Nokia has announced the launch of Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition, which will allow users to watch television anywhere. The phone is an entertainment hub that combines mobile broadcast TV (DVB-H), social networking, music and gaming in one compact 3G device. Nokia says that broadcast TV consumption is on the rise and by 2012 there will be over 300 million people worldwide watching TV on their mobile phones.
"The introduction of the Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition responds to the arrival of DVB-H broadcast mobile TV networks in new markets and offers an affordable device for new and existing customers alike. Customers are increasingly watching a variety of programmes on their mobiles, such as drama programs, news and sport, for a longer period of time. The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition has the sound and image quality to hold audiences captive," said Mark Selby, Vice President, Nokia.
Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition's DVB-H technology allows programs to burst through the QVGA 2.4" screen in full-colour, crystal clear, sharp images. A user can set reminders for favorite shows and create personal channel lists with Nokia's Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for a good mobile broadcast TV experience.
The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition provides broadcast picture quality while the headset acts as an antenna for outstanding reception. Long battery life gives up to six hours of DVB-H usage. "It is essential for DVB-H service providers to have a variety of devices capable of serving the mass market. Having a complete portfolio of handsets is pivotal for the commercial success of mobile TV. The new Nokia DVB-H enabled mobile phone, the Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition, is a great addition to the current portfolio of broadcast TV-capable handsets," said Franklin Selgert, Chairman, Broadcast Mobile Convergence Forum.
The Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition comes with all the latest social networking software, making it simple to stay in touch with friends via Ovi Contacts, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. Post status updates for friends and family to follow or instant message (IM) them via Windows Live(TM) Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, AOL and many others.
Users can capture photos and video clips, day or night, using the 3.2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and LED flash before uploading and sharing favourite shots via sites such as OviShare and Flickr.
Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks work with more than 30 operators worldwide on Mobile TV implementations. Commercial launches with Mobile TV services based on DVB-H and OMA BCAST standards include Austria, Finland, Ghana, Kenya, India, Italy, Namibia, Nigeria, Netherland, Philippines and Switzerland. Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition costs around Rs. 11,000 excluding taxes.
Agencies
Showing posts with label 3G. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3G. Show all posts
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Potential market in India -- Gaming and E-Commerce
"We have seen big uptake in digital entertainment and people spend more time now playing online Games. Gaming market is growing at 20 percent," said Patrick McGovern, Founder and Chairman of IDG at annual Global review meeting of IDG ventures family of funds from across five countries - China, India, Vietnam, South Korea and U.S. IDG has already invested in 3D solid compression, a mobile gaming company and Kreeda Games India, an online gaming company.
Apart from gaming, e-marketing, healthcare, telecom, are few of the possible ventures that IDG is planning to invest in. "With the launch of 3G technology in India telecom industry will have many opportunities," said McGovern.
But can E-commerce be really a potential market in India? "We do realize that the market is not the same here as compared to U.S. but people can still shop with the debit card or shopping cards. The reluctance to use cards for online transactions is disappearing slowly. People used to think that online travelling won't work but look how successful it is in India right now," says Manik Arora, Founder and Managing Director, IDG ventures India.
IDG has already invested in nine companies in India and all these companies come from different sectors like mobile applications, security services, media electronics, online games and advertising. Aujas Networks, ConnectM Technology Solutions, Perfint Healthcare, Ozone Media and Myntra.com, are few of the nine companies which have all been successful so far and few have even managed to open offices outside India. IDG has been investing in such small companies because they believe that small companies will create much better products and opportunities. "People should have more choices in technology related products so we invested in small companies. We thought they can come up with breakthrough products and make an impact in global technology market," said McGovern
India is not only an attracting outsourcing destination but also has a large domestic market and a faster GDP growth rate than majority of the world. This is the reason why IDG feels that the technology sector in India has a great potential. "Now with the markets improving and stable political environment we feel it's a very good time to invest in India. We have already committed Rs 300 crore to our existing investments across software, telecom, mobile, security and digital consumer markets. We intend to commit our Balance Rs 300 crore over the next 24 months" says Sudhir Sethi, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, IDG Ventures India.
SiliconIndia
Apart from gaming, e-marketing, healthcare, telecom, are few of the possible ventures that IDG is planning to invest in. "With the launch of 3G technology in India telecom industry will have many opportunities," said McGovern.
But can E-commerce be really a potential market in India? "We do realize that the market is not the same here as compared to U.S. but people can still shop with the debit card or shopping cards. The reluctance to use cards for online transactions is disappearing slowly. People used to think that online travelling won't work but look how successful it is in India right now," says Manik Arora, Founder and Managing Director, IDG ventures India.
IDG has already invested in nine companies in India and all these companies come from different sectors like mobile applications, security services, media electronics, online games and advertising. Aujas Networks, ConnectM Technology Solutions, Perfint Healthcare, Ozone Media and Myntra.com, are few of the nine companies which have all been successful so far and few have even managed to open offices outside India. IDG has been investing in such small companies because they believe that small companies will create much better products and opportunities. "People should have more choices in technology related products so we invested in small companies. We thought they can come up with breakthrough products and make an impact in global technology market," said McGovern
India is not only an attracting outsourcing destination but also has a large domestic market and a faster GDP growth rate than majority of the world. This is the reason why IDG feels that the technology sector in India has a great potential. "Now with the markets improving and stable political environment we feel it's a very good time to invest in India. We have already committed Rs 300 crore to our existing investments across software, telecom, mobile, security and digital consumer markets. We intend to commit our Balance Rs 300 crore over the next 24 months" says Sudhir Sethi, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, IDG Ventures India.
