83% of Indian Workers Love Their Jobs; Prefer Tech Over Amenities at Workplaces: Adobe Survey

Adobe has released the findings of its ‘Work in Progress’ report, revealing that Indian office workers are overall the most positive and flexible workforce, when compared to those surveyed in USA and UK. The findings reveal that a surprising 83 percent of Indian office workers love their jobs, and access to cutting-edge technology emerged as the top contributor to their overall satisfaction, above perks like food and slick office design. Not only did the majority of respondents report loving their jobs, but 98 percent confirmed that they would keep working even if they won the lottery, despite the fact that almost half of them (44 percent) acknowledged feeling overwhelmed. Although important, pay isn’t everything: nearly half of Indian workers would choose to move to their “ideal” job, even for less pay. The report, “Work in Progress” surveyed more than 500 Indian office workers who use computers daily as part of their jobs, on their attitudes about work and the future of technology in the workplace.

According to the report, “Moonlighting” has become mainstream, with more than one in two workers in India holding one or more jobs in addition to their primary profession. Those that report holding an additional job, say that gaining new skills (other than additional income) is the primary reason to moonlight in India. 68 percent of the Indian respondents predict that multiple jobs will be the norm in the future.

Respondents say that technology, more than other flashier perks, is the most important factor in keeping them happy at work (89 percent). Access to state-of-the-art technology that helps people get their jobs done ranks slightly higher than access to food and beverages (87 percent), a beautiful office design (86 percent) and on-site amenities (73 percent).  93 percent of Indian office workers believe that technology makes them more productive. Employees who said their company’s technology is “ahead of the curve” feel more creative, motivated and valued than those who say their company is “behind the times.” Yet only 30 percent employers are viewed as “ahead of the curve” when it comes to technology.

“With a changing work–life pattern, rapid influx of millennials into the workforce, and rising employee aspirations, workforce expectations and priorities in India are evolving dramatically. In addition to offering fun perks, employers should also focus on ensuring their people have access to technology that helps them be more productive. In turn, this inspires employees and makes them feel appreciated,” said Abdul Jaleel, Vice President, People Resources India, Adobe. “We have seen that investing in employee motivation provides great returns in the form of a happy and creative workforce and goes a long way in attracting and retaining top talent.”

Highlights of findings from Indian respondents include:

Tech Is the New Perk

·         Almost all respondents (91%) said that technology that helps them connect to colleagues more efficiently is an important part of their ideal workspace.

·         Similarly, workers believe that technology makes them more productive (93%), improves work-life balance (83%) and makes their workday better and easier (91%).

·         Workers predict that over half (61%) of the menial office tasks will be done by a machine or technology in the next 20 years.

No Really, People Love to Work

·         Almost three-quarters (74%) of the respondents said they would rather work long hours doing the work they love, than shorter hours doing work they don’t enjoy.

·         84% of waking hours on a workday are spent actively working or thinking about work, and 63% of waking hours on a typical day off are spent working or thinking about work.

·         The survey indicates that Indian workers are very invested in their work life. A large majority (85%) said that work defines who they are.

·         While the need for money to support themselves (86%) and their lifestyles (77%) plays a major role in why they work, workers also consider recognition of their success very important (80%). Making an impact on their society or community was also a very significant factor (67%).

In Search of the Ideal Job

·         A majority of Indian workers (68%) predict that most people will have multiple jobs in the future.

·         Other than money, gaining new skills is the number one reason moonlighters in India have a second job. However, moonlighters are more likely to be overwhelmed (47%) and disconnected (16%) than non-moonlighters (39% and 8%, respectively).

·         68% of Indian office workers say they’re likely to leave their job for a new opportunity, and even among the respondents who say they love their job, well over half of them (65%) would make the switch.

VMware’s Acquisition of Arkin Net will Help Client Accelerate Adoption

VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced the intention to acquire Arkin Net, a leader in software-defined data center security and operations. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2016.

Organizations globally are adopting a software-defined data center (SDDC) architecture based on VMware virtualized infrastructure and management to deliver automation, security and continuity for applications. SDDC breaks down the barriers between traditionally disparate domains of compute, networking and storage. This evolution requires an operational model that delivers cross-silo visibility and collaboration. With the acquisition of Arkin, and through the integration of VMware vRealize Suite, cloud management teams will have access to a new generation of planning, troubleshooting and automation platform that provide visibility and control across the entire data center environment.

VMware NSX network virtualization is being widely adopted in large scale production deployments as part of the SDDC where cross-silo visibility and collaboration is critical. Identified by Gartner in “Cool Vendors in Enterprise Networking, 2016,” Arkin is purpose-built for NSX environments. The Arkin platform provides insights into the datacenter traffic flows via a pre-assessment tool that enables faster NSX deployments via micro-segmentation planning. Post deployment, Arkin significantly lowers time to resolution, leveraging constructs such as time-machine, plain English search and contextual analytics across virtual and physical layers.

