A day after India won the cricket world cup and presented the whole nation a party time, the internet searches about the players were buzzing too.

Google India Trends gave an interesting insight into the buzzing searches made around the famous World Cup win that brought the nation on it’s feet.  Dhoni seems to be the hottest on the web with searches asking for his wedding photos and pics of his new bald look. He shaved(or trimmed) his hair after the historical win. See the screenshot below

The head-tuning thing here is that there were enormous number of searches being made about the families of the cricketers .

Many Indians were found searching for Sara tendulkar, the 13-year-old daughter of the Legendary Master Blaster- Sachin. Netizens were also asking for family photos of Sachin Tendulkar. There were good number of searches made for the family of Virat Kohli too.

And finally, the searches for the controversial model Poonam Pandey are increasing day by day since she made her intent of going cloth less in public, just to cheer the Indian players.

In case you want to know about the hottest internet searches being made on Google, head over to Google Trends.

Apple iPad, the gadget that amazingly earned everyone’s awe for the rate it got sold reached Indian shores. The fastest ever sold gadget ever is officially available in the country’s various electronics outlets like iStore by Reliance Digital(Premium Reseller), iMagine(Premium Reseller), MAPLE, Chroma, Vijay sales and eZone starting 28th January. Find the nearest outlets at your location here. You can call 1800 425 4646 as well for other sales queries.

Here is the price list showing the prices of the various varieties of iPad. Notice the difference in their features and memory capacities and choose the one that best suits you.

iPad 16 Gb version with Wi-Fi only costs INR 27,900
iPad 32 Gb version with Wi-Fi only costs INR 32,900
iPad 64 Gb version with Wi-Fi only costs INR 37,900
iPad 16 Gb version with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity costs INR 34,900
iPad 32 Gb version with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity costs INR 39,900
iPad 64 Gb version with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity costs INR 44,900

Following this news, Indian Telecom service providers like Airtel, BSNL and Vodafone have announced data plans for 3G enabled iPads which come at a premium price.

You can also find better deals for new and used iPads on online stores like eBay. Don’t forget to give it a shot if you are looking to pay a little less for the super gadget.

If you are a BSNL Braodband subscriber you should have been checking your broadband usage details at the web link www.bbservice.bsnl.in for many months. But with effect from 21st August 2009, the link www.bbservice.bsnl.in will no longer work and broadband subscribers will have to check their usage details at the link www.data.bsnl.in.

So, go to www.data.bsnl.in in your browser and when the page loads, enter the username and password (the same you used to enter at bbservice.bsnl.in) in the login form and login.

When you are logged in, click on “My Services” tab and chose your “service name” as broadband from the drop down menu. The page reloads and then chose your account number and usage month from the drop down menu and click “search” button . You are done.

Your broadband usage details are shown in a clean manner which include the connection start and stop times, duration of the connection, data upload and download done and total usage details. These details can also be exported to excel using a link given at the bottom on this page.

Indians’ can now boast of a home-made map browser application similar to Google Earth. Named Bhuvan, the application is developed by Indian Space Research Organization ( ISRO).

Bhuvan, in it’s beta stage, being prepared by India’s major Space Organization, users can expect high resolution images of the Indian sub-continent. It will be a fun-based try for users as the interface is similar to Google Earth but with greater details. You can view your home,office and nearby streets with greater zoom level.

But one thing that may turn away users is the fact that the images supplied are those captured one year ago. So, homes and places that came up less than an year ago will not appear in the images. The plus point over here is that the application needs less bandwidth and so it can comfortably run on slow internet connections too.

The application Bhuvan can be downloaded from the link http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/

Inspired by the increasing popularity of Netbooks, Airtel has launched a similar product called NetPC. This product is built mainly to perform basic applications like internet surfing,chatting and document making.This is being brought up mainly for the use by Indian Airtel broadband users located in Delhi,Gurgaon and Noida areas.

