The silo approach, going it alone like the sheriff facing off against the outlaws in a Hollywood Western film, may work in the movies, but not in Big Data, writes Moshe KrancIn my position as Chief Data Officer for Ness Software Engineering Services, I talk with many companies about their Big Data challenges and needs. Some of these companies have chosen to analyze their Big Data to enable use cases such as online personalization or creating a 360-degree view of their users. Others have been forced into this area by one of their competitors, who announced that, thanks to their successful Big Data initiative, they now possess a competitive advantage over all their competitors; e.g., their products require significantly fewer service calls because they can monitor the performance of the equipment remotely.If there is one common thread that links 95 per cent of these customers, it is FUD - fear, uncertainty, doubt. The field is full of competing or overlapping products, each of which claims to be the right solution for Big Data. The Big Boys (Oracle, IBM, SAP, Teradata, etc.) all want to steer you towards their (sometimes costly) offering. The upstarts (Cloudera, HortonWorks, DataBricks, DataStax, etc.) all talk about use cases with dramatic savings, but you may not be familiar with the use cases in which their product isn't designed to work as well. And, depending on your vertical, there are dozens of one stop shops who offer to take your data and come back with vertical-specific insights.Moshe KrancLeft to evaluate this cacophony of conflicting voices is your organization. It's hardly a fair battle - you may not know the hard questions to ask. That company that promises 20,000 writes per second? That's only true if only one process is writing the data - the performance tanks when there are multiple writers. That product that claims to support full SQL? They consider little things like JOINs, transactions and nested queries to be out of scope.No wonder we read so often about Big Data failures. "Product X let us down," announces the CTO of yet another large financial institution that made the mistake of believing the vendor hype. The real culprit is not Product X - the real culprit is the silo approach that drove the company to make a choice without the benefit of outside advice or experience. The only way to cut through the hype around a product is to try it yourself, and/or talk to someone you trust who is using it.The best advice I can give to a company contemplating a Big Data initiative for the first time: Get help. Perhaps you can hire experts from outside your organisation who have already built such a system. Perhaps you can build up a network of friends who have made the beginner's mistakes and can share their insights with you. Another option is to partner with a company like Ness Software Engineering Services that has managed a broad range of Big Data projects and technologies, and has a proven track record of success. The silo approach, going it alone like the sheriff facing off against the outlaws in a Hollywood Western film, may work in the movies, but not in Big Data.The author is chief data officer at Ness Software Engineering Services
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MAIT, the industry body representing India's IT hardware, training and R&D services sectors, has announced the findings of its Annual Industry Performance Review for the financial year 2014-15.Amar Babu, President of MAIT, said, “Phones are driving all the growth but PC is showing degrowth. The only way to arrest this degrowth is to look at ways to increase PC penetration in Indian households. One way is by enabling infrastructure, providing low-cost loans and discount vouchers for purchasing PCs. We also see a ray of hope for PC growth in future on account of some of Digital India initiatives which aims at having a digital Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen, governance & services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens.”According to the findings, the overall size of Indian ICT Hardware Market Stands at $15.87 billion, showing a growth of 23.98% over the previous year. This segment includes PCs, Desktops, Phablets (Screen size 5 inch and more), tablets (screen size greater than or equal to 7 inch), smartphones, servers, and peripherals. However, the total PC sales (desktop computers and notebooks) stood at 10.62 million (106.2 lakh) units, registering negative growth of 10 per cent over the last fiscal.Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director of MAIT said, “Government programme have been instrumental in driving the growth of notebook and also its decline. In a country where affordability is an issue, it is important for Government to provide the additional impetus to the adoption of PCs, thereby, driving overall development of the society. The bigger screen of phablets make it an extremely desirable product as it bridges the gap of a multi-utility device and an entertainment device. However, it is only up to the 5.5 in screen phablets that have found acceptance. Role of tablets as a ubiquitous device for consumers is fast diminishing. On the other hand desktop PC continues to de-grow and found a niche amongst households in small towns and rural.”Phablets made a huge growth of 527 per cent over last year to do 50.8 million sales and is expected to grow by around 65% in the next fiscal year. They are seeing fast emerging and information consumption, especially in the larger cities. Multi-utility of the product coupled with the ease of usage and handling makes it a preferred device over the other devices.Biswapriya Bhattacharjee, Vice president, BIRD, IMRB International said, “The study is based on over 42,000 face-to-face interviews with end-users spread over 35 cities with data projected to the 'All India Urban market' and 41 SCRs (socio economic regions) to estimate the ‘All India Rural market. It involved data collection after the 'last mile' that the product travels, i.e. from the premise where the product is finally installed".(BW Online Bureau)
