Techies To Create Apps Resilient To Natural Disasters

Code for India, the  non-profit organization that inspires techies to volunteer their time and talent to the developing world, today announced a  first-of-its-kind parallel India-United States hackathon to be held May 9-10 at the Google campuses in Bangalore and in Mountain View. The event will gather engineers interested in creating technology-based applications that empower poor populations to address specific public service delivery problems.

Infosys Founder and Chairman N.R. Narayan Murthy and Google Senior Vice President Amit Singhal will provide keynote remarks.

The hackathon is co-sponsored by the World Bank Institute, the World Bank Group’s Open Finances team and Code For Resilience, a project of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery and ICT Unit of the World Bank in partnership with Code for Japan. Other partners and supporters include Amazon, Cisco, Google, TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), NASSCOM Foundation and AFI (Action for India).

Code For India is one of the fastest growing tech-driven non-profits with thousands of volunteering engineers from Google, Facebook, Linkedin, VMware, Oracle, Cisco, Visa, Infosys, and many more engaging to promote transparency, participation and efficiency in the way local people can voice their concern and find solutions,” said Karl Mehta, founder of Code for India and venture partner at Menlo Ventures. “The transformative power of technology will aid India -- and other developing countries facing similar problems --fight the failing public service infrastructure.”

A key theme of the event is making India more resilient to natural disasters like earthquakes, drought or cyclones. Teams of hackers that register their disaster resilience apps at www.CodeForResilience.org by May 11, 2014 will be eligible for a grand prize trip to London, England to pitch their idea to an audience of over 800 disaster risk management experts gathering for the Understanding Risk conference.

The hackathon also will seek to catalyze developers to consider the commercial value of open data in India, including social enterprise opportunities.  With the launch of India’s Open Government Data Platform, opportunities for developers to identify market gaps, create new data-driven products and services, and improve operational efficiency in existing organizations are steadily growing.   

The World Bank Institute and the World Bank Group’s Open Finances team have provided open data sets to Code for India for the event. These data sets include development and financial data as well as existing public sector and IFC projects, and will be a critical resource for participants in the hackathon.   

More details about how to register for the Code for India hackathon can be found at http://codeforindia.org/cfi-hackathon/

27’’ Screen For Professional & Commercial Markets

ViewSonic, a leading global provider of visual solution products, has successfully expanded its display series with the innovative 27-inches monitor size. This series includes products such as professional Quad HD display for graphic design, edge-to-edge frameless monitors, intuitive touch screens and audio-visual entertainment models. With this complete product range, ViewSonic provides customers with a broader choice of applications, whether it is in the professional graphics, business sector, interactive education, digital signage, or entertainment.

“The shipment for LCD monitor 27-inches is gradually growing and becomes a trend on the market as the users are getting used to big screens.” said Max Liu, Sales Director, ViewSonic Asia Pacific. “The demand from business sector and professional graphics for large-sized display is increased in recent years.  With the popularity of wireless networks and multimedia devices, more and more enterprises integrate communications into video conferencing equipment.  Large-screen video conferencing enable all the images clearer and break the limitation of screen size. Besides, as the global design industry is flourishing, the demand for professional graphic design platform is also growing dramatically. And color performance is of the utmost importance to professional users.”

For all the years, ViewSonic has been investing in R&D for large-sized displays.  Tailored made for graphic design, media creation, publishing and other color-critical applications, ViewSonic 27-inches VP2772 and VP2770 comes with 2560x1440 QHD resolution and wide viewing angles to deliver ultimate color and image quality. The VP2772 delivers outstanding levels of detail and clarity with 2560x1440 QHD resolutions. Accurately displaying 99 percent of the wider Adobe RGB color space, the VP2772 features an advanced 12-bit color engine that delivers 1.07 billion colors and creates stunning images for professional graphic design, media editing, or even gaming entertainment for true-to-life colors. 

Getting in front of the trend for large-screen displays for audio-video enjoyment, ViewSonic introduces the sexy slim VX2770Sml-LED/VX2770Smh-LED/VX2703mh-LED for convenient connectivity to smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. The VX2770Smh-LED/VX2703mh-LED comes with full HD1080p high resolutions and HDMI interface to connect to high-definition multimedia devices and brings perfect visual for playing games, watching movie clips and more. The speakers powered by SRS Premium Sound delivers a rich multimedia experience. 

As to the sleek frameless VX2770Sml-LED, it comes with the industry-leading SuperClear Image Enhancement Technology with wide viewing angles, brilliant pixel quality of the 1920x1080 Full HD panel, 30,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and MHL 2.0 connection. The MHL and HDMI connections share the same ports, providing the VX2770Sml-LED flawless streaming from a variety of MHL and HDMI-equipped media devices, such as smartphones and tablets without turning on a PC/Laptop. ViewSonic provide the best choice for all featured monitors to deliver the functionality and services that define the new era of digital entertainment.

