India to produce $35 computer device
NEW DELHI, July 24 (UPI) -- A $35 computer and access device is part of India's plan to offer affordable connectivity to students and teachers, officials said when revealing the prototype.
Officials, unveiling the inexpensive computer this week, said the price eventually would drop to $10, CNN reported.
Kapil Sibal, India's human resources development minister, said connectivity to all its colleges and universities is key for the country to achieve its education goals. India's literacy rate is 65 percent, 2001 census figures indicate.
Technical institutions involved in designing the new computer and access device are preparing to research price and quality issues, CNN said.
"The aim is to reach such devices to the students of colleges and universities, and to provide these institutions a host of choices of low-cost access devices around ($35) or less in (the) near future," Sibal said at the computer's introduction Thursday.
The ministry said the government hopes to introduce the touch-screen computing tool at higher educational institutions in 2011.
PC World said the device can surf the Internet, has a touchscreen display, a built-in keyboard and 2GB RAM. It also supports WiFi connectivity and has a USB port. The device is powered by a 2-watt system so it will work anywhere in India, the computer magazine said.
White iPhone 4 release delayed again
CUPERTINO, Calif., July 24 (UPI) -- Manufacturing problems forced a second delay in the release of a white version of the Apple iPhone 4, the U.S. computing and electronics giant said.
Apple said the white version of the iPhone 4 "continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected," The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Cupertino, Calif., company didn't explain what the difficulties were in its release issued Friday.
The delay is the second for the white version of the smartphone, and comes a week after Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said it would be available by month's end.
The white version was supposed to be released at the same time as the black one, which debuted in five countries on June 24, but now will arrive "later this year," Apple said.
The iPhone 4 has been buffeted by reception issues stemming from its antenna design, which damaged Apple's reputation for product design and quality.
Analysts said the white iPhone 4 delay, likely related to a yellowish tint developing during the device's manufacture, would have little impact on Apple, the Journal said.
Also Friday, Apple began its program to give away cases to iPhone 4 owners to address the reception issue, Macworld reported. Apple said it would provide free cases to anyone who buys the iPhone 4 before Sept. 30. That free case offer includes a choice of either Apple's Bumper or a third-party case. Apple also said it would offer refunds to iPhone 4 users who had already bought Bumpers from Apple.
U.S. bank failures top 100
WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- Regulators closed seven more banks in the United States recently, marking the second straight year more than 100 financial institutions failed, officials said.
Banks failures in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas, Nevada, Minnesota and Oregon pushed the number of collapsed banks to 103 so far this year, despite many financial institutions this week reporting second-quarter earnings that topped last year's levels, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said the collapses would cost its insurance fund $431 million.
State regulators seized:
-- Crescent Bank & Trust Co., based in Jasper, Ga., which had 11 branches, $1.01 billion in assets and $965.7 million in deposits.
-- Sterling Bank of Lantana, Fla., which had six branches, $407.9 million in total assets and $372.4 million in deposits.
-- Home Valley Bank, based in Cave Junction, Ore., with five branches, $251.8 million in assets and $229.6 million in deposits.
-- SouthwestUSA Bank, which had one branch, $214 million in assets and $186.7 million in deposits.
-- Williamsburg First National Bank, based in Kingstree, S.C., with five branches, $139.3 million in assets and $134.3 million in deposits.
-- Community Security Bank of New Prague, Minn., with one branch, $108 million in assets and $99.7 million in deposits.
Other financial institutions agreed to pay premiums to buy the failed banks, the Journal said.
Rules on for-profit colleges published
WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- An association that represents for-profit colleges is calling proposed rules to end federal aid for schools whose graduates don't repay loans "unwise."
The Obama administration Friday published regulations that would require for-profit colleges to have at least 45 percent of their former students paying the principal of their loans for the institution to be fully-eligible to receive student aid. Schools with less than 35 percent of former students paying down loans would not qualify for federal aid for new students, The New York Times said.
The Career College Association, which represents for-profit colleges, issued a statement calling the proposed change "unwise, unnecessary and unproven."
About 8 percent of higher-education students currently attend for-profit colleges, but many graduates leave with punishing debt and are unable to earn enough money to repay their loans, the Times reported.
For-profit colleges, which enroll about 8 percent of post-secondary students, received nearly 25 percent of federal student aid in 2008-09 and 90 percent of students in some programs receive federal education loans.
The U.S. Education Department estimated the rules would end loans to 5 percent of for-profit college programs and that 55 percent of for-profit schools would have to warn students they may have difficulty making enough to repay their loans.
Growth of for-profit colleges increased 225 percent from 1998 to 2008, while overall college enrollment rose 31 percent. The Times said the "gainful employment" rules could effectively end programs whose students have the most debt and least likelihood of finding a good job.
The final rules will be published in November after a 45-day comment period.
