VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

Sony has announced the launch of a new high-end handset – Xperia Z4. It comes with an aluminium frame and a 5.2-inch screen, showing it is still in the smartphone race even as it scales down its struggling mobile operations. This launch of the new flagship model comes amid a painful restructuring at the Japanese consumer electronics giant which has thrown the future of its smartphone division into doubt with top executives. But as the company focusses on cutting costs rather than growing its mobile market, the division still needs investment in new products and marketing to maintain Sony’s brand and hold off a more rapid deterioration. Sony said the Xperia Z4 would be available in Japan around the middle of the year, though it did not provide a launch date, details on carrier partners or price... See more  

Flipkart is planning to shut down its website and will move to an app-only format within a year. A year back, only 6% of Flipkart’s traffic used to come from mobile but within 18 months it has increased ten folds. And it brings forward the importance of mobile for the consumers. Flipkart has more than 40 million registered users and has about 30,000 merchants selling over 20 million products on the platform. Flipkart does about 8 million shipments a month, and two-thirds of its online traffic comes from users in small cities and towns. Flipkart’s app-only direction assumes larger significance in these places where most people don’t own desktop computers and have limited access to broadband... See more  

ISACA has introduced a portfolio of new cybersecurity certifications that are the first to combine skills-based training with performance-based exams and certifications. The seven new Cybersecurity Nexus (CSX) certifications help professionals build and evolve their careers in a constantly-changing field and help close the skills gap for employers. Through CSX, a single resource for knowledge, tools, guidance and training at every stage in a professional’s career, ISACA is helping build a global cybersecurity workforce trained to combat advanced cyber threats and is providing a way for organizations to be confident that they are identifying and hiring employees with the right skills. CSX training and certifications are now being offered for skill levels and specialties throughout a professional’s career. ISACA already offers the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) designation for those at the management level, and the Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certificate for those ne...

Satcom Infotech has set up a new branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This branch, located at the Aminjikarai area of Chennai, assures partners of faster support and services in the region. With this branch, Satcom Infotech will be in a much better position to extend localized support to existing as well as prospective partners based in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Satcom Infotech plans to use this as a base to expand its reach in the southern parts of India and focusses better on partners located in this region. The company intends to work more closely with partners and extend support to them in their sales planning and go-to-market strategies. With this new office, Satcom Infotech has successfully established a strong network across the country, with presence in all the metro cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jamnagar and Chennai. Vinod Kumar, Managing Director, Satcom Infotech, says, “We are extremely happy that we have been able to establish our presenc...

Canon takes pride in encouraging photography amongst youngsters. Canon India encourages young people to discover the joys of photography through its association with a number of schools and other educational institutions in the country. Canon has organized a photography workshop in Delhi Public School at R.K. Puram, one of the more prominent schools in the city. Andrew Koh, Senior Director, Image Communication Products, Canon India, inaugurated the workshop. There was palpable excitement among the students as they gathered in large numbers to learn more about photography, as well as check out the latest Canon equipment. Andrew Koh said, “It is always a pleasure to engage with children. Many of them have such a unique perspective on life that once they learn the basics of photography, they are likely to create some stunning images. We, at Canon India, take pride in promoting and encouraging the immense talent that young people have. Our school outreach programmes help us create a...

iBall has announced the launch of its latest tablet – iBall Slide Stellar A2. It embodies metallic finish on the rear in a thin, lightweight and stylish design with an elegant look combined with its powerful functionality. Priced at just Rs.11,999/-, the 7-inch HD IPS Screen Display comes with 1280×800 resolution with stunningly sharp images. Powered by the latest Android 4.4 KitKat version and loaded with a powerful Octa-core processor, Stellar A2 is clocked at 1.7GHz-advanced processor alongside 1GB of RAM. It sports 8GB built-in storage, while it also supports expandable storage via micro SD card up to 32GB. It comes with an 8MP AF rear camera with LED flash which lets the users capture vivid and sharp pictures even in low lightning conditions, followed by an 8MP front camera, which pledges picture-perfect selfies and high-quality video calling. Furthermore, there are several pre-loaded features, namely Face beauty, Live photo, etc. It sports the “Hotknot” feature – a uni...

The COAI has reaffirmed its support to Net Neutrality and made a strong pitch for “Net Equality” that will enable access to Internet for a billion Indians as part of the Government’s Digital India vision. The Association has urged all stakeholders to have a comprehensive and informed debate on the subject of Net Neutrality, keeping in mind the requirements of India and its citizens. An important and complex subject such as this, which is still being debated in many countries, which has taken years to conclude in many other countries and which is the subject of litigation in some, should not be left to the opinion of a few. Clearing misconceptions that have arisen from the recent public debate over net neutrality and concerns over operators who are trying to control the consumers’ access to the Internet, COAI said, “We support an open Internet and believe that consumers should decide what to do online. Our job is to enable consumers to benefit from that freedom. We offer choice a...

Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers’ Association (CEAMA) has conducted a seminar on “Impending Challenges on E-Waste” to deliberate upon the draft e-waste rules and identify solutions to India’s mounting e-waste problem. The seminar was an effort towards evaluating e-waste rules and their environmental and socio-economic repercussions. Electronic waste has recently become India’s fastest-growing waste component. It is estimated that the National Capital Region (NCR) of India generates over 11,000 tonnes of e-waste annually, whereas only 10% is recycled. The high rate of e-waste accumulation in India is caused by short product life-cycles, the increasing affordability of electronics, and lack of awareness. Dr Niloufer Shroff, Sr Director, Department of Electronics & IT, expressed his views on the role of Government in e-waste rules, and Amit Jain, Managing Director, IRG Systems, deliberated on the draft notification of e-waste rules. The seminar also conducted a...

The Essel Group has recently entered into technology transfer pacts with the three leading German firms during its participation at Hannover Messe 2015 in Germany. This will boost the group’s solar, wind energy and wastewater management projects in India. Group Chairman Dr Subhash Chandra moderated a panel discussion on the smart cities during the event. Secretary of Industrial Policy and Promotion Amitabh Kant unveiled the Essel smart city framework. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for transfer of critical technology in wind and solar energy was signed by the Indian company at Hannover Messe 2015 with FeCon GmbH, a subsidiary company of Wind and Sun Technology GmbH, while a similar pact was also inked with Passavant Energy and Environment (PE&E) GmbH for mega scale wastewater treatment projects in India. Ashok Agarwal, CEO, Essel Infraprojects, said, “We are glad to announce our alliance with Schneider, FeConGmBH and Passavant Energy and Environment GmbH. We believe tha...

Wipro has announced that it is observing significant opportunities to participate in the Government of India’s drive to encourage adoption and use of open-source software. “The Government of India’s policy on open-source adoption is a critical step towards building a digitally-empowered society. There is little doubt this initiative will usher in greater efficiency, transparency and reliability in India’s technology infrastructure, besides creating significant employment opportunities over the medium to long term,” said T. K. Kurien, Chief Executive Officer & Member of the Board, Wipro Ltd. The rapidly-increasing pace of adoption of open-source software and methodologies led by advancements in analytics, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) has catapulted open-source into a core technology asset for enterprises across the globe. Wipro has identified open source as a core technology initiative and the company’s investments in building a large cadre of skilled pe...

Juniper Networks has announced new hardware for its SRX5800 Services Gateway that will deliver performance necessary to secure traffic on high-speed networks. These new improvements will increase available Internet Mix (IMIX) firewall throughput up to 2 Terabits per second (2 Tbps), to empower service providers and large enterprises to minimize the potential for security bottlenecks as they manage increased and unpredictable demands for bandwidth placed on their networks. “As the threat landscape continues to evolve and a variety of devices increasingly flood the network, companies are forced to not only meet network performance demands but also ensure they have efficient, fast and scalable protection in place. With Juniper’s latest performance advancements, the company is elevating industry standards and empowering businesses to accelerate time to enforcement with the fastest available throughput on the market today,” said Christofer Hoff, Vice-President & Security Chief Tech...

Lapcare has announced the launch of its unique, Bluetooth headphone under the Lapcare ‘YO!’ lifestyle series – the LBH208. Upping the style quotient, the funky LBH 208 headphone is foldable, making it easy to carry around, anywhere. The headband offers an excellent and comfortable grip. Commenting on the launch, Atul Gupta, Managing Director, Lapcare, said, “At Lapcare we constantly strive to transform and better the lives of our customers through carefully designed products. Everyday life requires making/attending frequent calls or listening to music during leisure time, while still on the move. This demands products which are both easy to carry and comfortable to use. The all new LapcareYO LBH 208 packs comfort, ease and style. It’s also a smart accessory that offers stand by time of Upto 500 hours, thanks to its built in smart power saving technology. We are certain that it will resonate well with our customers.” Manish Paul, the brand ambassador for Lapcare added, “Actin...

In a remarkable gesture of goodwill and possible long-term cooperation in the development of startup ecosystem in India, US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma visited Startup Village and interacted with the young entrepreneurs and the Startup Village officials. Responding positively to the Startup Village officials’ request for facilitating young entrepreneurs’ visit to Silicon Valley in the US, Mr Verma said he will examine the possibility of supporting a “Landing Pad”, which is getting ready in the Silicon Valley in the US. The Landing Pad is a platform for start-ups from India to get a first-hand knowledge of the Silicon Valley culture. The Startup Village officials, including Startup Village Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar and CEO Pranav Kumar Suresh accompanied by IT and Industries Principle Secretary P H Kurian, apprised Mr Verma of the abundance of talent available here and also of the challenges faced by startup companies. Mr Verma, at the same time, was hopeful of a strong...

Toshiba Digital Media Network Taiwan Corporation (TDMT) has announced the MD04ABA-V Series, delivering a5TB 3.5-inch, low RPM hard disk drive (HDD) specifically for surveillance applications. The MD04ABA-V series is designed for use in surveillance digital video recorders (SDVR), surveillance network video recorders (SNVR) and hybrid SDVR. Designed for surveillance applications, with support for at least up to 32 high definition cameras and 24/7 operation, the MD04ABA-V Series also incorporates rotational vibration (RV) sensors, making it suitable for use in RAID/multi-HDD based surveillance platforms. With the massive 5TB capacity point, customers now have the flexibility to retain higher resolution surveillance video data for longer periods using fewer HDDs, helping to maintain a smaller storage footprint and lower energy costs. “The latest generation surveillance cameras produce higher resolution video streams that increase storage capacity requirements. Toshiba’s MD04ABA-V S...