APPLE GEARS UP FOR BLACK FRIDAY SALE

San FranciscoThe Economic Times Apple Inc, facing a tight US consumer-spending environment, is gearing up for a one-day sale on Friday and at least one analyst expects the company to offer discounts of up to 15 percent. The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is the traditional kickoff to the US holiday shopping season and one of the biggest buying days of the year for consumers. The outlook for the computer and consumer electronics industry is universally grim, with shoppers widely expected to cut back on purchases as a recession...

HARYANA APPROVES 60 MAJOR IT PROJECTS, CLAIMS CHIEF SECRETARY

ChandigarhThe Pioneer In Haryana, over 100 Information Technology Plans and Information and Computer Technology Project Proposals, amounting to Rs 389.42 crore covering 60 major departments and organisations had so far been approved in the State. It was stated by Haryana Chief Secretary, Dharam Vir during e-Governance Conference, which is organised by Data Quest at Chandigarh on Thursday. Haryana had already taken a lead in implementing State sector Mission Mode Projects identified under National e-Governance Plan of Government of India....

CHENNAI’S HR IS ITS BIGGEST ASSET

Vidhya Sivaramakrishnan, Chennai Mint Chennai has evolved into a city with traditional values but a modern outlook where you find software professionals carrying thair saadham (curd rice) in their tiffin boxes and eating it at the posh food courts of their offices, says C. Chandramouli, planning and development secretary of Tamil Nadu. Having attracted many auto mobile and electronics companies, Tamil Nadu is now being increasingly looked at as an attractive IT destination. Chandramouli, who was the state’s IT secretary until recently,...

KNOWING WHAT BANGALORE NEEDS

Ajay Sukumaran, Bangalore Mint Fixing India’s IT capital, as Bangalore is also known, is among the biggest challenges faced by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Karnataka. The state government has been talking of bringing about a change through better planning and more private participation. S. Suresh Kumar, the state’s urban development minister speaks about how his government intends to achieve this. Excerpts: Your government has constituted the Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDE). What will this...

INFRASTRUCTURE WORK AT IT PARKS TO START

MaduraiThe Hindu Infrastructure works at the proposed IT (information technology) parks at Ilanthaikulam off Ring Road and Vadapalanji near Madurai Kamaraj University will begin on December 5. A sum of Rs. 22.80 crore has been earmarked for establishing roads, compound walls, lamp posts, electricity transformers and drinking water facilities in the IT parks. After the State government identified two-tier cities for establishing IT parks, it entrusted the work with the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu. The decision to start the work...

ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW

Moinak Mitra The Economic Times Dassault Systemes has used its 3D simulation software to create fighter carriers for the US armed forces and aeroplanes for Boeing. Now CEO Bernard Charles is helping Tata Motors create a virtual plant for the Nano. When Bernard Charles signed up with Dassault Systemes at the age of 26, he was married to science. After graduating with honours as a mechanical engineer from Ecole Normale Superieure in Cachan, France, Charles immersed himself in research. Even in his first year at Dassault, he contemplated...

MICROSOFT HOLDS 'GIVING' CAMPAIGN

Chennai/Hyderabad Business Standard The Hindu The Microsoft Hyderabad campus has kicked off its annual ‘Giving’ campaign and community week. A tradition running for 32 years in Redmond, where Microsoft is headquartered, and since nine years in Hyderabad, the Giving campaign encourages employees to take up social initiatives throughout the year. The campaign will involve the 3,000-odd full-time employees of Microsoft’s three business units in Hyderabad – Microsoft India Development Centre, Microsoft IT-India and Microsoft Global Services...

DELL PLANS NEW STRATEGY TO WOO SMES

Anirvan GhoshThe Economic Times (Bangalore edition) Dell India is planning a new marketing strategy to complement its new push into SMB businesses. It is scouting for customers in smaller towns, and targeting simplification of business processes as the main area of growth as part of a new strategy for Indian emerging businesses. “We see emerging businesses across India as our main driver of growth,” says Saleh M Munshi, who heads the SMB business for Asia-Pacific South. As part of a new rollout plan, the company had tied up with Tally to...

PC VENDORS LOOK TO TOUCHSCREENS FOR MAGIC TOUCH

Taipei The Economic Times Touchscreen PCs could move from the margins to the mainstream as falling LCD prices, advances in technology and applications in high growth markets prompt computer makers to take a closer look at the sector. Their interest follows the wild success of Apple's iPhone, which has led to a parade of knock-off cellphones by everyone from industry leader Nokia, Taiwan's HTC and now Research In Motion, whose BlackBerry Storm began flying off store shelves this month. The niche could get a further boost from Microsoft,...

