europe

Europe Recession Helps Indian Tech Giants Grow: Good News For Us?

by Paul Joseph January 23, 2012 Featured

The European Economic crisis is proving to be a boon for Indian Tech Giants who are reporting robust growth. Until recently, Europe was very stingy when handing their work offshore. However, the growing concern of a meltdown has forced the companies to revaluate their strategies concerning cost reduction through outsourcing. In 2011, top-tier Indian Companies posted a growth between 23% to 40% from their Europe focused operations. In the last quarter alone, Infosys reported a jump of 17% while TCS garnered 17% more revenue. The good news does not end there. The scope of work to come too has shot up with European companies signing more multi-million dollar contracts than the US for the first time. European operations usually account for about 25% or 1/4 th of Indian IT Companies total revenues. However, UK is the sole country which hands over the lions-share. Rest untapped markets involve Spain, Italy and the Nordic regions. But things improved in 2011 when Infosys added 14 new clients, out of which two are in the $ 500 Million bracket. TCS bagged 10 large deals, while HCL bagged a Billion Dollars from 18 new contracts. The success story makes us think, what do we Indians have in special? Well, besides the obvious advantage of cost reduction there are efficiency parameters too: We Indians are proving to be capable to posses “ Run the Business ” capabilities. Hence European companies are now seriously looking at lowering their cost by shifting complete Application Management Services here. Anil Chanana, CFO at HCL Technologies, reveals that “ Indian IT Cos has developed capabilities both organically and inorganically to take on large and complex projects ” that Europeans fear to tread. Finally, we Indians are known to be flexible when negotiating commercial terms. It’s this accommodating nature that has propelled European giants to look elsewhere other than their own backyard for quality service. Looks like the golden age of Tech Process Outsourcing from Europe is hear. But Industry watchers caution that if Europe plunges further, the projects just might stall & we are left  high & dry . Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Young India Is A Different Ball Game When It Comes To IT And Internet Infosys records a 9.2% Increase in Net Profit Infosys to Develop Application for Indian Farmers Indian E-Retailers Tie Up With BPOs: A New Trend On The Rise? Online Gaming Driven by Mobile, Missing out on Gambling

Tagged as: anil chanana, europe, hcl, infosys, news, outsourcing, tcs, technology, web

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Customer Is King With Mobile Number Portability

by Paul Joseph August 10, 2011 Featured

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is proving to be a big hit across India , with 13 million subscribers changing their service provider since November 2010. Users can now freely change their existing numbers to new service providers without going through the trouble of sending hundreds of SMS’s to existing contacts, who would then have to manually save it. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India states that maximum number of porting requests have come from Gujarat ( 12.98 lakh ) followed by Maharashtra ( 10.32 lakh ). In the southern zone, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have the maximum requests. The TRAI had issued guidelines to not reject porting requests due to inconsequential outstanding amounts of less than Rs 10 or any contractual obligations except for a bundled handset with a contract having an exit clause and the subscriber not complying with the same. The number of telephone subscribers in India is steadily rising at a rate of 1.29 per cent to a staggering 885.99 million (more than the entire population of Europe) at the end of June 2011. The “tele-density” grew to 163.13 in June from 155.96 in May. The Big Boys Losing Market Share: A million CDMA subscribers have ditched their providers, mainly due to connectivity problems and poor service. About 5,42,000 CDMA subscribers of Reliance Communications have switched to GSM. Tata Indicom saw 4,47,000 subscribers changed loyalties. 9,33,750 and 67,198 subscribers ported out of the BSNL and MTNL networks respectively, while those porting in included a modest 3,49,489 and 11,593 subscribers respectively, according to Milind Deora’s numbers. This is a cruel twist of fate but it has sent out a strong message to the older players, telling them to respect subscriber’s needs instead of blatantly ripping them off. An Idea has literally changed lives: Kumar Mangalam Birla Group’s Idea Cellular has gained more than 8,59,000 subscribers. Idea is now the 3rd largest mobile services operator in revenue terms, with a subscriber base of over 93.75 mn. It expanded its NLD and ILD operations in FY 2010 and increased its revenue market share by over 1%, despite breakneck tariff wars. What does the future hold? Gone are the days of companies dictating terms to subscribers, and we can now expect that little bit more in terms of service, as operators scramble for newer subscribers. The biggest problem in changing operators used to be the change in your special, recurring number but with that issue now history, people can jump ship when the situation calls for it. Subscriber Power Increasing: The consumer is now king, and in a price sensitive market, what better way to attract them than routine tariff cuts ? We have always maintained that the TRAI has been forward-thinking and progressive, and very rarely do end users get the sweeter deal. They have now. That said, the quality of service now remains key, and if companies like Idea also start taking customers for granted, it wouldn’t be long before they witness an exodus of their own making. MNP has taken the market by storm, and we are now embarking on a new era of Telecom Wars, one which will be even more ruthless than any in the past. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency

