4G wireless: It’s fast, but outstripped by hype

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer – Sun May 30, 1:01 pm ET

NEW YORK – Cell phone companies are about to barrage consumers with advertising for the next advance in wireless network technology: “4G” access. The companies are promising faster speeds and the thrill of being the first on the block to use a new acronym.

But there’s less to 4G than meets the eye, and there’s little reason for people to scramble for it, at least for the next few years.

Sprint Nextel Corp. is the first carrier to beat the drum for fourth-generation wireless technology. It’s releasing its first 4G phone, the EVO, this week.

In the fall, Verizon Wireless will be firing up its 4G network in 25 to 30 cities, and probably will make a big deal of that. A smaller provider, MetroPCS Communications Inc., is scheduled to introduce its first 4G phone around the same time.

So what is 4G?

Broadly speaking, it’s a new way to use the airwaves, designed from the start for the transmission of data rather than phone calls. To do that, it borrows aspects of the latest generation of Wi-Fi, the short-range wireless technology.

For consumers, 4G means, in the ideal case, faster access to data. For instance, streaming video might work better, with less stuttering and higher resolution. Videoconferencing is difficult on 3G and might work better on 4G. Multiplayer video games may benefit too.

Other than that, it’s difficult to point to completely new uses for 4G phones — things they can do that 3Gphones can’t.

Instead, the upgrade to 4G is more likely to enhance the things you can already do with 3G, said Matt Carter, president of Sprint’s 4G division.

“View it as the difference between watching regular TV and high-definition TV,” Carter said. “Once you’ve experienced high-definition TV it’s hard to go back to standard TV. It’s the same sort of thing here.”

So the improvement from 3G to 4G is not as dramatic as the step from 2G to 3G, which for the first time made real Web browsing, video and music downloads practical on phones. The introduction of 3G started in earnest about five years ago, but it isn’t complete — AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA still have little rural 3G coverage, for instance.

There’s an important caveat to the claim that 4G will be faster, as well. It will definitely be faster than the 3Gnetworks of Sprint and Verizon Wireless — about four times faster, initially. But the other two national carriers, AT&T and T-Mobile, are upgrading their 3G networks to offer data-transfer speeds that will actually be higher than the speeds 4G networks will reach this year or next.

That means that rather than focusing on real speeds, Sprint and Verizon will try to frame their marketing around the “4G” term, said Dan Hays, who focuses on telecommunications at management consulting firm PRTM.

“It’s a terrible story from a consumer standpoint, because it’s tremendously confusing,” he said.

AT&T and T-Mobile are able to upgrade their 3G networks because they use a different 3G technology than Verizon and Sprint, which have maxed out their 3G speeds. Taking the step to 4G is natural for Verizon and Sprint, especially because they have new chunks of the radio spectrum that they want to take advantage of.

The fact that Verizon Wireless and Sprint are adding fresh spectrum may be more important than the fact that they are using it for 4G service. No matter if used for 4G or 3G, new spectrum means the companies can accommodate more data-hungry devices such as smart phones.

AT&T’s network is already staggering under data congestion caused by the iPhone in New York and San Francisco. The carrier has made relieving the congestion a top priority this year, and its 3G upgrades are part of that process. (As an aside, there is a lot of talk of a coming “iPhone 4G.” Apple Inc. will most likely release the fourth generation of the iPhone for AT&T’s network this summer, but it’s virtually certain that it will not be able to use a 4G wireless network. It likely won’t be called the “iPhone 4G” either.)

There’s another, more subtle benefit to 4G. While it’s not always faster than the best 3G when it comes to helping you download a big file in less time, it is definitely faster in the sense that it takes less time to initiate the flow of data to you. What that means is that 4G is faster for quick back-and-forth communications. You wouldn’t notice this when surfing the Web or doing e-mail: We’re talking delays of 0.03 second rather than 0.15 second. But it could mean that 4G will work better for multiplayer gaming, where split-second timing is important. Even phone calls could benefit from shorter audio delays.