SiliconIndia
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Samsung partners BSNL, MTNL for 3G services
Korean electronic major Samsung said it has partnered state-run telecos BSNL and MTNL to provide high-end handsets for their 3G services and is looking at up to 45 per cent of its total sales being generated from multimedia and touchscreen phones.
"We have partnered BSNL and MTNL to promote 3G services in India. We are currently giving a special bundling offer for BSNL consumers on our select handsets for 3G services," Samsung India Electronics President and CEO Jung Soo Shin said.
He said, "We have also provided handsets to MTNL to offer 3G services in Delhi."
Samsung today launched an 8 megapixel touchscreen, 3G enabled phone 'Ultra' priced at Rs 27,500 in India. The handset is capable of offering speedy internet access, video telephony, streaming and multimedia services.
"Samsung already has four touchscreen phones available in the Indian market, all of these are 3G enabled," Shin said.
"We are looking at touchscreen and multimedia phone portfolio to contribute 40-45 per cent of our total sales by the end of the year," Samsung Telecom Division Country Head Sunil Dutt said.
Agencies
"We have partnered BSNL and MTNL to promote 3G services in India. We are currently giving a special bundling offer for BSNL consumers on our select handsets for 3G services," Samsung India Electronics President and CEO Jung Soo Shin said.
He said, "We have also provided handsets to MTNL to offer 3G services in Delhi."
Samsung today launched an 8 megapixel touchscreen, 3G enabled phone 'Ultra' priced at Rs 27,500 in India. The handset is capable of offering speedy internet access, video telephony, streaming and multimedia services.
"Samsung already has four touchscreen phones available in the Indian market, all of these are 3G enabled," Shin said.
"We are looking at touchscreen and multimedia phone portfolio to contribute 40-45 per cent of our total sales by the end of the year," Samsung Telecom Division Country Head Sunil Dutt said.
Agencies
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Mobile players focus on MVAS to increase ARPU
With Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) touching Rs 7,510 crore in 2008 and expected to touch Rs 9,760 crore in 2009 and Rs 16,520 by 2010, mobile players are aggressively rolling out new services to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU).
Talking to CXOtoday at the Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2009, Deepak Halan, Group Business Director of IMRB International eTech said, “In the wake of changing industry markets, telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth, and a large chunk of revenues is expected to flow from VAS in the near future. Our report indicated that this market is growing at 70% annually.”
While the growing subscriber base has positively impacted industry revenues, operator margins have shrunk, pulling down ARPU. “As ARPU declines and voice gets commoditized, the challenge is to retain customers, develop alternative revenue streams, and create a basis for differentiation in high-churn markets that is why telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth,” said Halan.
Presently the mobile market has about 12-15 major players besides a number of new licences issued to Etisalat, Unitech and Reliance (GSM) that is likely to take MVAS to all time high.
Among MVAS, the most popular service was downloaded mobile music, although voice portals were swiftly taking over, said Halan. SMS-based infotainment services are largely divided among the big players. A TRAI reports indicates that out of the 375 million users, one out of every five users have a GPRS-enabled mobile across India but not many services are available making then passive users, which is a deterrent factor.
However, the new 3G initiative give a fresh pipe for data and video tracks that could be downloaded without interruptions and also mobile TV with a lot more services like video on demand will is possible, said Halan.
Srikanth Raju, Director, Head of Product Marketing Forum Nokia said, “MVAS has seen a huge market in India and now with 3G being rolled out, will further help video downloaded and a lot more development on MVAS.”
Talking to CXOtoday at the Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2009, Deepak Halan, Group Business Director of IMRB International eTech said, “In the wake of changing industry markets, telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth, and a large chunk of revenues is expected to flow from VAS in the near future. Our report indicated that this market is growing at 70% annually.”
While the growing subscriber base has positively impacted industry revenues, operator margins have shrunk, pulling down ARPU. “As ARPU declines and voice gets commoditized, the challenge is to retain customers, develop alternative revenue streams, and create a basis for differentiation in high-churn markets that is why telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth,” said Halan.
Presently the mobile market has about 12-15 major players besides a number of new licences issued to Etisalat, Unitech and Reliance (GSM) that is likely to take MVAS to all time high.
Among MVAS, the most popular service was downloaded mobile music, although voice portals were swiftly taking over, said Halan. SMS-based infotainment services are largely divided among the big players. A TRAI reports indicates that out of the 375 million users, one out of every five users have a GPRS-enabled mobile across India but not many services are available making then passive users, which is a deterrent factor.
However, the new 3G initiative give a fresh pipe for data and video tracks that could be downloaded without interruptions and also mobile TV with a lot more services like video on demand will is possible, said Halan.
Srikanth Raju, Director, Head of Product Marketing Forum Nokia said, “MVAS has seen a huge market in India and now with 3G being rolled out, will further help video downloaded and a lot more development on MVAS.”
