Indian clean technology businesses are finally catching the attention of investor community. New Ventures India - founded by World Resources Institute and CII-Godrej Green Business Centre - aims to fund 50 entrepreneurs in this segment by 2010 with a target investment of $250 million
Google is testing its SMS channel in India and intends to launch it to global audiences later. It supports English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages. It was fully conceptualised by Google India Labs. Prasad Ram, head (R&D), Google India, says, "The SMS channel is in line with our endeavour to connect the 250 million mobile subscribers who have no access to information."
With India's two leading IT outsourcing companies, Infosys and HCL Technologies, vying to acquire the UK-based consulting firm Axon, SAP implementation is back in focus.
The price, however, will be higher than the US debut tag of around Rs 8,200 ($179). Ajay Sharma, country manager, HTC (India), told Business Standard: "We would prefer a mobile operator tie-up to introduce the Google phone in India in December."
Internet search giant Google hopes to hook the millions of cellular phone subscribers in India who do not use data or SMS-based services with its voice-based search. It is conducting pilot projects in Hyderabad and Delhi, and is expected to roll out more in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata shortly. The company is expected to add audio playback for search queries on local news and entertainment.
The venture, on the lines of Kishore Biyani's Future Ventures India, will focus its investments in the information technology sector, said a source familiar with the development.
The company is in talks with a few private banks and has signed on Citibank as one of the bankers to raise these funds, said sources. HCL Technologies and Citibank declined to comment saying that 'they do not comment on market speculation'.
Plans another $1-billion fund, wants to expand core team in India.
With the telecom industry aiming to increase its rural subscribers base and the central bank asking banks and financial firms to cater to the rural sector, businesses will have to find ways of servicing customers, say analysts. Most of the rural BPOs have a seating capacity of below 100 per centre, as they are situated in remote areas.
A slowdown in the global economy and sub-prime crisis in the banking, financial and insurance services sector, its major revenue earners, force the domestic IT industry to take a relook at its hiring strategy.
You have two new options -- Asus's Eee PC 1000H and Acer's Aspire One. Both, says Priyanka Joshi, are worth your attention.
A week after Apple began selling iPhone in India, experts believe that the iconic phone is ready to become cheaper by more than 15 per cent to boost sales in the world's fastest-growing mobile phone market.
The figure is expected to rise to over Rs 4,600 crore (Rs 46 billion) by 2010 - a compounded annual growth rate of 44 per cent. Retail has been one of the largest growth sectors for all the top IT firms. For instance, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies and Satyam Computer Services saw their retail business grow by 33.6, 45.3, 38.5 and 117 per cent respectively on a year-on-year basis.
When mKhoj, a mobile advertising platform, launched a mobile campaign for Reebok, little could it dream of 40 million targeted impressions, in just over six weeks, of the ad. But it did precisely that.
"Levi & Korsinsky usually investigates a deal when any of the clients complain about chances of fraud in the transaction. In Aegis's acquisition of PeopleSupport, we received a complaint from a client who is a shareholder of PeopleSupport. After our investigation, if we find any fraud, we will take up the issue before the court. At this point of time, we can not disclose the name of the client," said Juan E Monteverde, associate, Levi & Korsinsky.
Indian IT firms have started mining smaller clients with more fervour given that the revenue accruring from their top clients has been declining due to the US slowdown and the sub-prime crisis. Consider this. Revenue accruing from the top clients of the five leading IT firms by revenue - Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies, Satyam Computer Services and HCL Technologies - dropped by anywhere between 0.2 per cent and 4 per cent
Can security agencies arrest you if an e-mail sent from your computer implicates you in a case of cyber-terrorism? Currently, the answer appears to be "yes" despite the fact that e-mail IDs can be spoofed (faked) and IP addresses (your computer's identity when surfing) manipulated with ease.
Research firm IDC India estimates the share of virtualised servers in the industry to double from the current 22 per cent to 45 per cent by the year-end.
Consider this. Leading broadcaster Star India's mobile interactive division, Star Mobile Entertainment -- which made some serious headway in the space by launching a service whereby mobile users could opt to view soaps from across Star India's network -- recently reviewed its operational strategy.
Mark-to-market losses due to the unexpected fall of the rupee against the US dollar, euro and pound; the impact of wage increases in the first quarter; a stagnant global economy; and margin pressure owing to inflation are expected to impact the rupee-term fortunes of Indian IT firms that will declare their quarterly results for the April-June 30 quarter beginning this week.