CP PLUS, the Global Leader in advanced surveillance and security systems and solutions, and market leader with No. 1 market share in India, recently launched its path-breaking product, Wireless Cube IP Camera. Comprising newfangled features, the product is aesthetically-built and meticulously-designed in order to meet all the security related needs of homes and offices. Aditya Khemka, Managing Director, CP PLUS India said, "The durable and user-friendly Cube Camera is an innovative way to solve one's security issues at home or office. The leading-edge specifications of the device lend it the prowess to provide high-end security solutions to its users."Consisting of a 3.6 mm fixed lens and a 1 megapixel CMOS image sensor, the Cube Camera is capable of two-way audio and helps tremendously in increasing the security level with its in-built microphone that has an effective range of 5 meters / 15 feet. Also, it has the capability of recording in a video resolution of 1280 x 800 at up to 30 frames per second.TCS announces Special Reward for EmployeesTata Consultancy Services, (TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, announced today that it will pay employees a Special Reward or one-time bonus to mark the 10th anniversary of the company’s initial public offering in 2004.Globally all employees who have completed at least one year of service will be eligible for the special bonus payment. Each employee will be given a reward equivalent to one week’s salary for every year of service completed at TCS. For the company, the total consideration for this Special Reward to employees to mark ten years of listing on India’s largest stock exchanges will be Rs 2,628 crore.N Chandrasekaran, CEO & MD congratulated all the employees for helping build TCS into one of the world’s most energetic and innovative organisations. “Today, we act as a strategic partner to many global customers and TCSers are well-known for their ability to execute, innovate and provide leadership in the customer’s context. This Special Reward to employees acknowledges the role they have played in building TCS into one of the most respected and valued technology services companies in the world.”Isolux Corsan Completes Its First Installation Project In IndiaIsolux Corsan completes its first Installation Project in India. The works was awarded by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) and included the contract for design, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of 110Kv / 25 Kv AC single phase 50 HZ, 30 MVA; traction substation and Feeding Post at Chinchpokli & Sion and 5 switching posts on thane –CSTMS section of Mumbai Division of Central Railway at Mumbai to Isolux Corsan. The project with a total value of Rs 71.87 Crores was awarded in August 2011. Isolux Corsan already received part completion certificate from the client (MRVC) for successful completion of 6 stations i.e Chinchpokli, Parel, Matunga, Sion, Vidya Vihar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CSTM).The balance one station also in the final stages of completion. The project is slated for full completion by June 2015.Snapdeal Appoints Dharmarajan K as Head, Customer ServiceIndia’s largest online marketplace, Snapdeal today announced that it has appointed Dharmarajan K as Head - Customer Service. In this new role, Dharma will be responsible for furthering the company’s efforts towards building world class customer service operations. He will be a part of Snapdeal’s leadership team and will lead customer service operations.“Customer is at the heart of what we do and providing our customers the best experience is our top most priority. Dharma in his previous roles has successfully built great customer experiences for complex and multi-dimensional organisations. We are extremely excited to have him on board and look forward to working along with him to build world class customer service and thereby, create life changing experiences for our customers”, said Rohit Bansal, co-Founder, Snapdeal.NetCORE Launches SmartechnetCORE, a leading digital marketing solutions provider has launched Smartech, a cloud-based marketing technology platform. With the launch of Smartech, netCORE aims to help modern marketers streamline digital communication, increase engagement, automate cross-channel workflows, deliver data-driven personalization and improve operational efficiency. Commenting on the launch, Mr.Rajesh Jain, Founder and Managing Director, netCORE, said, “Smartech is yet another example of industry-leading innovation that netCORE has been known for. As technology transforms marketing, Smartech is exactly the platform marketers need to take away the drudgery of campaigns and enable a deeper personalized connect with customers."Rio Tinto Teams With AccentureRio Tinto, a global diversified mining company, will move to a ground breaking information systems and technology (IS&T) delivery model, partnering with Accenture to shape and deliver the transformation. The new model will migrate core enterprise IS&T systems to an “As-a-Service” solution based in the cloud. It also incorporates consumption based pricing to ensure costs are fully flexible and in line with business demand.“Rio Tinto is on an ambitious journey to a world-class IS&T delivery model that is innovative, adaptable and cost-effective, fully supporting our business priorities and group operating model,” said Rio Tinto Group CIO Simon Benney. “We selected Accenture to help us manage this transformation based on its global delivery capabilities, its vision for the intelligent business cloud and its ability to support our digital transformation programme.”
