VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

McAfee has announced the continued growth of the McAfee Security Innovation Alliance (SIA) with the addition of 19 new partners to the program, and seven newly-certified integrated solutions. McAfee SIA helps accelerate the development of open and interoperable security products, simplify integration with complex customer environments, and provide a truly integrated, connected security ecosystem to maximize the value of existing customer security investments. According to the McAfee report, Hacking the Skills Shortage, demand for cybersecurity professionals is outpacing the supply of qualified workers. However, almost nine out of 10 respondents said that cybersecurity technology could help compensate for a skills shortage. The shortage of qualified workers coupled with the vast number of cyber threats facing businesses highlights the need for IT departments to utilize integrated solutions to achieve more with fewer resources. “The threat landscape facing today’s busines...

Infinix Mobile has launched an uber-cool Topaz blue colour in its latest Hot S3 series. Giving an edge to its customer’s style quotient, the variant comes supported with the advanced Face unlock feature. Apart from their newly-launched hip new blue variant, the smartphone is also available in Blush Gold and Sandstone Black colour variants. Perfect Selfie With 20-megapixel front camera, the smartphone can create, high-resolution images featuring extraordinary clarity and vivid natural colours with every selfie. The dual LED soft light flash creates a soft radiant complexion of a supermodel for a beautiful picture-perfect image every time. The HOT S3 comes with a unique feature called Full View selfie mode, which lets capture the selfies on full view screen. Not only this, the smartphone lets user take Bokeh shots. While its 13-megapixel rear camera supports PDAF and F2.0 aperture with features like touch focus, HDR, panorama and 1080p video recording.... Read More

Its been at least a decade when we first got to know Orkut as a social networking platform and it seemed that it was the next big thing or a breakthrough in the Business Platform & industry. However, in came Facebook and suppressed Orkut’s chariot of glory while becoming the social media giant it is today. That said, with people vouching to delete their Facebook accounts in the wake of the massive data breach scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, Orkut founder Orkut Buyukkokten has launched ‘Hello’ in India, which is a new social media app and a possible Facebook alternative.For the unknown, Orkut Buyukkokten is a former Google employee and the current CEO of Hello Network, who has now announced his company’s entry into the Indian market amid all the controversies surrounding the data breach scandal involving Facebook.  Built particularly for the new mobile generation, "Hello" brings people together around their interests to create positive, meaningful, authent...

This week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before members of Congress, splitting his visit into two days of questioning. There were expected queries regarding the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal, about whether Facebook has grown too large and could be considered a monopoly, and how to better regulate the platform, as a firestorm rocks over its data privacy scandal, with pressure mounting for new regulations on social media platforms. Less expected were the weird and somewhat rambling moments throughout the combined 12 hours of testimony, as members of Congress grappled with the legitimately complicated technology they were questioning. At times, lawmakers relied on slightly clunky metaphors, revealing anecdotes, and corny jokes. The 33-year-old chief executive is expected to face a grilling before a Senate panel , and follow up with an appearance in the House of Representatives the following days. Before launching into his question, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL...

If sources are to be believed, Google is in talks with Nokia to buy the latter’s airborne broadband system. The search giant would use Nokia's technology to offer faster in-flight Wi-Fi. Nokia announced its air-to-ground connectivity network late last year with internet speeds as fast as or faster than those of the in-flight internet company Gogo. If an acquisition goes through, having its own Wi-Fi system on planes would allow Google to attract people toward its entertainment products, like YouTube or Play Music.  It will be one of the many connectivity-focused projects that Google’s parent company Alphabet is working on.... Read More

Xiaomi has opened three new smartphone manufacturing plants in India. This move is in line with its strategy to enhance the handset maker’s business in the country. The three new smartphone plants that are coming up in partnership with Foxconn will be set up in campuses in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh and a new campus in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu with a total campus area of 180 acres. Xiaomi however did not reveal its investment in the latest smartphone production units in India. The company has also stated manufacturing smartphones at its power bank plant in partnership with Hipad Technology in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The #1 smartphone company that is at present ahead of Samsung has as part of its localization strategy added its first SMT (Surface Mount Technology) plant dedicated towards local manufacturing of PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) units in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, in partnership with Foxconn..... Read More

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE

Pegasystems Inc. has announced Pega GDPR Accelerator – a set of customizable templates for Pega software that helps businesses accelerate compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). When GDPR becomes effective on May 25, EU residents will have unprecedented powers to view, limit, or even erase any information businesses collect about them. And the demand will likely be significant. According to a recent Pega study of 7,000 EU residents, 82 per cent plan to exercise these new GDPR rights when the regulation goes into effect. But saddled with legacy systems, most global businesses are unprepared to track and gather this information on demand across their siloed organizations. This could result not only in the loss of valuable customer data but also massive fines of up to four per cent of global revenue for non-compliance. To address this extraordinary IT infrastructure challenge, Pega GDPR Accelerator provides a set of customizable GDPR templates a...