Saturday, January 10, 2009
World's most expensive phone is out
An Austrian jeweller has given 'bling bling' a new definition by designing the world's most expensive phone.
The new Apple iPhone 3G 'Kings Button' is made of solid 18-carat yellow gold, white gold and rose gold!
Designed by Peter Aloisson the stunning diamond-encrusted iPhone comes for a whopping 1.8 million pounds.
The one-of-a-kind phone features a rare 6.6-carat diamond on its home button, reports The Sun.
Aloisson is credited as being the ultimate pioneer when it comes to blurring the lines between gadget, art and jewellery.
The new Apple iPhone 3G 'Kings Button' is made of solid 18-carat yellow gold, white gold and rose gold!
Designed by Peter Aloisson the stunning diamond-encrusted iPhone comes for a whopping 1.8 million pounds.
The one-of-a-kind phone features a rare 6.6-carat diamond on its home button, reports The Sun.
Aloisson is credited as being the ultimate pioneer when it comes to blurring the lines between gadget, art and jewellery.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
What were the hottest tech news of 2008?
As we enter in 2009, it's time to look into the big happenings that kept made headlines in 2008. In many ways 2008 can be called an unprecedented year, history has seen collapse of corporate giants, but never has so many companies that signified the strength of the financial industry gone bust, and with them throwing the entire world economy in tailspin.
With the economy down, the fate of IT industry could have been better. The financial crisis means IT industry losing out as much as $170 billion in sales in 2009. As meltdown melted IT spending, IT companies went on a belt tightening mode: giving pink slips, extending holidays and cutting perks.
Other than the grim reality of meltdown, the year 2008 also saw several big mergers and launches. Indian telecom industry finally made its 3G leap, with MTNL launching the services in Delhi. On M&A front, the IT services giant EDS merged with HP. Indian IT cos too were no behind in the acquisition space, three big IT companies buying overseas firms to extend their global and product footprint.
Here's bringing to you all the big IT stories of 2008.
3G launch
In December, Indian telecom sector took another technological leap, with the launch of 3G services in the capital city of country, Delhi.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) put India on the 3G global map with the launch of third generation (3G) mobile service 'Jaadu' in Delhi.
The 3G services will give mobile users high-quality voice transmission and access to high-end data applications on their mobile phones, including broadband Internet access, interactive gaming and download movies, video clips and music. They can also enjoy other multimedia features such as video conferencing, mobile TV etc.
For example, a user will be able to download a 3-minute song in approximately 15 seconds with 3G. This compares to 8 minutes usually required in existing mobile technologies.
This will help mobile players to offer high-end value-added services like movie downloads, mobileTV, etc to prop up their ARPUs (average realisation per user). Presently, Indian mobile operators generate only 7-10 per cent of their revenue from non-voice services, primarily dominated by SMSes.
As for the pricing, MTNL is yet to release a commercial tariff plan. The company is currently serving corporate clients and will rely on their feedback before the commercial launch.
Tech terror
The gruesome terrorists attacks that rocked several parts of the country brought to the fore the fact that the technology which makes our live simpler has also become a handy tool for terrorists. The use of technology is evident everywhere, right from providing recruiting grounds (social networking sites) to being a communication platform (Internet, mobile and satellite phones) to providing geographical details (digital maps).
The ease and frequency with which terrorists freely communicated using sat-phones, BlackBerrys and used Google maps to pin down locations, deepened the intensity of terror attacks across the country.
The recent Mumbai carnage also saw terrorists using Google Earth maps to establish locations, sat-phones for un-intercepted communication, Global Positioning Systems and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).
Earlier in Feburary, Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Fahim Ahmed Ansari, arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police with maps and details of the spots hit during the recent terror attacks, in his statement had conceded that his masters showed him the maps on Google Earth to pin-point the specific targets.
The Google Earth Map gives a bird’s eye view of the city providing detailed topography of the area in the forms of actual photographs. The details provided in the application can be useful for identifying buildings, roads, streets.
Also, unlike the mobile phones that can be easily intercepted by the security agencies to track data, sat-phones are non-interceptable in India. This is primarily because no satellite phone network operator has its centre in India. Also, since these phones are satellite driven and the operator doesn't need any interconnectivity with India's domestic network, the communication cannot be traced.
Microsoft's Yahoo chase
The year 2008 began with the software giant Microsoft proposing a $31 per share buyout to Yahoo. However, the bid was rejected by Yahoo board of directors saying it "substantially undervalues" the company. On its part, Yahoo announced an expensive severance package which made any acquisition attempt more expensive.
In May, Microsoft revised its offer to $33 a share, which was again rejected by Yahoo. This was followed by speculations that Microsoft may go for a forced deal with the company talking tough.
Yahoo reportedly tried exploring alternative deals with News Corp, Google and Time Warner unit AOL. The chief executive Jerry Yang kept waiting for the software giant to offer a better price than $47.5 billion for Yahoo. However, it never happened. Instead, Yahoo's stock started to fell and hit nearly five-year lows. Yahoo's plan 2, an advertising deal with Google too failed, after Google pulled out fearing a court battle with the US Justice Department.
In November, Yang stepped down and Yahoo, in December, overhauled its severance plan apparently hiked to discourage Microsoft's acquisition plans.
