Low-cost technology and India-centric solutions will take SMEs forward
December 2, 2009

The issue of information technology usage and empowering of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India got another push in the recently held 'Envisioning the Wired SME conference', organized by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and IndiaMART.com, at the Sheraton, Saket, in New Delhi on Saturday, 28th November '09.

Protiviti, Managing Director, Mr. Mritunjay Kapur said, "Despite having a contributive share of 40 % in total industrial output, the SME sector has been lagging behind in the technology front. Unorganized transactions are what need to be controlled, if the SMEs are to make themselves more investor-friendly".

The issue of wiring SMEs with the help of IT needs more than software. Developing SME-focused software is not enough. Proper IT training is required to enable entrepreneurs to leverage the technology for business growth, stated Dr. Anil Wali, MD, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer, IIT-Delhi. Bringing to focus the need of setting up IT institutes to encourage young entrepreneurs to come up with viable technology-driven business ideas, Mr. Wali urged the government to establish more business incubation centers across the country.

The journey from wireless to wired is an uphill task for SMEs. With technology changing every day, smart planning can go a long way in cutting down on unnecessary expenditure on soon-to-expire software, opined Dr. Mahesh Taneja, General Manager Finance and IT, Munjal Showa Ltd.

Affordability and functionality drives Asia’s mobile growth
December 1, 2009

According to a report jointly released by the Mobile Marketing Association, a global organization leading the way in promoting the development and sustainability of mobile marketing, and Solidiance, a marketing & innovation strategy consulting firm, functionality and affordability are the two leading factors driving mobile adoption in Asia.

Affordability has been driven not only by the availability of affordable handsets for low-income consumers, but also by lower service prices resulting from highly competitive market places. China, India and Indonesia are the top three markets offering the most affordable handsets in Asia. With regards to functionality, the market for smartphones has been growing across Asia Pacific.

The four key emerging mobile functionalities that are driving growth in Asia include mobile payment, mobile gaming, mobile healthcare and mobile music.

According to Mobile Marketing Association, Asia Pacific, Managing Director, Mr. Rohit Dadwal, “Undoubtedly, the mobile device is the most personal technology in use today, a fact that presents immense potential for engagement through mobile advertising and marketing. The increase of function-rich smartphones in the market with larger screen size, better web browsing capabilities and longer battery life, combined with ‘all you can eat’ data packages is driving the growth of mobile Internet making it a ready channel to connect with customers,”

Solidiance, Managing Director, Mr. Damien Duhamel said, “Currently, Singapore and Hong Kong are the most mature electronic payment markets in Asia. With a focus on services/product innovation, mobile operators and value added services providers are aggressively working on payment options through mobile platforms – which will be the most lucrative segment in the medium term across Asia.”

Dell introduces Inspiron Zino in India
December 7, 2009

Dell India announced the mini-sized Inspiron Zino and Inspiron Zino HD desktops, which are versatile enough to handle tasks from basic computing chores to driving a big-screen, High-Definition video media center.

The Inspiron Zino desktops offer color choice and can be easily personalized. The Inspiron Zino is available starting this month, and the Inspiron Zino HD will be available in India next month.

Starting at Rs. 17,500 and measuring about 7.8 inches square and 3.5 inches tall, the Inspiron Zino is ideal as a household PC, which fits in tight spaces and make home networking simple.

The Inspiron Zino HD is a big performer with standard HD-capable integrated graphics, HDMI output and built-in networking that make it smart for typical home and student computing activities such as word processing, e-mail, organizing photos and music, and surfing the Internet. With optional additional memory, hard drive storage, combo Blu-ray disc player, wireless remote control and Windows 7 Media Player, the Inspiron Zino HD can be configured into a powerful home media center computer.

Dax Networks launches DX-2104-NAS
December 3, 2009

Dax Networks, one of India's top three networking companies, launched DX-2104-NAS, a Unified Storage Device. Priced at Rs 1,17,990/-, DX-2104-NAS features in the company's Networking Infrastructure Solutions range. DX-2104-NAS comes with a populated capacity of 2TB SATA, scalable to 4TB. This device is part of Dax's portfolio of new-generation Networking Access, Connectivity and Storage products designed for the Indian SMB market.

DX-2104-NAS has a built-in auto desktop/server backup module, enabling rapid backups from individual client machines. It also supports software accelerated RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), ensuring full data redundancy with protection against hardware failure. If one drive fails, the data volumes can still be rebuilt with the remaining drives.

