It also aims to help users easily organise contacts within groups.  But some analysts say Google has simply reproduced features of Facebook while adding a video chat function.

Google, which handles roughly two out of every three internet searches in the US, has taken several stabs at Facebook in recent years.  But its previous efforts ended in failure, with both Google Wave and Google Buzz proving unpopular with users.

New functions

The company is now boasting that four features in Google+ could help make the company a permanent player in social networking:

Continue reading the main story “Start QuoteGoogle is playing it canny by only releasing the product via invite to a limited set of users before being gradually opened up to the general public”
End Quote Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley
——————————————————————————–
Circles – a functionality that allows individuals to place friends into groups, allowing users to share different forms of content with targeted clusters of friends
Hangouts – live multi-user video conferencing that permits friends to drop in and out of live group conversations
Huddle – group instant messaging
Sparks – a feature that connects individuals on the network to others with common interests.
The current version of Google+ has only been released to a small number of users, but the company has said it soon hopes to make the social network available to the millions of individuals that use its services each day.

“Online sharing needs a serious re-think, so it’s time we got started,” Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering at Google, said in a press release.  “Other social networking tools make selective sharing within small groups difficult,” she added, taking what appears to be a jab at Facebook’s recent grouping function.

But some analysts have said Google could have a difficult time converting Facebook devotees to their new social network.  “People have their social circles on Facebook – asking them to create another social circle is challenging,” Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst with research firm eMarketer, told the Associated Press news agency.

“The whole idea of a Google social network… they’ve been throwing stuff against the wall for several years and so forth nothing has stuck,” she added.

In April, Google reached an out-of-court settlement with a US policy group over its rollout of Google Buzz, a previous social effort.  The legal action claimed Google deceived users and violated its own privacy policy by automatically enrolling all Gmail users in its Buzz social network without seeking prior permission.

Source: BBC

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It wants to ensure that fluid does not leak from the brake master cylinder, causing the warning light to turn on. The fault could cause the brake pedal to feel spongy, and braking performance to “gradually decline”.

Toyota says that if the brake warning light is triggered, drivers still have another 200 miles to drive to find help before the brake performance deteriorates.

Toyota is not aware of any accidents because of the issue. The models affected in the UK are some Lexus IS, GS and RX models built between 2003-2005.

The US recall affects 2005-06 Avalon cars, 2004-06 Highlander (non Hybrid) and Lexus RX330 cars, and 2006 Lexus GS300, IS250, and IS350 cars, according to the company’s press release.

 THE STORY SO FAR:

September 2009: Toyota recalls almost 4m vehicles globally on fears that accelerator pedals could become trapped in floormats

 January 2010: Toyota recalls about 2.3m vehicles in the US to fix potentially faulty accelerator pedals

February 2010: Toyota’s president apologises to the US Congress and Toyota owners for safety problems that led to deaths and the worldwide recalls

April 2010: Toyota agrees to pay a record fine of $16.4m (£10.7m) in the US for failing to report defects

July 2010: Toyota recalls a further 700,000 mainly Avalon, Crown and Lexus models in two stages.

August 2010: 1.1m Corolla and Matrix cars recalled over an engine control system fault

The recall also affects 33,000 cars in continental Europe, 60,000 in China, 30,000 in Australia and 50,000 in the rest of Asia.

Car-owners will be notified early in November, and the manufacturer will arrange for the brake master cylinder cup to be replaced with a newly designed version.

The announcement follows more than 10 million car recalls by Toyota already in the past year, including 1.1 million Corolla and Matrix cars in the US and Canada recalled in August because of potentially faulty engine control systems.

Toyota has now issued 14 recalls in 2010.

The carmaker was harshly criticised for not acting sooner over accelerator pedal recalls earlier this year, and was fined $16m by US authorities.

Source: BBC

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Vodafone Ghana and Research In Motion (RIM), on Saturday outdoor one of the world’s smart-mobile-phone “BlackBerry” brand to the Ghanaian telecommunication market.

Features of the Vodafone Blackberry solution include smartphone software, sound communication, calendar portal, multimedia and other inbuilt apparatus that allow easy wireless access to the world wide web, and extra security for business and lifestyle applications.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, Mr William A. Darkah, Head of Enterprise Operations, Vodafone Ghana, said the introduction of the new product was inline with the company’s promise to its customers to provide reliable service and product as part of it forth night camping dubbed “Power to You”.