Infy loses Axon
Infosys-Axon deal was hailed as the largest outbound acquisition by an Indian IT company. The analysts termed Axon as strategic fit for Infosys.
Then came the rumours that there was competition: a rival UK security firm has quoting a price higher by 7 pence per share to counter Infosys' offer.
But the software giant was confident. MD and CEO, S Gopalakrishnan said that the company can sail through the deal with its transaction advantage of a full cash deal offer.
However, it seems the Indian IT giant underestimated its rivals, tough competition was there, and closer home. In October, HCL Technologies makes a counter offer to Infosys' Axon bid by raising the value by 8.3 per cent to seal the biggest overseas deal by an Indian firm in this space. The deal got shareholder's nod in November.
HCL beats Infy to bag Axon
The deal for the first time saw two leading Indian vendors, HCL and Infosys, used to fighting over deals, battle it out over an overseas acquisition.
Infosys had made a cash offer of 407.1 million pound for buying out Axon. The country's fifth largest software exporter, HCL Tech, raised its counter bid 441 million-pound ($811 million) to clinch the deal.
HCL Technologies recently completed the acquisition and the new entity would pursue deals worth 1.2 billion dollars.
Post-acquisition, HCL Axon is headed by Steve Cardell, the President of Axon. The independent entity have about 4,500 consultants which includes 1,700 people involved in the SAP practice in HCL.
Enterprise Application Services (EAS), the sector in which HCL AXON operates, constitutes 11 per cent of HCLs revenue. Company's Corporate Vice President and Head - Enterprise Application Services Ram Krishna said that HCL-Axon will create a business accounting for 25 per cent of HCLs revenues.
Satyam saga
The year 2008 would have ended for India's fourth largest IT company, Satyam, just like it will for most other IT cos with worries of ongoing economic gloom. However, there's much more on Satyam plate to tackle now.
The company's troubles began on December 16 when Satyam announced acquisition of Maytas Infrastructure for $1.6 billion (Rs 7658-crore). Institutional investors strongly opposed the move. Satyam's ADR lost 50 per cent on NYSE. Faced with shareholders' revolt and heavy criticism over corporate governance issues, in the early hours of December 17 the company withdrew the proposal. But the scrip lost over 30 per cent in India.
What came as the next severe blow to the Hyderabad-based IT provider facing flak from investors on its decision to acquire Maytas' was World Bank banning it for 8 years over bribery and corruption charges. Ramalinga's family loses half a billion dollars in a week as stock crashes.
Then the worst followed. Shocked by Satyam’s admission to BSE that the company’s promoters have pledged their entire shareholding to institutional investors, independent directors Vinod Dham (father of Pentium chips) and Harvard Business School professor Krishna Palepu, immediately resigned from the board. Also, Indian School of Business dean M Rammohan Rao followed suit. Another independent director, academic Managalam Srinivasan had quit earlier.
This leaves Satyam with only five directors on the board, from nine directors earlier.
Wipro buys Citi unit
India's third-ranked outsourcer, Wipro Technologies acquired Citi Technology Services Ltd, India-based captive IT unit of Citigroup Inc, for $127 million in cash and signed a six-year service agreement worth at least $500 million.
As part of the deal, Wipro and Citi will sign a master services agreement for delivery of technology infrastructure services and application development and maintenance (ADM) services for six years. Under this the banking giant will source services worth at least half a billion dollar from the Indian vendor.
Citi Technology Services is based in Mumbai and Chennai and employs around 1,650 staff servicing the bank’s offices in over 32 countries. Apart from its core focus area of technology infrastructure services, the business also specialises on ADM for cards, capital markets and corporate banking.
Citi Technology Services is expected to report revenue of $80 million in 2008, up from $53 million last year. The deal done through Wipro Technologies, the information technology arm of the New York-listed Wipro, is expected to close in March 2009.
TCS buys Citi BPO
In one of the largest deals in the Indian BPO sector, IT major Tata Consultancy Services, clinched a deal to acquire Citigroup Global Services Ltd (CGSL), a large captive BPO of Citibank operating out of India, for $505 million (around Rs 2,425 crore).
In addition to the sale, Citigroup which is shedding its non-core assets worldwide, signed an agreement with TCS to provide, through CGSL, process outsourcing services to Citi and its affiliates for an aggregate amount of $2.5 billion over a period of 9.5 years.
Citigroup Global Services has around 12,000 employees in India and expects revenues of approximately $278m in 2008.
The acquisition broadens TCS’s portfolio of end-to-end IT and BPO services in the global banking and financial services (BFS) sector.
CGSL provides end-to-end process management across the BFS spectrum and a broad array of services to Citi’s consumer, corporate and global wealth management businesses worldwide.
Citigroup Global Services, the India back office unit, began as a business processing arm for Citi India in 1992 and expanded to serve Citi's global operations in 1998, according to its website. The unit operates out of seven facilities across Indian cities and offers back office services to Citi's consumer, corporate and global wealth management entities in 50 countries.
Pink slips scourge back
This year the ugliest face of slowdown, pink slips, came back to haunt Indian IT pros. The year that saw the slowdown hitting major IT players, many companies resorted to pink slips to beat the downturn blues. India's sunshine sector handed pink slips as the heat of global meltdown severely affected revenues and growth opportunities.
