Business

Wednesday 5 June 2013

TCS increases CEO‘s monthly salary to Rs 15L

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Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software services exporter, said it has raised the chief executive N Chandrasekaran's maximum salary limit by 50% to Rs 15 lakh a month with effect from April 1, 2014, to "compensate for the additional business activities and responsibilities." 

Including benefits and bonuses, TCS CEO was paid around Rs 12 crore in the year to 31 March 2013. The salary bump comes at a time when TCS is easily outpacing its competition in the Indian IT outsourcing industry. Revenue in 2012-13 grew 14%, ahead of the industry growth rate of about 11%.

TCS also expects to beat IT industry body Nasscom's 2013-14 growth expectations of about 12-14%.

There will be a proportionate increase in benefits related to his salary, the company said in its annual report for the year 2012-2013.

The company said it ask shareholders to approve Chandrasekaran's revised compensation at its annual general body meeting, slated to be held on June 28th
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Cigniti Technologies acquires Gallop Solutions

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Hyderabad-based Cigniti Technologies Limited, a software testing services company has announced the acquisition of Gallop Solutions Inc, a US based specialized software testing services company. The combined entity is poised to become the world's third largest independent software testing services company with revenues of $40 Million and more than 800 people worldwide.
 
Gallop specializes in building and implementing niche solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) space with a special focus on Quality, Test Automation and Test Asset Modernization. Founded in 2009 by Manohar Reddy and Mahendra Alladi, Gallop Solutions is based in Irving, Texas in the US with an offshore technology center at Hyderabad, India. Gallop employs more than 200 people worldwide with 2012 revenues over $9.5 Million.

"The combined revenues will take Cigniti past the $40 Million run rate and make us the world's third largest independent testing services company. This will help our mission of becoming the world's largest independent testing services company in the next few years. IP led testing is going to be key driver of growth in the future and Gallop's experience in delivering testing solutions around proprietary IP led products such as WinQuick and RoboQuick will add a lot of value to our clients and complement Cigniti's SMART Tools," said Sriram Rajaram, president strategy and corporate development.

"Gallop's IP led testing capabilities can reach a wider client base with the help of Cigniti's investments in sales and marketing. Our testing tools expertise and solution driven approach perfectly complements Cigniti in maintaining the differentiation in testing services space," said Mahendra Alladi, VP of technology and professional services at Gallop.
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IBM buys SoftLayer, creates new cloud division

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International Business Machines (IBM) said on Tuesday it would acquire web hosting company SoftLayer Technologies and create a new division for clients interested in so-called cloud services, a move to better compete with larger rivals in the space. 

Executives with IBM and SoftLayer declined to comment on the terms of the deal on a call with reporters. 

Reuters reported in March that IBM, among others, had been in talks to buy SoftLayer in a deal that could fetch more than $2 billion. 

Dallas-based SoftLayer, which leases online storage space to companies, was founded in 2005 and has become what it says is the world's largest privately held website hosting service. The company provides its 25,000 customers, including AT&T and Citrix Systems, with cloud infrastructure. 

The company competes with Amazon's web services business and Rackspace Hosting. 

Like rivals Hewlett Packard and Microsoft, IBM has increasingly invested in cloud services as corporate users move away from costly internal information technology infrastructure. 

IBM has traditionally specialized in assisting large corporate and government users but has been trying in recent years to expand into smaller businesses. 

Aiming big
But Erich Clementi, senior vice president of IBM Global Technology Services, said on a call with reporters that IBM is shooting squarely for the large business segment with this acquisition. 

"We are the largest infrastructure provider to the enterprise world on the planet," he said "That is our focus." 

Over the last few years, web hosting companies have been considered attractive takeover candidates as technology and telecom companies look to improve the performance and cost efficiencies of their cloud computing services for businesses. 

Wells Fargo analyst Gray Powell estimated that the transaction was worth 11.1 times SoftLayer's projected 2013 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. 

That compares with Rackspace, which is currently trading at 11 times 2013 estimated Ebitda, Powell noted. 

