Tech Treats

Not Quite So Nano8211; The year opened up to Tata8217;s much awaited Nano car announced at the Delhi Auto Expo. The Rs one lakh car created quite a stir world-over and the middle class 8216;aam admi8217; saw a hero in Ratan Tata. Crowned 8216;the world8217;s cheapest car8217;, Nano boasted sleek curves, roomy interiors and fuel efficiency. Though Nano was in trouble finding itself homeless, Tata8217;s small wonder is anticipated for still by the rural and the urban population alike, courtesy the increasing traffic.

Lost 038; Found8211; Global Positioning System GPS became accessible to a larger population with more gadgets saving a space. Though still to reach the masses, GPS is 8216;the8217; thing for metros. Navigation and landmark details are all available through cars and phones with major players like Nokia, Blackberry, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson battling it out in the higher end markets.

Wired No More8211; 2008 also saw many people waving goodbye to the cable guy. The viewers had King Khan and Mr Perfection luring them to 8216;wish more8217;. Though 8216;Direct to Home8217; existed for quite a while, this year saw DishTV, BIG Digital TV, Tata Sky and others roll out exciting packages to rope in more viewers.

Webbed8211; From celebrities to professionals, politicians to even terrorists, the internet world had quite a following. The daily diary got re-incarnated online through blogs. If the common blogger penned poetry, celebs like Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan remained in news for mudslinging. Social networking became professional networking with LinkedIn and Konnect giving away professional space to the employee and employer seekers. With terror misusing the wi-fi, web security is now seen as a global challenge. Taking the lead, Google India conducted special sessions in Mumbai schools educating students regarding same. Panjab University too acted a watchdog monitoring activities and registering the laptops.

Pricey Little Thing8211; That8217;s exactly what Apple8217;s iPhone turned out to be. Touted as the best thing yet, the iPhone exploded into the mobile gadget scene with fast 3G technology, GPS mapping, enterprise features like Microsoft Exchange, widescreen iPod, a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser. What followed was Nokia8217;s tube. 2009 will see a handful more.

Sunny Days8211; The City Beautiful saw taking to energy conservation big time. In May it was announced that the administration will hire a globally known energy consultant 8211; The Energy and Resources Institute TERI, New Delhi, to turn Chandigarh into a solar city. The concept of solar architecture also gained momentum with options of taking advantage of passive solar architecture meaning that all new buildings would be required to have provision for installing solar systems and the orientation should be such that it takes the maximum advantage of solar exposure. From street lights to home cooking, the Sun is shining on all.

Go Green8211; From cars to laptops, every manufacturer suddenly began seeing green. And they had their reasons, even the smallest amount of heat content was damaging the Earth8217;s atmosphere. The result: eco-friendly cars, ACs and coolers donning a greener avatar. While Asus launched its Asus Bamboo laptops, Nokia set up recycle bins. Saving the environment remained high on agenda.