Here is a brief review of the product outlining the goods and the bads of it:

The Goods:
• Unlike most other netbooks, Airtel NetPC uses or runs on WindowsXP.Most cheap netbooks run Linux to reduce the cost of the software.Users can still stick to their favorite Windows platform.
• It is compact and highly portable weighing just half kilogram. If you purchased a USB modem from Airtel, you can freely access the internet on the go.
• The cost is low-within the reach of an average Indian’s pocket. Net PC costs 7999 rupees excluding the monthly bill.

The Bads:
• Your monthly bill will be little heavier as you need to pay for the software you are using in addition to the broadband bill.The minimum plan stands at Rs 699 per month.
• You can’t play videos on it.
• You can’t install other new softwares
• You can’t install other browsing softwares like Chrome,Firefox etc.,.You got to use IE that comes bundled with Windows.
• You can’t shift to other broadband networks like Reliance,BSNL as the product would be locked to Airtel Broadband.

Seems to be an exciting product but the probably high monthly bill and other limitations make it a rather unexciting one. Netbooks though a little costlier than this NetPC have more better features and I think users should prefer Netbooks to this Airtel NetPC.

What say you?.Let me know about your views on NetPC in the comments…

Apple, which became a most sought after brand after the sweetest launch of iPhone is planning to release a new version of iPhone 3G called the iPhone 3G Speed or iPhone 3G S.

Appearance wise, iPhone 3G S looks the same as an iPhone 3G but all the difference is in it’s added features.

This new touch phone boasts about:

• A mobile compass for giving directions
• Faster performance that is 3.6 times faster than 2G phones and 2 times faster than iPhone 3G
• Faster loading of web pages
• Ability to connect your iPhone 3G S to a personal computer(PC)/laptop and enjoy 3G browsing in bigger resolution.
• Better 3D graphics experience and gaming
• Ability to call a number on uttering a name or a number

iPhone 3G S will be available in the American markets from 19th June and in other countries including India from August.

The iPhone 3G S is priced in U.S at $199 for a 16GB model and $299 for a 32GB model. These rates are applicable only with 3G connection of AT&T.

It’s quite sad that Indian currency didn’t have a symbol to boast about.Though the short form “Rs” is widely used,it’s not an official symbol like the $ for Dollar.Other popular currencies like U.S Dollar($),Euro(€),Pound Sterling(£) and Yen(¥) already have symbols.

Now the good news is that the Union Finance Ministry of the Indian Government has decided to launch a official symbol for the Indian Rupee.

The symbol will be selected on the basis of designs submitted in a public contest announced by the Union Finance Ministry.Anyone Indian resident can submit designs(maximum of 2) along with a DD of Rs 500.The deadline for the submission of the entries is April 15,2009.

The winner’s design would receive a grand prize of 2.5 Lakh.Besides the grand prize,five shortlisted designs receive Rs 25,000 each.

More details about the contest can be obtained from this PDF file.

This can be a once in a lifetime chance for you as you will be remembered in Indian history as “The Designer of Indian Rupee Symbol”.Don’t let this chance go away…

Google India has started a project aiming to educate people about the benefits of internet.The project called the Internet Bus Project is initially launched in Tamil Nadu where a mobile bus would travel to various cities and towns informing about the benefits of Internet.The bus contains equipment to provide a basic introduction to internet for a new user.Presentations in Tamil and English will be given to a bunch of people before giving them a hands-on with the internet.

Google would be emphasizing on publicizing about the enormous use of internet in the fields of education, information, communication, and entertainment.It would also look to promote it’s products like SMS search and Voice Search through this campaign.

The project would soon be launched in other states of the Country.

Internet usage in India has been on an ever increasing trend but it’s still a thing unknown for lower and middle class sections.Initiatives like these would certainly help the situation.

Official announcement on Google India Blog.

Engineering is meant to make life simple and cut down on burdens be it money burden or physical burden.Indian born Engineers are masters at this.Anyone who knew about TATA Nano – the World’s cheapest family car priced at Rs 1 Lakh (or $2000) would accept the mastery.

