Makers of $99 Android-Powered Game Console Ship First 1,200 'Ouyas'

Like Nintendo's Wii U game console, the Ouya (that's "OOH-yuh") has an unusual name and even more unusual hardware. The console is roughly the size of a Rubik's cube, and is powered by Android, Google's open-source operating system that's normally found on smartphones and tablets.
Ouya's makers, who are preparing the console for its commercial launch, encourage interested gamers to pop the case open and use it in electronics projects ... or even to write their own games for it. Especially if they're among the 1,200 who are about to receive their own clear plastic Ouya developer consoles.
Not exactly a finished product
The limited-edition consoles, which have been shipped out to developers already, are not designed for playing games on. They don't even come with any.
Rather, the point of these consoles is so that interested Android developers can write games for the Ouya, which will then be released to gamers when the console launches to the public. Fans who pledged at least $1,337 to Ouya's record-breaking Kickstarter project will get one, and while they're not quite suited for playing games on -- "we know the D-pad and triggers on the controller still need work," Ouya's makers say -- the clear plastic developer consoles serve as a preview of what the finished product will look like, and a reminder of Ouya's "openness."
You keep using that word ...
In the food and drug industries, terms like "organic" and "all-natural" are regulated so that only products which meet the criteria can have them on their labels. In the tech world, however, anyone can claim that their product is "open," for whatever definition of "open" they like.
The term was popularized by the world's rapid adoption of open-source software, like Android itself, where you're legally entitled to a copy of the programming code and can normally use it in your own projects (like Ouya's makers did). But when tech companies say that something is "open," they don't necessarily mean that the code or the hardware schematics use an open-source license.
How Ouya is "open"
Ouya's makers have released their ODK, or developer kit, under the same open-source license as Android itself. This allows aspiring game developers to practice their skills even without a developer console, and to improve the kit however they want. The hardware itself is currently a "closed" design, however, despite the clear plastic case. The makers have expressed enthusiasm for the idea of hardware hackers using it in projects, and have said, "We'll even publish the hardware design if people want it," but so far they haven't done so.
What about the games?
The most relevant aspect of "openness" to normal gamers is that Ouya's makers say "any developer can publish a game." This model is unusual for the console world, where only select studios are allowed to publish their wares on (for instance) the PlayStation Network, but is more familiar to fans of the anything-goes Google Play store for Android. Several big-name Android developers -- including console game titan Square-Enix -- have already signed up to have their wares on the Ouya.
Preordered Ouya game consoles (the normal ones, not the developer edition) will ship in April. They will cost $99 once sales are opened to the general public.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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Can Samsung survive without Android?

Samsung (005930) is the world’s top Android smartphone vendor by a staggering margin. Aside from LG (066570), which managed a small $20 million profit from its mobile division last quarter, no other global Android vendor can figure out how to make money selling Android phones. Meanwhile, Samsung posted a $6 billion profit on $47.6 billion in sales in the third quarter, thanks largely to record smartphone shipments and a massive marketing budget. Even as industry watchers turn sour on Apple, Samsung is seen steamrolling into 2013 and its stock is up nearly 50% on the year while Apple (AAPL) shares continue to fall from a record high hit in September. As unstoppable as Samsung appears right now, one key question remains: Is Samsung driving Android’s success or is Android driving Samsung’s success? Starting in 2013, we may finally begin to find out.
[More from BGR: Unreleased ‘BlackBerry X10′ QWERTY phone appears again in new photos]
Earlier this year, BGR wrote about Samsung’s effort to look beyond Android. Even with its own UI and application suite — and even with its own content services — Samsung will always rely on Google (GOOG) if it continues to base its devices on Google’s latest Android builds.
[More from BGR: RIM teases BlackBerry 10 launch with image of first BB10 smartphone]
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it means Samsung will never truly control the end-to-end experience on its products. It also means Samsung will never truly own its smartphones and tablets. Instead, Samsung’s devices will deliver an experience that is an amalgamation of Google’s vision and its own.
But there are alternative options. One example is the path Amazon (AMZN) has taken. Amazon let Google do the grunt work and then took its open-source Android OS and built its own software and service layer on top. Kindle Fire users don’t sit around waiting for Android updates — many of them don’t even know they’re using an Android-powered tablet.
Samsung could do the same thing, but there is a great deal of prep work that would need to be done first. Amazon’s efforts were so successful (depending on your measure of success) because the company already had a massive ecosystem in place before it even launched its first device. Streaming movies and TV shows, eBooks, retail shopping and a stocked application store were all available on the Kindle Fire from day one.
Samsung doesn’t have this luxury. Yet.
Samsung could also take ownership of a new OS, and Tizen may or may not end up being that OS. Samsung is co-developing the new Linux-based mobile platform with Intel (INTC) and others, and a new rumor from Japan’s The Daily Yomiuri suggests Samsung plans to launch its first Tizen phone in 2013. “Samsung will probably begin selling the [Tizen] smartphones next year and they are likely to be released in Japan and other countries at around the same time,” the site’s sources claim.
This will be a slow process. If Samsung follows the same path it took with Bada, Samsung’s earlier Linux-based OS that was folded into the Tizen project, things will start out slow as Samsung launches regional devices that are restricted to a few Eastern markets. Testing the waters before dumping serious marketing dollars into the project isn’t a bad idea, especially considering the battle at the bottom of the smartphone OS food chain that will already be taking place in 2013.
But one thing is clear: Samsung is looking to broaden its strategy and move beyond a point where it relies entirely on another company for its smartphone software.