IBM said it expected to gain $7 billion annually in revenue from cloud services by the end of 2015. It created a new division called Cloud Services, which will combine SoftLayer and IBM's existing offerings into a global platform. 

SoftLayer is majority held by GI Partners, which purchased all of the equity in partnership with the company's management in August 2010. 

Data storage equipment maker EMC had been approached about SoftLayer as well. An EMC spokesman said on Tuesday, "EMC was initially approached, uninterested and decided not to bid." 

IBM said it expected the deal to close in the third quarter. Shares of IBM were down about 1% at $206.78.
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Zynga to cut 30 jobs in India

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Online gaming company Zynga is laying off at least 30 of its over 400 employees in India as part of a global restructuring. Globally, Zynga , creator of the once wildly popular FarmVille and City-Ville games, is laying off 520 employees, about 18% of its 3,000-strong workforce. 
Zynga had not responded to a mail sent by TOI at the time of going to print, but company founder Mark Pincus's letter to employees said the layoff impact would be felt across every group in the company. The word in Zynga India is that at least 6% of the employees here would be impacted. Zynga's Bangalore centre, started in 2010, has rapidly expanded to become the company's second largest operation in the world, after its San Francisco centre. It started as a centre doing core R&D for the company. A year later started a studio that now manages multiple games, developing new content and creating new features for them. 
On his first visit to India in April this year, Pincus had said India had been "a terrific investment and experience for us" . That experience and the lower costs may be the reason why the layoffs in India are limited, compared to the global cuts.
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EBay to open ‘shoppable windows‘ in New York

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The first four of these screens will open from June 8 through July 7 in busy parts of New York City, such as the lower east side and Soho.
The first four of these screens will open from June 8 through July 7 in busy parts of New York City, such as the lower east side and Soho.
EBay Inc is launching virtual stores called "shoppable windows" this month that the e-commerce company hopes will help retailers generate more sales from their existing physical store networks. 

The first four of these screens will open from June 8 through July 7 in busy parts of New York City, such as the lower east side and Soho. They will sell 30 items from Kate Spade Saturday, a new fashion brand launched this year by apparel retailer Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc. 

EBay set up a window display in New York City in late 2011, but those storefronts did not let shoppers order products on the screen. 

The new screens measure about 9 feet (2.7 meters) across and 2 feet (0.6 meter) high and will appear on the front windows of closed stores. Shoppers will be able to touch the screens to order and have products delivered to them within an hour via courier. Payment will be accepted by the couriers through PayPal Here, a mobile payment service developed by eBay. 

This is the latest effort by eBay to work more closely with large retailers that are looking to reach more online and mobile shoppers. The company has attracted some large retailers, such as Target Corp, to its online marketplace, while developing mobile shopping technology for other retailers such as Macy's Inc. 

EBay's "shoppable windows" are an extension of the shift to mobile shopping, according to Steve Yankovich, head of the company's Innovation and New Ventures group, which developed the technology. 

"This extends the boundary of the store. Suddenly the physical store, by virtue of online technology, extends to any space that's interesting to use," Yankovich said. 

For Fifth & Pacific, the windows will help launch its new Kate Spade Saturday brand without opening new physical stores, at least initially, according to Chief Executive William McComb. 

However, the company also plans to use the technology in existing stores of its other brands, such as Juicy Couture and Kate Spade New York, he added. 

"This gives us the ability to produce more from our retail space," McComb said. "My nickname for it is the Wall as a Mall." 

McComb said he is considering putting shoppable windows in small Juicy Couture stores that will offer about 200 different shoes to buy. 

The company may also use the windows in Kate Spade New York stores to sell home furnishings, bedding, linens and towels. 

"We would never be able to fit all those products in a store in the traditional way," McComb said. "These things would typically require an extra 10,000 square feet of store space. But through partnerships like this eBay one we could do this through stores that are 2,000 square feet."
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Official says data show US cyberattacks on China

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High-tech spying from inside China will top the agenda when President Barack Obama meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend in California.
High-tech spying from inside China will top the agenda when President Barack Obama meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend in California.
China's Internet security chief has told state media that Beijing has amassed large amounts of data about US-based hacking attacks against China but refrains from blaming the White House or thePentagon because it would be irresponsible.