Sprint and Verizon are taking different routes in 4G. Sprint owns a majority of Clearwire Corp., which is building a network using WiMax technology. Once seen as very promising, WiMax looks set to be a niche technology, and WiMax devices like the Sprint EVO phone won’t be able to use networks built using the dominant 4G standard, called LTE, for Long Term Evolution. Verizon and MetroPCS plan to use LTE, as does AT&T, starting next year. T-Mobile says it will probably use LTE eventually. Even Sprint hasn’t ruled out using LTE eventually, because the technology has huge momentum.

In five years or so, many phones are likely to have 4G capabilities, but they’ll complement it with 3G. Rather than a sudden revolution, consumers are likely to experience a gradual transition to the new technology, with increasing speeds. But for now, 4G is no magic bullet.

“It’s an important thing for the industry,” said Bill Davidson, senior vice president of marketing and investor relations at wireless technology developer Qualcomm Inc. “It’s absolutely needed. … But I just think some of this has gotten a bit ahead of itself in terms of expectations for consumers.”

Via:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100530/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec4g_hype;_ylt=Aq0Zqmptuhpx_TrfyaCQlGgjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTJldWpkZjNhBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTMwL3VzX3RlYzRnX2h5cGUEY3BvcwMxB

Era of anonymous prepaid cell phones may end

Prepaid cell phones with plans that can be purchased with cash and sans identification have long been the communication medium of choice for criminals and such, and for obvious reasons. Without a known cell phone number to tie a crook to, getting a wiretap becomes almost impossible, and such villains can generally operate with complete impunity, gabbing away in plain sight with no one able to listen in.

And we’re not just talking about crack dealers. The convenience and anonymity of prepaid plans has reportedly even made them popular with Wall Street types engaging in insider trading activity. Naturally, terrorism is a major concern, too. The FBI says it found that the recent Times Square bomb scare was arranged through the use of a prepaid cell phone, as well.

Frustrated with this loophole, now lawmakers are looking to make prepaid cell phones considerably less anonymous, AFP reports. A bipartisan bill announced this week in the Senate would require prepaid cell phone buyers to provide ID before a purchase.

This is unlikely to sit well with many legitimate users of prepaid phones, who often don’t have the money for a regular, subscription-based, post-paid plan. Anonymity is prized by many prepaid users, whether they are using the phone to evade an abusive partner, to blow the whistle on dangerous working conditions, or simply to avoid telemarketers and political pollsters.

But Ars Technica notes that for many governments, the criminal risks of anonymous phone usage outweigh such concerns: Collecting registration date from prepaid customers is already required by at least nine of the 24 countries that belong to the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development. And several states have laws requiring papers when you buy a cell phone of any kind.

Will this legislation go federal? With few people stepping up to complain about the proposal, it certainly seems likely.

— Christopher Null is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

Via:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_wguy/20100528/tc_ytech_wguy/ytech_wguy_tc2314;_ylt=Au_EhSxtW89m.ec8pJ0EocIjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ1b2l0bXBzBGFzc2V0A3l0ZWNoX3dndXkvMjAxMDA1MjgveXRlY2hfd2d1eV90Yz

US sees 78 bank failures in 2010

By Agencies

With five more US banks biting the dust this week, a whopping 78 entities have folded up their businesses so far this year.

Mirroring the financial woes faced by the American banking industry, an average of 15 banks are going bankrupt every month.

Recently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures deposits at over 8,000 American banks warned of more failures in the coming months.

Authorities shut down five entities on May 28. They are Bank of Florida — Southwest; Bank of Florida – Southeast; Bank of Florida– Tampa Bay, Sun West Bank and Granite Community Bank.

These failures are expected to cost the FDIC as much as USD 317 million.

The three Florida-based banks were owned by Bank of Florida Corporation.

In the first three months of 2010, the number of ‘problem’ banks climbed to 775, the highest in nearly 17 years. The same stood at just 702 at the end of 2009.

This month alone, 14 banks have gone out of business.