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A group of India's leading technology and Internet firms has pulled out of Internet.org, Facebook's flagship effort to get billions more online, in a growing debate over free access and internet neutrality in the country. Net neutrality is the concept that all websites on the internet are treated equally. The debate over access and neutrality has grabbed headlines in India this week after leading telecom carrier Bharti Airtel announced a product through which mobile "app" makers pay for data usage to allow customers to use their apps for free. Activists and some users in the country, home to the world's third-largest population of Internet users, argue such platforms and subsidised access go against the idea of net neutrality. Start-up firms say they could be at a disadvantage against deeper pocketed rivals.Read More Stories On Net Neutrality Travel portal Cleartrip.com and media conglomerate Times Group were the latest to take a public stance: both said on blog pages on Thursday that they would pull out of Internet.org, which also offers access to a limited portion of the Internet for free. Facebook partnered with telecom carrier Reliance Communications to launch Internet.org in India in February, making it the first country in Asia to get the app. Aimed at low income and rural users, Internet.org's app offers free access to more than 30 pared-down web services, including job listings, healthcare and education sites, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging services. Facebook and other defenders argue Internet.org complements India's efforts to bring more people online. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has been vocal about a free Internet in the past, defended the initiative in an article for the Hindustan Times newspaper on Thursday. "Net neutrality is not in conflict with working to get more people connected," he wrote. "We will never prevent people accessing other services, and we will not use fast lanes."(Reuters)
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While expectation were high that HTC would announce its latest flagship smartphone for the Indian market on Tuesday (14th April), the company managed to surprise everyone by skipping the One M9 altogether. For the ones hoping to get their hands on the One M9, there is more bad news as HTC confirmed that it will not be selling the smartphone in India. This move sounds surprising and it also gives an indication that HTC might not be very confident to compete against its biggest rival, the Samsung Galaxy S6 which comes at a comparatively lower price. The Taiwanese smartphone maker did however; announce two new smartphones, the One M9+ and the One E9+. The One M9+ was launched in China just last week where HTC said that it wouldn’t sell this device in the western markets and it seems that the company kept its word by announcing it in India. The device is a larger version of the original One M9 with a similar attractive metal body, sleek design and a few changes here and there. The smartphone features a brand new Helio X10 processor (a 64-bit octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz) made by MediaTek which is a bold move by HTC to skip the latest Snapdragon 810 processor but similar to what Samsung did with its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. The handset also features a 5.2-inch Quad HD (2560x1440) display, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, a 2840mAh battery, and a 20.7MP rear camera along with a 4MP front UltraPixel camera. It will be running on Android Lollipop with Sense 7 UI. The highlight though, is a fingerprint sensor, sitting right below the display, splitting the lower loudspeaker into two. Priced at Rs. 52,500, it is slightly higher than the Samsung Galaxy S6, which starts at Rs 49,900. But for that extra money you get a tad bit of an extra screen size and a memory card expansion slot when compared to the S6. HTC also introduced the One E9+ which comes with a plastic finish, similar to what we saw on last year’s One E8. This is a larger smartphone this time, measuring at 5.5-inches with a Quad HD (2560x1440) display, the same MediaTek processor as the M9+, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, the same camera combination and a 2,800mAh battery. Even with its large dimension, it manages to be on the lighter side as it is just 7.5mm thick and weighs about 150gms. The One E9+ will hit the Indian market from the mid of May with a price tag that will be unveiled at the time of the launch.