The state-run English-language China Daily reported Wednesday that Huang Chengqing, director of the government's Internet emergency response agency, said Beijing and Washington should cooperate rather than confront each other in the fight against cyberattacks. Huang also calls for mutual trust. 

High-tech spying from inside China will top the agenda when President Barack Obamameets with Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend in California. The White House sees cybersecurity as a leading threat to the U.S economy and national security. 

The Chinese government has denied engaging in cyberspying against the United States.
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BlackBerry India MD: Don‘t have a portfolio like Samsung

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A month into his new role, BlackBerry India managing director Sunil Lalvani says his company will not ape competition strategies of price drops or liquidating old stock, but will bet on offering value to drive its sales. The Canadian smartphone maker also has no intention to get into the $100 (approx Rs 5,600) device market in India, he told ET in an interview. 

About the plans to offer BlackBerry Messenger free on Android and iOS platforms, Lalvani says there is a possibility of losing customers to rivals but adds that it may also bring customers back to BlackBerry devices because they can connect to friends using other smartphones. Edited excerpts: 

BlackBerry Messenger will soon be made available for free for Google Android and Apple iOS devices. Will this change your revenue model in India, where telcos offer paid plans for BBM alone for around Rs 129 a month? Have you initiated talks with mobile operators for renegotiation of revenue share? 

We have very strong relations with top nine carriers in India and we're well-positioned to exploit this as we can grow the market and get BBM into more users, across platforms. We can also get BES10 (BlackBerry Enterprise Service), which now manages enterprise customers across Android, BB and iOS, and monetize this. 

So overall, it becomes a revenue share for carriers and us. It's too early to say about negotiations with carriers as we're still unclear as to when will iOS and Android approve BBM on their app stores and whether they will charge for these apps. 

BlackBerry India's largest user base — the youth — buy the smartphone for the BBM experience. If BBM is available on other platforms, then these consumers may move to, say, iPhone or Samsung Galaxy. What will BlackBerry do to keep these customers from moving to other brands? 

If a user wants to move on the basis of price consideration, because he would get a $100 (approx Rs5,600) Android device where we don't have an equivalent, then they will switch. We may not be able to retain a customer whose prime consideration is budget or price. 

On the contrary, we might find a scenario where loyal customers that had moved on from BlackBerry coming back now that they will be able to connect to their friends through BlackBerry cross platform. Further, the first-time smartphone owners could also come to BlackBerry (Curve) because cross platform BBM is not restricting them to a small user group. We have begun offering the new Curve for EMI of Rs 799 and data plans for as low as Rs 129 for tier 2 and 3 circles, focusing on first time users. 

Do you think new handsets will push up market share? And if BlackBerry does not bring handsets in quick succession like Samsung does, would you be able to compete at all? 

We're not here to ape competition strategy of price drops, or to liquidate old stock or inventory like some companies are doing. India has always been top priority market for BlackBerry globally. Z10 was launched in India within a month of global launch and India will be the second country in Asia Pacific to get the Q10. We're not indulging in price wars with competition or massive cash back offers, but we're offering value. 

We have ensured that total cost of ownership of a BlackBerry comes down, so we lowered data plan prices from Rs 299 to Rs 129 a month for 15 circles, for full BlackBerry experience. We've rolled this out with Aircel, Idea and Vodafone. We're in talks with other operators to taking it pan-India 

You say India is one of the top priority markets for BlackBerry globally, but the Z10 and the upcoming Q10 don't exhibit the element of affordability that most Indian consumers look out for... 