Country's largest software exporter, TCS laid off close to 500 employees and put many under performance scrutiny. Wipro too followed with 1000 employees shown door. India's fourth largest IT player, Satyam too laid off 4,500 jobs to cope up with the turbulent times. Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems too gave pink slips to 400 employees on grounds of non-performance.
Incidentally, all companies termed the job cuts as purely performance-based. However, it came as no surprise that pink slips were a belt tightening measure from IT companies facing sagging bottomlines due to global economic turmoil.
According to the latest news on the layoff front, software giant Microsoft is reported to be planning a 10 per cent cut in its global workforce.
Bill Gates dethroned
This year tech tycoon Bill Gates not only made his exit from the company he founded, but also lost his position as the world's richest man, a title he had held since 1995. Gates' friend and investment mogul Warren Buffett, succeeded him as world's richest man according to Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people.
The magazine estimated Buffett's worth at $62 billion, and Gates' fortune not too far behind at $58 billion. But Gates didn't slipped one position down, Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecom tycoon, came in second with an estimated worth of $60 billion.
Riding the surging price of Berkshire Hathaway stock, America's most beloved investor Warren Buffett saw his fortune up $10 billion from a year ago.
The exit of Bill Gates marked an end of era. Gates retired from Microsoft, the company he co-founded with college-friend Paul Allen in 1975. In June, Gates quit as full-time chairman and software architect of the world's largest software company to work full-time at his charitable organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates will remain the company's non-executive chairman.
Purse tightening begins at Google
Meltdown has left none, not even the world's top tech brand Google remains unscathed. In a cost cutting mode, the Internet search giant Google is cutting its famed `generous perks'.
Google, known for hosting the most extravagant holiday parties and pamperimg its employees with free food and drinks on the house, has gone into a strict cost saving mode.
Company's cost cutting programme include cutting new projects, ratcheting back spending, chipping away at perks and reducing employee strength. The austerity measures came in as Google's revenue growth has slowed down dramatically over the past one year.
Google also scaled back its holiday celebrations this year due to a global economic downturn and an ever-expanding workforce that had grown to 20,000 in October.
Not only this, the Web giant gave employees mobile phones instead of cash gifts this Christmas as it reins in costs during the recession. About 85 per cent Googleites got handset powered by Google’s Android operating system as a holiday gift. Last year, Google handed out $1,000 cash gifts to most employees.
Company's chief executive Eric Schmidt said that Google has adopted such necessary actions in wake of current turbulent times. He added that the company will no more give an engineer 20 people to work with on certain experimental projects.
HP-EDS merger
In the month of May, HP acquired EDS at a price of $25 per share, or an enterprise value of approximately $13.9 billion.
The deal makes HP the second-largest player behind IBM, and is HP's largest acquisition since it acquired Compaq for $20 billion six years ago.
Acquiring EDS advances HP's stated objective of strengthening its services business. The specific service offerings delivered by the combined companies are: IT outsourcing, including data center services, workplace services, networking services and managed security; business process outsourcing, including health claims, financial processing, CRM and HR outsourcing; applications, including development, modernisation and management; consulting and integration; and technology services.
The combination aims to provide extensive experience in offering solutions to customers in the areas of government, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, energy, transportation, communications, and consumer industries and retail.
However, in the month of September HP announced that it will lay off about 24,600 employees over the next three years in an effort to streamline the company following its US$13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems.
Source: Indiatimes Infotech
With the economy down, the fate of IT industry could have been better. The financial crisis means IT industry losing out as much as $170 billion in sales in 2009. As meltdown melted IT spending, IT companies went on a belt tightening mode: giving pink slips, extending holidays and cutting perks.
Other than the grim reality of meltdown, the year 2008 also saw several big mergers and launches. Indian telecom industry finally made its 3G leap, with MTNL launching the services in Delhi. On M&A front, the IT services giant EDS merged with HP. Indian IT cos too were no behind in the acquisition space, three big IT companies buying overseas firms to extend their global and product footprint.
Here's bringing to you all the big IT stories of 2008.
3G launch
In December, Indian telecom sector took another technological leap, with the launch of 3G services in the capital city of country, Delhi.
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) put India on the 3G global map with the launch of third generation (3G) mobile service 'Jaadu' in Delhi.
The 3G services will give mobile users high-quality voice transmission and access to high-end data applications on their mobile phones, including broadband Internet access, interactive gaming and download movies, video clips and music. They can also enjoy other multimedia features such as video conferencing, mobile TV etc.
For example, a user will be able to download a 3-minute song in approximately 15 seconds with 3G. This compares to 8 minutes usually required in existing mobile technologies.
This will help mobile players to offer high-end value-added services like movie downloads, mobileTV, etc to prop up their ARPUs (average realisation per user). Presently, Indian mobile operators generate only 7-10 per cent of their revenue from non-voice services, primarily dominated by SMSes.
As for the pricing, MTNL is yet to release a commercial tariff plan. The company is currently serving corporate clients and will rely on their feedback before the commercial launch.
