NEW DELHI: India’s leading operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone on Wednesday said they will launch the iPhone 3G on August 22.

The two companies have been inviting their customers to book their phones ahead of the launch, but did not divulge the volume of the demand so far, nor the price of either the phone or the service. However, it is highly likely that both will offer similar if not identical rates.

“We need to apprise customers of the price before we can get a realistic estimate of the actual number of people who will buy the phone,” said a source in Vodafone.

The iPhone was first launched a year ago in US with AT&T as an exclusive carrier. Its inaugural price was Rs 15,960 for 8GB and Rs 19,960 for 16GB with a two-year service agreement.

It remains to be seen whether Vodafone and Airtel will offer a return policy for these iPhones. In the US, AT&T offers a 14-day return policy provided the phone is returned at the original point of purchase.

Usually, Apple signs a multi-year exclusive partnership where the iPhone is only available with the wireless service from one carrier in one country. The Apple iPhone 3G has been the technology revelation of the year, combining all the revolutionary features of iPhone plus 3G networking

Pervez Musharraf gave his farewell address to the army of Pakistan, passing the baton on to Gen. Ashfaq Kayani.

Musharraf appeared very stoic, if not discomfited; his successor, Kayani, was calm and cool. Nonetheless, the speech was revealing, with Musharraf detailing the formative role the army has played in his life and the role it should play as nation-builder and guardian of Pakistan.

THE ARMY AS “FAMILY”

Musharraf began his address by thanking Kayani and others for the honor they gave him.

He stated that after 46 years, he is saying goodbye to the army.

The outgoing chief of army staff said, “This army is my life. This army is my passion. I have given this army my love.”

Musharraf stated it was difficult to translate his sadness into words. He described the army as a family — a family that has given him its complete love and loyalty.

He added, that everything good has its end. Everyone has their time to go. This is how life works.

Musharraf continued by saying that while he’s sorry that he has to relinquish command of this “family,” he knows that he spent his 46 years with happiness and honor.

The army, said the former chief of staff, has provided him with many lessons. It has shaped the man he is — all of him. Everything he has learned — his knowledge, confidence, and people and leadership skills — has been taught to him by the army.

Musharraf then highlighted his army experiences. They included two external wars; internal security duties in Sui and Dera Bugti; flood relief; and a year’s service in a high-altitude area.

He said, he had comrades die in his arms during his war. The memories of difficulty and struggle, he remarked, are long-lasting.

Michael Phelps is one name who is the center point of every event he enters. He is the youngest swimmer in the American swimming squad. Many people succumb to pressure under the expectations of their fans but not Phelps. He has created a craze about swimming in the world. He is the most popular athlete. At the age of nineteen he has broken many world records and still to create many. He stands 6 feet 4 and weighs 195 pounds, with the broad shoulders.

In early periods of swimming he had quite a fear of water. But gradually the instructors generated confidence in him and removed his fear. He found backstroke quite comfortable and mastered it. He first dreamt becoming a champion when he saw Tom Malchow and Tom Dolan when he was 11 years old. His disturbed family went to split up around the same time. He along with his sisters then went to live with his mother.

He then moved on to the North Baltimore Aquatic Club at the Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center. There he met Bob Bowman, who saw the potential of his swimming and took the responsibility to sharpen his skills. Michael was very quick to grasp his coach and performed all the required hard work. He took hours of practice under water. He was very aggressive and at times showed his short temperament.

Michael Phelps career
Michael first made up to qualify as a part of the U.S. National B Team in 1999. He made history by qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, when he was just 15 years old. He performed quite well finishing the race in fifth place in the 200-meter butterfly. Michael ended the year ranked 7th in the world in the 200-meter butterfly and 44th in the 400-meter individual medley. After he claimed the 200m fly mark at the World Championships in Japan, he became the sport’s youngest male world-record holder. He became a professional swimmer at a very young age of 16. It was then he heard about Mark Spitz. His mother is big fan follower of Spitz and has a framed poster of the swimmer hung in her home.

At age of 15 years and nine months he became the youngest man to break a world record, breaking 200m fly mark at 2001 Spring Nationals. He was named the USA swimmer of the year. He completed his graduation in 2003. After that he focused his attention on US Spring National Championships. He won the 2003 Sullivan Award as America’s top amateur athlete. He was the first swimmer to win the award since Janet Evans in 1989. He was named Swimmer of the Meet at the 2003 World Championships, after winning six medals, including four gold’s and breaking five world records. He also became first person to ever break five world records in one meet. He was also USA swimmer of the year 2003.

