Adopting the cloud: The network strikes back

With every passing day, more and more IT managers are taking the plunge and opting for the world of cloud. This comes as no surprise when you consider the benefits it brings: adopting cloud gives employees the freedom to work where they want, whilst still cutting costs for businesses.

But with any new technology as soon as the honeymoon period is over, the real work begins. Cloud traffic is growing at an alarming rate, but this the pressure is on the network operators carrying the cloud, not the enterprises using the cloud, to deliver.

More cloud computing means more data centres, especially as cloud providers look to distribute them globally to reduce latency for regional customers.

As we well know, data centres can’t just be set up and left to their own devices, a much more intricate cloud ecosystem to connect each of these datacentres together.

BitTorrent and the Man Who Changed the Internet

BitTorrent is often mentioned in the same breath as LimeWire, Napster or The Pirate Bay. The association with Internet piracy is something BitTorrent has fought since its inception, going so far as to coin the slogan 'BitTorrent is not a crime.'

In the second episode of the Dailymotion/Mashable series That Was Me, BitTorrent mastermind Bram Cohen offers up an inside look at how his company operates. Cohen also addresses the controversy around what’s been called the most important file sharing technology ever invented.

Next breakthrough app will come from India: Microsoft

 Microsoft has said the next breakthrough software application will come from India, which develops more than 10 per cent of the apps and is home to one of the largest IT industries in the world. 

"The fact that more than 10 per cent of the apps are being developed by Indian citizens is a great thing. People want to tap in and acknowledge the power Indian developers have. There is no secret that India has a lot of software developers," Joseph Landes, General Manager, DPE -Microsoft told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the Build 2014 -- the annual developer's conference. 

"I think, (what) we should do in India not just to be known in making apps. People know, we can do that and that we have great software developers. Now the next step would be to have that breakthrough app that everyone in the world uses and it came from India. That's a big thing. And we (Microsoft) spend a lot amount of time on it," he said. 

"It (next breakthrough app in India) is not just possible, it is going to happen," said Landes, who is now based in Bangalore. 

Microsoft, he said, has focused majorly on the Indian market. In fact, many of its new products including that of Nokia, which it has acquired, are being launched in India ahead of their US launch. 

Microsoft is encouraging Indian developers to be innovative and come forward with their new ideas. 

Describing the Indian market of great significance to Microsoft, Landes said many of the announcements made at its developer's conference are not only applicable to India, but also many of them would be available in there ahead of other countries. 

"India is doing so well, selling phones. People really love the Nokia brand, Nokia phones. In some ways the announcements (here) are more quickly applicable to Indian market," he said. 

The global software major Microsoft also announced a partnership with India's homegrown smartphone maker Micromax to build devices. 

The move, though surprising, is expected to intensify competition in the smartphone and tablets space, especially in the backdrop of Microsoft's plans last year to acquire the handset business of Finnish phone maker Nokia for $7.2 billion.

Gap Inc may partner Myntra for e-commerce business in India

American lifestyle clothing retailer Gap Inc is in the process of finalizing a deal with e-commerce player Myntra to launch its online store in India. This discussion is running parallel with Gap's plans to rope in Arvind Brands as its local partner for offline retail here. 

Myntra is likely to run the $16-billion, San Francisco-based Gap's online store, a first-of-its-kind move by any of the Indian fashion e-tailers who till now have been selling international brands by importing their merchandise. Gap's e-store will launch simultaneously with its brick-and-mortar India foray, scheduled for early next year, sources close to the matter told TOI. 

Gap's move to bring in a separate, specialist online partner underscores India's booming e-commerce sales, estimated to touch $8.5 billion by 2016. Fashion and accessories alone could make up a $2.8-billion online market in the next three years, up from $550 million currently, according to a recent report by venture capital firm Accel Partners. 

An email sent by TOI to Gap's press office remained unanswered till the time of going to press. When contacted, Mukesh Bansal, co-founder & CEO of the Bangalore-based Myntra, said, "We are in talks with multiple international brands all the time. However, we will be making some announcements on this front over the next few months." 

