Mobile RFID in India

Today Microsoft announced the general availability of its BizTalk RFID Mobile integration software, which it released in beta form in April. The software enables mobile computers and other devices that run either the Windows Mobile 5.0 or Windows CE 5.0 operating systems to integrate data directly into Microsoft's BizTalk server environment.

BizTalk RFID Mobile empowers businesses by giving their workers tools to make them more efficient and more productive," Microsoft senior product manager for application platform Paul Sanford told RFID Update. "We are seeing very diverse adoption, both by industry and size of company."

As an example, Sanford described how RiteCare, a pharmacy chain in India, used the beta version of BizTalk RFID Mobile to support its growing operations. The 10-store chain uses RFID to identify incoming shipments at its warehouse, cross dock shipments to stores when goods are needed quickly, and to manage warehouse inventory. Working with S3Edge, a Microsoft partner in India, RiteCare created an RFID system that went from pilot to production in just four weeks.

Source: http://www.rfidupdate.com/news/12082008.html

Free Group SMS and Google SMS Search

I am going to talk about 2 interesting but India specific Google offerings here. Although Indians don't SMS/text as much as they used to in good old days, there are reasons to chear courtesy Google. These 2 SMS services are called:

1. Google SMS Channels - Here you can create a Channel or SMS Group and all the subscribers will be getting the channel content by SMS for free. Now this Channel can pull content from Google News and Google groups so once you point your channel to any group or news, you will be getting new content automatically by SMS. Cool isn't it? But it does not end there - You can even pull content from your or any blogger powered blog or any RSS source, but the best part is that you can use the channel to send same SMS message to all your friends and contacts. You can just create a personal channel and invite all your contacts to it and when you post message to channel via web or by SMS it will reach everybody. So practically you can now send multiple SMSes at the cost of one sms or even for free if you use web option. Try now

2. Google SMS Search - Google SMS search is plain, simple and straight-forward like all things Google. You just need to send you search query as sms to Google India No.  9-77-33-00000 and they send you search results by sms immediately. I have tried it and it really works and here is one more Google advantage for you - since this is a normal 10 digit no and not a special no, probably you will be charged for sending only a normal sms, which is as low as 10 paise with some SMS plans. So probably Google is not looking to rip you off by having a special 4 or 5 digit no. 

BTW you can use Google search for many useful things beside search like - cricket scores, Indian Railways train schedules & ticket status, PNR, horoscopes, movie showtimes, restaurant information and more. For more info you can go here.

Oh I forgot to tell you, you can subscribe to my blog by SMS from here :-)

Chibu is 1 yr. old

I am so happy to see my little baby girl grow. She turned 1 this 24th.

Since my wife - Pragati is still bravely fighting a very rare form of cancer called Epithelioid Sarcoma, we didn't have a big party.

But our family and few close friends joined us at our home in celebrating her birthday. It was a really special day and we embraced this little happiness thrown our way after a long - long time with open arms.

She is really a blessing in our life, something which keeps both of us going in these tough times. We wish her all the happiness in life to come. 

In the picture on left you can see her opening gifts with a curoisity which only a child can posses. For more pics click here.

Mithun on TV

My younger brother, Mithun was on national TV for a small time recently. Included below is video from NDTV, top news channel of India. It basically reports how recent pirate attacks are not deterring new marine engineers from joining their duties on ships. My brother Mithun is one of them. For those who don't know him, his is the last interview by the correspondent in the video. 

Thumb Impression goes mobile

Just came across very interesting article in The Hindu Business Line which is a classic case of technology working at grassroot level.

This articles mentions how Micro Finance Institutions operating in rural areas of India are a using mobile application to authorise financial transactions for villagers.

This unique mobile application actually uses mobile camera for fingerprint recognition, really helpful for rural people who sometime lack basic ability to sign any kind of document and even if they can a finger print is always better then a signature as it can't be forged.