#AdvantageGaming - ACT Fibernet Powers GamerConnect as “Official Connectivity Partner”

ACT Fibernet (Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.) India’s largest fiber-focused wired broadband ISP (Internet Service Provider) today extended its partnership with GamerConnect, India’s largest gaming technology showcase platform as their official ‘Connectivity Partners’. As part of the partnership, ACT Fibernet will work with publishers, gamers and event organizers to provide low ping, jitter free, high speed connectivity to enable participants enjoy a seamless gaming experience. This partnership will extend throughout 2019 across all events of GamerConnect.

GamerConnect has played a significant role in bringing Indian gaming community together under one roof and created a platform to connect with each other, explore the vast ecosystem of gaming and the best of PC Gaming. However, for gamers to have a holistic experience internet connectivity plays a critical role as any lag may affect gaming performance despite best hardware and equipment. ACT Fibernet with its futuristic speed and pioneering technology will ensure that gamers are well connected and have a fulfilling gameplay.

Speaking on the association, Ravi Karthik, Head of Marketing, ACT Fibernet said, “As part of #AdvantageGaming promise, we are committed to providing superior gaming experience to our customers. We are delighted to partner with GamerConnect, the largest gaming technology showcase platform in the country that brings all members of gaming ecosystem together and provide all participants with a seamless gaming experience.”

With more than 10,000 participants, GamerConnect brings a wide range of product launches, PC Gaming workshops and esports tournaments giving boost to the rise of online gaming scenario in India and helping gamers to be professionally equipped.

Commenting on the partnership, Ishaan Arya, GamerConnect said, “At GamerConnect we have worked with industry leaders like Dell, LG, Nvidia and Zotac to build one of the most engaging gaming showcase and experience platforms, having connected with over 20 thousand gamers across 15 events in the last two years. We are very excited to work with ACT to help take the online experience at our events to the next level with fast and stable connections for the thousands of gamers attending our massive lineup of events across the country this year”.

Commenting on the partnership, Vamsi Krishna, Head - Consumer Marketing South Asia, NVIDIA said, “With 19.4% Indian gamers gaming for two to four hours a week and 23.4% gaming for seven to twelve hours a week, according to the State of Online Gaming report 2019, India ranks first in both the categories globally. Observing the changing behavior of gamers and perception about gaming, it is now needless to say that gaming has gone mainstream in the country to a level where it is also being considered as a potential career option. As a part of the gaming ecosystem, we are always working towards facilitating a better gaming experience. Targeting one of the biggest and most crucial hurdles in gaming - low-speed
connectivity - ACT has taken the ecosystem, with this partnership, a step ahead in providing seamless gaming experiences.

“One of the biggest driving factors behind the growth of the gaming industry in India has been a massive explosion in high speed broadband penetration over the last five years. Now with ACT's commitment to gaming we can take the next step towards esports and professional gaming with stable and lag free connectivity which is crucial for today's online gaming experience”, said Deepak Gupta, Country Manager, ZOTAC South-East Asia

With rapid development of digital infrastructure, the online gaming market in India is witnessing an unprecedented growth. The Gaming industry in India is expected to grow at 100-200% in next couple of years.

2019 Cricket Season ‘dineout’ Launches ‘Predict Online & Eat Offline’ Campaign

dineout – India’s leading full-stack technology service provider in the online restaurant-booking space after having launched its ‘predict online & eat offline’ campaign on the sidelines of IPL 12th edition, have already crossed over 10 Cr cashback to users within the first week of IPL .

The new campaign is launched with a focus to bring people together during cricket matches and encourage them to dine-out at their favorite restaurant.

Speaking on the campaign, Mr. Ankit Mehrotra, Co-founder and CEO, dineout said that, “Cricket is like a religion in India, and people love watching it. Through this campaign we are stressing towards a cultural and lifestyle shift. We somewhere feel that the whole era of going out and enjoying cricket matches at a restaurant with your loved ones is fading away. Therefore with this campaign we wish to see change in our lives. We are not just saying to go out and have food, but make more memories over a meal while enjoying your favorite sport at a restaurant.”

‘Predict online & eat offline’ allows users to predict the winning team every day along with the scores for each teams to stand a chance to win upto Rs. 900 dineout earnings every day. The results of predictions will be revealed at the end of every match along with the credit of the earnings won. Earnings worth Rs. 50,000 can be won this season. The top scorer in ‘Predict and win’ will win a trip for 2 to London powered by Ixigo.

Cricket matches in India are an amalgamation of heady adrenaline, excitement and enjoyment. On match days, families and friends come together and are gripped in the fervor of the excitement of the day. Leveraging the upcoming IPL and World cup fever, dineout with its ‘Predict and Win Campaign’ urges consumers to step out of the comfort of their homes and share the cricket excitement with other fans while enjoying the finger-licking.

