Category: Business

Apple and IBM Join Hands for Enterprise Mobility Solutions

Apple and IBM announced an exclusive partnership to enhance their market in Enterprise Mobility. The goal is to use each other’s strengths to take on the competition. Apple intends to use IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities on its mobile platform of iPhones and iPads.

This is a huge deal as this brings two of the industry giants together in a landmark partnership. This alliance is almost relatable to an international treaty. The companies will try to redefine the workflow process, address key industry mobility challenges and inspire mobile-led business evolution.

Apple has struggled for long to make its mark in the enterprise space

With this partnership the companies plan to develop a new class of more than 100 industry-specific enterprise solutions including native apps, developed exclusively from the ground up, for iPhone and iPad. They also want to incorporate IBM cloud services optimized for iOS, including device management, security, analytics and mobile integration. Also, a new AppleCare service will be introduced, and support offering tailored to the needs of the enterprise will be provided. Finally, a new package will be offered from IBM for device activation, supply and management.

IBM will introduce its MobileFirst Platform for iOS that will aim to provide comprehensive business related solutions. From analytics, workflow and cloud storage, to fleet-scale device management, security and integration. It will also provide private app catalog, data and transaction security services, and productivity suite for all MobileFirst systems.

Businesses will get a boost with iOS 8 features like Handoff

iOS 8 will also play a major role in this relationship. Apple has provided lots of features for developers to create new apps. This will give a lot of freedom to enterprise developers to build a new IT model for a mobilized workforce by improving the way users are informed of how their devices are configured, managed or restricted. It will also have expanded security, management and productivity features.

IBM has a huge resource of about 5000 mobile experts who, using its 4,300 patents, help in easing the adoption process of mobile solutions. Along with the operating system support from Apple, enterprises might get a good bargain shifting to an advanced Apple based workflow.

Even though, this is a mobility partnership it will be a huge boost for Mac OSX ecosystems too. As Apple has provided some great interlinking features between the iOS and Mac, enterprises might shift entirely to Apple systems. This will be a huge challenge for Microsoft’s Windows systems which have had an almost monopolistic rule in the enterprise computing space. The Windows mobility options are still not evolved enough to take on Apple, so there might be trouble for Windows ahead. This of course will not happen immediately as Windows systems are a lot cheaper and enterprises have invested huge amounts on their computers, but mobile is the way forward. Apple might have finally got the advantage it has been waiting for over 30 years.

July 16, 2014
India’s upcoming floating Solar Farm

India is in a major energy crisis. With the population multiplying on a daily basis the need for cheap forms of electricity have become a must. India has large plans, whether politically invoked or not; we might be one of the first few nations with a large chunk of renewable electricity sources.

About five years ago large parts of the Thar desert in Rajasthan and surrounding areas was sanctioned for subsidised privately run solar farms. The land was practically given for free, and an energy reclaim of Rs. 5/ KW (8 cents approximately) was promised to the solar energy companies that were supposed to be set up.

The project is yet to see the light of day. However, sources tell us that the work is still underway.

Meanwhile, a new project in the southern state of Kerala is said to lead the Solar energy revolution in India, thanks to the abundance of sun and large water bodies. A new 50MW plant built entirely on 1.27 million square meter floating platform in Kerala is said already to be in the works. The plant has been approved by the NHPC and will get commissioned in October of 2014. (Yes this year).

This Solar Farm project will provide cheap and renewable electricity to about 18,000 homes. After the states announcement on building two lakh megawatt of solar power generation capacity, the price of barren solar usable land rose this quarter by tenfold, building a plant on water will be cheap for the government as well as the people enjoying the electricity.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”SP Gon Choudhury” author_title=”chairman of the Renewable Energy College”]

Each station would require around 3,000 square feet of space to generate 20 kilowatt of power. There are many water bodies that could be used for this

[/quote]

The total project is estimated to cost between Rs 350 crore and Rs 400 crore, the Renewable Energy College will assist in sourcing material till commissioning of the plant.
The first phase of this Solar Farm, estimated to cost Rs 35 lakh, has been fully funded by the ministry of new and renewable energy and is expected to generate around 12 kilowatt of power to begin with by October 2014.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”SP Gon Choudhury” author_title=”Chairman of the Renewable Energy College”]

The ecology of the water body is not likely to be affected much, and it will also reduce evaporation, thus helping preserve water levels during extreme summer. Solar panels installed on land, face reduction of yield as the ground heats up. When such panels are installed on a floating platform, the heating problem is solved to a great extent

[/quote]

The yield on these panels is expected to be 20% higher than land based solar power plants. The overall capital cost for such solar projects will be around Rs 6.5 crores per megawatt, which will bring down costs of electricity to Rs 7 / unit. This price will then be further regularised by the state electricity board.

With the large availability of Sun energy in the country, the future may finally hold a strong supply of electricity for everyone, everywhere!

July 7, 2014
Exclusive : Micromax to launch a 6 inch Windows Phone Soon!

In our recent interview with Shubhodip Pal, CMO of Micromax, we learnt that the company is not making Windows Phone handsets as a one off, and we will see a Windows Phone flagship with a 6 inch display in the coming weeks.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Shubhodip Pal” author_title=”CMO, Micromax”]

Put it on Record! We will have a 6 inch Windows Phone in the coming months and will many more phones that you will hear about soon.