Tech terror
The gruesome terrorists attacks that rocked several parts of the country brought to the fore the fact that the technology which makes our live simpler has also become a handy tool for terrorists. The use of technology is evident everywhere, right from providing recruiting grounds (social networking sites) to being a communication platform (Internet, mobile and satellite phones) to providing geographical details (digital maps).
The ease and frequency with which terrorists freely communicated using sat-phones, BlackBerrys and used Google maps to pin down locations, deepened the intensity of terror attacks across the country.
The recent Mumbai carnage also saw terrorists using Google Earth maps to establish locations, sat-phones for un-intercepted communication, Global Positioning Systems and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).
Earlier in Feburary, Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Fahim Ahmed Ansari, arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police with maps and details of the spots hit during the recent terror attacks, in his statement had conceded that his masters showed him the maps on Google Earth to pin-point the specific targets.
The Google Earth Map gives a bird’s eye view of the city providing detailed topography of the area in the forms of actual photographs. The details provided in the application can be useful for identifying buildings, roads, streets.
Also, unlike the mobile phones that can be easily intercepted by the security agencies to track data, sat-phones are non-interceptable in India. This is primarily because no satellite phone network operator has its centre in India. Also, since these phones are satellite driven and the operator doesn't need any interconnectivity with India's domestic network, the communication cannot be traced.
Microsoft's Yahoo chase
The year 2008 began with the software giant Microsoft proposing a $31 per share buyout to Yahoo. However, the bid was rejected by Yahoo board of directors saying it "substantially undervalues" the company. On its part, Yahoo announced an expensive severance package which made any acquisition attempt more expensive.
In May, Microsoft revised its offer to $33 a share, which was again rejected by Yahoo. This was followed by speculations that Microsoft may go for a forced deal with the company talking tough.
Yahoo reportedly tried exploring alternative deals with News Corp, Google and Time Warner unit AOL. The chief executive Jerry Yang kept waiting for the software giant to offer a better price than $47.5 billion for Yahoo. However, it never happened. Instead, Yahoo's stock started to fell and hit nearly five-year lows. Yahoo's plan 2, an advertising deal with Google too failed, after Google pulled out fearing a court battle with the US Justice Department.
In November, Yang stepped down and Yahoo, in December, overhauled its severance plan apparently hiked to discourage Microsoft's acquisition plans.
Infy loses Axon
Infosys-Axon deal was hailed as the largest outbound acquisition by an Indian IT company. The analysts termed Axon as strategic fit for Infosys.
Then came the rumours that there was competition: a rival UK security firm has quoting a price higher by 7 pence per share to counter Infosys' offer.
But the software giant was confident. MD and CEO, S Gopalakrishnan said that the company can sail through the deal with its transaction advantage of a full cash deal offer.
However, it seems the Indian IT giant underestimated its rivals, tough competition was there, and closer home. In October, HCL Technologies makes a counter offer to Infosys' Axon bid by raising the value by 8.3 per cent to seal the biggest overseas deal by an Indian firm in this space. The deal got shareholder's nod in November.
HCL beats Infy to bag Axon
The deal for the first time saw two leading Indian vendors, HCL and Infosys, used to fighting over deals, battle it out over an overseas acquisition.
Infosys had made a cash offer of 407.1 million pound for buying out Axon. The country's fifth largest software exporter, HCL Tech, raised its counter bid 441 million-pound ($811 million) to clinch the deal.
HCL Technologies recently completed the acquisition and the new entity would pursue deals worth 1.2 billion dollars.
Post-acquisition, HCL Axon is headed by Steve Cardell, the President of Axon. The independent entity have about 4,500 consultants which includes 1,700 people involved in the SAP practice in HCL.
Enterprise Application Services (EAS), the sector in which HCL AXON operates, constitutes 11 per cent of HCLs revenue. Company's Corporate Vice President and Head - Enterprise Application Services Ram Krishna said that HCL-Axon will create a business accounting for 25 per cent of HCLs revenues.
Satyam saga
The year 2008 would have ended for India's fourth largest IT company, Satyam, just like it will for most other IT cos with worries of ongoing economic gloom. However, there's much more on Satyam plate to tackle now.
The company's troubles began on December 16 when Satyam announced acquisition of Maytas Infrastructure for $1.6 billion (Rs 7658-crore). Institutional investors strongly opposed the move. Satyam's ADR lost 50 per cent on NYSE. Faced with shareholders' revolt and heavy criticism over corporate governance issues, in the early hours of December 17 the company withdrew the proposal. But the scrip lost over 30 per cent in India.
What came as the next severe blow to the Hyderabad-based IT provider facing flak from investors on its decision to acquire Maytas' was World Bank banning it for 8 years over bribery and corruption charges. Ramalinga's family loses half a billion dollars in a week as stock crashes.
Then the worst followed. Shocked by Satyam’s admission to BSE that the company’s promoters have pledged their entire shareholding to institutional investors, independent directors Vinod Dham (father of Pentium chips) and Harvard Business School professor Krishna Palepu, immediately resigned from the board. Also, Indian School of Business dean M Rammohan Rao followed suit. Another independent director, academic Managalam Srinivasan had quit earlier.
This leaves Satyam with only five directors on the board, from nine directors earlier.