We don't want to play in all the handset market segments, from under $50 to over $500, because we don't have the portfolio. We don't want to set false pretexts by saying that we will be there in the $100 segment. The Q10 (to be launched day after) and Z10 are placed as premium devices in the market for which, we know, that the consumer will pay a premium for the value they offer. We're addressing the customer base that owns a $100 device and is now looking to upgrade to a $300 (approx Rs 17,000) smartphone. With the Q5, which will come on the BB10 platform, we're targeting the urban youth.
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Why banks‘ current defences are not foolproof

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As most banks urge customers to shift to the virtual space, their ability to create fortresses against cyber aggresses has come into the spotlight. ET argues that banks' current defences against online fraud are not unbreachable.
Two Indian payment processors, ElectraCard and Enstage, were in the spotlight recently for their alleged role in a $45-million credit card fraud impacting Indian and international banks.

* In the last week of May, phishers embezzled over Rs 5 lakh from the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation's bank accounts through refunds after booking over 100 fake tickets and cancelling them.

* Last month, cyber criminals hacked into an RPG group company's bank account and siphoned off Rs 2.4 crore through the real time gross settlement system (RTGS).

* "The total amount involved in frauds relating to credit card, debit card and internet banking rose 74 % to Rs 38.4 crore in 2012." - IT minister to Rajyasabha

These are a few cases of online fraud that came to light recently. With electronic banking on the rise, lenders have become vulnerable to the risks of such transactions, even as regulations are becoming more stringent as far as know your customer (KYC) rules are concerned.

Internet banking still does not account for a significant portion of total transactions in India. In FY13, Rs 31.8 lakh crore was settled via 69.4 crore transactions through various retail electronic banking channels while Rs 18.6 lakh crore was settled through 64 crore card-related transactions, according to Reserve Bank of India's data. In addition, Rs 1,026 lakh crore through 6.85 crore transactions were settled through the real time gross settlement system, or RTGS, involving both retail and interbank transactions. The young generation is increasingly opting for net transactions to settle bills and all kinds of bank-related work from cash transfer and seeking cheque books to passwords for debit cards. Moreover, with banks — including public sector ones — urging customers to opt for net banking, the ability to shield customers from cyber threats will be crucial to gaining their confidence.

From just a few stray cases of identity thefts a few years ago, internet frauds have not only risen in scale but also gone high tech, so much so that it has become difficult to identify the origin of the crime and nail the culprit(s). Cyber heist is an issue that not just Indian banks are faced with. Cyber attacks ranked fourth among top global risks, in terms of likelihood, according to the 'World Economic Forum Report: Global Risks 2012'.

When internet banking was introduced in the country, it was felt that having a password-protected account was adequate to ensure safety, but not any more. The cyberthreat landscape has changed. Five to seven years ago, most frauds were related to identity thefts, the techniques adopted by fraudsters were easy to trace and these did not involve big money either.

But over the years, online heist has become an organised crime. Hackers are spread across the globe, from Africa to Russia and China, and each one has his or her own technique. The attacks involve compromising a bank's database with systemlevel implications. Apart from the internet, mobile transactions, that are finding favour among customers, could also be hit. Globally, targeted attacks rose 42% in 2012. India is ranked third globally in terms of vulnerability, accounting for 6.5% of the total targeted attacks in 2012, according to California-based Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report, 2013.

"Top emerging information security threats in the internet banking space are malware, social engineering, distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) and phishing attacks," says Nitin Bhatnagar, head of business development SISA, an information security services provider.

Awareness, education key
From a customer perspective, awareness and education are the keys, which banks are taking seriously, as mandated by the RBI, through their websites and mails to clients. Banks are also investing in adding more security features to customers' accounts. One of the features that banks added recently is the 'digitised signature'.

Most frauds occur when customers show laxity in complying with security. Information for attack can also be gathered from a bank's staff. Awareness can act as a crucial fortress against cyber aggresses. KVS Manian, head of consumer banking Kotak Mahindra Bank says, "RBI has detailed guidelines on banks' IT policy which stipulates a board-approved policy, among other things. Customer education apart, we have to keep investing in upgrading systems as well."

Banks have started integrating their fraud management and internet-security systems. "Also, banks are getting more stringent with outsourcing. The security standards that banks adopt, is also used by their business partners," says Surinder Singh, regional director, India & SAARC, Websense, a security solutions provider. This would ensure that information does not leak through clients' data.

