Nokia Lumia 920, 820 to ship this week

Finnish phone maker  Nokia said its new Lumia smartphones, key to the company's hopes for recovery, will begin to appear in some European markets this week.
Nokia late on Monday said its high-end Lumia 820 and 920 phones, which will run on Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 software, will this week reach first operators and retail outlets in France and Britain and later in Russia and Germany as well as other select markets.
In the United States, AT&T will start selling the devices in early November. Verizon Wireless will begin selling Lumia 822 and T-Mobile will offer Lumia 810, Nokia said.

Broadband penetration in India to reach 600m by 2020

Proactive steps are being taken to enhance broadband penetration in India, which is set reach the level of 600 million from the present 20 million by 2020, so as to cover the entire breadth and length of the country, according to a Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) press release.
Addressing the CII-Media Entertainment Summit 2012 titled India - The Big Picture, secretary, department of information technology and chairman telecom commission, R Chandrashekar said that the Indian government was investing over Rs 20,000 crore over the next few years for strengthening the broadband network in the country.
In its wake, Chandrashekar stressed that such massive investment would give a boost to the digitisation, cloud based services and convergence to reach out to the common man in the far flung areas. He said the government's role would be that of a facilitator and the last mile movers would be cable and telecom service providers.
Chandrashekar also highlighted that there will be emergence of different type of new services, and the phenomenal growth of digitisation in tier-III and tier-IV for towns, which would amplify the potential of the digital landscape that can encompass the whole of India.
However, the secretary of IT also pointed out some of the concerns in the digital space, which have to be addressed at the earliest. Regulation of carriage fee, protection of IPR and copy rights, piracy etc remains to be grey areas, he said.
Another challenge would be is to make available digital equipment at affordable prices to the common man, he added.

LinkedIn: Hiring trends in India relatively strong

Hiring trends in India is relatively strong than other markets around the world as nearly half of employers believe the recruitment volume this year is up from 2011, a survey says.

According to the LinkedIn Recruiting Trends survey with over 3,000 professionals/recruiters from the HR/Talent Acquisition department, of which 255 were from India, hiring in India remains healthy, despite global macroeconomic trends.

"Over 50 per cent say hiring volume is up from 2011; another 22 per cent say hiring are at same rate," the survey said adding that budgets appear to be trending in line with hiring volume growth.

Meanwhile, though India appears ahead of most other countries, there is still room to improve data-driven decision-making, the LinkedIn survey said as almost 40 per cent say they are average or poor at using data to make hiring decisions.

About 81 per cent of respondents agree to the fact that employer brand has a significant impact on ability to hire great talent. A whopping 90 per cent of respondents said they are either increasing or maintaining employer brand investment.

India is ahead of the curve when it comes to regularly measuring employer brand. Around 50 per cent of all India-based corporate recruiting leaders measure their employer brand as against the global average of 33 per cent.

Meanwhile, the two biggest obstacles to hiring top talent include competition and compensation. Respondents are worried that their competitors will invest in employer branding, improve referral programmes, and invest in new recruiting tools, the survey noted.

Around 45 per cent cite quality of hire as most critical metric. The survey findings noted that internet job boards and social platforms including online professional networks are rising as quality sources to attract talent.

Another leading trend in India is that most recruiters believe in the importance of passive (who are currently not actively seeking a new job) and in the pipeline talent (database of qualified, relevant candidates in anticipation of future hiring needs).

As per the survey, about 65 per cent of recruiters focus on passive talent and about 87 per cent of the recruiters are engaged in pipeline talent, the survey said.

TCS Indore campus expected to create 10,000 jobs

IT major Tata Consultancy Services  (TCS) said it will set up an integrated campus in Indore for IT and BPO with an initial investment of Rs 550 crore in the first phase.

An agreement to this effect was signed by TCS and officials of the state government in Indore at a function presided over by Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

"Indore has the potential to become another big hub for knowledge-based industries like IT and BPO with its strong eco-system of universities. Our investment will help catalyse further development of the talent ecosystem as well as help upgrade the civic infrastructure in the area," TCS Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director S Mahalingam said in a statement.

"TCS will set up operations in the state by building a new integrated campus in Indore for IT and BPO with an initial investment of Rs 550 crore in the first phase," the statement said.

The campus will be located on a 100-acre property allotted by the Madhya Pradesh government and the construction of phase I is expected to be completed by March 2016 once all the permissions are received, the statement said.

The total development area of the campus is expected to be around 1.5 million sq ft.

The campus is expected to provide direct job opportunities to 10,000 associates in phase I and an estimated indirect job opportunity for another 10,000 people in supporting functions, the statement added.

"Moreover, during the design and construction phase of approximately four years, there will be employment opportunities for about 2,500 construction workers," it said.

Vodafone may cut 500 jobs in Australia

Vodafone Hutchison Australia, the country's third-ranked mobile phone company, said on Monday it plans to cut up to 500 jobs out of a workforce of 5,000 as part of a restructuring as it struggles with shrinking market share.

The company, a 50:50 joint venture between Vodafone Group Plc and Hutchison 3G Australia, has 6.8 million customers and operates brands including Vodafone, 3 and Crazy John's.

Independent telecoms analyst Paul Budde said in a recent report that Vodafone has seen a double-digit slide in revenues this year, while larger rivals Telstra Corp and Singapore Telecommunications unit Optus have seen revenue growth of about 1 per cent.

Samsung fined Rs 10,000 over faulty phone

Samsung India has been asked by a consumer forum to pay Rs 10,000 to one of its customers for selling him a faulty mobile phone and then failing to get it repaired.
The compensation was awarded by the Central Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum after Samsung offered to settle the matter by paying Rs 10,000 to complainant Mulk Raj Manchanda.
"We have examined the record and have found that the instrument, purchased by the complainant (Manchanda), has not given him due service/facilities. The same could not be repaired by the seller as well as by the service provider of Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd."
"We are of the view that the amount of Rs 10,000 as offered by opposite party three (Samsung) will be sufficient to meet the claim of the complainant in all respect, including the purchase cost of the mobile phone as well as compensation and litigation charges.
"We allow the complaint with the direction to Samsung to pay the complainant Rs 10,000 on returning the mobile phone by him to opposite party 3," the bench presided by B B Chaudhary said.
In his complaint, Manchanda had alleged the Samsung mobile phone which he had purchased on December 29, 2009 for Rs 5,300 did not function properly and had a faulty battery.
He had also alleged the Samsung's authorised dealer from whom he had bought the phone had assured him that if the device gave any trouble then free service for five years would be available and if the trouble persists, the mobile handset would be replaced.

