Garden City - Bengaluru Gets its First Exclusive Finolex House

Finolex Cables Limited, India’s leading manufacturer of electrical and communication cables, today inaugurated ‘Finolex House’ – its first exclusive brand retail store in Bengaluru, the garden city of India. This launch marks Finolex’s foray into exclusive retail format in Karnataka after their foray into Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The showroom was launched with a customary ribbon cutting by Mr. G Sunder, Assistant Vice President, Finolex Cables Ltd and will serve as a one stop shop for consumers who are constructing or improving homes as the store is designed to offer end to end electrical solutions for a safe home, from range of high quality cables to electrical fittings.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Deepak Chhabria, Executive Chairman, Finolex Cables Limited said, “We are delighted to announce our first Finolex House in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It is indeed gratifying that Finolex continues to be the preferred choice of our esteemed customers. Committed to providing our customers a value for money proposition through highest standard of products, this launch signifies our efforts towards efficiency and providing a one stop solution to our valuable customers.”

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Amit Mathur, Senior Vice President, Finolex Cables, said “With the launch of the sixth Finolex House, the brand gets a step closer to consumers who are seeking not only beautiful but safe homes. Consumers today are paying attention to all aspects of building including quality of electrical fittings to ensure that only high quality products are used. Finolex House will cater to the specific requirement of the discerning consumer offering them quality options under one roof.”

He further added, “2019 is a big year for us as we add around 50 Finolex Houses by the end of 2019 in key Indian cities. Finolex House will have experts who will help consumers with appropriate products for safe and secure homes. Currently the brand retails out of 4000 channel partners across the country, showing our strong retail network.”

With the launch of Bengaluru’s first and the company’s sixth Finolex House, the brand gets a step closer to consumers who are seeking not only beautiful but safe homes. Consumers today are paying attention to all aspects of building including quality of electrical fittings to ensure that only high quality products are used. Finolex House will cater to the specific requirement of the discerning consumer offering them quality options under one roof.

The product range includes Electrical Wires, Industrial Flexibles, 3 Core Flat Cables and Winding Wires, Auto & Battery Cables, Low Voltage and High Voltage Power Cables, Coaxial Cables, Speaker Cables, Telephone Cables, CCTV Cables, Solar Cables, Optic Fibre Cables, Fans & Water Heaters, Switches & Accessories, Switchgear products and LED Lighting Products.

India’s Gaming Destination - Paytm First Games to Raise $25 Million

Paytm First Games, one of India’s leading gaming destination, is in discussion with investors to raise $25 million for further expansion. As the portal plans to add more games for users, the funding will be invested in its technology platform and for building e-sporting events. It also plans to double down on its current team size of over 150 people.

Within a year of its launch, Paytm First Games has become one of India’s fastest growing gaming portals with an annual revenue run rate of $50 million.  It offers more than 300 engaging games including the popular ones like fantasy cricket, fantasy kabaddi, fantasy soccer, rummy, battle center for games of skill, 8 ball pool, ludo, and live quiz. It’s fantasy cricket game, ‘First Captains’ received overwhelming response from users during the recently concluded Cricket World Cup and helped it grow 3x during the tournament.

Sudhanshu Gupta, COO, Paytm First Games, said, “The platform has grown multifold in last one year. We now have about 30 million users on our platform with half of them being monthly active users. On our paid games, people spend around Rs 4,000 on games like Rummy, while the spends are to the tune of Rs 400 in fantasy league, etc.”

TCL's Unveils P8 Series - 4K AI Android P 9.0 TV with Advance AI Function in Indian Market

The Global Top-2 TV Corporation, TCL has come up with a brand new and innovative range of 4K AI TVs that are propelled by the latest Google-Certified Android Pie (9.0) and leverage artificial intelligence to completely transform the TV viewing experience for Indian users. TCL has unveiled P8S, P8E & P8 as part of the series.

P8S Series has 65” and 55” variants and P8E series extends three variants- 55”, 50”, and 43”, P8 will be available 43”, 50” 55” sizes. The first-of-its-kind offering transforms the TV into a seamless gadget, allowing users hands-free controls of not only the TV, but other Smart Home devices like smart fan, robot sweepers, curtains, lights etc. P8S is the flagship model with an advanced league of offering in the Indian landscape with a bezel-less full-screen design and a metallic frame.  P8 model starting from 27990/-, P8E model starting from 29990/-, P8S range starting from 44990/-

Certified by Google Android TV, the latest LED UHD Android Smart DTV utilises AI to deliver an unrivalled experience going beyond simply voice control. The latest TV works seamlessly like a gadget without the use of remote control, owing to AI. Via AI Fairfield Technology, the TV enhances the image and sound engineering to offer the most immersive TV viewing experience. Additionally, with the Sports Mode feature, the TV enhances the perception of an on-going match, giving one of the most dynamic and edgy sports viewing experience.