The count of collapses are anticipated to rise in the wake of high unemployment levels, which is resulting in increased defaults at banks.

Last year, a whopping 140 banks in the US went belly up.

“There will be more failures, to be sure. The banking system still has many problems to work through and we cannot ignore the possibility of more financial market volatility,” FDIC chairperson Sheila C Bair said recently.

Via: http://in.biz.yahoo.com/100530/50/bavoyh.html

Mukesh Ambani in talks to buy JM Financial – source

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Billionaire Mukesh Ambani is in talks to buy a majority stake in JM Financial Asset Management that oversees $1.8 billion in assets, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said on Monday.

The talks are in early stages and the terms of the deal have not been finalised yet, said the source, who could not be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The source said the deal value could be 8 percent of the assets under management at the unit of financial services firm JM Financial, backing a report in the Mint newspaper.

JM Financial Asset Management denied the selloff plans.

“There is no truth in this. JM Financial mutual fund forms an important part in the JM Financial Group portfolio and we remain focused and committed towards growing this business,” JM Financial Asset Management CEO Bhanu Katoch told Reuters.

For StreetSight data on JM Financial’s equity holdings,http://r.reuters.com/dup37k

Energy major Reliance Industries (RELIANCE.NS : 1042.7 +6.05), the flagship of Mukesh Ambani, declined to comment.

Ambani had ended a non-compete pact with younger brother Anil earlier this month, which frees Mukesh to invest where ever he sees opportunity, with financial services, power and infrastructure on his target list.

($1=46.3 rupees)

(Reporting by Pratish Narayanan; additional reporting by Nishant Kumar; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

(For more business news on Reuters India click http://in.reuters.com)

Via:http://in.biz.yahoo.com/100531/137/bavoza.html

“Quit Facebook Day” Only Affects 2% of U.S. Users

By: David Murphy
05.30.2010

Have you heard of “Quit Facebook Day?” If not, you’re not alone. In response to the recent Facebook privacy issues, a batch of users founded this celebration of-sorts (not on Facebook, obviously) in hopes that thousands more would join their commitment to deactivate their Facebook accounts come May 31. Well, that’s tomorrow, and according to a new batch of research from Vision Critical, “Quit Facebook Day” appears to be a bust.

It’s unclear whether user apathy or Facebook’s recent batch of privacy modifications is the root of the failed attempt. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new batch of simpler privacy options for Facebook in a press conference last week as well as alterations to the kind of information Facebook shares by default with entities that aren’t a user’s actual friend, amongst other changes.

A variety of institutions praised Facebook’s new stance on privacy–users too. According to Vision Critical, 61 percent of 699 surveyed users said that they were happy with Facebook’s response to the various privacy concerns surrounding its operations, although 81 percent maintain that they’re still going to treat Facebook a little more carefully in regards to what information they use or share on its network.

As for “Quit Facebook Day,” only 11 percent of surveyed users had even heard of the event at the time of Vision Critical’s survey. While 22 percent of that 11 percent vowed to continue forward in deleting their accounts, the number–once extrapolated–indicates that only two percent of Facebook’s entire U.S. user base plans to go forward with account deletion. Quit Facebook Day’s official site has 25,157 “confirmed” Facebook quitters as of this article’s writing.

“These findings suggest that while Facebook users are becoming increasingly concerned about their privacy and the type of information they are sharing with others, the apocalyptic predictions of mass churn from Facebook are highly overrated and likely fueled by a small but vocal group of highly engaged Facebook consumers,” says Matt Kleinschmit, Senior Vice President of Media for Vision Critical.

“Too many users are just too vested in the service to delete their account and dismantle a social network they have cultivated over time,” he adds.

PCMag recently ran its own analysis of the top Facebook privacy concerns compared up against Zuckerberg’s proposed changes. For five of the six privacy areas that editors demanded Facebook change, Zuckerberg’s announcements were found to only adequately cover two. Check out our original analysis here and our mash-up of Zuckerberg’s promises against Facebook’s critical privacy weaknesses here.