Tata Cliq by Tata Unistore (a part of the Tata group venture) has partnered with Adobe to deliver enhanced digital experiences for customers in India. Tata Cliq is the country’s first-of-its-kind “phygital” marketplace that combines online shopping with an offline store experience. The company is leveraging Adobe Experience Cloud to offer personalized, relevant and seamless digital experiences for luxury brand shoppers across Tata Cliq’s website, as well as mobile application. The announcement on Tata Cliq’s partnership with Adobe sets the tone for Adobe Symposium 2018, India’s biggest digital marketing event, slated for 26th April at Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. The event is expected to draw over 1,400 professionals, who will discover digital transformation stories of “experience makers” representing many of India’s biggest brands including Aditya Birla Group, Flipkart, Myntra, Yatra, and Freecharge..... Read More

Rishad Premji has been named as the new chairman of NASSCOM. Rishad succeeds Raman Roy, chairman and MD of Quatrro Global Services who was the chairman for 2017-18. Keshav R Murugesh, CEO of WNS Global has been appointed as the new vice chairman. On Premji’s appointment, NASSCOM tweeted - “We welcome Rishad Premji, Chairman, and @Keshav_Murugesh, vice chairman! President @debjani_ghosh and the NASSCOM Family look forward to supporting them, as we continue to catalyze & transform India's #technology industry together.” “I am honored to have the vote of confidence of the NASSCOM leadership team as we stand on the cusp of a digital transformation. I look forward to working closely with NASSCOM’s multiple and versatile teams, and continuing our endeavors to foster growth in changing times,” said Rishad Premji, chairman, NASSCOM.... Read More

SAP SE has organized a unique summit, Digital4Growth “IncTank”, (Inclusive Think Tank) to ideate and deliberate how Digital can be best leveraged to address opportunities that can accelerate growth in an inclusive and sustainable society. With 462.1 million Internet users, making India the second fastest-growing country in terms of social media penetration, digital technologies present a big opportunity to unlock its demographic dividend through right skilling and support, as well as drive inclusive economic growth.  “We believe technology is the only enabler that will ensure every individual, every business, every institution and every sector is included in India’s growth. The Digital4Growth IncTank has been constituted with an aim to make digital inclusion an essential element to chart the nation’s transformation story,” said Deb Deep Sengupta, President &     Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent. “SAP is committed to proactively seek collaboratio...

Google has announced the latest addition to its #MadebyGoogle family of hardware products in India – Google Home and Google Home Mini. Powered by Google Assistant, Google Home and Google Home Mini are Google's voice-activated speakers that are customized for India. Google Home and Google Home Mini will be priced at Rs.9,999 and Rs.4,499, respectively and will be available for purchase online exclusively on Flipkart, and in over 750 retail stores across the country, including Reliance Digital, Croma, Bajaj Electronics, Vijay Sales, Sangeetha, and Poorvika. According to the company, this offer valid until 30th April, 2018. Google Home Mini is available in two colours – Chalk and Charcoal, while Google Home will be available in Chalk. Coral will be coming soon.  The launch also comes with exciting new offers: when buying Google Home or Google Home Mini on Flipkart, users get a FREE JioFi router along with special offers on music subscriptions; when buying Google Home or ...

Mphasis has entered into collaboration with International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) to set up an Mphasis IIIT-B Center of Excellence for Cognitive Computing. The Center will focus on applied research with relevance for society and enterprises. Mphasis will invest more than Rs.50 million over the next three years on this initiative. The key expected outcomes from the Mphasis – IIIT-B Center of Excellence for Cognitive Computing include – · World-class proof-of-concepts, prototypes, and research papers. All intellectual assets generated from the program would be open-sourced and accessible for everyone. · Annual conferences and workshops to encourage collaboration and knowledge exchange between academia and industry. · Periodic cognitive computing training programs for students from underserved communities. · A think tank to provide consultation for startups, industry partners and Government..... Read More

Microsoft has enabled digital payments services on Microsoft Kaizala in India by integrating the payment services of YES Bank and MobiKwik using both the organizations’ mobile payment infrastructure. Payment integration with Microsoft Kaizala will enable users to quickly send or receive money without having to leave the Kaizala mobile application. With Microsoft Kaizala, users have the option to make peer-to-peer payments in one-to-one and group chat conversations via the MobiKwik wallet and via YES Bank’s state-of-the-art Unified Payment Interface (UPI) integration. The UPI payment integration on Microsoft Kaizala works with all 86 banks that are already participating in UPI.  Microsoft Kaizala is also aimed at making the firstline workforce more productive and helping them communicate in real time. There are nearly 1.9 billion such workers worldwide, and a large portion of this workforce is based out of India. Microsoft Kaizala, a mobile-only product designed for large gr...

