Ever faced the hassle of having to change your contact numbers every time you shift jobs? Even moving homes within the same city means having to update your family and friends with your new landline contact number. Imagine a service that does away with this hitch, a program that allows you to be contacted on a single phone number, an option to receive calls routed via a common number regardless of whether you are in your office in Bangalore or on a trip to Chicago!

Well that’s Google Voice for you, a revolutionary initiative in telecommunication that gives the user a single number for all phones – that’s right, you get to attach any of your phone numbers, fixed or mobile. Google Voice is a unique ‘follow-me’ service that unifies both wireless and wired-line communications. International Voicemail made easy, Google Voice offers a range of user-focussed features such as call screening, caller ID blocking, voice call transcripts, built in conferencing capabilities and many more value additions. And best of all it’s free! It can’t get any better than this. But it does. With Google Voice you can use your existing number to receive only voice mails, and even take your voice messages with you when you change phones. Or you could link your existing phones to a single Google Voice phone number.

Google Voice and Your Existing Phone Number

When you sign up for Google Voice you can still choose to stick to your existing personal contact number. What Google Voice can do in this case is take care of all your voicemail and display them in an easy-to-read format on your phone, or on a computer. You can even set custom voicemail greetings and templates to ping people on the go, and even forward or embed voicemails received.. Voicemail notifications can be set in various formats including email and SMS. And best of all, Google Voice makes international calling affordable and hassle free.

Get Your Very Own Google Phone Number

This is perhaps the best part of going Voicemail, the Google way. Perfect for frequent business travellers, getting your very own Google Phone Number can mean connecting to people via a common number for all your phones – home, work or mobile. You can even choose for all phones to ring when your Google number is dialled, or just link it up to one number at a time. This way changing your personal numbers does not impact how you stay in touch – updating a new phone number is as easy as logging into your account and changing the new number attached to your Google number.

“Project Natal” is a code name for a world-shattering new way of controller-free gaming. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. “Project Natal” tracks your full body movement in 3-D, while responding to commands, directions, even a difference of emotion in your voice. It is an add-on peripheral for the Microsoft Xbox 360 console.

With controller-free gaming you don’t just control the superhero, you are the superhero! Full-body tracking allows the “Project Natal” sensor to capture every move, from head to toe, to give players a full-body gaming experience. Greet and speak to characters in the game, or simply step into view of the sensor to log into Xbox LIVE and connect with friends. “Project Natal” makes sharing in all the fun a snap. Talk or watch a movie in the same living room or on the other side of the world — no headset, no keyboard and no controllers required. It’s just you, your friends, your family and a whole new way to play.

How Does “Project Natal” Work?

Custom processor: A Microsoft proprietary software layer makes the magic of “Project Natal” possible. This layer differentiates “Project Natal” from any other technology on the market through its ability to enable human body recognition and extract other visual noise.

“Project Natal” sensor: “Project Natal” is the world’s first system to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software that brings the “Project Natal” experience to every Xbox 360 console. The “Project Natal” sensor tracks full-body movement and individual voices, creating controller-free fun and social entertainment that is available exclusively on Xbox 360.

RGB camera: “Project Natal” has a video camera that delivers the three basic colour components. RGB camera helps enable facial recognition and more.

Depth sensor: An infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor allows “Project Natal” to see the room in 3-D (as opposed to inferring the room from a 2-D image) under any lighting conditions.

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CJ: Tell us about your childhood and education.

Dr. Reddy: Up until Class 5, I studied in the Govt. Primary School in Alluru village, Veralpadu Mandal in Krishna District. From Class 6 to 11, I studied in ZP High School, Errupalem in Khammam District.

I ranked first in the Class X examinations, at the district level, and my father bought me a watch to celebrate the occasion.

I used to walk about 4 miles to reach my school. When I was in Class 9, my father bought me a bicycle for Rs.60, and I was the only one in the village to own a cycle!

CJ: Any favourite teachers?

Dr. Reddy: Oh yes! Teachers in school play a very important role in moulding our character. My favorite teachers were Sri Anjaneya Shastry, my English teacher, and Sri Prabhakar Rao, who taught me Mathematics.

CJ: Higher education?

Dr. Reddy: In 1967, I came to Hyderabad, and joined in New Science College for my PUC. I stayed in Reddy’s Hostel in Abids. I was one among the 110 students in the class. Having acquired my primary schoolding in the Telugu medium, I struggled a lot to understand the lessons. But I worked hard and my dedication paid off. I completed my PUC with 85% marks. I then went on to do my B.E. in Osmania University, and my post graduation from IIT Madras. In 1986, I received myPhD from IIT Delhi.

CJ: Which of your qualities would you attribute your success to?

Dr. Reddy: I would say my ambition, hard work, commitment and sincerity are the driving forces that have helped me reach where I am today.

CJ: What significant changes do you propose to advance the present education system in JNTU?

Dr. Reddy: We are currently working on making classroom teaching more effective using Information Technology and audio-visual aids. We are in the process of installing digital screens in classrooms so that students can better comprehend the classroom sessions.

CJ: What are the plausible reasons for the higher failure rate in JNTU?

Dr. Reddy: Yes I have to agree, the failure rate is high in JNTU. The key problem as I see it is that many students do not attend classes regularly. While it is true that only about 20% of the learning can be garnered from Professors and their lectures, it is still in the student’s’ interest to attend classes. At the very least classes can act as a starting point for self study, to get a basic outline without which they may not be able to begin studying on their own.

CJ: There is this statistic that for a mere 11,000 SBI clerical vacancies, over 36 lakh applications were received, and a considerable number of these  were M.Tech and M.Phil degree holders. What do you think about the present economic situation?

Dr. Reddy: Earlier, IT companies used to provide employment to most of the Engineering graduates. But in the present times of Economic Recession they are unable to provide jobs to fresh graduates, and that is the reason for this trend. At this point in time, students should look to improve their soft skills. Learning the basic concepts of their core branch is very important, and in addition to that students should also learn inter-disciplinary subjects.

CJ: In many colleges, even the Professors could do with better communication skills. JNTU has tried to change this and train senior faculty by tying up with WIPRO. How is the progress of Mission 10X?

Dr. Reddy: Mission 10X is a training program conducted by Wipro Foundation. It aims at training senior faculty in the Engineering colleges in the state. Nearly 50 professors have been successfully trained until now, and we are planning another 20 training programs.

CJ: In an interview you stated that out of the 524 engineering colleges in the state only 100 colleges have the appropriate infrastructure and only 60 colleges employ a good team of teaching staff. What steps have you been taking to improve the situation?

Dr. Reddy: Yes, I agree. This is a fact. We have asked the management of the various colleges to send detailed reports about their infrastructure and faculty by the end of this month. Later, we will be displaying all the relevant information in our website. If a student finds anything amiss, he/she can get back with feedback and we will perform inspections of such colleges.

CJ: Your message to students..

Dr. Reddy: Students should develop their communication skills and core knowledge. Inter-disciplinary subjects are also important and students must give them due attention. And above all, students should be sincere in their efforts to reap the rewards.