Gartner: Worldwide PC shipments returned to growth in third quarter of 2009
October 16, 2009

A preliminary result provided by Gartner Inc. says that the PC industry performed better than expected as worldwide PC shipments totaled 80.9 million units in the third quarter of 2009, which is a 0.5 % increase from the third quarter of 2008.

According to Gartner principal analyst Ms. Mikako Kitagawa, “These are good results especially given that PC shipments for the third quarter of 2009 are being compared to a very strong third quarter from 2008.”

Ms. Kitagawa further said, “The consumer market continued to lead unit shipment growth, driven by low priced mobile PCs. The ongoing price declines continue to be a major issue in the PC industry. PC vendor performance cannot be determined solely by unit market share gains alone as related revenues and margin performance is key to surviving in very competitive market.”

Asia-Pac telepresence mkt to be worth US$ 190 mn by 2014: Ovum
October 14, 2009

Analyst and consulting company of London, Ovum says that Asia-Pacific is one of the regions experiencing strong growth from managed telepresence services over the next five years.

Ovum Principal Analyst, Mr. David Molony says “By 2014, the telepresence-based videoconferencing services market will be worth US$ 450 million globally, and Asia-Pac could account for nearly 42% of that.”

The year 2008–09 observed vendors increasing their interest in the Asia-Pacific region, and also saw Asian vendors jumping on the video bandwagon. Videoconferencing solutions such as telepresence ensures that more and more business relationships grow without the need for travel.

AMD launches ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 Series graphics cards
October 14, 2009

AMD has launched the most powerful processor ever created, in its next generation graphics cards – the ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 series - and the world’s first and only to fully support Microsoft DirectX® 112, the new gaming and compute standard shipping shortly with Microsoft Windows® 7 operating system, to the Indian market.

Boasting up to 2.72 TeraFLOPS of compute power, the ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 series delivers twice the performance-per-dollar of previous generations of graphics products. With the ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 series of graphics cards, PC users can expand their computing experience with ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology, accelerate their computing experience with ATI Stream technology.

“Games aren’t the only applications for graphics anymore. Many applications are already designed to take advantage of the massive parallel processing capabilities of the GPU. To help this phenomenon, ATI Radeon HD 5800 series of graphics cards, driven by the most powerful processor on the planet, is changing the game, both for the 'gamer' and the 'worker' in us,” said Anirban Chakravartti, Director, Global Business Development, Professional Graphics, AMD.

ZTE Wins Unitech Wireless' GSM Network Infrastructure and Maintenance Contract in India
October 15, 2009

Leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, ZTE Corporation announced the signing of a GSM Network infrastructure agreement with Unitech Wireless.

As per the agreement, ZTE will provide GSM systems and core network equipment for a period of 5 years across the circles of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana. With this contract, ZTE has added a significant win to the growing list of telecom service providers deploying its GSM solutions in India.

ZTE Telecom India Pvt Ltd., Chairman & Managing Director, Dr. D. K. Ghosh said, "We're glad to be selected by Unitech Wireless to establish and manage their GSM infrastructure in India,” Dr. Ghosh further added that "This agreement not only marks our GSM network contract from a global telecom operator, but also provides us with an opportunity to establish and manage GSM networks in metros and large cities. We are confident that opportunities like these will serve to further accelerate our growth momentum and expand our business footprint in the fastest growing telecom market in the world."

IDG and Qualcomm Ventures pick up stake in Mobile TV player Apalya Technologies
October 14, 2009

Hyderabad based mobile video platform company Apalya Technologies announced funding of over US$ 3 million from IDG Ventures India and Qualcomm Ventures. The advisors for the deal were Mumbai-based investment bank, Consort Capital.

Apalya plans to utilize the funds to build its presence in India, and to significantly enhance its service offering initiatives.

According to IDG Ventures India Founder and Managing Director, Mr. T C Meenakshisundaram, “Apalya fits well with the fund's criteria of a good team, disruptive technology and a large opportunity in Mobile VAS space, as Mobile TV/Video has been a “Killer-App” in other 3G markets.” The mobile VAS market has grown by around 60 % year on year and is estimated to touch INR 251 billion in FY 2009-10.

Qualcomm Ventures Director, Mr. Karthee Madasamy said, “Apalya has built a successful business around mobile data services with an innovative Mobile TV and video platform suited for the Indian market. Qualcomm is pleased to invest in Apalya to help the company as it expands its offerings to 3G wireless networks now and pursues dedicated mobile TV deployments in the future.”

Apalya Co-founder and CEO Mr. Vamshi Reddy said, “Through this deal, we get to leverage IDG’s media expertise with their Venture team’s vast operational experience and Qualcomm’s expertise, as the leader in Mobile Technology.”