Obama gets tougher; firms look to move out of U.S.

Bangalore: At least half-dozen major corporations in the U.S. like Tyco International (TYC) and Ingersoll-Rand (IR) have proposed reincorporating in Ireland or Switzerland since October because of the U.S. President Barack Obama's plans to clamp down on corporate overseas tax maneuvering, reports Business WeekThis is because both Ireland and Switzerland offer big tax savings than the U.S. or Europe. Also, both of the countries have well-established tax treaties, which decide which country has primary taxing rights and help avoid double taxation....

APPLE says CEO Steve Jobs back at work

San Francisco The Economic Times Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs is back to work following a near six-month medical leave, the company said on Monday. "Steve is back to work," a company spokesman said. "He's currently at Apple a few days a week, and working from home the remaining days. We are very glad to have him bac...

SONY Silent on Playstation Phone

Tokyo The Economic Times (Kolkata edition) Sony Corp remained tightlipped over reports that it may combine its PlayStation Portable game console with a mobile telephone into a new gadget to challenge rival Apple’s iPhone. Sony is considering developing a new portable game console with the added functions of a Sony Ericsson cellphone, a noted business daily reported on Saturday without revealing its sources. The high-tech giant, which has faced tough competition in recent years from rival products such as Apple’s iPod and Nintendo’s Wii, will...

APPLE Iphone 3GS is overheating

DNA (Bangalore edition) Many users are reporting cases of over-heating with new iPhone 3GS phones when playing games. The overheating turns the white back of the iPhone, yellow. Many users of iPod Touch had also reported similar issues after a firmware upgrade recently. Other reports across the web, including the Apple discussion forums, seem to point at GPS use and playing games as the culpri...

6 Iphone misses for BIZ users

The Times of India Apple's popular mobile phone iPhone just got an upgrade. The new iPhone 3G S offers as many as 100 new features and more than double the speed of the earliest version. Plus, it comes with a price cut. However, is iPhone 3GS enterprise-ready? Not really feel many analysts. The news may not be so good for Apple, which has been trying hard to compete with Research In Motion's BlackBerry models in the enterprise space. According to analysts while the gadget has got an upgrade in terms of features for general consumers, the upgrade...

AI sets dec target with IA for IT integration

Mithun Roy, Mumbai The Economic Times National carrier Air India is looking at a December deadline for completing the integration of its information technology systems with the erstwhile Indian Airlines in order to get included into the Lufthansa-led Star Alliance club. Top executives at Air India, including its CMD Arvind Jadhav, held a meeting on Monday in Mumbai on this issue. Star Alliance is the oldest such club of international carriers that allows members to share codes and use each others’ maintenance and parking infrastructure. Other...

SMART CARD for every INDIAN

Mint Nandan Nilekani’s cabinet rank appointment last week is beginning to draw attention to the national identification (ID) project he will head. The aim, to provide Indians with a multipurpose national identity card (MNIC), is worthy. Yet, it needs to be seen not as an elixir for all the nation’s troubles, but a better tool for the government to be answerable to citizens. The onus remains on the government to perform, starting with implementing this card itself. The greatest benefit of such technology is that it cuts down transaction costs....

Budget support for INDIAN IT & ITES Sector mooted

Bangalore Deccan Herald The US$71.7 billion industry has strong fundamentals of a large talent pool, sustained cost competitiveness and enabling business environment have helped India sustain its position as a preferred sourcing destination. However, the KPMG Tax Team feels that the industry needs support from the government in the forthcoming budget as the global recessionary trend is now beginning to impact the performance of the industry. Besides, India is also facing competition from other emerging nations like Vietnam, Brazil, Russia, China,...

Cognizant big on mobile couponing

Thanuja BM, Bangalore Financial Chronicle Betting on mobile applications as a growth area, IT major Cognizant is developing a new solution for mobile couponing. Mobile couponing is a process of receiving and redeeming merchant discount coupons electronically using a mobile instrument and network instead of conventional paper coupons. Said R Viswakumar, AVP, global technology officer, Cognizant: “We are exploring this emerging business need and developing a solution by identifying and creating specific technology components.” The solution would...

Telcordia bags five-year deal from unitech wireless

New Delhi Business Standard The Economic Times Financial Chronicle The Hindu Business Line Communication software service provider Telcordia today said it has received a five-year, multi-million dollar contract from telecom firm Unitech Wireless. Under the agreement, Telcordia will provide real-time charging solution for Unitech's mobile pre-paid subscribers in all the circles where the telecom firm will operate, Telcordia Technologies India Country Manager Anuj Kapur said. However, he declined to share the financial details of the deal....