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Timex, a leader in timepieces, has introduced the new analog Timex Yacht Racer with Intelligent Quartz technology built for the pure enjoyment of the sport. The unique bi-direction center hand provides a countdown to start and a perfect date you'll never have to set making it as functional as it is beautiful.Anupam Mathur, Head of Sales and Marketing, Timex Group India Limited said, “As a brand, Timex is known to provide technology solutions keeping in mind the consumer needs. Besides the fresh new look, the Yacht Racer features large buttons, easy to read displays and advanced intuitive programming making it a high quality racing watch.” He further added, “Our partnership with Flipkart to launch the watch exclusively reinforces our commitment to simplify the process for millions of users who prefer to shop online and get the watch with just a few clicks.”Martell Cognac Celebrates 300th AnniversaryHollywood Actress and self-confessed Francophile, Diane Kruger was on Wednesday (15 April) announced as Martell Cognac’s Ambassador for the brand’s 300th anniversary this year. The Martell House was founded in 1715 at the height of French Art de Vivre, a period of time in which gastronomy, tasting and craftsmanship were all celebrated. As the very oldest of the great cognac houses, Martell intend to pay tribute to French Art de Vivre through a range of initiatives in 2015.Kaspersky Lab Opens Office In SingaporeKaspersky Lab on Wednesday announced that it has added Singapore to its ever-expanding worldwide network of offices. The new office is the 34th representative division of the company. Kaspersky Lab offices are now located in 31 countries on five continents. The new office in Singapore is to oversee national business development, while also becoming the future focal point for the company's R&D in the region. Eventually it will also become the regional HQ, acting as a business hub for the wider Asia-Pacific region.Commenting on the office opening, Eugene Kaspersky, chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, said: "Singapore is one of the most technologically developed countries in the world, while at the same time one of the main financial hubs on the planet. A strong presence here is simply essential for a successful international company. What's also important is that the Singapore government fully understands the importance of cybersecurity and creates perfect conditions for a business like ours."Videocon Telecom Registers 53% Revenue GrowthVideocon Telecom, the versatile, friendly and dynamic telecom brand of the Indian conglomerate Videocon group, posted an impressive 53% growth in its Top line Revenue in FY 2014-15 over last financial year with a consolidated Top line Gross Revenue of 1974 Cr including its GSM business, NLD/ILD and Punjab Wireline business. Earlier last year, the telco talked about its plans for a Top line Revenue of 2000 Cr in FY2014-15 and has been able to deliver 99 per cent of the same. Backed by its aggressive customer acquisition strategy, Videocon Telecom achieved approx 19 per cent share of incremental customer market share in its 4 operational circles in FY 2014-15. This has helped the telco to achieve an impressive growth of 38 per cent in its Subscriber Base and cross the 10 million mark subscriber base as on March 2015.Lite Bite Foods Is Official F&B partner For Delhi Daredevils Lite Bite Foods, one of the largest and the most dynamic F&B Retail companies in the country (with Hero brands - Punjab Grill, Zambar, Baker Street, Fresc Co)is all set to be a part ofthe eighth season of IPL (Indian Premier League). The company today announced itsassociation with the Delhi Daredevilsteam as their official Food & Beverage Partner.Chef Gurpreet Singh, Brand Chef Punjab Grill, Lite Bite Foods will curate a special healthy buffet for the players, coaches and officials of the team and a regular buffet for the Umpires, during the team's practice sessions.Expressing his excitement, SharadSachdeva, CEO, Lite Bite Foods Pvt. Ltd.said, "We are delighted to be a part of this season of Indian Premier League and we are proud to associate ourselves with the Delhi Daredevils team.We always vouch for eatinghealthyand will curate the appropriate menu according to players' health parameters. We hope for a long lasting and mutually beneficial partnership and are looking forward for a great cricketing season."India’s Leading Cloud Financial Management SoftwareA growing number of India’s businesses and accountants are using Intuit QuickBooks to simplify running their business finances, making it one of the country’s leading cloud-based financial management solutions. Launched in India in 2012, QuickBooks has recorded over 200 percent growth in subscriber adoption in the last fiscal year. Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director of Intuit India, said: “The rapid year-on-year traction that Intuit QuickBooks has experienced in India is indeed very encouraging. Intuit is the world leader in cloud financial management solutions, available in over 124 countries. Last quarter we added 100,000 new QuickBooks subscribers and now we have 841,000 paying subscribers worldwide. Our vision is to become the operating system behind Indian small business success by delivering powerful solutions on the cloud. We will continue to work on empowering small businesses in their journey to success. Today we serve one out of five practicing chartered accountants in India and by 2020 we are looking at one in four small businesses to be using Intuit products and services.”
