Archive for the ‘Mobile Technology’ Category
Science lessons now on mobile phones
From textbooks to your mobile screens, now science will be at everyone’s fingertips! Vigyan Prasar and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) together have launched a free SMS service for mobile users that delivers content on science and related areas. The application — Science@Mobile — was launched on February 29 as part of the two-day National Science Day celebrations by Amit Roy, Director of the Inter-University Accelerator Centre.
“I believe society without the appreciation and knowledge of science is incomplete. If we do not understand the power and application behind a phenomenon, we would live in darkness and consider it black magic. So the spread of knowledge on science is very important,” he said. “The number of mobile phones in the country have touched almost a billion. The penetration of mobiles has been immense, so the service would be of great help to create the right culture for science,” Roy said.
Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the IGNOU jointly introduced this service to tap into the potential of mobile phones to popularise science even into rural areas where mobile phones have made substantial penetration.
‘Science@Mobile’ will provide all types of information on science subjects including news, important days and events, facts, humour, quotes, about scientists, health tips and green tips to its subscribers free of cost. In addition, the content has been grouped into three categories with the first one not requiring any science background, second one requiring basic science literacy, while the third is for people with science background.
Users can subscribe to the service by messaging “SCIMBL” to 092230516161 or clicking the link provided at Vigyan Prasar website. “The service currently is available only in English. Efforts to provide SMSs in Hindi is in progress and will be available within a week or little more,” said O P Sharma, Project Coordinator of Science@Mobile service.
National Science Day is celebrated on February 28. This is to celebrate the day in 1928 when Indian scientist Sir C V Raman announced the discovery the Raman Effect in light scattering which won him the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Source: The Hindu, March 1, 2012
BlackBerry ties up with EdServ for mobile education
Eyeing leadership status in the mobile education space, Chennai-based education support services company EdServ has tied-up with BlackBerry to provide online education content on smartphones. EdServ’s wide range of educational content on its flagship education portal, http://www.Lampsglow.Com, will now be available in an application, ‘HumThum App’, in the BlackBerry Apps Store of BlackBerry smartphones worldwide, said EdServ Chairman and CEO S. Giridharan.
“Through this tie-up with BlackBerry, we will provide the entire online education content that includes tuition, academics, skill development and test prep services on the BlackBerry smartphone,” he told PTI here. EdServ is targeting a customer base of one crore and revenues of Rs. 200 crore (Rs. 2 billion) from mobile learning services within the next three years and is eyeing leadership status in the mobile education space, he said.
EdServ’s ‘HumThum app’ has a PDF converter that will change the BlackBerry smartphone into a mobile scanner or a photocopier. HumThum app also has a ‘Talking Dictionary’ that will provide pronunciation and the meaning of any English word.
On the overall growth proje ctions for EdServ, he said the company expects to register a 50 per cent growth in revenues this year and is targeting to end the year with revenues of Rs. 180 crore (Rs. 1.8 billion), compared to Rs. 122 crore (Rs. 1.22 billion) last year. It expects to maintain profitability at 30 per cent of the topline and is targeting a profit after tax of Rs. 55 crore (Rs. 550 million) this year. EdServ expects 100 per cent growth in customer traffic on its portal, http://www.Lampsglow.Com, this year, he said. The customer base was also expected to more than double this year from the existing customer base of 150,000, he said.
Answering a query about investment plans, Giridharan said the company was finalising plans to raise capital for ongoing expansion and infrastructure development and the funds could be raised through Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds and GDRs to be rolled out by the middle of August this year.
Source: http://www.smartinvestor.in
EdServ enters mobile application space
EdServ, an education services company, has signalled its entry into the mobile application space with the launch of HumThum.com, a mobile handset-based knowledge application store. This store can be accessed anywhere anytime from a mobile smart phone.
EdServ, it may be noted, has been providing online education support services through its business division http://www.lampsglow.com. Online tuition services, test preparation services, doubt-clearing sessions and interactive sessions between teachers and students through the Internet are among the desktop or laptop-based support services EdServ has been providing through http://www.lampsglow.com
Students have to register online to access contents for relevant programmes such as CA coaching or test preparation for IIT JEE or AIEEE test. The fee is based on a per-hour basis and includes recorded as well as live sessions. Students are given user names and passwords to help log into his account. The same educational content that has thus far been available through the Internet on http://www.lampsglow.com will now be available on Samsung smart phones, which, by default, will have the HumThum.com application pre-installed on the phone.
In the pilot phase of the roll out, over 50,000 students have reportedly accessed HumThum’s mobile application store. S. Giridharan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, feels that EdServ will reach a user base of 10 million in the next 18-24 months.
EdServ’s educational content and tuition services will be available across all Samsung smart phones in their Java application stores in India. According to him, there is no need for any separate registration or payment for the HumThum mobile application.
