Barely a month has passed since the release of India's "$35" Aakash tablet, but its creators already have its successor--a sleeker, more powerful low-cost tablet--ready to launch.

When the Aakash was launched in October, it was greeted with enthusiasm--what potential it holds for a developing market!--followed almost immediately by skepticism--could it possibly work for that cheap? What's the catch?

Aakash, or Ubislate 7 as U.K. manufacturer DataWind calls it, has a 7-inch screen, runs Android 2.2. It comes with a USB drive and microSD slots. Suneet Tuli, cofounder and CEO of DataWind, tells Fast Company that DataWind will follow through with their plans to sell the tablet commercially in India, at the price of Rs. 2,999, about $60 ($35 was actually the price the government paid--read on). Eventually, he hopes they'll sell upgraded versions of the tablet in the U.S. and U.K.

Companies that make semiconductors and other electronic components are collectively the most innovative industry, according to an analysis of patents carried out by Thomson Reuters, an information-services provider. Its "Top 100 Global Innovators" report rates companies by the proportion of their patent applications that are granted; the number of "quadrilateral" patents (those granted in China, Europe, Japan and America); how often patents are cited by other companies; and whether patents relate to new techniques or inventions or are refinements of existing ones. This approach is intended to overcome the limitations of using the number of patents filed or granted as a measure of innovation. Of the 100 companies in the list, which is not ranked and relates to patent activity from 2005-2010, 40 are from America, 27 from Japan and 11 from France. No Chinese companies qualified. The report says this "underscores the fact that although China is leading the world in patent volume, quantity does not equate to influence and quality."

U.S.-based venture-backed startup companies continue to be significant job creation engines with more than 10,800 positions currently available at more than 3200 companies today according the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the job board StartUpHire.com.  Since the beginning of 2011, more than 37,000 jobs have been posted on the site. Positions are open nationwide, spanning a diverse set of industry sectors including software, IT, and clean tech/energy.

The data was announced today in conjunction with the 2011 Global Entrepreneurship Week Initiative, an entrepreneurial movement of individuals and organizations dedicated to inspiring, connecting, and equipping entrepreneurs while showcasing the support that is available to them year round.

“Venture-backed startup companies have consistently added value to the American job market, even in this difficult economic environment. The commitment of the venture capital industry coupled with the strength and vibrancy of the startup companies in which it invests fuel an efficient job-creating engine that’s become a vital part of the national economy,” said Mark Heesen, president, National Venture Capital Association.

Microbes will be the (human) food- and fuel-makers of the future, if J. Craig Venter has his way. The man responsible for one of the original sequences of the human genome as well as the team that brought you the first living cell running on human-made DNA now hopes to harness algae to make everything humanity needs. All it takes is a little genomic engineering.

"Nothing new has to be invented. We just have to combine (genes) in a way that nature has not done before. We're speeding up evolution by billions of years," Venter told an energy conference on October 18 at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C. "It's hard to imagine a part of humanity not substantially impacted."

You know the type. The people with obnoxious laughs, pushy pitches, and the ability to corner you at industry conferences and talk about themselves continuously for what seems like hours? The ones who clearly mean well, but their lack of etiquette can make you wish you hadn't even gone?

Here's a friendly suggestion: Don't be that person.

Networking is a critical part of any job hunt, yet it's probably the easiest thing to get wrong. Using living, breathing connections works better than blindly sending out resumes over the Internet, but for many, approaching people they don't know for help finding or getting a job is uncomfortable and nerve wracking.

It has become extremely difficult to foresee competition. But this isn’t cause for alarm. It’s now far more important to forge ahead with innovation, allowing a product or service to evolve in new ways, than trying to crush or outsmart perceived competition.

All business people know that they have to compete with someone. Conventional wisdom suggests that a company’s competitor is simply another company in the same business. Toothpaste brands compete with one another, as do car manufacturers, as do airlines, and so on and so forth.  But this is not the full story. In many cases, competition is not a question of services, offers, or functions of a company, but rather the use of the product that is produced.