Intuit QuickBooks Partners Daredevils for IPL 2014

Intuit Inc. has announced its partnership with the Delhi Daredevils cricket team for the IPL season 2014. This is Intuit’s first major sports endorsement in the country and the company will soon be rolling out a nation wide campaign for small business and accountant cricket fans.

Intuit is the No.1 cloud business and financial management software for small businesses and accountants, with more than 1.5 million users worldwide as of February 2014. Intuit QuickBooks, the company’s flagship product was launched in India in 2012, providing users with easy access to their finances through an internet-connected computer or data plan-enabled smartphone.

Speaking on the partnership Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director, Intuit India said, “ Intuit is thrilled to be partnering with Delhi Daredevils one of the leading teams in IPL. At Intuit the culture of entrepreneurship is core to what we do, small teams are tasked to solve for key customer pain points while delighting them every step of the way. Through this association we celebrate awesome teams at Intuit and Delhi Daredevils.”

 This partnership also comes at a special time for us we have just crossed 100,000 signups for Intuit QuickBooks India. As a token of our gratitude we’ll be hosting a fully paid trip for the first paid small business and the first paid accountant user of Intuit QuickBooks to watch a live Delhi Daredevils match. We’ll also be soon announcing the launch of a nationwide campaign which will give small businesses and accountants in India an opportunity to interact with the Delhi Daredevils players and watch some exciting matches live.” added Nikhil Arora.

Intuit is happy to announce that Exotel a Bangalore based startup that offers virtual business phone system services to small businesses is the first paid small business user and Balakrishna & Co a chartered accountant firm based in Bangalore is the first paid accountant user of Intuit QuickBooks. These two users will get a unique opportunity to watch a live match in Delhi along with the Intuit team. Also noteworthy is Exotel was one of the winning start-ups that received the highest funding of INR 2.5 crores  through the Intuit Super Angles initiative in 2012 and Pawan Sharma of Balakrishnan & Co was the winner of the Intuit QuickBooks Excellence Awards 2013 under the Cloud Savvy Accountant of the Year  category.

 We at Delhi Daredevils are proud to associate with Intuit India. Intuit is a financial solutions company for small businesses and accountants. Intuit has innovation and collaboration as its core values and we at Daredevils believe those two components are key for our team’s success also. We at Delhi Daredevils believe this innovation and partnership will provide the opportunity to share new skills with the Intuit employees as well as with our players. said Hemant Dua, CEO, Delhi Daredevils.

GMR Sports, the Delhi Daredevils franchise owners are backed by the GMR Group. The Delhi daredevils have a strong squad line-up for the season captained by the globally recognized Kevin Pietersen, who is credited with the ‘switch hit’ and has a blistering strike rate of 141 in T20 matches.

Intuit QuickBooks lets small businesses easily create localised invoices, pay bills and track expenses. The easy-to-use, cloud-based service needs no professional accounting training and allows the small business owners to take data-driven business decisions on the move.

SHV Energy Simplifies Distribution Using SAP

SAP AG has announced that SHV Energy Pvt. Ltd,( SEPL), one of the leading distributor and marketer of LPG (liquid petroleum gas) in India, has chosen Transport Management (TM) and Supply Network Planning (SNP) solutions from SAP. The comprehensive software from SAP will help SEPL – adapt processes that optimize revenue and control operational costs associated with its transportation management by making the process more flexible and dynamic.

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SEPL is engaged in the business of importing and distribution of LPG to domestic, commercial and industrial customers. In India, SEPL markets its products and services under the brand name ‘SUPER Gas’. 

As the global marketplace grows, transportation management becomes more complex and expensive. In their efforts to grow revenues and cut transportation costs —SEPL aimed to gain better control over their supply chains and minimize coordination inefficiencies. Implemented in partnership with Hexaware, the deployment of SAP’s portfolio of customized solutions can assist SEPL to lower inventory and logistics costs, improve processes and increase visibility across its national operations.

APAC PC Market Down 11% Y-o-Y In Q1 2014: IDC

IDC's preliminary results show that the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) PC market declined 8% sequentially and 11% year-on-year in 2014 Q1 to reach 23.8 million units, coming in marginally lower than IDC's initial forecasts. Elections in some of the bigger markets contributed to the region’s overall decline.

In India, an ongoing large education project was postponed due to the upcoming elections, shaving off about half a million units from the commercial PC segment. In Thailand, political unrest continued to have an adverse impact on the economy, while in Indonesia, government funds were diverted in the run-up to the elections, resulting in lower commercial spending in PCs there this quarter.

