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LPG version of Renault’s Dacia Duster in India?

Chennai Mojo — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:56:15 +0000

One would say that the paint on Dacia’s new SUV, the Duster, is still not dry and that the carmaker hasn’t even gotten to the point where all the engine versions for the model are released.

This however is not stopping some entrepreneurs from trying to beat the manufacturer in offering alternative fuels for one of the most sought after SUVs on the market.

Borel, a gas powered engines specialist from France, managed to beat Dacia in offering an alternative powered version of the model, as it has equipped the Duster with the technologies required for it to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The system is available in two variants, either a 95 liters gas tank (4×2 version), or a smaller 61 liters one (4×4 version).

Indian government expected to launch Android tablet in January 2011

christopher — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:41:30 +0000

The Indian government is to launch its $35 Android tablet in January 2011, surprising naysayers and making it the most accessible tablet computer on the market, which will in turn bump Android sales even higher in comparison with the iPad.

When India announced that it was working on building a super cheap portable computer, some people scoffed at the idea. Even the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) scheme has currently only managed a $200 laptop and is working on a $100 tablet with semiconductor firm Marvell, which suggested that a dirt cheap alternative to the iPad was not really possible.

But it looks like they’re going to have to bite their tongues. In late July the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal, unveiled an Android tablet that would cost in the region of $35, shocking skeptics and inviting the commendation of OLPC, which said the tablet would help with “eliminating poverty, saving the environment and creating world peace.”

Enthiran (Robot’s Tamil title) could be my last movie?

christopher — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:49:48 +0000

Was the experience of shooting a Rs 175 crore film like Robot very different from your other films?

Of course. Enthiran (Robot’s Tamil title) was a very difficult movie because there were so many factors involved. Having been in the industry for almost 40 years, I know a little of everything about filmmaking. Still, this movie was a learning process for me. There was a special effects crew from Hollywood, action effects crew from Hong Kong and some technicians from Chennai who worked on the movie as a whole.

Director Shankar, who is technically very sound, first made a complete animated film. We saw every shot before giving our shot. But shooting with the robot was time consuming. There were eight guys working on the robot. If anybody made a mistake, we had to re-shoot.

Would you rate your performance in the film as one of your best?

Nokia is expected to unveil a number of new smartphones?

emmasophie — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:54:11 +0000

During a global media event scheduled for next week, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is expected to unveil a number of new smartphones that the company believes will compete with the iPhone 4 and the latest Android smartphones. Included in the debut is the highly anticipated E7, which is supposed to use the Symbian ^3 operating system.

Nokia has revealed very few details of the E7, but bloggers have said that the smartphone will have a full Qwerty keyboard and a 640 x 360 display.

In April, Nokia unveiled its first smartphone running its Symbian^3 software, the N8. That device was supposed to be a contender in the high-end smartphone battle Nokia is waging against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and a host of other handset makers.

HDFC Net banking site has been down since yesterday!

christopher — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:35:50 +0000

The lender’s Net banking site has been down since yesterday, leaving a number of customers feeling completely helpless, that too when a strike call has been given by labour unions tomorrow

The Net banking facility from HDFC Bank Ltd is down since yesterday, due to ‘maintenance related’ work. Since all workers including bank employees have called for a strike tomorrow, the non-availability of Net banking from HDFC Bank could give more trouble to its customers.

This is the message HDFC Bank’s site has been flashing since yesterday:

“Due to system maintenance, Certain Account related features on Net Banking would not be available till Monday 6th September 17:00 hrs. Credit Card Enquiry, Demat, and Debit Card details would continue to be available. We regret the inconvenience caused.”

Football Season between the popular Cincinnati Bengals and the Fresno State Bulldogs

emmasophie — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:52:57 +0000

The famous of all matches in the College Football Season was between the popular teams of Cincinnati Bengals and the Fresno State Bulldogs. A phenomenal amount of audience was present in the Stadium of the Bulldogs in the Fresno State who came to watch this exciting match.