Piracy website gets ‘support‘ from US government

It's a wildly popular website laden with unlicensed songs and Hollywood movies, a prime exhibit of the digital piracy that is strangling the music industry in Asia and eroding legitimate online sales around the world.
But a few clicks inside the free-to-download bonanza that has pushed Vietnam's Zing.vn into the globe's top 550 websites reveals a surprising presence: the American government, which maintains a bustling social media account on the site.
Washington is a vocal proponent of intellectual property rights in Vietnam as it is around the world, and a site like Zing would be shut down in the United States. But with space with for public diplomacy limited in Communist Vietnam, the embassy's uses its "Zingme" account to reach out to young people in Vietnam as it seeks to build closer ties with its former enemy.
The embassy presence shows just how mainstream pirate sites have become in Vietnam, where the government does nothing to stop them operating. But it also raises questions whether Washington is legitimising a renowned pirate site that record labels, singers and industry groups say ignores requests that it take down infringing material.
Those have become pressing since Coca-Cola and Samsung pulled their advertising from the site earlier this month because of piracy concerns following questions by The Associated Press. The move challenged Zing's business model and was praised by recording industry groups. Samsung said last week it was also closing its Zingme account for the same reason.
The embassy said it recognized the concerns for US copyright interests posed by Zing but that it believed that "contact with users of this website" could reduce traffic or infringing activity on it. The mission sometimes uses its Zingme page to post about copyright infringement.
Its statement noted that the site had removed, at its request, the link to infringing material that appears on other Zingme pages as a matter of course. It also noted to its lack of options in a country where the Communist government controls the media, saying "there were few spaces for public discourse and intermittent access to Facebook", referring to a block the government sometimes puts on the American social networking site.
But not everyone thinks engaging with Zing is the right thing to do.
"Here we are as an American company trying to set things right with one of the biggest pirates in Vietnam but the US embassy is essentially showing its support by being on its site," said Mimi Nguyen, an American who has been trying fruitlessly to get Zing to take down some 10,000 songs owned by her family's business for a year.
"It is really sad to find out the embassy is using their platform."
The Recording Industry Association of America, which praised the decision by Samsung and Coke to withdrawn from Zing and has labeled Zing a "notorious" pirate site, said it was neither endorsing nor criticising the embassy's decision to maintain the site.
Neil Turkewitz, a senior vice president at the association, said he imagined the embassy had tried to balance the ability to target a tech-savvy demographic with anti-piracy messages against the appearance of a connection between it and the site.
"My guess is that it wasn't an easy decision," he said.
The recording industry around the world is struggling to make money from online distribution models, and illegal downloading remains rampant. Artists and producers in much of Asia are feeling the pinch especially hard because governments have failed to pass or enforce anti-piracy laws. Licensed CDs, films and downloads can cost the equivalent of a day's salary, making it even harder to wean people off pirated products.
In Vietnam, inaction by a government that sees no political upside in cracking down on what many see as a victimless crimes has pushed the industry to the point of collapse. Zing is seen as the no.1 enemy by those who speak out against its effective stranglehold over the country's music industry.
"Zing is destroying the industry and they know it," said record producer Quoc Trung, who is leading a campaign against online piracy. "We need people to pay for music, not just click on it. It is now or never."
Zing, which declined repeated requests for comment on this article and a previous one, has used free download to become the sixth-most visited site in Vietnam, and the second most popular Vietnamese music download site. Around 15 percent of its visitors are from overseas. It is not the only infringing website in Vietnam by far, but it is the most visited.
Sites that offer pirated content alongside other internet services like Zing exist elsewhere around the world and are among the most reprehensible, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
"They want to appear as legitimate actors, and have functions unrelated to piracy, yet operate network services that include features that intentionally and effectively induce infringement," it said in a letter to the US trade representative in August asking the government to use all the tools at its disposal to ensure Zing and others are not permitted to undermine legitimate online markets.
"These services deliberately gain market share by providing access to infringing materials, launching music services without any form of licensing, and have demonstrated continued resolve to engage in conduct based upon misappropriation."
Zingme closely resembles Facebook, which recently overtook the Vietnamese site in subscriber numbers, according to one research group. Facebook is sometimes blocked by the government because of fears it could be used to mobilise dissent against its one-party rule. Zingme is never blocked, and is more popular with younger, less educated Vietnamese. Companies and institutions often have accounts on both. The embassy has more than 18,000 friends on Zingme, compared to 12,000 on Facebook.
Many in the industry have no choice but to work with Zing even as it distributes their music and films for free. Not having your music on the site means getting an audience for live concerts, or attracting commercial sponsorship, is almost impossible, industry executives said. But a few are pushing back, among them established singer Le Quyen, who is suing Zing and eight other infringing websites.
"I'm sure that Zing is aware that what they do is wrong, but they are afraid that other singers will put pressure on them if I win the case," she said before one of her near-weekly concerts at a venue owned by her husband here. "That's why they keep avoiding my demands. Their tactic is to drag the case on until their opponent gets tired and gives up."
Some in the industry predict Zing and other websites will embrace a more legitimate model, rather like Baidu in neighboring China, which after years of complaints from international and local record labels about pirated content signed a licensing deal with its former critics last year. Major Western record labels eager to sell music in the 13th most populous country in the world have been in early talks with Zing and other sites, but there is no deal on the horizon.
For now, the sites are not taking down their unlicensed content because doing so would mean that users would flock to that of a rival, and new ones are cropping all the time. Those offering unlimited downloads of Hollywood movies for a monthly subscription as low as $2 are amassing large audiences, and could be looking to leveraging their popularity to become legitimate providers.
"In Vietnam, you build an audience first, and then you negotiate," said Phung Tien Cong, a manager at MVCorp, which is trying to establish a pay-for-song business in collaboration with Zing, other websites and license holders.

iPhone 5 price war starts, iPad mini ‘debuts‘

Apple iPhone 5 is yet to be launched in India and retailers have started taking pre-orders, but at least one seller has tried to one-up the competition by slashing the prices.

TOI had reported on Friday that the change in Apple's retail strategy could result in differential pricing and a possible price war in iPhone 5 prices in the weeks to come.
The 16GB version of iPhone 5 will be available for Rs 45,500 in India, according to Apple master distributors Redington and Ingram Micro and companies like Airtel, Infibeam and Saholic are taking advance bookings at the same price.

However, a listing at online retailer Tradus shows that a seller is offering the device at a price of Rs 44,900, a discount of Rs 600. This listing is in the name of HS Distributors, a Jaipur-based firm, which is offering delivery for the device within eight to 10 days.

Though the difference is not much, it signals that resellers are already getting aggressive about Apple products as well. Apple iPhones and iPads usually sell at a premium in India and the country has a very small, niche market for the company's products due to high pricing. The year-old iPhone 4S still costs more than Samsung and HTC's flagship smartphones in India.

The price war can be attributed to Apple's change in retail strategy. The company has shifted away from its carrier partners to master distributors for iPhone 5. It has appointed Ingram Micro and Redington as the two master distributors for the smartphone. They will supply the device to small and large retailers respectively.

With retailers across the country now having access to iPhones, it is likely that they will undercut the prices in order to boost volumes, exactly what HS Distributors has done. By sacrificing their margins in order to gain volumes, such retailers will push down the selling price of the device and make it slightly more accessible to the buyers.

However, until a well-known volume retailer does not start such a price war, it will have no bearing on overall sales and Apple's market share in the country.

Meanwhile, Apple iPad mini, which was unveiled globally just last week, has also made its debut in India, albeit unofficially! Though Apple India's distributors are yet to launch iPad Mini in India, online retailer eBay India has said that the Wi-Fi-only 16GB variant of Apple's mini-tablet is now up for sale on its website, in white as well as black colours.

The company has said "iPad Mini, which is being marketed as a great e-reader and a product for first-time tablet shoppers, can be bought at unbeatable prices."

FirangiBhai, another online retailer, is also taking pre-orders for the device. The website is selling the 16, 32 and 64GB Wi-Fi-only versions of iPad mini in India at Rs 26,900, Rs 34,290 and Rs 41,790, respectively. The site claims that the device will be delivered within a week of the product's official launch in the USA.

As reported by TOI three days ago, the iPhone 5, Apple's latest smartphone, will be officially launched in the country on November 2, 2012. The 16, 32 and 64GB variants of the device are officially priced at Rs 45,500, Rs 52,500 and Rs 59,500, respectively.

IBM reports breakthrough in chip-making technology

IBM scientists are reporting progress in a chip-making technology that is likely to ensure the shrinking of the basic digital switch at the heart of modern microchips for more than another decade.

The advance, first described in the journal Nature Nanotechnology on Sunday, is based on carbon nanotubes, exotic molecules that have long held out promise as an alternative material to silicon from which to create the tiny logic gates that are now used by the billions to create microprocessors and memory chips.

The IBM researchers at the TJ WatsonResearch Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, have been able to pattern an array of carbon nanotubes on the surface of a silicon wafer and use them to build chips that are hybrids of silicon and carbon nanotubes with more than 10,000 working transistors.

Against all expectations, the silicon chip has continued to improve in both speed and capacity for the last five decades. In recent decades, however, there has been growing uncertainty over whether the technology will continue to improve. The end of the microelectronics era would inevitably stall a growing array of industries that have fed off the falling cost and increasing performance of computer chips.

Chip makers have routinely doubled the number of transistors that can be etched on the surface of silicon wafers by routinely shrinking the tiny switches that store and route the ones and zeros that are processed by digital computers. They have long since shrunk the switches to less than a wavelength of light, and they are rapidly approaching dimensions that can be measured in terms of the widths of just a few atoms.

The process has been characterized as Moore's Law, named after Gordon Moore, the Intel co-founder, who in 1965 noted that the industry was doubling the number of transistors it could build on a single chip at routine intervals of 12 to 18 months. To continue the process, semiconductor engineers have had to consistently perfect an array of related manufacturing systems and materials that continue to perform at an ever tinier scale.

The IBM advance is significant, scientists said, because the chip-making industry has not yet found a way forward beyond the next two or three generations of silicon.

"This is terrific. I'm really excited about this," said Subhasish Mitra, a Stanford Universityelectrical engineering professor who specializes in carbon nanotube materials. The promise of the new material, he said, is that not only will carbon nanotubes allow chip makers to build smaller transistors, but it is likely they will turn off and on more quickly as well.

In recent years, while chip makers have continued to double the number of transistors on microprocessors and memory chips, their performance, measured as "clock speed," has largely stalled. This has forced the computer industry to change its design and begin building more parallel computers. Today, even smartphone microprocessors come with as many as four processors, or "cores," which are used to break up tasks so they can be processed simultaneously.

IBM scientists said they believed that once they have perfected the use of carbon nanotubes sometime after the end of this decade, it will be possible to dramatically raise the speed of future chips as well as dramatically increase the number of transistors.

This year, IBM researchers published a separate paper describing the speedup made possible by the new material.

"These devices outperformed any other switches made from any other material," said Supratik Guha, director of physical sciences at IBM Research. "We had suspected this all along, and our device physicists had simulated this, and they showed that we would see a factor of five or more performance improvement over conventional silicon devices."

