Indian AI Start-Up Shortlisted to Showcase at NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, USA

Bengaluru based edisn.ai, a sports tech firm building the next generation fan engagement platform using artificial intelligence, has been selected to showcase its innovative products in Charlotte, U.S.A., on February 15th during the NBA All-Star weekend. edisn.ai is the only company from Asia selected for this showcase by the Sports Tank Innovation Studio.

Sports Tank Innovation Studio is a Shark Tank style demo day that will be attended by Business Executives, Athletes, Brands, and Investors across the sports industry. Only 5 companies are shortlisted every year and the event tends to be a developmental gateway for sports tech companies.

Three awards will be handed out at the invite-only event, including the “Innovation Award” from Under Armour and the “Audience Choice Award.” A group of professional athletes will be also on-site to select a winner for the “Athletes Choice Award.”

Ashok Karanth, CEO of edisn.ai, said, “This is an unbelievable opportunity to showcase Indian sports technology at a prestigious global platform. We are honoured to be the only company shortlisted from Asia for this event. Our state-of-the-art player recognition and contextual content delivery will redefine the future of sports content consumption.”

edisn.ai counts a leading sports broadcaster, an E-sports platform and an Olympic sports federation amongst its growing list of clients. The company is said to be in closing a seed investment with a leading investor and will make a formal announcement soon. The company is headquartered in Bangalore with sales offices in Europe and USA.

AOL Teachers' Khurshed and Dinesh Pen Two Books on Recipes of Happiness

Khurshed Batliwala, Author-Faculty, The Art Of Living & Dinesh Ghodke, Author-Faculty - The Art of Living present to the readers ‘Happiness Express’, a book that offers the authors’ recipe for happiness. The book was released in Bengaluru recently, and involves five major ingredients. The overall content is arranged in such a way, where all chapters are quite independent of each other and you could read them in any order.

Everyone wants to be happy, but the time most people spend being truly happy is fleeting - gone like dew drops in the morning sun. Khurshed and Dinesh have spent the greater part of their lives being happy and coaching others to be happy. In Happiness Express, they share the secrets behind their smiles.

This warm and funny book which abounds in personal anecdotes and practical tips for everyday wellbeing will make Happiness a more intergral part of your life than ever before.

Speaking on the occasion Khurshed Batliwala, Author-Faculty, The Art Of Living said "Our first book Ready Study Go helped thousands of students figure out how to study and enjoy the process. We hope what we have written in Happiness Express helps even more people find joy and cheer in their lives".

Expressing delight on the book launch, Dinesh Ghodke, Author-Faculty, The Art Of Living said Everybody loves to sleep and food. But most don't know much about the process. By the time a person retires, he has slept for a total of 22 years, but they don't know what happened in those 22 years. So, we wanted to show how you can make this a restful time“.

Preface of the book:

People often ask us how we manage to stay so happy and what our secret is. This book is the answer.

The recipe for happiness involves five major ingredients, and that’s how this book is organized. All chapters are quite independent of each other and you could read them in any order. Do you have trouble resting? Do you feel tired and worn out a lot? The chapters on Sleep and Meditation are for you. One of the best things you can do to get that elusive smile could well be simply closing your eyes. We can almost guarantee that following the steps in these chapters will dramatically improve the quality of your sleep, as well as your life.

Feeling unfit and unwell? Read the chapters on Food and Exercise. Being physically active and eating healthy, tasty meals, can make a huge difference to your wellbeing.

Feeling stagnated? Head to the chapters on the Brain, Learning and Focused Mind Mapping. There’s an incomparable joy in understanding and learning something new. Quite a few adults deny themselves this pleasure because they think they cannot learn new things or are afraid of making mistakes. That’s where these chapters can come to your rescue.

Do you tend to forget things? Do you wish your memory could function better? The chapter on Memory unravels the mystery of how our memories work, and, explores two memory enhancement protocols – The Memory Palace and The Spaced Repetition System (SRS).