Build sticky relations with stakeholders

Alokananda Chakraborty The Financial Express Jessie Paul joined Wipro Technologies as chief marketing officer in 2005, and is responsible for ensuring a platform to win and engage customers through its domain-specific, IP-led technology and business solutions. She joined Wipro from iGATE Global Solutions, where she was heading the marketing function since 2003. She played a key role in rebranding and repositioning iGATE as an integrated technology and operations company. Prior to joining iGATE, Paul was global brand manager for Infosys Technologies....

Integrated approach to tech is critical for IBM to maintain market leadership

Preeti Parashar The Financial Express South Asia region today hosts the entire gamut of IBM’s business services, software, hardware and R&D labs, driving innovation at all levels. Guruduth Banavar, chief technologist, IBM India/South Asia and director, IBM India Research Laboratory has played a key role in formulating an integrated approach to technology innovation. In an interview Banavar shares his vision and plan for the company. Excerpts: How do you plan to drive the integrated approach to technology innovation? We have a significant...

Innovation doesn't slump

Nishant Ratnakar DNA In a challenging business environment that we find ourselves today, innovation has become the major differentiator in the marketplace. DNA got together seven prominent industry players cutting across the semiconductor ecosystem to see what sets apart the successful innovators from the also-ran. Not surprisingly, the consensus was on customer-led innovation. - S Janakiraman, president & CEO (product engineering services), Mindtree Ltd - Sanjay Nayak, MD & CEO, Tejas Networks - Arindam Sen, GM (south Asia ops for Performance...

Indian stocks best performers in 2009

Silicon IndiaBangalore: Indian stocks emerged as the best performers by giving investors the highest return of nearly 60 percent in 2009 so far. It has outperformed its global peers, including the U.S., the U.K. and China, which gave returns of 2.33 percent, 10.17 percent and 36.77 percent respectivelyAccording to an analysis of MSCI Barra indices, Indian stocks have provided a return of 59.30 percent year-to-date, against 34.37 percent gains provided by MSCI Barra's emerging market index, covering all developing nations. Among the emerging BRIC...

With Nilekani gone, Infosys to decide on co-chair

Bangalore: The board of Infosys Technologies will soon decide whether there is a need for co-chairman in the light of incumbent Nandan M. Nilekani resigning to head the government's unique identification cards project, a top official said FridayNilekani was appointed Thursday as the chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) by the central government."The board will decide whether there is need for co-chairman. Nobody is at this point keen to become co-chairman," Infosys chief executive and managing director S. Gopalakrishnan...

Indian IT firms to rake in on smartcard projects

Bangalore: The ongoing migration of Indian citizens from paper cards to smart cards is throwing up a multibillion dollar business opportunity for domestic technology players.The citizen ID card program proposed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will be supported by a vast eco-system, comprising data collectors or managers, delivery channels, chip designers, smart card manufacturers, application and software providers, system integrators, networking analysts and print companies. The entire ID card project in India is estimated...

FACEBOOK, TWITTER shares for sale but privately

New York, June 28, 2009 The Economic Times Scott Painter makes his living betting on startup companies, having played a role in launching 29 of them over the years. But with the bad economy choking initial public offerings and acquisitions, Painter is now backing an idea that makes it easier for insiders like him to sell shares in their companies even before they go public. SharesPost, which was founded by Painter's business partner, Greg Brogger, launched publicly in June. Through the SharesPost Web site, Painter is trying to sell shares in several...

Not Yahoo!'s job to 'Fix CHINA': CEO

Washington, June 28, 2009 The Economic Times Yahoo! chief executive Carol Bartz has staunchly defended the Internet company's business practices in China and said it was "not our job to fix the Chinese government." Bartz, appearing at her first shareholders meeting since taking over the Sunnyvale, California-based company in January, said Yahoo! respects human rights. "We actually hosted a business and human rights summit for high tech companies a month or so ago," she said. "Yahoo! has gone overboard on this point to really be sympathetic, serious...