In February, replying to questions in Parliament, minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena said 8,322 cases of frauds related to cards and internet banking were reported in 2012, involving Rs 52.7 crore. Given the value of frauds reported, these have not yet had any balance-sheet implications. But, there could be other implications "in terms of law suits, customer confidence and damage to reputation built over years," says Bhatnagar.

The affected customers may sever their relationship with banks, which in turn could impact their business adversely. "Cyber security is not just an IT issue, but a core business issue requiring top management attention. In addition to updating technology and mitigating cyberfraud risks, banks must continue to educate their customers on such emerging threats," says Darshan Patel, executive director, forensic services, PwC India.

Internet security experts say that one of the problems is that Indian banks do not report fraud, in contrast to many advanced economies where there is a legal mandate to do so. "Unfortunately, there is no legislation to make frauds public. In India, banks are not legally mandated to put frauds in the public domain," says Singh. Only 21% of victims reported cybercrime to the police, according to a KPMG report of May 2012.
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How cloud computing is helping IBM, Salesforce

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A decade ago, the mere idea of cloud computing was a difficult concept to explain, let alone sell. Today, the technology is spurring a high-stakes scramble to buy some of the early leaders in the cloud-computing movement. 

The latest examples of the trend emerged as two major technology companies announced acquisitions aimed at seeding their own clouds. 

Cloud-computing pioneer Salesforce.com said it will spend about $2.5 billion to buy ExactTarget, a specialist in helping other companies manage marketing campaigns and other business functions through email, social networks and a variety of digital services that can be reached on any device with an Internet connection.

The more time-tested IBM is snapping up SoftLayer Technologies, a privately held company that leases extra computing horsepower to startup companies and medium-size businesses that don't have the resources or desire to build their own data centers. IBM didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal, but The Wall Street Journal pegged the cost at about $2 billion. The Journal cited an unidentified person familiar with the matter. 

ExactTarget, based in Indianapolis, and SoftLayer, based in Dallas, are just the latest in a batch of billion-dollar babies hatched by what was once viewed as a kooky craze. 

Cloud computing refers to the practice of renting software and other computing accessories over the internet, an approach that once seemed to out of step with the long-standing policies of corporate customers and government agencies who preferred to own their machines and the applications running on them. 

But that sentiment has changed in the past six years as the popularity of powerful smartphones and tablet computers has driven the demand for services that can be reached from any internet-connected device. 

The phenomenon has helped propel cloud computing, and driven lucrative deals in the space. In the past two years alone, long-established technology companies such as IBM, Oracle and SAP AG have each spent several billions of dollars acquiring cloud-computing vendors. 

"Deals begat deals," said Peter Falvey, a Boston investment banker specializing in technology. "There are no doubt other companies now saying, `What else is there to buy out in this space?' It's all part of the maturation process." 

Questions are already being raised whether the buyers are getting overzealous and paying too much. 

Investors seemed particularly troubled by Salesforce's decision to buy ExactTarget for $33.75 - 53 per cent above ExactTarget's market value before the deal was announced. It's a steep premium for a company that has suffered losses in each of the past four years, including nearly $58 million since the end of 2009. 

Wall Street's misgivings about the deal caused Salesforce's stock to plunge $3.24, or 7.9 per cent, to close Tuesday at $37.80. It was the steepest one-day decline in the stock in 13 months. 

ExactTarget's setbacks came during a period of rapid growth. The company's annual revenue climbed from $72 million in 2008 to $292 million last year while its payroll has ballooned from under 400 employees in 2008 to nearly 1,700 now. 

Salesforce expects ExactTarget to trim its adjusted earnings during its current fiscal year ending in January 2014 by 16 cents per share. The deal is expected to close by the end of next month. 

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has become accustomed to shaking off the skeptics. He was frequently mocked when he started his San Francisco-based company in 1999 and boldly predicted its model for leasing business software applications would revolutionize the technology industry. Even after Tuesday's sell-off, Salesforce now boasts a market value of $22 billion. Benioff's personal fortune stands at an estimated $2.6 billion. 