Via:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364338,00.asp

Top Ten Most Cited Patent Cases 2007-2010

In the common law tradition, virtually every written opinion from the Federal Circuit cites to prior precedent. I looked at the past few years of Federal Circuit decision to discover the most cited patent cases.

The following list is ranked based on citations found in Federal Circuit patent decisions that were decided January 1, 2007 – May 26, 2010. The ranking is a combined score of both (1) the number of times a case was cited and (2) the depth-of-analysis associated with the citation. I excluded non-patent cases from the list.

1. Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303 (Fed.Cir. 2005).
2. Cybor Corp. v. FAS Technologies, Inc., 138 F.3d 1448 (Fed.Cir. 1998).
3. KSR Intern. Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S.Ct. 1727 (2007).
4. Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 52 F.3d 967 (Fed.Cir. 1995).
5. Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas City, 86 S.Ct. 684 (1966).
6. Vitronics Corp. v. Conceptronic, Inc., 90 F.3d 1576 (Fed.Cir. 1996).
7. In re Calmar, Inc., 854 F.2d 461 (Fed.Cir. 1988).
8. Warner-Jenkinson Co., Inc. v. Hilton Davis Chemical Co., 117 S.Ct. 1040 (1997).
9. MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc., 127 S.Ct. 764 (2007).
10. Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp., 108 S.Ct. 2166 (1988).
11. Kingsdown Medical Consultants, Ltd. v. Hollister Inc., 863 F.2d 867 (Fed.Cir. 1988).
12. Rite-Hite Corp. v. Kelley Co., Inc., 56 F.3d 1538 (Fed.Cir. 1995).
13. In re Seagate Technology, LLC, 497 F.3d 1360 (Fed.Cir. 2007).

Posted on May 30, 2010 at 03:49 PM | Permalink

Via:http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2010/05/top-ten-most-cited-patent-cases-2007-2010.html

Nissan Motor to outsource

Mahindra Satyam is understood to have won a USD 40 million contract from Japanese automobile major Nissan Motor Co Ltd.According to sources, the deal valued at USD 40 million involves outsourcing new technology for application maintenance and operation services of Nissan. The contract is for three years till 2013. There is also an additional extension period of two years. The latest contract with the Japanese automaker is in addition to an existing one with Nissan America.Sources said the deal will be for three year from now and can be extended further two years.

However, a Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computer Services) spokespersons refused to comment on the deal and its size.Satyams chief executive CP Gurnani had observed a few months ago that the company had not fully gotten over its troubles and would require another couple of years to recover completely. The embattled company, once Indias fourth largest IT exporter, is in the process of restating its accounts for the last few years. It is expected to submit the details by June 30.

In 2006, Satyam Computer signed a five-year deal to maintain, support and enhance the application portfolio for Nissan North America.

The deal included an application portfolio spanning multiple business functions, plants, locations and business units. Satyam also manages all its mission critical business application in its key North American market.

Via:http://www.offshoringtimes.com/Pages/2010/offshore_news2964.html

Ford Expects Auto-Industry Sales Pace to Continue

BY JEFF BENNETT

DETROIT—Ford Motor Co.’s sales analyst on Friday said the U.S. auto industry will continue its current pace and finish May on track for an annual sales rate of slightly more than 11 million new cars and trucks.

April sales finished at an annual rate of 11.2 million vehicles, and industry analyst Edmunds.com has forecast a May rate of 11.4 million.

The market will continue its modest recovery in the U.S., Ford’s George Pipas said. Mr. Pipas said …

Via : http://online.wsj.com

Let’s lead by turning intellectual property into profits

We have the people and expertise to be a centre of excellence in the field of IP, writes Willie O’Dea
Sunday May 30 2010

While it can be hard to hear them over the voices of the negativity merchants like Morgan Kelly, there are still many positive people out there offering constructive and novel ideas as to how we speed up our progress back to growth. One such person is Raymond Hegarty, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Foundation in Luxembourg. The positive idea I am advocating today is based heavily on proposals he has been championing.

