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Kapil Sibal, India's telecommunications minister has said today that the government will sell 100,000 tablets at 1,100 rupees ($22 USD) in an effort to boost computer literacy.

The government will first buy the devices from DataWind for 2250 rupees ($46 USD) and then sell the tablets at a subsidized price to schools in the nation.

India will then purchase 10 million tablets over the next 5 years.

The country has one of smallest computer penetration rates, with only 4.2 for every 100 Indians.

Says one analyst (via Bloomberg):

It's going to increase the desirability of computing devices for people who wanted them but couldn't afford the price tag. People who are using this device are not going to get the seamless experience of an iPad or a Samsung. There's no comparison.

There is not too much else to be said that Apple has not said in their statement.

Jobs was forced to resign in August as CEO of the company he founded as his health deteriorated. He was diagnosed in 2003 with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and took leave from work again in 2009 for a liver transplant.

We will have more in the coming week on Job's innovation and his contribution to the tech and business world as we know it.

From starting a computer company in his parent's garage in 1976 to being in charge of the most valuable public company in the world, Jobs defined an American icon in the technology business.

R.I.P.

Websense ThreatSeeker Cloud deploying on world's largest social network.

Due to the size of Facebook's userbase, it is a primary target for attack. Facebook users are often enticed to click links that take them to malicious websites that can range from phishing scams, to pages that target web browser vulnerabilities to deliver malware.

The social network giant has decided to make moves to help protect users from this threat. When a user clicks a URL in Facebook, the link will be checked by the Websense ThreatSeeker Cloud platform in real-time.

If the system detects anything suspicious about the page, it will prompt a warning to user. This warning message will give the user three options; return to the previous screen, get more information on why this URL was identified as potentially harmful, or to proceed at their own risk.

Sony did not breach country's Privacy Act, according to office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner.

The PlayStation-maker should have moved quicker to notify Australian users of its PlayStation Network (PSN) services following a widely-publicized hack in April that exposed personal information of millions of gamers, but it did not technically break the law.

The announcement follows an investigation that was launched shortly after the incident, with the Privacy Commissioner questioning whether Sony Australia violated the Privacy Act, which regulates how firms transfer customer information to third parties.

The leak was the "result of a sophisticated security cyber attack on the Network Platform's systems," the Commissioner's Office said, determining that Sony Australia was not guilty of violating the law. Additionally, Sony Australia held no personal information relating to the incident, as it was stored in a data center in San Diego.

The Commissioner's Office did criticize the seven day delay between the firm becoming aware of the incident, and when it reported it to customers.

Intel looks to expand mobile software services capabilities.

No financial details were officially disclosed by either company, but Israeli media claims Intel will pay between $300 million and $350 million for the company. It will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the chipmaker.

"This move is a step towards expanding our mobile software services capabilities as Intel continues to grow in the area of software and services," Intel's announcement reads. "We are all very excited to have such knowledgeable and respected experts join the company."

Telmap will allow Intel to provide AppUp developers with great, differentiated location capabilities in the form of a standard set of location-based APIs and software that developers can easily integrate into their AppUp apps.

UBM Techinsights, following the launch of the iPhone 4S yesterday, has released a preliminary cost breakdown for the device and have come up with a $203 cost for the 32GB version.

The component breakdown does not include R&D, shipping or other manufacturing expenses but does give analysts a reasonable way to work out how large a company's margins are on a certain device.

Most expensive, unsurprisingly, were the flash memory at $38, the retina display at $31 and the dual-core Apple A5 chip at $26.

The other "notable" improvements from the iPhone 4, namely the 8MP camera and the dual-mode (CDMA/GSM) radio cost Apple just $9 extra, combined.

For now, the company says the breakdown is preliminary and will be revised when the actual device ships on the 14th.

A U.S. judge has noted today that the multi-billion dollar Oracle, Google patent trial will "likely be postponed" well beyond its expected October 31st start date.

Oracle sued Google last year claiming that the search giant's Android operating system infringes on Oracle's Java patents that were acquired from Sun Microsystems in early 2010.

Additionally, Oracle also brought forth copyright infringement claims and is seeking $6 billion in damages.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup said the trial is expected to be postponed, but only because of an unrelated criminal trial that us taking place at the same time.

Google wants the entire case put on hold, indefinitely.

According to the latest issue of Xbox World magazine, developers Rare, Lionhead and Turn 10 are already prototyping new games for the "Xbox 720," or whatever the console will eventually be named.

"Rare, Lionhead and Turn 10 all have teams in place too. Rare, we hear, are even prototyping ideas for a new 'mature' title," reads the report.

One source says Microsoft will unveil the console at next year's E3 event, for a launch in the holiday season of 2013.

Turn 10, the makers of Forza, have remained on a two year schedule for their games and a late 2013 launch for Forza 5 could perfectly coincide with the release of a new console.

The same goes for Fable and Rare's new "mature" game for the upcoming console.

Samsung has been relatively quiet about their loss to Apple in German court which resulted in a sales ban on their flagship Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet.

While they did immediately appeal, statements from the company have focused more on other patent fights between the two companies around the world. That may be because they're waiting for the results of a challenge to Apple's Community Design rights for the iPad.

