IIT grads plead Google to name Android version Lassi

Google has depended on sweets when it comes to naming the various versions of its Android mobile operating system. With it naming the next version KitKat after a popular confectionery brand, some Indians now believe the next update could be named after one of the two popular Indian desserts.

If the efforts of these groups bear fruit, the next update for our Android phones may well be called Ladoo or Lassi!

A group of students from IIT-Kharagpur have written an open letter to Google's Android boss Sundar Pichai, requesting the internet giant to name the next OS version as Lassi.

In their letter, the students of IIT Kharagpur (which also happens to be Pichai's alma mater) have written: "We would like to suggest that the very next version of Android be named on one of the most popular Indian dessert, Lassi. Lassi, the humble Indian sweetened yogurt based drink, is a traditional chilled beverage of India served with an assortment of flavourings. Lassi symbolizes the purity and delicacy of Indian culture. This explains the huge cult following that Lassi commands all over India."

The group also says that "it would be very logical to promote the interest that the Indian population shares with Android and strengthen that valuable bond."

According to them, naming the next Android version Lassi would be acknowledgement that Google is "aware of and wants to appreciate the customer support it has in this vast country."

Quoting IDC figures, the letter says, 68.8 percent of the smartphones shipped in the country in 2012 were powered by Android OS. This is three times more than the number shipped with Apple's iOS (18.8 percent) and dwarfs BlackBerry OS (4.5 percent) and Nokia's Symbian (3.3 percent).

Google too is said to have claimed in 2012 that Android adoption rate grew by over 500% year-on-year in countries like India, Brazil and others. And what better acknowledgement then an Indian name for Android.

Incidentally, IIT-GP students are not the only ones asking Google to give a desi name to Android. Another group of some 500 Indian tech start-ups too has launched a campaign to convince Google to name the next version of Android as Ladoo. The same group had last year unsuccessfully campaigned to name the OS Kaju Katli.

In their campaign, the start-ups have posted this message for the Google fraternity: "We are Indians. We have a big heart. We understand that there might be commercial pressures to do so (about Google naming the next as KitKat). Or may be our voices were just not loud enough to make KajuKatli Android a reality."

"We still love Android and we are committed to see a version of Android that is dedicated after an Indian sweet. With enough advance notice this time, we request you to name the next version of Android as Ladoo."

Apart from drumming up support on the internet and social media for naming the next Android OS as Ladoo, both the groups plan to send out these Indian delicacies to key Google executives.

It is said that Google dumped plans to name the next Android as Key Lime Pie ostensibly because the dessert was not well-known globally. This reasoning may not be a good reference point for Indian campaigners as Ladoo and Lassi are exclusively Indian.

The only factor to have given them hope is the Indian origin of Pichai. They must be hoping if Pichai likes their reasoning, he may consider the proposal.

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First look: iOS7 shines on new iPhones

One of the best things about Apple's latest iPhones is the slick new iOS 7software that runs the devices. But that souped-up operating system could end up hurting sales because the free software upgrade will also work on iPhones released since 2010, giving owners of the older models less incentive to buy Apple's newest products. 

Perhaps unwittingly, even Apple's software boss Craig Federighi alluded to this potential problem while he was bragging about iOS 7 at the company's unveiling of its new phones Tuesday. He predicted that anyone who elects to install the software will feel "like they're getting an all-new device." 

I understood what Federighi meant once I was able to see the iOS 7's improvements in action on Apple's two new iPhones, the 5C and the 5S. Although Apple announced iOS 7 at a conference three months ago, Tuesday marked the first time the company allowed reporters to experience the software hands-on. 

Although the iPhone 5C is less expensive than its predecessor, the iPhone 5, iOS 7 almost made it look fancier than previous generations. As an iPhone 5 owner, I was feeling a bit envious until I remembered that I'll be able to spiff up my device, too, when the software is released on Sept. 18. The operating system will work on the iPhone 4 and later models, iPad 2s and subsequent versions, and the iPod Touch that came out late last year. 

iOS 7 looks much different than previous versions of the operating system because it no longer displays iPhone apps as three-dimensional, embossed objects meant to mirror their real-world counterparts. The icons instead are flatter and more colorful. 

Any significant change in design typically upsets users familiar with the old way of doing things, but I suspect the complaints about iOS 7 will be muted unless there are some terrible bugs in the software that weren't evident during the brief time that I was given to experiment. 

I am fairly certain most people who download iOS 7 are going to be pleased. The software makes it easier to navigate around an iPhone and adds some compelling new features. 