OBAMA NEGOTIATES TO RETAIN BLACKBERRY IN WHITE HOUSE

WashingtonThe Financial Express Determined to break the “bubble” surrounding the US presidency, tech-savvy Barack Obama on Wednesday said he was “negotiating” with the secret service and others whether he could retain his Blackberry after moving to the White House. Obama, who will succeed incumbent George W Bush as the 44th US President on January 20, said he was concerned that the isolated life of a president would limit his access to information from outside the bubble of the White House. Throughout the gruelling presidential campaign,...

GOVT APPROVES FED-MOGUL INVESTMENT, DEFERS WSJ PLAN

New DelhiThe Economic Times Financial Chronicle India has approved 32 foreign investment proposals valued at 8.5 billion rupees ($172 million), including that of billionaire Carl Icahn-controlled Federal-Mogul, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. Foreign direct investment in India in the six months to September grew 137 percent to $17.21 billion, led by inflows into services, construction, real estate, and computer hardware and software firms. India has said it will meet a target to attract $35 billion of foreign direct investment...

TOP 5 COS IN DELOITTE'S 2008 TECH FAST 500

The Economic Times Hughes Communications Inc., is the fastest growing technology company in North America, followed by Ticket Software LLC, Starent Networks Corp., Abraxis BioScience Inc. and Pure Digital Technologies Inc., according to the 2008 Deloitte Technology Fast 500. The award is a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences companies in North America based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth over five years (2003-2007). "Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 recognizes technology companies...

ANIL AGARWAL IS E&Y ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

Mumbai Business Standard DNA Anil Agarwal, executive chairman of the London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources, is the Ernst &Young (E&Y) Entrepreneur of the Year. Agarwal will now represent India at the E&Y World Entreprenuer of the Year Award in Monte Carlo, Monaco in May 2009. Eight other entreprenuers also received awards in various categories at a glittering function held here today. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to PRS Oberoi, chairman and chief executive of the Oberoi group. The 10th edition...

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE NORMS FOR SEZS EASED

Arun S, New DelhiThe Financial Express In a move that would help developers of special economic zones, particularly of IT/ITeS SEZs, enhance the commercial viability of projects, the government has allowed them to build more and larger housing facilities, offices and other required social infrastructure in the ‘non-processing area’ and avail tax benefits for it. Half the total area of each SEZ comprises the non-processing area that houses only social amenities, while the other half is the processing area where industrial units are located....

HP LAUNCHES NEW VIRTUALISATION PRODUCTS, SERVICES

Purabi Bora, New DelhiThe Indian Express To meet the growing demands of technology environments, Hewlett-Packard announced several new products, services and solutions to enable customers to realize the full potential and benefits of their virtualisation projects. These new offerings are aimed at business needs that span from desktops to data centres. Virtualisation can provide several benefits, including increased business agility, lowered costs and reduced risk of downtime. When properly implemented, virtualisation becomes a strategic...

ORACLE TO GET MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR DEAL FROM AIRCEL

Thomas K Thomas, New DelhiThe Hindu Business Line IT major Oracle is close to bagging a multi-million dollar IT solutions deal from Aircel. While the exact size of the deal is not known, Oracle has bagged similar contracts from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular. Oracle offers packaged software solutions that deliver end-to-end support for the key business processes for communications companies, from service creation, offer management, and order orchestration, through provisioning and service delivery, to billing, revenue...

HP LAUNCHES NEW VIRTUALISATION PRODUCTS, SERVICES

Purabi Bora, New DelhiThe Indian Express To meet the growing demands of technology environments, Hewlett-Packard announced several new products, services and solutions to enable customers to realize the full potential and benefits of their virtualisation projects. These new offerings are aimed at business needs that span from desktops to data centres. Virtualisation can provide several benefits, including increased business agility, lowered costs and reduced risk of downtime. When properly implemented, virtualisation becomes a strategic...

INTEL TO INTRODUCE MOBILE NET DEVICES

TaipeiThe Economic Times Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, is getting ready to introduce a slew of mobile internet devices (MIDs) to carve out a space for itself in what is seen as a large, emerging market for high-speed portable internet products and online gaming. The devices will be based on the Atom processor and Intel has chalked out an aggressive strategy to tap into the nascent market for the products in India, a senior company official said. “Out strategy is a combination of bringing in customers/devices from other parts of...

NOW, SOFTWARE FOR GREAT LOOKS

Douglas HamiltonThe Asian Age Deccan Chronicle Want to optimise your looks without radically altering them? An Israeli team of computer scientists may have the answer. They have developed a computer software model based on the innate preferences that studies show we have for human faces. "This technology could become a product where for example there’s a web service where people upload their photographs and have them enhanced or beautified by our software," said Professor Dani Lischinksi of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Studies...