Flipkart, Amazon, Oyo Followed by TCS make it as Top Workplaces in India: LinkedIn

Walmart-owned Flipkart is the most preferred workplace in India, followed by Amazon and Oyo in the second and third places, respectively, according to a list compiled by professional social media network LinkedIn.

Internet companies dominate the top 10 spots in LinkedIn’s fourth edition of the ‘2019 Top Companies’ list for India.

IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) made its debut at the seventh place, new entrants Swiggy and Zomato were ranked sixth and eighth, respectively.

Uber, another new entrant, took the fifth spot, while, One97 Communications was at the fourth rank and Oil and Energy conglomerate Reliance Industries was at the 10th place.

Others on the list include consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) at 13th, Yes Bank (14), IBM (15), Daimler AG (16), Freshworks (17), Accenture (18), Ola (19), ICICI Bank (20), PwC India (21), KPMG India (22), Larsen & Toubro (23), Oracle (24), and Qualcomm (25).

“This year, half the companies are new entrants on the list, including IT giants such as TCS and IBM that showcase the changing job and hiring landscape,” said LinkedIn India Managing Editor Adith Charlie.

Charlie further said that “The presence of more blue-chip Indian companies such as Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries, among others emphasises the fact that these large firms are getting better at attracting millennials employees”.

The report further noted that the majority of companies on the list made new hiring for engineering jobs followed by operations and business development.

The list analysed billions of data points generated by LinkedIn’s over 610 million members around the world to come up with a blended score used to rank the winners in each geography.

LinkedIn ranked the companies based on four criteria -interest in the company, engagement with employees, job demand and employee retention. 

El Nino Effect to Blame for Below-Normal Monsoon in 2019: Skymet

Private weather forecaster Skymet has predicted below-normal monsoon rains during June-September, clouding prospects of higher economic growth in a country whose farm sector is significantly dependent on the seasonal rainfall. The agency has not ruled out drou­ght, though its chances are 15 per cent.

The forecast came a day before the monetary policy committee’s (MPC’s) review meeting to decide the policy rate. Experts, however, said Sky­met’s prediction might not have much impact on the MPC’s decision.

The benchmark indices, which got off to a positive start on Wedn­esday, dived in the afternoon trade following the forecast. The Sensex tumbled about 180 points as jittery in­vestors sold stocks. Skymet attributed the change in its forecast of Feb­ruary, when it had predicted normal rains, to the moderate El Niño conditions prevailing over the Pacific Ocean.

More than the aggregate rainfall, the distribution over months and regions is important. According to Skymet, June and July will have less rains. “June is going to have a very sluggish start and deficit rains are likely to spill into July,” it said.

“The second half of the season would see better rainfall. August is exp­ected to be a shade better than Sep­tember, but both months would manage to see normal rains,” it said.

Experts said the adverse impact of the sub-normal rains could be mitigated by the information dissemination system of the government and supply of short-duration seeds to farmers, particularly paddy, which is the main crop in the kharif season.
“Agriculture extension facility will be tested in case the forecast turns out to be true,” Devendra Pant, chief economist with India Ratings, said. He added that short-duration crops of less than 90 days should be supplied to farmers to beat the less rains in the first two months.

Skymet said the negative impact of El Niño could be somewhat neutralised by Indian Ocean Dipole, but it might support rainfall only during the second half of the monsoon season. The agency said eastern parts of the country, along with central areas, were likely to be at a higher risk of being rain-deficient, especially during the first half of the season. Main crops in these regions during kharif are rice, pulses, soyabean, millet, bajra, jowar and groundnut.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economist at the SBI group, said inflation in pulses was negative and if the prediction came true, the rate of price rise could be up in pulses.

Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings, said Skymet’s prediction was more of a risk factor to inflation than a direct factor to lower the rate. “It is too early to say about the monsoon. It (the prediction) is more like flagging a risk,” he said.

Agriculture and allied activities’ growth is officially projected to fall to 2.7 per cent in 2018-19 against 5 per cent in the previous year.

It said the monsoon at aggregate level could end up at 93 per cent of the long period average (LPA). The range from 96 per cent to 104 per cent of LPA is considered normal.

Jatin Singh, MD, Skymet, said, “The Pacific Ocean has become strongly warmer than average. The model projections call for 80 per cent chance of El Niño during March-May, dropping to 60 per cent for June to August. This means, it is going to be a devolving El Niño year.”