The additions include the ability to stream music through an advertising-supported service called iTunes Radio and five free apps that used to cost consumers anywhere from 99 cents to $4.99 apiece. The free apps are Apple's photo-editing tool, iPhoto, and video-editing program, iMovie, as well as work-oriented apps called Pages, Numbers and Keynote. 

Apple doesn't appear to be removing any popular apps built into the operating system, as best as I could tell. The company did that last year when it replaced Google's mapping app with its own navigation system only to be ridiculed for misguiding users with shoddy directions. Apple isn't bringing back Google Maps with iOS 7, but it is promising that its alternative is getting better. 

The software upgrade also will make it easier to take better pictures on the iPhone and automatically sort photos into different categories to denote particular events. I particularly liked a feature that lets you control how the camera operates by toggling between options at the bottom of the screen with the swipe of a finger. Once the camera is open in iOS 7, the choices include taking a square, panoramic or standard photo. The bottom-of-the screen controls also include an option to switch to video mode. 

When taking a picture in iOS 7, photographers can also choose a filter to use as they snap the photo rather than waiting to touch up the shot later. When shooting video, shots can be zoomed in while recording. I can't do any of that on my iPhone 5 because it is still powered by iOS 6. 

The new system also empowers users to access other open apps more easily by clicking twice on the home button. When you do that, the apps are displayed as tiles that can be scrolled across horizontally so you can more easily see and choose several of them. 

Apple is also making it easier to access frequently used controls such as and airplane mode by enabling users to pull up the panel from the bottom of the display screen instead of finding and pressing a settings option. 

Other than the new software, the iPhone 5C isn't anything special, as one might expect from a cheaper phone. 

The only thing that really distinguishes the 5C from the iPhone 5 is that it's housed in plastic instead of aluminum. Some consumers will no doubt like the plastic alternative because it comes in five colors: green, blue, yellow, pink and white. The price also may be more appealing, with the 5C starting at $99 with a two-year wireless contract, a $100 discount from iPhone models released in previous years. 

A higher-end iPhone dubbed the 5S boasts several advantages that aren't available on any other model. The coolest innovation allows you to use your fingerprint to unlock the iPhone 5S instead of relying on a four-digit code that has to be repeatedly typed in. The fingerprint reader can also be used to access Apple's apps and iTunes store instead of a password. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook thinks the fingerprint scanner will revolutionize technology security. "There is going to be a whole new generation of kids who grow up not knowing what a password is," Cook predicted during a brief discussion with a small group of reporters after he left the room where Apple was demonstrating its new iPhones. 

I found the fingerprint scanner, called "Touch ID," simple to use during my brief test of the 5S. It just took less than a minute for the phone to record the fingerprint on my thumb, instructing me along the way. Once my prints were in the phone's memory bank, all I had to do was lightly press on the home button when the 5S was locked in sleep mode and it quickly opened. 

The 5S also contains a faster processor and technological wizardry designed to take sharper pictures and even record slow-motion video. 

Best of all, though, the 5S comes with the iOS 7. I am already looking forward to downloading the software next week so I can simulate what it's like to have a new iPhone for free.

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Ashok Vemuri to join iGate as CEO

Ashok Vemuri will join iGate as CEO on Monday, sources close to the development told TOI. His last working day atInfosys is on Thursday, September 12.

Nasdaq-listed IT company iGate's share price surged 6.5% to a 13-year high on Tuesday, seemingly in reaction to the imminent announcement of Vemuri as the company's CEO.

With this, Vemuri has already had a 20% impact on iGate's share price. The shares rose by 8.5% on August 28, the day Vemuri announced his resignation from Infosys and speculation started about his moving to iGate. They rose by another 4.4% the following day, and remained sluggish thereafter, till it received the latest boost on Tuesday.

The St Stephens, Delhi, and IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus has been Infosys's head of America operations and its global head of the manufacturing and engineering services vertical. Vemuri, who joined Infosys in 1999, was also a board member and one of the company's highest paid executives.

Sources told TOI that Vemuri would receive a compensation package of about $3 million (Rs 19 crore), in addition to stock options and performance-linked bonuses. In Infosys, he received Rs 4.91 crore as cash compensation in 2012-13.

iGate declined to comment on its next CEO. The position became vacant in May when the company fired incumbent Phaneesh Murthy for not reporting to the company his relationship with a subordinate.

