Google working on $99 Nexus 7:

 Google is seemingly working on a new version of its Nexus 7 tablet, but reportedly on a $99 version of the device this time.

An image in Exif format has appeared on Picasa, uploaded from an account by the name of Asus Asus. This photo shows that the manufacturer is Asus, but the product is ME172V, an unannounced model. Previously, various pictures clicked from the original Google Nexus 7 made it to Picasa accounts even before the device was officially announced.

In October, technology news website Digitimes reported that Google has, however, partnered with Taiwan-based Quanta Computer to build a cheap version of the Nexus 7, instead of Asus. The report cited supply chain sources and said this device would be launched in last quarter of 2012, so an event in the second week of 2013 year would not be too much off the mark. Digitimes said its sources hinted that the price of this tablet would be $99 and will have a single core 800MHz processor made by WonderMedia Technologies of China. Huva TN screen made by Taiwan's HannStar Display will be used in the cheaper iteration of the 7-inch tablet, said Digitimes' report.

The current version of Nexus 7 costs $199 in the US market and reportedly has components worth $151. If parts like touchscreen panel, display and processor, which together cost above $80, are downgraded, the price of the device can be brought down.

Technology blogs like Android Authority and The Digital Reader are abuzz that the world's biggest search engine will officially unveil this device during the Consumer Electronics Forum in January this year.

If launched in India at a comparable price, this tablet will compete against the products of companies like Micromax, Lava and Zen.

Today’s Mayans cool about doomsday:

LONDON: As thousands of mystics, New Age dreamers and fans of pre-Hispanic culture have been drawn to Mexico in hopes of witnessing great things when the day in an old Maya calendar dubbed "the end of the world" dawns on Friday, many of today's ethnic Maya cannot understand the fuss.

Mostly Christian, ethnic Mayans have looked on in wonder at the influx of tourists to ancient cities in southern Mexico and Central America whose heyday passed hundreds of years ago. "It's a psychosis, a fad," the Telegraph quoted psychologist Vera Rodriguez, a Mexican of Maya descent living in Izamal, Yucatan state, as saying. "I think it's bad for our society and our culture," Rodriguez said.

Watching busloads of white-haired pensioners and dreadlocked backpackers pile into their heartland, Maya old and young roll their eyes at the suggestion the world will end.

"We don't believe it," Socorro Poot, a housewife and mother of three in Holca, a village about 25 miles from Chichen Itza, said. "Nobody knows the day and the hour. Only God knows."

Texas town allows guns for teachers:

In this tiny Texas town, children and their parents don't give much thought to safety at the community's lone school - mostly because some of the teachers are carrying concealed weapons. In remote Harrold, the nearest sheriff's office is 30 minutes away, and people tend to know - and trust - one another. So the school board voted to let teachers bring guns to school.
"We don't have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution," Superintendent David Thweatt said. "A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible, holstered weapon, but our teachers have master's degrees, are older and have had extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children."
In the aftermath of last week's Connecticut elementary school shooting, lawmakers in a growing number of states - including Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota and Oregon - have said they will consider laws allowing teachers and school administrators to carry firearms at school.
Texas law bans guns in schools unless the school has given written authorization.
Harrold's school board voted unanimously in 2007 to allow employees to carry weapons.