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Gurgaon-based energy data analytics start up Zenatix has recently launched a Bijli Paani App to help users avail the subsidy on water and power consumption as declared by the AAP government. As per the subsidy, Delhi citizens can avail 20,000 litres of free water but will have to pay for the entire water usage if their consumption goes beyond the set threshold. Also, monthly power consumption of households up to 400 units is subsidised at 50 per cent. The mobile application predicts the water and electricity consumption of the user for the month and gives feedback whether the person will be eligible for subsidy or not. For that, the user has to get the meter reading daily or on alternate days and feed it in the app. The app will then keep track of user input readings and alert them if they are going to cross the threshold limit for the subsidy. The app can be downloaded from the Google Play store.
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Samsung recently announced its highly awaited flagship smartphones for 2015, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, alongside HTC which also showcased its beautiful metal-clad smartphone, the One M9. Both of the smartphones sound promising and are expected to have healthy sales around the globe, but there are two more underdog brands that still haven’t revealed their flagship devices. Sony is expected to announce its Xperia Z4 and LG will be showing off the G4 very soon. Now both of these brands have produced some very interesting products over the past few years, but somehow they have not managed to woo their customers and have been weak in the Indian smartphone market. LG has always been on its toes by bringing in the first of many including the first dual-core smartphone (Optimus 2X), the first quad-core smartphone (Optimus 4X), first curved smartphone (G-Flex) and so on. Their last year’s flagship, the G3, was definitely one of the best Android devices but it fell short of becoming a popular device, especially in India. Japanese tech giant Sony has also had a very bumpy ride in its smartphone division ever since it broke its partnership with Ericsson. Sony Mobiles has some brilliant looking smartphones under its belt along with the highest waterproof rated handsets, but just like LG it has not managed to attract a lot of customers. The sales have plummeted so bad that there has been news about Sony selling off its mobile division. So where have these companies gone wrong? Well, to be honest, both of them have been providing their best, but it is due to the market that their success is going down. With the boost in competitive yet low costing handsets, the smartphone market has drastically changed in India. A major chunk of the consumers are now looking forward to handsets that offer more at an affordable price tag. Sadly Sony and LG have not focused on this range, and have been dependant on premium or mid to high end devices. Even if Sony and LG change their strategies and manage to bring in affordable smartphones in the market today, they would be too late for the party as the current bunch of brands are offering attractive devices which will clearly overshadow the two crippling brands.
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Weather Coming UpIt isn't just the British who talk about the weather. Indians are equally interested. Especially when the weather has been particularly variable as it has recently. The Android app Weather Timeline, which costs Rs 50, is a really detailed look at weather with predictions from the next hour to the distant future. Obviously, the immediate weather is based on satellite information while distant future weather is based on typical patterns — very useful for when you're traveling somewhere.There are a whole bunch of widgets associated with Weather Timeline so you can choose what kind of information to put on your screen. There are lots of options for fine tuning, including changing colour automatically with the weather. What's really nice is the qualitative style of alerts: "Light drizzle, starting in the evening," for example.A Precise WorkoutI've been looking for something like this for a long time. I finally chanced upon this app that goes by the strange name of Chrono List, on the Play Store.Chrono List is a simple timer for exercise intervals. You can create timers by naming them, setting time, entering multiple tasks and selecting the alerts you want throughout. I like it because I like to switch on some music that paces my workout and at the same time get alerts for exact times. Often, music has its own built-in intervals, but it's also nice to do a precise number of repetitions. With this app you can set for example, 10 rounds of 50 seconds each . It can include a certain time for warm-up and cool down and you can get different beeps or other sounds to indicate start, finish and intervals. Useful fuss-free app.A Nuzzle Of NewsThis isn't the first app to give you news your friends (let’s be clear, they’re contacts) are sharing. But it’s a popular one and you can get it on the App Store for Rs 60.The approach in this news app — and there are so many out there — is to present you news that more than X number of contacts from your timeline are sharing. Since you will have contacts that share interests, here’s your cue to not just read the content but share it further with the confidence that it has a greater chance of being appreciated. There