“All those who have registered on http://www.lampsglow.com can access the same educational content on the Samsung smartphone,” he says. EdServ, according to Mr. Giridharan, has also opened up parleys with other leading makers to lodge HumThum application stores on their mobile smartphones. The company, he claims, has taken over two years, spent several man-hours and invested close to $1 million to make its foray into the mobile application space.
Source: The Hindu, June 23, 2011
>Harvard brings e-learns for Indian managers
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For all those busy, on-the-go corporate managers, tips on how to face the daily management challenges will soon be available on the push of a button as applications on mobile devices. Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) is launching an e-learning tool for managers in India this year, while other institutes like the Wharton’s Executive Education Division have shown an interest in meeting such needs of the Indian manager.
The mobile offering by HBP, for instance, will be available on major mobile platforms including Blackberry, iPhone and Android devices. HBP is also developing the product to support a mobile browser. “We’re planning to launch this mobile learning solution within June-August time frame this year. As a population with high adoption rates of mobile devices, we anticipate this mobile learning solution to provide great value and update in India to both individuals and organizations,” said Vivek Chachra, Director Corporate Learning, HBP India.
India’s premier institute, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), offered a few certificate programmes in e-learning in the past for working executives. But it did not meet with much success. International business schools are, however, keen on exploring e-learning tools for Indian managers.
Wharton’s Executive Education Division (Aresty Institute of Executive Education) has identified e-learning, especially in the mobile space, as a key part of its delivery strategy. It has formed two separate centres of excellence that will focus on what it terms as connected learning (eLearning) and mobile enabled learning. Additionally, its efforts are closely coordinated with initiatives taking place at the school level around effective use of technology to enhance the learning experience.
Wharton Executive Education has conducted a mobile device pilot leveraging Apple’s iPad. “We feel that providing this type of device (including smart phones and other handheld devices) can enhance and extend the engagement taking place in the classroom,” said Metzger.
Source: The Times of India, May 7, 2011
In this Bangalore college, give your exam through mobile
Students can now answer their question paper on mobile phones. And teachers can mark their attendance on that too. This is what Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahanka, in Bangalore told its students and teachers this year. Even as schools and colleges across the country are against the use of mobile phones in classrooms, this college has come out with an out-of-the-box concept where students and teachers are allowed to use mobile phone. Called as Interactive Platform On Mobile (IPOMO), the college provides handsets (a common model) to the students and teachers, where games and messaging options are disabled. Instructions are given to students and teachers on using the handset. After the respective tasks are done, the handsets are returned to the college.
Started as pilot project for BBM and BCA courses last year, it proved successful for the college prompting them to extend it to other courses too. “The idea is to use technology in providing quality education”, M. Prakash, Principal, told TOI. “When we started the pilot project, students were curious and attracted to it. Moreover, it’s quicker and copying is not possible in this technology”, he added.
To conduct a test, a question paper is set for each subject. Four answer options will be given for each question. Students will have to enter the correct answer. At the end of the test, the students can revise the answers and then click on the submit option. Answers will be recorded in the server and the marks will be consolidated. However, for a three-hour test, 120 questions are given. Students can also do the calculation using the calculator provided in the handset.
As for attendance, if a student continuously absents for three days, then an SMS will go to the parent’s number. As for attendance, the teacher will be given a password. Once the teacher enters the password, he/she will get courses, section, subject. After this series, names of the students’ list is displayed. After the attendance is marked, that has to be in the first 15 minutes, data will be automatically entered in the server.
Source: The Times of India, September 2, 2010
In this Bangalore college, give your exam through mobile
Students can now answer their question paper on mobile phones. And teachers can mark their attendance on that too. This is what Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahanka, in Bangalore told its students and teachers this year. Even as schools and colleges across the country are against the use of mobile phones in classrooms, this college has come out with an out-of-the-box concept where students and teachers are allowed to use mobile phone. Called as Interactive Platform On Mobile (IPOMO), the college provides handsets (a common model) to the students and teachers, where games and messaging options are disabled. Instructions are given to students and teachers on using the handset. After the respective tasks are done, the handsets are returned to the college.
Source: The Times of India, September 2, 2010
India First: Nokia launches mobile money transfer platform
Nokia, the global leader in the mobile handest industry, on Monday announced the launch of the worlds first money transfer platform through mobile device in India, one of the fastest-growing handset market. Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President – Services, told a press conference that the pilot project was launched in Pune last week in partnership with Yes Bank and Obopay, which runs mobile payments platform. He, however, did not divulge the time of the commercial launch of the project. Nearly 30 handset-makers are battling it out in Indias telecom handset market. Brands like Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Blackberry dominate 85-90 % of the Rs. 20,000-crore market. Nokia leads with a 57% share while Samsung is the distant second with an 8% share and LG third with 5% share.
Source: The Economic Times, February 17, 2010 (Reported by Kausik Datta)
Higher Education News and Views 