Tagged as: cdma, europe, gsm-operators, idea-cellular, india, mobile, trai, web

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Ford India starts prodcution of sedan car Ford Fiesta

by Paul Joseph June 17, 2011 Featured

Ford India had started working on the production of Ford’s most popular sedan car four door Fiesta at the manufacturing unit in Maraimalai Nagar, near Chennai. This Chennai based facility is spread over 172,175 square metre and its the sixth Ford facility in the world along with the facility at Nanjing, China; Cologne, Germany; Valencia, Spain; Cuautitlán, Mexico; and Rayong, Thailand. Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India commented that company is very enthusiastic to roll-out latest premium sedan Ford Fiesta from its Chennai facility, and will emerge as India’s regional manufacturing hub. He also added that Ford is looking to bring new products to India within coming years. Furthermore, Boneham commented that Ford Fiesta set a standard in the sedan segment as it features with a world class fuel efficient technology and have a very great design. It is assumed that this new Ford Fiesta will deliver a excitement and individuality for which Indian customers are looking for in their sedan car. With respect to enhance the sales and export growth plans in India Ford had recently made an investment of USD 72 million at the facility at the Maraimalai Nagar plant. This enhancement programme is supposed to be ended in mid-2012 and after that the production capacity will increase from 250,000 to 330,000 units per year. All new For Fiesta features a fully integrated stamping line, body shop, trim and final process area and composed of an advanced 1.5L Ti-VCT petrol and Duratorq TDCi diesel engines. With the use of this petrol engine Ford achieve a fuel economy of 17Kmpl and 23.5 Kmpl with its diesel engine. The entry of new sedan Ford Fiesta strike as an subsequent to a series of global introduction that started in Europe and moved around the world. Ford Fiesta reached a sale of over one million globally since after its launch. Fiesta features a world class safety standards, a cruise control, connectivity that includes voice control communications with Bluetooth, and automatic climate control. Ford Fiesta price is yet to be disclosed. Yet it is assumed that this all new Ford Fiesta will be available by the end of this year.

Tagged as: chennai, china, europe, fiesta, ford cars, ford fiesta in india, ford fiesta pictures, Indian, manufacturing, production, sales, spain, world

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Top 5 Destination To Travel In Summer Season, According To Yahoo

by Paul Joseph June 3, 2011 Featured

Summer season is one of the best time of the year to plan a vacation and rejuvenate oneself. Web is coming handy and more useful to discover newer destination, unlike older days when the only places that were most visited were hill stations. Yahoo has carried out a re search to reveal some of the favorite destination opted by users. According to the research, Asian countries were ranked as top five destination for APAC users. Following are some statistics from travel searches in APAC Singapore is the favorite destination for southeast Asian online users Taiwan rated as most desirable destination among online users in Singapore and Hong Kong While Japan is popular among Indian and Malaysian Moreover, the search result also indicated that Korea’s searches increased by 625% in Europe indicated towards local user’s interest. While, Taiwan showed interest in Thailand with 148.57. Interestingly, people are ready to shell out 10% of their salary while panning their travel expenses. That is 30% of South Korean users have expressed that they are willing to pay 20% – 30% of their annual salaries in travel. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency Related Posts Yahoo! Finds New Home For Delicious With YouTube Founders $20 to $30 Million Paid By Yahoo To Acquire The Into Now App Yahoo Trying Its Hands At Social With Group Updating Option Search Direct – Yahoo’s Version Of Google Instant With Rich Content Yahoo Has Sold Delicious For $5 Million?