[/quote]

The company is ready to show a new product that will run on high end chipsets like Snapdragon 800 will have impressive camera sensors and displays and will also have impressive battery life, said Shubhodip in conversation with iGyaan.

We have heard rumours of a Rs. 25000 phone which houses all the aforesaid specifications, including a 2500 mAh battery along with a 16 MP + 8MP camera combination and 2 GB of RAM, all of which would make it a beast on the Windows Phone device sheet.

Micromax plans to have this device out to the consumer as early as August, with a new lineup of products that are said to compete with the “Flagships of the world”, i.e. HTC One M8 and Galaxy S5 by the end of this year. But Shubhodip claims that, it will only happen once they have delivered their “Promise” on service issues starting next month.

Watch the full #LetsTalkShop to get the details.

June 22, 2014
#LetsTalkShop : Shubhodip Pal talks Micromax Mobile

An Indian company that a few years ago not spoken of, a brand that most would not associate with, and a manufacturer that was looked down upon, today is one of the most prominent names in the market. It’s never easy when you are talking to the game changers, but the conversation always turns out to be amazing.

This week on #LetsTalkShop a lot is revealed about Micromax. Shobhodip Pal, who is the CMO of Micromax India, delves deep into the problems faced by the company, the relationships within and outside the organisation.

Shubhodip has been with Micromax for 19+ months and has seen, while being instrumental; the company emerge as one of the biggest names in the Indian smartphone and mobile race. One of the busiest men in the organisation Shubhodip always is pepped on energy and throughout the discussion was energised.

According to Shubhodip, Micromax has always and will continue to deliver platforms that they feel the market is ready for. After Android, Micromax felt that the time is right for Windows Phone and once the partnership was announced at the build conference, Micromax was ready to build windows phones and recently delivered the two most important products in the line up.

The company is working on many more products in the lineup of Windows Phone, as this is not a one off for the company, he said.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Shubhodip Pal” author_title=”CMO, Micromax”]

Put it on Record! We will have a 6 inch Windows Phone in the coming months and will many more phones that you will hear about soon.

[/quote]

Micromax has usually ignored Software updates, however; the company is working on rolling out software updates for all their recent phones and promises quick updates going forward thanks to a new software development team that has been assigned.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Shubhodip Pal” author_title=”CMO, Micromax”]

Micromax is working hard to roll out Software updates for most of its models July onwards, with the help of a dedicated team.

[/quote]

The company is also planning to set up software update kiosks across the country, where people can bring in their phones for 30-40 minutes and get an updated phone back. While it seems a little ambitious, Micromax is keen on delivering this and changing the now negative chatter around updates to a positive one.

For reaching as far as he has Shubodip, asks that you remain persistent and are not scared to roll up your sleeves. Are willing to go out of your way to make your organisation shine, and you will grow once you start to believe in the organisation.

The full interview is a must watch so head over to the video for the juicy bits.

June 22, 2014
Is Flipkart Getting Ready to Launch its Own Range of Tablets?

The recent round of rumors are that Flipkart is gearing up to launch a range of tablets under its own private label, DigiFlip. The label already sells a number of accessories under the same label, including earphones, portable speakers, laptop accessories, etc. This move would be huge step for the company to set up a tight race against E-commerce giant and arch-rival Amazon, which already sells tablets, apart from e-book readers under its Kindle brand.

Apparently, Flipkart has tied up with MediaTek to build its tablets that have been acquired from manufacturers based out of China and Taiwan. While pricing and hardware specifications would be key to the success of these tablets, it also remains to be seen whether Flipkart can weave in its primary online retail offerings that include e-books among other categories and make the tablet as a tool to access its services.

Though, the company is tight-lipped about this new venture, it will be worth noticing how it differentiates itself in an already crowded tablet market space. In India, more than 4 million tablets were shipped last year making it one of the biggest tech segment in the market. The tablet market is right now ruled by likes of Samsung, Micromax and Apple.

Flipkart has been working continuously to gain more customers and sales. Few months back, Flipkart took over Myntra.com and online shopping store. If done right, Flipkart can easily take the throne and become the domestic Amazon.

June 18, 2014
AirDog and HEXO+ : These Flying Puppies Follow you Everywhere

Go-Pro’s and Drone technology has made it super easy for regular or professional adventure sports enthusiasts to film incredible footage. Now two campaigns on Kickstarter are seeking pledges towards making a Personal Autonomous Drone. These Drones are programmed to track the subject continually without any pilot directing it. It can take the Go-Pro experience to a whole new level.

AirDog:

In the first glance, it would just appear like a plastic kids toy. But once you power it on, you will have a kickass drone which will follow you while you do some badass stunts. The device is portable and sturdy. The makers claim that the AirDog can face any challenge, like pelting rain, freezing temps, massive waves. Basically, it’s unstoppable.