In July, iGate co-founder and co-chairman Sunil Wadhwani, had said, "Our CEO search is proceeding well, and we believe this is a very sought-after position, given iGate's opportunities for growth, given our leadership in the business outcomes space, given our culture of innovation, our service excellence and our status as a leading employer. Our goal remains to have a new CEO on board in the fall." The fall season has just begun, so an announcement looks imminent.

iGate's share price touched $25.89 on Tuesday. The last time it touched these levels was in 1999 and 2000, during the internet boom. On March 8, 2000, it touched its peak of $65.17. It slumped to less than $2 following the bust in 2000-01 and rose steadily to about $10 in 2007-08. It slumped again during the recession, and then rose to a high of $24.86 in November 2010.

In the immediate aftermath of Murthy's exit, the share price fell by 13.5%, to a low of $14.18 on May 22. But following the announcement of better-than-expected results for the company's June quarter, the price recovered its losses and rose rapidly.

In the first three trading days after the results were announced in early July, the share price rose by 17%. The share price continued its uptick through July, but remained sluggish through most of August. It resumed its rise from the day Vemuri resigned from Infosys, and now it is 83% higher compared to the lows following Murthy's exit.

Phil Fersht, CEO of US-based IT advisory firm HfS Research, told TOI a few weeks ago that iGate has been demonstrating strong focus on outcomes and aggressive sales performance against tough competition, especially in financial services. "Also, their impressive marketing push in the last year is bearing fruit, with investor confidence rising. iGate is in the safe hands of Gerhard Watzinger (interim CEO) and Sujit Sircar.(CFO). While Phaneesh was a good cheerleader, the company will move on quickly with its competent leadership," he said.

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Yahoo moves in 4,50,000 email accounts from Xtra

Yahoo is reportedly moving Telecom's 4, 50,000 email accounts from the troubled site, Xtra to Yahoo's main email platform. 

Xtra, a joint venture web portal betweenTelecom and Yahoo, has been plagued by problems since 2007. 

Telecom retail boss Chris Quin had earlier said that he was confident Xtra would be more reliable once Yahoo switched the service to its standard platform. 

Spokeswoman for Xtra, Lucy Fullarton said that the migration of accounts was now underway and would be completed gradually over a few months, stuff.co.nz reports. 

According to the report, Xtra suffered five outages last year and the latest glitches on Monday saw some customers unable to send and receive emails using clients such as Microsoft Outlook and were forced to use webmail instead. 

The report added that Telecom had seriously considered stopping providing email altogether before opting for an improved service from Yahoo.

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Intel’s new chip Quark to power wearable devices

 Intel is working on a new line of ultra-small and ultra-low-power microchips for wearable devices likesmartwatches and bracelets, a bid by the company to make sure it will be at the crest of the next big technology wave after arriving late to the smartphone and tablet revolution.

The new line of chips, called Intel Quark, will ship next year and include an ingestible version aimed at biomedical uses, Intel's president, Renee James, told reporters late on Monday.

The Quark chips will be five times smaller and 10 times more power efficient than some of Intel's Atom chips for tablets and smartphones, she said.

"We're very committed to not missing the next big thing," James said.

Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, dominates the PC industry, but it was slow to adapt its chips to be suitable for smartphones and tablets.

Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich and James spoke on Tuesday at the company's annual developer conference in San Francisco, their first major public appearance since their promotion in May, when Paul Otellini stepped aside as chief executive.

Intel's focus on wearable computing -- a trend that for many Americans evokes images of Dick Tracy, the comic strip detective who sported a two-way wrist radio -- comes as Silicon Valley eyes sophisticated computerized watches with touch-screens and other high-tech features. Technology companies see wearables as a growth opportunity amid signs that explosive expansion in smartphones shipments since Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007 is receding.

Last week, Samsung Electronics launched the Galaxy Gear watch, and Qualcomm, an Intel rival, launched the Toq smartwatch in a bid to showcase its technology to potential manufacturers.

Krzanich, a three-decade Intel veteran seen as the company's manufacturing guru, has said that under his leadership Intel will give much more priority to its Atom line of mobile chips. In the past, Intel's most cutting-edge manufacturing resources were reserved for making powerful PC chips, with Atom chips made on older production lines.

Processors based on technology from ARM and made by Qualcomm and Samsung account for most of the mobile market.

Intel has shown some recent signs of improvement in mobile, progress Krzanich is keen to build on. The company has promised major performance improvements in its new Bay Trail chip for tablets.

The Bay Trail chip is based on Intel's new Silvermont architecture, which is the most extensive overhaul of its mobile processors to date, with improved performance and lower power consumption.

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IBM to sell its customer care business to Synnex

IBM said it will sell its customer-care outsourcing business to Synnex for $505 million.