Michael’s interest :
Michael swims everyday for two to two-and-a-half hours. He also does doubles whenever he finds time. He listens to music before competing. His favorite artist is Eminem, and he gets forced up by DMX’s “Party Up” and MAC 10’s “Connected for Life”. He enjoys playing video games. NHL HITZ is a particular favorite. He is a huge fan of the late Chris Farley. He loves the movie “Tommy Boy”. He drives a used Cadillac Escalade.

Difference between Michael and other swimmers
Phelps has a tall body of 6-4 with a wingspan of nearly 80 inches which he poses him an added advantage in the water. He has body shape which any perfect swimmer should have. He has double-jointed in his elbows, knees and ankles, which allow him to explore positions few other swimmers can. His shoe size is 14, and those feet act like giant flippers. He has developed the attitude to raise the performance at the peak of pressure. His ability to relax, focus and block out the pain all at once is unique in his sport.

Michael is a national inspiration for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He is also voluntary board member of the Boys & Girl Club of Harford County, Maryland, and Pathfinders for Autism. Each and every skill of swimming can be taught and each swimmer does extract it yet Michael has proved himself unique it’s because he has the feel of water. He is undoubtedly the worlds best all rounder in swimming world.

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Re-defining the perception of advanced mobile phones… the HTC Touch Diamond™ signals a giant leap forward in combining hi-tech prowess with intuitive usability and exhilarating design.

Featuring a sharp 2.8-inch touch screen housed within a stunning formation of brushed metal and flawless faceted edges. HTC Touch Diamond is as beautiful to behold as it is to use.

With HTC’s vibrant touch-responsive user interface, TouchFLO™ 3D, and ultra-fast HSDPA internet connectivity… the HTC Touch Diamond offers a rich online experience to rival a notebook computer, allowing you to interact with Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia as freely as you would with a broadband connection.

Your contacts, favourite music, videos and photos are no longer an uninspired line of text. With TouchFLO 3D, album artwork, video stills and snapshots of your friends’ and family’s faces are brought to life for you to interact, play and launch at your fingertips.

A 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera will help you capture the perfect moment in style and with a massive 4GB of internal storage you can keep all the files you need. The integrated ultra-sensitive GPS will help you find your destination as quickly and efficiently as a dedicated satellite navigation unit.

Style and substance in a phone are no longer mutually exclusive. The HTC Touch Diamond has arrived.

Highlights

	2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the pixels of most phones.
	Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media… all vividly displayed as photos and artwork powered by the 3D graphics processor.
	HTC Weather – providing a constant view of weather at home and abroad.
	Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity.
	3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera for quality stills and video.
	4GB of internal storage to preserve more photos, music, files and exchanged data than ever before.
	Integrated GPS for use with maps software for a full turn-by-turn satellite navigation experience.

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While civilians would get this after 10, 20 and 30 years of service, defence forces jawans would be promoted under ACP after 8, 16 and 24 years.

The hiked salary would be given to the employees beginning September this year and the arrears from January 2006 would be given in cash

While civilians would get this after 10, 20 and 30 years of service, defence forces jawans would be promoted under ACP after 8, 16 and 24 years.

The hiked salary would be given to the employees beginning September this year and the arrears from January 2006 would be given in cash

Employees living in A-1 Cities – 30% HRA (Unchanged)

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please comment weather you find the infermation useful.

Google the planet >>

Google Earth puts a planet’s worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop. View exotic locales like Maui and Paris, as well as points of interest such as local restaurants, hospitals, and schools. Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps, and the power of Google Search to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips. With Google Earth you can fly from space to your neighborhood–just type in an address and zoom right in, search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions, tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings, save and share your searches and favorites and even add your own annotations.

Version 4.3 adds day and night lighting, Street View, more 3D models, and faster rendering speeds.

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The J. River Media Jukebox is a stripped-down but free version of the popular J. River Media Center. Popular in its own right, Media Jukebox uses the same interface as its big brother to deliver a feature set that’s anything but little, but strictly limited to music support. Those in search of video and image compatibility will need to download the Media Center.

The program mimics the iTunes interface in a way that could benefit from more inspiration, but it doesn’t stop the extras from shining through. You’ll be able to burn and rip CDs, sync with just about any portable including iPods, tag tracks, and convert files to several popular formats. It has browser support, letting you buy music from Amazon and plug-ins for several services including Last.fm so you can find new music based on your taste. You also have your choice of skins you can download to give your player a new look. Playlists are also supported.

Former problems with encoding have been largely taken care of. Strangely, instead of providing access to CDDB, Media Jukebox uses a proprietary database that works fine with commercial CDs, but not quite as well with backup or free-floating copies. Database crashes are largely a thing of the past, and we didn’t encounter any with the latest release. Many limitations get freed in the Media Center, including plug-in support, and TV recording. The forced start after installing was annoying, though not problematic.