BlackBerry is a line of mobile e-mail and smartphone devices, developed and designed by Canadian company (RIM) since 1996 as a personal digital assistant with address book, calendar and to-do list capabilities.

It also functions as a portable media player with video playback and camera facilities and has the ability to send and receive (push) Internet e-mail wherever mobile network service coverage is present.

According to Mr Darkah, “BlackBerry is mainly a messaging phone with the largest array of messaging features in a smartphone, which includes auto-text, auto-correct, text prediction, support for many languages, keyboard shortcuts, text emoticons, push email, push Facebook and Myspace notifications, among others.”

Mr Marc Norris, Director, Consumer Fixed Vodafone Ghana, said users of smart-mobile-phone would enjoy the freedom and productivity benefits of staying in touch with their family and business panthers through the numerous technological offers.

“For the first time in the country, Vodafone prepaid customers can get daily unlimited browsing and electronic mails for only GH¢ 5.00; weekly unlimited browsing and e-mails for GH¢ 15.00 and monthly unlimited browsing, emails with 100 minutes of calls and 50 Short Messaging Service (SMS) for GH¢ 45.00.

“Vodafone Ghana offers the full and current range of BlackBerry devices offering our customers the mobility, convenience, security and efficiency that is necessary to run their virtual office,” Mr Norris stated.

He explained that Vodafone customers on post-paid service would also enjoy 100 minutes of calls to all networks in countries including Ghana, the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom (fixed only).

Mr Norris said that the package also includes three gigabytes of data for GH¢ 35.00 per month.

He said that “For as little as GH¢ 75.00 per month, post-paid customers will receive a free BlackBerry smartphones, enjoy 400 minutes of calls to all networks in Ghana, the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom (fixed only), as well as three gigabytes of data, 200 free SMS and free calls among their user group.

Mr Deon Liebenberg, Regional Director of RIM for Sub-Sahara Africa, said: “Successful businesses in the 21st century would require superior technological solutions that give them the edge over their competitors.

He said, the Blackberry storm, Blackberry curve 8900, 8520, Blackberry bold 9700, smartphones are well balanced mobile phones that deliver advanced features, refined usability and stylish designs.

Source: GNA/Ghana

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 A statement from the Corporate Communications Department of Vodafone in Accra said for registration, Vodafone subscribers should dial 3030 and when they are connected they would be charged 30Gp.  “Registration is effected once, by calling 3030, and once registered, customers can talk for 30 minutes for only 30Gp,” it said. 

 The statement said: “The Vodafone 3030 Promotion is enjoyed by only Vodafone Mobile prepaid customers and calls must be generated from Vodafone mobile to Vodafone mobile or from Vodafone mobile to Vodafone land line.  “Customers should note that calls to other networks, international destinations and calls from Vodafone land lines are charged at standard rates.”

 The statement said subscribers who register, pay 30Gp and can make as many calls as they like and talk for up to 30 minutes at a time. “For each call, a Vodafone Mobile prepaid customer would be charged only 30Gp and can talk for free for up to 30 minutes with no further charges when the call is to a Vodafone mobile number or land line. 

 “When a call goes beyond 30 minutes, the caller would be charged another 30Gp and can talk for up to another 30 minutes free of charge.  “The Vodafone 3030 Promotion does not affect the Vodafone Talk and Talk bonuses when one recharges with GHC 2.00, GHC5.00 or GHC 10.00. The Standard Free Nights Call rates still apply.”  

Vodafone Ghana is an Operating Company of Vodafone Group Plc., the world leading mobile Telecommunications Company, with significant presence in Europe, the Middle East Africa, Asia Pacific and the United States. Vodafone Ghana is a total communications solutions provider—mobile, fixed lines, internet, voice and data- and is currently unmatched in providing fixed line and internet services.

GNA

 They are the International Telecommunication Union Workshop on Numbering Planning and Convergence of Numbering scheduled for April 28-30, and the Fifth Annual Connecting Rural Communities Forum scheduled for August 17-19, this year.

 The workshop is being organised by the Ministry of Communications in collaboration with the ITU as part of the implementation of the Doha Action Plan adopted at the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2006.