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Sony No Longer Shipping PlayStation 2 in Japan

Sony's PlayStation 2 home game console, released in 2000, was one of the most popular game consoles of all time, rivaled in sales only by the different kinds of Nintendo DS handheld console. It continued to be sold new on store shelves until just recently, even years after Sony launched its PlayStation 3 successor.
Now, however, Sony's sent out its last shipment of new "PS2" consoles for the Japanese market, according to Japanese gaming news site Famitsu (as reported by Polygon's Emily Gera). Some other regions are continuing to receive shipments for now, but the heart of the PlayStation 2 phenomenon has finally stopped beating.
A gaming legend
Japanese PlayStation fans saw thousands more titles released in their language than English-speaking players. The PlayStation 2 was especially well-known for its role-playing games, such as the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, which was designed so closely around the PS2's capabilities that its Windows PC version uses almost entirely the same graphics and controller-based interface.
New PS2 games continue to ship; Final Fantasy XI is even getting a full-fledged, retail-boxed expansion pack this March. It'll only support the PS2 in Japan, however, where dedicated players continue to use the original "fat" PS2 consoles with the hard drive expansion slot. Internationally, it will only support the PC and Xbox 360.
PS2 games in a post-PS2 world
The first PlayStation 3 consoles -- infamous for the silence which ensued at the Sony event where their price at launch was announced to be "599 U.S. dollars" -- were backwards-compatible with the vast majority of PlayStation 2 and original PSOne games. Sony achieved PS2 backwards compatibility, however, by including the PS2's actual "Emotion Engine" and "Graphics Synthesizer" chips inside each PS3, essentially making it two game consoles in one (and helping to drive up that launch price).
A redesign bumped down the price some, but at the cost of removing the Emotion Engine chip, which caused the redesigned PS3 consoles to sometimes have bugs or fail to play certain games. Today's PS3 consoles lack both chips, which means that while they play PSOne games just fine, they don't support PS2 game discs at all and can't be upgraded to do so.
The legend lives on?
Sony has made HD remakes of certain PS2 titles, and republished others for the PS3 under the "PlayStation 2 Classics" brand. Dozens of such titles have been re-released as digital downloads in the PlayStation Network store.
This method of playing a PS2 game on the PS3, however, involves essentially buying the game again (assuming that it's even in the store), sort of like Sony's method of playing PlayStation Portable games on the Vita. Even rebuying the games for the PS3 doesn't ensure continued playability on modern Sony consoles; the upcoming "PlayStation 4" (not its actual name) reportedly won't be able to play games made for the PS3.