In accordance to the rise of digitally-savvy consumers, the latest TV by TCL comes integrated with Netflix and YouTube. Furthermore, users can also access the expansive gallery of TCL, owing to its content partnerships with industry leaders like Hotstar, YuppTV, Voot, AltBalaji, and more.

The full range of 4K AI ANDROID TVs represent the future of entertainment in India, equipped with trailblazing innovations in AI technology and Android Pie (9.0) Smart TVs. It also offers dynamic picture and sound quality governed by the AI algorithm. The series from the house of TCL is a testament to the brand’s key focus on the Indian market and will strengthen its foothold in the Smart Home Appliances category. Riding at the back of its unrivalled 38-years of legacy, TCL is driven by a vision of introducing cutting-edge innovations to usher the Indian users into smart and intuitive living. One should anticipate more such launches in the Smart Home appliances technology by TCL.

Geared up for the unveiling, TCL will be hosting live-demo sessions for the audience to showcase the futuristic technology of AI-enabled seamless voice controls of not only the TV but also every connected smart home appliance. Furthermore, the full-range of P8E and P8S series offer a host of such innovations that will be presented at the launch event.

Commenting on the latest development, Mr Mike Chen, TCL India Managing Director said, “We are glad to be hosting the official launch of the P8 Series for the members of the fraternity. Our latest series is going to chart a new chapter in the Smart Home appliances category in India, including the Smart TVs. We have utilised the latest advancements in artificial intelligence to move beyond the status quo offerings in the segment and provide a holistic and seamless experience to our users. We are also excited to host special live-demo sessions for our audience, showcasing just how a 4K AI-enabled Smart TV transforms into a Smart Home gadget, helping users control all of their connected Smart Devices through voice commands. We are excited to serve our audience an experience of the seamless world that we have endeavoured to create with the latest product launch and will coming with more such surprises in the coming time to enable smart and innovative living for our users.”

The latest product launch underlines TCL’s commitment to introducing innovative and affordable solutions in the Indian market that ushers the users into smart and intelligent living. The brand has already launched in the India market AC, Washing machine, Refrigerator. The brand has been consistently following an India-first approach, whether it was sponsoring IPL’s Delhi Capitals to capture the ‘heart’ of the nation or launching GIANT panel factory in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh that allowed the brand to escalate the delivery of innovative products while also creating 8,000 jobs.

Soon after its national launch, TCL emerged as one amongst the leading players in the country. As per the Economic Times, TCL is ranked fifth in the Indian market, in terms of 2018 sales of televisions. With an envious product range that leverages industry-leading advancements in artificial intelligence and IoT, TCL is clearly a consumer favourite for various categories large appliances. The latest launch will further cement its position as the category leader in the country.

Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI) Celebrates Graduation of its 10th Batch in Karnataka

Key Highlights

-          Celebrates more than 12 successful years of providing skill training on Global Manufacturing Practices to intelligent students from economically weaker sections across Karnataka.
-          Confers Academic degree to 42 students from rural Karnataka

-          So far, TTTI has trained over 573 students who have been inducted at Toyota Kirloskar Motor & other Toyota Group companies

-          TTTI has been selected as one of the training institutes, under Japan India Manufacturing [JIM] skill transfer promotion program. Under this, Toyota Kirloskar Motor will be one of the Indo-Japanese companies that will help enhance the manufacturing base of India and contribute to Make-In-India and Skill India, through training 30,000 persons over the next 10 years with Japanese-style manufacturing skills and practices.

Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI), an institute designed to train bright talents from the rural corners of Karnataka, has celebrated its 10th convocation ceremony and conferred academic degrees to 42 students from the outgoing batch of 2016-19. The academic honors were handed over by Chief Guest, Mr. Ajay Kumar Jain, Chairman/Managing Director, PPAP Automotive Ltd., & President, Toyota Kirloskar Suppliers’ Association, along with Mr. TAKAYUKI KITAGAWA, Consul General of Japan, Bangalore and senior management representatives from Toyota Kirloskar Motor – Mr. Masakazu Yoshimura – Managing Director,  Mr. Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman, Mr. Shekar Viswanathan, Vice Chairman and Whole-time Director while proud parents, friends and relatives watched from the sea of audience members who turned out for the event.