Tagged as: apac users, asian online users, delicious, europe, india, Indian, international, news, summer, taiwan, technology

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Microsoft Launches Internet Explorer 9, Now Available To Download

by Paul Joseph March 16, 2011 Featured

Yesterday, we had reported that, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is loosing market share in India, as well as in other major markets. Users are changing their preferences and shifting to Chrome and Firefox. This not the first time that such a trend has been reported. We had previously informed about the decline of Microsoft back in June 2010, after a report from Statcounter, and again in December when Net Applications released its Browser Market share statistics. But, Microsoft will not go down without a fight. They have officially launched their much anticipated browser, Internet Explorer 9, at SXSW. The release to world build has been launched months after the beta version made available , which saw over 2 million downloads in just two days after it’s launch. The beta along with the release candidate, which was unveiled last month, have seen more than 40 million downloads. Dose IE9 have what it needs to compete with the likes of Firefox and Chrome? It does…And packs in more punch than its competitors. IE9 is not just an update to the popular but maligned IE8. The company has rebuilt IE9 which boasts radical speed and graphics improvements. The new browser sports a completely new user interface and supports HTML5. We had previously mentioned that the World Wide Web (W3) Consortium has announced that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 is well ahead of other major browsers in terms of HTML5 compliance. The best part about the IE9 is the its ability to utilise the graphics card acceleration for graphics-heavy animated images and to render motion more quickly. It is not that Microsoft is the first company which has enabled its browser with some form of hardware acceleration. But, it is the first to take full advantage not only of the CPU but also the GPU (graphics processing unit), which dramatically increase its performance. IE9 packs in something which its predecessors lacked — security of the user. IE9 includes Tracking Orotection and stronger filters against malware. Tracking Protection allows users to block sites from dropping cookies which track their movement around the Web. Not many changes have been implemented on the RTW build since the release of the RC. But, it is expected to produce improved performance for low end machines which are not equipped with graphics cards for hardware acceleration. There is just one caveat though, IE9 only runs on Windows 7 and Vista, not even on XP. This is just one place where Microsoft’s IE9 falls behind its competitors which run on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. If you have been using the beta version or the RC installed, you will automatically get the RTW build via Windows Update. If you do not have it then you can download it at BeautyoftheWeb.com . What makes IE9 more powerful, is a step taken by its competitors at Google. The one thing which IE9 lacked — support for WebM videos — is now available as well. Google has released a WebM plugin for Microsoft’s new browser that would allow WebM video playback. This step taken by Google seems to be an effort to return the favour after Microsoft had released an extension for Google Chrome which enabled H.264 HTML5 video playback. You can download the plugin at the microsite set up by Goolge. Looking For A Social Media Agency? CLICK HERE! Related Posts Microsoft Sending Windows 7 To Europe Without Internet Explorer – A Sign Of Things To Come? IE 8 Goes out of Beta – Microsoft Releases the Latest Public Version of Its Famed Browser Is Microsoft Getting Naughty With IE8? Microsoft Research Working On New Malware Detection Tool ‘Zozzle’ Chrome Gains Browser Share As IE Falls

Tagged as: browser, chrome, europe, explorer, india, internet, internet-explorer, latest, linux, microsoft, news, plugin, social, webm video, windows

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Volvo to come up with new pedestrian detection system

by Paul Joseph March 9, 2011 Featured

The Swedish auto major Volvo, has come up with a ultimate unique feature or we can say technology advancement of a pedestrian detection system, that is developed in a advanced technology that automatically stops the car whenever it traces an object in front of it. The car manufacturer company Volvo , makes use of radar and mounted camera in the ‘support function’,it together employs in detecting the presence of a car or pedestrian on the road. The company has stated that this new technology will help the car drivers avoid sever accidents on the urban streets. The system is active post 30 kmph speed when the actual utility of the detention system starts. while the company has said that the technology remains active at all speeds. Well, it’s an amazing safety feature employed by Volvo. When the entire detection system trace an object in front of the car, it indicates a warning through an audio message to the driver. And when no response is given, automatic brakes are applied by the car which saves the driver from the bad accidents. But the condition applies that the tracing of the safety device detection system is not operational in dark and bad weather conditions. On this issue the company has stated that at the end it is driver who needs to be attentive for higher safety on roads. Lets have a look at the figures for accidents in Europe, 14 percent of all those killed in case of a car accidents are pedestrians however the toll remains at 11 percent in the US. According to the company’s figure, the pedestrian detection system will help in reducing the pedestrian death in accident rates to 20 percent whereas the rate of those injured severely will go down by 30 percent. Moreover the company also said that in 30 percent of accidents, the situation will result in complete protection to both the pedestrian and the car by avoiding the accident fully. The smart collision warning system sported in the car is also helpful in reacting against a vehicle which is at a standstill inm front of moving at a slower speed. It has been witnessed that this shield technology will make its appearance in car models like Volvo XC60 , Volvo S60 and Volvo V60.