ANDHRA BANK CONFIDENT OF CROSSING RS 1 LAKH-CRORE BUSINESS THIS FISCAL

VisakhapatnamThe Hindu Business Line Andhra Bank, currently doing business of Rs 87,000 crore, is confident of crossing the Rs 1,00,000 crore mark by the end of the fiscal, according to R.S. Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director. Reddy, who was here to participate in a seminar on financial inclusion in Andhra University on Tuesday, said at a press meet that the bank had lent Rs 8,000 crore to corporates during the past three months, after he had assumed charge as Chairman, and was going ahead with the introduction of technology-based...

DOUBLE-DIGIT SALES GROWTH IN INDIA TO STAY, SAYS IBM

Bangalore The Economic Times (Bangalore edition) No.1 computer services provider IBM said India remains one of its fastest growing markets and it expects to maintain double-digit revenue growth in the region despite growing domestic competition, a company official said on Tuesday. “We are looking at maintaining the double-digit (revenue) growth we are continuing to see on an average basis,” Sandip Patel, managing partner of IBM’s global business services in India and South Asia, said at the Reuters India Investment Summit. Armonk, New...

IBM UNVEILS LIST OF INNOVATIONS

New DelhiThe Economic Times Business Standard The Hindu Business Line Financial Chronicle Imagine surfing the Internet by using your voice, eliminating the need for visuals or keypads or think about getting medical treatment based on your genetic makeup under $100. These innovations feature on computing giant IBM's third annual 'IBM Next Five in Five' list, which was unveiled today. "These innovations have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years. I cannot comment on when these innovations...

RAJA TO TAKE UP EXTENSION OF STPI SCHEME WITH PM

New Delhi The Economic Times The Hindu Business Line Financial Chronicle Business Standard The Asian Age Deccan Chronicle DNA Communications and IT minister A Raja said on Tuesday he will soon write to prime minister seeking a three-year extension to the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme that provides tax exemptions to IT-ITeS firms. The scheme is due to expire on March 31, 2010. Under the scheme, IT companies located inside software technology parks are exempted from income tax payment under Section 10A and 10B of...

L&T, SAP PARTNERSHIP

The Financial Express Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd (L&T Infotech) announced their SAP global services partnership. This partnership places L&T Infotech in a select group of global IT consulting firms that provide end to end strategy to execution services. As an SAP global services partner, L&T Infotech will invest in joint marketing resources and strategic planning to support the growth with SAP and serve customers worldwide....

SOFTWARE INDUSTRY RAISES INTERNATIONAL IMAGE OF INDIA

N R Narayana MurthyThe Economic Times Every nation experiences a seminal event that brings revolutionary changes in its economic life. Vanover Bush's proposal that US universities should focus on research to fuel US economic growth was in effect a critical reason for the extraordinary strides that the US has made in hi-tech. The success of the auto industry in Japan propelled that nation to be the second most powerful economic power in the world. Similarly, the emergence of the software industry in India heralded a new confidence, a...

SATYAM, IIIT-HYDERABAD TIE UP FOR DATA MINING, OPEN SOURCE R&D

Chennai/Hyderabad Business Standard The Economic Times (Bangalore edition) The Hindu Business Line The Hindu The Financial Express Satyam Computer Services Limited, the country's fourth largest software exporter, on Tuesday announced plans to collaborate on several critical research projects with the Centre of Data Engineering (CDE) at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT)-Hyderabad. Satyam and CDE will work on the ‘Nurture a Research Area’ programme, which was established to foster collaboration between industry...

LITTLEBIGPLANET HITS INDIA!

The Times of India Sony Computer Entertainment has launched its PlayStation3’s exclusive game LittleBigPlanet in India. Globally, Sony released its anticipated `Little Big Planet' five days before the end of October, however, the game managed to come in eighth on the month's list of best-selling games after it sold 215,000 units. LittleBigPlanet is a game that combines platform adventure with a social community, enabling consumers to play, create and share their gaming. The LittleBigPlanet experience starts with players learning about...

TRIPLE GUILD PLAY FOR MICROSOFT

Los AngelesThe Economic Times Microsoft will be filled to the gills with "The Guild." The software giant has an exclusive lock on the long-awaited second season of the Internet cult hit, which will be the first to be distributed worldwide simultaneously across Microsoft's triple platform of Xbox 360's Live Marketplace, MSN and Zune. Sprint has signed on to sponsor the 12-episode run, making it the first marketer to test Microsoft's new strategy to draw ad dollars with the combined reach of a gaming console, Internet portal and portable...