Turner planning to acquire NDTV Imagine
December 4, 2009

Turner International India Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned unit of Time Warner Inc's Turner Broadcasting System Inc, is planning to acquire a controlling stake in entertainment company NDTV Imagine, which runs three entertainment channels.

Turner International, part of the Times Warner group, the fourth-largest entertainment conglomerate in the world (after Walt Disney, NewsCorp and Viacom), already has presence in India through children’s channels like Cartoon Network and Pogo and world movie channel WB and news channel CNN.

It also has a joint venture with the Zee Network through which it distributes 35 channels in India, including the Zee and the Turner bouquet. Times Warner also has a content sharing and branding agreement for CNN-IBN. Turner also forayed into the Hindi general entertainment space through the channel Real, which is a 50-50 joint venture with Miditech.

Control over NDTV Imagine, which has a channel share of 8 per cent and is the fifth-largest channel in terms of viewership in the Hindi general entertainment space, will provide Times Warner a foothold in a fast-growing genre. Hindi general entertainment accounts for over 25 per cent of the Rs. 8,000 crore-plus TV advertising pie. Currently, Turner’s global competitors like Viacom (which has a stake in Colors channel with the TV18 group) and NewsCorp (through various channels like Star Plus, Star One) dominate this space.

Microsoft launches new consumer led initiative to fight software piracy
December 03, 2009

Microsoft India announced the launch of new consumer led education and enforcement initiative to reduce the menace of piracy in the country. The initiative is aptly called the 'Consumer Action Day', and it aims to protect consumers from the risks and perils of pirated/counterfeit software and to educate, enable and empower consumers to fight and reject piracy by reporting instances of software piracy and counterfeiting by the resellers and instances where they have been the victim of piracy.

Today, consumers who are victims of piracy or those who are aware of pirated products which have been sold to them by fraudulent means can register a complaint with Microsoft. Online resources like http://www.microsoft.com/howtotell/ provide detailed information and examples of unlicensed/counterfeit software to help consumers identify if their software is original, while Microsoft Genuine Advantage(WGA) and Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) help consumers validate whether their software is original or not. Further, Microsoft's supported e-commerce website www.buyoriginalms.com provides easy access to original products from Microsoft.

Microsoft has taken steps to help consumers who have provided full support, information and evidence to Microsoft's anti-piracy team. Additionally, basis these complaints, Microsoft sent several caution notices to those resellers identified by the customers, and initiated few civil legal actions on the errant resellers based on the consumer reports.

BT partners BSNL to offer global conferencing solutions
December 2, 2009

UK based BT, one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), India's largest public sector communications company, have partnered to offer Global Conferencing Solutions.

BSNL’s partnership with BT will provide audio and web conferencing solutions to its customers. The solution has unique differentiators and supports multiple dial-ins in a single conference. The audio conference solution is integrated with web-conferencing to support real-time and interactive discussions.

There can be 40 concurrent dial-ins from any country across the globe in a single virtual conferencing supporting audio and web. Each of these dial-ins locations can have multiple users in the conference. BT and BSNL engaged on their managed services journey after signing a MoU.

On this rollout, BSNL, CMD, Mr. Kuldeep Goyal said, “The greatest strength of these new services is found in the strong domestic reach provided by BSNL coupled with the global coverage enabled by BT’s network. This deepening partnership enables our customers to collaborate easily with their domestic and international users, partners and vendors, wherever they are in the world. It also helps our customers manage and reduce costs, improve productivity and helping to create a greener environment.” He stressed, “A unique selling point of this service is the ability for each participant to dial in locally from their respective country.”

Astro –Vision becomes first Indian company to join BSA as a Member
December 1, 2009

The Business Software Alliance is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace.

Kochi, Kerala based Astro-Vision Futuretech Private Ltd., regarded as one of the pioneers in Indian astrology software, has become the first company to join as a local member of the BSA in India to promote the use of genuine software and other related issues.

Astro-vision offers services such as Horoscope, marriage compatibility, gem recommendations, numerology, astrology tips etc., and its clients in India and abroad include publications, websites, mobile service providers, computerised astrology centres, astrologers, astrology research centres, researchers and students of astrology.

According to Astro-Vision Futuretech Pvt Ltd., Managing Director, Mr. Arjun Ravindran, "In a growing software market like India, especially where the awareness of Intellectual Property rights is just catching up, we feel that BSA can play a vital role in addressing the issue of software piracy. It will surely help Indian software product companies like ours to protect its IP rights and ensure growth in the national and international markets. We hope that other software product developers in India will soon join BSA and strengthen its campaign against software piracy."