Karnataka Bank Enters Agreement with Bharti Axa Life Insurance

Karnataka Bank entered exchanged a memorandum of understanding with Bharti Axa Life Insurance Company Ltd for distribution of the latter’s life insurance products.

This is the third similar tie-up by the Bank after with PNB Metlife India Insurance Company Ltd and LIC, both of whom continue to provide insurance solutions to the customers of Karnataka Bank.

With 95 years of banking experience and being one among the prominent first generation private sector banks in India, Karnataka Bank is into distribution of life insurance products to its customers for the last 16 years.

The Corporate Agency Agreement was inked at the head office of the Karnataka Bank by Bharti representatives of the Karnataka Bank and the Bharti Axa Life Insurance Company Ltd.

Changing needs

Speaking on the occasion, Karnataka Bank MD and CEO Mahabaleshwara M S said, “Customer’s needs are changing and increasing on day to day basis. It is necessary to stand up to the expectation of customers and work to ensure customers’ delight. The Bank will be able to provide wide choices of life insurance products to its customers across all its 836 branches, supported by the popular customer centric products of Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd.”

Further, he said, “As insurance penetration is poor in India, there is also an emerging need to improve the insurance business penetration. Karnataka Bank is happy to cover the life of more and more citizens and their family members.”

Robust network

Sam Ghosh, MD, Financial Service, Bharti Enterprises Ltd, said, “The partnership is an important part of our growth strategy that requires a robust distribution network. This will possible as Karnataka Bank is having its existence at every nook and corner of the country.”

Vikas Seth, CEO and MD, Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd, said “Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd will strive hard to create customised insurance solutions for the Bank’s customers and is committed to setting a new benchmark in claim settlement process.”

NetApp Accelerates Access to Critical Business Data with Ultrafast Performance

NetApp, the data authority for hybrid cloud, has announced NetApp Memory Accelerated Data (MAX Data) 1.3 supporting the Intel Optane DC persistent memory. The combination of MAX Data and Intel Optane DC persistent memory enables organizations to stay competitive by doing more with their data so they can do more for their customers.

Companies are challenged with using unprecedented volumes of data to achieve real business impact. Taking advantage of data is often easier said than done. New applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, real-time analytics, and Internet of Things (IoT), all of which are memory hungry and fueled by massive datasets, compound this challenge. By using a promising new memory tier, NetApp helps customers put their data to work without having to rearchitect their critical applications. MAX Data gives customers the tools to unlock the value of enormous datasets and extend a Data Fabric strategy all the way into their servers with applications and data that are critical to their business.

“With NetApp MAX Data now supporting Intel Optane DC persistent memory, organizations can accelerate data pipelines across an entire enterprise to power applications such as Oracle and MongoDB with the simplicity, choice, and scale necessary for real business impact,” said Joel Reich, executive vice president, Storage Systems and Software, NetApp. “With the volume of data generated and managed across on-premises data centers, IoT devices and sensors, as well as in hybrid cloud environments, having a Data Fabric strategy that spans edge, core, and cloud is essential to business success.”

“Customers can unlock the value of their data stockpiles with the powerful combination of 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel Optane DC persistent memory,” said Jennifer Huffstetler, vice president and general manager, Datacenter Product Management and Storage at Intel.  “Working with innovators like NetApp will help us move, store and process more data than ever before.”

MAX Data is the industry’s first enterprise storage solution using Intel Optane DC persistent memory in servers to store persistent data delivering affordable, memory-like low latency and flash-like capacity, without any rewrites required to application code, allowing companies to take full advantage of the benefits of real-time apps.

TECNO Brings the “Power of 3” with CAMON i4; Unveils Triple Rear Camera with 4GB RAM Priced at Rs 11,999

TECNO, a leaqding growing offline camera-centric smartphone brand in the mid-range segment today has taken another step forward by launching its first Triple rear camera smartphone under its popular and massively successful CAMON portfolio in India. TECNO CAMON i 4 is set to become a benchmark in under 12K segment owing to its ‘Best Any Light’ camera proposition.

The device comes with a powerful triple rear camera set-up that comprises of13MP primary rear camera with F1.8 apertures, an 8MP with 120o ultra-wide lens for capturing wide frames and a 2MP live focus lens that allows the camera to capture the subject and the background separately so as to get beautiful shots with the focus on the subject. That’s not all, CAMON i4 also sports a 16 MP AI selfie camera with 4-in-1 big pixel technology for real and clear selfie.