The idea centres on how we convert the good proposals and plans in both the Government’s Smart Economy document and the Innovation Task Force report into real and sustainable jobs within the next two to three years.

Both documents focus on the importance of Research and Development (R&D) and its capacity to deliver good quality jobs. The history of globalisation shows that multinationals tend to concentrate profits back into the places where the research and development is conducted.

By its very nature, R&D has two inherent problems. First is the time span from initial idea to final marketable product. In many cases it can be anything up to 15 or even 20 years before profits start to accrue. Secondly, as it is research, the outcomes can not be known at the start. The attrition rate is therefore high and a lot of R&D investment doesn’t pay off. It ‘s like Henry Ford‘s observation that half of every dollar he spent on advertising was wasted. He just didn’t know which half. So it is with R&D, except the percentage is often higher again.

Raymond Hegarty identifies the path to economic success from R&D as the following: research — invention — intellectual property (IP) — commercial success.

What he proposes is that Ireland uses the Smart Economy policy to become a world leader in this latter half of the path: specifically in the process of commercialising intellectual property, thereby making Ireland a centre of excellence in turning intellectual property into profits.

It is important to note that he argues we should do this in addition to the investment in the R&D approach. What he calls for is a twin-track approach, with R&D offering us the longer-term job creation, and the intellectual property commercialisation offering us the potential of sustainable job creation in two to three years.

We have the structures, the reputation, the expertise and the people here to take intellectual property that has been already developed and turn it into a real income stream.

We have done it already in the IT and financial services sectors. In both cases we specialised in converting intangible assets into real profits and real jobs here at home.

We have already taken the important first step by introducing tax allowances for the acquisition of intellectual property.

Now we need to take the next few steps and make ourselves the world leader again in this field.

It is a field that is growing strongly and steadily. In the last 30 years the total proportion of the assets of the larger global companies that is intellectual property has increased almost five fold. The benefits in terms of employment, tax take and exports could be as great as those of the IT boom of the Nineties.

On a personal note, I would like to pay tribute to Senator Kieran Phelan of Fianna Fail who died suddenly and tragically last week.

He was a decent man, and a hard-working colleague.

Ar dheis De go raibh a h-anam dilis.

Willie O’Dea is a Fianna Fail TD for Limerick East

Sunday Independent

Via: http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/lets-lead-by-turning-intellectual-property-into-profits-2200429.html

Pernod Ricard wins intellectual property award

Pernod Ricard today announces that its intellectual property team has won two prestigious awards for the work made on its brands
By Chris Farnell | Fri May 28, 2010

The awards – the ’Food, Beverages & Tobacco Team of the Year Award‘ and the ’Europe, Middle East & Africa Team of the Year Award‘ – were conferred on the 30-strong Pernod Ricardteam this week at the World Trademark Review’s Industry Awards.

Pernod Ricard owns 18 internationally acclaimed global brands and many local brands, including 18 recognized as leaders in their local markets.

These annual awards are designed to recognize the vitally important work carried out by in-housetrademark counsel, and to identify the teams and individuals that are performing their functions to the highest possible standards.

The winners are selected from nominations received from the global trademark community. The awards were presented at the Harvard Club in Boston in May 25th.

Headed by Audrey Yayon-Dauvet, the Pernod Ricard IP team is made up of over 30 people located in six hubs around the world. Pernod Ricard was recently awarded the ’Intellectual Property Team of the Year‘ Award at the 2010 European Counsel Awards in London and the trophy of ’Intellectual Property Director of the Year‘ was awarded to Audrey Yayon-Dauvet at the 9th Law and Finance Awards in Paris.

Ian FitzSimons, General Counsel of Pernod Ricard commented: “We are delighted to see thatPernod Ricard has once again been recognized by the trademark and IP community for its sterling efforts in the field of intellectual property. These two awards demonstrate that Pernod Ricard’s IPteam now ranks amongst the best global IP teams and we would like to thank the IP experts who have chosen to nominate us.”