For an industry that is struggling with a dearth of entry-level talent, TTTI inculcates world- class skills training to youth from the economically weaker sections of the society in rural Karnataka and provides a comprehensive three-year program that focuses on their holistic development with knowledge, skill, body and attitude. With a structure that ensures the highest standard of education, the curriculum offers a unique blend of complete learning experience, along with basic subjects, recreational activities and comprehensive training on automobile assembly, automobile paint, automobile weld and mechatronics. In addition, students are given practical training by applying the world renowned ‘Toyota Production Systems’ to the various manufacturing processes at the Toyota plant in Bidadi. Since its inception, the institute has trained over 573 students who have been inducted at Toyota Kirloskar Motor and other Toyota Group companies.

Congratulating the students, Mr. TAKAYUKI KITAGAWA, Consul General of Japan, Bangalore, said “I am very much pleased to be a part the 10th Convocation Ceremony of Toyota Technical Training Institute, which is helping shape a brighter future for the talented youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in Karnataka. We encourage more OEMs to follow this example so that they provide standard employable skills for more Indian youth. This would also definitely narrow the skill gap existing in the country and contribute to equalizing the skills required in the dynamic and ever evolving auto industry. This kind of initiatives will be facilitated by the collaboration in the area of skill development and technical exchanges among factories concerned.”

Appreciating Toyota’s vision in making the industry tomorrow ready, Chief Guest, Mr. Ajay Kumar said, “India is a young country and we have some extraordinarily talented youngsters who must be nurtured and provided with the best possible training and opportunities to excel in the competitive society. We need more corporates like Toyota Kirloskar Motor to support Government’s Skill India initiative to create better opportunities, and platforms for the development of their talents. I would also like to congratulate the faculty and staff at Toyota Technical Training Institute for their efforts towards enhancing the skill set and employability of the rural youth and applaud all the outgoing students a bright future and a successful career.”

Congratulating the students, Mr. Atsunori Komeie, Senior Vice President said, “Toyota strongly believes that we have greater role in India than just manufacturing and selling the safest and environment-friendly cars.  It goes beyond the core of our business to build a talent pool that can create a sustainable business environment. In-line with our commitment to the industry, Toyota Technical Training Institute has been a significant arm of Toyota for more than a decade. Our aim here is to create and nurture a best-in-class pool of talent through a curriculum, which not only develops talent but also benefits the entire industrial ecosystem with a workforce that imparts soft skills, ethics and principle. Therefore, it is indeed a proud moment for all of us when TTTI graduates excel in their career and leave a lasting impression on international platforms like World Skill competition etc.

We, as a corporate, will continue our commitment towards achieving the common goal of Skill India mission. TTTI is a great reflection of this belief, and illustrates Toyota’s dedication to fully supporting India on its way to self-sufficiency in the auto industry. Through our robust skill development curriculum, we will not only aim at adding value to every employee’s skill set, but also build a strong work force for the industry as a whole” he added.

Established in the year 2007 as a part of Toyota’s social initiatives, the first batch of students from TTTI received their academic degrees in 2010 in the gracious presence of Dr. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India. The institute is a fully residential school. The objective of TTTI is to develop good corporate citizens equipped with Toyota specific methodologies and create learning opportunities for the deserving individuals. This year TTTI has expanded intake capacity from 64 to 120 students including 5 girls.

During the course, TTTI students also got an opportunity to participate in the National Skill Competition & World Skill Competition (Skill Olympics) in three categories namely - Mechatronics, Car Painting, Prototype Modelling. In 2017, at the 44th World Skills Competition held at Abu Dhabi, Mr. Kiran, employee of Toyota Kirloskar Motor won the bronze medal in the Prototype Modelling Skill, Mr. H Varun and Mr. T A Anand Kumar who are also alumni of TTTI and employees of TKM, ranked sixth in the Mechatronics Skill category.

Indian-Aus Entrepreneur Wins Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Indian-Australian Entrepreneur Aamir Qutub has won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award category in the Business Excellence Awards (GBEA) in Australia.

Established in 1986, and managed by the Geelong Chamber of Commerce, The Business Excellence Awards are the oldest continuously running business awards in Australia. Justin Giddings – CEO of Avalon Airport won the Business Leader of the Year and Aamir Qutub (CEO, Enterprise Monkey) won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. "With a record number of entrants participating in the Geelong Business Excellence Awards, and going through a stringent judging process, the Awards are now more competitive than ever. Ask any of the winners, they’re absolutely worth winning" says Ben Flynn, CEO Geelong Chamber of Commerce.

Aamir is the founder & CEO of Enterprise Monkey (a digital solutions agency), Tech Investor and Co-Founder in 6 startups.  Aamir is also the member of Ministerial Advisory Committee to the Minister for Planning in Australia. Aamir was appointed as the General Manager of ICT Geelong (local IT Industry Cluster) at the age of 25. Aamir was the founding Secretary of Pivot Summit - Australia’s largest regional tech conference.