 Speaking at the launch, Mr. Gideon Quarcoo, Deputy Minister of Communications, said the workshop on numbering was important because as a regulatory instrument, numbering had increased significantly with fair and transparent access to numbers being an essential part of ensuring a competitive telecommunication market.

 He said telecommunication numbering was a scarce resource that needed to be managed carefully.  “It is in this direction that the Ministry has included numbering as part of Ghana’s Universal Access and Service policy, being implemented by the National Communications Authority”, Mr. Quarcoo said.

According to him, ITU would provide a comprehensive understanding of key issues surrounding numbering, particularly dealing with policy and regulatory framework, management of the numbering plan, business model and methods of billing, number portability and domain name systems.

He said the workshop presented ideal training resource for professionals involved in learning more about the regulation and management of numbering in the communication sector.  Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, said the forum on connecting rural communities would explore how to enhance access to internet in those areas.

Key issues to be discussed include ICT training, rural community communication networks and local e-content generation.
GNA

 A press release issued by Mr Kofi Kapito, Chief Executive Officer of CPA and Nana Prempeh Aduhene, Head of Programme and Research in Accra on Tuesday, said the headache of switching from one network to the other to satisfy subscribers’ quest for quality service has been resolved since the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in many countries across the world including the European Union.

With the MNP service, subscribers can choose a new service provider while retaining their previous number to receive services.  This facility, which is now available for both fixed and mobile phone numbers has improved the attractiveness of the market and  increased the penetration level of the product in the countries where they are in practice.  MNP comes in three different approaches: change of the consumer’s physical location, change of the type of service required and change of the service provider (operator). But the latter is the main approach in offering this service.

 The statement said the ability to keep one’s mobile phone number when moving to a new provider, has been a lot of headache to mobile phone subscribers in the country whiles a technology exist to make it possible. The practice is already in use in 60 countries including Europe, India , Sweden, Denmark, Greece, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Malta and the USA.
    “The Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrissu, even before he became a Minister had been the number one advocate of the introduction of Mobile Number Portability. He had always stood for it even as a ranking member on Communications. This position is supported by numerous industry players and nearly all subscribers in the country.
   “The problem, however, is that the Ministry of Communications is looking at introducing this service in Ghana in June 2012,” the statement said.
     It said although the announcement created a lot of excitement among a great number of subscribers in the country, questions have started coming up as to why the ministry would like to wait for that long before introducing the concept in Ghana?

 ” Why should Ghanaians be made to tag on to service providers who in their estimation are not giving them the kind of service they require? It might not necessarily be that they were giving them poor service, but giving them a freedom of choice to be where they wanted to be?
   “Upon the directive by the minister that communication companies register all sim card subscribers by the end of 2011, it will be prudent to introduce the Mobile Number Portability to coincide with the registration on the sim cards using the same data base.

The statement said the advantages to consumers include keeping one’s number when switching service provider, no added cost to stationary and increased value through reduced tariffs.  ”The number no longer provides information on service provider, resulting in convergence of on-net and off-net tariffs.  ”With the introduction of the MNP service providers who do not perform to the satisfaction of their clients might lose their subscription and would compel them to perform better.
   ” The CPA also believes this will enhance competition that will eventually lead to the overall benefit of the consumer in terms of cost and quality services from these service providers.
   “We are therefore calling on the communications Minister and the NCA (National Communications Authority) who are the regulators of the service providers to enforce them to introduce the Mobile number portability now for the benefits of the Ghanaian consumer,” the statement added.

GNA

Disclosing this at an Annual Review Workshop of WaterAid Ghana and partner organisations, Mr. Kweku Quansah, programme officer of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), said the approval was indeed good news for all in the water and sanitation sector.

According to Mr Quansah, the previous policy had to be amended, because it was realised that the 1999 document did not capture some very important issues in the sector.  ”One of the key issues we missed was the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy – GPRS 1 and GPRS 2, then the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and complex issues like sanitation, like the plastics and capacity building issues that we could not capture,” he stated.

He revealed that in order to have the policy document reviewed, a lot of zonal consultations were done with a host of stakeholders, after which it was sent to Cabinet for approval.  But the approved policy alone is not enough to bring change into the water and sanitation sector, he stressed.