Renowned US billionaire Warren Buffett announced that his Berkshire Hathaway investment firm has been quietly buying up shares in technology giant IBM to the tune of US$10.7-billion since March this year.

Speaking to television network CNBC, Buffet said that his company’s investment in IBM amounts to about 64-million shares, or a 5.5% stake.

If accurate, the investment would see Berkshire Hathaway become IBM’s second biggest shareholder, behind investment advisory group State Street.

The 81-year-old Buffett, sometimes called the “Sage of Omaha” for his investing skills, said that his company had paid an average price of US$170 a share, some 10% lower than the previous week’s closing price of US$187.38.

Last spring, a research team at Japan's RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology created retina-like structures from cultured mouse embryonic stem cells. This week, the same group reports that it's achieved an even more complicated feat—synthesizing a stem-cell-derived pituitary gland.

The pituitary gland is a small organ at the base of the brain that produces many important hormones and is a key part of the body's endocrine system. It's especially crucial during early development, so the ability to simulate its formation in the lab could help researchers better understand how these developmental processes work. Disruptions in the pituitary have also been associated with growth disorders, such as gigantism, and vision problems, including blindness.

I often hear people tell me that they feel their work is getting in the way of their life. And they're only partly joking. In fact, several recent research studies find that the workplace is pretty unpleasant for many people. Large numbers of men and women are severely stressed or depressed at work, often to the point of being unable to function and becoming sick, emotionally or physically. The numbers are at the highest levels, ever. Conventional explanations point to career uncertainties in today's economy, or heavy workloads. Those are obvious contributors, but I think such explanations miss a deeper, more systemic problem that's pervasive throughout the workplace culture of most organizations today.

In brief, it's that management practices, the workplace relationships that result from them, and the overall business model is stuck within a 20th century mindset and worldview. And that's dysfunctional in today's world of chaos, interdependency, and transparency. Today, collaboration and openness are essential for generating and sustaining success, both in work and in life outside of work. The new world environment includes clear shifts in what people look for and want from their careers; and from the organizations to which they'll commit their creative energies. These new realities are pushing companies to transform how they do business and how they treat people working within them. The push is towards supporting new learning, creative innovation, and long-term vision that promotes sustainability as well as contributes to greater well-being via the product or service.

The number of international students coming to the United States for graduate school has jumped by nearly 4% since 2006.

The Council of Graduate Schools released a study in November 2011 that investigates how many international students are coming to the United States for graduate school, where they're coming from, and what they're studying.

The council collected figures from 237 of the country's universities. China has consistently sent the most students to the United States, the study showed.

But, that might be due to the fact they know all of the tricks of the rather complicated system.

Universum asked 6,700 people with one to eight years of professional experience where they'd most like to work.  The Wall Street Journal has the results.

Three tech companies were listed first, followed by a bunch of government agencies and Disney.

AOL and Oracle didn't place in the top 100.

Every young entrepreneur needs an example to look up to–someone whose story resonates with your own and inspires you to reach even greater heights. Whether it’s a personal encounter with Jack Welch or reading a biography of Steve Jobs, you can find inspiration from multiple sources.

We asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invitation-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs, this question:

“Who is one well-known business leader over the age of 40 that you look to for advice on running your small business? Why do they resonate with you?”

TechStars NYC is now accepting applications for its spring program, which will run from March until June.

Run by David Cohen and David Tisch, TechStars NYC is one of the most competitive startup accelerator programs.

More than 1,000 startups applied for a dozen slots in the last session, and Techstars expects even more applicants this time around.  That makes the program harder to get into than Harvard or Yale.

Many budding entrepreneurs struggle mightily with that first step – out of their comfort zone and into the unknown. They keep asking people like me whether the time is right, and the truth is that there’s never an ideal time to start your own business. It’s like starting a personal relationship, if you wait for exactly the right time, you’ll never do it.

