Google has launched a free voice-based mobile internet search facility in India that has been built entirely by the internet search giant's India engineering team. Currently available only to the estimated 400,000 Blackberry cellphone users, the company hopes to extend this facility to other handsets by the end of the year.
Nokia has launched the Ovi Store with the singular objective of becoming that one-stop shop where Nokia itself as well as third-party developers can sell (or give away free) latest apps and utilities.
It stands for technology that helps an organisation to place its applications and data on the Internet.
Reliance also plans to convert the book into an adult audio mobile book.
IT majors like IBM, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat have shot letters to industry bodies -- Nasscom (for software) and MAIT (for hardware) -- and the department of information technology, protesting over the inclusion of clauses which allow for 'multiple standards' and 'royalty on software' versus a 'single' standard and 'free' software.
The higher MAT and confusion over whether its gas is eligible for a tax holiday have hurt the stock.
The feeling was that the higher levy would prompt the company to increase prices in the process hurting volumes. But the unchanged central excise duty, analysts say, outweighs the VAT increases in Maharashtra and Delhi. As a result, estimates for the current year have been upped with expectations that the company could grow its top line by as much as 13-14 per cent driven by a 6-7 per cent rise in volumes.
It's wonderful that Jerry Rao is planning to build houses that cost Rs 700,000 or less. The former Citibanker's model is simple enough: land is bought with the equity capital while construction is financed through bank loans at market-related rates currently anywhere between 11 and 13 per cent.
Tech Mahindra considered a couple of options -- keep the Satyam name or replace it entirely. But research said Satyam still reflected critical strengths that were recognised and valued by customers. "By combining it with the well-known and highly-regarded Mahindra name, we are able to convey a stronger message more credibly: that Mahindra Satyam has the resources, talent and resolve to ensure a steady performance," says T Hari, its the marketing and communications head.
A host of parents are now warming up to gaming because of the significant improvement they have seen in their children's problem-solving skills ever since they started playing video games. Alok Kejriwal, CEO and co-founder of Games2Win, believes parents are realising the need to rethink their attitude towards their kids' interest in online games that are educational and complementary to schooling.
The company has been doing well -- it gained market share in both the soaps and hair colour categories in the March 2009 quarter, which pushed up revenues by 26 per cent. Even after that soaps continue to do well as does the hair colour segment where the company is understood to have added market share in April and May. The Street probably also has high expectations of the new managing director.
The upcoming centre will be spread over 37 acres and is expected to be operational by the first quarter of next year, said David Andrews, CEO of Xchanging. Xchanging is also in talks with at least three top Indian corporate houses to enter the domestic outsourcing market.
A recent KPMG survey highlights the huge potential for banks to grow their market with the rise in mobile phone subscribers in India. The most profound impact of mobile banking and payment services is that they provide the non-banking population with access to modern financial services, giving them tools to improve their living standards. Innovative m-banking services are fast arriving in the market.
The quality of the bank's loan book, which has perhaps grown far too fast, is a cause for concern. When the bank announced its annual results the number talked about was a reasonable Rs 8,000 crore. Now it appears that the standard loans restructured amount to nearly Rs 13,000 crore and taken together with pending applications is closer to Rs 21,600 crore or about 4 per cent of the loan book.
Some employees have alleged that close to 20 employees of the troubled Satyam Computer Services have been promoted to the I-1 and I-2 bands (representing assistant vice-president and vice-president levels) and also received a salary hike of 20-40 per cent. The timing has caused much resentment with some employees taking up the matter with the human resources department.
Why should promoters have an option to buy shares when other shareholders don't? Perhaps warrants can be done away with altogether since most promoters don't seem convinced about the value of their companies, says Shobhana Subramanian.
The Indian market must be re-rated but a further premium to emerging markets seems unjustified. The Indian market now trades way off its lows and at premium of around 50 per cent to emerging markets, compared with its long-term average of 8 per cent -- -in January 2008 it was trading at a premium of over 100 per cent. As Morgan Stanley says, broad market valuations as measured by market capitalisation to GDP, are now well past its historic average.
"Nearly 83 per cent Indians have an online friend. Netizens are fast opening up to newer technologies such as instant messaging, social networking and texting that are being used to strengthen relationships to keep kids, parents and grandparents connected," said David Freer, vice- president (consumer business -- APAC & Japan), Symantec.
Chennai has just got its own news and entertainment channel, courtesy a 50:50 joint venture between NDTV Ltd and The Hindu.
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