“However, as these markets stabilize after the elections, IDC expects commercial activity to resume in the second half as a result of pent-up demand," says Handoko Andi, Research Manager for Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific.

“On the consumer side, ongoing distractions from smartphones and tablets as well as cautious channel intake impacted most markets in the region, especially in South East Asia.”

Lenovo retained the top spot despite a sequential decline in many markets in the region including China, where the vendor, due to Chinese New Year festivities, did fewer commercial shipments than usual.

Dell retained the second spot and continued to be ahead of HP for a second consecutive quarter, as the latter was impacted in key markets like China and India.

ASUS replaced Acer at the fourth spot. China contributed the most to ASUS’ share gain in the region as the vendor had a healthy channel inventory and did well in the consumer space with attractive entry-level product lines.

itaas To Expand Multi-platform Video Capabilities

Cognizant has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire itaas, a digital video solutions company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1999, itaas helps leading cable, telecommunications, and technology companies to deliver a broad range of digital video services across traditional cable, broadcast, and telecommunications network environments and on consumer devices such as set-tops, tablets, and smartphones. 

With approximately 200 professionals in the U.S., Canada, and India, itaas enables television providers and broadcasters, particularly cable channels, to deliver authenticated live streaming and video services on digital platforms, thus adding value to existing television subscriptions and delighting subscribers with exclusive viewing experiences anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

As more viewers look to access internet video content directly via TV, communications players are seeking out open platforms to reduce time-to-market, while digital device companies are focusing on bundling content with connected devices. The acquisition will enable Cognizant to capitalize on the growing demand for greater interactivity, higher personalization, and innovative content delivery in the multi-screen and video market.

The end-to-end digital video engineering and multi-platform capabilities of itaas will extend and complement Cognizant’s existing capabilities serving the communications, media, and hi-technology industries. The expanded capabilities will also support other industries such as banking, retail, and healthcare, which are rolling out advanced customer and business platforms centered on video. 

“We welcome itaas’ talented professionals to Cognizant,” said Rajeev Mehta, Chief Executive Officer of IT Services at Cognizant. “This acquisition continues our long-standing strategy of acquiring sharply focused business capabilities that complement our existing offerings. The company’s strong client focus and deep business and technology insights into the entire video ecosystem, combined with Cognizant’s global consulting and delivery capabilities, will create greater value for our mutual clients. As multi-platform video becomes the new normal, new technologies create more empowered and savvy consumers, and more industry sectors look to harness the potential of video for customer interaction, this acquisition strengthens our ability to help enterprises challenge the status quo, and create new business models in response to market shifts and competitive pressures in their industry segments.” 

“We are delighted to join Cognizant,” said Vibha Rustagi, President and CEO, itaas. “The success of itaas over the last 15 years has been built on customer satisfaction, deep business and technology expertise, and best-of-breed solutions. Cognizant’s global reach, experience, and entrepreneurial culture will allow us to offer our current and future customers greater scale, a broader range of services, comprehensive solutions, and world-leading consulting and delivery expertise. International expansion is critical for us to continue our strong growth and provide greater opportunities for our employees. The agreement announced today is a major step forward for us. With a shared commitment to client satisfaction and delivery excellence, we can drive future diversification based on our combined strengths.”

BoxTV Ties Up With Czech-Based KM Plus Media

BoxTV.com, a premium online video service of Times Internet limited has tied up with KM plus Media, a Czech Republic based production house. KM Plus Media produces wildlife documentaries, children titles, lifestyle and travel shows to name a few genres from extended catalogue of more than 1500+ hours of tv programmings. KM Plus Media together with its US partners Big Media covers the worldwide distribution with focus on their original productions as well as content of 3rd party producers, mainly from USA and Australia.

As a part of the offering, BoxTV will feature more than 100 hours of premium KM Plus Media content for audiences in the Indian sub-continent, The content will be available for free ad-supported viewing, adding to BoxTV's already large library of more than 17,000 hours of content across Hollywood, Bollywood, Regional movies and television shows.  The content will be available across the web and BoxTV's mobile and device apps from April 2014. 

“Content from KM Plus media add to our global content catalogue.  Our users write to us every day asking for more shows around travel, adventure and wildlife. KM offers premium content around these genres. International content has been our USP and this tie up is another step towards it,” says Pandurang Nayak, Business Head, BoxTV.

“Our content appeals to a wide range of audience. BoxTV is part of the largest media conglomerate in India and it is a great platform to showcase our content. BoxTV has a great viewing experience across devices, which makes it the ideal platform for high-quality content such as ours”, Ladislav Svestka, Managing Director of KM Plus Media, said.