Speaking to the Korea Times about a pending application to nullify Apple's Community Design, a Samsung representative said "Apple claims that the iPad's design is exclusively its own, but the design existed long before the iPad." Samsung filed their challenge with the EU Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market in August.

In case you haven't seen them already, these images from Apple's Community Design filing sum it up:

Click on a thumnail to see a larger image

If figures reportedly leaked from Amazon are accurate, Amazon has already received pre-orders for at least 250,000 Kindle Fire tablets. Previously another source reported Amazon sold 95,000 on the first day alone.

The Kindle Fire is a 7" Android tablet announced at a press event last week, along with the latest Amazon Kindle e-readers. It is based on the same design as RIM's PlayBook.

Cult of Android claims to have gotten their hands on actual sales figures from Amazon showing 250,000 Kindle Fire tablets have already been pre-ordered. That seems like an impressive statement on the Amazon brand if you consider it won't even begin shipping until November 15.

Before we leap to the conclusion that the Kindle Fire is the iPad killer Android fans have been waiting for, it's worth stepping back to take a look at some alternate explanations.

The big question is whether Kindle Fire buyers actually think of it as a tablet. It does, after all, carry the Kindle brand. To many people that means it is primarily an e-reader.

Although it is likely a joke by the producers of the movie, or possibly even Microsoft to bring some hype, a logo for an "Xbox 720" is visibly seen in the movie trailer for the film "Real Steel."

If you check at 47 seconds into the trailer (embedded below) you can see the logo alongside other logos in the stadium where two robots are preparing to fight.

Of course, there is no official word that Microsoft will name their next console the Xbox 720, and there is no rush as the next console is not expected until at least 2013.

The console launched in 2005 and Microsoft has long held that it will have a decade-long life.

In 2005, Microsoft created some hype for the Xbox 360 by placing an Xbox with a holographic interface into the sci-fi movie "The Island."

Shares of RIM have jumped 14 percent today after an unsubstantiated rumor hit that Vodafone should look into purchasing RIM.

Vodafone declined to comment on the story, but most analysts have brushed off the report. In the past, it has been seen as very unlikely for a wireless carrier to purchase a handset maker.

The Canadian smartphone maker has lost over 60 percent of its value this year and about 84 percent of its value since the launch of iOS and Android.

Alongside delayed products, a failed tablet and a huge decline in revenue, RIM has simply fallen out of favor in the smartphone world, with Android and iOS becoming the only two players in the game. Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is also being slowly adopted but is being updated faster than any RIM product.

All that being said, RIM still has a market value of $11 billion and is wildly profitable although the those profits are quickly falling.

An effort by US royalty collection society ASCAP to have music downloads classified as performances has ended with the Supreme Court declining to hear their appeal of a lower court ruling.

The judge in the original case concluded a download doesn't meet the legal definition of a performance under US law. A separate ruling in the same case which affected streaming royalties wasn't being challenged by ASCAP.

ASCAP's appeal to the Supreme Court was opposed by the Justice Department who were represented by US Solicitor General Don Verilli. Before working for the Obama administration, Verilli was a prominent Washington DC entertainment industry lawyer.

In the original ruling, the judge ruled:

The fact that the statute defines performance in the audio-visual context as "show[ing]" the work or making it "audible" reinforces the conclusion that "to perform" a musical work entails contemporaneous perceptibility. ASCAP has provided no reason, and we can surmise none, why the statute would require a contemporaneously perceptible event in the context of an audio-visual work, but not in the context of a musical work.

Samsung has put an end to speculation over whether they would sue Apple to block sales of the iPhone by announcing plans to do just that in France and Italy.

For months Samsung has been engaged in a patent war with Apple. Apple is seeking the ban of Samsung tablets and phones in major markets around the world, including the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

Initially Samsung didn't seem to take these lawsuits too seriously, possibly considering them a prelude to licensing negotiations. With their Galaxy Tab 10.1 already being banned by a German court and its introduction threatened in Australia, their strategy has shifted from defense to offense.

According to a statement from Samsung (via Reuters):

Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free-ride on our technology. We will steadfastly protect our intellectual property.

Apple stock price took a hit yesterday after they showed off the iPhone 4S. Following Apple's announcement, their stock price lost almost $20 before recovering to close down just over $2 for the day.

While some people are making a big deal about this, it's important to remember that historically it has been iPhone sales, not announcements, which have pushed stock prices higher. The biggest factor for those sales, at least initially, will be how many current iPhone owners will be upgrading to the latest model.

Coverage of the iPhone 4S seems to be concentrating on what it doesn't have, such as a bigger display or redesigned exterior. But that's not necessarily a new thing either.

The iPhone 3G, for example, was mostly identical to the original iPhone, but with the addition of 3G data support, improved GPS, and some minor tweaks to the case design. Pricing was also improved significantly thanks to strategic changes by Apple.

With many early iPhone buyers opting for the 4GB model, there was a built in demand for the 8GB and 16GB 3G models, which were significantly cheaper (in the US) than the previous year's model.

The iPhone 3GS came out with a faster processor, more RAM, faster data capabilities, an improved camera with video recording capability, and a digital compass. The addition of a 32GB version probably convinced more than a few iPhone owners to upgrade.