Wikipedia Rival : Knol by Google

Google opened a new service to the public recently called Knol . The company announced it last December. Knols are articles about specific topics, written by people who have knowlodge about those subjects.

The key principle behind Knol is authorship. Every knol article will have an author or group of authors who will sign the article with their name. With "moderated collaboration", Google introduced a new method for authors to work together.

Google also made an agreement with the New Yorker magazine which allows any Knol author to add one cartoon per knol from the New Yorker's cartoon collection.


"Knol has been described both as a rival to encyclopedia sites such as Wikipedia and Scholarpedia and as a complement to Wikipedia, offering a different format that addresses many of Wikipedia's shortcomings. The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, which owns the name Wikipedia and the servers hosting the Wikipedia projects, welcomed the Google Knol initiative saying that "The more good free content, the better for the world."

While Wikipedia articles are written collectively under a "neutral point of view" policy,Knol will highlight personal expertise by emphasizing authorship and, like articles provided on Squidoo, HubPages, oondi.com, and Helium.com, knols will contain the personal opinions of the author." (Wikipedia.com)

Knol can be found at knol.google.com.

'All Weather' Handset from Intex

Intex's, has added the IN 3030 – "all weather" music phone to their range of mobile handsets. The phone is a complete music gizmo equipped with water, sweat & dust resistant technology.

"Intex is all set to make a noticeable mark in the segment by striking a chord with two of the most important user categories in the segment. This includes music lovers on the move and the masses on the street seeking protection of their handset in a high temperature, high humidity and dusty environment." said Shailendra Jha, DGM, Intex Technologies.

Equipped with features that include a music player , FM radio, voice & and an audio recorder

with an apparent rugged feel, this handset has the potential to be exactly what individuals interested in traveling and sporting activities would find extremely handy. It’s also designed to cater to the common man - farmers, fishermen, factory and construction workers, etc.- who normally use the phone with sweaty and dusty hands.

IN 3030 conforms to the Japanese JIS (IPX grade 5) standard for water resistance. The electronic circuitry is protected by a special film and all the joints are effectively sealed by rubber gaskets. As a result, the phone can withstand dust, moisture and water splashes. It is also designed to perform at very low and very high temperatures with high humidity.

Other features built into the handset include a mobile tracker and expandable memory up to 1GB, etc. The handset has been launched at a special introductory price of Rs. 3,500.