are several ways to consume your news. You can look at recently shared content, or look at featured feeds, friends’ feeds, friends’ friends’ feeds, and news you may have missed. There’s quite a degree of control over notifications. You can save stuff to read later, of course.Take A Safe Rideanyone who's taking buses, cabs or autos somewhere could benefit from firing up RideSafe before setting out. There are so many safety apps out there but each takes a slightly different approach. This app for Android just looks for deviations from your chosen route to a specified destination. Put in the two addresses and select some contacts you would want informed, and then make sure you follow a known standard route. If there's trouble and you're not able to reach out to your phone, your contacts will get an alert. The app makers have promised to pay for the SMSs that go out — though they hardly need to.Friends and family could also use the app to track each other's rides though most of the cab apps also now have this feature.There have also been SOS apps. It's just that RideSafe doesn't need manual intervention.Traffic Goes Socialthere was a time when, if someone said “jam” you’d reach for the bread and butter. Not today. Jam means badly stuck in traffic, going crazy with frustration. Well, if traffic particularly drives you up the wall and makes you late for everything, try these updates. Traffline, an app on iOS, Android, Facebook and Twitter, is India-specific and it maps your city’s traffic with colour codes. Google Now users will know that you can get an idea of traffic and time to travel from there, including suggestions on when to leave, but here’s a deeper level of information if you’re up to getting involved. You can contribute to the information yourself. People can message each other, put up photos of traffic conditions and work around the routes where there seems to be too much of a traffic pile-up. Enter your location, set your destination, and take recommended routes.For The Hyper FriendlySocial networks have increased the amount of access people have to each other, that’s for sure. But it also means friends and contacts can be scattered all over across these platforms. It gets to be a mess. Connect is an app for iOS, Android and the Web that puts all your people on a map. Clusters are in overlapping circles but you get a pretty good idea of how they’re distributed. The Connect app is meant to let you keep tabs on your contacts to a fault. You can get notifications on their social activities and also, to some degree, their whereabouts. So, if someone visits your city, you’ll get an email notification.For a person who wants to network intensely, it’s a boon, but watch out if you’re roughly happy with your current level of interactions. Even after offloading the app, you continue to get alerts. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 04-05-2015)
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The Moto Turbo is like the big boy burger of phones. It’s not a good looker — not by a long shot — but instead it’s sturdy, chunky, and a little heavy for its 5.2-inches of screen. It’s strange how the back of a phone gets talked about as much as it does but then it’s the part that everyone else sees first and it’s what the user touches all the time. On the Turbo, the back is made of ballistic nylon, a kind of strongly textured material that resists scratches and fingerprints but looks rugged instead of sophisticated. And for what it costs — Rs 41,999 — this phone should be looking a bit nicer.All said and done though, maybe the type of person who’ll be interested in the Turbo won’t care as much about the looks of the phone as about the combination of hardware specs and software. There’s a screen that’s phenomenally crisp at 2560x1440 resolution with 565ppi density. That’s one clear screen. It is a QuadHD AMOLED display (like the ones used by Samsung) and colours are considered overly rich, but the majority don’t mind that at all. And if you’re worrying that a screen like that will soak up battery like a kid drinking cola then you needn’t. The 3,900mAh Li-Po non-removeable battery certainly lasts you the day and a bit more if you use it moderately.The Turbo is also turbocharged with a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM. The graphics processor is an Adreno 420, which makes it just what the gamer ordered. It doesn’t heat up particularly either. Onboard storage is 64GB with no storage slot.The software on the Turbo has all the Google and Motorola goodies. First, it’s running Android 5.0.2 —Lollipop. It’s very fluid and smooth though, sometimes you may get a pause before something begins for the first time. Once it gets going, it’s slippery smooth. Motorola doesn’t interfere with the stock Android feel, the tech savvy love so much, but it does put in extras that make it a special experience to use.The Turbo isn’t without its disappointments though. The 21MP rear camera isn’t what you’d expect it to be. The camera app is slick and easy to use but lacks in-depth settings and results in mushy pictures in low light. The front camera is just a 2MP shooter. Another disappointment is that the phone doesn’t support 4G. Still! All that heft, both physical and performance-wise, may compel you to consider the Turbo, especially if you’re a user of the old Nexuses, ready to upgrade. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 04-05-2015)
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