Xbox One Sparks Celebration for Games & Entertainment

 Xbox One today officially launched in India delighting thousands of local fans. The first console was delivered to its ecstatic owner in Mumbai. 

 Chakrapani Gollapali, Country General Manager, Consumer Channels Group said “We have a truly passionate community of gamers in India and the Xbox One launch is dedicated to these fans.  Gaming in India will witness a new pace of growth and given our lineup of games, we shall give our fans many reasons to love being on the Xbox platform. We are also equally committed to create unprecedented entertainment experiences that are unparalleled in the console industry in India and leading with localized content. We are pleased to announce three new apps on our platform; Bigflix, Gaana and Hungama - with a wide genre of Indian movie and music content. The Xbox platform shall be the pivotal destination and we look forward to working with the entertainment industry to deliver amazing experiences to our users.”

 Talking about the Xbox One, Anshu Mor, Director, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft India said, “The hotly anticipated, new-generation games and entertainment system from Microsoft brings the biggest blockbuster games, the most advanced multiplayer experience, games plus entertainment like live TV, Skype, sports, fitness, music and movies, all to one single device at the center of your living room and available at the command of your voice, powered by Kinect.  It’s time to experience and celebrate the power of the all-in-one gaming and entertainment device.”

At the launch party at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, fan excitement reached a fever pitch. Amidst a glittering showcase of Xbox Games and Apps, a spectacular performance by dance troupe Prince, music by DJ Nucleya and a strong dose of humor provided by premiere comedy collective AIB, the Xbox One was unveiled for Indian audiences. 

Award Winning Games

Xbox One brings you the best, exclusive games lineup including Forza Horizon 2, Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome. In addition, popular third-party blockbusters will be available on Xbox One with early exclusivity for downloadable content in “Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare,” “FIFA 14,” “Battlefield 4” and more. Expect more huge launches as well, with the release of next-generation experiences, such as “Halo-The Master Chief Collection and “Sunset Overdrive” in 2014. For more on Xbox One launch titles, visit http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/nov13/11-21XboxOneLaunchGamesPR.aspx

 

Most Advance Multiplayer

Thanks to the power of the cloud in more than 300,000 servers, Xbox Live on Xbox One makes games better. The multiplayer experience has evolved to include features such as Smart Match, which finds the perfect match for you and is supported by a new community-powered reputation system. 

 Games plus Entertainment

The Xbox One is an all-in-one gaming and entertainment system created for today and the next generation. With the best games, TV, movies and music all in one place, you don’t have to compromise. You can navigate and watch live TV from your cable, telco or satellite set-top box through your Xbox One. The Snap feature allows you to do two things at once – you can jump into a multiplayer battle while watching your favorite movie, hold group calls with friends on Skype while watching live TV and more.

Built for Future

Xbox One’s innovative architecture means you no longer have to choose between your games and entertainment. Starting with “Xbox Record That,” you can also record, edit and share your favorite gaming moments like never before through Game DVR and Upload Studio.

 Xbox One is now available in India at www.amazon.in/xboxone. It is priced at Rs 39,990 for the stand-alone unit while the Xbox One with Kinect is priced at Rs 45,990. 

Talisma’s New-Gen CRM Delivers Intelligence Customer Experience

Leading customer experience management (CEM) solutions provider Talisma Corporation has announced the availability of a new CRM. This CRM will help businesses engage customers through better predictability and intelligence driven operations across interactions spanning web, social media and chat channels. The announcement was made on the sidelines of Talisma Corporation’s annual business and technology conference - Talisma Insight. 

The intelligent CRM from Talisma brings forth a new engagement paradigm that relies on the inherent intelligence value present in every transaction/interaction. It has the power to analyse such interactions and derive actionable insights while ‘learning on the go’. This means the CRM can adapt itself to changing business needs and customer preferences to lend businesses greater flexibility. It can also validate customer data within an organisation to improve business relevance.   

With every campaign and interaction, the CRM learns and morphs to adapt thanks to its predictive intelligence capabilities. It also delivers better visibility into prospect interactions and customer purchases and generates actionable insights, including prioritized opportunities. 

“The new solution bears testimony to our continuing investments in improving customer experience for our customers. Over the last two years we have invested significantly in ramping up our R&D capability to deliver a product that is aligned to the raising expectations of a new tribe of customers who are expecting much more from their service providers. The new release brings in a new level of intelligence that translates into engagement predictability for our customers,” said Raj Mruthyunjayappa, Managing Director, EMEA and APAC for Talisma Corporation.      

The new CRM can be deployed by banks, insurers, retailers, ITES entities and other service organisations to identify behaviours of interest, map sentiments and do more cross sell and up sell.   

 

Talisma also announced the availability of new releases of Mobile CRM, Social CRM and its Chat application.

Retaining & Enhancing India’s BPM Pole Position

To highlight the strengths and attributes of the rapidly evolving Indian BPM Industry, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today shared the findings of its recently concluded BPM Survey. The survey findings were showcased on the sidelines of the two-day NASSCOM BPM Strategy Summit 2014 in Bangalore. The summit provided attendees and delegates an opportunity to mingle with industry experts and work at synergizing efforts to evolve the dynamic BPM landscape, enabling it to deal with the ever changing global business trends.  

Speaking at the occasion, R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “The Indian BPM industry continues to evolve and grow extensively. The industry has transformed from its humble beginnings a decade back, into the nerve centre for BPM related activities for the globally inter-dependent economy. Over the last year, with global corporations requiring differentiated and focused solutions, Indian BPM players have transformed their approach by becoming transformational partners rather than executional partners. The services being offered are therefore, tailor-made for customer requirements, providing unparalleled value proposition to the business.”