Tagged as: conditions, driver, europe, new-pedestrian, pedestrian, safety, safety-on-roads, stops-the-car, swedish, technology, urban, volvo s60, volvo s60 in india, volvo s60 price, warning-through

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Alcatel OT 105A coming soon to India

by Paul Joseph February 25, 2011 Featured

Today, Alcatel mobile company of Europe is introducing a wide range of handsets in Indian market. It includes basic models of mobiles phones to high tech mobile phones. One of the basic handset of Alcatel is Alcatel 105A. Alcatel OT 105A is a sleek, handy and simply irresistible mobile phone. In the month of February of 2011 the company made announcement regarding this basic mobile phone and very soon it will be available in the Indian market. It is expected that in the end of 1st quarter of this year, almost all handsets will be available in India. The company is silent about the price of this handset but as soon as it will be release in the market the prices will also revealed. Alcatel OT 105A is a bar phone with overall dimensions as 105 x 46.5 x 13 mm. its total weight is just 65 grams. Alcatel OT 105A is a GSM mobile and operates on GSM 850 / 1900 MHz frequency. This handset features 1.32 inches STN B&W landscape display with a display resolution of 96 × 64 pixels. As we know, Alcatel OT 105A is a basic, so it lacks features such as camera, video recording and video player. Basic games are applicable in Alcatel OT 105A which are built in. You cannot download games in Alcatel 105A. JAVA and other browsers are also not applicable. A user can store 100 contacts in the phone book memory of Alcatel OT 105A mobile phone. It also stores 30 received calls, 30 missed calls and 30 dialed calls. Alcatel OT 105A is powered by 500 mAH Li-Ion battery which can provide a talk time up to 7.2 hours and stand by time up to 431 hours. Polyphonic ring tones and vibration is supported with this mobile phone. FM and MP3 player are not available in Alcatel OT 105A but headset and speaker are available. The only port available in this handset is mini USB charging port. No other connectivity is available with this handset. Alcatel OT 105A is processed by 52 MHz processor. It is available in only two colors and they are deep red and dark grey. Its special feature includes torch light which can be proved as very helpful in dark or power cut. Sales pack of Alcatel OT 105A includes quick guide, mobile, mini USB changer and battery. The maximum charging time required for this handset is up to 2 hours.

Tagged as: europe, Indian, phone

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HTC Desire S, Incredible S and Wildfire S unveiled

by Paul Joseph February 22, 2011 Featured

HTC is a well established name in the market for Mobile making. Most of the people are having a dream to purchase a HTC mobile. HTC is going to release the latest models in smart phone series called Incredible S, Desire S and Wildfire S . The letter S back of the model names indicates the new release. The all three phones are not full of new features. HTC Incredible S is similar to the Droid Incredible. It is having a dimension of 120x64x11.7mm and weighing about 135.5gms. It includes 4 inches WVGA super LCD screen. Having a unique feature that capacitive keys can be rotate with the screen. Incredible S runs on Android (apparently Froyo) with 1GHz Qualcomm CPU with 758MB RAM. It is having a camera of 8 megapixels auto focus, LED flash with 720p video on the back side as a primary one. 1.3 mega pixel camera at the front facing as a secondary one. Blue tooth 3.0 or HDMI is not available where as it is enriched with Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA. In total Incredible recognized as a stylish smart phone. HTC Desire S having an aluminum body (like Legend) with a 3.7 inches WVGA screen. The hand set is powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm chipset. It is having a single – core CPU with 768MB RAM and runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Adreno graphics. Device dimension is 15×59.8×11.63mm with a weight of 130gms. It supports Wi-Fi 802 connectivity. Data speed is increased to 14.4Mbps down link and 5.76Mbps up link. Except that it’s same old one. It resembles for the HTC Wildfrees S. Actually it resembles more to the Aria with 3.2 inches HVGA display, but it is smallest smart phone than the original Wildfree and the Aria / Gratia. HTC wildfire S is having a dimension of 101.3mm in height, 59.4mm in wide and 12.4mm in depth. It runs on Sensed Android (2.3 Gingerbread) with a CPU of 600MHz and 512MB RAM. It is having 5 megapixel camera with auto focus, LED flash with microSD card slot. Remarkably HTC Wildfire S have blue tooth 3.0 and NFC support along with Wi-Fi b/ g/n/. Across Europe and Asian continents HTC Desire S and HTC Wildfire S is mostly available in 2nd quarter of 2011. Where as HTC Incredible S will be available in next month. This is a small debut about all three new coming HTC phones. Sticking to stand and try to grasp more information about the devices.