Edited by Jennifer Denby

Link: http://www.pernod-ricard.com/

Via: http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/sectors/drinks/pernod-ricard-wins-intellectual-property-award

Proposed intellectual property laws too restrictive

Christian Louden
Gauntlet Opinions
May 27, 2010
In 2008, Canadians across the country continued to freely and legally pick digital locks on electronic media as the much-criticized Bill C-61 on copyright reform was tabled.

The bill died when parliament dissolved later that year, signaling a federal election, and the Conservatives vowed to resurrect C-61 if reelected. This past summer, nationwide consultation brought optimism as to what this new bill might look like. Voters across the country advocated for flexible laws to address the concerns that led to protests during then-Industry Minister Jim Prentice’s annual Stampede Pancake Breakfast in 2008.

The problem with C-61 was that it would have made it illegal to circumvent digital locks. This means any digitally encrypted electronic files would be illegal to copy, as protection of digital locks supersedes even legal fair dealing uses such as research or private study.

Following the consultation, two plans were proposed. Industry Minister Tony Clement suggested reform that would be flexible in terms of digital lock circumvention, which was in line with the feedback gathered during the consultation. Heritage Minister James Moore proposed what copyright blogger and internet law expert Michael Geist calls a rehash of Bill C-61.

While the full details of the new bill have yet to be revealed, Geist reported it would take a form similar to C-61, with little or no implementation of the summer consultation recommendations. This follows and seems to confirm reports from early this month that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had rejected Clement’s proposal to implement the consultation recommendations in favour of Moore’s rehashed C-61.

The rationale behind the proposed bill is to bring Canada in line with the International Property Organization’s intellectual property treaties. But Geist believes this can be achieved without taking the heavy-handed approach of the pervasive Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the United States that the forthcoming bill — in this and its previous incarnation — is so often compared to. Specifically, Geist says we can get around this by simply making it legal to circumvent digital locks when using the material for purposes that wouldn’t ordinarily be considered a violation of copyright, i.e., when used under the provisions laid out in fair dealing.

Though the proposal promises to correct some of the more counterintuitive aspects of current law, such as making format shifting — such as ripping a CD onto a computer for transfer to an MP3 player — legal, it doesn’t do enough to address the reality of an era with a growing trend toward the use of digital media. This is unacceptable and would rank Canada alongside the United States as having the most stringent copyright laws in the world. Beyond that, the changes are widely believed to be unenforceable, and seem largely supported by interest groups, rather than the majority of Canadians.

Clement has admitted to be among those ordinary Canadians made criminals by current legislation, and if the new bill shapes up as expected, we can rest assured the cadre of criminals will grow to include everyday students, journalists, researchers and documentary filmmakers.

Via:http://thegauntlet.ca/story/14526

India to be looked upon for Cloud Computing: Ballmer

By siliconindia news bureau
Friday, 28 May 2010, 15:40 IST

New Delhi: India is seen as a global hub for cloud computing by Microsoft as they are known by the world for renting the computer power. “India will not only see a surge in cloud computing services but companies all over the world will look to India to support their transition to cloud computing,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft.

Besides Microsoft, software companies like Amazon, Google and AT&T as well as smaller firms like Rackspace and Terremark are adopting measures to convince enterprises to switch to computer capacity rather than building and managing data centres.

Ballmer is emphasizing the importance of the company’s cloud services platform Azure, where people can use applications from email to payroll systems hosted online. Microsoft believes India will move directly to the cloud, much like it surpassed the landline revolution that never happened and leapt to mobile phones.

Quoting a study by Zinnov Management Consulting, Microsoft said that, India will seed 3 lakh jobs in five years if it champions the transition. There will be jobs in areas like Cloud consulting, enabling software as a service, integrating offerings like Azure with IBM’s Blue Cloud or salesforce.com’s customer applications on cloud, and creating new applications.

Microsoft already has more than 600 customers for its cloud services, but wants to win over its rivals following the announcement of Apple as the world’s biggest technology firm in terms of market value, more than a decade after he took over its reins. Ballmer also noted that India is among the top five or six countries in terms of talent and market potential.

