Nokia will close its battered gaming service N-Gage next year, acknowledging failure in its first major services offering.
The handset maker's mobile gaming push has encountered major challenges over the years, with consumers first shunning its dedicated gaming phones.
The online gaming service, opened last year, never moved beyond a niche audience.
Nokia has started to look for new revenues from online services as its traditional handset market is maturing, with games and music being the first focus areas of the cellphone maker.
"We will no longer publish new games for the N-Gage platform," Nokia said on its N-Gage blog.
It said the games from its first major services offering can be purchased until the end of September 2010, and the community site will remain in operation throughout 2010.
After closing the N-Gage service it will continue to sell mobile games at its Ovi Store, a smaller rival to Apple's popular App Store.
Agencies
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Syntel's Q3 results outshines Wall Street expectations
Syntel's revenue for the third quarter increased one percent to $104.7 million (Rs.506 crore), compared to $103.8 million (Rs.502 crore) in the prior-year period, and increased five percent sequentially from $100.1 million (Rs.484 crore) in the second quarter of 2009.
Sequential revenue improvement was driven by its Applications Outsourcing service offering, and growth was broad-based across all verticals. During the third quarter, Applications Outsourcing accounted for 74 percent of total revenue, with Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) at 18 percent, e-Business contributing six percent and Team Sourcing at two percent.
The Company's gross margin improved to 49.3 percent in the third quarter, compared to 44.3 percent in the prior-year period (500 bps increase) and 48.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009 (110 bps increase). Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses were 18.1 percent in the third quarter, compared to 19.1 percent in the prior-year period and 20.8 percent in the previous quarter.
Syntel's income from operations expanded to 31.2 percent in the third quarter as compared to 25.2 percent in the prior-year period (600 bps increase) and 27.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009 (380bps increase).
"Increasing stability in the business environment and a gradual improvement in customer confidence had a positive effect on our top line during the third quarter," said CEO and President Keshav Murugesh. "While our clients remain comfortable in moving forward with cost reduction initiatives, they are now increasingly willing to discuss longer-term business plans and strategic technology investments."
"The strong financial and operating discipline at Syntel has been evident in our financial performance during a very difficult nine month period. We expect that as demand for offshore services improves, costs of doing business in India will increase resulting in margin pressure. Syntel continues to invest in the people, infrastructure and new services necessary to drive long-term sustainable value for all of our key stakeholders."
Based on current visibility levels and an exchange rate assumption of 47.0 rupees to the dollar, the Company is updating 2009 guidance from Revenue of $395Mn (Rs.1,910 crore) to $415Mn (Rs.2,007 crore) and EPS of $2.40 to $2.50 to Revenue of $405Mn (Rs. 1,959 crore) to $408Mn (Rs.1,973 crore) and EPS of $2.60 to $2.65.
Agencies
Sequential revenue improvement was driven by its Applications Outsourcing service offering, and growth was broad-based across all verticals. During the third quarter, Applications Outsourcing accounted for 74 percent of total revenue, with Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) at 18 percent, e-Business contributing six percent and Team Sourcing at two percent.
The Company's gross margin improved to 49.3 percent in the third quarter, compared to 44.3 percent in the prior-year period (500 bps increase) and 48.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009 (110 bps increase). Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expenses were 18.1 percent in the third quarter, compared to 19.1 percent in the prior-year period and 20.8 percent in the previous quarter.
Syntel's income from operations expanded to 31.2 percent in the third quarter as compared to 25.2 percent in the prior-year period (600 bps increase) and 27.4 percent in the second quarter of 2009 (380bps increase).
"Increasing stability in the business environment and a gradual improvement in customer confidence had a positive effect on our top line during the third quarter," said CEO and President Keshav Murugesh. "While our clients remain comfortable in moving forward with cost reduction initiatives, they are now increasingly willing to discuss longer-term business plans and strategic technology investments."
"The strong financial and operating discipline at Syntel has been evident in our financial performance during a very difficult nine month period. We expect that as demand for offshore services improves, costs of doing business in India will increase resulting in margin pressure. Syntel continues to invest in the people, infrastructure and new services necessary to drive long-term sustainable value for all of our key stakeholders."
Based on current visibility levels and an exchange rate assumption of 47.0 rupees to the dollar, the Company is updating 2009 guidance from Revenue of $395Mn (Rs.1,910 crore) to $415Mn (Rs.2,007 crore) and EPS of $2.40 to $2.50 to Revenue of $405Mn (Rs. 1,959 crore) to $408Mn (Rs.1,973 crore) and EPS of $2.60 to $2.65.