Aamir was brought up in Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh. He did his Bachelor of Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University in India and immigrated to Australia at the age of 23 to do his MBA from Deakin University.

“I applied for around 150 office jobs but couldn’t get any due to the lack of Australian experience. I used to work as a cleaner at the Avalon Airport and distribute newspapers in midnight to pay for my living and fees.” Aamir says.

In 2012, Aamir got an internship opportunity with ICT Geelong. Impressed with Aamir’s exceptional performance and passion for digital transformation, he was asked by the board to step up as the General Manager of ICT Geelong at the age of 25.

Prior to that Aamir was elected as Gen. Secretary of AMU Students’ Union 2011 (India). As Secretary, Aamir organized the first ever recruitment drive in AMU which resulted in the placement of 2000 students in 30 companies. His passion towards technology contributed in digitization of AMU campus by the introduction of free WiFi and Smart Classrooms. He also developed strong bureaucratic and political connections which empowered him to lobby some National Policies for the welfare of Students.

In 2014, Aamir founded Enterprise Monkey – a web & app solutions company in brother in law’s garage in 2014. “I started with $2000 in savings” says Aamir who led his company to establish in 4 countries with YoY revenue growth of 300% in first 3 years.

Enterprise Monkey has established itself as a leader in web and app space and now growing it’s leadership in Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Internet of Things space. The client list includes NASDAQ listed companies as well as seed stage startups.

Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Will Decline 2.5% in 2019

Worldwide shipments of devices — PCs, tablets and mobile phones — will total 2.2 billion units in 2019, a decline of 3.3% year over year, according to Gartner, Inc.

The mobile phone market is set to record the worst performance of these device types, declining by 3.8% (see Table 1). “The current mobile phone market of 1.7 billion shipments is around 10% below the 1.9 billion shipments reached in 2015,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. “If mobile phones don’t provide significant new utility, efficiency or experiences, users won’t upgrade them, and will consequently increase these devices’ life spans.”

The trend for lengthening mobile phone life span began in 2018 and will continue through 2019. Gartner predicts that high-end phone life span will increase from 2.6 years to nearly 2.9 years through 2023. Gartner estimates that sales of smartphones will decline by 2.5% in 2019, which would be the worst decline ever.

5G Phones to Represent 51% of Total Phone Sales in 2023

Earlier this year, mobile operators launched 5G services in parts of the U.S., South Korea, Switzerland, Finland and the U.K., but it will take time for carriers to expand 5G coverage beyond major cities.

By 2020, Gartner estimates that 7% of global communications service providers will have a commercially viable wireless 5G service. This will mark significant progress from 5G proofs of concept and commercial network construction work in 2018.

In the first half of 2019, several phone manufacturers released 5G-enabled smartphones. To improve slowing smartphone sales, mobile manufacturers are looking to introduce more affordable 5G-enabled phones in 2020. “In 2020, 5G-capable phones will represent 6% of total sales of phones. As 5G service coverage increases, user experience will improve and prices will decrease. The leap will occur in 2023 when we expect 5G phones to account for 51% of phone sales,” said Mr. Atwal.

Product managers should ensure high-end phones are differentiated by application integration with other devices, rather than relying just on 5G hardware evolution.

Contraction of the PC Market in 2019

While worldwide PC shipments totaled 63 million units and grew 1.5% in the second quarter of 2019, there is still uncertainty for PC demand in 2019. PC shipments are estimated to total 257 million units in 2019, a 1% decline from 2018. “The ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China — and potential imposition of tariffs – are likely to impact the PC market this year.”

Following a strong Windows 10 migration among businesses in the second quarter of 2019, Gartner analysts maintain that 75% of the business PC installed base will have migrated to Windows 10 by the beginning of 2021. “Product managers need to continue promoting the end of Windows 7 support in 2020 as an incentive to migrate to Windows 10,” concluded Mr. Atwal.

5 Companies Helping you Unlock the Next-Level of Customer Engagement

As the time-tested market proverb goes, “Customer is the King”, brands are virtually nothing without the support of their customers. We have seen global brands enjoying a cult following, having customers evolved into ‘brand patrons’ or graduate to ‘brand evangelists’. At the helm of this aspirational transition is brands offering their customers an unparalleled experience till they build substantial brand equity and mindshare; everything else is clockwork from thereon.