Keep getting into trouble because of habitually postponing stuff you must do? The chapter on Procrastination provides insights into the working of your mind and includes an approach we call the S.T.A.R. technique to help you get over this and other infuriating habits.

Want some quickie tips on becoming happier? Read Happiness Sutras. This is your go-to chapter whenever you feel down. If you are doing everything right, yet somehow feeling wrong, perusing this chapter should help you out and restore your smile in a jiffy.

We were recently asked what our dream was. We replied – we are living our dream!

Life is a dream. This book ensures it doesn't turn into a nightmare. Welcome aboard the Happiness Express!

Highlights of the Book:

Sleep - The right amount and type of sleep will make you younger, healthier and smarter.
Meditate - Could the fastest way to happiness could be simply closing your eyes?
Food - A healthy gut results in a happier you.
Exercise - We were meant to move. Sitting is the new smoking!
Learning Techniques - Give the innate curiosity you had as a child a second chance. Rediscover the thrill of learning something new.
Improving Memory - How do we remember stuff? Revealing ways to strengthen memory.
Publishers:  Westland

Legrand India Announces its First “Voice Controlled Experiential Centre” in Bangalore

Legrand India, a global leader in electrical and digital building infrastructure inaugurated their first voice enabled “state-of-the-art experience centre” Innoval in the tech city Bangalore today. Innoval will host Legrand Group India’s company products – Legrand, Numeric & Valrack. Globally Innoval’s are present at France, Greece, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Dubai, and made its first-time entry in the Asia Pacific region with its launch in Mumbai, India followed by its successful launch in Ahmedabad, Lucknow. The company is now all set to amaze the Bangalore market with its voice enabled experiential centre launch today. This is the first such showroom in India to be fully automated and voice controlled.

Innoval is Legrand’s global brand of product showcases. The name Innoval reflects Legrand’s brand value of developing ranges of innovative products (Valley of Innovation). The narrative at Innoval is based on the concept of ‘Source to End Usage’, where the products are arranged in relation to each other and according to where they fall on the energy and data distribution grid.  The IoT enabled product offerings across multiple categories include-  IOT switches, Wireless Speakers, Assisted Living, Customised Hospitality Solutions, IOT based Energy Monitoring, Data Centre Monitoring System, Intelligent PDUs etc. The products are compatible with popular third-party voice-controlled devices available in market like Google Home and Alexa along with their own mobile applications and touch panels.

Keeping in mind the vastly different profiles of visitors, the products are arranged as per the business verticals, namely - Home Automation, User Interface, Energy Distribution, Structured Cabling, UPS and Cable Management. The design approach is based on the concept of Designeering. It has all the technicalities of engineering, but put forth in an intuitive and easy to understand communication system. With the interactive product displays, fully automated experience, educational infographics and clean minimal visual language, Innoval has been designed to provide its visitors with a hands on experience that can help them make an informed choice.

Innoval is also built from the perspective of providing training for all players in the electrical trade, from investors to installers. Legrand has been known industry wise for its innovation, value adds to solutions, and in helping these professionals adapt to a constantly changing business. The purpose of Innoval, is to support all of these partners (investors, system integrator, architects, panel builder, end customer etc.) by helping them to acquire new skills in order to better understand the market. Innoval also seeks to engage with direct consumers wanting to experience the brand before making a purchase decision. With the new generation becoming decision makers, the demand for products with innovation, technology has increased, and Legrand wants to tap this growing user base.