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Samsung Electronics India on Thursday (16 July) launched of two new 4G enabled smartphones in the J Series - Galaxy J5 priced at Rs 11,999 and Galaxy J7 for 14,999. With this, Samsung has expanded its long term evolution (LTE) smartphone portfolio to 10.The new smartphones from Samsung are a combination of powerful technology, innovative features and superior consumer offerings, reiterating the company’s commitment to develop innovative products based on deep consumer insights.Samsung has tied up exclusively with Flipkart and both models can be pre booked on Flipkart from July 16 to July 22.Asim Warsi, Vice President, Marketing, IT & Mobile at Samsung India, said, “Samsung is committed to lead the 4G revolution by providing new user experiences and latest technology. With consumers embracing the 4G revolution, we are looking at expanding our product offerings. The launch of Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 aims to give consumers options in the mid-range price segment. With optimal features and great value proposition for our consumers, the new devices will offer an uncompromised smartphone experience, at very competitive prices.”In anticipation of a change to a mobile-first experience and a shift from downloading to streaming content, Samsung has ensured both models have powerful specifications to make the most of 4G networks with speeds up to 150 Mbps. Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 also feature 5” and 5.5” HD Super AMOLED displays and the proprietary Sound Alive technology that provide a holistic and immersive entertainment experience. In addition, these new smart phones include popular features exclusive to GALAXY devices, such as Ultra-Power Saving Mode, Easy Mode and usage in 14 regional languages.Based on Samsung’s internal research, 87% of mid-segment Smartphone users in India in the age group of 18-25 years engage in mobile gaming. Samsung has developed a unique multi-player gaming proposition to provide a more engaging entertainment platform. The company has partnered with Gameloft, a leading publisher of games for mobile, to provide an exclusive offer for mobile gaming enthusiasts. Users of the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 will get free in-game credits of up to INR 3,200 for prominent titles like Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 among others. With 4G network capabilities, gamers will also be able to enjoy a better multiplayer experience on their smartphones. Samsung has ensured that Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 deliver superior multi-player gaming performance by powering them with 64-bit Quad-Core and Octa-Core processors respectively along with 1.5GB of RAM.With the launch of Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7, Samsung has also redefined the selfie experience for consumers with a powerful 5MP front camera coupled with a front facing flash for great selfies in any lighting condition. The smartphones are equipped with a 13MP AF primary camera to provide imaging capabilities that are powerful enough to fulfil every shutterbugs needs.The slim and light Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 smartphones come with a user-friendly design philosophy to enable users with a comfortable grip while operating or playing a game on the phone. With a slim design, the Galaxy J5 measures up to 7.9mm, whereas the Galaxy J7 measures a discreet 7.5mm. Both the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7 come with anti-smudge anodized CMF coating, which gives the devices a premium and stylish feel. The models will be available in white and black colour options.Samsung has also partnered with Airtel to provide an introductory offer for 4G users which will include double data offer. Customers will also get unlimited music download worth Rs 594 through Wynk Music app for a period of 6 months.(BW Online Bureau)
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Lookup, hyper-local messaging app, gives you a chance to fulfill your dream of riding in a super luxury car. All you have to do is download the app and chat with Ramesh Tours and Travels which provides rentals of world class luxury cars in India at affordable price points. On 17 July, eight early bird winners will be selected to ride for an hour in a super car for only Rs 999. Ramesh Tours and Travels is run by Bengaluru’s famous barber Ramesh Babu who might charge a nominal amount for giving haircuts but owns a fleet of over 130 luxury cars, including a dazzling Rs 3.3 crore Rolls Royce, and a range of Mercs and BMWs.Only 3 people can ride along with the registered person, eight slots will be booked from 9 am to 5 pm. All must assemble at JW Marriott half an hour before your slot. The hour includes getting in at JW Marriott to finishing the drive and arriving within the JW Marriott and getting stuck in traffic shall not entail for longer hours.(BW Online Bureau)
