VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

Panasonic India today unveiled its new smartphones T44 lite exclusively on Snapdeal for Rs 3,199. T44 lite is perhaps the most value for money device which is a perfect balance of speed, performance and ergonomics. With the launch of this device, company aims to expand their portfolio in Tier II & Tier III market by offering an affordable smartphone with industry’s best features to price ratio. Delivering an unmatched experience through a combination of better performance, bigger screen, good battery life and optimal processing power T44 lite is equipped with Android 6.0. The smartphones come along with 3G connectivity, the dual SIM models are packed with 2400 mAH along with in built features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and FM support... Read More

Oracle has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NetSuite , the very first cloud company. The transaction is valued at $109 per share in cash or approximately $9.3 billion. “Oracle and NetSuite cloud applications are complementary, and will coexist in the marketplace forever,” said Mark Hurd, chief executive officer, Oracle . “We intend to invest heavily in both products-engineering and distribution,” added Hurd. “We expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive to Oracle’s earnings on a non-GAAP basis in the first full fiscal year after closing,” said Safra Catz , chief executive officer, Oracle... Read More

LeEco has announced that it is all set to strengthen its offline presence across the country after establishing itself in the online space. LeEco has partnered with top regional retail chains like Sangeetha and Poorvika & zonal distributors like Shivalik, AppsYouNeed, Pearl Infotech and PCH to expand its retail network. Through these partnerships, LeEco will be able to expand its retail base to 2,000 outlets across 65 cities. By the end of this year, LeEco plans to reach 6,000 – 8,000 outlets. “This marks another milestone in our India journey that has been incredible so far. Our strategy to strengthen our offline business is a testimony to our commitment to the Indian market. For this, we have tied up with some of the well-known names in offline retail across geographies and we will continue to add more partners as we go along,” said Atul Jain, COO of Smart Electronics, LeEco India .” Read MOre

Vivo, the premium global smartphone brand has revised the price for VoLTE smartphone Vivo V3 at Rs 14,980. VoLTE enabled Vivo V3 smartphone will enhance the call quality experience and improved coverage connectivity. With the festival season around the corner, the revised price from Vivo will help customer to use this as an opportunity to create a beautiful memory by gifting this stunning device to their loved ones. Vivo V3 smartphone comes with premium features like faster fingerprint unlocking, quick capture, metallic body and 3 GB RAM with 32 GB ROM. The device is available for sale in all retail outlets across India... Read More

Indus OS , the world’s first regional Operating System today announced partnerships with two home-grown Indian smartphone brands – Celkon and Swipe to deepen its market reach. These partnerships are in addition to the existing partnership with Micromax, which will continue. Speaking on partnerships, Rakesh Deshmukh, CEO, Indus OS said, “Both brands share our enthusiasm and vision for connecting a billion people with technology and bridging India’s digital divide. They have a very strong connect with consumers, especially in the regional markets and Indus OS’ unique value proposition will enable them to further increase their market share.” Read More

Intex Technologies has announced Madhuri Dixit as brand ambassador for its new range of consumer durable products like washing machines and refrigerators. The actor has been signed for a period of two years. During this period, Madhuri will be seen in the company’s television commercials besides being the face of the company for a series of brand promotions and activations. “Madhuri is one of the finest actors in the country who is known for her commitment and excellence in whatever she does. Her innovative approach towards her work is defined by perfection and style. She is the perfect blend of talent, style and timeless appeal that compliments the legacy of our brand and the product portfolio. We are confident that her tremendous connect with the audience will help us in reaching out to our consumers more effectively,” said Keshav Bansal, director, Intex Technologies ... Read More

Analog Devices will acquire Linear Technology in a cash and stock transaction that values the combined enterprise at approximately $30 billion. Upon completion of the acquisition, It will be the premier global analog technology company with approximately $5 billion in anticipated annual revenues. Under the terms of the agreement, Linear Technology shareholders will receive $46 per share in cash and 0.2321 of a share of Analog Devices common stock for each share of Linear Technology common stock they hold at the closing of the transaction.... Read More

Vodafone UK and Huawei are conducting technical trials of 4.5G (TDD+) with LTE TDD to significantly increase capacity and efficiency of its 4G network in urban areas. The 4.5G techincal trials will lay the foundation for the introduction of 5G by 2020 in the UK market. New 4*4 MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) techniques eight-way transmit and receive (8T8R), together with multi-user beam-forming are being tested in Manchester. These will support the expected rapid growth in video and virtual reality applications with the arrival of next generation smartphones... Read More

LeEco and VIZIO announced today a definitive agreement under which LeEco would acquire VIZIO for $2 billion. The VIZIO hardware and software businesses will be owned and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of LeEco, while the VIZIO data business, Inscape, will spin out and operate as a separate, privately owned company. “LeEco believes in breakthrough technologies, a complete ecosystem and disruptive pricing. Acquiring VIZIO is an important step in our globalization strategy and building our North American presence,” said Yueting Jia, founder, chairman and CEO, LeEco . .. Read More