Carbon nanotubes are one of three promising technologies that engineers hope will be perfected in time to keep the industry on its Moore's Law pace. Graphene is being explored, as well as a variant of the standard silicon transistor, which is known as a tunneling field effect transistor.

However, Guha said that carbon nanotube materials had more promising performance characteristics and that IBM physicists and chemists had perfected a range of "tricks" to make the materials easier to make.

Carbon nanotubes are essentially single sheets of carbon rolled into nanoscale tubes. In the Nature Nanotechnology paper, the IBM researchers described how they were able to place ultrasmall rectangles of the material in regular arrays by placing them in a soapy mixture that makes them soluble in water. They used a process they described as "chemical self-assembly" to create the patterned array in which the nanotubes stick in some areas of the surface while other areas are left untouched.

Perfecting the process will require a more highly purified form of the carbon nanotube material. Less pure forms are metallic and are not good semiconductors, Guha said.

He said that Bell Labs scientists figured out ways to purify germanium, a metal in the carbon group, chemically similar to silicon, in the 1940s to make the first transistors, and he was confident that IBM scientists would be able to make 99.99 per cent pure carbon nanotubes in the future.

©2011 The New York Times News Service

The era of PC has ended: Gartner

Over the next five years, 65% of enterprises will adopt a mobile device management (MDM) solution, according to Gartner, a research firm. With the increased functionality of smartphones, and the increasing popularity of tablets, much of the network traffic and corporate data that was once the primary domain of enterprise PCs is now being shifted to mobile devices.

"The era of the PC has ended. Employees are becoming more mobile and looking for ways to still be connected wherever work needs to be done," said Phil Redman, research vice president at Gartner. "The convenience and productivity gains that mobile devices bring are too tempting for most companies and their employees. Securing corporate data on mobile devices is a big challenge, but one that companies must embrace. Enterprises are struggling with how to support and secure this dynamic workforce."

Gartner predicts that through 2017, 90% of enterprises will have two or more mobile operating systems to support. In the past year, many companies have moved to Apple's iOS as their main mobile device platform, with others to follow over the next 12 to 18 months. As enterprises continue to offer multi-platform support, and new platforms such as Windows 8 continue to emerge, MDM needs will continue to grow.

As one of the fastest-growing enterprise devices in the past 18 months, tablets are a further driving force for enterprises adopting MDM. Most companies and users are supporting the tablet for limited usage, typically for email and personal information management (PIM) functions. However, users are pushing for more enterprise applications to be supported on the tablet, usually through either enterprise or application provider development. As more of these native apps become available, and as remote access technology improves, more enterprise content will be stored on these devices. Users are already synchronizing corporate content into public clouds for later retrieval on the devices.

Gartner believes that mobile device proliferation is inevitable and the only way that IT staff can maintain control is by separating mobile computing devices into three distinct device classes: trusted standard devices provided by the company, tolerated devices and non-supported devices. In this scenario, users are given a predefined list of supported technologies in each class, along with a budget for the projected amount that each selection consumes. Users can optimize the technologies according to their requirements without exceeding the budget.

"This is just the start for MDM. More data is being put on mobile devices, and enterprises are fast developing their own applications to support their mobile users. As mobile devices continue to displace traditional PCs, enterprises will look to their existing MDM systems to support more devices and enterprise applications and data," said Mr Redman. "MDM vendors are moving beyond security, to support enterprise and third-party applications, data and content. In the next two years, we will continue to see MDM platforms broaden out and become more enterprise mobile system management platforms, not just for devices alone."

Most of the low-cost devices are good for nothing

If the Centre and state governments convert their stated intentions into actions, an explosion in tablet sales is around the corner. Several governments are lining up huge orders for low-cost tablets to either meet the computing needs of their staff or, in what is seen as a quasi-political statement, to hand out to citizens, mostly children.

The intention currently visible from various governments adds up to 10 million tablets, according to numbers released by hardware body Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT).

Although it is not clear over what period this offtake will materialise, this number is about five times the total sales that research firm IDC expects in India in calendar 2012. "The government is fuelling demand for tablets," says Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst, Gartner India.

This January, the Central ministry of rural development bought 600,000 solar-powered tablets from Bharat Electronics at $72 (Rs 3,600) per unit for its staff to conduct the socio-economic and caste census. In the pipeline is a jumbo-sized order of 5.86 million tablets from the ministry of human resources and development, which it plans to give out at a subsidised price of $35 (Rs 1,750). The first phase of this is for 100,000 units of the Aakash tablet, the second version of which is due to be released by Canadian manufacturer Datawind next month.

Also waiting in the files are significant orders from at least four state governments - Goa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh - that went to polls in the past two years and whose ruling parties made the free supply of tablets an election promise. UP, for example, has promised free tablets to all students clearing the class 10 exam and Tamil Nadu the same to all students in government schools.

And then, in what could set a precedent, there's also a plan to procure 795 tablets for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs (members of Parliament) to reduce their consumption of paper.

"In the government's case, it's like a blue ocean," says Gautam Advani, head of mobility, HCL Infosystems, a tablet manufacturer. "Plans are yet to fructify. But if it all comes, the volumes will fuel growth."

According to IDC, 250,000 tablets were sold in India in calendar 2011, which is expected to increase to 1.74 million in 2012.

"It (the government) is expanding the personal computer market and there are about 70 tablet makers in the market to meet that demand," says Tripathi of Gartner. Adds Venu Reddy, research director, IDC India: "Tablet price point and functionality (ease of Internet access) have converged to make it the right device for the masses."

According to Alok Bhardwaj, president, MAIT, most government orders are expected to be for low-cost tablets (below Rs 5,000). "Governments have been trying for long to get a device at an affordable price point. Tablet fills that gap," says Milind Shah, managing director of Wish Tel, a manufacturer.

The government's appetite for low-cost tablets is birthing manufacturing businesses. For example, Wish Tel, which started in surveillance systems (like security cameras), entered tablet manufacturing in December 2011 with the specific intention of catering to government demand. Shah says the company participated in the HRD ministry's low-cost tablet bid and was the second-lowest bidder, after Datawind. It has invested Rs 70 crore in a unit in Ahmedabad that has the ability to assemble 30,000 tablets every month.

Pantel, another player, started in February 2012, with an assembly unit in China and Bangalore. The company imports tablets from China and sells half of its 100,000 units outside India. Says Vijendar Singh, managing director, Pantel: "Earlier the (government) slogan was 'one laptop per child'. Now, it's one tablet per child." Even though the government is an attractive customer, not everyone is enthused about this market. Says Tripathi of Gartner: "Most of the low-cost devicesare good for nothing."

Nokia launches Asha 308, 309 in India

Finnish handset major Nokia is keen to take its popular Asha range of mobile phones across the globe as the company introduced two new models.

The company currently retails high-end smartphones under the Lumia range to over 100 countries.

"We have not gone globally (through Asha range of Phones)", Nokia India, regional general manager (south) TS Sridhar said unveiling dual-sim Asha 308 (Rs 6,149) and single sim Asha 309 (Rs 6,349) mobile phones today coinciding with their first anniversary.

According to company officials, the company has planned to take the Asha range of phones, manufactured at its plant in Sriperumbudur near here, to over 100 countries.