I’ve talked to many experts, and everyone has his own view of the right personal attributes, and the right business conditions to jump in. In my own view, the recovering economy is ripe for new startups, but successful startups are more about the right person, than the right idea or the right climate. So the real challenge is looking inward to check your alignment with these clues:

1. Running a business is a passion you crave. This is a necessary, but not sufficient reason to start a business now. It’s not the same as “I want to change the world (volunteer for a good cause)” or “I’m tired of the corporate grind (take a vacation).” It does mean you have a compelling new business idea, and a willingness to face risk.

There might be an assumption that recruiting is easier when unemployment is high, but that’s simply not true. According to Manpower Group, 52% of employers reported having a difficult time finding qualified employees to fill jobs. Employers cast a wide net when it comes to finding candidates, and remote workers can be attractive to companies because they can fill an opening that’s difficult to place with a local.

It’s more important than ever to ensure that new hires become engaged immediately upon entering their new place of employment through a well-designed onboarding process. Successful onboarding programs aren’t just a paperwork-filled orientation: They create a connection between employees, their work and the goals of the organization. Here are a few best practices from companies that effectively onboard remote workers.

Hydrophobic means that something repels water. Oil, for instance, is commons substance that is hydrophobic.

Well, Ross Nanotechnology has developed a super hydrophobic coating that completely repels water and heavy oils. Called NeverWet, any object coated with it literally cannot be touched by liquid. Any liquid placed on this coating is repelled and simply rolls off without touching the underlying surface. Not only is this amazing to see, but it solves a myriad of problems.

The video below needs to be seen to believed.

Jordan Cohen, vice president of research and economic development at the University of Iowa, will retire next summer, the university announced Monday.

Cohen joined UI as Dean of the UI College of Pharmacy in 1999, and servied has served in the role of VP of research, both on an interim and permanent basis, for four years.

Zev Sunleaf, interim director of the UI Research Foundation said that although it was a new position for Cohen when he took over in October 2007, the university has benefited from his leadership.

If you want people to change the current system, or status quo, first you have to get them to notice what’s wrong with it. That’s the idea behind a new study to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, which finds that people pay attention to negative information about the system when they believe the status quo can change.

“Take America’s educational system. You could find some flaws in that system,” says India Johnson, a graduate student at Ohio State University who did the new study with Professor Kentaro Fujita. “But we have to live with it every day, so people tend to focus on the positive and reinforce the system. Sometimes, though, people are motivated to change things—that’s what brought about the U.S. civil rights movement and the changes in Tunisia and Egypt this year, for example.

Every year, millions of foreigners want to visit the United States and tour our great nation. They also want to spend money here – lots of it. Unfortunately, our government makes it terribly difficult for them to do so. As we debate creative ways to boost our economy, create jobs and cut the deficit, we should consider making it easier for foreigners to become U.S. tourists.

Take Brazil. The Brazilian economy is one of the fastest-growing large economies in the world right now. But Brazilian products cost more because of the country’s high tariffs on imports. In December 2010 the original iPad was released in Brazilian stores for $985, which was almost twice as much as in the United States and one of the highest official prices for an iPad anywhere, according to Macworld Brazil.

While this helps encourage Brazilian production – in fact, Apple recently opened an iPad factory in Brazil, which is expected to begin shipping in December of this year – many Brazilian consumers respond by going out of Brazil to do much of their purchasing.

There are few greater satisfactions in life than a “job well done.”   Even if it’s simply mowing the lawn.  Folding the laundry.  Washing the car.  Paying your bills.  These are relatively simple tasks, however, with clearly identifiable results.  And closure.

But how do you define outcomes when the tasks are not so simple?

The question of metrics – how we measure what we do; what we’ve done; and what we intend to do – was one of the most interesting topics that emerged at the State Science & Technology Institute’s (SSTI) annual conference last week.