India Business

A CBI special court here Wednesday sentenced M. Gopalakrishnan, former chairman-cum-managing director of Indian Bank, and another official to one-year jail terms for cheating and abusing their official position.

Bihar Wednesday launched a survey using aerial photography for updating land records, officials said.

In a move to encourage small business adopt cloud technology, Google India has announced a 45 percent reduction on pricing for its Google Apps for Business. As a part of the new pricing, new and existing customers in India will now pay Rs 150 per user per month if they are on the flexible plan and Rs 1,500 per user per year on the annual plan – a 45% reduction on the previous price. “India is home to around 47 million small businesses, yet only one per cent of these businesses are online. We hope that by making Google Apps more affordable, more small businesses in India will be able to move to the cloud and access a business-ready package of communication and collaboration tools,” said Ricky Kapur, Director of Enterprise Sales, Asia. The Google App suite enables users to use web mail, calendars, cloud storage, and video meetings through Google’s consumer products, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Hangouts. These services which can be used anywhere at any time are available across mobile platforms and devices. ”With a 99.9% availability guarantee, zero scheduled downtime and 24/7 support, Google Apps, offers businesses security and support while removing the need to manage hardware, security updates or software patches. Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs and Slides now also work offline too“, Kapur added. Google hope that by making Google Apps more affordable,  small businesses in India will be able to access a business-ready package of communication and collaboration tools and reap the benefits of working in the cloud. Google has always taken up initiatives to help SMBs in the past. In march the internet behemoth launched Google Business Groups (GBGs). Programmes like India Get Your Business Online and Women Entrepreneurs on the Web are some of the other Google initiatives in India designed to help small businesses come online and use the web to succeed and grow.Earlier in March, Microsoft launched cloud-based Office 365 for businesses, enterprises, corporate users and SMEs in India. As compared to Google, charges of the Office 365 depends upon the usage pattern and customers type. Price for consumers the office home premium costs Rs. 499 per year and for businesses the prices vary from small to large businesses, ranging from $6 per user per month to $22 per users per month.It is great to see that internet giants are launching such plans and looking out for SMBs and SME. Image Courtesy |  suredata Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Vodafone India seems to be gearing up to offer a nationwide coverage of 3G internet services. Having earned well from its subscribers who use Data services, the company is contemplating collaborative techniques to offer seamless connectivity via much faster standards than prevalent EDGE & patchy 3G services. Vodafone’s Operating Profit (adjusted) rose to Rs. 1,854 Crores (US$ 335 Million) in FY13, much higher than Rs. 503 Crores (US$ 91 Million) in the previous financial year. For the 1st Quarter of 2013 which just ended on March 31st, Vodafone earned Rs. 9,276 Crores (US$ 1675 Million) as revenue, which is 7.2% higher than the same quarter the previous fiscal. In all, Vodafone India’s Net Profit for the year ended March 2013 rose substantially by almost 40% to Rs. 1,010.93 Crores (US$ 182.6 Million) from Rs. 723 Crores (US$ 130.6 Million) last fiscal. Vodafone’s India arm seems to be doing well for itself. In fact, by recent figures it has now taken the lead away from Bharti Airtel. Though the Mittal Company still holds the pole position for the highest revenue, Vodafone, along with other players like Idea have been climbing steadily. Interestingly, majority of its upswing can now be attributed to the rising usage of Mobile Internet. Hence the company is now looking seriously at exploring multiple options to ensure a pan-India 3G experience for its subscribers. Vodafone has confirmed 3G airwaves in 11 circles and was offering nationwide high-end data services through roaming pacts with Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular. But on numerous occasions, these companies have come under the legal scanner for offering higher speed services, where it had not won spectrum through auction. Hence it has now been restrained from adding new data customers in circles where it does not own 3G bandwidth. Vodafone may now be contemplating buying airwaves on this platform, from other mobile phone companies like Airtel & Tata, who seem to be struggling. While other companies are finding it difficult to sustain operations under the burden of Auctions & poor revenue, companies like Vodafone have clearly illuminated the path to Telecom’s progress. Will other Telecom Players now follow suit & offer better internet connectivity? Image Courtesy |  fonearena Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Times Mobile Limited has partnered with Techfront, an mVAS provider, to launch a mobile app Follow On to provide users with additional content on their mobile during a live match on May 21 and 22, 2013 at Kotla. The application is available for download on Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone. Features: We tried the app on our Android phone and the app provides content such as team stats, individual player stats, teams head to head stats, points table stats, live score, video highlights, weather information, augmented reality feature and the ability to upload photos taken at the stadium. The photos taken at the event through the app can be shared at www.followon.in, however, the site notes that the photos will be uploaded after the event day. The video section offers clips like match highlights, fours and sixes, and wicket dismissals among others. The app also provides navigation to the stadium stands, allowing users to reach the stadium stand from their location with the help of Google Maps. As for the AR function, one can scan the Pepsi logo present at the stadium to get some prizes.    The app notes that it displays live information during the games only if one uses the Follow On WiFi network at the venue. The WiFi provided at the stadium will be apparently free to use. It’s not clear if the user can make use of this WiFi connection to browse other apps at the stadium. One annoying bit about the app was that, it asked me to participate in a poll which seems impossible to bypass. Our view It’s not clear why Times Mobile launched this initiative for only for two days, since they could have continued this through out the remaining IPL matches for this season. Besides this, it appears that the app is a good way to interact with users online for an offline event. The app provides users with information that might interest them – as sometimes at the stadium, no one really understands what’s happening. As for the brands, it gives a chance for them to interact with the user, collect data, and analyse it later. What’s particularly interesting is that while traditional advertising didn’t allow brands to realize their ROI, new mobile technology based engagement tools achieves two things – advertise and get engagement and thus ROI.