Jean Charles Thuard, CEO & Managing Director, Legrand India said, ‘The breadth of Legrand's offer has diversified over the last 20 years in India. It has developed product solution for various industries and its user (investors, system integrator, architects, panel builder, end customer etc.) To speak to these new aged customers and to consolidate its credibility with regards to the new offers and expertise, Legrand has updated its approach for its customers”. He further added, “Today with the launch of first voice enabled experiential centre- Innoval, Legrand wants to provide an experience that is unique to the brand. Legrand aggressively sees voice technology taking center space in our lives and in all the devices that we use. Legrand recent launch of IP based Door Phone Classe300 allows you to access/control your home from any location in the world by means of voice. We will be increasingly launching such solutions going forward. Today with the launch in Bangalore we plan to reach out to our customers and business partners in Bangalore. Customers are evolving and becoming more involved towards the product they are buying. This is a great way to establish dialogues with these new-age modern customers and to showcase new offers. Innoval allows Legrand to be more than just a supplier, rather to act as a genuine partner, creating close ties with the electrical and digital trade as a whole.”

Sameer Saxena, Director- Marketing, Legrand India said, “Legrand has a vast offering of electrical and digital infrastructure products across several business verticals; many of which highly technical to understand. The idea behind Innoval was to break this down for the customer, by curating the products within a framework of an experiential and interactive narrative that is simpler to comprehend. It was first time in India that any B2B brand is taking step towards B2B experience zone for their customer (in highly technical segment). The same could have been possible due to innovative and creative thought process of worlds and countries leading electrical giant – Legrand.”

Legrand is world’s leading electrical and digital building solution provider company with global turnover of 5.5 billion Euros. The company enjoys leadership in premium wiring devices as well as MCB in the Indian market. Its products are widely used in residential, commercial, industrial and hospitality industry.  Legrand India takes a further leap with its Smart connected Home offerings. Through its entry in the IoT space its takes a further leap from the brand in its Smart Connected Homes offering, this is the first IOT product in India, with many more to come in future. 

Eat More, Save More in the #MonthofMore with Dineout’s GIRF 2019

It’s bigger. It’s better. It’s back! Dineout’s legendary Great Indian Restaurant Festival (GIRF) is back with its 3rd year edition filled with more deliciousness, more savings, more happiness and much more. Set to take place for the entire month of February, it’s time for India to a enjoy a month of 28 cheat days. Ankit Mehrotra, CEO and Co-Founder of Dineout says, “GIRF is proving to be a unique and beneficial initiative for India’s F&B industry. This year, GIRF has grown with over 5000+ restaurants and will be held in 10 cities across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Jaipur. There will be coupons and pre-buy deals on the app that will have to be purchased to avail 50% Off. From cafes to bars, fine dining restaurants, fast food cafes to luxury dining restaurants, GIRF will have all kinds of restaurants."

In a bird’s eye view, we are partnered with the following restaurants for GIRF 2019. From Hard Rock to Soda Bottle Openerwala, The Irish House, Bombay Brasserie, Social, Lord of the Drinks, The Beer Cafe, Cafe Delhi Heights, Chili's Bar and Grill, Punjabi By Nature, Pind Balluchi, Chai Point and Chaayos, some of the most popular chains across the country will be a part of the festival.

Ankit says, “During GIRF there will be FLAT 50% Off on food, drinks, buffets and the newest edition of the TOTAL BILL, the Month of More will be exactly what foodie dreams are made of! It is officially the month of foodies.”

Apart from availing 50% Off, users can also get a 20% cashback by paying their restaurant bills using Dineout Pay through the Dineout app. As February kicks off, all you’ll see is more food.

Automation Anywhere Introduces the New Digital Worker

Automation Anywhere, the leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), has unveiled human-centric Digital Workers to help organizations augment their human workforce and accelerate digital transformation.

The company is pioneering the concept of ready-to-deploy digital personas that combine task-oriented, cognitive and analytical abilities to automate repetitive activities, creating the world’s first marketplace for the workforce of the future. Beginning today, users can download Digital Workers from the Automation Anywhere Bot Store, the company’s online marketplace for off-the-shelf, plug-and-play automation, and customize them to fit their unique business processes. With Digital Workers, organizations can rapidly scale their automation initiatives to drive productivity, efficiency and growth.