Mr. Arijeet Talapatra, CEO, TRANSSION India said, “Being a young consumer-centric smartphone brand in the most diverse and thriving market in the world, we have received unprecedented love and demand for CAMON series in India which is built on the Indian consumer insight that 89% buyers consider the camera as the top specification while buying a smartphone (source: CMR Mobile Industry Consumer Insights survey 2019).  Over the past couple of years, Indian consumers have seen significant improvements in the smartphone camera technology and while the dual-rear camera trend has been well established in the mid-range segment, going forward in 2019 the key focus will be on multiple cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that will become a must-have feature on every device in the 7-15K segment.

Speaking about the new smartphone he further added, “Going with the trend, there is innovation and something new in every facet of the CAMON i 4 starting with the triple camera lens to power ultra-wide shots to intelligent AI features that ensure the best picture composition.  The 6.2inch HD+ dot notch screen with rocket charge feature delivers a superlative uninterrupted viewing experience.  We are confident that with this device, we will amaze the consumer and consolidate our camera-centric smartphone brand position in the mid-segment. To strengthen the recently launched smartphones we will be driving in a 360-degree brand campaign #TECNOShineinAnyLight from mid of April which will encompass all touchpoints to reach our target audience.”

Key highlights of CAMON i4:

Experience superior pro photography best in the segment

CAMON i4 is packed with best-in class triple rear camera setup which is an integration of a 13MP primary camera with large f/1.8 aperture and 5P lenses combination are a big leap forward in resolution and color presentation. While 2MP depth-sensing lens is perfectly suited for real portraits and icing on top is an additional 8MP 120° Ultra-Wide Lens, which has the same viewing angle as the human eye. This allows users to capture unrestricted wide-angle photos exactly like what one can see. Additionally, consumers can enjoy AR mode which lets users to create various funny and spicy moments with friends and family. Localized sticker enhances the fun aspect of photography.

The device is also supported with 8x digital zoom that enables users to capture high quality close-up shots event at distance and hence enables clear photography.

For selfie enthusiast, 16MP AI selfie camera equipped with f/2.0 aperture 77-degree wide angle and screen flash which helps in capturing more light for better quality selfies & group fie, no matter what kind of scenes and light conditions you are in. Furthermore, the device comes with 6-level AI beauty mode allowing adjustment as per consumer preferences that scans up to 228 facial points optimized on Indian skin tone for giving more real selfies.

Expand your horizons with dot notch display

The design of the phone realizes every sense of the full screen concept. CAMON i 4 is the first smartphone from TECNO to feature a ‘dot notch’ screen with the front camera embedded at the top of the screen.  The device flaunts 6.22-inch HD+ with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 and the higher screen-to-body ratio of 88.6% allows users for a super large view for better viewing experiences. The 2.5D glass finish back cover of phone catches the eye with a subtle yet mesmerizing interplay of light & shadow from different angles. The device comes in 4 exquisite colours -  Midnight black, Aqua Blue, Nebula Black and Champagne Gold. With large round curves on the corners and through the unibody design process, the device brings a singular and seamless product experience and a complete sense of grip in hands.

Powerful hardware configuration with latest Rocket Charge feature

CAMON i 4 is not just about superb camera capabilities and good looks but also comes with power and performance. The smartphone uses 2.0 Ghz Helio A22 64Bit QuadCore processor in 2+32GB & 3+32GB storage variant while Helio P22 Octacore processor in 4+64 GB storage variant. The ROM storage memory is expandable up to 256GB. It is a dual SIM smartphone with dedicated microSD card slot and allows consumer to use 4G VoLTE in both the SIM cards at the same time.

The device comes with a long battery life of 3500mAh high capacity battery that lasts even longer through optimization by AI Power management feature of smarter HiOS 4.6 software. Another feather on the cap is ‘Rocket Charge’ feature that gives users 2 hours calling from just 10 min charge.

Future-ready HiOS 4.6 based on Android 9 Pie

CAMON i 4 is equipped with HiOS 4.6 which uses Artificial intelligence to give smartphone users more intelligent & intuitive navigation basis in-depth mining and matching according to people's preferences and habits of using different applications. And in turn optimizes the battery life by intelligently prioritizing the app you use most and adjusting the power saving mode of hardware such as APP, Sensor and CPU.

As smartphone privacy and security are key these days, it comes with advance AI led face recognition technology which provides quick Face Unlock under 0.3 sec.  Another highlight of CAMON i 4 is its unique localized feature of an anti-oil fingerprint sensor that provides hassle free access to the phone under all Indian lifestyle and weather conditions.

Exceptional TECNO smartphones come with an exceptional promise of “111” under which a consumer is entitled to a 1-time screen replacement for six months, 100 days’ free replacement, and 1-month extended warranty on any TECNO device that he/ she buys. The new smartphone is present across 35000+ retail touchpoints and 960+ service touchpoints PAN India.