Archive for the 'Software' Category

Yahoo! Bangalore centre will remain global hub

Published at December 17, 2007 in IT, News and Software. 0 Comments

Yahoo! Bangalore centre will remain global hub

“We have almost 1,500 employees in the Bangalore R&D centre itself, which is a huge number for any one centre,” official says.

India will continue to be Yahoo’s research and development (R&D) hub for catering to the global information technology market, a top company official said.

“Our India operations, namely Yahoo! India, has its R&D centre in Bangalore. It was set up for doing product innovations for not only India but also for the global market. This function of our R&D centre will continue and even grow in the future,” Head, Yahoo! Research, Prabhakar Raghavan, said here.

“India has the right atmosphere for catering to the global market by providing Internet services, technological tools and marketing solutions for businesses both in India and internationally. We have almost 1,500 employees in the Bangalore R&D centre itself, which is a huge number for any one centre. This shows the capability of the centre to be an international hub for IT related activities,” Raghavan said.

The Yahoo! Research Head was here to attend a two-day summit on the IT sector called Infovision 2007.

On the prospects of the convergence of mobile phone and Internet application in India, Rahgavan said that though India and China had many mobile devices, most of them were not data-rich phones, not fully digital.
“The challenge here is to create service and monetisation models that would help serve the market in a better way. We have such programmes in the pipeline. The challenge is also to find a greater variety of services to appeal to a larger audience,” he said. Source: deccanherald



IT: need for more gender equality

Published at December 14, 2007 in IT, Jobs, News and Software. 0 Comments

IT: need for more gender equality

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) President, Kiran Karnik, said here on Wednesday that a study by the association indicated that the percentage of women employed in the IT (information technology) and ITeS (IT-enabled Services) sectors might grow from 30 per cent to 45 per cent by 2010.

The male-female ratio was also expected to improve from 76:24 in 2006 to 65:35 by early 2008, he said.

Speaking at the Nasscom Women IT Leaders summit here, Mr. Karnik said, “There is a clear trend of more educated young women joining the industry because of progressive and flexible human resource management policies. IT does not require any gender-specific skills”.

Britannia Industries Managing Director, Vineeta Bali, said, “While competency will remain a basic skill for either gender, men in senior positions have to initiate changes needed for more gender equality. The industry should realise the vast talent pool in the form of women with necessary skills. Bobby Mitra, Managing Director, Texas Instruments-India, said “Within our organisation, women have filed for 25 patents in the U.S. over the last two years, meeting stringent criteria. Recently, a team led by a woman successfully completed a project that produced a chip twice the speed of a competitor”.

Jerry Rao, Chairman of MphasiS, said “Men in senior positions now need to realise how talented women staffers, if encouraged, can help the organisation. Sadly, even HR heads, who are women, do not recommend women for some senior positions. Managements on their part can meet some of the handicaps faced by women executives by providing training in communication skills such as making business presentations”. Source: Hindu



Bangalore to host Web innovation 2007 conference

Published at December 12, 2007 in Events, IT, News and Software. 0 Comments

“Web Innovation 2007: The Nextgen Web Technology Revolution: 2.0 & Beyond”, a conference focusing on potential and benefits of Web 2.0, will be held here from December 18.

It’s an opportunity for young business and software decision makers to know about Web 2.0 and beyond, said Bal Tarakad, CEO of Trade Fairs & Conference International which is organising the two-day event.

Bangalore to host Web innovation 2007 conference

More than 45 Web 2.0 experts will speak at the conference, which is expected to attract 750 delegates from across the country, he told a press meet.

The phrase “Web 2.0″ hints at the second innings of the World Wide Web.

The idea of Web 2.0 can relate to a transition of some websites from isolated information silos to interlinked computing platforms that function like locally-available software in the perception of the user.

Web 2.0 also includes a social element where users generate and distribute content, often with freedom to share and re-use.

Chairman and CEO of Brickwork, Vivek Kulkarni, who is part of the conference advisory committee, said the event focuses on the importance of Web 2.0 technology and its applications.

