500 Million Indian Mobile Broadband Users By 2020

Ericsson estimates that India's mobile subscriber base will grow from 795 million in 2013 to 1145 million subscribers by 2020. Simultaneously, smartphone penetration will grow from 10 per cent or 90 million devices in 2013 to 45 per cent or 520 million devices.

A strong user base and high-speed broadband connectivity will fundamentally change the way people live, interact and do business; with consumers expecting data connectivity at all times, everywhere. 

Mobile broadband usage is on the rise with social media, web browsing and chat driving more than a third of the mobile broadband traffic currently. Video consumption also continues to grow. 

However, ubiquitous mobile broadband experience for users is a challenge at present, with only a third being able to access internet over a mobile broadband network every time they attempt. 

"Consumers' value broadband and their expectations around experience are evolving fast. A few years ago access needs were limited to 'some-time', today it is 'real-time', and it is moving towards being connected all the time with access to high quality content. 

"Smartphones and MBB services are becoming more affordable. As a result, we are seeing the advent of a new Networked Society in India as in other parts of the world that will benefit consumers and businesses alike," said Ajay Gupta, Head of Strategy & Marketing, Ericsson India. 

Users also value superior network performance as they rate network reliability, coverage and speed as the top three parameters for a good mobile broadband experience. 

Operators looking to effectively monetize broadband services and tap future growth opportunities need to significantly invest in scaling network performance in three areas - ensuring network ubiquity, consistent app coverage and new charging models based 'personalization' that address consumer's specific preferences. 

"Consumers today expect ubiquitous and high performing networks everywhere they go. At the same time, different applications being used by consumers require more and more from the networks. 

For example, if social media today is all about sharing images and text, tomorrow it will be all about sharing HD Video in real time. Therefore, to ensure a superior experience for consumers, operators need to ensure quality 'app coverage'. 

"The device experience, the network experience as well as the App experience, together constitute a superior consumer experience," stated Nishant Batra, Head - Engagement Practices, Ericsson India. 

Source: Economic Times

New Roadmap For Intel’s Mobile Processors In India

At a media briefing today, Intel outlined its strategy to accelerate its growth in India, driven by an increased focus on new mobile form factors like 2 in 1s and Tablets. It also showcased a portfolio of these devices available in the Indian market today, offered by various OEMs and developer momentum to drive applications for Intel Architecture based devices.

At the high end of tablets, some consumers are choosing 2 in 1s to get the best of both worlds. 2 in 1 devices represent a new category of computing. OEMs are developing a range of devices that provide consumers with a choice, combining the creation capability of a notebook or laptop and the consumption capability of a tablet into the one device.  At the press briefing, Intel displayed a range of Tablets and 2 in1s from Acer, ASUS, Dell, ECS, HP, Lenovo and Panasonic.

Intel estimates the overall tablet demand in Asia Pacific and Japan will be up 32 per cent Year-on-Year in 2014. In particular, India, Indonesia, Japan and Australia will equate to 59 per cent of tablet demand. Tablet demand in India is forecast at 16% of the Asia Pacific and Japan (ex-China) demand for 2014.

According to Narendra Bhandari, Director-Software and Services group, Intel Asia Pacific and Japan, “there are over 200 million middle-class potential customers in India alone for different screen sizes across different price points. We are seeing a lot of traction in the 7 to 9 inch space here. We are working with our OEM partners to bring Intel-based tablets starting Rs. 10,000. We are also being aggressive in customizing our solutions for the enterprises as well as manifesto driven state governments and working with developers to drive localized applications.”

Intel’s Bay Trail: Multicore SoC Family for Mobile Devices

Based on a new low-power, high-performance microarchitecture “Silvermont,” (announced in May 2013), “Bay Trail” is Intel’s first tri-gate  3-D 22nm quad core SoC and its most powerful processor to-date for tablets and other sleek devices that provide a balance of performance, features and battery life. The flexibility of the Silvermont microarchitecture allowed Intel to deliver multiple variants of the platform to market for the tablet, 2 in 1, entry laptop and desktop and all-in-one (AIO) segments. “Bay Trail-T” is the next-generation 22nm quad-core Intel Atom SoC for tablets and 2 in 1 devices. The “Bay Trail-M” and “Bay Trail-D” parts are for innovative entry-level laptops, 2 in 1s, desktops and AIOs that will be branded Intel Pentium and Intel Celeron. On display at the event was the Baytrail-M based Lenovo Ideapad Flex 10 Laptop and a few Baytrail-T based devices like the Asus* Transformer Book T-100, Dell* Venue Pro 8 tablet and the HP* Omni10.