Known for it’s continuous flow of exciting products,India now sets it’s eye on making a cheapest laptop the World has ever seen.Sources say that the laptop if produced in big amounts would cost Rs 500( or $10) each.

Just as you are surprised at the  cheap price of it,many of the Techies around the world are .All of them are waiting for the official announcement tomorrow (3rd Feb)before making any comments.

The laptop would largely help India’s National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology, a scheme to improve learning in rural areas through the internet.

The laptop has been in the planning stage for 3 years and it’s present prototype is the result of efforts put in by students and researchers in institutions like Vellore Institute of Technology(VIT),Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore(IISc) and Semiconductor Laboratory, a part of India’s Space Department.

Arstechnica.com raises some interesting questions guessing that this project would follow the path of One Laptop Per Child’s(OLPC) $100 laptop plans set up by Nicholas Negraponte . The project was forced to an obvious rise in cost of laptop to $176 to add some necessary features.

Some excerpts from Arstechnica’s article :

Can India do it? The inner philanthropist hopes so, but the realist who buys technology says, “No way.” Why? Component prices are simply too high. The screen for the XO laptop, which is probably the single most innovative thing OLPC has to offer, was estimated to cost $28 per unit, in volume, by Merrill Lynch. OLPC has said that the complete motherboard/CPU package will cost roughly $75, and based on the Merrill Lynch estimates, it looks as though a third of that cost will be for the CPU alone. In other words, the CPU itself, the motherboard, the screen, the NAND flash storage, and the RAM… each of these costs more than $10 to manufacture for inclusion in the OLPC. India’s $10 price hopes appear to be nothing more than pure fantasy.

Let’s wait and see what the future has in store for this rather ambitious cheapest laptop project.

Startups are what people are looking at during these times.Startups can come out great depending upon the services they offer and innovation they apply.

Don’t forget that Google,the World’s unbeatable leader in Search Engine Industry was also a startup 10 years ago.Then,Google founded by Stanford dropouts Larry Page and Sergey Brin received heavy funding from companies like Yahoo.But as you shouldn’t be surprised,Google is in a position to acquire Yahoo.Such can be the impact of a startup if innovation/services come before personal profits.

To discover such exciting startups and encourage many others still in the pipeline,The Tata Group and National Entrepreneurship Network(NEN) have taken an initiative to award 5 hottest startups in India.These awards titled “TATA NEN Hottest Startup Awards” are People’s choice awards where any individual can nominate a startup and vote.The nominations made are first studied by NEN and if they clear eligibility criteria,they are opened to the public for voting.

The deadline to submit nominations is 22^nd October.The initial voting phase I(started 27th August) continues till 5^th November .Based on the resultsof ,top 30 startups are nominated for the 2^nd phase of public voting which continues till 22^nd December.On 23^rd December,the voting results decide the top 5 Hottest startups which are announced as winners.

In addition to a lot of exposure to markets and potential customers,the winners can bag the following prizes:

• Business training, mentoring and incubation support of upto Rs. 50 lakhs by IIM-Ahmedabad and CIIE.
• Incubation opportunity to a befitting venture by IIM-Bangalore and NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL).
• Admission to Microsoft’s StartUp Accelerator Program for at least one winner.

All the 30 shortlisted startups will receive direct admission to pitch to Angels courtesy Indian Angel Network and Mumbai Angels and admission to TiE’s nurturing program.

All nominated startup companies are invited to the TATA NEN Hottest Startup Funding Challenge 2008. The funding will be provided by Seedfund and the winner could receive 2 to 3 crores of investment capital from them.

Eligibilty requirements:

To be eligible for phase I voting,the startup should be a registered company headquartered in India and should be 5 years or younger.

So,if you are working/came across any exciting startup,don’t hesitate to nominate and vote for it.Let’s make “TATA NEN Hottest Startup Awards” a successful one.