Microsoft has announced that the company will invest US$5 billion in the Internet of Things (IoT) globally over the next four years. This increased investment will support continued research and innovation in IoT and what is ultimately evolving to be the new intelligent edge. With Microsoft’s IoT platform spanning cloud, operating system and devices, Microsoft is simplifying the IoT journey so any customer – regardless of size, technical expertise, budget, industry or other factors – can create trusted, connected solutions that improve business and customer experiences, as well as the daily lives of people all over the world. This will support Microsoft’s technology platform, as well as supporting programs, thereby enabling continued research and development in key areas, including securing IoT, creating development tools and intelligent services for IoT and the edge, and investments to grow our partner ecosystem. Customers and partners can expect new products and services, o...

Are you thinking to link your AADHAAR with FACEBOOK …!!!  Please go through the complete story here and then decide... The different news headlines recently factoid the allegations that Cambridge Analytica, a Trump - confederated data mining firm, used ill-gotten and data from millions of users to try to influence elections. And in return Facebook said on Wednesday that as many as 87 million people might have had their data accessed - an increase from the 50 million disclosed in published reports by Cambridge Analytica .The BBC has been told that about 1.1 million of them are UK-based. The overall figure had been previously quoted as being more than 50 million by the whistleblower Christopher Wylie, BBC reported on Wednesday also. Facebook revealed and resolutes Wednesday that tens of millions more people might have been exposed in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal than previously thought and hence it will restrict the user data that outsiders can access.Durin...

WhatsApp is unquestionably, one of the most popular messaging application across the globe, has brought new features and updates from time to time, which is used by over 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide and is quite popular amongst the users.The app is so popular that if you make a search for the app in Google Play store, several other instances and fake counterparts appear. One such fake app with a similar moniker is WhatsApp Plus, which a lot of people even use it, mistaking it for the original version due to great similarities between the two. While the app is in use for quite a while, the users must delete this app as a new report points out that this app is illicitly sharing the users’ data and replaces it with malware. According to a report by Malwarebytes, this fake version of WhatsApp is surfacing around the web with malicious intentions to take the control over users data. This app is not available on Google Play store, however, the APK file of the app is in ...

Plantronics and Polycom have entered into a definitive agreement under which Plantronics will acquire Polycom in a cash and stock transaction valued at $2.0 billion enterprise value. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close by the end of the third calendar quarter of 2018. With the acquisition of Polycom, Plantronics will become the partner of choice for the communications and collaboration ecosystem. The combination - Accelerates Plantronics Strategy - Polycom brings a global leadership position in voice and video collaboration, accelerating Plantronics vision of delivering new communications and collaboration experiences.... Read More

Difficult For Users To Delete Account !!! Facebook has been collecting call records and SMS data from Android devices for years. Several Twitter users have reported finding months or years of call history data in their downloadable Facebook data file. A number of Facebook users have been victimised by the recent Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, prompting them to download all the data that Facebook stores on their account. The results have been alarming for some. The deleted Facebook Zip file contains info on every single phone cellphone call and all the SMS . Others have found a similar pattern where it appears close contacts, like family members, are the only ones tracked in Facebook’s call records. Ars Technica reports that Facebook has been requesting access to contacts, SMS data, and call history on Android devices to improve its friend recommendation  algorithm and distinguish between business contacts and your true personal friendships. Facebook appear...

HP Inc. India has announced its partnership with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the upcomg T20 season. In an effort to better engage with millennials, HP will be the principal sponsor of the highly popular cricket team, led by youth icon and cricketing legend, Virat Kohli. Through the partnership, HP will occupy the commercial space on the front of the RCB playing jersey. With this partnership, HP aims to connect with millions of consumers across India as the leading technology provider. As part of the collaboration, HP will have visibility across retail outlets, on-ground activations, team jersey and will feature in promotions & activations led by RCB team and management. Further, RCB players will be visible in HP led promotions/activations.... Read More