JAMES BOND COMPUTER TECH MAY SOON REPLACE MOUSE WITH INTERACTIVE GLOVES

LondonThe Economic Times The computer technology shown in science fictions like Minority Report and James Bond flicks are drawing closer to reality, with a Los Angeles-based company designing a system that can consign the mouse to history. John Underkoffler, chief scientist at Oblong Industries that has created the technology, says that the new technology called G-Speak may fundamentally change the way we interact with computers. He says that rather than having to use one hand to control a mouse, a user can communicate with a PC intuitively...

IIT MADRAS, HP LABS TO WORK ON RESEARCH PROJECT

ChennaiThe Hindu Business Line Professors and students at IIT Madras will join hands with HP Labs India’s researchers in exploring newer forms of human-computer interacting, including hand gesture and speech, to influence virtual objects on a computer monitor or projection screen. They will be working along with a team from the State University of New York in the project, according to a company official. For the next three years, HP Labs will provide IIT Madras annually $50,000-$70,000 to work on the project. There will be at least...

SBI JUMPS ON THE WEALTH MANAGEMENT BANDWAGON

Mumbai Business Standard Soon, financial planning services may not be confined to private bank customers. The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, is set to offer wealth management and financial planning services to its customers who hold more than Rs 5 lakh in the bank. Though the bank will formally launch the service in a few weeks, it has already approached around 30,000 customers. “Not everyone has shown enthusiasm but, we expect the response to improve once there is more awareness about what we are offering,” said a bank...

EDURITE IN LINE FOR $15-M FUNDING

BangaloreThe Economic Times (Bangalore edition) Educational content provider Edurite Technologies will soon be receiving investment of $12-15 million from a strategic investor as it looks to scale up its operations, the company’s CEO said. Without divulging the name of the investor, Meena Ganesh said that the funds will be used to expand its current line of businesses, which includes providing content for schools, tutorials, employability support and school-management. The education segment in India is estimated to be a $40 billion industry....

AXON INVESTORS APPROVE BUYOUT BY HCL TECHNOLOGIES

BangaloreThe Economic Times The Hindu Business Line Business Standard The Tribune The Telegraph Financial Chronicle Hindustan Times DNA The Times of India (Bangalore edition) Mint Shareholders of the British-based Axon Group plc at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held in London on Monday approved the acquisition of their SAP consulting firm by India's fifth largest IT bellwether HCL Technologies Ltd. The Delhi-based HCL informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that a London court had also cleared the scheme of arrangement...

MICROSOFT EXPANDS GET GENUINE SOLUTION TO INCLUDE WINDOWS VISTA

New DelhiThe Economic Times Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd on Monday announced the availability of the Get Genuine Solution (GGS) for Windows Vista whereby Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) can easily legalize their counterfeit or unlicensed Windows Vista PCs. So far, customers were able to legalize their counterfeit or unlicensed Windows XP Professional PCs under GGS. Businesses with five or more copies of unlicensed Windows Vista software now have to simply place an order with their reseller to legalize their counterfeit software....

SOFTWARE WILL MICRO-TRACK POWER USAGE

Shwetaa KarnikDNA If officials from the state power utility are to be believed, software has been designed wherein the company can identify trends of consumption at a click of a button. "Industrial and commercial consumers consume almost over 35% of the total electricity and contribute over 55% of the total revenue. It therefore becomes important to track their consumption pattern as it has been noticed that at times there is serious fluctuation thereby adding to the increasing deficit," said AB Pandey, managing director of Maharashtra...

SAMSUNG MERGES ELECTRONICS AND TELECOM BIZ IN INDIA

Writankar Mukherjee, KolkataThe Economic Times Samsung has merged its consumer electronics and telecom (read mobile phone) businesses in India. Accordingly, Samsung Telecommunications India is being merged into Samsung India Electronics. Both Samsung Telecom India and Samsung India Electronics are wholly owned subsidiaries of Korean parent, Samsung Electronics Co. Samsung expects to gain significant operational and production synergies along with cost-savings through the merger. Post-merger, Samsung India Electronics will have three...

GRAPHENE PROMISES BIG STORAGE

New York, November 24, 2008 The Economic Times (Bangalore edition) A hardy, heat-resistant, graphite-based memory device holds the potential of making massive amounts of storage available for computers, handheld media players, cell phones and cameras. Rice University researchers, who are currently developing the device, said the solid-state device takes advantage of the conducting properties of graphene and would have many advantages over today’s state-of-the-art flash memory and other new technologies. Graphene memory would increase...