Microsoft vs Apple: Roles reversed as Surface takes on iPad

It used to be that Microsoft was the evil empire, and Apple the scrappy underdog.
Now the roles are reversed, and Microsoft is challenging a dominant Apple, which has staked its claim as the leader of the sizzling mobile sector for tablets and smartphones, as well as the biggest seller of digital music.
Microsoft, still the biggest force in the PC market with its Windows operating system, is making a new, belated effort on Apple's turf.
The Redmond, Washington-based giant has launched its own branded Surface tablet with prices and specifications similar to those of theiPad, and a new Windows 8 operating system designed for tablets.
Microsoft also is making an aggressive push in mobile phones with its Windows Phone 8 platform being used by Nokia, Samsung, HTC and others.
And it has created its own music service as an alternative to Apple's iTunes, with 30 million songs and additional features offered by internet radio operators.
"Microsoft is the challenger now, and it is taking a lot of pages from Apple's playbook," said Roger Kay, an analyst and consultant with Endpoint Technologies Associates.
Kay said Microsoft is learning from Apple about the advantages of "having control of the integrated stack," meaning software and hardware, along with other services to keep users within the company's ecosystem.
But he said Microsoft has "constraints" because its updates must remain compatible with older devices, making the task more complex.
"Microsoft can write software which is as good as Apple's but it has to be free of the constraints," Kay said.
"Apple can and has said to customers, 'Throw out all your old devices, because we have new ones.' Microsoft has been at a disadvantage."
He said Microsoft has the potential for a fresh start with the new tablet, which integrates hardware and software called Windows RT in a new product.
But the tech landscape is far different than in previous Microsoft-Apple clashes. Amazon claims some 22 percent of the tablet market, and Google and its partners using the Android system are a major force in mobile.
But Microsoft appears to be digging in for the long-haul by getting into tablets, the mobile market and music.
Kash Rangan, analyst at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, said Microsoft appropriately priced the new tablet starting at $499, the same as the entry-level iPad. This will avoid "cannibalisation" of products which impact the Windows franchise.
And because Microsoft will include its Office software in the tablets, they "appear less pricey to users relative to iPads," said the analyst, who expects about 5.2 million of the Microsoft devices to be sold over the coming year.
In music, Microsoft is making a new offensive with its Xbox music service more than a year after it pulled the plug on its Zune digital media player, a would-be rival to Apple's iPod.
However some analysts said the new service might fare better.
"The service takes aim at a fractured digital music landscape (where) consumers have to use multiple services such as iTunes, Pandora and Spotify today and do not have one simple destination that allows them to do everything," said Richard Greenfield at BTIG Research.
With the various initiatives, Microsoft is seeking to build an "ecosystem" like Apple, which can deliver the devices and services to remain connected to consumers.
"People are looking to buy a complete package, that's what they buy when they go to Apple," said Jack Gold, analyst with J Gold Associates.
Frank Gillett at Forrester Research said that while Microsoft is used on some 95 percent of PCs, its share of all "personal devices" -- which include PCs, smartphones, and tablets -- is only around 30 percent.
The new initiatives "will simply stop the shrinking, maintaining Microsoft's share at about 30 percent," he said.
"By 2016, we believe that Microsoft will have about 27 percent of tablet unit sales, but only about 14 percent of smartphone sales -- and some of us are very skeptical they'll even get to 14 percent."
Gold said while Microsoft may not be able to dominate in tablets or phones, its strategy appears to "kickstart" the market to keep the Windows platform relevant.
"You never want to sell Microsoft short," Gold said.
"They have a lot of resources and they're not a company that gives up. They are applying significant amounts of resources to transition the company to address the new market realities. And they've reinvented themselves several times already."

Intel, AMD, others join hands to combat cyber challenges

Five US technology companies, including top weapons makerLockheed Martin and chip maker Intel, plan to team up to tackle "grand challenges" in cyberspace amid growing concerns about computer security.
The non-profit research consortium, to be known as the Cyber Security Research Alliance (CSRA), will also include Advanced Micro Devices, Honeywell International and EMC'sRSA Security division as founding members.
The consortium will coordinate industry research and work closely with government to develop "break-through technologies" to improve cybersecurity, said its president Lee Holcomb, a senior executive at Lockheed's information systems and global solutions division.
Initial prototypes could be developed within a year to 18 months, possibly addressing the security issues raised by the proliferation of so-called embedded devices, such as controllers in cars and the power grid, Holcomb told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
"We're going to try to bring together the government, academia and industry to collectively lay out a road map for what are the critical problems and what are the technical solutions and approaches that may work," he said. "How do we make it real?"
US defense secretary Leon Panetta last week highlighted the growing threat of cyber attacks, noting that hackers were already going after banks and were developing the ability to strike US power grids and government systems.
An August cyber attack on Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Saudi Aramco, that crippled some 30,000 computers, was probably the most destructive attack ever directed against the private sector, he said. US financial institutions have been under sustained attack in recent weeks by suspected Iranian hackers.
Ron Perez, director of security architecture at AMD, said the alliance grew out of an ad hoc group of industry executives that began meeting in late 2009.
"What's new here is the recognition that there are challenges out there that are bigger than any one company, any one university, or consortium of universities, and even bigger than what the government can do on their own," he said.
"To really address these problems, it's going to take a long-term, well thought-out collaboration process," Perez said. "And then we need to pick the low-hanging fruit and start delivering on some of those processes."
Holcomb said each of the five founding companies had paid $60,000 in membership dues, but 15 to 20 other companies had expressed interest in joining the non-profit alliance.
The group also plans to convene a public symposium early next year with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to connect researchers with officials from the private, academic and government sectors.

No end to HCL and Infosys‘ war of words over British co Axon

There seems to be no let-up in the war of words between two of India's biggest software companies that was triggered by the bidding battle for British company Axon four years ago.

HCL Technologies and   Infosys are now seeing a fresh bout over the Bangalore-based company's long-awaited acquisition of Lodestone in September. And to boot, the protagonists on both sides are Steves - Steve Pratt of Infosys and Steve Cardell of HCL Technologies.

Infosys, which backed off from a bidding war with its Noida-based rival earlier, is now saying Axon was not such a great deal after all. Pratt, the global head of consulting at Infosys, told ET that he is "glad the deal (with Axon) didn't go through".

After criticism lasting years from analysts about its aversion to risk, Infosys announced that it was buying Lodestone, a Switzerland-based consulting company, for Rs 1,900 crore. Even before the deal became public, HCL's Cardell weighed in, remarking that Lodestone was like Axon, with the catch that it was behind the times. "It (Lodestone) is like an Axon about seven-eight years ago," he told ET in July when murmurs first began about Infosys' interest in Lodestone.

India's second- and fourth-largest IT services companies have been growing in contrasting manners over the last few years. HCL Technologies' revenue has expanded nearly 90 per cent during the period while for Infosys it is just 50 per cent. Even their commentaries now reflect the difference, with HCL easily the more bullish.

Axon, which it bought for Rs 3,800 crore, has been an important factor in its rapid rise.

"HCL Technologies was missing the ERP ( enterprise resource planning) piece at the time and it needed to fill this gap badly to become a full-service player. Axon helped it become a billion-dollar player in ERP and it filled a gap created by Satyam," Sandeep Muthangi of brokerage firmIIFL, referring to the implosion of what was then India's fourth-largest software exporter. Cardell said Lodestone was weighed and found unattractive.

"HCL did look at Lodestone in the past. The company has been on sale for quite a while." But Pratt counters, saying that Lodestone is a 'high quality' company.

"Lodestone has people in Brazil, Singapore and China where Infosys Consulting was not present. So, it's a very good fit for Infosys."

"We don't really compete with HCL Axon in the market. Ours is a business transformation-led company and theirs is a more technology-led company," said Pratt, a former partner at consultancy Deloitte.

Infosys will keep Lodestone as a separate subsidiary for a year and then look to integrate it with its consulting business, he said.

"We'll first incubate, coordinate and then integrate Lodestone. The compensation levels and human resources structures are very different in consulting.

We'll follow the same strategy for Lodestone," said Pratt, who established the consulting practice for Infosys in 2004. Consulting and system integration contribute $2 billion a year for Infosys and employ about 30,000 people.

"The billing rates in some practices in Infosys Consulting are as high as $230 per hour per employee. It's very high-end consulting that we do unlike many others."

Surface creates buzz, but iPad mania missing

US shoppers woke up with mild Surface fever on Friday, lining up in moderate numbers to buy Microsoft's groundbreaking tablet computer designed to challenge Apple's iPad.
The global debut of the Windows 8 operating system was greeted with pockets of enthusiasm, but not the mania reserved for some previous Apple launches.
Microsoft is positioning the slick new computing device, which runs a limited version of Windows and Office with a thin, click-on keyboard cover, as a perfect combination of PC and tablet that is good for work as well as entertainment.
"I like the flexibility of having the keyboard and the touch capability," said Mike Gipe, 50, who works in sales for bank Barclays, and was planning to buy a Surface tablet at Microsoft's pop-up store in Times Square in New York.
"It's the combination of having the consumer stuff and the work stuff," he said, looking forward to using Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations on the new device.
The Times Square store was the first to sell the Surface -- Microsoft's first ever own-brand computer -- and other Windows 8 devices late on Thursday and will be open through the holiday shopping season. On Friday morning it was crowded with a mix of tourists and local office workers, but the cash tills were not jammed.
"With the other tablets you're a consumer. With this you can have input," said Peter Townsend, on vacation in New York from Australia with his wife, who bought a Surface tablet because he liked the keyboard.
Mark Pauluch, 28, who works for a New York private equity firm, said he would like a Surface because he does not want to take a laptop on a plane, but was disappointed when the sales representative told him the wifi-only Surface would not work with Cisco VPN networking.
"I can't use this to replace my work laptop unless it supports VPN," he said.
Midwest, west coast
Elsewhere in the United States, there was solid but not overwhelming interest for the Surface.
"It's a good tablet. I am not a huge i-anything fan, I like Windows," said Matt Shanahan, a software developer who drove four hours to the tiny Michigan Avenue pop-up store in Chicago from Grand Rapids, Michigan to buy a Surface. "My friend and I are software developers and this gives us an opportunity to develop new apps," he said.
In a pop-up store at the San Francisco Centre mall about 50 people lined up to buy the new Surface.
"On an iPad you have to use half the screen for a keyboard, or buy an accessory. I love that the Surface is so integrated, that you can type and use Word and all my other programmes," said Malte von Sehested, a textbook creator who bought a Surface.
"With the Surface you get a steeper learning curve -- I had to get someone to show me how to side-swipe, swipe out to get the menus for instance," he said. "It may take a week, before it all becomes natural. That could be a problem for Microsoft. My old dad, he would get hit by that steeper learning curve."
Analysts patient
Wall Street and tech industry experts failed to show great enthusiasm for Windows 8, but were prepared to give Microsoft time to succeed.
"Microsoft did not come out with Windows 8 thinking it will be an overnight success," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "But there's hope that this could be the silver bullet of growth (for Microsoft) as well as giving the PC industry some optimism that there's better days ahead."
The next six to 12 months is a "crucial period" for Microsoft to get traction with consumers, added Ives.
Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at tech research firm Forrester, said consumers may be best served waiting for tablets running the full Windows 8 Pro and Intel chips, which are due out early next year.
"Windows 8 has a lot of great features, but RT has a long way to go," she said, citing a lack of apps and poor video performance on the Surface.
"It's not really a PC. RT is too restricted. Some people will be happier with the full Windows 8," she said.
Microsoft shares were up 33 cents at $28.21 on Nasdaq on Friday. Apple shares were down slightly after disappointing earnings on Thursday.

