your choice, compete against your own best times and have the track all to yourself. Or you can compete against up to eleven computer-controlled competitors. There are several alternative settings for graphics and sound. For instance, the star, the Volvo S60 Concept, will be available in two versions – “natural” and racing.

Western Digital (WD) has expanded its WD AV-GP line of hard drives in India to include a 2 TB capacity. WD AV-GP hard drives with WD GreenPower Technology provide cooler and quieter operation and lower power consumption.

Designed to withstand the stringent environment of the surveillance and security markets, WD said its AV-GP line of hard drives for audio and video applications reduces power consumption by as much as 40% over standard drives in their respective classes. The new WD AV-GP 2 TB hard drive is ideal for applications such as DVRs (digital video recorders), media centers, media servers, as well as surveillance video recording that demand a higher capacity hard drive and exceptional reliability.

“Our consumer electronics customers require hard drives that consume less power, generate less heat and operate quietly,” said Sharad Srivastava, Director-Sales (India and South Asia), Western Digital. “Audio and video recording applications, such as DVRs, media servers, media centers and mainstream surveillance systems, often demand 24×7 operation from hard drives. Our drives meet the demanding requirements of these markets including higher reliability, universal compatibility, low power consumption and the ability to simultaneously record multiple audio and/or high-definition video streams.”

Following are several features of the WD AV-GP line of hard drives:
- Long-term Reliability: Designed to last in high-temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders.
- Quiet: Noise levels have been minimized to less than one sone virtually below the threshold of human hearing.
- Reduced Power Consumption: With the combination of its IntelliSeek, IntelliPark and IntelliPower technologies, WD said it has reduced power consumption by up to 40% compared to competitors’ drives.
- IntelliPark: Delivers lower power consumption by automatically unloading the heads during idle to reduce aerodynamic drag. IntelliPark improves non-operating shock characteristics, providing enhanced robustness in environments where excessive transportation and handling occurs.
- Compatible – Tested for compatibility in a broad range of AV products including set-top boxes, DVD recorders and mainstream surveillance systems.
- SilkStream: Optimized for smooth, continuous digital video playback of up to 12 simultaneous HD streams. SilkStream is compatible with the ATA streaming command set so CE customers can use standard streaming management and error recovery options.
- Preemptive Wear Leveling: The drive arm frequently sweeps across the disk to reduce uneven wear on the drive surface common to audio video streaming applications.

The WD AV-GP 2 TB hard drive (model WD20EVDS) is available from select distributors outlet with an MSRP of Rs. 15,500/-.