Cloud computing would serve as a catalyst for IT adoption in India. “We are successful at exporting IT services and talent. But when it comes to using technology domestically, we are quite poor,” said Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India.

“There isn’t much use of computers and technology in schools, homes, government offices or by the more than 4 million small and medium businesses, even then this is changing and cloud will be a huge catalyst in enabling this wave of IT adoption because of the affordability factor”, Venkatesan said.

Via:http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/India_to_be_looked_upon_for_Cloud_Computing_Ballmer-nid-68328.html

Putting India in the outsourcing spotlight

India has become a key outsourcing region for a range of industries and businesses
By Ellie Duncan | Fri May 28, 2010

For more than 20 years India has attracted international notoriety as an outsourcing hub, which started when UK technology and telecoms companies began outsourcing their call centers to the country, and still it is never far from the headlines.

Recently India found itself in the press after several American universities started outsourcing the marking of their exam papers to India, and in the same week it featured again when it emerged that a major Indian outsourcing specialist had set up a data-inputting unit in a local prison.

Indeed, India continues to attract business from all over the globe, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark and Canada. Recent examples of such deals include: International chemical firm BASF Group outsourcing its IT provision; US aerospace group Rockwell Collins extending its design development relationship with India; international toy firm Mattel outsourcing some of its IT services to the country and fashion chain Diesel selecting India to become its outsourcing hub as it expands its operations into the country.

Explaining Microsoft’s new outsourcing contract with Infosys, which has taken on a wide range of internal IT services for the software giant globally, a spokesperson said: “This deal is simply a consolidation of work [IT support services] that used to be provided by multiple providers to a single provider. Microsoft has had a concentrated effort to be more efficient and save money and this was a major area where we could do this. This new contract will not impact internal resources.”

WIDE SPECTRUM

Meanwhile, India has also remained successful in securing business from international governments, having recently won IT contracts with the UK’s National Health Service and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

“In the initial phase of outsourcing offshore, work was dominated by technology companies looking for cost savings,” explains Derek Kemp, Patni Computer Systems’ President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “This rapidly matured into financial services organizations looking to combine these savings with process efficiencies and faster responses. This then drove the increase in skills available in offshore destinations such as India, creating a virtuous circle that has funded the development of many specialisms. As a result, now, a much wider spectrum of businesses look at India for outsourcing.”

Manoj Ayyappan, Managing Director of Excellone Technologies, says that most of the enquiries that his business receives are from small and medium sized companies. “We get enquiries from financial, manufacturing, software development and recruitment companies. Also from wholesalers, the education, real estate and tourism sectors,” he adds.

Atul Vashistha, Chairman of Neo Advisory and founding member of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, says that India is starting to see the life sciences, retail, manufacturing and healthcare sectors increasingly using the country.

DOING BUSINESS

India has been successful in attracting business from overseas because it offers companies a cost advantage, it has a large talent pool, excellent project management skills and bags of experience.

Kemp explains: “India has excellent and established process maturity – something other offshore destinations have yet to catch up on. India also offers highly skilled people at lower cost – and as the government continues to invest in infrastructure the availability of resources improves. Compared to China, the language barrier is far less of an issue in India as English is still widely spoken, and there is now a wealth of advisory services to help drive real results from outsourcing.”

And India’s popularity is seemingly continuing to grow. Many of the companies that we spoke to said that the number of companies outsourcing to India increased in 2009, and that they are expecting more of the same in the rest of this year.

“While the pace slowed down compared to past years, we expect existing companies to outsource more and also expect other companies to start outsourcing too,” says Vashistha. “The value proposition is too compelling.”

THE COMPETITION

However, India is being put under increasing pressure from other countries wishing to vie for one of the top positions in the outsourcing industry. Competition is not just coming from one continent, but from across the globe, as Vashistha explains: “In Asia Pacific, China and the Philippines are key alternate destinations. In South America, we face competition from Mexico and Brazil. While in Europe, Poland, Russia, Hungary and the Czech Republic provide alternative outsourcing options.