Synnex will pay $430 million in cash and $75 million in company stock, giving IBM a stake in Synnex, IBM said in a statement. In 2012 the business, which includes contact centers, generated $1.3 billion of revenue, which is over 1.0% of IBM's total revenue. 

IBM said it expects to have a total pre-tax gain on the sale of between $125 million and $175 million. The transaction, which is part of IBM's strategy to sell low-margin businesses, is expected to close in the coming months.

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Huawei, PESIT College join hands over cloud SDNs

Huawei, a global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, recently announced the collaboration between Huawei's Indian R&D Centre and People's Education Society Institute of Technology, in the areas of cloud-based data centre and network optimization for software defined networks (SDN). 

"Applications such as cloud computing, video gaming, HD video streaming, live concerts, remote medical surgery, etc are offered by data centres. These geographically dispersed data centre (cloud balancing) is creating new demands on the network. As more and more organizations move towards cloud, there is a need for communication and joint optimization of network and data centre application IT resources," said Nagaraja Upadhya, vice president of network product line, Huawei. 

He added, "Cross stratum application/network optimization focuses on the challenges and opportunities presented by both data centre-based applications and carrier networks optimization. Software defined network (SDN) aims to improve and optimize the network behavior and performance by controlling the network devices using a centralized controller across multiple technologies, thereby simplifying the overall network." 

Huawei and PESIT are closely working in this area to innovate and resolve key problems in data center and network cross optimization by enhancing application layer traffic optimization (ALTO) and path computation element (PCE) as an evolutionary approach to SDN.

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Nokia pokes fun at Apple‘s new iPhones

 Apple has received some back-handed compliments from its rival Nokia for its new iPhones. As Apple's top brass took to stage to unveil company's new iPhones --iPhone 5S andiPhone 5C-- the team managing the official @nokia_UK Twitter ID had some light hearted fun at the company's new devices.

The first tweet had a picture of a range of colourful Lumia smartphones with the caption reading: "Imitation is the best form of flattery" and along with an additional line saying "Thanks, #Apple ;)" This was a direct take on the announcement that the new iPhone 5C would come in multiple colour options.

The second tweet sent out was an image a silhouette of Gangster's face and along with that an additional line that said: "Real gangsters don't use gold phones." This was targeted at the golden iPhone 5S.

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Airtel CEO: Trai’s proposal a step in right direction

Manoj Kohli, Airtel’s CEO, international operations and joint managing director, in an interview to Anandita Singh Mankotia, said the proposals were a step in the right direction.

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BlackBerry cuts jobs in US: WSJ

Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry cut several dozen jobs from its US sales team, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The layoffs are part of rolling job cuts that have been ongoing for several weeks, the people told the paper.

"I can confirm a small number of employees were laid off today," a company spokesman told the newspaper, without providing additional details.

BlackBerry, which has bled market share to rivals including Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android technology, said last month it was weighing its options, which could include an outright sale.

News of the layoffs was first reported by Canadian technology blog Cantech Letter.

BlackBerry could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular US business hours.

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Icahn out, Dell looks for new plan

After a bruising shareholder battle, Dell appears set for a new path under a private equity buyout aimed at reviving the fortunes of the former number one computer maker.

A shareholder vote on Thursday appears set to give control of the US tech giant to its founder, Michael Dell, in a go-private deal worth some $25 billion backed in part by the investment firm Silver Lake.

The vote had been delayed three times over the past few months, amid fierce opposition from some shareholders led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who called the plan a "giveaway."

But after a modified voting process was approved to exclude nonvoting shares from the tally, Icahn acknowledged defeat this week.

The move will likely give another chance to Dell, which missed the tech sector shift to mobile devices away from desktop and laptop PCs.

"Shareholders will benefit from Michael Dell-Silver Lake's proposal, as it not only shifts the restructuring risk to the buying consortium, but also frees up cash that can be invested elsewhere for higher returns," said a note from the research firm Trefis.

But Dell's future is far from guaranteed, as it seeks to move into software and services to make up for the steep declines in the PC business.

"It's a very risky situation for Dell," said Roger Kay, analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

Kay said Dell will have difficulty reshaping the company but that "they now have permission to shift the focus of the enterprise more rapidly."

Analysts say Dell needs some radical changes, and that such moves are harder as a public company where shareholders press for quarterly profit targets.

"I think at this point you have to give it a couple of years to know if its working," Kay said.