New Intel Atom Processors-Merrifield and Moorefield

Intel also talked about the upcoming 2.13GHz Intel Atom processor Z3480 (“Merrifield”) that offers the ideal combination of fast, smart performance and long battery life for Android smartphones and tablets. The 64-bit ready SoC delivers best-in-class compute performance for the mainstream and performance segments, and solidly outperforms the competition in compute-intensive application, web application and light media editing performance. Merrifield also delivers best-in-class battery life.

Also coming soon is the next-generation 64-bit Intel Atom processor, code-named “Moorefield” in devices expected to be available second half of this year. Building on the Merrifield feature set, Moorefield adds two additional Intel architecture (IA) cores for up to 2.3GHz of compute performance, an enhanced GPU and support for faster memory. Moorefield is optimized for Intel’s 2014 LTE platform, the Intel XMM 7260, which the company introduced at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.

Sridhar Joins SapientNitro as Chief Creative Officer

SapientNitro, part of Sapient has announced that KV Sridhar has joined the company as Chief Creative Officer for India. Widely respected as a creative leader in both Indian and global advertising, Sridhar, popularly known as 'Pops', joins SapientNitro to address growing client demand for the agency's unique combination of creative and technology service offerings in the Indian market. Based out of Mumbai, Sridhar will be a member of the global executive creative team and will work alongside Sapient India Managing Director, Rajdeep Endow, as a critical part of the management team leading an expanding business in APAC.

  "Marketers now think differently about brand-consumer engagement and recognize the critical need for strategy, creative and technology to blend together, to move from just creating ads to creating worlds, or as SapientNitro refers to it, Storyscaping," said KV Sridhar. "The canvas has changed in a way that can no longer be constrained in the traditional advertising model. I am thrilled to join SapientNitro as they are leading this change, and redefining what it means to be an agency in today's hyper-connected world."

With a creative career spanning three decades, Sridhar is one of the most respected creative leaders in the Indian advertising industry, and moves to SapientNitro after 17-years as Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett - India & Subcontinent. From humble beginnings as a Bollywood film billboard painter to his ascent as a creative visionary, Sridhar is today a regular on Indian and International award juries, and a powerful voice for the future of creativity.  

"Pops, a creative powerhouse renowned for his ability to lead and develop talent and his desire to challenge the status quo, shares our vision for redefining storytelling for an always-on world," said Gaston Legorburu, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro. "Brands today recognize the need for sustaining consumer engagement across devices and channels to keep pace with the shifting expectations of the increasingly-connected consumer. At SapientNitro, Pops will be a strong contributor to that evolution and will undoubtedly further our ability to create strategic advantage for clients in this incredibly important, rapidly-expanding market."

"I am delighted and honored to welcome a gifted creative leader of Pops' caliber to our leadership team," said Rajdeep Endow, Managing Director, Sapient India. "Pops' creative excellence and his deep expertise in the Indian market will be instrumental to our ability to serve clients in the region for our unique blend of connected capabilities across brand, digital, experience design and technology."  

Sridhar joins the growing number of forward-looking creative leaders who have joined SapientNitro globally in recent years, reflecting the company's commitment to evolve creativity and strengthen our portfolio of services and talent to serve clients in every strategic market across the world. SapientNitro won over 200 creative awards in 2013, including being named Creative Agency of the Year by MediaPost's OMMA Magazine in 2013.

Get Managed Mobility Offering Now In Australia

Mindtree, a global information technology services company, and SAP, market leader in enterprise application software, today announced their first Managed Mobility Offering for the Australia market. Mindtree will deliver SAP mobile solutions in the cloud and with a pay-by-usage model.

Managed mobility services from Mindtree and SAP enable organisations to rapidly mobilize their business with little complexity, minimal set-up time, and zero infrastructure costs. 