The Craft is controlled by the AIRLEASH (aptly named) which is a wrist worn controller which tells the AIRDOG where the person it is filming is. All the user needs to adjust their altitude and distance preferences and press “Take off,” they are good to go. The drone performs in-flight calculations to correct its flying pattern, and points the camera at the user wearing AirLeash. The AirLeash is waterproof so you can easily take it into a wave.

AirDog uses a Physical tracker and smartphone to exactly map the subject

It gives a lot smoother aerial shots than a remote operated drone. It uses a Go-Pro camera on 2-axis Gyro stabilized gimbal so you can be rest assured of the footage quality. When not using it like a drone, fold it up, and you have a Steadicam.

If you are a control freak and don’t prefer a fully automatic, there is also an optional manual remote control. You can also use a combination of Auto and Manual modes to get that perfect shot. The drone uses GPS signals to map out its environment thereby preventing itself from running into trees and other obstacles.

The bundled in smartphone app provides professional adjustments to the flight path of the Drone. The app can be used from the iPhone as well as an Android phone. With it, you can control the distance, height, and angle.

You don’t even need to worry about running out of battery mid shoot and falling off grid into unreachable spots. The craft finds its way back to the takeoff spot and lands there. The landing is completely automatic.

Specs of the AirDog:
•    Durable and weather resistant construction
•    10-20 minutes flight time depending on flight speed
•    Interchangeable 14.8 V, 4000mAh, LiPo batteries
•    Wind resistance up to 28 knots (14 m/s)
•    Top speed, 40 mph (software limited)
•    AirLeash range up to 1000 feet (300m)
•    Operational ceiling, 3000 meters above sea level
•    Weight 3.08 lbs (1.4 kg). 3.96 lbs (1.8 kg) with battery

AirDog is attracting a lot of attention on Kickstarter, as in the morning the project had 15 backers but by the time of posting it had reached 166. It also reached halfway to its target of USD $ 200,000/- standing at $120,000 with 39 more days to go.

HEXO+:

The Hexo+ looks more like a full-fledged professional camera drone with 6 propellers. It is controlled using a smartphone app. Unlike the AirDog there is no wearable tracker (AirLeash), which might be the biggest issue with it.

Hexo uses the app to find subject

It is faster that the AirDog as its top speed is at 70 Kilometers per hour for the duration of 15 minutes. HEXO+ could therefore be beneficial for high speed sports enthusiast like Skiers, mountain bikers, snowboarders and motocross athletes.

This project has also received massive support as it stood at above a whooping $300,000 of its pledging goal of $50,000 with 29 more days to go. One of the reasons for this surge is that they have promised to deliver live video feedback if they crossed $250,000.

Armed with GPS sensors and command module in the smart phone, the drone is capable of constant, totally autonomous following of its subject. A smartphone dependency of the Hexo+ to communicate might cause it some issues. They use the MAVLINK protocol which helps to smoothen the communication between the phone, the drone and the camera gimbal.

The Drone constantly tracks subject using GPS, Sensors and mobile App

Specs of the HEXO+:
General
• Dimensions: 62 x 52 x 12 cm
•Total weight: 980 g – 2.2 lbs Drone
•Hexacopter design with 30° tilt propellers
• Speed range: up to 70 kmh – 45mph
•Flight time: 15 min with 3S battery, gimbal and GoPro attached
Flight controller
• Filming distance range: up to 50 meters
•Auto take-off and auto landing
• Trajectory anticipation
•Video target locking*
•GPS + onboard sensor position tracking
•Processor with MAVLINK protocol
Gimbal
• High performance 2D brushless gimbal
• Easy attach/detach from drone body for transportation
• GoPro mount

Both these products look promising and will probably start a whole new revolution in action sport shooting like the Go-Pro did. It is also great for athletes who want to observe and review their performance. With the serious interest shown by Kickstarter backers for both these projects, it’s evident that pretty soon we can see them flying all over the place.

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June 17, 2014
Tesla Opens All Patents and Elon Musk is Officially The Best Human Being Ever

There have been men who conquered massive lands. There are men who broke the facade of ignorance and opened the world to a new understanding of the world. There have been men who have brought massive socio-economic-political changes for the masses. Almost every generation past has had the opportunity to get an encounter with greatness, men like Buddha, Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Gandhi and many more have had the ability to think of the greater good. Just when we thought the ages of the greats are gone, our generation got its hero and he is Elon Musk, the owner of the electric car company Tesla Motors.

The Roadster is the best looking and performing EV in the world

Tesla motors is a pioneering institution. It has breathed in a new life into the Electric Vehicle (EV) technology and thereby creating a true alternative to the obnoxious gas emitting, fossil fuel vehicles we use presently. The company’s first car, the Tesla Roadster was the first EV to have a range of 320 KM in a single charge; with a top speed of 201 Km/h (yes you read that right). The company released a Sedan called the Model S which is one of the best looking sedans out there. There is also the sexy Model X which is a SUV-Sedan hybrid.

Yesterday, Tesla became the first car manufacturer to open all its patents for anyone to use, for free. The technology Elon and his team strived so hard to achieve, almost reaching a point of bankruptcy and affecting his personal life.