Agencies
Web address get oked for Hebrew, Hindi, others scripts
The nonprofit body that oversees Internet addresses approved on Friday the use of Hebrew, Hindi, Korean and other scripts not based on the Latin alphabet in a decision that could make the Web dramatically more inclusive.
The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted to allow such scripts in so-called domain names at the conclusion of a weeklong meeting in Seoul, South Korea's capital. The decision follows years of debate and testing.
The decision clears the way for governments or their designees to submit requests for specific names, likely beginning Nov 16. Internet users could start seeing them in use early next year, particularly in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts in which demand has been among the highest, ICANN officials said.
``This represents one small step for ICANN, but one big step for half of mankind who use non-Latin scripts, such as those in Korea, China and the Arabic speaking world as well as across Asia, Africa, and the rest of the world,'' Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's CEO, said ahead of the vote.
Domain names _ the Internet addresses that end in ``.com'' and other suffixes _ are the key monikers behind every Web site, e-mail address and Twitter post.
Since their creation in the 1980s, domain names have been limited to the 26 characters in the Latin alphabet used in English _ A-Z _ as well as 10 numerals and the hyphen. Technical tricks have been used to allow portions of the Internet address to use other scripts, but until now, the suffix had to use those 37 characters.
That has meant Internet users with little or no knowledge of English might still have to type in Latin characters to access Web pages in Chinese or Arabic. Although search engines can sometimes help users reach those sites, companies still need to include Latin characters on billboards and other advertisements.
Agencies
The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted to allow such scripts in so-called domain names at the conclusion of a weeklong meeting in Seoul, South Korea's capital. The decision follows years of debate and testing.
The decision clears the way for governments or their designees to submit requests for specific names, likely beginning Nov 16. Internet users could start seeing them in use early next year, particularly in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts in which demand has been among the highest, ICANN officials said.
``This represents one small step for ICANN, but one big step for half of mankind who use non-Latin scripts, such as those in Korea, China and the Arabic speaking world as well as across Asia, Africa, and the rest of the world,'' Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's CEO, said ahead of the vote.
Domain names _ the Internet addresses that end in ``.com'' and other suffixes _ are the key monikers behind every Web site, e-mail address and Twitter post.
Since their creation in the 1980s, domain names have been limited to the 26 characters in the Latin alphabet used in English _ A-Z _ as well as 10 numerals and the hyphen. Technical tricks have been used to allow portions of the Internet address to use other scripts, but until now, the suffix had to use those 37 characters.
That has meant Internet users with little or no knowledge of English might still have to type in Latin characters to access Web pages in Chinese or Arabic. Although search engines can sometimes help users reach those sites, companies still need to include Latin characters on billboards and other advertisements.
Agencies
New music search from Google
Google stepped onto the internet music stage, unveiling a service for finding, listening to or buying songs online. Google announced an alliance with Lala.com and MySpace-owned iLike at Capitol Records headquarters in Los Angeles that could cut down on the number of mouse clicks it takes to sample or purchase a song on the web.
“We are very excited today to be introducing a music search feature,” Google vice president of search Marissa Mayer said before a demo of the service called OneBox. “The search results will allow you to do a whole song play to verify it is the song you are looking for,” rather than just the 30-second stream typical of most major online music providers.
Agencies
“We are very excited today to be introducing a music search feature,” Google vice president of search Marissa Mayer said before a demo of the service called OneBox. “The search results will allow you to do a whole song play to verify it is the song you are looking for,” rather than just the 30-second stream typical of most major online music providers.
Agencies
iGate expands Whitefield campus; To hire 1,500 by 2010
iGate on Thursday inaugurated the fourth phase of its global delivery facility at its campus in Whitefield, Bangalore. The new facility, set up at a cost of Rs 65 crore, provides 115,000 sq ft of additional workspace and can seat 1,050 people.
Phaneesh Murthy, CEO of the outsourcing solutions company, said iGate plans to hire about 1,500 people in 2010. The $220-million company currently has around 3,500 employees in Bangalore.
Murthy said he expected IT budgets to be up 2-4% in 2010.
“Discretionary project spends are starting to happen. The pricing environment is largely stable,” he said.
iGate’s campus has in the past sought to differentiate itself through the adoption of a host of environment friendly measures. The latest phase makes further advances on this front. It has LED lighting throughout and the lighting is solar powered. There’s an ozone-friendly air conditioning system, organic waste converter and a wastewater recycling system.