Mindtree will offer an end-to-end suite of services including consulting, installation, hosting, and maintenance for the SAP Work Manager application in the cloud. This solution is designed to:

• reduce the deployment time of SAP mobile solutions from months to weeks

• improve efficiency and decision making capability of their field workforce by eliminating paper and improving data capture

• create a more cost-effective IT infrastructure

• mitigate the risk of technology obsolescence

In addition, the companies offer a suite of pre-built ready-to-deploy apps that clients can utilize for business scenarios ranging from enabling payments to managing loyalty points. SAP Customer Loyalty, for example, is a customizable mobile application designed to enable consumer-facing brands to build stronger relationships with their customers, as well as boost customer loyalty, transaction volumes, and conversion rates.

“This managed mobility cloud offering speeds time to market through a low-risk solution that cuts across industries,” said Parthasarathy NS, President and Chief Operating Officer, Mindtree. “Mindtree’s managed mobility offering combines the best of both worlds: Mindtree’s expertise in delivering superior mobile experiences and SAP’s leading enterprise mobility portfolio,” he added.

“Australian businesses are asking for a cloud-enabled mobile offering from SAP to underpin their cloud strategy,” said Greg Miller, Chief Operating Officer, SAP ANZ. He added, “The Mindtree partnership delivers a consumption-based pricing model that allows customers to scale their mobile solutions over time, and enables ongoing mobile innovation. Importantly, it alleviates significant up-front capital expenditure, which is critical for many clients.”

Firms To Help Banks Fast-track FATCA Compliance

Banking analytics, risk and compliance pioneer, iCreate, has announced a strategic partnership with tax information reporting leader, Convey Compliance Systems, Inc., to help global banks accelerate their FATCA compliance initiatives. iCreate’s 8-year track record in banking data aggregation providing analytics, risk and compliance solutions has teamed up with  Convey’s 28-year track record in tax information reporting to bring the global marketplace a solution that is end-to-end and best-in-class for helping financial institutions identify FATCA-impacted accounts and seamlessly manage their reporting and withholding obligations.

iCreate's recently launched Fintellix FATCA Compliance system integrates seamlessly with core banking systems. Fintellix has the ability to run business regulations on consolidated enterprise data and extract reports, analytics and regulatory formats to determine FATCA-impacted accounts. Convey’s Taxport platform then applies the appropriate FATCA rules, generates the returns, and transmits the data from the bank to the submitting authority or to the IRS, depending on the bank location and current IGA status. This seamless “end-to-end” data solution also provides tools to manage the withholding and remittance of payments on recalcitrant accounts. With the combined solution, banks can rest assured that they have the tools they need to efficiently deliver timely and accurate FATCA compliance reporting.

Speaking on the occasion, Anup Pai, COO, iCreate, said, "We are delighted to partner with a category leader such as Convey with their close to 3 decades of specialised expertise in compliance reporting. This partnership would be of tremendous benefit to global Financial Institutions, as well as to regional Financial Institutions that have a substantial US/OECD customer portfolio as they prepare for FATCA compliance as well as the looming CRS guidelines."

Jon Paradis, Vice President of Alliances at Convey added, "We are equally delighted to partner with iCreate who has a deep understanding of banking compliance and a robust compliance platform. Merging these capabilities with Convey’s knowledge and expertise of US tax information reporting and withholding provides a compelling solution for global banks to address their current and future tax compliance challenges."

With an impressive joint list of clients, iCreate and Convey have already helped to improve compliance challenges for a significant number of the largest and most influential banking organizations in North America, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Philippines, UK, Indonesia, Mauritius, Singapore, Hong Kong and India. Given the broad-sweeping impact of the new FATCA reporting requirements and the combined best-in-class capabilities of each firm, partnering to deliver a seamless FATCA solution was a natural fit.

Comprehensive Analytics To Healthcare Providers

Caradigm, a population health company, and Symphony Analytics, a division of global innovation and development services company Symphony Teleca, recently announced they have signed a business cooperation agreement to help healthcare providers rapidly improve clinical and financial outcomes through comprehensive healthcare analytics solutions.