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First Person: What My College Degree Means to Me

*Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a personal finance story that you'd like to share? Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.
My college degree helped me pursue a successful 30-year career in advertising and public relations. However, it only happened after I realized I had not made the right decision in choosing my college major.
Pursuing The Major Course I Wanted
It all began when I had earned four years of tuition under the GI Bill of Rights by serving in the U.S. Navy. Ever since childhood, I had wanted to be an artist, and that was my chance to enroll as a fine arts freshman at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art (now the University of the Arts).
An Enjoyable Fine Arts Education
Throughout my undergraduate years, I appreciated the challenges and encouragement of the school's excellent teaching staff. My courses consisted of drawing, painting, sculpture and other fine arts classes. Some of my paintings were accepted for exhibition at local galleries. I was graduated with top honors and the degree of bachelor of fine arts.
Then it was time for me to earn a living from what I had learned in four years of college. I made the rounds of the many galleries in Philadelphia and New York selling my art, and had some moderate success. However, the sales were few and far between, and my income wasn't nearly enough to support myself.
Had I Made an Error in Judgment?
After a year, I came to the conclusion that I had chosen a field that, while traditionally attractive, wasn't practical in the reality of today's business world. While I hadn't wasted my four years of fine arts studies, they had not prepared me for the necessity of making a living.
I had several choices. I could go on painting, get some kind of part-time job to pay my bills, and hope I'd eventually become a successful exhibiting artist. The other choice was to go back to college and major in practical business subjects.
Fortunately, an application I'd sent to the University of Pennsylvania earned me a lab assisantship and free tuition at the Annenberg Graduate School of Communications there. I majored in mass communications and public relations, with a minor in graphic arts. After two years, and armed with a much more practical resume, I began another job search.
A Favorable Career Turn
Another fortunate opportunity coincided with earning my Master of Arts in Communications degree. Prudential Financial, Inc. was just establishing an Eastern regional office in a Philadelphia suburban area, and hiring a staff of more than 3,000 employees. I applied for the newly-created position of Public Relations and Advertising Manager, and was hired to direct the 30-person creative staff.
I recently retired after 30 years with Prudential. Today I consider my education choices and experiences may be of value to college students in the same situation I was after earning my bachelor's degree. Looking back, I had not realized then the impracticality of attempting a fine arts path in the real world where income opportunities are very limited.
Business-related degrees are essential in finding practical career promises. I believe my decision to enhance my education goals beyond fine arts to communications offered me those opportunities. For today's students, armed with the right credentials and personal determination, there's no limit to the heights that talent, hard work and ambition can earn for them.

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Low prices boost SF home sales to 5-year Jan. high

 Home sales in the San Francisco Bay area reached a five-year high for January, as prices and mortgage rates plunged, a real estate tracking firm reported Thursday.
However, many of those purchases involved properties that were subject to foreclosures or short sales, indicating the housing market is far from recovered.
The survey by San Diego-based DataQuick also showed the median sales price in the region fell nearly 3 percent last month from December to $326,000 — less than half the peak price of $665,000 reached in 2007 but up from the low of $290,000 recorded in 2009.
A total of 5,479 new and existing homes were sold in the nine-county area, according to DataQuick. The figure was down nearly 27 percent from December but marked a 10.3-percent improvement over January 2011.
The December-to-January drop was normal for the season, while the January-to-January jump showed real improvement, DataQuick said.
The year-over-year increase in January marked the seventh annual jump in a row, the firm said.
Home sales were buoyed by "lower prices, ultra-low mortgage rates, a modestly improved economy and a record level of investor purchases," DataQuick said in a statement.
The lower median price in January was "a reflection of how skewed the market has become toward distressed, lower-cost properties," DataQuick President John Walsh said in the statement. "The higher-end sales have slowed in recent months as many struggle to qualify for loans and others just sit tight."
Distressed property sales — the combination of foreclosure and short sales — made up more than half of all sales of existing homes. Absentee buyers, who mostly are investors, bought more than a quarter of all homes sold, DataQuick reported

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Why the Slowest Investors Win the Race