Elon Musk inside the Astronaut capable Dragon V2

Elon wrote in his blog titled All Our Patent Are Belong To You that “we feel compelled to create patents out of concern that the big car companies would copy our technology and then use their massive manufacturing, sales and marketing power to overwhelm Tesla. We couldn’t have been more wrong.” This is rather true even 6 years after the release of the Tesla Roadster, no big company is making any major strides or even showing interest in the EV technology. Just about 1% of the Cars on the roads are electric.

He also stated that Tesla’s competition isn’t the small handful EV manufacturers, but the mega car companies who still insist on manufacturing dirty cars. These fossil fueled cars are the case of environmental changes like the recent increase in obnoxious gases in Delhi.

The most significant aspect of this story is that it directly questions the validity of patents. Patents were a great way of giving recognition to people who have created something out of the ordinary; innovators. But slowly the system has degraded into a means to enrich intellectual property lawyers and corporations. In this kind of situation smaller players can’t innovate because the bigger companies hold patents on miniscule features. The system that was supposed to encourage innovation is now the biggest hindrance in the development of our technology.

EV’s like the Nissan Leaf are still not efficient enough like their gas powered competitors

While major companies are working on how to make hybrid cars, something that makes the environmental types and the petroleum giants happy, Tesla has decided to take them all on. With these patents you can design your own electric motor with Tesla efficiency. The best part, as the motor is tiny, once you retrofit your car, you can have an extra boot space where that huge combustion engine used to be. Tesla has also successfully beaten some of the best cars in overall performance.

We now know for a fact that global warming is the single greatest threat to our existence. We also know the reason for it is us and our expenditure of non-renewable fossil fuels. Elon has also put massive investment into the Solar City project which provides energy services to homeowners, businesses, and government/non-profit organizations. In just one hour the sun gives more energy than is needed by the entire humanity in an entire year. Solar should definitely be the highest priority of every business and government.

Luckily for India the present government is planning to ferociously expand solar power in India with a target of reaching 400,000,000 people by 2019. It has also promised to give every home at least ‘one light bulb’s worth of electrification’ via solar, as well as deploy solar-powered agriculture pumps.

Elon’s Space X is the most successful private space enterprise.

Elon is also the founder of private space company Space X which has now got a NASA contract to service the International Space Station. The company recently showcased the Dragon V2 spaceship which is capable of carrying astronauts. He also wants to have a Mars mission to give humanity a second planetary home as a plan B.

Tesla Motors is a phenomenal company and it truly upholds the name of the greatest inventor of the 19^th Century, Nikola Tesla. Most of us don’t even know his name but he has greatly affected our lives in many ways. We can ramble on and on about his greatness, but we’d rather you watch this awesome video.

More and more manufacturers need to use Tesla’s ingredients in their cars and switch to EV technology as soon as possible. It will take at least 20-30 years from now to a majority electric vehicle economy. For this, first and foremost tough regulation have to be placed on gas giants and EV manufacturing should be subsidized by the governments across the world.

Elon was the inspiration behind Robert Downey’s Iron Man

Elon’s superpower is that his endeavors are inspiring for the people of the world and that makes him a real superhero, no wonder he is the real life inspiration behind Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark from Iron Man. He also did a cameo in Iron Man 2.

Only time will tell how this massive open innovation will affect our future.

June 14, 2014
#LetsTalkShop with HTC India head Faisal Siddiqui

This week in Lets Talk Shop we speak to HTC India country head Faisal Siddiqui. The man has been heading HTC in India for many a years and offers a bit of understanding on how they run shop in India.

The three most important products for HTC this year are the HTC One M8, the HTC Desire 816 and the Desire 210, with the desire 210 being the most unique product from HTC as it is the first HTC phone to have been launched under the Rs. 10,000 price bracket.

Faisal promises that the build quality and HTC lineage follows through even in the Desire 210 while most of the top end features including blink feed, quick OTA updates etc will also be seen in this entry level handset.

The Desire 816 will be getting more colors including a “fuchsia pink” apart from the white, black and orange available presently. He claims that people now like color options when buying smartphones and HTC wants to provide that option.

HTC has always been strong headed about staying away from tablets, and in the past they have remained focused with their smartphones. However, unlike previous meetings, Faisal was keen on not comment on the Tablet agenda for the company , which could mean that HTC may finally be planning tablets or that the new Nexus 8 being made by HTC rumors may be true after all.

HTC is strongly focused on building an experience in India, whether its their concept stores or their service centers. Including basic infrastructure, like Air conditioning, drinking water and a systematic approach HTC feels they can break down the long list of issues that go on with providing service in India.

As far as functioning goes, Faisal does feel that there are some major issues in running shop in India, but getting past them is what makes the challenge interesting.

If you ever want to head/run your own company, Faisal’s advice:

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Faisal Siddiqui” author_title=”HTC India”]

Always hire the right people, if you have the right team, reaching your objective is that much simpler.

[/quote]

June 10, 2014
Microsoft’s Xbox One Finally Set to Launch in India

Well the wait is over, Microsoft has officially confirmed that Xbox One will be available in India on 23^rd Sept 2014 starting at INR 39,990. They will also launch Xbox One with Kinect at INR 45,990. Both bundles will include the Xbox One console with a 500GB hard drive, Xbox One Wireless Controller, and a free 14-day trial of Xbox Live Gold for new members.