Under the agreement, Symphony Analytics will provide strategic consulting and implementation services to healthcare providers adopting the Caradigm Intelligence Platform and Caradigm analytics applications, including Caradigm Readmissions Management. Symphony Analytics will also partner with Caradigm to develop and bring to market new predictive analytics applications, such as revenue cycle management analytics, which leverage the clinical, operational and financial data aggregated by the Caradigm Intelligence Platform from across the healthcare community. In addition, Symphony Analytics will offer Caradigm’s analytics solutions to its customer base.

“Transitioning to value-driven care requires advanced analytics to gain insight about patients, populations and performance, as well as the ability to manage change effectively,” said Sandy Murti, vice president of Partnerships & Alliances at Caradigm. “As experts in advanced analytics and predictive modeling, Symphony Analytics can help on both fronts. We’re excited to partner with them to help customers realize greater value from technology.”

“As the first step to managing risk and moving to population health, providers need to harness the power of data,” said Paddy Padmanabhan, senior vice president and global practice leader-healthcare, Symphony Analytics. “Combining Caradigm’s analytics software with Symphony Analytics’ ability to apply predictive modeling to business processes through our Health SymMetrics framework enables providers to get the most out of their data and ultimately improve clinical and financial outcomes.”

Caradigm’s family of software, anchored by the Caradigm Intelligence Platform, is designed to address the capabilities needed by healthcare organizations to improve population health management, including data aggregation and control, healthcare analytics, care coordination and management, and patient engagement and wellness.

Cyient Limited New Name For Infotech Enterprises

Today Cyient Limited, formerly known as Infotech Enterprises Limited, announced its new name is official based on approval from a shareholders’ vote.

“We are now Cyient,” said BVR Mohan Reddy, executive chairman and founder. “This new brand identity is an important step in positioning us as a distinctively unique global company that represents our vision and our forward-looking initiatives.”

The company, which reported a 17.8 percent increase in 2014 revenue, recently named Krishna Bodanapu, formerly president and chief operating officer, as chief executive officer and managing director.

“As we began discussing changes to Infotech’s brand, our goal was to further establish the company’s identity as the industry leader we have become over the last 20 years,” explained BVR Mohan Reddy. “We originally intended to simply update our brand identity. As we developed the rationale, we realized an entirely new name would help to better define our evolution, our current scope of capabilities and accomplishments, and signal our future growth plans to all our stakeholders.”

Krishna Bodanapu said, “We decided on a constructed word that implies both the type of solutions we develop and also recognizes our company history, heritage and the values we will carry forward. Cyient has connotations to the words ‘client’ and ‘science’ – two important components in our company’s success – and ‘ient’ references Infotech Enterprises, our foundation and continuity. All of our efforts in this important initiative were developed to fulfill our vision of ‘Designing Tomorrow Together.’”

The new brand is designed to reinforce the company’s longstanding commitment to working closely with clients and developing innovative solutions to solve complex problems. The process of determining the new identity involved various brand specialists and the new name was tested in 17 languages.

Management indicated reaction to the name change has been very positive among associates and clients. "For fourteen years, Infotech has proven its focus on continuous improvement and ongoing commitment to delivering customer value,” said Tom Prete, vice president, Engineering, Pratt & Whitney.  “As Cyient, they will continue to be a truly integrated partner, and we look forward to continuing our relationship under their new brand.”

Since its founding as Infotech Enterprises in 1991, the company has become a global leader in engineering, networks and operations: from being involved in every major aircraft design program to mapping and managing over 32 million kilometers of road data that contribute to safe and efficient driving.

“Cyient has a vast portfolio of forward-looking solutions and services that ultimately contribute to a better world,” stated Krishna Bodanapu. "In this process, we intensely collaborate with clients, associates and the ecosystem to build lasting partnerships.  This is the basis of the company vision for ‘Designing Tomorrow Together.’”

Cyient has more than 12,000 associates across 38 global locations. Clients include major aerospace, manufacturing, transportation, utilities and communications companies.

Elements of the Cyient brand, including a new logo, website and marketing materials, have been developed in partnership with global brand agency Wolff Olins. New signage is being implemented in each of its global offices.

“The company will immediately begin operations as Cyient Limited,” said BVR Mohan Reddy. “Cyient is a company that is focused on the future by building on its past. We will always keep our clients, associates, investors and our role as a responsible corporate citizen at the center of everything we do for years to come.”