Anyone who attended kindergarten remembers Aesop's fable about the tortoise and the hare. The story's moral has implications for investors: Slow but steady wins the race.
Hare investors try to sprint to the finish line of a comfortable retirement without girding their portfolios against the perils of volatility — frequent ups and downs in asset value. So they tend to lag far behind tortoise investors, who take these precautions, which I'll explain in a moment.
Volatility reflects uncertainty, and markets tend to punish uncertainty with lower prices. Yet just because an investment is volatile doesn't mean it has no place in your portfolio. Because they may be less likely to go down with other assets in the portfolio, volatile investments may add highly beneficial variety, known as diversification.
Let's say you own tech stocks like Apple and IBM. Adding more tech stocks to your portfolio doesn't decrease overall risk, so you add a gold-mining stock instead. Though highly volatile in itself, the gold-mining stock is less likely to go up or down with tech stocks, so it increases the portfolio's diversification.
Because there's little correlation between gold-mining stocks' price movements with those of tech stocks, these categories are said to have a low correlation. That sounds complicated, but you can easily look up the differences in price movements between different types of investments to see whether they're correlated, and if so, how closely.
Aware of the downsides of volatility, tortoises avoid it by assembling highly diversified portfolios. That means traditional investments such as U.S. stocks and bonds, mixed with a dash of non-traditional (alternative) assets. These may include emerging market stocks, Treasury bonds and real estate securities. The price movements of these investments have a history of not being highly correlated with U.S. stocks or bonds.
Tortoises are like a savvy retailer on a tropical resort island who wisely sells umbrellas as well as sunscreen to help cover losses during rainy periods. Every once in while, the rain falls on everything -- which is what happened in late 2008, much to the dismay of investors. In the financial meltdown, stocks, bonds and real estate both in the US and abroad swooned, leaving little quarter for investors.
Tortoise-style investors add a touch of alternative investments, knowing this may cut their overall returns some years, but they'll sleep more peacefully with the knowledge that it can counter-balance heavy losses in traditional investments.
Hares aren't focused on this balanced approach. Instead, they assemble highly aggressive portfolios of assets that tend to rise or fall in lockstep. They're not concerned with cutting their losses because, compelled by greed, they're not planning to have any losses ior they believe they can defy gravity. This was not unlike the employees who loaded up on their company's shares before the recession, only to see their investment go south along with their job.
Like the Aesop's hare, hare investors are overconfident and turn a blind eye to the ravages of volatility, which take a long time to recover from. Tortoises, having sustained less damage, continue their slow but steady progress.
The math of recovering from hits may astonish you. Let's say your portfolio loses 33 percent of its value, leaving you with two thirds of what you had. Many believe they'd be back where they started if they gain 33 percent. But this gain wouldn't restore their losses. They would actually need to make a 50 percent gain to get back to where they started. The reason is that the gain is based on a lower value than what you started with.
Heavy gains followed by just a large losses from volatile investments is comparable to the hare in Aesop's fable sprinting for periods and then, winded, lying down to take a nap. Like the tortoise, investors with adequately diversified portfolios don't tend to need as much recovery time.
Such losses are even more damaging than they appear at first blush. Not only do hare portfolios lose time that could be used to make progress toward the goal, but they also miss out on the benefits of compounding from reinvested gains . Though tortoises' gains may be far lower than those made by hares during their sprints, they're more likely to enjoy the benefits of compounding.
These awkward reptiles plod steadily toward the finish line while the halting progress of hares leaves them far behind.

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US rate on 30-year mortgage hits record 3.83 pct.

Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week. Cheap mortgage rates have made home-buying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan ticked down to 3.83 percent. That's the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. And it's below the previous record rate of 3.84 percent reached last week.
The 15-year mortgage, a popular option for refinancing, dropped to 3.05 percent, also a record. That's down from last week's previous record of 3.07 percent.
Low mortgage rates haven't done much to boost home sales. Rates have been below 4 percent for all but one week since early December. Yet sales of both previously occupied homes and new homes fell in March.
There have been some positive signs in recent months. January and February made up the best winter for sales of previously occupied homes in five years. And builders are laying plans to construct more homes in 2012 than at any other point in past 3 1/2 years. That suggests some see the housing market slowly starting to turn around.
Still, many would-be buyers can't qualify for loans or afford higher down payments required by banks. Home prices in many cities continue to fall. That has made those who can afford to buy uneasy about entering the market. And for those who are willing to brave the troubled market, many have already taken advantage of lower rates — mortgage rates have been below 5 percent for more than a year now.
Mortgage rates are lower because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Slower U.S. job growth and uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis have led investors to buy more Treasurys, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increases, the yield falls.
To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.
The average rage does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.7 last week, down from 0.8 the previous week. The fee on 15-year loans also was 0.7, unchanged from the previous week.
The average on one-year adjustable rate was 2.73 percent last week, down from 2.7 percent the previous week. The fee on one-year adjustable rate mortgages was 0.5, down from 0.6.

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US rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.71 pct.