Keshav Murugesh, Chairman NASSCOM BPM Council, said, “This has been an exciting journey for the BPM sector and it has created a phenomenal impact for global customers and our country. As we move forward, business outcomes are becoming the number one priority for global customers and as an industry we are creating a strategic partnership with our customers to deliver on these outcomes. A key agenda for the NASSCOM BPM Council is to showcase skills and careers in the BPM industry and change perceptions about our industry”.

At USD 23.2 billion of revenues in FY 2014, the BPM industry continues to evolve. Strong platform play and the emergence of new markets and verticals led to an exponential growth of the segment. The highlight of the year was the growing knowledge services segment followed by the marketing & data analytics and legal services domain. Major BPM firms also focused on transforming business processes through the use of new technology thereby leading to the creation of newer business models and services.

At the summit, NASSCOM also announced the top 20 BPM exporters in India for the year 2014. The list is topped by Genpact Ltd. followed by Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. And Serco Global Services in the second and third position respectively (Complete list below in annexure I). NASSCOM in association with Cushman & Wakefield also launched a report the evolving locations of BPM services delivery in the country titled, “Emerging delivery locations in India: the Rising Tide”  

Social Mission Trumps Money For Gen Y

 Over 70 per cent of organisations surveyed feel that Corporate Social Responsibility is an very effective engagement tool for Gen Y’ers

Digital natives believe in social good!

“I really admire Prime Minister Narendra Modi for using his birthday to help the flood victims of J&K” said 23-year old Neha digging into her sprout salad at her office canteen, sparking off a lively lunchtime conversation on how everyone was coming together to support those in crisis.

The new generation at the workplace is reshaping capitalism – profits have to be coupled with social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a key tool in engaging Gen Y, according to a recent TimesJobs.com survey. More than 70 per cent organisations believe that it is a powerful engagement tool for Generation Y. This points to the fact that the younger lot is more loyal and more trusting of an organisation that contributes to the society at large.

In fact, 50 per cent of organisations across sectors have already initiated programs where they allow employees to devote some time during their official working hours to CSR activities reports TimesJobs research. While over 50 per cent of IT & Telecom organisations indicated that they employ CSR activities quite frequently to engage Gen Y, only 30 per cent organisations in BFSI do so. In the Automobile sector, the views are divided; only 50 per cent organisations indicated that they use CSR activities often to engage Gen Y. 

New Generation, New Ideas

“CSR today is not just a mere act of philanthropy but a crucial and effective engagement tool, to attract and retain a motivated workforce. This is one of the key reasons why many organisations are planning to launch CSR programs as part of their employee engagement strategy in the near future.” Explains Vivek Madhukar, COO, TimesJobs.com

“Our own group has set up the Times Foundation, as a platform for engaging on critical national imperatives to sensitize on issues, enhance public awareness and facilitate meaningful dialogues for addressing these causes. Initiatives such as “Teach India” and “I Lead India” campaigns have seen big participation from our employees.” adds Madhukar.

 “Social responsibility is no longer just a mandate from the government as part of a company’s policy but has become something very real. Today’s youth is not just driven by passion for work but they are also considerate about giving back to the society at large,” says Sameer Parwani, founder & CEO CounponDunia.

 “CSR helps to create positive vibes with Gen Y, channelising their immense energy into a benefit for the community and satisfying their urge to make a difference. Other obvious positive benefits associated are improved collaboration, camaraderie and a sense of pride in them that their organisation cares for things beyond business,” says Niketh Sundar, Sr VP-Global HR, QuEST Global. He adds that at QuEST, positive change is engineered through educational initiatives and from contribute to the needy, like the recent Kashmir floods.

Micromax & BSNL Partner To Drive Data Growth

Micromax Informatics Limited, India’s leading handset player and BSNL, a 100 percent Government owned company and one of the largest Telecom Service Provider in India today announced a strategic partnership with an endeavor to drive data growth in the country. Under this partnership, Micromax and BSNL will extend unique reverse bundling handset offers of free data usage of up to 2GB per quarter to the Indian consumers. BSNL’s focus on data innovation and its expertise in mobile network, along-with Micromax’s expertise in device marketing will redefine the user experience and take data penetration to the next level.

Commenting on the partnership, Vineet Taneja, Chief Executive Office, Micromax said, “At Micromax, it has been our constant endeavor to understand the Indian consumers and come up with products and services which act as a solution for their needs. We are delighted to partner with BSNL, as this collaboration will be an excellent unification of BSNL’s offerings and Micromax’s design capability thus enabling millions of Indian consumers to enjoy seamless connectivity through data usage, affordable call rates and other VAS services.” 

 He further added, “This partnership will further provide a major boost to better connectivity and internet adoption as BSNL’s pan-India network coupled with our innovative devices, backed by a strong channel and retail presence which will take these offerings across length and breadth of the country.”

A. N. Rai, CMD, BSNL was very pleased on association of BSNL with Micromax. He emphasized, “BSNL’s association with Micromax, one of the largest indigenous Mobile handset and data card manufacturers in the country, will create immense opportunities for customers by offering them high speed 3G data. BSNL has already provided 3G coverage in more than 2300 cities and towns of India and is committed to provide 3G coverage to additional towns. BSNL is providing best affordable 3G data services with free roaming facility.”

Under the partnership agreement, six Micromax devices will be bundled with the BSNL offers – X070, X088, P410i, MMX377G, A37 and A37B.