Hi folks ! Congrats to Asif for guiding research at Texas Instruments in the right direction. Keep up the good work interfacing with decision makers in the Indian corporate world, boss !
Now, I need a little guidance from technology watchers on this list. I was about to invest in buying a Nokia 6600 and the Talks software when I received this wonderful news that talking telephones are going to be available for about Rs 3000. I can easily wait for another 6 months if it means getting a comparable performance at 25% of the proposed investment. The moot question is, will this new, speech-enabled chip help us do the same things that Talks enables us to do on a Symbian-based cell phone ? (specifically, reading out text documents stored on the cell phone ?) Would appreciate if Asif or someone else could clarify the matter so that I can take a call on the investment. Thanks in advance and regards RS M: 98 472 76 126 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mohammed Asif Iqbal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 10:22 AM Subject: [AI] Fw: msg from Rakhi, ET > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Rakhi Mazumdar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 6:23 PM > Subject: msg from Rakhi, ET > > > > > > Dear Asif, > > > > The article has appeared today in ET Kolkata edition. I have pasted it > below this message. > > > > regards, > > ---Rakhi Mazumdar > > ET Kolkata > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > --------- > > > > Rakhi Mazumdar > > Kolkata > > > > Texas Instruments' (TI) sprawling campus in Bangalore is buzzing with > excitement these days around designing a 'single chip' cellphone that can be > priced at around Rs 1,500-2,000. The phone could hit the market as early as > September 2006 and for big vendors like Motorola or Nokia, who currently > manufacture multiple chip phone sets, it could be the breakthrough to > penetrate a market like India. Globally, TI also has leadership in speech > recognition software and possesses crucial IP in the 'text to speech' area. > > > > Are we then perhaps looking at the next big thing in cellphones -- > integrating the two to create a 'talking' phone? The phone would 'read' out > incoming call numbers and SMS-es and support various Indian languages, > Bengali, Marathi etc. This can open up a whole new segment of users among > visually impaired and even the illiterate. > > > > The idea excites Biswadip 'Bobby' Mitra, managing director of TI India . > "The concept is alluring. TI or its partners could potentially look at it," > Mr Mitra said in recent chat with ET. > > > > What perhaps lends a poignant note to this whole initiative is the pivotal > role of Mohammad Asif Iqbal, an IT consultant at PwC, who incidentally has > 100% vision impairment. Even before it decides to embark on such a project, > an innovative TI team already seems to be seeking inputs from Asif, who > advises PwC clients on business process restructuring with the help of IT. > > > > But he realises only too well how technology can change lives. Born with > 50% eyesight, Asif was determined to make it through life. An uncle took him > to the US where at age 16, he had to battle with grades and also cope with > the shock of a compete loss of sight. Asif managed to bag straight As in > both. He is the first blind candidate to graduate in BCom. under Calcutta > University from St. Xavier's College and followed it with an MBA from > Symbiosis, Pune. Job offers flowed in from the likes of Infosys, Bangalore > and iFlex, Mumbai. He was picked up by PwC in 2004. > > > > Asif's laptop is equipped with 'JobAcess', a special software that helps > him work on Word documents by reading out the images and characters on the > screen. It also helps him navigate through the internet. > > > > Similarly, his Nokia 6680 is loaded with MobileSpeak, a speech-enabled > software that reads out the incoming call number, his SMS-es and his > location. But with a price tag of Rs 6,000, MobileSpeak is expensive ware. > Most low-end cellphones cannot support such software which raises the total > cost of the phone to a pricey Rs 15,000 plus. That's what makes a low-priced > 'talking' phone so attractive. > > > > "I want to work with people who are trying to develop affordable > software," Asif told ET inspired by none other than the President, A P J > Abdul Kalam to help create a Job Access like software, with a price tag of > Rs 1,500. "There is definitely a market for such a product. It is also > scores as part of corporate social responsibility of an IT company," he > added. > > > > > > > > > > end > > > > > > Disclaimer: > > "The information in this e-mail and any attachments is confidential and > may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee or > addressees. If you are not an intended recipient, please delete the message > and any attachments and notify the sender of misdelivery. Any use or > disclosure of the contents of either is unauthorised and may be unlawful. > All liability for viruses is excluded to the fullest extent permitted by > law. 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