Average rates on fixed mortgages rose this week, the first increase in seven weeks. But mortgage rates remain near historic lows, boosting prospects for home sales this year.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 3.71 percent. That's up from 3.67 percent last week, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
The average rate on the 15-year mortgage, a popular refinancing option, rose to 2.98 percent. That's up from 2.94 percent last week, also a record low.
The rate on the 30-year loan has been below 4 percent since early December. Low rates are a key reason the housing industry is showing modest signs of a recovery this year.
In April, sales of both previously occupied homes and new homes rose near two-year highs. Builders are gaining more confidence in the market, breaking ground on more homes and requesting more permits to build single-family homes later this year.
Low rates could also provide some help to the economy if more people refinance. When people refinance at lower rates, they pay less interest on their loans and have more money to spend.
Still, the pace of home sales remains well below healthy levels. Economists say it could be years before the market is fully healed.
Many people are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans or can't afford larger down payments required by banks. Some would-be home buyers are holding off because they fear that home prices could keep falling.
The economy is growing only modestly and job creation slowed sharply in April and May. U.S. employers created only 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year.
Mortgage rates have been dropping because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis has led investors to buy more Treasury securities, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increase, the yield falls.
To calculate average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.
The average does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.7 point, unchanged from last week. The fee for 15-year loans also was unchanged at 0.7 point.
The average rate on one-year adjustable rate mortgages slipped to 2.78 percent from 2.79 percent last week. The fee for one-year adjustable rate loans was 0.5, up from 0.4.

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In Hezbollah stronghold, Lebanese Christians find respect, stability

In a home in a Shiite neighborhood in southern Beirut, images of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah share mantel and wall space with the Virgin Mary.
The face of the revered Shiite militant leader appears on posters, a calendar, and in several photographs nestled amid those of Christian homeowner Randa Gholam's family members. Mr. Nasrallah is, Ms. Gholam asserts amid a string of superlatives, “a gift from God.”
Lebanon’s sectarian divides are legendary, and the residents of the historically Christian neighborhood of Harat Hreik, now a Hezbollah stronghold, remember well the civil war that set Beirut on fire. They were literally caught in the middle of some of the most vicious fighting, with factions firing shots off at one another from either side of their apartment buildings.
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But in the intervening years, as Hezbollah cemented its control over the suburb of Dahiyeh, which includes Harat Hreik, the militant group has been an unexpected source of stability and even protection for the few remaining Christian families. Just a few blocks away from Nasrallah’s compound is St. Joseph’s Church, a vibrant church that Maronite Christians from across Beirut flock to every Sunday.
“I feel honored to be here. They are honest. They are not extremists. It’s not like everyone describes,” Gholam says. “I can speak on behalf of all my Christian friends. They would say the same thing."
The Christians living in Harat Hreik are a bit of an anomaly, to be sure. Christians represent a sizable population in Lebanon, though no census has been held in decades. And while Beirut's neighborhoods are gradually becoming more integrated, they still divide largely along religious lines. The fragile peace is under deep strain as regional tensions swirl because of the conflict next door in Syria.
NOT FANNING THE FLAMES
In Hezbollah's early days, its creed was "virulent," and in the past, it may have been responsible for fanning some of those flames. But as Hezbollah gained power and joined the political system, that changed, says Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Endowment Middle East Center.
“It doesn’t carry with it an anti-Christian strain anymore," he says. "That’s almost entirely gone. It’s not in their rhetoric, it’s not in their creed.”
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Recently, when the Shiite holiday of Ashura was approaching, the streets were choked with residents shopping and passing out sweets and blanketed with black banners commemorating the martyrdom of Hussein Ali. But Christians live openly here, and they describe Hezbollah as a tolerant group that has steadfastly supported their presence, even sending Christmas cards to Christian neighbors like Gholam.
Gholam, who throws a party every year in honor of Nasrallah’s birthday and places a photo of him in her Christmas tree, is certainly an anomaly. But other Christian families also speak approvingly of their life under Hezbollah, especially when compared to its predecessor, Amal, which they say forced many Christian residents to sell their homes. In contrast, Hezbollah extended financial support to the Christian families when Dahiyeh needed rebuilding after the civil war and the 2006 war with Israel.
Rony Khoury, a Maronite Christian who was born in Harat Hreik and still lives in the same apartment, says he feels comfortable drinking alcohol on his front porch, in full view of members of Hezbollah, and his wife feels no pressure to don a head scarf or follow other rules governing Muslim women's attire. They have property in a predominantly Christian area of Beirut, but have no desire to move.
“After Hezbollah came, we didn’t have any worries,” Mr. Khoury says, citing safe streets. "The security is No. 1 in the world. I leave my car open, I forget something outside…. It's very safe now, under Hezbollah."
Only between 10 and 20 of the pre-civil war Christian families remain, out of the thousands who lived there before the fighting. While the numbers are low, Khoury insists that many would come back, if only they could afford it. But property values have climbed, and many of those who left can’t afford to move back.
Of course, there are calculations behind Hezbollah's magnanimity. Hezbollah’s political alliance with the Lebanese Christian political party, the Free Patriotic Movement, is important to the group, and it “bends over backward to keep those relations comfortable,” Mr. Salem says.
It might also be a way to one-up Sunnis in Lebanon, with whom Shiites are constantly vying for dominance. “They pride themselves on saying they’re more tolerant, more open than Sunnis. In Lebanon, it’s a point of pride,” Salem says.
Both Khoury and Gholam, as well as neighborhood Shiites who dropped by their homes, said there are far more issues with Sunnis.
"Shiite extremists like Hezbollah, they come to our church" as a show of support, says Khoury. "But Sunni extremists, like Salafis, they kill me, they kill you."
THINGS COULD CHANGE
Ultimately, it is Hezbollah’s foreign backers dictating the mood in Harat Hreik. If it became politically expedient for Hezbollah to abandon its acceptance of Christian neighbors, Hezbollah would be compelled to make life difficult for them.
“For Iran and Syria, their main backers, Hezbollah is mainly a strategic force against Israel. That’s the point – not creating an Islamic state or fighting a sectarian war," Salem says. “Hezbollah is a very top-down organization. If Iran decrees something else, something else will happen.”
But that’s not something Gholam can fathom.
"I will never even think about Hezbollah giving anyone a hard time. I can't even think about answering that question," she says.