Windows 8: An OS made for touchscreens

We talked about Windows 8 on a laptop (and desktop) a few days ago. It is a good OS but with dual personality and on a laptop, without a touchscreen, this affects the user experience in a rather negative way. Even Microsoft tacitly acknowledges that Windows 8 works best when it is paired with a touchscreen. To test this claim, we spent some days with a Windows 8 tablet.

Made by Samsung, the tablet that we used was powered by a Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor and 4GB RAM. It was rather thick and was prone to overheating because of the powerful hardware inside it. But fortunately, this tablet was just a concept device. It will not go on sale in the market.

The Windows tablets that will be available in the market will be likely less powerful than the one we used. Though this shouldn't be an issue because prototype tablet was overkill. The actual tablets are also going to be much more sleeker, with better design and improved finish.

Windows 8 and a tablet go together a lot better than Windows 8 and a desktop. There are two main reasons for it.

One, the gestures that feel jarring with keyboard and mouse seem natural and obvious with a tablet. Just swipe down from the top bezel to close an app. Flick and cycle through open apps by swiping right from the left bezel. Swiping up from the bottom bezel brings up the options while the right bezel is used to bring up charms. It all happens in fluid and fast manner. There is no lag.

Second reason why Windows 8 works well with the touchscreen is due to the design language it uses. Modern UI uses big and beautiful tiles. These are easy to click with fingers. Also, apps with Modern UI have lots of white space. This again makes a lot of sense on touchscreen as various options can be clicked with finger taps with ease. There is no risk of hitting two options.

Of course, some issues persist. Because Windows 8 works best as a tablet OS when it is being used in Metro UI mode, we hated going to the 'desktop mode', which is similar to the environment in Windows 7. Unfortunately, the Windows app store, which is the only place to download apps with Modern UI, is still not well stocked. This means there are times when Windows 8 tablets users will have to leave the Modern World and enter the OS of yore. Though app situation is improving at an astounding rate.

Most Windows tablets will come with keyboard docks or other similar accessories that would allow users to convert them into a 'laptop'. For example, Surface, the tablet made by Microsoft, comes with keyboard accessories. Using Windows 8 device with a keyboard or mouse is not as satisfying as using it on a tablet. But the flexibility is a welcome addition. Pairing the tablet with a keyboard helps in certain cases. For example, while watching a film on the tablet you get an email and you have to type a rather long reply. Well, you can connect the keyboard to the tablet and use it to type and send the mail. After that you can detach the keyboard and go back to the video.

Overall, the tablet experience with Windows 8 is better than what iPad or Android tablets offer. The various gestures are ingenious way of navigating around the OS. More importantly, deep within it is a full-fat operating system. This means, many tablets powered by Windows 8 will accept pen drives, handle demanding tasks like video editing and run complex PC games like Call of Duty or Need For Speed.

Multitasking, which feels limited on a desktop because a user can just see two windows at a time, is so much better on a tablet. The reason why it feels better on a tablet is because of the context. Android tablets or iPad can only run one app at a time. In many cases, they even have difficulty keeping apps running in the background. On Windows 8 tablet, you can access two apps at a time and all apps, irrespective of number, run well in the background. For desktop this sort of multitasking may feel lame but for a tablet it is a huge improvement.

The only issue at the moment, as we said earlier is lack of apps. Microsoft will have to get that part right before Windows 8 tablets can go head-to-head against iPad. All else looks pretty for Microsoft's first proper tablet OS

Top tips to set strong passwords

On the internet,   passwords offer the first line of defence and they are necessary to keep your accounts safe. However, most of us while choosing passwords for various accounts on the internet bypass certain basic criteria. Mostly for the convenience of remembering, we tend to keep the same password for all the accounts. In most cases, easy-to-guess passwords are set thereby compromising online security.

A password is more of a lock than a key. Hence, it is really important to have strong passwords to your various services online so that you can defend against cyber criminals.

Here are some tips to what an ideal password should have: 

*Always use a unique, alpha-numeric password for all your important accounts.

*Keep the password long and make sure it is alpha-numeric which means it should have combination of letters, numerals, symbols and, of course, it should be case sensitive. The minimum length of your password should be at least eight characters. What many people do not know is that you can also include spaces in between the characters.

For an eight character long password, after all the possible combinations, there are 6 quadrillion possibilities which is quite hard to guess.

*Make sure that your password does not contain your user name, real name or company name and also it is not a complete word. The other way is to reverse the order of the characters. For example, Hell0u2@ can also be written as @2u0lleH which is a strong password. Though it is not necessarily the best option, but still better than keeping words the way they are spelt.

*It is always advisable to keep changing your passwords regularly and also making sure that password recovery options are safe and up-to-date in case you forget (which will happen often!).

How to see if my password is strong or not
The password that you might have set meets all the criteria mentioned previously and still be a weak password.

For example, mouse2u@ meets all the criteria for a strong password listed above, but is still weak because it contains a complete word. M0u5E 2u @ is a stronger option because it replaces some of the letters in the complete word with numbers and also includes spaces.

You can also check the strength of your password at: microsoft.com/en-gb/security/ pc-security/password-checker.aspx 

Use a unique password
Since most people have accounts on different websites and for numerous services, it is always advisable that you keep a unique password for each. This prevents hackers form stealing your password from a less secure website. However, if you find it difficult to remember different passwords then choose unique passwords for important accounts like your email and online banking.

How do I remember my passwords?
Remembering multiple passwords for most of us proves to be a difficult task. However, if you follow these tips, remembering passwords can be easy.

*Whatever password you plan to set, relate it to an event, date or a hobby that is easy to remember.

*Create an acronym for that piece of information which you want to set as your password. For example, pick a phrase that is meaningful to you, like I graduated on 21 June, 2005. So, a probable password option can be i6rad/JU21,zo 05

*Shorthand, misspellings, adding spaces in between letters or words give strength to a password. Turn words into shorthand or intentionally misspell a word.

* Keep your recovery email address information always updated. Services like Gmail, for instance, also offer the facility to receive password reset codes through SMS. Most of the websites ask you to choose a question to verify your identity if you ever forget your password.

*If you have saved you password on your PC, then choose a unique name for the file and keep it hidden.

What other precautions should I take to keep my accounts safe
Most of the security breach cases happen due to installation of malicious software on PCs. Here is a list of Don'ts that you should follow:

*Don't set dictionary words as passwords

*Never set your date of birth or your family member's date of birth as password. Avoid using your company's name, phone number, bank account number or any other vital information in your password.

*Never ever write your passwords on any paper or any place from where they are easily accessible.

*Simple passwords spelled in reverse order, common misspellings and abbreviations or common patterns and combinations.

*Don't accept any end-user agreement without reading the fine print first.

* Never retain spam emails in your inbox.

*When you are visiting any new website, never click ad links or flash ads no matter how appealing or real-looking they are. Also, never enter your email account details on such websites.

*Passwords such as 123456, password1, abc123, 123abc, qwerty, iloveyou, iloveu etc. should be strictly avoided. According to a report by SplashData, these passwords are an example of some of the worst kept secrets by people globally.

Apple iPhone 5 prices start at Rs 45,500 in India

Apple iPhone 5, which will be launched in India on November 2, will be priced at Rs 45,500 for the entry-level 16GB model. The 32 and 64GB models will be sold at 52,500 and 59,500 respectively.

The prices have been shared by Redington, one of the two distribution partners of Apple in India, in the country and are in line with the unconfirmed price range that TOI had earlier reported.

Redington and Ingram have also confirmedTOI's Friday report that Apple is set to launch the iPhone 5, its latest smartphone, in India on November 2, 2012. Apple has joined hands with Redington and Ingram Micro to distribute its flagship device in the country.