YAHOO chief promises new momentum

Santa Clara (California), June 29, 2009 Mint Yahoo Inc. chief executive Carol Bartz echoed the turnaround promises of her predecessors as she presided over the first shareholder meeting since her hiring, yet left little doubt the slumping Internet company’s new boss isn’t the same as the old ones. Like Terry Semel did in 2007 and Jerry Yang again last year, Bartz assured shareholders on Thursday that she will polish Yahoo’s tarnished brand and end a three-year financial funk that has depressed the Sunnyvale-based company’s stock. But her message...

GOVT looks to raise FDI cap in FM channels, DTH service providers

Rohini Singh, June 29, 2009 The Economic Times The government is planning to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in FM radio broadcasters and direct-to-home TV service providers. But several departments, including the Planning Commission, have expressed reservations. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has proposed that FDI ceiling for FM broadcasters be raised to 24 percent from the current 20 percent, and to 74 percent from the existing cap of 49 percent in the case of DTH service providers. It has also proposed simpler...

Khursheed draws next generation MCA-21 blueprint

Neha Pal, New Delhi, June 29, 2009 The Financial Express New corporate affairs minister Salman Khursheed has decided to redraw the ambitious IT plan of his predecessor, Premchand Gupta, even as the corporate sector was coming to grips with the older one. The MCA-21 project planned to make it possible for every company to talk to the ministry of corporate affairs on an IT platform, within 2021. But under Khursheed, the ministry has decided to draw up a larger blueprint called the Next-Generation MCA-21. The new plan could also raise question marks...

A word of caution for Nilekani

Tushar Gandhi, June 29, 2009 Financial Chronicle There has been a lot of euphoria and many welcome messages greeting the appointment of Infosys’ Nandan Nilekani as head of the task force that will provide every Indian citizen with a ‘unique personal identity smart card’ within the next three years. If anyone can successfully perform this Herculean task, it is Nilekani. However, I hope he is going in with his eyes open. Before him, many people have burnt their fingers rather horribly. When Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister, he was brimming...

Extend TAX Relief to it Industry by at least three years

Himanshu Parekh and Ashish Agrawal, June 29, 2009 Mint The information technology (IT)/IT-enabled services (ITeS) industry has played a key role in putting India on the global map. The Indian IT/ITeS industry is now a $52 billion (Rs 2.5 trillion) giant and its contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has quadrupled from 1% to 4% in the last decade. However, the industry is plagued with some issues on the taxation front. Extension of tax holiday to software technology parks (STPs)/export-oriented units The IT/ITeS industry is...

HP to take on rivals with financial solutions

N Shivapriya, Las Vegas The Economic Times The transformation of Hewlett Packard (HP) from a printer company to a software firm seems to be becoming a reality. HP has unveiled a solution that helps IT managers run their operations with more financial accountability, pipping rival IBM and other players that address individual segments of the problem. At its annual software summit in Las Vegas in June, the launch prompted many attendees to remark that HP seems to have known of the impending recession. HP executives said the solution was being worked...

Animation firms buck slowdown, see increase in orders

Upasana Kaur, Mumbai, June 28, 2009 Business Standard 70% of animation studios' revenue comes from outsourced work. The Indian animation sector, it appears, has not been hit by the slowing economy. Rather, major players like Maya Entertainment, Tata Elxsi Visual Computing Labs, Toonz Animation India, DQ Entertainment International and Avitel have seen a rise in the number of deals in the recent months. For instance, Mumbai-based Avitel recently set up its first post-production studio in India with an estimated net worth of Rs 750 crore. It has...

Education sector drives notebook sales

Writankar Mukherjee, Kolkata, June 29, 2009 The Economic Times After nearly seven months of bleak sales, the national notebook PC market is once again picking up. The country’s leading PC vendors such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell, Lenovo and Acer claim that the market is gradually bouncing back with month-on-month sales picking up from May onwards. The industry is optimistic on notebook sales growing 20-25 percent during May-July. While bulk of the demand is coming from the education sector due to the admission season, the vendors claim even overall...

Superatoms may lead to Smaller, Faster, Powerful Computers

New Delhi, June 29, 2009 The Economic Times Computers may soon become faster, smaller and more powerful as scientists said they have discovered magnetic superatoms, which can provide a way to design novel nano-scale structures. A team of researchers, including two from Allahabad-based Harish-Chandra Research Institute (HRI), have discovered the 'magnetic superatom' -- a stable cluster of atoms that can mimic different elements of the periodic table. The cluster, consisting of one Vanadium and eight Cesium atoms, acts like a tiny magnet that can...