Wipro buys Citi unit
India's third-ranked outsourcer, Wipro Technologies acquired Citi Technology Services Ltd, India-based captive IT unit of Citigroup Inc, for $127 million in cash and signed a six-year service agreement worth at least $500 million.
As part of the deal, Wipro and Citi will sign a master services agreement for delivery of technology infrastructure services and application development and maintenance (ADM) services for six years. Under this the banking giant will source services worth at least half a billion dollar from the Indian vendor.
Citi Technology Services is based in Mumbai and Chennai and employs around 1,650 staff servicing the bank’s offices in over 32 countries. Apart from its core focus area of technology infrastructure services, the business also specialises on ADM for cards, capital markets and corporate banking.
Citi Technology Services is expected to report revenue of $80 million in 2008, up from $53 million last year. The deal done through Wipro Technologies, the information technology arm of the New York-listed Wipro, is expected to close in March 2009.
TCS buys Citi BPO
In one of the largest deals in the Indian BPO sector, IT major Tata Consultancy Services, clinched a deal to acquire Citigroup Global Services Ltd (CGSL), a large captive BPO of Citibank operating out of India, for $505 million (around Rs 2,425 crore).
In addition to the sale, Citigroup which is shedding its non-core assets worldwide, signed an agreement with TCS to provide, through CGSL, process outsourcing services to Citi and its affiliates for an aggregate amount of $2.5 billion over a period of 9.5 years.
Citigroup Global Services has around 12,000 employees in India and expects revenues of approximately $278m in 2008.
The acquisition broadens TCS’s portfolio of end-to-end IT and BPO services in the global banking and financial services (BFS) sector.
CGSL provides end-to-end process management across the BFS spectrum and a broad array of services to Citi’s consumer, corporate and global wealth management businesses worldwide.
Citigroup Global Services, the India back office unit, began as a business processing arm for Citi India in 1992 and expanded to serve Citi's global operations in 1998, according to its website. The unit operates out of seven facilities across Indian cities and offers back office services to Citi's consumer, corporate and global wealth management entities in 50 countries.
Pink slips scourge back
This year the ugliest face of slowdown, pink slips, came back to haunt Indian IT pros. The year that saw the slowdown hitting major IT players, many companies resorted to pink slips to beat the downturn blues. India's sunshine sector handed pink slips as the heat of global meltdown severely affected revenues and growth opportunities.
Country's largest software exporter, TCS laid off close to 500 employees and put many under performance scrutiny. Wipro too followed with 1000 employees shown door. India's fourth largest IT player, Satyam too laid off 4,500 jobs to cope up with the turbulent times. Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems too gave pink slips to 400 employees on grounds of non-performance.
Incidentally, all companies termed the job cuts as purely performance-based. However, it came as no surprise that pink slips were a belt tightening measure from IT companies facing sagging bottomlines due to global economic turmoil.
According to the latest news on the layoff front, software giant Microsoft is reported to be planning a 10 per cent cut in its global workforce.
Bill Gates dethroned
This year tech tycoon Bill Gates not only made his exit from the company he founded, but also lost his position as the world's richest man, a title he had held since 1995. Gates' friend and investment mogul Warren Buffett, succeeded him as world's richest man according to Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people.
The magazine estimated Buffett's worth at $62 billion, and Gates' fortune not too far behind at $58 billion. But Gates didn't slipped one position down, Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecom tycoon, came in second with an estimated worth of $60 billion.
Riding the surging price of Berkshire Hathaway stock, America's most beloved investor Warren Buffett saw his fortune up $10 billion from a year ago.
The exit of Bill Gates marked an end of era. Gates retired from Microsoft, the company he co-founded with college-friend Paul Allen in 1975. In June, Gates quit as full-time chairman and software architect of the world's largest software company to work full-time at his charitable organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates will remain the company's non-executive chairman.
Purse tightening begins at Google
Meltdown has left none, not even the world's top tech brand Google remains unscathed. In a cost cutting mode, the Internet search giant Google is cutting its famed `generous perks'.
Google, known for hosting the most extravagant holiday parties and pamperimg its employees with free food and drinks on the house, has gone into a strict cost saving mode.
Company's cost cutting programme include cutting new projects, ratcheting back spending, chipping away at perks and reducing employee strength. The austerity measures came in as Google's revenue growth has slowed down dramatically over the past one year.
Google also scaled back its holiday celebrations this year due to a global economic downturn and an ever-expanding workforce that had grown to 20,000 in October.
Not only this, the Web giant gave employees mobile phones instead of cash gifts this Christmas as it reins in costs during the recession. About 85 per cent Googleites got handset powered by Google’s Android operating system as a holiday gift. Last year, Google handed out $1,000 cash gifts to most employees.
Company's chief executive Eric Schmidt said that Google has adopted such necessary actions in wake of current turbulent times. He added that the company will no more give an engineer 20 people to work with on certain experimental projects.
HP-EDS merger
In the month of May, HP acquired EDS at a price of $25 per share, or an enterprise value of approximately $13.9 billion.
The deal makes HP the second-largest player behind IBM, and is HP's largest acquisition since it acquired Compaq for $20 billion six years ago.
Acquiring EDS advances HP's stated objective of strengthening its services business. The specific service offerings delivered by the combined companies are: IT outsourcing, including data center services, workplace services, networking services and managed security; business process outsourcing, including health claims, financial processing, CRM and HR outsourcing; applications, including development, modernisation and management; consulting and integration; and technology services.