This is a departure from Apple's earlier strategy of partnering with telecom operators like Airteland Aircel to retail the phone in India. Redington and Ingram Micro already distribute iPad and iPods in the country.

Considering that the device will not be tied to a few telecom operators only, most telcos in India have readied their stocks of nano-sim cards which can be used only in iPhone 5.

As reported by TOI on Thursday, besides online site Infibeam, another online retailer Saholic has begun taking pre-orders for the 16GB variant of iPhone 5 at Rs 45,500. Infibeam had started taking advance bookings at Rs 5,000, while the remaining amount will be collected at the time of launch.
Apple is yet to launch the unlocked version of iPhone 5 in the US, its home country, and only sells the device with carrier partners like AT&T, Sprint and Verizon.

Nokia out of top 5 globally, tops in India

Finnish mobile handset manufacturer Nokia, which is facing a major crisis in global sales, still tops the list of mobile handset market in India even as it has been displaced from the fifth spot in global sales by the beleaguered BlackBerry maker  Research in Motion (RIM).

According to a report by Cybermedia, Nokia had 22.2 per cent share of the Indian handset market in terms of total unit shipments in the first half of 2012, followed by Samsung with 13 per cent and Micromax in the third spot with 5.5 per cent share.

India's total mobile handset shipments topped 102.43 million units, of which 5.50 million were smartphones, as per the report. Samsung topped the list of smartphone shipments, followed by Nokia and RIM.

The report also revealed that Android (with 56.4% market share) was the leading operating system (OS) in India, followed by Symbian (17.4% share), BlackBerry (12.1% share), Bada (8.5% share), iOS (3.0% share) and Windows Mobile (2.6% share) on a base of 5.50 million units, during the same period.

India is one of the few markets where Nokia still has a hold. As per an IDC report, the Finnish company has now dropped off the Top 5 list of smartphone vendors, which is led by Samsung and Apple at number 1 and 2 positions. Nokia was replaced by RIM at fifth position whose shipment volumes appear to have flattened though the company posted the second-highest year-over-year decline among any the leading vendors.

According to Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Nokia's share losses and the company's transition away from Symbian to Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months.

Apple nets record $8.2 billion profit on iPhone sales

Apple on Thursday revealed record revenue and profit figures for the fourth quarter ended September 2012, riding on 58 per cent higher iPhone sales over the same period last year, even as new worries emerged for the US firm.
The Cupertino-based maker of iPhone smartphones, iPad tablets,  Macbook notebooks and iMac desktop computers posted revenue of $36 billion and net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share for its last quarter.

In comparison, the company had recorded a revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. However, it saw its gross margin decline by a fraction to 40 per cent compared with 40.3 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Higher international sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter's revenue. Apple ended the quarter with $121.3 billion in cash and securities, of which $83 billion was offshore.

Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 per cent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

But the reported iPad sales by Apple fell short of Wall Street's expectations, marring the company's record of consistently exceeding investors' expectations. It sold 14.0 million iPads during the quarter, a modest 26 percent unit increase in the same period. It was well below the forecasts as the economy remained weak and consumers also awaited the iPad mini, for which pre-orders started on Thursday night.

Apple's computer sales seem to have virtually frozen as it sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter, a mere1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple also saw a 19 per cent unit sales decline at 5.3 million iPods.

As a result, shares in the world's most valuable technology company briefly dipped to levels not seen since the start of August, after it delivered a 27 percent rise in revenue. The share later bounced back after the CEO Tim Cook's conference call with analysts.

Apple's board of directors declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the company's common stock. The dividend - same as the previous quarter ending July - will be payable on November 15, to shareholders as per records on close of day on November 12.

"We're very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, in a statement. "We're entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline."

Together with the iPad 2, these two new iPads (iPad 3 and Mini) run more than 275,000 apps in the App Store. Recognised revenue from sales of iPad and iPad accessories during the quarter was up by 9% at $7.5 billion compared to $6.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. Apple ended the quarter with about 3.4 million iPads in channel inventory, a sequential increase of about 200,000, pointed out Cook.

"We're pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer (CFO).

"Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75."

This targeted revenue of $52 billion in the December quarter is below the average estimate of $55 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Similarly, Apple is expecting margins to grow by 36 per cent, far lower than analysts' expected 43 per cent.

Oppenheimer mostly attributed the lower margin and conservative guidance to a combination of a stronger dollar, higher costs associated with new products, and the fact that Apple's next fiscal quarter has one less week than the same period a year ago.

Apple's stock was holding steady at $609.40 in extended trade after flirting with the $600 level. The shares had ended regular trade at $609.54.

Supply constraints holding up sales of the iPad and iPhone dominated discussions between analysts and Apple executives during the post-results conference call. Apple has struggled to deliver large quantities of the iPhone 5 since its launch in late September, with the waitlist for the device at one point stretching to three weeks in some regions.

"Our supply output is significantly higher than it was in early October," Cook said, referring to the iPhone 5. "And I'm confident that we'll be able to supply quite a few during the quarter."

HTC profit falls 79% in Q3

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC on Friday reported a 79 percent drop in third quarter profit as intensifying competition from Apple and Samsung Electronics hurt sales.
HTC said its profit totaled 3.9 billion New Taiwan dollars ($99 million) on revenue of NT$70 billion in the three months through September. It was HTC's fourth consecutive fall in quarterly profit.
The company predicts revenue to drop to NT$60 billion in the fourth quarter despite traditional pre-Christmas buying and its introduction of two new models running on Microsoft's Windows 8 software.
HTC became the first maker of smartphones based on Google's Android software in 2008 and its sales surged. It entered a sharp decline in the second half of 2011.

LG Display breaks loss-making streak after 7 quarters

LG Display reported its first quarterly profit in two years on Friday as sales of its screens used in Apple iPad and iPhone offset weak demand from TV manufacturers, the South Korean panel maker's biggest revenue source.
LG Display, which vies with Samsung Electronics's panel unit for the top position inliquid crystal display (LCD) flat screens globally, reported 253 billion won ($230 million) in operating profit for its July-September third quarter.
That was a tad below an average forecast for a 265 billion won profit in a poll of 13 analysts by Thomson Reuters.
The profit, LG's first after seven straight quarters of losses, compared with a 492 billion won loss a year earlier and a 26 billion won loss in the preceding three months.
"We expect profitability to improve further in the fourth quarter, as a host of new mobile devices will launch and increase panel demand," the firm said in its earnings statement.
LG said it expected LCD panel prices to remain stable in the current quarter, and its flat-screen shipments to rise by a high single digit percentage quarter-on-quarter.
LG Display shares have jumped about 37 percent in the past three months, outperforming a 6 percent rise in the benchmark KOSPI index, on expectations for better fourth-quarter earnings as the company ties its fortunes more tightly to Apple.
Barclays expects LG's revenue from panel supplies to Apple and Amazon.com to jump nearly 70 percent to 2.1 trillion won worth in the fourth quarter from the third quarter, due to solid demand for the iPhone 5, iPad mini and Amazon's Kindle tablet computer.
LG's new and thinner display -- its in-cell touch screen panel, which is used in the iPhone 5 -- costs 40 percent more than that of conventional smartphone panels, according to Nomura Securities. Analysts at Korea Investment & Securities expect panel sales to Apple to rise to around 27 percent of LG's total revenue in the second half of this year from 16 percent in the first half.
Shares of LG Display closed down 1.2 percent prior to the results announcement, versus a 1.7 percent fall in the broader market.

Google, Apple, Microsoft: Crucial test ahead

The biggest names in consumer technology, stung by a string of disappointing quarterly results this month, are suiting up for what's shaping to be the fiercest holiday battle in years.
Apple nets record $8.2bn profit on iPhone sales

Investors and consumers have already largely written off flaccid quarterly numbers from tech behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon. What counts is the next 60 days, when the biggest names in technology do battle at a near-unprecedented scale and pace.

Just on Thursday, Amazon compared its Kindle Fire with Apple's new iPad mini, point by point, in its earnings release, an unusual forum to name rivals. Apple CEO Tim Cook compared Microsoft's Surface tablet to an over-engineered car that can fly and float. And Microsoft went for the iPad, saying its Surface boasted twice its storage.
Samsung posts record profit of $7.4 billion in Q3 

All three tablets will vie for the shrinking consumer dollar these holidays. By tech standards, it's getting ugly.

"The tablet space is where the growth is. That's why they are all fighting over it. PC shipments are down and some tablet buyers may never buy another PC," said Michael Allenson, strategic consulting director in the Technology and Telecom Research Group at Maritz Research.

"Last holiday season, we saw a lot of buying of tablets in the $200 to $300 price range. This year, the iPad mini and Amazon's Kindle Fires are targeted as large gifts. They are trying to ride that wave and win as much as they can."

The impending clash is far from decided.