“Our vision is to transform the enterprise into an engine of unconstrained innovation, with cutting-edge automation and intelligent tools,” said Mihir Shukla, CEO and Co-founder of Automation Anywhere. “Today, we are taking a bold step forward, unveiling the first Digital Workers that not only enhance business performance, but also help unleash untapped human potential. We believe that this new, cognitive technology will liberate human workers, enabling them to focus on value-added activities and pursue new skills that exercise their creativity and ingenuity.”

While software bots are typically task or process-centric, Digital Workers are human-centric – built to augment human workers in specific business functions, across a range of verticals. Some examples for Digital Workers in the Bot Store include a Digital Accounts Payable Clerk, Digital Talent Sourcer and Digital Talent Acquisition Coordinator. Over the next year, the company, with its growing ecosystem of channel partners, system integrators and developers, expects to see innovation around hundreds of Digital Workers across functions and industries.

According to a report by Forrester Research, ¹ increasingly, intelligent machines — ranging from AI to intelligent assistants to RPA bots — are working side by side with employees to solve business problems. The forces of automation will help employees maintain a happy and productive state of flow by making job activities more engaging.

Bot Store users can now leverage Digital Workers to expand the automation footprint of their organizations and infuse artificial intelligence into their business processes. The Bot store is focused on increasing the speed and adoption of automation with bot deployment — and now with Digital Workers.

“The idea of a human-centric Digital Worker that augments the abilities of our employees has the potential to be truly transformative”, said Ravi Konda, senior manager of Automation at Symantec.

“It shifts our thinking from – what tasks can we automate to what roles can we augment and enhance, which is a great way to approach automation.”

Ashok Leyland Light Commercial Vehicle Business on Growth Path

Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja Group flagship, is on a growth path in its Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) Business. In April-December, FY 18-19, the LCV business of Ashok Leyland has grown a phenomenal 34% compared to similar period in FY 17-18. Aiding in fueling the growth is its rapidly expanding dealership and service network. Today, it inaugurated a new LCV dealership on Hosur Road (near Electronics city), Bengaluru, Karnataka. This is the 11th LCV dealership in the state. The new channel partner, Magnum Motors, has a 3S (Sales, Service and Spares) facility and has a state of the art showroom along with a workshop that is equipped with the latest equipment. This new dealership will add to the extensive LCV distribution network of over 500 touch points. The Company currently offers a range of LCV products - DOST, PARTNER and MiTR across the country through its exclusive, state of the art dealership outlets.

Speaking about LCV business and its network expansion, Mr. Nitin Seth, President - LCV, Ashok Leyland, said, “Ashok Leyland products are considered the best in class in terms of fuel efficiency, comfort and safety, and ahead of competition in terms of quality, reliability and technology. This is reason for the runaway success of ‘DOST’ and now ‘DOST+’. All our products have been receiving encouraging response from our customers, including customers from Bengaluru region. Our products were conceived and launched to meet the evolving needs of Indian LCV customers who are very cost sensitive. Our LCV family of customers has now grown to over 2,00,000, across India. We are extremely proud that our track record of service retention levels is exemplary with close to 80% of our customers returning to our dealer workshops, even after the warranty period. In line with our brand philosophy, Aapki Jeet Hamari Jeet, we will remain committed to maintaining and even enhancing the level of customer service and satisfaction.”

He further added, “We will be focusing to fill the gaps in future, but with the focus on 2.5 ton to 7.5-ton GVW trucks and 13 to 40 seats in bus. We are already in the process of investing Rs 400 crore towards the development of new LCV platforms. Once new products start coming in, we are aiming to substantially increase our market share from the current 18%. We will introduce the models starting from April 2020. This will coincide with the BS-VI emission norms implementation and the new models will be EV-compliant from the beginning, and hence we are also ready for the likely EV shift.”