Kay said Dell needs to look at "trimming" its consumer products, like PCs, which are still in steep decline but that it has "to get through the eye of the needle" on enterprise services, where it goes up against rivals like IBM.

The buyout plan now appears set to succeed after the Dell special panel examining options agreed on a process that would require a majority of shares voted, instead of a majority of alloutstanding shares not affiliated with Michael Dell.

Icahn said this change in the voting procedure made it "almost impossible to win the battle" at Thursday's shareholder meeting, but maintained that the plan "undervalues" Dell.

Dell, once the world's biggest PC seller, has fallen behind rivals Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard and faces pressure because of slumping computer sales. A recent survey showed worldwide sales of personal computers dropped for a fifth consecutive quarter in the April-June period.

Dell has failed in smartphones and tablets, but has seen some success in software and business services through its acquisitions.

Dell said last month its quarterly profit plunged 72 percent from a year ago to $204 million as it felt the impact of weak PC sales.

It was the company's seventh consecutive decline in profits. The Dell special panel said in July the personal computer business appears even bleaker than earlier forecasts, and that Dell still relies on the PC segment for two-thirds of its revenues.

Michael Dell has indicated he would "invest for growth" and compete aggressively in new markets if he wins the battle.

Under his plan, Dell would hire more sales personnel and "invest for growth in the PC and tablet business... to enhance our ability to compete," according to the memo he filed with stock market regulators earlier this year.

"While Dell's strategy in the PC business has been to maximize gross margins, following the transaction, we expect to focus instead on maximizing revenue and cash flow growth with the goal of improving long-term sales and competitive positioning."

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Apple to enter internet radio market

A decade ago, Apple transformed the music business with its iTunes store. Now what the music industry expects from Apple is less of a revolution than a helping hand. 

Apple's newest music feature, iTunes Radio, will be released September 18 as part of its iOS 7 system update, the company announced. The service is a sleek take on internet radio, and Apple's ability to place the app on millions of its devices gives it an enormous potential audience from Day One. 

"It's a huge opportunity on a global basis to accelerate the transition of radio listeners and advertising dollars from terrestrial to digital," said Stephen Bryan, the executive vice president for digital strategy at the Warner Music Group, which releases music by Green Day, Bruno Mars and hundreds of other acts. 

The service is a threat to Pandora Media, which dominates internet radio. But music and advertising executives say that the magnitude of that threat is unclear, given Apple's relatively late entry into streaming music and Pandora's strong market position. Both offer free streams of music tailored to a user's taste and supported by advertising. In August, Pandora had 72.1 million active users - almost all in the United States - who streamed 1.35 billion hours of music, according to data released by the company. 

"At this point Pandora is one of the leading recipients of mobile advertising revenue, and is one of the most popular apps, period, across devices," said Clark Fredricksen, a vice president at eMarketer, a research firm. "It's tough to see it getting killed." 

Instead, record labels and music publishers hope that Apple's immense marketing power will attract more advertisers and help popularize internet radio around the world. iTunes Radio will at first only be available in the United States, but it is expected to be introduced internationally soon. Apple operates iTunes stories in 119 countries. 

"It's hard to say that Pandora hasn't helped make internet radio mainstream already," said Glenn Peoples, the senior editorial analyst at Billboard. "But iTunes Radio can help it grow and can change the impressions of it in the minds of advertisers and sponsors." 

Apple is the single largest retailer of music, its downloads providing labels a crucial source of revenue as sales of CDs drop. One feature of iTunes Radio that music companies are particularly grateful for is a prominent button to buy a song as it streams. Subscribers to Apple's iTunes Match feature, for $24.99 a year, can have that song instantly linked through the cloud to all of their Apple devices. 

In the economy of digital music, one 99-cent download can be worth more than hundreds of streams. Apple's deals with labels call for it to pay 0.13 cents for every song streamed on iTunes Radio during its first year of operation, according to reports in Billboard and elsewhere based on Apple's licensing contracts. That is more than Pandora's current rate of 0.12 cents, and Apple will also pay music companies a portion of the service's advertising revenues. 

Apple is entering an already crowded internet radio market, which besides Pandora includes Clear Channel Communications' iHeartRadio app; radio functions offered by on-demand services like Spotify; and others like Songza that supply ready-made playlists for various occasions, like working out or hosting a dinner party. This week Microsoft expanded its Xbox Music service, which includes a radiolike function, to work on Apple and Android devices. 

So far Pandora's investors have not fled. Since news of Apple's plans first emerged a year ago, Pandora's stock has roughly doubled. On Tuesday it closed at $20.35, up 1% for the day. 

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