Today, VMware vRealize Operations provides extensive management across both physical and virtual compute and storage environments. With the acquisition of Arkin, VMware vRealize Suite will have the ability to extend across the entire SDDC, including the VMware NSX network virtualization layer.

“Arkin is a great fit for VMware and its customers as we look to accelerate our growth businesses including cloud management and network virtualization,” said Ajay Singh, senior vice president and general manager, cloud management business unit, VMware. “With VMware NSX combined with Arkin and vRealize, VMware will deliver the security and operations management plane for the SDDC. Over time, Arkin will solidify vRealize Suite’s position as the industry’s most comprehensive Cloud Management Platform that delivers application-focused operations, NSX micro-segmentation at scale and cross-domain visibility and context across physical and logical infrastructure.”

“Arkin and VMware have been great partners and we’re now excited to join the VMware family to take Arkin to the next level,” said Shiv Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive officer, Arkin. “Arkin delivers a new operations paradigm that has been built from the ground up for VMware NSX network virtualization and is fully aligned with the core NSX use cases of IT automation, security and application continuity.”

VMware and Arkin are already collaborating to meet the needs of mutual customers such as Columbia Sportswear, California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) and Nebraska Medicine.

“Operational visibility, which accounts for both hardware and software, is critical to how organizations succeed in using next-generation data center technologies,” said John Spiegel, IS/Global Communications Manager at Columbia Sportswear. “The combination of VMware NSX and Arkin provides us a tactical and strategic lens for managing our virtualized data center.”

“Arkin and VMware are strategic partners helping Nebraska Medicine deploy our next-generation NSX based software-defined data center,” said Brian Lancaster, Executive Director of Information Management at Nebraska Medicine. “Arkin real-time flow analytics makes it extremely easy to implement micro-segmentation security. The visibility and troubleshooting capabilities that Arkin provides to our networking and operations teams enables us to more quickly and confidently scale our NSX deployment.”

Sula Vineyards Ventures Into 100% Premium Grape Brandy - JANUS; Go Pan India By 2016

India's leading wine company - Sula Vineyards, announced the launch of JANUS – India’s first 100% premium grape brandy. The brandy is available in only seven states and the company plans Pan India by end of 2016.

The brandy which is first of its kind in India has about 43.8% alcohol.  This will be available in Goa, followed by Daman, Pondicherry, Karnataka,and Andhra Pradesh, in a league of its own. It is the country’s first 100 per cent premium grape brandy — and after tasting it, I must say it can claim to be the cognac of Indian brandies. It has a very cognac-like sensual nose and the finish is smooth, and although it is very young, which is why it doesn’t have the depth of flavours and the rich hues of a great cognac, it comes with the promise of being here for the long haul. 

Deriving its name from the ancient Roman deity with two faces, JANUS embodies the exceptional French cognac making heritage and the expertise of Sula in selecting the best Indian grapes. JANUS is made from carefully selected grapes from the best Indian vineyards which are then double distilled in small batches using traditional French alembic pot stills, to produce a liquor of exceptional smoothness and character.

JANUS is aged in small French oak barrels under the supervision of French Master Blender Yonael Bernard, imparting a smooth and distinctive taste, exceptional aromas and a complex character of a cognac - style brandy with a long finish. Keeping up with the tradition of French cognac making, the master blender has developed a unique recipe guaranteeing excellence in every drop.

Yogesh Mathur, VP Manufacturing, Artisan Spirits Pvt Ltd said, “With this launch Sula takes its first step into the world of spirits with a superbly crafted high end offering. We are confident that JANUS will win accolades and significantly raise the bar for brandy making in India. JANUS is India‘s first handcrafted cognac - style brandy for connoisseurs - from the House of Sula”.

JANUS makes use of Three table grape varieties — Bangalore Blue, Bangalore Purple and Thompson Seedless — that for many years went into the making of sparkling wines produced in India, are used to make Janus. 

It comes in premium packaging with a bottle design inspired from the Mid-19th century, a style known as ‘standard fifth’ or ‘lettered brandy’ with embossing. The bottle’s slender design, broad masculine shoulders and long neck makes it stand apart.

JANUS will be available initially in two SKUs of 750 ml and 180 ml at Rs 1999 and Rs 599 respectively across all leading outlets in Karnataka. It is manufactured by Artisan Spirits, 100% subsidiary of Sula Vineyards.