Microsoft had announced a rough September timeline for India launch (along with 25 other countries) back in March. Conspicuously, Sony launched the PS4 in India (at the same Rs. 39,990 price) in January making Microsoft lag behind by 9 months.

The owners of Xbox One with Kinect will be able to experience a number of games and entertainment experiences special to Xbox such as gesture controls, biometric sign-in, controller paring, Skype video calls, direct personalization, instant scanning of QR codes, and improved features only available with Kinect in games such “Kinect Sports Rivals,” “Dead Rising 3,” and “Project Spark.”

Both the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 use an incorporated CPU-GPU design by AMD, including an 8-core low power x86-64 AMD “Jaguar” CPU. The Xbox One’s CPU cores runs at 1.75GHz, compared to the Sony PlayStation 4’s 1.6GHz. Although, it doesn’t make any tangible difference.

Xbox One is packed with features like the Game DVR/Upload which lets you capture and record your greatest game moments and through ‘Upload Studio’ you can easily edit and share clips with your friends and community. It also offers many apps such as Skype which is specially designed for Xbox One, Internet Explorer, OneDrive, Twitch, Machinima and IGN integrated flawlessly with your games and TV experience.

Back in 2013 when it was launched in USA, Microsoft sold approximately 2 million units of Xbox One gaming consoles in its first 18 days on sale. It is too early to say that Microsoft will match its success in India, but it surely will give a tough competition to Sony’s PS 4.

June 10, 2014
Nokia Failed, Microsoft Won : Here Is How

It was the year 2001, and Nokia had just rolled out its best phones yet, the 8250 was a super success right after the launch of the 8210 which was one of the best selling “high end” cellular phones available at the time. But, the year also marked the end of monochrome displays, as Nokia the only big name in mobile telephony would transition to color displays for their next generation of phones.

Nokia 8250 Print Ad Title : Walk on the Blue Side!

The Nokia 9210 communicator became the phone of choice of many professionals, the first color screen clamshell to revolutionize the Mobile industry. Nokia had everything working for them, they had the right markets, the right products and they were rich, rich enough to explore the future.

It was also the year when Nokia secretly developed 2 world changing products, a Color Screen touch phone set above one single hardware button, and a ten-inch tablet computer both of which had features like video playback, internet access and navigation capabilities. These two world changing devices could also securely order products online and create online accounts and keep data safe within the internet (Now known as Cloud Storage).

Nokia was innovating and how, but these products never came out, the consumers never saw them and the corporate marketing heads shut down the research claiming that the ideas were far fetched. Ironically, Nokia had never been so wrong in the many years of leading the wireless revolution and becoming stronger than ever in the 1990’s.

Steve Jobs Announces the First Apple iPhone in 2007

Seven years later, Steve Jobs got on stage and announced the first Apple iPhone, and all hell broke loose in the world. Nokia execs were scrambling left right and center to now re energize their seven year old product research. But the world had matured beyond Nokia’s internal understanding, while people now wanted Capacitive Touch Phones, because they were easy to use and type on, Nokia still confident of its seven year old tech wanted to hold on to their N series and E series which they continued to develop for quite a while.

In 2012, Apple had already announced the iPhone 4 and had taken a major chunk of the Smartphone sales under its banner, a new enemy loomed for Nokia: Android. This Google made OS, was revolutionizing the Smartphone and bringing it to the masses. This year Android Powered handsets were available for as low as 200 $ and Nokia ended its 14 year streak as the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer. Nokia’s Stock crashed and thousands of employees lost their jobs.

Nokia had another big opportunity lost around the time when they started a cold war with Google and decided never to make Android Phones, and shift focus completely towards making Windows Phones, bringing gradual cancerous death Meego and Symbian in the process.

But there was a name that is mostly believed to be the root cause of the above decisions. In September of 2010, ex-Microsoft Exec Stephen Elop was the first non-Finn to be named CEO of Nokia. During the 3 years Elop was Nokia CEO, Nokia revenues fell 40%, Nokia profits fell 95%, Nokia market share collapsed in smartphones from 34% to 3.4%.

In one of my meetings with a Product Design manager at Nokia during IFA 2012, it became apparent that Nokia was still the same, shutting down ideas and killing innovation. In fact, most of those who worked at the Finnish HQ already assumed that Nokia would collapse under Elop and Windows Phone.

Stephen Elop at a Launch

A company that was easily valued for upwards of $150 billion 14 years ago, when they secretly developed the first “iPhone” and “iPad” (Smartphone and Tablet) was sold in 2013 to Microsoft for a mere $ 7 Billion. For context, that’s less than half of what Facebook paid for Whatsapp. Stephen Elop who would then join back Microsoft as Executive Vice President, later to be made head of XBOX, Games and Hardware division. Conspiracy theorists have called Elop the Trojan Horse who led Nokia to its demise simply because Microsoft eyed a takeover.