In their bit to delivering and exceptional customer experience, businesses of today are not left alone to fend for themselves. In fact, some of the leading companies are leveraging the latest advancements in AI and digitalization to enable businesses to elevate virtual user assistance to the next level. Let us have a look at some of the revolutionary platforms that are positively affecting the end-user experience on behalf of their clientele with their trailblazing approach:

1.      LogMeIn’s Bold360, AI-powered customer engagement: Customers now expect consistent, high-value, in-person, digital experiences. Therefore, businesses need to adopt a multifunctional approach to meet this demand and deliver improved levels of customer experience consistently. To the same end, LogMeIn- one of the world’s top 10 public SaaS companies- is helping companies embrace this era with their AI-powered customer engagement platform, Bold360. As the industry’s most tightly integrated AI chatbot and live-agent workspace, Bold360 allows bots and humans to work hand-in-hand in creating the best possible outcome for the consumer. By leveraging the power of AI, Bold360 helps personalise and enhance every interaction, regardless of where it takes place, allowing companies to deliver better and more consistent customer experiences seamlessly across both AI and agent-based interactions. Channelizing the best capabilities of humans and bots, Bold360 delivers ground-breaking intelligence with out-of-the-box simplicity and helps agents do what they do best – be human. 

2.      DASH.MENU, revolutionizing diners experiences with FIDEOS: Stepping into a fancy restaurant and not understanding what to order or the order turning out to be completely different from what one may have imagined triggers a huge buyer’s remorse. This may result in a volley of social media backlash and perhaps complete abandonment in the future. However, DASH.MENU helps restaurants, food delivery, and cloud kitchen platforms resolve this challenge with the help of FIDEOS. Dash.Menu entices customers with short food-videos (FIDEOS). Before placing an order, customers can ‘sample’ their food through bite-sized 15 seconds short snippets of how their meal is prepared or would look once served. This takes away the guess-work in ordering and allows restaurants to upsell the food or highlight every distinctive ingredient or culinary skill that goes into the creating of the masterpiece cuisines. It also takes the boring printed menu cards out of the picture, thus, improving the overall dining experience of a customer. Dash is already being used by elite restaurant chains like Marriott, Le Meridian, ITC Hotels, Mamagoto Restaurants, and Taj Hotels among others.

3.      Amplify.ai, because every interaction matters: The primary pain point of any digital business is to engage and acquire its prospective customers over the internet. They have to do it while also understanding the needs of their current customers and fulfilling them optimally. Amplify.ai, world’s first and only enterprise-class, AI-driven customer engagement platform, delivers the same. Rather than driving customers towards a digital platform, the platform takes conversation precisely where the customer is – might it be another website (with conversational display ads) or social media. Amplify.ai is able to gauge the perception of every prospective and current customers with their interactions (including likes, comments, and reactions over the social media) and then adopts the most optimal strategy and extensive personalisation to achieve the desired results.

4.      Haptik, Conversational AI: Customer service as an operational segment demands substantial amount of time and money to be invested in training and management of queries, 80% of which are repetitive in nature. Still, problems such as long wait times, erratic communication standards, unintentional errors and high attrition rates plague customer service operations for enterprises the world over. Chatbots are an ideal option to optimize customer engagement in the most cost-efficient manner as they can cater to a large number of queries offering consistent user experience, 24x7. They can be easily integrated into an enterprise’s existing customer engagement infrastructure without significant expenditure. Additionally, chatbots procure valuable data during each conversation with a user, thereby assisting enterprises with strategic decision making through valuable insights. Haptik’s bots have helped enterprises across sectors to make customer service scalable, easy and optimized, and the unique Bot+human hybrid approach ensures complex queries are immediately re-routed to experts while the bots reduce the workload by effectively resolving simple or repetitive queries. The inclusion of chatbots has empowered enterprises to improve their customer service processes significantly both internally and in terms of external engagement, creating a win-win situation for all enterprises and users alike.

5.      TRELL, an idyllic platform for content creators & brands: Fondly referred to as the Video Pinterest for India, Trell is a community-based platform pivoted around enabling lifestyle discovery through video-based meaningful content in various Indian languages. As a platform hosting over 4 million users, Trell bridges the gap between users looking for meaningful content around lifestyle inspirations and content creators or aspiring influencers who wish to create visual collections of their travel and lifestyle experiences. The superior tech-enabled platform makes it easier for content creators to engage with a highly engaging community of 1 Million Monthly Active Users on the mobile app. This is achieved through video blogging and other mediums, made seamlessly accessible by the superior tech platform that TRELL offers. With the help of user-generated content, Trell serves its community with personal anecdotes and fascinating snippets related to a place, as well as local tips, DIYs and tips and tricks. Till date, the content creators on TRELL have generated over 1.6 Million original and meaningful content pieces around lifestyle.