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Intex has been a well known Indian IT brand which started off in the year 1996 by making the world’s first ethernet card with a lifetime warranty. The company has now moved on to make smartphones and claims to be the second largest smartphone maker in India in terms of volume. With smart wear catching up globally, the company has taken the advantage and has joined Spice Mobiles to announce its very own Android based smartwatch called the iRist. The new smartwatch was unveiled at MWC (Mobile World Congress) Asia 2015 in Shanghai on the 15th of July. Mind you, this is not the same as Android Wear but it is a standalone device which runs on a tweaked version Android 4.4.2The watch has a basic design with a rubber strap which comes in three colours. It is not the best looking smartwatch out there, but not the worst one either. The display measures in at 1.65-inch and is sharp, however the content on the small display doesn’t look impressive and Intex has said that they are working on it to make the experience better in the coming days. The iRist comes with a microSIM card slot which supports calling as well as 3G data and there is Wi-Fi as well, so apart from making calls, you can actually browse the web on its tiny display which seems over-ambitious. There is also a 5MP camera on the device with face-detection which sounds something from a spy movie, but practically it doesn’t seem like a very good idea on such a small device.One can download apps directly on to the smartwatch as there is 4GB of memory as well as a memory expansion slot of up to 32GB. The memory expansion option also enables you to load and store your music library and listen to it via the supplied Bluetooth headset or any other speaker or headset by pairing it to the watch. It is also water resistant and can withstand small splashes or a little rain. Intex also confirmed that this smartwatch can also act an extension for your smartphone through an app, to only give you notifications, like most of the smartwatches in the market.The price for the iRist has been set at Rs. 11,999 and will be sold exclusively on eBay for the first few months and then eventually hit retails stores after August. Intex says they have been developing this product for some time and are still working on it to improve the experience, but the fact of the matter is that the iRist is actually a rebranded smartwatch developed by a Chinese vendor. The same watch is available on certain Chinese shopping portals like Aliexpress for a much lower price. This is the same scenario with most of the Indian smartphone brands where they buy smartphones from Chinese vendors and sell them by slapping their own badge. The product could attract a small audience who are looking for a unique product, but catering such a product to the masses could be a difficult task for Intex.
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The death knell was all but being sounded for Apple’s iconic music player, the iPod. Its journey began in October 2001, when it was a little hard disk with a huge dial, a bit of a screen and anything from 16 to 64GB of space for what was then referred to as your entire music collection. It was heavyish, but users loved it and coveted it much as they do the iPhone today. The iPod evolved, shed the hard disk to move to flash storage, and became sleeker and thinner. It also got a touch screen. It obliterated the MP3 player market for everyone else, who was promptly forgotten. As the iPhone came along, some versions of the full iPod Touch began to look rather like the small brother of the iPhone. And it with music and photos that users began to fill up the iPhone. In time it seemed one of these devices was on the way to redundancy, and it certainly wasn’t the iPhone. Apple made tiny clip-on versions of the iPod and offered users a bevy of choice on how they could carry their music around. Still, iPod sales aren’t in the league of the iPhone – and may never be. All the same, with Apple Music, the company’s new music service offerings, having launched recently, it’s true that increased music listening and streaming will take its toll on the battery. So, why not refresh the iPod and give it a new lease of life. And that’s exactly what Apple has just done. As of today, the full new iPod is pretty much an iPhone without the phone – though you can explore a number of internet calling apps. The new iPod now has an 8 megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel rear one. Considering it’s what the iPhones have, a user can look forward to some pretty good photography with that music player. The camera has an f2.4 aperture and even does slow motion video. Other specs have been refreshed too. There’s a 64-bit A8 processor – like the iPhone. So, one can take photographs, track fitness, use all the apps sitting on the newest version of iOS and access the new music services. The prices are:Rs 18,900 for 16GBRs 22,900 for 32GBRs 26,900 for 64GB All these are a fraction of the cost of an iPhone in its latest version – and yet you get the iPhone experience. Minus the calling, of course. Sales will show what happens with the iPod family. But what’s your opinion? Should Apple have given up on iPods already?