Odds-on favorite Apple has lost some of its aura of invincibility, with Google's Android andSamsung making inroads into its reign in smartphones, Microsoft's quickening marketing blitz, and Amazon's Kindle nipping at its heels as the No. 2 tablet in the United States market.

That competition has weighed on Apple's share price, which is at three-month lows after it reported a second straight quarter of disappointing results, sullying its reputation for blowing away Wall Street estimates.

Google is struggling to figure out the dollars and cents of the mobile market and Microsoft is facing witheringly unimpressed reviews for its new Windows 8 platform and Surface tablet.

Meanwhile, Amazon's outlook for the holiday season is being taken as a disappointment, andBest Buy warned late Wednesday that sales and margins are falling.

Claws come out
Tech companies hope lackluster calendar third-quarter results mean consumers have held off from buying gadgets so they can save up for something new and shiny this Christmas -- from the lowest-end Fire at $159 to a Surface around $499 or the biggest, fastest, newest iPad at $829.

The technology industry is grappling with a fundamental shift from deskbound computers or heavy laptops to sleek mobile devices like tablets, which are upending the traditional PC model and prompting companies like Google and Microsoft to invest deeply in hardware manufacturing.

Their entry however is raising the competitive stakes. Companies like Apple usually spend most of their time talking about how great their own products are, but with the competition more intense than ever, Apple CEO Cook spared a not-so-kind thought for Microsoft on Thursday.

"I haven't personally played with the Surface yet, but what we're reading about it, is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product," he said, later adding "I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don't think it would do all of those things very well."

Cook may have been going for levity, but the Twitterati booed his joke, since after all most gadget-heads would be very content with a flying, floating car.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, for his part, was pretty impressed with the company's handiwork, notwithstanding reviews that used words like "disappointing" and "undercooked."

"We have a device that's uniquely good at being a tablet and a PC (with) no compromise on either one," Ballmer told Reuters Television ahead of the Windows 8 launch event in New Yorkon Thursday. "Work. Play. Tablet. PC. Boom! One product."

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, in a talk this month, took a shot at Apple, which has faced a barrage of complaints about glitches in its mapping software since dumping Google's service from its iPhone.

"What Apple has learned is that maps are really hard. They really are hard," he said. "Apple should have kept with our maps."

Not to be outdone in the sniping, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos took a subtle swipe at Apple's high prices in the Internet retailer's quarterly results statement Thursday, saying "our approach is to work hard to charge less."

Right below those comments, Amazon listed head-to-head comparisons between its $299 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet, its $199 7-inch Kindle Fire HD device and Apple's iPad mini, which was unveiled on Tuesday.

Analysts were taken aback by how brazen Amazon was being in taking shots at peers.

"I have never seen them directly compare products in a results release like this, and in so much detail clearly calling out their competitors," said RJ Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "This shows they are taking the tablet wars very seriously."

Apple iPad mini pre-orders begin

Apple has begun taking pre-orders for the iPad mini, its latest tablet which was launched on October 23. The company is taking advance bookings for both Wi-Fi only as well as Wi-Fi + 4G models of the device, but shipping times vary.

While the former will be delivered to buyers on November 2, the latter will be shipped around mid-November, according to information provided on Apple's online store which went offline for a while for updation.

The company is offering buyers the option of engraving their iPad mini with a personalised message and financing offers. Buyers can also opt for a Smart Cover designed for the iPad mini while purchasing the device.

Apple is offering the Wi-Fi only iPad Mini in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities at $329, $429 and $519 respectively. For the 4G-compatible versions of the device, users will have to shell out an additional $130 for each variant.

iPad mini features a 7.9-inch IPS touchscreen with 1024x768-pixel resolution and runs on iOS6. The device is powered by a dual-core A5 processor and has 5MP iSight rear camera and 1.2MP FaceTime front camera. Connectivity options in the tablet include Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, 4G, Bluetooth 4.0 and 8-pin Lighting connector.

Google Nexus 4 specs with Android 4.2 leaked online

Details of Google's new flagship Nexus 4 smartphone have apparently been leaked by the UK's largest independent mobile phone retailer.
Carphone Warehouse's website briefly displayed a listing offering the LG Nexus 4 on contract from 31pounds per month on O2 or Vodafone from 30 October.
The device is expected to be the centrepiece of a Google event in New York on Monday, 29 October, when the firm is also expected to update its Nexus 7 Android tablet, The Telegraph reports.
Carphone Warehouse's page, which has now been removed, said the Nexus 4 will have a 4.7-inch screen with density of 320 pixels per inch.
The handset was listed as measuring 68.7 by 133.9 by 9.1 millimetres, apparently thicker than its Apple rival's 7.6 millimetres.
According to the paper, the 'leaked' listing offers a version of the Nexus 4 with only 8GB of storage, though earlier leaks have suggested there will be a version with at least 16GB too.
The Nexus 4 is expected to run an updated version of the current version of Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, rather than the next full-blown release, 4.2, codenamed Key Lime Pie, the report added.

Windows 8 to bridge gap between PC, mobile devices

Microsoft launched a radical redesign of its world-dominating Windows operating system, introducing a touch-enabled interface that attempts to bridge the gap between personal computers and fast-growing mobile devices powered by the company's fiercest competitors.
The debut of Windows 8 heralds the biggest change to the system since 1995, when the company first offered built-in internet support. And with so much riding on it, the overhaul could be Microsoft's most important product since co-founder Bill Gates won the contract to build an operating system for IBM's first PC in 1981.
To succeed, the new version will have to be innovative and elegant enough to attract consumers who've fallen in love with notebook computers, tablets and smartphones running software from Apple and Google.
"What you have seen and heard should leave no doubt that Windows 8 will shatter the perceptions about what a PC really is," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at a New York event to kick off the Windows promotional campaign.
The first PCs and other devices running Windows 8 were to go on sale Friday.
The software is designed for use on a variety of machines - desktop PCs, notebook computers and tablets, including Microsoft's new Surface tablet, the first computing device the company has manufactured after focussing almost exclusively on software for more than 30 years.
The redesigned operating system represents an attempt to pull off a difficult balancing act as Microsoft maintains its highly profitable heritage in software while trying to get a foothold in the newer, more fertile field of mobile devices.
So far, the booming mobile device market has been defined by Apple's trend-setting iPhone and iPad, Google's pervasive Android software and Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets. Tablets have been undercutting the sales of desktop and laptop computers since Apple released its pioneering iPadin 2010.
Another version of Windows 8 will be released next week for smartphones, which are overwhelmingly dominated by Apple and Google's Android software.
Microsoft is also opening a Windows 8 store featuring applications built to run on the system. The store is similar to the apps stores of Apple and Google and will include many of the same services.
More than a billion PCs currently run on Windows, including 670 million that use Windows 7, the last version of the operating system, released in 2009.
But the owners of most existing Windows machines aren't expected to switch to Windows 8 for at least a year, maybe longer. That means most of Windows 8's early usage will come from consumers, businesses and government agencies that buy new devices with Windows 8 already installed.
There were few surprises at Thursday's launch event because Microsoft has been previewing preliminary versions of Windows 8 for the past 13 months - part of 1 billion hours of testing.
Still, the overhaul poses a big risk for the Redmond, Washington, company because Windows 8 looks and operates so much differently than previous versions.
"This is the biggest gamble they've ever made," said analyst Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group. "Does (Windows 8) do more things? Yes... but it's not that easy to use."
Even when users revert to a desktop mode, the redesign discards the familiar "start" button and menu that Windows has had for 17 years, a change that critics believe will almost certainly provoke howls of protest. But many reviewers applaud Microsoft for greeting users with a mosaic of tiles displaying applications instead of relying on the desktop icons that served as the welcome mat for years.
In a brief interview on Thursday, Ballmer expressed confidence that PC users would quickly realise the mosaic is easier and quicker to use than the old desktop format.
"You've got a whole screen as a start button!" he said.
Windows 8 comes with new controls. It marks the first time Microsoft has made touchscreen control the top priority, though the system can still be navigated with a keyboard and mouse in desktop mode.
"In the case of Windows 8, seeing, touching, clicking and swiping is really believing," Ballmer said. He also predicted that PCs running on Windows 8 would be hailed as the best machines ever made.
Some Windows 8 PCs will be hybrids that look like laptops, but also have detachable display screens containing a separate battery so they can work like tablets, too. Those devices will face direct competition from Microsoft's Surface.
On Thursday, Microsoft also spent time touting the Surface as a more versatile and durable alternative to the iPad, still the most popular tablet on the market.
At one point, a Microsoft executive dropped the Surface on the stage floor to demonstrate how difficult it is to break. In another gimmick, a different Microsoft executive stood on a Surface with wheels to show it even had the strength of a skateboard.
The Surface goes on sale on Friday, priced at $499 for a Wi-Fi-only tablet with 32GB of storage. Apple charges the same price for its latest full-size iPad with half the storage capacity. The price for a separate Microsoft "touch cover" that also serves as an attachable keyboard starts at $120.
Apple rolled out its own artillery earlier this week when it showed off a series of improvements to its own laptop and desktop computers and debuted the iPad Mini, a smaller and less expensive take on its top-selling tablet. Google will return fire on Monday in New York at an event that it expected to introduce yet another smartphone and a larger version of the company's 7-inch Nexus tablet.
Hours after the Windows launch, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the Surface a "fairly compromised, confusing product" that tries to do too many things.
"I suppose you could design a car that files and floats, but I don't think it would do all those things very well," Cook said Thursday on a call to discuss the company's latest earnings report.
Microsoft's decision to sell its own piece of Windows 8 hardware threatens to alienate the device makers who license its software at the same time many consumers could be expressing their dismay and confusion with the redesigned operating system.
In an attempt to help people understand the changes, Microsoft is expected to spend an estimated $1 billion promoting Windows 8.
If Windows 8 is a hit, it could also help lift the fortunes of struggling PC makers, includingHewlett-Packard and Dell, whose stocks have plummeted with the rise of mobile computing.
If Windows 8 is a flop, however, it will increase the pressure on Ballmer. Although Microsoft is far larger than when Ballmer became CEO nearly 13 years ago, the company's stock has lost nearly half its value as Apple, Google and Amazon steered computing in a new direction. Restless shareholders could start clamoring for Ballmer's ouster if Windows 8 doesn't shake up the state of the technology market as dramatically as Ballmer envisions.
Microsoft shares fell two cents Thursday to close at $27.88.