The players did not present any signs of laziness in them but instead everyone was determined to win the match. The unfortunate team who lost the match was the Cincinnati Bengals who were defeated by 14 points by the Fresno State Football team.

The score at the end of this interesting match was 28-14. This huge defeat has broken the winning streak of the Cincinnati Bengals of winning the previous 18 matches in their career.The Defeat has really made the Bengals very upset as their image as the winners have been damaged and above all their winning streak has been broken due to the inefficiency of some players only.

Initially the match was dominated by the Cincinnati Bengals but unfortunately they became a little bit over confident over their expertise which was not enough to defeat their opponent.

Miami got top list for the best online dating city

emmasophie — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:41:03 +0000

Online dating is fast catching up as the hottest way of finding a soul mate, and Miami has topped the list of cities for the best online dating city.

Match.com, which conducted the survey, constantly monitors its activity, from messages sent between members, to the flirtatious “wink,” to photo or information changes on a member’s profile.

“The numbers were really unbelievable,” ABC News quoted Whitney Casey, Match.com’s relationship insider, as saying.

“[They were] up 33.5% – it was the most active summer,” she added.

Casey believes the rising trend is a result of smartphones and an increase in the number of people using Match.com’s applications for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones.

Kareena Kapoor completes 10 years in Bollywood

Chennai Mojo — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:22:12 +0000

She’s hogged the limelight for more than just her acting — the size-zero debate, her sizzling romance with beau Saif Ali Khan… And, quietly completed a decade in the industry. As for her films, there have been many memorable performances, and a few, not so. Kareena Kapoor opens up on how she has matured over the years, her ‘colourful’ journey, her relationships, and her much-awaited We Are Family…

How challenging was this film for you since it is a remake of Hollywood film Stepmom, where your character was played by Julia Roberts? And also, you have to share screen space with the scene-stealer Kajol.

I had seen Stepmom years ago. I didn’t want to see it again after signing We Are Family, as I did not want to copy Julia Roberts. I wanted to do it in my style.

It’s an honour that Karan and Siddharth thought of taking me to play Julia Roberts’ role. She’s one of the finest actresses after Meryl Streep. So it was a challenge. But I’ve got lots of SMSes and calls saying that they liked the film.

Indian eves’ disastrous hockey World Cup campaign continued…

Chennai Mojo — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:24:53 +0000

Indian eves’ disastrous hockey World Cup campaign continued as they lost 1-4 to Germany to complete a hat-trick of defeats in the quadrennial event.

India’s third consecutive defeat in Pool A means the Surinder Kaur-led side is still without points in the tournament and are virtually out of the medal race.

The comprehensive victory, however, took Germany one step closer towards the semifinal spot after having won all their three pool matches so far.

Germany had four different goal-scorers in the match in Eileen Hoffmann (22nd minute), Maike Stoekel (32nd), Natascha Keller (37th) and Lydia Haase (49th).

While for India, the ever-impressive Rani Rampal sounded the board to become the joint top scorer of the tournament along with Maartje Paumen of the Netherlands with four goals each.

India will next play Japan in their penultimate pool match on Sunday while Germany will be up against defending champions the Netherlands.

Thumbs Down for A. R. Rahman’s in the Commonwealth Anthem

christopher — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:29:52 +0000

It’s unfortunate indeed! The man, who was getting standing ovations almost every other day, is now the butt of sneers, jeers and admonishing remarks from different quarters of society.

Oscar and Grammy winning composer A R Rahman, would be a baffled man, with his CWG song being trashed by all and sundry. With barely a month to go for the games, this is such a sad scenario!

But, what exactly went wrong with the genius, who has given the world some real superlative compositions? Is it just a one -off incident, like Sachin Tendulk ar being out at zero? Sukhwinder Singh, the man, who has given some of the biggest hit songs like Chaiyya chaiyya & Jai Ho with Rahman, speaks his mind…