Mr Kweku Quansah elucidated that a National Environmental Sanitation Action and Strategic Plan as well as Strategic Environmental Sanitation Investment Plan need to be validated.  This, he said, will involve all stakeholders known as the National Environmental Sanitation Policy Coordinating Council (NESPoCC), a sort of advisory body in the country, in a consultative meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for April 8, 2010.

 The meeting will scrutinise the National Policy, look out for omissions and advise appropriately and corrections made before the plans are outdoored. “The policy has been approved so we don’t need to touch it but we have to develop plans from the policy,” he explained.
 ”Once you have the plans, you have the investment plan, then you will be able to tell how much it will cost to deliver sanitation in the country, and as a lead Ministry in the country for sanitation delivery services, I think it is a good thing; now that the policy is passed we can now build on it, then validate and outdoor the two documents – the National Environment and Sanitation Action and Strategic Plan and the Sanitation Investment Plan.”
   The EHSD programme officer continued that the two plans will help in achieving the targets that have been set, which include growth and poverty reduction, the medium term development framework and the attainment of the MDGs within the sanitation sector.
   Touching on other steps that government has taken that will inure to the benefit of the sanitation sector, Mr. Quansah announced that political commitment had increased significantly “and once the political commitment has increased, then you have the goodwill of the politicians to help you implement the policy, because the policy is just trying to increase coverage of sanitation services.”
   He said all cities in Ghana are filthy, people do not have places of convenience, and people depend on open spaces to ease themselves, which are the issues that are going to be tackled in the policy.
   “The political will is there and only a little financial push is needed to achieve most of the targets of the sector within the MDGs and other development agenda”, he said.

GNA

Mr. Francis Akuamoah Boateng, chairman of Strategy Security Systems International Limited (SSSIL), a company dealing in Solar panels said this on Monday when he briefed Mr. Issah Nasamu Asabgi, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, on the project.  Mr. Boateng said some of the social responsibilities of COCOBOD were to provide energy to deprived communities in the north especially in sheanut picking areas.

He said a team of experts was on the ground assessing the areas and would soon start installing the lights.  Mr Boateng called for the support of the Regional Coordinating Councils of the three northern regions to ensure that the company conducted the installation in a

friendly environment.
   Mr. Asabgi commended COCOBOD and SSSIL for the initiative and advised them to

train community members, especially older women on the maintenance of the lights.
    He said though solar power was economically useful for rural folk where incomes

were low, it was necessary for people in responsible positions to use them so that

others would patronize them.
   Mr Asabgi stressed the need for SSSIL to adequately educate the beneficiary

communities on their usage before providing them with the panels to ensure the

proper use of the facility.
   The Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Finance and Administration of

COCOBOD, Mr. William Mensah, announced in Buipe last year during a sod cutting

ceremony for the Buipe sheanut processing plant that government was to provide

some 2,000 solar streetlights for sheanut picking areas of the north.
GNA

 Ms Sherry Ayittey, the Sector Minister said Ghana had signed many conventions aimed at promoting environmental sustainability however; these laws were not being implemented due to ineffective co-ordination.  At a workshop to review a draft document that proposes the creation of the body, Ms Ayittey explained that Ghana ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1994, Convention on Climate Change in 1996 and Convention to Combat Desertification in 1997.
   “However, the implementation of these conventions has been uncoordinated at varying stages and levels. At the national level, all three conventions fall under the purview of different Ministries, Department and Agencies, which deal with them with a high degree of disconnect.”
   The workshop brought together about 30 organisations made up of selected Ministries, Department and Agencies, NGOs and civil society organisations that promote environmental sustainability.

Ms Ayittey mentioned inadequate institutional capacity and limited awareness about convention obligations and benefits as well as inadequate regulatory framework as some cross-cutting problems that hamper the effective implementation of such conventions.  She therefore urged participants to make necessary inputs into the document to ensure the smooth creation of GECCA.

The Minister said Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan English speaking country to start the co-ordination of these environmental conventions and expressed the hope that the project would serve as a model for other countries. Mr John Mason, Executive Director of Nature Conservation Research Centre, said the project could help Ghana achieve environmental sustainability.

Dr Nicholas Iddi, National Co-ordinator of the project, however, said a lot needed to be done to educate the public about these conventions to ensure smooth implementation of the international environmental laws.
GNA