The fashion e-tailer, which is projecting sales (gross merchandise value) of around Rs 2,000 crore this fiscal, may also announce an exclusive arrangement with the Dutch clothing brand Scotch & Soda through a similar partnership, sources said. 

Myntra gets 5% of current sales, estimated at Rs 800 crore, from international brands but it is expected to leapfrog into robust double-digits within a year. Some of the other brands it retails exclusively are Desigual and Stanley Kane, among others. People familiar with Gap's deal with Myntra said the online retailer will be sourcing merchandise locally, giving it a price advantage. 

Gap, which sells other famous brands including Banana Republic and Old Navy, has been in talks with Sanjay Lalbhai's Arvind to strike an agreement for opening physical stores in India. 

Recently, Myntra's rival Jabong, backed by the German internet incubator Rocket Internet, said it will exclusively launch British brands Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge. 

The country's largest online retailers, including Flipkart and Snapdeal, have been upping the ante as they push sales in the fast-growing fashion category. Snapdeal expects to sell Rs 1,000 crore of fashion products by the end of this year. 

Robert Bready, creative director & retail head at domestic lifestyle e-tailer Koovs, said that the lack of good quality physical retail space is leading international brands to look at e-commerce as a preferred route into this new market. Also, entering a new market through the digital route is much quicker and cheaper than with physical retail space. Koovs launched the British youth fashion brand New Look recently in India.

Nokia to launch first dual-SIM Lumia phone in India next month

 Nokia will shortly launch four Lumia smartphones in India, including its first dual SIM device Lumia 630 in May for around Rs 10,000, plus taxes, as the struggling handset maker strives to recover lost ground in a market considered among the world's fastest growing.

The Finnish company, who is expected to soon complete a deal to sell its devices business to Microsoft, will also start selling a low cost 4G smartphone Lumia 635, for $189 (around Rs 11,300), excluding taxes, in July, the company said in a release.

Taking a lead in the Indian and perhaps the global market, the Lumia 630 could well be the first dual-SIM phone in the Windows ecosystem, while the Lumia 635 could set a new benchmark as the first LTE-enabled smartphone in the sub Rs 15,000 price range.

Both the models of Lumia 630 support 3G SIM, built on latest Windows platform, and have 4.5 inch screen, 5 megapixel auto focus camera, 8 GB internal memory and support for up to 128 GB external storage. Lumia 635 is almost the same as Lumia 630, but will additionally support 4G, with mobile internet speeds of up to 100 megabit per second.

"The Nokia Lumia 630 is expected to roll out in May, beginning with Asia, India/Middle East, South America and Europe, at $159 (around Rs9,500) for the single-SIM variant, and $169 for the dual-sim variant before taxes and subsidies," the company said.

At a time when competitors are yet to solidify their strategies on LTE devices, and are still talking to chipset makers to create low-cost LTE phones and consequently an ecosystem around it, Nokia's move just might push it ahead of the curve as the devices go on sale, say analysts.

Dual-SIM Windows devices are likely to propel Nokia's overall smartphone sales which have been stagnant at 5% throughout 2013, as per IDC data, and spur demand for Lumia handsets since they are likely to be priced at very affordable levels, they add.

More pertinently, low-cost LTE devices from a trusted brand like Nokia may create the bedrock required by mobile phone companies including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm, to launch voice services besides high-speed data services on LTE.

Bharti Airtel is the only company in India that has introduced voice services on 4G data in Bangalore, but it adopts the circuit-switch-fall-back (CSFB) technology where data runs on LTE but voice calls are carried on 3G or 2G networks.

The leading telecom companies have bought 1800 Mhz spectrum in many circles with the intention of offering 4G services using LTE technology, which offers high speed mobile internet, almost 10 times the speed of 3G.