Gold moved ahead in northward territory by adding Rs 286 to Rs 26,396 per ten grams in futures trade Wednesday as market players expanded their exposures, moving in tandem with a positive global trend.

Nokia has finally added LiveSight feature to Here Maps for Windows 8 devices. The LiveSight augmented reality feature allows you to pinpoint exactly where you are going, shows shops, restaurants and your favourite places as virtual signs on buildings right on your screen. LiveSight pulls up nearby locations and displays relevant information like the type of business or attraction, the hours, the address and phone number, and customer ratings. “HERE uses sight navigation as a new way to discover and find your way through the world. Sometimes pins on a map are not quite enough, LiveSight uses sight to recognize and identify places around you simply, by looking around through your phone’s display“, explains Nokia in a company blog post. The LiveSight feature that was actually shown off late last year  lets you open a map, click on an icon and then get a ground-level view of what’s at that destination. Those who have used Nokia’s City Lens app will easily be able to connect to this new LiveSight recognition technology integrated to Here maps. The feature also enables users to enjoy a combination of sight recognition, accurate 3D models of the real world, and live map information.  One of the coolest feature about LiveSight is that it works even when the device is offline. Finally, HERE Maps for Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia devices comes with integrated compass, which will show users which way they’re facing, enabling them to find their way around much easier. Check out the video below: Today, Maps have become an important feature for us modern day users. Mapping service like Google Maps and MapMyIndia are already being used by masses quite on a large scale. A recent BCG report states that Indian Geo services industry netted in $3 billion in revenue in 2011. Nokia’s flagship phones from the Lumia Series have shown some promising sales figures but cannot withstand the tough competition from Samsung & Apple Inc. Interestingly though, in the feature phone segment, Nokia’s Asha Series has been doing reasonably well. The company’s revenues are still plunging due to a marked increase in competitors and foreign exchange volatility. The LiveSight update can be downloaded by users from here. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Technopark-based SunTec Business Solutions Wednesday launched its next generation product suite - Xelerate.

Bangalore-based shoe exporter Sara Soule Pvt Ltd plans to expand its Ruosh men's footwear retail chain by March next year and sign up with a couple of multi-brand outlets and online retailers, a senior company official said here Wednesday.

It’s been almost a week since Google announced their own streaming music service to compete with established services like Spotify and Pandora — Google Play Music All Access — and now that I’ve had a chance to play around with the app; I thought about sharing my experience with the app in a blog post. Google Play Music All Access app (yeah, the name totally sucks) was launched just about a week back at the Google I/O 2013 as Google’s aim to enter into the music streaming service business, and is already being compared with Spotify, Pandora, etc. The service offers unlimited music streaming at $9.99 per month. To sweeten the deal, Google tossed in a limited-time discounted price of $7.99 per month for customers who sign up before June 30. Users who wish to try out the service before jumping on to it can also do so, with Google offering a 30-day trial for the app. The service can stream upto 320kbps on mobile devices. All Access integrates into the same-old Google Play Music that’s been available for some time. You can still upload your music into an online locker as before, and create playlists and organise your music, but the paid All Access adds functionality similar to Spotify. It gives you the option to search 2 million cloud-based tracks, add them to playlists and share them with friends over Google+. The All Access App is currently available only for Android and Web (though the Web service hasn’t rolled out in some territories) and there’s no news about an iOS version of now. The app has excellent user interface. The search function beats that of Spotify’s hands-down. As expected, there’ Instant Search available in the app. Additionally, All Access has a Radio feature made up of “My Stations”. Google will automatically recommend stations based on your past listening, and you can also create your own by typing in an artist, song or album. The Radio isn’t much different from Pandora or Spotify – you’ll be given tracks similar to the type of music you selected. Interestingly, you can skip around the radio with All Access. You’re not restricted to one track at a time, which I have to say is pretty nice. Google creates an endless scrolling list of tunes. Most music streaming services have Facebook and Twitter integration, but Google has opted out of this practice and has gone in for Google+ integration. Another well-expected thing, yes. If you’d rather share a YouTube video, Google has conveniently made a “Share YouTube Video” feature available, which is actually pretty great. Of course, anyone will be able to listen. CONCLUSION At this juncture, I’d like to point out a few drawbacks and positives of the service. The drawbacks are that the app is a battery hog on Android, and there’s no iOS version or even a Desktop client. Internet channels practically run out of music after playing the service for an hour or so. Plus, there’s no free ad-supported version of Google Play Music All Access. The service could also use a little more social integration. The positives seem to outweigh the negatives to some extent. In my testing, I found almost every song I searched for. The set-up is dead simple and the interfaces are quite simple and easy-to-use. the 20,000 song digital locker is an added-bonus. Google recently also took other steps into the music and video industry. It launched Google Play Movies and Books as well. So should you go for it? I wouldn’t say yes at the moment. I’m expecting thousands of users have already spent a lot of time creating their playlists and collections on various other streaming services, so Google needs to offer something revolutionary if it hopes for users to migrate. Though I’d say there’s no harm in trying out the 30-day trial. Who knows you might actually love the service? Have you tried the Google Music All Access service? Please share your experience with us