Nilekani quits Infy, moves to Cabinet to tab terrorists

Silicon IndiaBangalore: In order to take charge as the chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority, Nandan Nilekani resigned from the board of Infosys. Under the new role, Nilekani will take forward the government initiative to issue Multipurpose National Identity Cards (MNIC) for every citizen, to tackle illegal immigration and terrorists.He will also relinquish his post of co-chairman to be inducted in the rank of a Cabinet Minister in the Indian Government. The resignation will be effective from July 9, 2009. A National Population Register...

India reply strongly to Obama's 'No Bangalore' policy

Bangalore: India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has expressed his aversions on U.S. President Barack Obama's protectionist policies by saying that outsourcing has created more jobs for U.S. He warned that protectionist measures by the U.S. or other developed countries can only be counter-productive against the backdrop of the global financial crisisSharma became the first Minister after the Lok Sabha elections to directly address the Obama administration on the issue. He said, "Outsourcing has generated more employment in America...

Smart cards replace driving licenses in Karnataka

Bangalore: Karnataka's transport department turned tech savvy Thursday by launching 16-kb microchip embedded 'smart cards' to replace driving licenses and vehicle registration booklets.Driving license holders and vehicle owners will have to change over to the smart cards within two years. The smart card, costing Rs.200, would prevent forgery in licenses and registration booklets, Transport Minister R. Ashok said at a function at which Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa launched the microchip embedded plastic card.The chip stores the details of the...

MICROSOFT says VISTA buyers to get free WINDOWS 7

Seattle The Economic Times Prices for Microsoft's Windows 7 computer operating system will be largely in line with those for Vista. In announcing prices on Thursday, Microsoft Corp. says people who buy computers before the new system goes on sale in October will get free upgrades. To drum up demand among people who aren't in the market for a new PC, Microsoft is taking limited pre-orders, selling some for as little as $50. People who buy Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate computers starting Friday can contact their manufacturer...

FACEBOOK testing new control for shielding updates

Palo Alto The Economic Times Facebook is testing new privacy controls that will allow the online hangout's roughly 200 million users to decide who should see each of their personal updates. In a Wednesday announcement, Facebook said the option would enable users to customize their postings for specific groups of friends. For instance, a person may want to share certain things like how they're feeling about the weather with everyone while limiting the audience able to read other developments like a wild night of partying. Some Facebook users...

BATH-O-MATIC iphone application allows you to run a bath

London DNA Scientists have created a revolutionary iPhone feature that makes it possible to run a bath before getting home. The Bath-o-matic software means the phone can send orders to a set of high-tech taps on a bath tub that can control the temperature, pressure and draining of the water. The software for iPhone is available free from Apple's popular App Store. However, users will have to pay 4,000 pounds for the technology at home. They will then be able to select the temperature, depth and fragrance of the water and even how many bubbles...

ID project can catalyse domestic IT Business, open new markets

New Delhi The Economic Times The Tribune The Times of India The government plan to provide unique identification numbers to all Indian citizens could be a "big catalyst" for the IT business which for some time has seen a decline in big ticket projects. Industry analysts feel that all the major domestic players like TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Mahindra Satyam are likely to bid for this ambitious project, which could be, valued around two billion dollars. "The project would act as a big catalyst. The Unique ID project will overlay many underlying...

TECH GUARD: HP aims to make paper forgeries a thing of past

Seema Singh, Bangalore Mint In 2008, one batch of students at the Indian Institute of Information Technology in Bangalore (IIIT-B) graduated with unique mark sheets—they were tamper-proof. The mark sheets carried a bar code, generated by a new technology from Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs India. The bar code could be printed on paper by any printer and scanned by normal scanners. The test run at IIIT-B of the Trusted Hardcopy Solution (THS) is part of a programme at HP Labs, the advanced research group of the technology corporation Hewlett-Packard...

Leadership is all about Engaging people

Moinak Mitra The Economic Times In his trademark blue shirt-red tie combo, Tom Peters could be any corporate exec on the prowl. It's the gift of the gab backed by some ethereal common sense and wit that sets him apart. The 66-year-old management guru was supposed to deliver a lecture on 'Growth and Innovation' in Delhi. Instead, he dwelt on the nitty-gritty that culminates in the Eureka moment, or the great management decision. What are the four most important words in any organisation ? That poser had many among the audience scratching their...