Benioff, an executive known for sweeping statements, hailed the ExactTarget deal "as really a historic date for cloud computing" during a Tuesday conference call for analysts. He is counting on ExactTarget to help Salesforce sell more marketing services on mobile devices. As part of its marketing expansion, Salesforce previously spent nearly $1.1 billion to buy Buddy Media and Radian6 Technologies during the past two years. 

Once the ExactTarget deal is completed, Benioff said Salesforce plans to take a "vacation" from deal making for 12 to 18 months. 

"That's really because we're going to double down and focus on the success of ExactTarget," Benioff assured analysts.
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See Michael Dell‘s advice to Indian entrepreneurs

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"Be crazy and don't seek too much advice on what you propose to do," this is the mantra that Michael Dell, the man who founded the world's third largest PC making company -- Dell -- has given to budding entrepreneurs in India for becoming successful. 

"...entrepreneurs I think have to be a little bit crazy, at least in the eyes of others," Dell, who is also the CEO of the company, said. 

Successful entrepreneurs will be those who venture to do what others will not; if it's "obvious," everyone would do it, he said in an interaction here, hosted by IT industry body Nasscom with hundreds of start-ups in attendance, late last evening. 

He said he never sought lot of advice because if he had gone and asked people what he was about to do and work, they would have told him it wouldn't work and dissuaded him from taking up the venture. 

"I would experiment experiment, test, go fast, fail fast. Planning is fine but generally over-rated," said Dell, who founded the company as a student. 

He said these are exciting times for entrepreneurs as most of the growth in the global economies is occurring in small and medium-sized businesses. 

"And one of the reasons for that is those businesses are getting access to tools, technology that used to be only available to big businesses." 

Most of the employment and innovation is also happening in the SMB space, which is also the largest market in the world, he said adding that it is "great time to be entrepreneur." 

On the company's experience of doing business in India, he said it has been growing quite rapidly but remarked: "Market like India tends to be fairly dynamic and somewhat volatile. Generally in upward direction." Like some other markets, one has to be ready for significant down-drags. 

"On any given day, it's fantastic or really difficult". "(In India for Dell)..it's like three steps forward, one step backward; two steps forward, four steps backward; three steps forward, one step backward, four steps forward, two steps backward. But basically, it's going in upward direction". 

But he said India is blessed with amazing amounts of talent that he called "natural resource". For Dell, it's an incredibly important market and continues to be so. 

In the last two years, Dell's R&D talent in India has doubled in size, growing to "several thousands now," including from acquired companies that had sites in this country, Dell added.
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Google‘s good side shown in new movie, The Internship

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This scene isn't in the movie, but it might have been fitting if The Internship had ended with stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson wearing ruby red shoes while clicking their heels and dreamily whispering, "There's no place like Google; there's no place like Google." 

The new comedy depicts Google as corporate America's equivalent of the Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz - a colourful place where all the food is free, interesting people and gadgets loom around every corner and dreams can come true for those who think big enough, work hard enough and collaborate as a team to make it happen. 

It's a nearly two-hour showcase for Google's idealistic culture and for a product line that's becoming deeply ingrained in people's technology-dependent lives. 

The Internship, which hits theaters on Friday, will likely be a hit among Google-loving geeks and fans of feel-good flicks, especially those with an affinity for the riffing and mirthful chemistry between Vaughn and Wilson. The two are back together for the first time since Wedding Crashers came out eight years ago. 

But the film may not create such warm and fuzzy feelings among Google critics who view the company as a self-interested bully that tramples over copyrights, intrudes into people's privacy and stifles competition by abusing its power as the internet's main gateway. 

All of these concerns have been the focal points of high-profile regulatory investigations and lawsuits. Yet none of that is raised in the movie, which revolves around a couple of 40-something-old guys who become clueless interns at Google after losing their jobs selling a product - wristwatches - supplanted by innovation. 

Everyone enamored with Google after seeing the movie should keep one thing in mind. 

"This is not a documentary on Google where you come in and say, 'This is exactly the way things are done there,'" Vaughn told an audience of real-life Google interns and technology reporters after a screening of The Internship in San Francisco. 