Ashok Leyland LCV portfolio:

Ashok Leyland currently has three products, namely, DOST 2.5-2.75 ton GVW, PARTNER 6.0-7.2 ton GVW and MiTR bus 27 - 40 seat variants. Soon, Left-hand drive (LHD) versions of the products will be introduced for export where 80 per cent of the market is dominated by LCVs. The short-term goal of the Company is to reach 100,000 vehicles per annum by 2022. DOST, PARTNER and MiTR are manufactured at Ashok Leyland’s state-of-the-art Hosur plant.

DOST, Ashok Leyland’s SCV (Small Commercial Vehicle) range includes DOST LiTE, DOST STRONG and DOST+ to cater to different sections of the market and applications.

PARTNER, a modern and highly fuel-efficient load carrier, caters to the 4 ton payload segment and is available in both 4 tyre and 6 tyre options. It comes with Load body options of 10ft, 11ft, 14ft and 17ft. PARTNER is based on an internationally acclaimed vehicle platform and carries the renowned ZD30 CRDI engine.

MiTR bus, based on the same platform as PARTNER, comes in both standard bus and school bus options. It provides superior mileage even in stop and go conditions. MiTR School Bus complies with all school bus safety norms and compliance codes and offers unmatched ride comfort.

Rolls-Royce to Collaborate with Start-Ups for Data Innovation

R2 Data Labs, the data innovation catalyst inside Rolls-Royce, will develop a collaborative ecosystem of digital partners in India, the company announced in Bengaluru today. This will enable Rolls-Royce to use data to spark innovation in all of its businesses and collaborate more effectively with partners and customers. Rolls-Royce will provide mentoring and technical support to start-ups specialising in the areas of Advanced Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI),  Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Quantum Computing, Autonomous and Sensing.

The drive is in line with Rolls-Royce’s commitment to collaborative innovation and building an ecosystem of partners that harnesses the latest thinking and technologies from a wide community of innovators. Rolls-Royce has specifically chosen Bengaluru to launch this program in India due to the growing number of technology companies there. According to recent reports, Bengaluru is now ranked as the city with highest growth index for start-up hubs, followed by London and Tel Aviv. The city is one among the nine ‘International Start-up Hubs’ outside of the United States and the start-up capital of India.

Caroline Gorski, Group Director of R2 Data Labs, said: “Sitting at the heart of our vision for the digital age is a collaborative approach to innovation, where we actively look to develop new, radical ways of working to maintain our competitive edge. To this end, Rolls-Royce has been sponsoring, and collaborating with, niche technology startups in the areas of Artifical Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), Application Development and Future Technologies across the world to help validate, build and grow their business. Unlocking hidden value in data requires new technology but also new ways of thinking. Working with IoT start-ups helps us to accelerate digital transformation, deliver further value to customers, improve existing services and create new areas of growth. At the same time, we also get to help those innovators to succeed, and share in their pace, inventiveness and energy.”

Rolls-Royce has more than 20 years of experience combining engineering expertise with data analytics, offering operational efficiencies to airline customers. Building on these foundations, Rolls-Royce is expanding its digital capabilities to deliver increased value from existing services and introduce new services to customers across the group.

Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce – India & South Asia, said: “Digital skills help accelerate India’s drive to develop its economy. The country’s vibrant digital ecosystem, supported by an innovative start-up environment, will facilitate the development of capabilities in these areas in the hope of creating immense opportunities across the lives of individuals and affect diverse industries including financial services, retail, media, travel, hospitality and healthcare. We recognise that some of the best digital capabilities exist outside of our business. For Rolls-Royce to continue to pioneer the power that matters as a leading industrial technology company and be a strong industrial partner, we must champion collaboration. As a leader in applied industrial AI and analytics applications, R2 Data Labs is tasked to help Rolls-Royce become the ‘go-to’ industrial company.”

Rolls-Royce already partners with Tata Consultancy Services and Microsoft, two globally-recognised digital service providers. As part of the partnership, TCS – a leading provider of IT services, consulting and business solutions –  provides digital platform capability, allowing data to be captured, shared and analysed more easily across Rolls-Royce so that new products and services can be developed at pace.