“In a nutshell, Web 2.0 technologies tend to foster innovation in the assembly of systems and sites composed by pulling together features from distributed, independent developers”, Kulkarni said. Source: economictimes

Flickr gets new editing tools

Published at December 6, 2007 in News, Software and Technology. 0 Comments

Yahoo Inc is touching up its popular online photo-sharing service, Flickr, with free editing tools aimed at the growing number of shutterbugs who want to doctor their digital pictures.

The editing software, expected to be introduced late Tuesday in a partnership with Picnik Inc., represents Yahoo’s latest attempt to broaden Flickr’s appeal as the Sunnyvale-based company closes its older Yahoo Photos service.

“We think this is going to be very attractive to mainstream users,” said Kakul Srivastava, Flickr’s senior director of product management.

With its stock price stuck in a malaise that has lasted two years, Yahoo has been trying to make more money from all its services, including Flickr, which it bought in 2005. The profit push is one reason Yahoo is closing Yahoo Photos, which launched in 2000.

Although Flickr offers free accounts with limited photo storage to all comers, the service also sells $24.95 annual subscriptions that accommodate unlimited uploading. Yahoo is betting the editing tools will encourage more people to pay to show a larger number of pictures on the site.

Picnik, a Seattle-based startup run by an entrepreneur who sold his last venture, software startup PhatBits, to Google for an undisclosed amount in early 2005, is counting on the Flickr connection to help pay the bills now.

A more sophisticated version of Picnik’s editing tools costs $24.95 a year.

The editing software fills a glaring void at Flickr, which has blossomed into one of the Web’s busiest photo-sharing communities.

Most of Flickr’s rivals, including Shutterfly Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Snapfish, Kodak Gallery and Google Inc.’s Picasa, already offer free photo-editing tools. Source: economictimes

iGate Global inks IT deal with Union Bank of California

Published at December 4, 2007 in IT, Software and Technology. 0 Comments

Software solutions provider, iGate Global Solutions Ltd on Tuesday said it has signed a key technology services agreement with the Union Bank of California (UBoC), the largest bank in the US based on assets, for an undisclosed amount.

Pursuant to the agreement, the company has initially set up a 100 people Operation Technology Center (OTC) for the bank at its software development campus in Whitefield, Bangalore, iGate said in a communique to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

“This is an exciting partnership for us and we are proud to be associated with UBoC and help them enhance their process and service capabilities,” iGate Global Solutions Ltd CEO Phaneesh Murthy said.

“This partnership also gives us confidence that our integrated Technology and Operations (iTOPS) model is gaining more acceptance and momentum,” Murthy said.

The company also informed that it has been ranked as India’s number one employer on choice in a recent survey by CNBC TV18 in collaboration with Watson Wyatt Worldwide and Jobstreet.com. Source: Hindu

MindTree to inaugurate Mahindra City in Chennai

Published at November 30, 2007 in IT, News and Software. 0 Comments

Bangalore-based MindTree Consulting will be inaugurating its Mahindra World City development centre in Chennai next month. Planned to accommodate a manpower strength of 2,500 when it is completed in 2009, 550 employees will be joining the first batch. Of this 400 would be handling IT services and the rest would be inducted into research and development.

“Recruitments have started and we are taking engineers in computer science and electronics as well as MCAs. Already 1,000 freshers have been recruited during July and October for various centres. They are currently undergoing training at Bangalore,” said President and CEO, R&D Services, S Janakiraman.

Out of these, 700 will be absorbed in IT services and the balance in R&D services, who are undergoing training in integrated circuit design, embedded software among others. At present, the company has around 5,500 people of which 1,500 are in the R&D services. According to Janakiraman, for R&D services, MindTree-Chennai will be providing design consulting to clients in the automotive, communications and manufacturing sectors.

“Chennai is fast developing as a hub for research and development services,” he pointed out. Already MindTree staffs 300 people at the Olympia Technology Park in the city. The company expects a revenue of USD 35 million from the Olympia centre and Mahindra City centre within a year. Research and Development activities are likely to contribute 25 percent of the total revenue from the Mahindra City centre when it is ready.

MindTree is targeting a turnover of USD 180 million this fiscal compared to USD 130 million last year with a growth of 30 to 40 percent in FY’08. The company would also add more clients in the current fiscal. It added 28 clients during last quarter with a total of 192 customers on its rolls currently. Source: newindpress

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