Elop and Nadella

Microsoft has confirmed that they will kill the “Nokia” branding and start building a new line of smartphones internally called “Microsoft Mobile Oy”. The final name may simply be Microsoft Mobile or Microsoft Surface Phone even Microsoft Lumia. This may not be the smartest move on Microsofts part, A long legacy of Nokia also would have brought among the loyalty of Nokia users. But, as Elop mentioned, “Nokia is not a Brand placement” that Microsoft would like for their lineup of Smartphones, especially if one was to consider the bad press we have seen lately. “Nokia” as a name is now considered “old school” and maybe a new name might just do wonders.

After the announcement of the acquisition Nokia shares jumped 35% on the news, whereas Microsoft’s fell more than 5%, either way the only company to benefit is Microsoft, and Nokia truly lost, thanks to a corporate culture that lavished funds on research but squandered opportunities to bring innovations.

Nokia’s line of Lumia Phones have seen some success in the recent past, only to measure their success in non percentages compared to the world. Nokia is finally dead, and most of the world will and should shy away from investing in the brand. At least up until the Microsoft version comes out.

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June 5, 2014
All You Need to Know About The New iOS 8

WWDC 2014 unveiled some of the most important upgrades since the introduction of the App Store. One of the most highlighted upgrade was the iOS 8. The company added tons of developer tools for home mechanization, heavy gaming performance and extensions in abundance. There’s a lot of polished new apps and add-ons that will earn rave reviews from fans, once it drops later this fall.

Let us introduce you to the Apple iOS 8. We tested out the Beta version on iPhone 5, and like they’ve said – it’s quicker, more productive and more integrated than ever before. Here’s what’s new on board:

Photo Library and Photography

Apple added the powerful iCloud Photo Library which ensures all your edits are automatically synced between devices. The new iOS 8 also includes new photo editing tools which give users manual control over the exposure, shadows and color of the photograph. If a user is focusing on clicking an overly bright object, the brightness can be directly reduced by swiping the screen and reducing the exposure. Along with the new editing functions, Apple has made the Photo Library more user-friendly by adding the ability to search based on location, time or albums.

Bye-Bye Snapchat

Apple has taken a great leap with the iMessage by including features such as ability to not only send quick video and voice messages, but also the option to make them expire. The Tap to Talk feature lets you share video and photos with a simple gesture, option to leave a conversation, label threads and add/remove contacts mid-convo. The option to add DND to specific threads will put all the leading chatting apps to shame.

QuickType and Third-party Keyboards

Apple is including third-party keyboards to the new update as well, so you can Swype with the best of them, or you can find a keyboard where you actually understand when the Shift key is on. They have also introduced the new predictive typing feature called QuickType which gives personalized suggestions while taking content in the context. It not only helps while you’re tying out a message, but when you receive a message, it understands it and offers possible responses. As the name suggests QuickType is quicker and easier than ever.

Health Connect

Apple introduced a new integrated programming system called HealthKit. Through this, users will be able to connect applications and develop a central database of all their health data. It has an extensive list of functions. The fitness tab has integrated Nike Fuel and can monitor and record your fitness numbers which includes your Body Fat Index, distance that you run, calorie intake, the steps climbed and the hours you’ve slept.

The new Health feature will also include the information from other apps you have purchased in the app store, as well as connect with your personal doctor through a dedicated application. If you get your blood pressure or your sugar blood checked from your hospital, your iPhone will receive a notification and store the results. You will be able to store it privately or share this information easily with other doctors. So essentially, a combination of your entire medical and fitness history will be in your hands, all the time.

Sharing is Caring

Apple’s innovative Family Sharing lets you share your apps with up to 6 different people so they can enjoy all your apps without buying them on their own. The new feature will be connected through your credit card to their account. But don’t fret about the privacy settings, iOS 8 will require a consent from you before anyone cause use the privy information.

App Store Makeover

One of the most exciting new feature in iOS 8 is the updated App Store. It has new searching features and they’ve also added categories for easy excess. They’ve added the facility to create video previews of their apps, so you get a better idea what you’re buying, and if you’d like to test new apps, the new TestFlight feature gives developers the ability to propel you access. And yes, there’s finally providing “App Bundling”, so you can get big deals on a number of apps at once.

Siri Becomes Cooler

Siri can now be activated by saying “hey Siri,” rather than pressing the home button. She can now understand more languages and accents. The best part? Apple has gone ahead to integrate a music-recognition feature, so you can know which tune is being played instantly, without wasting time to open an app. You have the option to download the song instantly from the iTunes, and if you’ve installed Shazam, you can save the song in your tabs.

Last Bits of Improvements

Some of the last bits of new features include: iOS 8 allows you to directly reply to your messages from the NC panel, Touch ID can now be used with third-party apps so you not at all have to enter your password again, phone calls can be answered from your Mac, and AirDrop is now attuned with iPhones and Macs.

Like it always happens, the features of iOS 8 Beta 1 are subject to change, but based on the specification of WWDC’s offerings and the added APIs for developers, iOS 8 will be an exciting update once it’s accessible for users later this fall.

June 5, 2014
More Jobs Thanks To The Battle Of E-Commerce

Flipkart, India’s largest online retail portal, took a great leap this year when it bought Myntra for $330 Million. It was the largest acquisition in the Indian E-commerce sector since last two years. Flipkart is now in battle with Amazon.in and they are locked in competition for the throne of the biggest e-commerce website in India. The invasion of giants like Ebay and Amazon is forcing Indian online retailers to get critical masses to compete.