Microsoft CEO confirms plans to launch ‘more devices‘

Steve Ballmer, the chief executive of software giant Microsoft, has confirmed he plans to release more devices.
"Is it fair to say we're going to do more hardware? Obviously we are... Where we see important opportunities to set a new standard, yeah we'll dive in," Ballmer said.
According to the BBC, Ballmer's comments came ahead of a Windows 8 launch event inNew York, following which Microsoft's Surface tablet will go on sale.
Windows 8 is a radical update to Microsoft's core product. The operating system introduces a touchscreen-controlled interface featuring tiles.
According to the report, Ballmer caused a stir when he revealed in June that his company was making its own family of tablet computers, one offering extended battery-life powered by an ARM-based chip, the other using Intel's technology to offer a deeper Windows experience.
Until now, Microsoft had focused on software and relied on third-parties to make hardware, with a few exceptions such as its Xbox games consoles and Kinect gesture sensors, the report said.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer buys mobile-app developer Stamped

Yahoo Inc said on Thursday it bought a small, mobile start-up company in New York, marking one of new Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's first moves to revamp the struggling Web pioneer by acquiring outside products and technology.

Yahoo purchased Stamped, which makes a product that lets consumers share favorite restaurants and music on their smartphones. It did not disclose financial details.

In a blog on the Stamped website, Stamped co-founders wrote that Yahoo would discontinue the Stamped product by the end of the year and that the team would be working on something "big, mobile and new."

"As a team of mostly former Googlers, we've all worked with and are big fans of Marissa. So when an opportunity arose to become a part of the team at Yahoo!, we jumped," read the blog post, which featured a picture of the three co-founders alongside Mayer.

A former Google Inc executive, Mayer took over as Yahoo CEO in July, becoming the latest in a string of executives to try to revive revenue growth at the Web portal.

During Yahoo's quarterly earnings conference call on Monday - her first public remarks since taking the helm - Mayer said that her top priority was to create a coherent mobile strategy for Yahoo.

Yahoo said the Stamped team consists of nine employees. The company, with not quite two years of history under its belt, has already won seed funding from celebrities such as pop star Justin Bieber and The New York Times, according to CrunchBase, an online blog and database of venture capital transactions.

Shares of Yahoo were up 7 cents at $16.61 in afternoon trading.

iPhone 5 coming on November 2, App Store adopts Rupee pricing

Even as Apple iPhone 5 launch in India has been delayed by a week to November 2, the company on Friday started billing inIndian rupee on the App Store.

The move will benefit the vast app developer community that sells on the App Store as well as the users who download paid applications and content from the company's online store.
The billing so far was being done in US dollars. In comparison, Google Play Store has had INR pricing for long. Having a rupee pricing will definitely result in a big convenience for both buyers and sellers as there would be no dollar billing, making the purchase transactions easier and transparent.

Mobile apps revenue has consistently risen for both companies. Even though Google Androidbased smart phones have cornered more than half the total sales worldwide, Apple still retains a lion's share in paid mobile app revenues and gets almost two-third of the total app revenue generated worldwide.
Apple nets record $8.2bn profit on iPhone sales

Until now, Apple has paid $6.5 billion to developers selling their wares on the App Store and more than 35 billion apps have been downloaded since the online store opened in 2008, App Store currently offers over 7.5 lakh apps.

Meanwhile, shipment delays have resulted in the iPhone 5's India launch date being pushed to next Friday i.e. Novermber 2 since Apple has a fetish for launching only on a Friday. When contacted, an Apple India spokesperson refused to comment.

However, a November 2 launch is certain and the stock is expected to start arriving at the master distributors Redington India and Ingram Micro within next two to three days, sources said. The two are expected to start booking pre-orders within a day or two.

Unable to open its own stores in India for direct retail due to unfavourable regulatory requirements and hampered by the high cost of distribution in the country, Apple has tweaked its retail strategy for the flagship product. Until the last time when iPhone 4S was launched, Apple had sold directly in India through its two carrier partners Airtel and Aircel.

However, the company has this time appointed for iPhone 5 two of the largest IT distributors Redington and Ingram Micro through whom the iPhone 5 stock will be routed, including the retail operations of the two existing carrier partners. It already has a relationship with the two for distribution of iPads and iPods, besides HCL Infosystems.

Since Apple sells only unlocked phones in India, other carriers and a host of other resellers too may be able to sell iPhone 5 now by directly buying in bulk from its master distributors.

Technically speaking, if Apple does not control the end pricing, some retailers might sell iPhone 5 cheaper than others, leading to differential pricing of iPhone 5 in India. The Apple spokesperson remained tight-lipped on the matter when asked about this.

More significantly, riding the vast distribution network of the two largest distributors, iPhone would become legally available practically across the country, definitely many more towns than just the large metropolitan cities.

Already, almost all Indian carriers are ready with nano SIM cards to support iPhone 5.

So far, Indian telecom carriers have steered clear from subsidising the handsets by bundling iPhone along with data plans, but without locked-in contractual plans. It means an unlocked iPhone is sold at full price after adding the taxes and import duties. This makes iPhone simply the costliest smartphone in a very price-sensitive country and leads to a thriving grey market.

Incidentally, unlocked iPhone 5 is has been available in India unofficially for three to four weeks and retails between a whopping Rs 85,000 to 1.2 lakh. These handsets are illegally imported in to India from various markets like Singapore and UK where Apple had started selling unlocked iPhone 5 early even though unlocked iPhone 5 is yet to be launched in most other markets, including the US.

Sources said iPhone 5 models are expected to be priced from between Rs 45,000 to Rs 61,000, unless Apple springs a big surprise by going in for an aggressive pricing.

In comparison, an unlocked 16GB iPhone 5 model will be sold in US for $649 plus taxes translating to a tag much lower than Rs 40,000.

At an astronomical price range between Rs 45,000-60,000 in India, how much sales volume Apple is able to notch up remains to be seen.

SAP ups revenue outlook on Ariba acquisition

Germany's SAP raised its 2012 software revenue outlook to reflect the acquisition of internet-based cloud computing company Ariba, completed earlier this month.
The world's biggest maker of business software said on Wednesday it sees full-year revenue from software and software-related services growing by between 10.5 and 12.5 percent.
In July, when it was waiting for approval of its $4.3 billion acquisition of Ariba, SAP had said 2012 revenue would rise 10-12 percent.
"Assuming that the macroeconomic environment does not deteriorate we expect to reach the upper end of the range," SAP's co-chief executive Jim Hagemann Snabe told reporters.
SAP's third-quarter operating profit before special items rose 10 percent to 1.24 billion euros ($1.61 billion), while software and software-related services revenue rose 19 percent from last year to 3.19 billion euros. Both figures were in line with average analyst estimates.
SAP, which competes with Oracle and IBM, said it still expected 2012 operating profit to rise to between 5.05 billion euros and 5.25 billion at constant currencies.
Third-quarter net profit was hit by a 64 million euro provision for a wrong-way euro-dollar bet related to the Ariba acquisition. As a result, net profit of 618 million euros missed the most pessimistic expectation in a Reuters poll of 668 million.
"At the time when we announced the Ariba acquisition we thought it was prudent to hedge our position for a weaker euro, however the euro strengthened instead," SAP finance chief Werner Brandt said.
SAP's integrated software systems are sold to many of the world's biggest companies, such as Apple, GE, McDonald's and Pepsi.