Hi Asif, Please let us know whether the phones would also be able to read incoming messages and what level of accessibility can we expect from these phones. This is important as many of us may be planning to buy an accessible phone in the near future. Regards, Aaruni. students and teachers of political science and economics! come, and join [EMAIL PROTECTED]: a forum for discussing Indian polity, indian economy, international relations and all that falls within the ambit of political science and political economy. In order To join the group send a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mohammed Asif Iqbal Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 10:22 AM To: [email protected] 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. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender states them, with requisite authority, to be those of the specific TIMES GROUP company." > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