Aruna Sundararajan , a Kerala cadre IAS office of 1982 batch has been appointed as secretary,  ministry of electronics & information technology . Aruna Sundararajan presently secretary, ministry of steel will replace Aruna Sharma on her appointment as secretary, ministry of steel. As additional secretary, department of telecommunications, she was heading  Universal Service Obligation Fund  (USOF), government of India and was CMD BBNL (Bharat Broadband Network) heading the  National Optic Fibre Network  (NOFN) project.... Read More

Smartphone vendors  shipped a total of 343.3 million smartphones worldwide in the second quarter of 2016 showing a 0.3 percent growth vis-a-vis Q2 2015 according to IDC preliminary result. The market did show greater sequential growth as shipments were up 3.1 percent from 333.1 million in the first quarter of 2016. “We continue to see a number of changing dynamics in the smartphone market and many vendors are readjusting their business strategy and portfolio to take advantage of these market movements,” said  Ryan Reith , program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers... Read More

VARINDIA played host to the 7th EIITF (Eastern India Information Technology Fair – 2016) that concluded successfully in Kolkata, amidst speeches and presentations from corporate houses on the opportunities for capitalizing the Indian SMB sector. The topic for this year’s event was – “IT and Security Frameworks to protect Information Assets of SMEs”. Besides providing a common platform for the corporates to share ideas, discuss issues and challenges targeting the growth of SMBs in the region in particular and the country in general, the event brought together around 200 senior officials from the IT Department, dignitaries from other Central and State government departments and spokespersons from IT corporates. The Chief Guest of the event was Shri Kaushik Haldar, Commissioner – IT and Telecom, Government of West Bengal. The other guests who attended the event and were present at the lamp lighting ceremony were Col A. K. Nath, ED, C-DAC; Col HPS Bawa, CEO, WTL; Shri...

Intex Technologies  has announced the launch of its first licensed Sailfish OS device in the world – Aqua Fish in partnership with Jolla for Rs 5,499. The  Aqua Fish smartphone  comes with a 5-inch HD IPS display, supported by 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM and 32 GB expandable memory. The smartphone weighs just 150 gram and sports a sleek look which gives the handset an elegant feel. Powered with Sailfish 2.O OS, the device has an android application compatibility and is operated by simple gestures designed for one hand use, providing a rich set of UI elements and creating a fascinating animated and touch-enabled user interface... Read More

Verizon Communications  has entered into a definitive agreement under which Verizon will acquire Yahoo’s operating business for approximately $4.83 billion in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments. The transaction will create a new rival in mobile media technology reaching over 1 billion users with an unrivaled roster of the world’s most beloved brands. Yahoo informs, connects and entertains a global audience of more than 1 billion monthly active users including 600 million monthly active mobile users through its search, communications and digital content products. Yahoo also connects advertisers with target audiences through a streamlined advertising technology stack that combines the power of their data, content and technology... Read More

Amazon has announced a partnership with the UK Government to explore the steps needed to make the delivery of parcels by small drones a reality. A cross-government team supported by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has provided Amazon with permissions to explore three key innovations: beyond line of sight operations in rural and suburban areas, testing sensor performance to make sure the drones can identify and avoid obstacles, and flights where one person operates multiple highly-automated drones. “The UK is a leader in enabling drone innovation – we’ve been investing in Prime Air research and development here for quite some time,” said Paul Misener , vice president, Global Innovation Policy and Communications, Amazon... Read More

In the first half of 2016, Huawei generated sales revenue of CNY245.5 billion, an increase of 40 percent comparing with the same period last year. “We achieved steady growth across all three of our business groups, thanks to a well-balanced global presence and an unwavering focus on our pipe strategy,” said Sabrina Meng, chief financial officer, Huawei . “We are confident that the it will maintain its current momentum, and round out the full year in a positive financial position backed by sound ongoing operations,” added Meng. Huawei’s enterprise business is on a fast development track and is developing open systems and driving collaboration with customers and partners for joint innovation... Read More

By 2020, the size of digital payments industry in India will be $500 billion contributing 15 percent to India’s GDP says ‘ Digital Payments 2020 ‘ report published by Google and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Further, by 2020, non-cash contribution in the consumer payments segment will double to 40 percent. Already 81 percent of existing digital payment users prefer it to any other non-cash payment methods. Online, shopping, payment of utility bills and buying movie tickets have emerged as the three top things that a user primarily interacts with. The report reveals that Indian consumers is likely to use digital payments for both online as well as offline transactions. Over 60 percent of digital payments value will be contributed by offline points of sale such as unorganized retail, eateries, transport etc... Read More

