cloud future in India

The cloud is calling, but is India ready?

Considering that the concept of 'zero' actually came from India, you would think that data, basically a huge combination of numbers, will be of great importance in this country. Well, in many ways, it is true.

There are more than a billion people in this country whose records are stored in public archives. There are academic records, stored in the archives of schools, colleges and universities. Moreover, the blooming healthcare industry in India also collects and stores new data every single second. But what's unique about the data situation in India is that, till the 90s, most of it was stored in hard copies - paperwork that could fill up football stadiums.

The need for data security

US accused China of backing hackers who allegedly stole crucial information that could hamper America's trade prospects. On the other hand, the NSA in America has been accused of similar crimes when they admittedly intercepted personal messages from China Telecom to learn more about the Chinese military. Therefore, it is high time that India should hugely invest in data security. Being a developing nation, cost is an issue, though. And that is exactly why Cloud-based computing might be one way to go about it.

Is India Cloud-ready?

Now that is the million-dollar question, isn't it? In India, Microsoft Office 365 is available for a price of Rs 330 per month or Rs 3,299 per year. According to reports available from Microsoft, its goal for India is to have at least 25 million users for Cloud services. And with the growing love affair of Indians with their smartphones and tablets, such a goal is not at all unreachable. But is India ready for such an overwhelming change?

The Asia Cloud Computing Association came up with a Cloud Readiness Index for 14 nations across the continent this year and the previous one. While Japan topped the list both times, India came in 9th last year but slipped to 13th in 2014. The areas where India scored the lowest points are international connectivity and data centre risk. IPR protection in India also needs a serious overhaul. When the report came out earlier this year, it stated that India did not have a pro-ICT (Information and Communication Technology) business environment. But now that the country has a new leadership, one that is said to be business friendly, things may turn for the better.

Cloud computing is big and it is here to stay. Also, India has extremely skilled resources.

Wearable Technology Really is The Next Big Thing

Journalists have been predicting that wearable technology will be the “next big thing” for what seems like forever. With milestone releases like Google Glass, the Pebble Smartwatch, the Samsung Galaxy Gear and the Nike+ Fuelband SE, it just might be time to finally crown wearables as the official “next big thing”. It’s at the point where the once-rumored, but still unannounced iWatch is almost a given in 2014.

      Hard Drives Filled With Helium

Besides just sounding cool, the new helium-filled hard drives introduced by Western Digital this year are a game-changer in storage technology. To put it simply, because their new highly efficient hard drives are filled with helium rather than air, they can now cram 6 TB of capacity into a single drive. You probably won’t be buying one of these any time soon, but with big cloud-centered companies taking part, you just might feel the benefits as a consumer of services like Netflix (especially now that 4K streaming has been announced).

The Bionic Eye: A Retinal Implant That Can Receive Updates

The Argus Retinal Prosthesis is the first of its kind—a bionic retinal implant that helps people see in the same way a hearing aid helps people hear. The Argus II was approved and released commercially in the United States in this year and received a firmware update that granted users color vision. The Argus II is a peek into the future—a glance into a future where once these implants get good enough, a bionic eye will be better than a natural human one.

                         Curved TV

The whole curved screen shtick has quickly become the great gimmick of 2014—that is, until LG showed off its 105” OLED 4k TV that just happened to have a nice flexible display on it. The curvature to this massive, gorgeous television feels just right—and unlike the curved displays on their smartphones, actually enhances the experience. This might be another product that won’t be hitting Best Buy shelves anytime soon, but that doesn’t take anything from the fact that LG has made an immersive and interesting television.

Sony 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector

 

Sony’s most peculiar and most exciting announcement this year was the Ultra Short Throw 4k Projector. Due to the surprisingly short distance the projector sits from the wall and the incredibly sharp picture, this 4k projector feels like the future of not only projectors—but TVs as a whole. 

      5G-Some important facts

WHAT IS 5G? 

5G is the short for fifth generation, a mobile broadband technology that is in the early stages of works and likely to be in place six to seven years from now. A 5G network will be able to handle 10,000 times more call and data traffic than the current 3G or 4G network.

WHAT WOULD A TYPICAL 5G EXPERIENCE BE LIKE?

You could download a three-hour high-definition movie on a mobile device in one second. It takes several minutes on a 3G or 4G network and several hours on 2G.  

WILL 5G WORK ON THE SAME SPECTRUM BANDS THAT 3G AND 4G RUN ON?

Researchers have yet to finalise the spectrum band for 5G. But indications are that 5G networks will run on ultra-high spectrum bands like 15 GHz, 27 GHz or even 70 GHz.  

WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS OF 5G?

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute is formulating 5G global technology standards, which are likely to be formalised by 2019.

Telecom companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent , NTT DoCoMo, NEC, Samsung, Huawei and Fujitsu are driving bulk of the 5G-related innovations.  

WHEN WILL PEOPLE BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE 5G?
 

5G networks are likely to be rolled out commercially between 2020 and 2025. If the global standards are finalised by 2019, the earliest commercial deployments could happen by 2020.

Japan's NTT DoCoMo is targeting a 5G commercial launch by 2020 and will start indoor trials at its R&D centre in Yokosuka this year. 

WILL 3G AND 4G HANDSETS RUN ON 5G NETWORKS?

No. 5G will require new chipsets and devices capable of supporting speeds upwards of 10 gigabits per second. 4G and 3G run at a fraction of that speed.

ARE THERE ANY INHERENT WEAKNESSES IN 5G?

Higher frequencies could be blocked by buildings and they lose intensity over longer distances. That means, offering wider coverage would be a challenge.