NI & HP Enterprise Collaborate for Pre-Tested Big Analog Data Solutions to Analyze Time-Series Sensor Data

NI and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced a collaboration to facilitate the availability of pre-tested Big Analog Data solutions based on NI DataFinder Server Edition software and HPE Moonshot Systems. Engineers must collect and manage sensor data that is fundamentally different than what traditional big data solutions typically tackle. The collaboration of HPE, a global leader in computing and data processing, with NI, a leader in data acquisition and analysis, is expected to result in the availability of a pre-tested best-in-class hardware and software combination for solving engineering data management problems and making decisions from sensor data more effectively.

“The DataFinder-Moonshot Big Analog Data solution is a potent combination, making it easier for engineers to rapidly deploy and gain insight from manufacturing, test and Internet of Things (IoT) data,” said Dr. Tom Bradicich, vice president and general manager of servers and IoT systems at HPE. “With this pre-tested solution, HPE and NI are helping our customers to reduce their integration risks.”

Combining the multiple award winning HPE Moonshot Systems and DataFinder Server Edition provides engineers with a complete, pre-validated, tested solution to manage and analyze the complexities of file-based sensor data. With DataFinder Server Edition software running on HPE Moonshot server blades, users can manage structured and unstructured data generated from any data acquisition analysis node.

“With the IoT and the emergence of more connected systems, our customers are collecting more data than ever before,” said Eric Starkloff, executive vice president of global sales and marketing at NI. “By analyzing more of their data in a reliable and accurate way, our customers can better document the results of their tests and take actionable steps to improve the efficiency and designs of their applications.”

Both companies will showcase this technology at HPE Discover in Las Vegas, June 7 – 9 and at NIWeek in Austin, Texas, August 1– 4, 2016.

Le Eco Rolls Out CDLA Type-C Interface Earphones for Continual Digital Lossless Audio Standard

Through the new Superphones, LeEco has revolutionarily replaced the 3.5mm headphone port with the world’s first CDLA Type-C interface, leading an audio revolution to the earphone industry that remains the same for decades in India.

What is CDLA?

The full form of CDLA -- Continual Lossless Digital Audio! Pioneered by LeEco, this new digital architecture enables the end to end lossless digital music transmission. Here, all the CDLA headphones have their own ID, so it knows what recommendations and preferences it can offer. 

As an industry pioneer, LeEco introduced a new digital architecture, CDLA technology that enables end-to-end lossless digital music transmission, the world’s first continual digital lossless audio standard. The two Superphones Le 2 and Le Max 2 are all set to redefine the smart phone audio technology world.

CDLA is quite intelligent. Every pair of CDLA earphones has its own independent ID, so it knows who is using it and what recommendations and preferences it can offer to the user, seamlessly integrating with LeEco's ecosystems.

To showcase the revolutionary CDLA technology, the song composed by the Jam8 studios was recorded on two devices, one with the existing Hi-Fi audio capability and the other with the CDLA technology. The difference was unparalleled and the music experience from the device with CDLA technology was premium and seamless. LeEco has also unveiled the world’s first Type-C CDLA Earphones which consumers can get access to at a competitive price of only Rs 1,999. LeEco has also unveiled the world’s first Type-C CDLA Earphones which users can get access to at a competitive price of only Rs 1,999.

Launch of e-commerce Store LeMall

With the launch of LeMall, its marketplace e-commerce website, the company has marked its venture into the e-commerce space in India. LeMall.com, first launched in Mainland China in 2013, is not only a leading online shopping destination in China but has also proved a force to be reckoned as highly successful during LeEco’s initial global expansion thus far, to the United States & Hong Kong. Both Le 2 and the Le Max2 will be available on Flipkart and LeEco’s very own marketplace e-commerce website LeMall.com soon.

LeMall is an important step in establishing LeEco’s foot print in India. It will serve as the primary channel for customers to engage with LeEco and become a part of the ecosystem through the products and services.

State-of-the-Art Portable Bluetooth Speakers Now from Envent

Envent Worldwide, India’s preeminent consumer electronics accessory brand, launched new range of Bluetooth speakers under their LiveFree sub brand. These two marvelsLiveFree 570 and LiveFree 530, are fully-equipped with latest features and technologies for on-the-go music listeners. These Bluetooth speakers bring forward a set of avant-garde features that includes long-lasting battery power, light weight, voice-calling, water-resistance, dust resistant and more, all packed in a stylish, strong and compact body. These speakers are launched exclusively with Flipkart and are available on special launch prices of Rs 3,999 and Rs 2,499 respectively.