Founded by two ex-employees of Amazon, Flipkart is expanding day by day and is introducing new categories to their site. They also grabbed an exclusive deal with Motorola Mobility for the sales of Moto X, Moto G and Moto E which has been a phenomenal success. The company immediately rand out of pieces after the release of Moto G and E, even though they had prepared and kept a massive stock.

Flipkart’s merger with Myntra created an entity with annual sales of $1.5 billion, which is over half of the country’s emerging online shopping market. Venture capitalists have been bucketing money into the sector, scenting potential.

So far, $497 million worth of deals have been struck already this year, in comparison to the $592 million for all of last year. Most are small in value but significant stepping stones as retailers put together critical mass.

This battle of the e-throne is also giving a boost to the number of jobs in the sector. The new websites are going live and old ones are expanding. As foreign and domestic e-retail giants are swelling up their businesses antagonistically against each other, hiring activities are expected to grow by over 30 per cent in the sector and may help create up to 50,000 jobs in the coming years.

Since 2012, considering the growth vista of the E-commerce sector in India, major venture capital firms such as Accel Partners have invested significantly. In one of the principal fund raising, Flipkart.com, in August 2012, raised about INR 822 crore (US$140 million). Entertainment ticketing website BookMyShow.com raised INR 100 crore (US$17 million) asset by Accel Partners. On July 10, 2013, Flipkart announced it had received $200 million from existing investors Tiger Global, Naspers, Accel Partners, and ICONIQ Capital. New investors who are making up the additional $160 million include Dragoneer Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Sofina, Vulcan Inc. and more from Tiger Global.

Hiring has been rather slow in the e-commerce space over last couple of years, but recruitments are expected to rapidly grow by 33 per cent, over the previous year as various retail brands are also bringing in their business online.

According to Amazon, the industry is growing at a fast rate and there is still a huge potential for growth. They have grown exponentially over the last 11 months and chances are they will continue to see growth.

To match the rise and pace of the sector, there will be an explosion of new jobs and recruitment’s soon. The scenario of the sector can be compared with the BPO explosion in early 2000’s which employs approximately 1 Million professionals at present. Nevertheless, BPO offered jobs to people from all walks of life, from housewives to high school graduates, while E-commerce sector need skilled employs which restrict their hiring process.

Driving sales growth is India’s fast-growing number of Internet connections which was triggered by exploding sales of affordable smartphones and data plans. Internet users, total of 175 million, expected to grow to 429 million by 2019. Up to 30 per cent of e-shopping now is done using mobile devices. About three-quarters of online shoppers are aged 15-to-34. This broad consumer market and the fact that e-commerce websites in India are constantly trying to up their game is creating a huge potential for an jobs in the industry.

Important Update: Last night Reuters reported that the Indian Government is planning to ease the restrictions on foreign e-commerce sites like Amazon. Another good development since this will allow them to sell their own products in the Indian market.

June 5, 2014
#LetsTalkShop with Arvind Vohra from Gionee

Gionee’s recent arrival into the mobile market has proved the theory that not all “Chinese Goods” are poorly made. A few recent handsets from the company have proved to be quite the segment leaders. The Gionee S5.5 being the slimmest phone in the world and the Gionee E7 with its impressive camera.

We got a chance to sit down with the Country Head of Gionee in India, Mr. Arvind Vohra , and discuss the company, its operations and its future in a market like India.

We started of by discussing why he chose Gionee as a brand and how important it was to him, the answer seemed quite obvious. He believed in the company and its operations and the fact that he knew the global president personally helped.

Arvind claims that service is a key ingredient to providing a hardware, and as a manufacturer if he doesn’t have the right parts then the whole process is flawed.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Arvind Vohra”]

As a Manufacturer, if i don’t have spare parts, then there is something very wrong.

[/quote]

Operating in a market like India has become much more easier than before, and most of the challenges are overcome by doing everything in the manner its supposed to be done. As far as comparing India with any other market , he feels since he hasn’t worked anywhere else therefore he does not have a benchmark.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Arvind Vohra”]

There are no problems in operating in India, things have become much easier. You can register a company in three weeks, and as long as you do everything right you will be in a good place.

[/quote]

He is very keen on “exploiting OTA” updates and claims that most devices will get the OTA update for KitKat in the coming weeks. Which is avery big thing for the market he is operating in. The Elife series phones will be always be OTA supported as long as the hardware allows.

The next lineup of devices will include LTE phones, as Arvind feels that the country is ready to exploit the resource, and if Gionee can provide hardware then they will.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Arvind Vohra”]

We like to exploit the OTA updates, and almost all our devices launched recently will get the OTA KitKat Update. Going forward all our devices will launch with LTE, especially since China is transitioning we feel India will soon be ready.

[/quote]

Arvind sees no point of a tablet and fails to understand why people use them, the day he finds the real use of tablets he will start making them.