While Bharti Airtel has launched 4G circles in some circles, Reliance Jio is expected to launch its own services by the end of 2014.

Another smartphone, Nokia Lumia 930, is "expected to roll out globally in June starting with Europe, Asia, Middle East and India, available from USD 599 (about Rs36,000) before taxes and subsidies," Nokia said.

Microsoft partners with Micromax to offer Windows 8.1 phones

Tech giant Microsoft has partnered with India's homegrown handset maker Micromax to offer Windows 8.1-powered operating system (OS) smartphones in the country, which is considered one of the leaders in emerging markets for smart devices. 

The deal, that was announced yesterday at Microsoft's BUILD conference in San Francisco, is expected to intensify competition in the smartphone and tablets space. 

Microsoft Executive VP (Operating Systems) Terry Myerson yesterday said: "We are thrilled to welcome 11 new Windows Phone partners since Mobile World Congress in February, with the addition of Micromax and Prestigio just announced today". 

City-headquartered Micromax's revenues were Rs 3,168 crore for the financial year 2012-13 and it expects to clock revenues of USD 1 billion for the last fiscal ended March 2014. 

Micromax, which is the second largest smartphone player in India, held about 16 per cent market share in Q4 2013. Some its top selling models were the entry level smartphones like A35 Bolt and A67, IDC data showed. 

Besides, the software giant has also announced that it will offer its Windows OS free to smartphone and tablet makers, a move that will help the firm compete with Google's Android and Apple's iOS in the fiercely competitive smart devices market. 

This offering also enables hardware partners to provide their customers a one-year subscription to Office 365. 

The move, though surprising, will led to a fiercer competition in the smartphone and tablets space, especially in the backdrop of its plans to acquire the handset business of Finnish phone maker Nokia for USD 7.2 billion. 

Also, Microsoft's third CEO, After Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, India-born Satya Nadella, since his appointment in February, has been indicating on the company focus on mobile and cloud.

First half of FY'15 to observe better hiring sentiment: Report

Hiring is likely to pick up in the first half of this fiscal, with healthcare, pharmaceutical and financial services sectors anticipated to add the maximum jobs, according to a report by TeamLease Services. 

The outcome of elections and the expected sector specific policy changes seem to have spurred the corporate sector which is witnessing a marked improvement in employment and business outlook for the next six months, the report said. 

The reason for this optimistic outlook includes the results of the impending elections and fresh sector specific policies a new regime is expected to usher in, TeamLease Employment and Business Outlook Report for the half year period (April-September 2014), said. 

Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and financial services companies are more bullish about their business outlook.Meanwhile, entry and junior levels make a comeback in the coming half year HY1 as they witnessed a marginal increase in their hiring intents. 

"Good tidings are anticipated for the Indian economy and this is obviously going to reflect on job creation. The overall sentiments have significantly improved this time around and we are confident that it will translate into action on ground as well over the next 6-12 months," said Rituparna Chakraborty, Senior Vice-President & Co-Founder, TeamLease Services. 

Hiring from a sector perspective, IT recovered after witnessing a gloomy outlook in the previous half year. Telecom saw growth after a flat outlook in HY2.Manufacturing & Engineering and ITeS continue to have a negative hiring sentiment like in the previous half year. 

Following an exuberant sentiment in HY2, the trend reverses in retail and FMCG as the hiring outlook sees a marginal decrease in the coming half year.City wise, most cities are having a positive hiring outlook in the forthcoming half year.Bangalore and Ahmedabad continue to see a boost in their outlook as in the previous half year. Mumbai has gone past the stable sentiment of HY2 and sees a substantial growth in HY1. 

New Delhi and Pune observed an increase in hiring outlook during HY1.Meanwhile, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai witness a slight dip in sentiment over the previous half year.April-September period see a sentiment boost with upbeat organisations expecting business and employment to grow at a brisk pace.The study covered 614 companies in the latest round, focusing on the employment growth potential, the business outlook and hiring forecasts with relation to the location and the company profile.