Lenovo has unveiled its latest consumer laptop from the ideapad family, Lenovo ideapad 110. Custom-made for first-time PC buyers, the ideapad 110 delivers supreme functionality and durability at a great price. At a starting price of Rs.20,490/-, Lenovo is also offering the Accident Damage Protection (ADP) Cover to protect laptops from unexpected damages, thereby reducing the total cost of ownership. Equipped with Intel’s latest Celeron Dual-Core and Pentium Quad-Core Processors, the new ideapad 110 comes with an improved hinge design that is robust and allows for a smooth 180-degree action into a flat position. Lenovo’s ADP policy protects investment on laptops in case of damage due to accidental drops, spills, electrical surges or failure of the integrated screen... Read More

Smartwatch vendors shipped 3.5 million units in the second quarter of 2016, which was down substantially from the 5.1 million shipped a year ago. Apple held the top rank by shipping 1.6 million watches. However, it was the only vendor among the top 5 to experience an annual decline in shipments. In fairness to Apple, the year-over-year comparison is to the initial launch quarter of the Apple Watch, which is in many ways the same product offered in the most recent quarter with price reductions. “Consumers have held off on smartwatch purchases since early 2016 in anticipation of a hardware refresh, and improvements in WatchOS are not expected until later this year, effectively stalling existing Apple Watch sales,” said Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst, IDC Mobile Device Trackers... Read More

Huawei and Vodafone have completed a 5G mmWave field test at Vodafone Emerald House in the UK. The test covers SU-MIMO (Single User Multiple Input Multiple Output) with a strong reflection path to reach 20Gbps UE peak rate, and MU-MIMO (Multi User Multiple Input Multiple Output) for long-range UE to reach 10Gbps peak rate. It is the first 5G outdoor field test at E-Band reaching 20Gbps peak rate for a single user device with high spectrum efficiency. This peak user rate is targeted by ITU-R as a 5G requirement. This is a key milestone after the two companies signed a strategic MoU on 5G technologies last year and a 5G Acceleration MoU this July. Johan Wibergh, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Group, said, “This field test in an outdoor environment is a significant step in validating the performance of 5G in high- frequency bands, improving our understanding of the capabilities of the technology.” Read More

Dell has enhanced its high-performance computing (HPC) portfolio, including the availability of new Dell HPC Systems, early access to innovative HPC technologies, technology partner collaborations, and successful global customer implementations. “While traditional HPC has been critical to research programs that enable scientific and societal advancement, Dell is mainstreaming these capabilities to support enterprises of all sizes as they seek a competitive advantage in an ever-increasing digital world. As a clear leader in HPC, Dell now offers customers highly flexible, precision built HPC systems for multiple vertical industries based upon years of experience powering the world’s most advanced academic and research institutions. With Dell HPC Systems, our customers can deploy HPC systems more quickly and cost-effectively and accelerate their speed of innovation to deliver both breakthroughs and business results,” said Jim Ganthier, Vice- President & General Ma...

Fujitsu has come up with a fresh approach to data protection in virtualized data centers with the ETERNUS CS200c S3, a backup solution ideally suited for hyperconverged infrastructures (HCIs). This new integrated backup appliance offers a simplified, cost-efficient approach to the headache of protecting data across complex physical and virtual IT environments. It joins Fujitu’s range of ready-to-use ETERNUS CS appliances, which are designed to minimize business risk from missed backups, post-disaster recovery failures and the corruption of sensitive data. The ETERNUS CS200c S3 delivers an all-in-one data protection concept for converged and hyperconverged systems. This means that organizations can now virtualize their critical applications while meeting strict data protection service level agreements (SLAs)... Read More

Symantec has introduced Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive to protect against zero-day attacks and never-before-seen issues facing modern connected vehicles. Bringing Symantec’s extensive security and sophisticated analytics expertise across complex networks to the vehicle, Anomaly Detection for Automotive provides the crucial ability to identify issues for early remediation. “Automotive security threats have gone from theory to reality. Symantec is bringing the world’s most comprehensive portfolio of security technologies to the car. The infrastructure and technology that already helps protect billions of devices and trillions of dollars now protects the car. We are building long-term comprehensive security all the while delivering groundbreaking protection for cars today,” said Shankar Somasundaram, Senior Director of Product Management and Engineering, Symantec... Read More

Aircel, through its “Be Online with Aircel” initiative, continues to innovate in its product portfolio to encourage people to experience the benefits of mobile internet. Under this umbrella initiative, Aircel has introduced a host of products that offer maximum affordability for mobile data to consumers, such as Free Basic Internet and Unlimited 3G @ Rs.9 per day, essentially to help bridge the significant divide between urban and rural India in terms of mobile internet consumption. The many successes of Aircel’s “Be Online with Aircel” initiative with propositions include striking jumps of 53% in data revenue and 65% consumption growth in a little less than a year for Aircel. Aircel has also introduced a revolutionary data proposition of providing “1 GB for all” mobile internet to all prepaid customers at a price which is affordable and will ensure that all customers can enjoy a meaningful internet experience of at least 1 GB. The validity of the pack changes as ...