Watch the full video below and stay tuned for our next #LetsTalkShop

June 2, 2014
Say Goodbye to the Trial Room with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality has come a long way. My first experience with the technology was while playing Agent V on the Nokia 3230. It was kind of rudimentary but it got the imagination rolling for a lot of fellow enthusiasts regarding the future of the technology.

Augmented reality (AR) is a digital overlay onto the real world. It enhances the real world with digital data, and therefore it is much more interesting than a completely fabricated environment of virtual reality systems. It is an ideal Reality-Virtual connect.

Try your Accessories right where you are.

AR presently is used in many different fields, from mobile games to areas of industrial maintenance. Its ease of integration across many mediums give it universal accessibility. One industry is presently experimenting a lot with AR is fashion.

It can help in literally every field of fashion, right from designing to marketing to retail sales. Some of the biggest names such as Hugo Boss, Burberry, Ebay’s with its “See It On” app have started inducting AR in their business model.

For example: The Hugo Boss store at Westfield Stratford City, features an 8-meter, media wall that allows customers to “dress” onscreen models who respond to consumers’ movements by looking at them, moving towards them and walking alongside them.

The coolest and the most advantageous aspect of AR is its flexibility of integration across a multitude of mediums like computers, mobiles, eyeglasses and even contact lenses with AR capabilities are in development. These will give the companies much more innovative ability to reach to the customers.

Cassete Playa makes things interesting with AR

London fashion label Cassette Playa is making it more interesting with their T-shirts. When seen through a Webcam, an AR code on the T-shirt is activated to reveal, for example, horns growing from the wearer’s head.

The fact that when people see fashion they imagine it on themselves is what encourages the company’s to give a more physical feel. The race is on towards a virtual changing room and AR is the best way forward.

If you are a person who hates shopping and the frustrating multiple visits to the changing room this may be a boon. The only issue is that if you have fat thighs like me you won’t be able to do the usual squats to make sure you are not getting choked by your jeans.

Even Google is getting in the game with its Google Glass. The company recently hired fashion executive Ivy Ross to market the glass to the general public. Ross has worked with industry giants like Calvin Klein, Swatch, Gap, Coach, and more. Guess we can anticipate a fashion trial app on the Glass too.

Virtual Trial Room with AR on Banana Flame

There are of course some dissenting voices who say practical application will take some time and its still in a marketing gimmick phase. But these critics do agree that virtual trial rooms are the more economical way forward and if history teaches us anything it’s that economic decisions always win.

It would be a wonderful technology to keep our eyes on. Maybe the days of boyfriends and husbands desperately looking for seats while their ladies take their sweet time deciding on their perfect attire is close to being history, hopefully.

May 31, 2014
Skype’s Incredible New App Translates in Real-time

Skype clearly understanding the need of the hour has created an app which might be easiest way to stay in touch with your friends around the globe. With this app, Skype stays true to its motto and hopes to make its international connections easier. The new feature automatically translates conversations in real time. Before the end of 2014, Microsoft plans to release a beta Skype app that will enable real-time translation of people verbally speaking in different languages.

Skype Translator, as Microsoft is calling it, appears to be an extension of the real-time translation Microsoft has been developing for over ten years. The company had previously shown the technology in action, with the real-time translation of speech delivered by Microsoft’s Rick Rashid in China. Even more recently, Microsoft released Bing Translator, which performs the same function as Skype Translator, just on Windows 8.

The feature, dubbed Skype Translator, was demonstrated on Tuesday by Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella during an onstage interview at the Recode Code Conference in Palos Verdes, Calif. During the demonstration, Nadella conducted a conversation with Skype chief Gurdeep Singh Pall, who was speaking German, while Skype provided real-time translation of the German into English and vice versa.

On the Microsoft Research site, the company said it’s been working on machine translation for more than a decade, and that earlier translating voice over Skype was “considered a nearly impossible task.” However, four years ago the program got a jumpstart with a project that was able to translate phone calls in real-time. Meanwhile, a separate project improved speech recognition accuracy, Microsoft said. That eventually bolstered other services that listen to human voices, like Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant for Windows Phone.

Microsoft had bought Skype in May 2011 for $8.5bn (£5.2bn) – making it the firm’s biggest acquisition at the time. However, it has been facing increasing competition from a multitude of rivals, including Google Hangouts, Apple’s Facetime, Blackberry’s BBM, Tango and Viber.

Manoj Menon, managing director at consulting firm Frost & Sullivan said that once launched, the new feature could have wide ranging applications in sectors such as education and tourism. He added that the translation feature may also help Microsoft to integrate Skype with its office social network site Yammer. Microsoft also bought Yammer – which operates like Facebook for communication within companies – for $1.2bn in 2012.

“Microsoft has acquired some great assets such as Yammer and Skype over the past few years,” Mr Menon said. “The ability to integrate these together will help unlock their value and the translate feature is a wonderful step in that direction.” Skype has also been taking other steps to try and attract more users. Last year, it confirmed that it had developed technology for 3D video calls. But it has said it could be many years before the technology is launched.

While it’s unclear how the beta app of Skype Translator will relate to Skype itself (will the two remain separate apps?), it’s certainly clear that Microsoft is moving ahead fast in terms of real-time translation.

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May 29, 2014