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Delhi gang-rape case could be turning point for India's rape laws

The gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a private bus as it cruised around Delhi Sunday could be the turning point for improvements in the country’s rape laws.
After nearly a week of massive protests across the capital demanding tougher punishments for rapists and better protection of women, the parliamentary standing committee will meet next week to discuss creating fast-track courts for those accused of rape.
Proposals for changes in the law come at a critical time. Many people say there is little deterrent for rapists: Because of social stigma, few females come forward to report the crime. Those that do often have to wait years for their cases to be heard. And even then, the conviction rate is just 34.6 percent, according to the National Crimes Record Bureau. Delhi has the highest number of rapes in the country, with 572 rapes reported last year. While Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code lists punishments of up to a life sentence for rape, those convicted are often let off after serving only a few months or years.
But fast-track courts could change how people think about such crimes by expediting the trial period. Proposed amendments would also provide better privacy for women with in-camera trials, which would keep them from being in the same room as the accused.
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While politicians and activists are encouraged that the public outrage could push parliament to reform laws, Anil Bairwa of the Association for Democratic Reforms says fast track courts will not solve the problem.
He points to a report released this week that found as many as 27 Indian politicians in senior positions have rape or molestation cases pending against them.
“When the politicians passing the legislation and governering states across India have themselves been accused of rape and molesting women, it really shows where this country is in its nascent laws to protect women. Hopefully fast-track courts and stiffer penalties will start bringing some of these people to task.”
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Leaders from all political walks of life have pledged their support to improve the safety of women in Delhi and across the country. That these normally polarized politicians could come together on this issue, says Nirmala Sitharaman, the national spokeswoman for the Baratiya Janta Party (BJP), shows that politicians are united in their pledge to improve the laws.
Ms. Sitharaman says the gruesome case that propelled the issue into the national spotlight shows how little perpetrators fear punishment: In the Delhi bus gang rape, both the woman and her friend who tried to protect her were thrown out of the moving bus – on a highway on the outskirts of the city, according to court testimony.
“Though the government may move slow in many areas, the commitment members of parliament have made to pass new legislation to protect women is real,” she says. “This terrible act has shaken the policymakers in this city to their core.”
But not everyone is convinced change is on the way. The pressure people across the city have been putting on the government this week must continue, says Dr. Vandana Prasad of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. “Announcements for changes in a law can mean something happening in one week or 10 years.

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