The combination aims to provide extensive experience in offering solutions to customers in the areas of government, healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, energy, transportation, communications, and consumer industries and retail.
However, in the month of September HP announced that it will lay off about 24,600 employees over the next three years in an effort to streamline the company following its US$13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems.
Source: Indiatimes Infotech
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
RCom plans to invest Rs 4,000 crore on 3G network
Reliance Communications is looking forward to participate in the 3G auction slated for next year, company chairman Anil Ambani said Tuesday.
The company has planned an investment of Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore on 3G services, he said.
Ambani also said the company would participate in the auction for spectrum on a nationwide basis and not restrict to a few circles.
The company has planned an investment of Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore on 3G services, he said.
Ambani also said the company would participate in the auction for spectrum on a nationwide basis and not restrict to a few circles.
India delays 3G spectrum auction
The Government of India has further postponed the auction of the much-awaited 3G spectrum in the country taking into consideration the concern of the prospective applicant companies, say reports.
According to a report, the last date of receiving application has been extended to January 20 from January 5. Though the auction was supposed to take place before December 31, it was later postponed to January 16.
Earlier there were reports that the auction would be delayed as the Department of Telecom has not received the Cabinet's approval on vital proposals relating to the services.
Also it was said that the Defence Ministry, which holds the spectrum, may not be able to vacate the same before the auction date.
According to a report, the last date of receiving application has been extended to January 20 from January 5. Though the auction was supposed to take place before December 31, it was later postponed to January 16.
Earlier there were reports that the auction would be delayed as the Department of Telecom has not received the Cabinet's approval on vital proposals relating to the services.
Also it was said that the Defence Ministry, which holds the spectrum, may not be able to vacate the same before the auction date.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
What can you do with 3G services In India?
With 3G, the next-gen mobile service launched in Delhi, your handset becomes an all-purpose device. Here’s what all you can do and what it offers.
* Browse Internet and send, receive large emails including graphics. 3G also enables faster movie downloads.
* Make video calls and videoconference (possible on 3G to 3G calls).
* Get streaming TV on phone screen with pause, record features. MTNL’s IPTV network currently offers 4 channels, will expand to 10 channels in 10 days and 40 in 2-3 weeks.
* Remote access footage from CCTV (could also help police and in traffic management).
* Play interactive games on Net sites, access bank accounts and shop online.
* Get high-speed Web navigation, maps.
* 3G services give mobile users high-quality voice transmission and access to high-end data applications on their mobile phones.
2G vs 3G
3G represents the next step in the evolution of mobile telephony, offering markedly greater capacity and efficiency than the current 2G systems.
While 2G is focused on voice, 3G supports high-speed data of at least 144 kbps enabling broadband Internet access on the mobile, and "triple play" features like mobile TV and converged communication services.
Similarly, 3G will allow operators to enhance their capacities for voice traffic as well. Currently, key operators are facing severe 2G spectrum crunch in top 20-30 cities which is hampering their future growth. As the government has indicated that it has limited spectrum left for 2G services.
Also, while 3G is good for data services, it is also three times more efficient than current technologies in packing in subscribers.
Top speed
* 2G -- 10kb/sec
* 3G -- 2mb/sec
Time taken to download a 3-min MP3 song
* 2G -- 31 to 40 minutes
* 3G -- 11 secs to 1.5 min
How much will it cost?
MTNL will release tariff plan after a month. It’s only servicing corporate clients at the moment and will rely on their feedback before commercial launch.
Source: Times of India
* Browse Internet and send, receive large emails including graphics. 3G also enables faster movie downloads.
* Make video calls and videoconference (possible on 3G to 3G calls).
* Get streaming TV on phone screen with pause, record features. MTNL’s IPTV network currently offers 4 channels, will expand to 10 channels in 10 days and 40 in 2-3 weeks.
* Remote access footage from CCTV (could also help police and in traffic management).
* Play interactive games on Net sites, access bank accounts and shop online.
* Get high-speed Web navigation, maps.
* 3G services give mobile users high-quality voice transmission and access to high-end data applications on their mobile phones.
2G vs 3G
3G represents the next step in the evolution of mobile telephony, offering markedly greater capacity and efficiency than the current 2G systems.
While 2G is focused on voice, 3G supports high-speed data of at least 144 kbps enabling broadband Internet access on the mobile, and "triple play" features like mobile TV and converged communication services.
Similarly, 3G will allow operators to enhance their capacities for voice traffic as well. Currently, key operators are facing severe 2G spectrum crunch in top 20-30 cities which is hampering their future growth. As the government has indicated that it has limited spectrum left for 2G services.
Also, while 3G is good for data services, it is also three times more efficient than current technologies in packing in subscribers.
Top speed
* 2G -- 10kb/sec
* 3G -- 2mb/sec
Time taken to download a 3-min MP3 song
* 2G -- 31 to 40 minutes
* 3G -- 11 secs to 1.5 min
How much will it cost?
MTNL will release tariff plan after a month. It’s only servicing corporate clients at the moment and will rely on their feedback before commercial launch.
Source: Times of India
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