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TECHNOLOGY A23
Monday 28 September 2015
Modi touts social media, tech development in Facebook visit
BRANDON BAILEY with millions of followers. “Indian community recep- na Jain, reacting to Mo- entrepreneurs would ap-
AP Technology Writer Sunday’s hour-long ses- tion” at a San Jose sports di’s comments. Like many plaud. He said he’s work-
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) sion came during a whirl- arena. young Indian tech workers ing to reduce government
— Indian Prime Minister wind tour of Silicon Valley Modi received a warm in the audience, Jain said regulation of business and
Narendra Modi touted the that included two days of welcome from about she liked Modi’s goals for crisscross the country with
power of social media and meetings with the CEOs of 1,200 people at the morn- increasing Internet con- fiber optic networks.
his own goals for develop- But he also scored a human
ing India’s tech economy Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, left, speaks next to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg note, becoming emotional
on Sunday, speaking to while describing his impov-
a global audience from at Facebook in Menlo Park, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015. A rare visit by Indian Prime Minister erished childhood and his
a “town hall” meeting at mother’s efforts to support
the headquarters of the Narendra Modi this weekend has captivated his extensive fan club in the area and commanded his family by doing menial
world’s largest social net- work. “In India, there are
work. the attention of major U.S. technology companies eager to extend their reach into a promising hundreds of thousands of
Modi also vowed to im- mothers like that,” he add-
prove education for girls overseas market. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) ed.
and “bring more women Modi’s visit to California is
into decision-making” in his Apple, Google and other ing session, which was also nectivity and building a the first by an Indian head
country, while responding leading tech companies, streamed live on Face- tech economy because of state since Indira Gan-
to a handful of questions along with local political book. she hopes to return home dhi came to Los Angeles in
during a carefully orches- leaders and an estimated “We are software engi- to work in India one day. 1982, and it’s been a rally-
trated session led by Face- 18,000 people who were neers. This is music to our Modi in fact struck sev- ing event for many of the
book CEO Mark Zucker- expected to attend an ears,” said 23-year-old Ash- eral notes that many tech tens of thousands of Indian
berg. immigrants who work in Sili-
“The strength of social me- con Valley.
dia today is that it can tell “We’re pretty hopeful
governments where they about how the coun-
are wrong and can stop try has progressed under
them from moving in the him,” said Ankur Sadhoo, a
wrong direction,” Modi young Facebook engineer
said, in remarks translated who brought his wife to the
from Hindi by an interpret- event.
er. Modi’s fans say they ad-
“We used to have elec- mire his ambitions for “Digi-
tions every five years and tal India,” a broad program
now we can have them of technological and eco-
every five minutes,” added nomic development, and
Modi, who is known for us- his promise to end gov-
ing both Facebook and ernment corruption and
Twitter to communicate inefficiency.q
Oculus takes aim at mainstream with inexpensive gear, video
R. NAKASHIMA a developers confer- gone from being this sci- Samsung said its new virtu- stream 2-D content as well
Associated Press ence in Los Angeles for ence fiction dream to an al reality headset will be 22 as an original virtual real-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vir- virtual reality technology awesome reality,” he said. percent lighter and cost ity short film called “The
tual reality is taking a few company Oculus repre- “And now we all here $99, half the price of its Big One,” from YouTube
steps closer to the main- sent attempts to push the have a chance to change previous model. The Gear star Freddie Wong’s Rock-
stream with Samsung un- platform beyond a video- the way we play, commu- VR, which requires users to etJump production com-
veiling a headset that gamer-focused niche. nicate and collaborate.” insert the latest version of pany. A Hulu launch date
brings the technology to Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off a a Samsung smartphone wasn’t announced.
its latest smartphones at Zuckerberg, who cut a promo for the upcoming into the headset, will ship Meanwhile, Oculus said it
half the price of its pre- deal to buy Oculus for $2 “Star Wars” movie show- in November. would begin a certifica-
vious model, Facebook billion last year, told some ing a speeding vehicle Netflix content is available tion program so consum-
launching support for 1,500 conference attend- zooming over the desert to be viewed in Oculus or ers can look for a sticker
360-degree video, and ees last week that virtual landscape of fictional Samsung headsets start- that will identify which
online video services like reality is “the next logical planet Jakku. Users can ing Thursday, while Hulu computers support its Oc-
Netflix and Hulu jumping step” in online sharing af- look around in any direc- said it would also bring its ulus Rift headset, which
into the format. ter text, photos and video. tion using their mouse as app to the Oculus plat- is due to come out early
The announcements at “In just a few years, VR has the video is playing. form where users can next year.q