“However, on a scale perspective, the others are far behind, but some such as the Philippines are catching up in call centers.”

Despite this, India remains confident that it can retain its place at the top of the outsourcing pile. “Nobody else can compete with India on process maturity – India is 20 years ahead of the game,” says Kemp.

“The stability that India offers is also critical. Certain companies will look to countries where their language is supported – for example, Spanish in South America – but only India can offer the volume and availability of language and IT skills and process maturity. There has been a lot of discussion as to the likely growth of China, but we have yet to really see that materialize beyond servicing the Japanese market.”

However, the future might not be quite as rosy for India, as companies hit by the credit crunch seek to make savings and are increasingly cancelling projects that would have been outsourced. An example of this is the new UK government cancelling its national identity card scheme. If this is replicated across the globe, India’s confidence may soon start to falter.

Via:http://www.sourcingmag.com/offsite.asp?A=Fr&Url=http://www.supplychaindigital.com/industry-focus/outsource/putting-india-outsourcing-spotlight

Report: Bing search for iPhone deal in place

When the new iPhone debuts in June, Microsoft’s search engine could be the new default choice, according to a report in TechCrunch. However, a source told CNET that, while there have been on-again, off-again talks about Bing being added as an option, Google is likely to remain the default search engine (see updates below).

On Friday, TechCrunch reported that several sources, in particular those close to Google, said that Microsoft has a deal in place for Bing to be the new default search option on the iPhone. The blog is hesitant to say the deal is confirmed, however. This follows a January report in BusinessWeek that said Apple and Microsoft were at leasttalking about making this deal.

A Microsoft representative said the company “doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.”

Google reportedly pays $100 million to Apple for the right to be the default search option on its hardware. Yahoo has been an alternate search option on the iPhone, with Microsoft now said to be in talks to be added as an option.

Via:http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20006354-260.html

Skype Over 3G Comes to the iPhone. It’s Not All Good News

By John C Abell
May 29, 2010

Skype on Saturday released an upgrade to its iPhone app that allows calls to be made and received under AT&T’s 3G network, but there’s a catch — they won’t be free for very long, even for Skype-to-Skype calls or for people who have all-you-can-eat calling plans with the internet telephony company.

No specific pricing or even timeline was announced, but the release notes of version 2.0.0 (to the right) say this feature will be free only “until at least the end of August 2010, after which there will be a small monthly fee.”

All of this became possible only after Apple changed its iPhone SDK in anticipation of the iPad.

Skype pronouced on Feb 3 that 3G calling would happen “soon.” But the additional cost was not trumpeted and does comes as a surprise, though perhaps not a terribly big one given the revenue possibilities and the additional strain on AT&T’s already-vilified 3G network.

Skype calls are generally free or at least much less expensive than those made on minute-counting calling plans. But wireless minutes have become largely commoditized and, from most wireless carriers, available in unlimited plans that eliminate the traditional profit center that used to be overages.

Skype’s migration from the desktop on to mobile devices has created the potential for a dramatic shift in calling behavior. We aren’t quite there yet. But when you can receive calls from an VoIP provider like Skype on a portable device in either an WiFi or 3G network it almost completely blurs the line between an interesting alternative to a telephone and the very definition of a telephone.

Taking that one small step further: In a world with ubiquitous broadband, internet telephony with push notifications and location awareness could make traditional telco and wireless services irrelevant, even for the equivalent of enhanced 911, where the automatically operator knows where you are.

There are still some pieces missing to this puzzle, but the availability of VoIP under 3G — also true of Fring and for international calls on some Android-powered handsets provided by Verizon — is a big step forward.

And, one last thing: iPhone OS 4, expected in weeks, will enable non-core apps like Skype to operate in the background. Which means that you could be online with the internet telephony service all the time on any 3G enabled device like the iPhone and some models of the iPad.

Via:http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/skype-over-3g-comes-to-the-iphone-its-not-all-good-news/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

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