Envent’s LiveFree 570 - Best in its class, LiveFree 570 is a 12W high Bass Bluetooth speaker with latest Bluetooth 4.0 version. It comes with 4000 mAh Lithium Polymer battery which not only gives it a great battery life of up to 9 hours play time but also makes it extremely light weight and hence makes it extremely easy to carry around. The speaker is IPX4 water resistant which can even withstand the water splashes. With Built in microphone and call answering button, this can even let you have a small conference in a room or on the move like in the car itself. Just in case your device doesn’t support Bluetooth, this offers a 3.5 mm jack through which you can connect.

The LiveFree 530 - is a 10W mobile Bluetooth speaker that is IPX5 water resistant and supports voice-calling with built-in microphone and hands-free function. The speaker comes in a shock proof body which can withstand the fall from as high as 5 feet. The portable speaker has a built in 2000 mAh Lithium Ion battery with capacity of more than 5 hours of play time and is available in two attractive colours of Blue and Orange. To further enhance its portability, it comes with a Soft Silicon strap which gives you the flexibility of hanging it from anywhere.

Sukhesh Madaan, Founder and CEO, Envent, said, “This launch is an expansion of our already existing wide range of speaker portfolio. Through this product, we are ensuring that we offer cutting edge technology at an affordable price. The range of portable Bluetooth speakers will give a tough competition to already existing similar products in the market through its sophisticated features, niche look and innovative functions.”

He further added, “At Envent, we love surprises. It is these moments of pure delight that we seek to give our customers. What we mean by this is that every customer has expectations when he buys a product. You have to meet these expectations but that is not all. It is when you go past them and deliver a little more that the real magic happens. This is when you really connect with the customer and form a relationship that can truly endure."

Envent’s innovative product range has received accolades by partners and valuable clientele. They are among the top 3 brands in their respective categories on all the leading e-commerce portals.  

Global Smartphone Sales to Slowdown in 2016; Grow at 7% in 2016

Gartner, Inc. said global smartphone sales will continue to slow and will no longer grow in double digits. Worldwide smartphone sales are expected to grow 7 percent in 2016 to reach 1.5 billion units. This is down from 14.4 percent growth in 2015. In 2020, smartphone sales are on pace to total 1.9 billion units.

"The smartphone market will no longer grow at the levels it has reached over the last seven years," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. "Smartphone sales recorded their highest growth in 2010, reaching 73 percent."

Slowing Replacement of Phones

Today, the smartphone market has reached 90 percent penetration in the mature markets of North America, Western Europe, Japan and mature Asia/Pacific, slowing future growth. Furthermore, users in these regions are not replacing or upgrading their smartphone as often as in previous years.

 "In the mature markets, premium phone users are extending life cycles to 2.5 years, which is not going to change drastically over the next five years," said Gupta.

Communications Service Providers (CSPs) have moved away from subsidies providing a "free" smartphone every two years, which has led to more varied upgrade cycles. On the other hand, CSPs have introduced financing programs and vendors such as Apple now offer upgrade programs that provides users with new hardware after only 12 months. "These programs are not for everyone, as most users are happy to hold onto their phone for two years or longer than before.They do so especially as the technology updates have become incremental rather than exponential," added Gupta.

In emerging markets, the average lifetime of premium phones is between 2.2 and 2.5 years, while basic phones have an average lifetime of three years and more. "2015 was the year when sales of smartphones overtook those of feature phones for the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa. This region represents an attractive market for vendors that can persuade users to migrate to their first smartphone," said Gupta.

India Is the Main Focus for Growth Opportunity

Since mature markets are saturated, the focus for many vendors is on India and China. "India has the highest growth potential," said Gupta. "Sales of feature phones totaled 167 million units in 2015, 61 percent of total mobile phone sales in India."

 Smartphones are expensive for users in India, but with the average selling prices (ASPs) of low-end models falling, Gartner estimates that 139 million smartphones will be sold in India in 2016, growing 29.5 percent year over year. ASPs of mobile phones in India remain under $70, and smartphones under $120 will continue to contribute around 50 percent of overall smartphone sales in 2016.

 After recording growth of 16 percent in 2014, sales of smartphones in China were flat in 2015. "In this saturated yet highly competitive smartphone market, there is little growth expected in China in the next five years," said Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner. Sales of smartphones in China represented 95 percent of total mobile phone sales in 2015. Similar to India, falling ASPs for smartphones will make them more affordable for users."

 "The worldwide smartphone market remains complex and competitive for all mobile phone vendors, and we are not expecting the vendor landscape to get smaller," said Zimmermann. "In such a fluid vendor landscape, some will exit the market while newcomers, including mobile manufacturers or internet service providers from China and India, could make their debut."

Gartner forecasts that by 2018, at least one nontraditional phone maker will be among the top five smartphone brands in China. "Chinese internet companies are increasingly investing in mobile device hardware development, platforms and distribution as they aim to grow their user bases and increase user loyalty and engagement," concluded Zimmermann.