The biggest misnomer about the movie revolves around Google's summer internship programme. As the movie portrays, Google does indeed select about 1,500 elite university students from around the world to participate, but the film conjures an imaginary curriculum for the sake of entertainment. 

In the film, the interns are separated into teams that compete in different disciplines to win the ultimate prize: full-time jobs at Google. At one point, the teams even engage in a game of Quidditch, the mythical sport that aspiring wizards in Harry Potter play to prove their prowess. None of this is actually part of Google's real-life programme, according to the company. 

Another scene suggests that Google puts a premium on training employees to work a customer help line - a concept that will seem incredulous to anyone who has ever had a problem with a Google service and tried to reach a human being on the telephone. Like many other Silicon Valley companies, Google directs people to look through its own online help articles or ask other users on message boards. 

Amid the fictional hijinks, the movie casts a spotlight on Google's ever-growing stable of products beyond internet search, including YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Chrome Web browser and language translation. Google's driverless cars get a cameo, but its wearable computing device, Google Glass, doesn't appear. Device connoisseurs will notice characters using a phone made by Google-owned Motorola Mobility and devices with Google's Nexus brand. The free advertising came without Google contributing to the film's nearly $60 million budget. 

Some of Google's rivals also get screen time. There are glimpses of Apple's iPhone and iPad during the film. Facebook's photo-sharing service Instagram gets a shoutout. Location-sharing service Foursquare gets a passing mention, although not in a flattering way. A character describes Foursquare's tracking ability as creepy, a description often slapped on Google services that monitor people's whereabouts and preferences. 

Although the movie does have some good-natured fun at the expense of the intelligent oddballs working at Google, it mostly focuses on the positive side of a company whose motto is "don't be evil." 

Likening Google to an Oz-like oasis isn't totally farfetched. The company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, does sometimes seem like a fantasyland - a cross between a surreal think tank and a college campus sheltered from the worries and hardship of the world around it. 

To make Google seem even more mystical, the movie's director, Shawn Levy, said he filmed the first 15 minutes or so of the movie in dull, bland colors. That way, the bright reds, yellows and greens splattered across the company's headquarters seem even more vibrant. 

In some instances, it's not really Google's headquarters. Much of the movie was filmed at Georgia Tech and other parts of the Atlanta area. 

Other Silicon Valley companies, most notably Facebook and Apple, have created their own versions of Shangri-La, but Google's allure stood out to Vaughn a couple years ago when he first began mulling his idea for The Internship. 

"Google was the company that seemed the most interesting to me," Vaughn said. "It was the right complement to this story." 

One of the movie's producers, Sandra J. Smith, used to work in the tech industry and tapped into some of those connections to set up the early meetings with Google. The company agreed to help out with the movie, without any veto power over the script, after Levy promised Google officials the movie wouldn't be cynical or mean-spirited. 

"In retrospect, the amount of creative autonomy that they handed over to me was excellent, but also it could have really bitten them," Levy said during an interview with The Associated Press at Google's headquarters. "It turned out in a way that we're all happy." 

Just as Google didn't pay for its products to appear in the movie, filmmakers didn't pay for Google's assistance or access to its headquarters. 

Google's cooperation stands in contrast to Facebook's refusal to participate in the making of The Social Network, a 2010 film that drew a darker portrait of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. In that instance, Facebook stressed the movie wasn't anything like what really happened within the company. 

The Internship doesn't directly mention Google's co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, though Brin makes two short appearances playing himself. Brin is seen happily cruising around the Google grounds when the characters played by Vaughn and Wilson arrive to start their internship. Brin also appears near the end of the movie to congratulate the interns. 

The first appearance wasn't even in the script, according to Levy. The director said he simply saw a bearded guy riding around Google's headquarters on an elliptical bicycle while wearing clothing better suited for yoga. When someone told Levy who that person was, he asked Brin if he could film him. Brin obliged. 