Companies opt for cost Reductions & Efficiency Improvements

Rajiv Memani The Economic Times With the global economy in the grip of a downturn, corporate decision-makers have shifted their attention to survival in a tough market. However, in doing so, they risk forgoing those growth opportunities which often present themselves during the times of a slowdown. As organic growth in revenues is difficult to come by and profit margins are constantly under pressure, companies have been busy with much-needed cost reductions and efficiency improvements. But is this enough to gain real competitive advantage and...

Has the template for a successful jv changed?

Arati Menon Carrol The Economic Times A year and a half ago, against the backdrop of a thriving Indian economy and an automotive market on overdrive, the Hero group announced a Rs 4,400 crore joint venture partnership with Daimler Trucks, a division of Daimler AG, giving Hero the opportunity to enter the commercial vehicles segment in India. In April this year, however, the Munjals unexpectedly announced a pull-out. Speculation had it that financial constraints forced them to re-focus on their core business of motorcycles; Hero Corporate Services...

ALTAIR launches analytics and desktop-user portal with new release of pbs gridworks

Bangalore The Financial Express Altair Engineering (www.altair.com), a global provider of technologies and services for managing the world’s most demanding compute-intensive workloads announced the release of PBS GridWorks 10.1. This latest version builds upon the proven scalability and resiliency of PBS Professional for workload scheduling; delivers PBS Catalyst, an application-aware job management portal; and unveils PBS Analytics to provide expanded options for visualizing usage data to optimize high-performance computing investments. PBS GridWorks...

NETAPP opens innovation centre

Financial Chronicle NetApp India has invested $20 million to open the NetApp Innovation Centre (NIC) in Bangalo...

MICROSOFT, publicis team up

Financial Chronicle Microsoft, the world s biggest software maker, teamed up with French advertiser Publicis Group to jointly create programmes and technologies that help to bolster Internet advertisi...

Texas Instruments bets on emerging businesses

S Shyamala, Chennai Financial Chronicle Semiconductor major Texas Instruments India (TI) is betting big on emerging business areas such as home automation, wireless technologies and domestic low-cost medical equipment manufacturing. Though the global semiconductor market is expected to shrink by about 5 percent, the Asia Pacific region including India will see a healthy growth, a company official said. The Indian semiconductor market was worth about $2.4 billion in 2008 and it is expected to grow by at least 13 percent this year, said Srinivas...

HP targets publishing, pharma industry in gujarat

Mumbai/Ahmedabad Business Standard The imaging and printing division of Hewlett-Packard India (HP) will be focusing on pharma and publishing industry in Gujarat in the near future. The company is also planning to increase its footprint in the state, which accounts for around 17 percent of HP’s business. “We will look at bigger opportunities in markets like pharma and publishing for our digital printing business. Around 80 percent of pharma revenues comes from Gujarat. Publishing industry is also growing rapidly at 30 percent per annum. Therefore,...

Toshiba's 'ARTFUL' Laptops

New DelhiThe Times of IndiaToshiba India has launched its new Artful series of notebooks. The range comprises 2 mini notebooks and 4 mainstream notebooks. The new range is priced between Rs 22,990 to Rs 53,490 excluding taxes. The range includes NB200 notebook, which comes in vibrant colors and textured design patterns. The 10.1-inch diagonal wide LED screen mini notebook comes in Cosmic Black Color with Fusion Stripes and Black Flat Keyboard and Satin Brown Color with matt finish. There's a QWERTY keyboard and a laptop-sized touchpad. A 3D-accelerometer...

60 percent of Indians spy online

Silicon IndiaBangalore: Indians are turning out to be more spying in the context of catching their partner's lie by using internet. Around 60 percent Indians have accepted to catch their partners lying using the lie detectors, says a survey conducted by Yasni.Out of the 826 Indian responding, 59 percent admitted discovering a lie told by their partner, another 24 percent taken up internet measures to expose suspected lies, but got no evidence satisfy their suspicions.16 percent Indians opted for not using the internet for exposing their partner's...

India's per capita income to cross Rs. 10 Lakh by 2039

Silicon IndiaBangalore: India is expected to be even richer with a per capita income in excess of $22,000, adjusted for inflation and real exchange rate movements, says a report. It means that the annual income of an Indian citizen would be over Rs 10.56 lakh after 30 years..This would be a phenomenal jump by any yardstick as India's per capita income in 2007 was just $940 (around Rs 45,000). "India has the potential to move from a relatively poor, developing country to an affluent economy within 30 years in a single generation," says the...