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Mapping technology advancements from Google Inc and Facebook Inc that provide more precise user location data than ever before are starting to dent advertisers' longtime skepticism about boosting mobile ad spending. In recent years, major retailers have restricted mobile to 10 percent or less of their ad budgets because of difficulty gauging their effectiveness and a limited ability to target shoppers by location. Targeting is now much easier, to the extent that a consumer walking past a given retail outlet can receive ads in his or her Facebook or Google app showcasing some particular product available at that store - perhaps offering a discount coupon to lure them inside. That is a tantalizing prospect for companies if it leads to actual sales. Gauging the ads' ultimate effectiveness remains a challenge. And privacy advocates say the location tracking and targeting is intrusive and gives companies too much ability to track users' movements over time. "It's unfair for the companies to pull data from the user this way," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. But for Facebook and Google there are early signs the new technology is already paying off. Six advertising firm executives representing more than 50 clients combined, told Reuters in interviews that clients have invested significantly more since the holiday season in mobile ads as a result of this new technology. In some cases, these advertisers, including major retailers they declined to name, are investing up to 40 percent of their advertising budgets on mobile ads, four times as much as at the end of last year. Privacy ConcernsWith consumers spending more time on smartphones - Google said in May that mobile searches outstripped desktop searches in the U.S. and nine other countries - millions if not billions of dollars are at stake in winning advertisers over to mobile platforms. Facebook and Google are widely considered to be at the forefront of this shift. Google claimed 37 percent of U.S. mobile ad revenue share in 2014 and Facebook had 18.5 percent, according to data from research firm eMarketer. Twitter, which had the third-largest share, was far behind with 3.6 percent of the share. Other tech companies that cannot keep up risk losing a share of the fastest-growing part of the advertising industry. U.S. mobile ad spending more than doubled in 2013 to $10.7 billion and is projected to increase 50 percent in 2015 to $28.7 billion, according to eMarketer. Responding to privacy experts' concerns, Facebook said it uses privacy-protecting measures when targeting users to ensure location data is not misused. Google declined to comment for this story. Advertisers say they are aware of consumers' privacy concerns. But federal and state laws do not regulate location data and collection. While this new effort has improved mobile ads, it is still difficult to show their effectiveness. On desktop computers, advertisers can easily see who clicked on their ads and made purchases, whereas it is nearly impossible to prove a mobile ad drove someone to a store. Facebook and Google have advanced that technology by offering more precise location targeting, but in many cases are still unable to show whether a mobile ad drove in-store traffic. Facebook said that it is determined to prove to businesses that mobile ads drive people into their stores. The company can sometimes determine if the ads drove purchases by looking at in-store sales and matching them to the number of times an ad is clicked on mobile. "If they are able to crack that code, there are going to be a lot of retailers investing a lot. It won't just be the Macy's and Walmarts that have the money," said Valerie Davis, senior vice president of paid digital media at PM Digital, which represents Steve Madden, L.K. Bennett and other retailers.(Reuters)
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Online redressal company Akosha is changing to become Helpchat, a chat-based personal assistant app. Ankur Singla, CEO and founder of Akosha (now Helpchat), shares, “Over the last two years I observed how more and more users were contacting companies for information on their new products or deals than filing a complaint. A lot of time was getting wasted just to get information on very simple stuff.” Singla saw this as a viable business opportunity and decided to pivot Akosha as an online app wherein users can get information about anything and everything on their everyday task list. Currently, their 350 chat experts help to resolve queries whether it is about grocery, travel, doctor, laundry or phone recharge. These experts are available from 7am to 2am and get 30,000 chat requests in a day. They got Mumbai-based agencies Ogilvy & Mather and Open Design onboard to help reposition their company’s branding, design and service. The focus of the company for this year is to improve user’s experience and engagement, thereby increasing the number of interactions per day. The service is free for users and the company plans to monetise based on commissions or leads model in the future. Helpchat has a call facility too wherein users can call the chat experts to get their queries answered. But Singla says, “The focus is on promoting chat as it is more intuitive, cost-effective and allows for automation. Right now, 25 per cent of our chats are automated. Moving forward as we get more data, we will try to automate up to 50 per cent of our conversations.” Helpchat also acts as a messenger for brands such as Aircel, Voltas, Eureka Forbes, MakeMyTrip, Bookmyshow, Oyo Rooms, HDFC Life and Spice Mobiles wherein users can directly connect with the representatives from these companies. More than 100 local businesses in Bangalore (Kormangala and Indiranagar) across categories like grocery, fitness, laundry and beauty use this app to help their customers. Helpchat competes with other apps such as LookUp, Haptik and HeyBiz in India. In May 2015, the company raised Rs 100 crore in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital.
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