Tagged as: europe, htc, mobile, people

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Gaadi.com Inks Partnership With MIH Group

by Paul Joseph February 21, 2011 Featured

Gaadi.com , today announced a partnership with MIH Group. MIH Group is a subsidiary of Naspers, and its operations are concentrated on internet platforms, paid television and related technologies. The groups main operations are located in emerging markets like South Africa, China, Latin America, Russia, parts of Europe and India. It is also the promoter of iBibo. Gaadi.com on the other hand is owned by Accentium Web Private Ltd. It also runs SecondShaadi.com, LoanBoss.com, StudyNation.com and Taaza.com. Citing ’synergies’ between between Gaadi.com and other MIH properties Nikita Dhingra, M&A-Head for MIH Internet India stated that MIH was keen to enter the online auto classifieds space in India. Also worth mentioning here is the fact that CarWale.com was acquired by Axel Springer AG back in November 2010. The release also said that Gaadi.com would continue its functioning as an independent business. Co-founder Umang Kumar would be taking over as the CEO, while founder Vivek Pahwa would remain involved with the company at a strategic level. He was also quoted as saying that the online auto space grew 70% last year. MIH Group already owns other sites in the automobile space – Polands  otomoto.pl and Russia’s  auto.mail.ru . VCCircle reported that MIH Group was now a Majority Stake Holder in Gaadi.com. Here’s a look at the comparative traffic ranks of some sites from the auto space in India – caveat . REGISTER FOR WATSUMMIT – INDIA’S FLAGSHIP SUMMIT ON DIGITAL MEDIA REGISTER NOW! Related Posts CarWale.com Teams Up With AOL India For Innovative Content MeriCAR.com Launches Servicing Reminders & SMS Alerts Ibibo Launches Cityads – Classifieds Route To Monetization For SNS? Online Wheels Update – CarWale.com and Gaadi.com On Cloud Nine! Vivek Pahwa (Of Desimartini Fame) Launches Gaadi.com – A Car Research Portal

Tagged as: europe, research, sms, web

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LG Brings Out Optimus 2X – First Dual Core Smartphone

by Paul Joseph December 17, 2010 Featured

First there was the normal cellphone, then came the smartphone, now comes an even better and super fast smartphone. Most of the smartphones till now had a 1 GHz processor that worked quite well. But LG has taken it up a notch by introducing the world’s first dual core processor powered cellphone . This comes as no surprise as the dual core was expected to be the next step ahead as phones are taking the same path as computers when it comes to the core processors. But frankly, I never expected LG to be the fist one to bring out the first dual processor phone. ( image courtesy – engadget ) The Optimus 2X – codenamed Star – boasts of a plethora of impressive specs that will leave gadget lovers mesmerized. It seems as if LG has finally produced a device worth reckoning. We start off with the heart of the phone – the processor. The optimus 2x houses the next-gen 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor, which has been in the news for quite some time. LG claims that the Tegra 2 chip provides 2x faster web browsing and up to 5x faster gaming performance compared to the current 1 GHz processors in the market. Also, the dual core will give a much needed boost to multi tasking, which the current phones are struggling to achieve. In addition, it also supports 1080p HD video playback, console quality gaming and superior 3D capability. In addition, it sports a 4 inch 800

Tagged as: europe, Indian, markets, mobile, nvidia, phone, processor, smartphone, social

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