“We also made special efforts to procure green IT equipment,” the company said. The company has taken on a carbon footprint estimation study to determine the green house gas (GHG) inventory across all its global delivery facilities in India, Australia and Mexico.
Agencies
Phaneesh Murthy, CEO of the outsourcing solutions company, said iGate plans to hire about 1,500 people in 2010. The $220-million company currently has around 3,500 employees in Bangalore.
Murthy said he expected IT budgets to be up 2-4% in 2010.
“Discretionary project spends are starting to happen. The pricing environment is largely stable,” he said.
iGate’s campus has in the past sought to differentiate itself through the adoption of a host of environment friendly measures. The latest phase makes further advances on this front. It has LED lighting throughout and the lighting is solar powered. There’s an ozone-friendly air conditioning system, organic waste converter and a wastewater recycling system.
“We also made special efforts to procure green IT equipment,” the company said. The company has taken on a carbon footprint estimation study to determine the green house gas (GHG) inventory across all its global delivery facilities in India, Australia and Mexico.
Agencies
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Cisco to strenghten Web security with ScanSafe acquisition
Cisco Systems has announced to buy the privately held Web security company ScanSafe for about $183 million, a move that will intensify its battle with security giants Symantec and McAfee. ScanSafe sells Web-based services that protect business computer networks and PCs from hackers, saving companies the cost of buying and installing software on their own equipment.
The top two security software companies, Symantec and McAfee, already sell such products, which are known as "cloud" services and whose sales are growing at a far faster clip than traditional software. As reported by Reuters, Cisco announced the deal on Tuesday, saying that the transaction is expected to close in its fiscal second quarter that ends in January 2010. The $183 million price tag includes cash and retention-based incentives, as per Cisco.
The deal helps Cisco expand its security portfolio, which includes email and Web security software company IronPort that it bought in 2007. San Jose, California-based Cisco has recently stepped up its pace of acquisitions. It announced deals for wireless equipment maker Starent Networks for $2.9 billion and Norwegian video conferencing maker Tandberg for $3 billion. Chief Executive John Chambers has said that he was looking to do more.
Agencies
The top two security software companies, Symantec and McAfee, already sell such products, which are known as "cloud" services and whose sales are growing at a far faster clip than traditional software. As reported by Reuters, Cisco announced the deal on Tuesday, saying that the transaction is expected to close in its fiscal second quarter that ends in January 2010. The $183 million price tag includes cash and retention-based incentives, as per Cisco.
The deal helps Cisco expand its security portfolio, which includes email and Web security software company IronPort that it bought in 2007. San Jose, California-based Cisco has recently stepped up its pace of acquisitions. It announced deals for wireless equipment maker Starent Networks for $2.9 billion and Norwegian video conferencing maker Tandberg for $3 billion. Chief Executive John Chambers has said that he was looking to do more.
Agencies
Will Infosys rural BPO centers in Andhra payoff?
Infosys BPO, a subsidiary of IT major Infosys, has signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to open rural BPO centres in 22 districts of the Andhra Pradesh (AP) state. Infosys BPO CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry and State Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty CEO T Vijaya Kumar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard in the presence of AP Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
"The first such BPO centre will be set up in the next six weeks, which will provide a testing ground for this model. The capital expenditure and other details will be worked out subsequently," said Chaudhry. He also added that all the 22 districts would have one BPO each. "Over 1,000 people would get direct employment through the rural BPO centers in the next 12-15 months. Statistics suggests that direct employment generates 1.4 times indirect employment as well," said
Noting that Andhra Pradesh would be the first state where Infosys would be setting such facilities, Chaudhry said, "We are in talks with some other states as well for similar ventures but I can't disclose the names at this stage."
Agencies
"The first such BPO centre will be set up in the next six weeks, which will provide a testing ground for this model. The capital expenditure and other details will be worked out subsequently," said Chaudhry. He also added that all the 22 districts would have one BPO each. "Over 1,000 people would get direct employment through the rural BPO centers in the next 12-15 months. Statistics suggests that direct employment generates 1.4 times indirect employment as well," said
Noting that Andhra Pradesh would be the first state where Infosys would be setting such facilities, Chaudhry said, "We are in talks with some other states as well for similar ventures but I can't disclose the names at this stage."
Agencies
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)