Page, who is Google's CEO and is less outgoing than Brin, doesn't appear in the movie, though he wanted to see it made in hope that it will get more young people interested in pursuing careers in technology. 

"The reason we got involved in that is because computer science has a marketing problem," Page said last month during an appearance at a Google conference for programmers in San Francisco. "We are the nerdy curmudgeons." 

Page believes the movie's coolest character is a headphone-wearing, mostly silent engineer who ends up playing a key role in the climactic scene. "We are really excited about that," he said. 

Although he said he didn't set out to make an ode to Google, Levy leaves little doubt about his admiration for the company. 

"I realized what they're about is really a certain quality of personhood that yes, has to do with intelligence, but has as much to do with ethical soundness and compassion and a sense of trying to do more good than harm in this world," Levy told the AP. 

While meeting with Google's real-life interns, Levy also hailed a company ethos that has become known as "Googleyness." When asked at the Google screening how he defines that term, Levy said: "It's all the things that make you a complete person beyond being 
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Now, tablet for intermediate students

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IT software startup company AppThoughtz has launched a tablet, 'iTopper', which helps students of Class 11 and 12 develop insights into v arious subjects, a company official said here Tuesday. 

Announcing the launch, Vijay Kallepalli, managing director of AppThoughtz, said: "iTopper comes with a bundle of in-built applications that not only enables students to access quality content from top class publishers but evaluate their own performance through self-test method." 

The Hyderabad-based company said the content was aligned specifically to the teaching curriculum and approved by Cambridge University Press. Students can also prepare and take unlimited mock tests and perform better in the real time environment while preparing for intermediate, JEE, EAMCET and NEET. 

Priced at Rs.10,000, the product comes in four versions. The SIM version allows the students to make calls and text messages.
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Smartphone sales to touch nearly 1bn in 2013: IDC

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Smartphone sales will eclipse those of basic mobile phones this year for the first time as desire for handheld computing power grows, a market tracker said on Tuesday. 

International Data Corporation (IDC) expected smartphone shipments worldwide to reach 958.8 million units, topping last year's total by 32.7% to account for 52.2% of the mobile phone market. 

"2013 will mark a watershed year for smartphones," said IDC mobile phones programme research manager Ramon Llamas. 

"Looking ahead, we expect the gulf between smartphones and feature phones to grow ever wider." 

Demand for smartphones is shifting to emerging markets, with average selling prices dropping to win customers, according to IDC. 

"It is often the first affordable means of computing for these markets," IDC analyst Ryan Reith said of smartphones. 

"These are markets where average personal income is far less than in developed markets, and therefore vendors have been forced to create smartphone computing experiences for the low end of the market." 

Shipments of smartphones topped those of basic mobile phones for the first time ever in the first three months of this year, according to IDC. 

The rise of smartphones has put power in the hands of California-based Apple and South Korea's Samsung, but Chinese companies such as ZTE and Huawei have muscled their way into the top-five sellers, according to IDC.
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HTC COO steps down amid management rejig

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HTC's chief operating officer has stepped down in the middle of a management restructuring intended to improve product quality and supply chains, following delays in the launch of the Taiwanese firm's flagship new phone. 

Matthew Costello became an executive advisor from Europe effective on June 1, according to an email from HTC president of engineering and operations Fred Liu to employees. Liu took up the operating responsibilities with Costello's departure. 

Costello's move adds to a stream of top executives who have left or taken back seats as the former US market leader in Android smartphones struggles to stem a slide in sales against competitors like Apple and Samsung Electronics. 

As part of the reorganisation, HTC has set up a new product quality assurance division and product management team to ensure its smartphones and other gadgets are up to scratch, Liu said in the email that was sent on Friday and obtained by Reuters. 

The Taoyuan-based company did not comment on the management changes but said in a statement that it "had to change when it was right for the business." 

Delays in the full launch of the flagship HTC One phone due to a shortage of a camera component earlier this year led the company to report a record-low net first-quarter profit. 

HTC has seen a wave of executive departures, including chief product officer Kouji Kodera, president of South Asia Lennard Hoornik and vice president of Global Communications Jason Gordon.
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