NVIDIA launches India's first GPU computing social networking group

NVIDIA has announced the launch of an online platform dedicated to GPU computing and High Performance Computing (HPC) users in India. The informal special interest group will bring together GPU users from all fields and experience levels in India, including academicians, researchers, scientists, device manufacturers, system integrators, service providers and all early adopters of HPC and GPU computing. The group, hosted on Meetup.com – the world's largest network of local groups will provide HPC and GPU computing enthusiasts in India with a comprehensive platform to track industry trends and engage with each other, discussing the latest developments in the field.

NVIDIA still going all guns blazing

The group, supported by NVIDIA, will have a core group of key academicians to lead and moderate discussions. The site will feature a bank of research papers, case studies and posts on the latest technological developments, not only at NVIDIA, but also in the global industry. The platform will also encourage users to engage in group chats and web conferences to interact with each other. NVIDIA will periodically host live talks with industry experts to elucidate on pertinent industry updates.

Speaking about the initiative, Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director, South Asia, NVIDIA, said, “GPU computing is becoming increasingly relevant in our lives today. Everyone from gaming enthusiasts, to college students, working professionals to researchers and scientists can apply the GPU to enable better graphics and faster computing. NVIDIA will lead and facilitate the pioneering HPC and GPU Computing Group with an aim to establish a strong connect among GPU computing users and spread GPU computing awareness in India. We hope to make the GPU synonymous with computing and build a strong interconnected community of GPU users in India.”

HPC and GPU computing has come into sharp focus in India with the Indian government’s focus on setting-up of Petaflop-class systems in the upcoming five-year plan. NVIDIA will facilitate the virtual informal special interest group as an extension of its University and Academic programs. NVIDIA in India has four different programs to engage with academia, through which 18 CUDA Teaching Centers, 1 CUDA Research Centre and 66 Academic partnership programs have been established in association with universities and professors.

Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/nvidia-launches-india039s-first-gpu-computing-social-networking-group_658425.html

Micromax brings in industry professionals

"I felt this company is like a crouching tiger, waiting to take that giant leap." At least that's how Deepak Mehrotra convinced himself to get behind the wheels of Micromax, the the largest Indian-owned brand by sales. 

The corner office and chief executive post had to be created for Mehrotra because till recentlyMicromax was steered by four first generationentrepreneurs - Rajesh Agarwal, Sumeet Arora,Rahul Sharma and Vikas Jain, the promoterfounders. 

After setting a scorching growth pace since 2008 when it entered the Indian handset market, Micromax has hit a plateau - fiscal 2012 sales are expected to be flat compared to revenues of Rs 2,300 crore during the previous fiscal. 

While unit sales haven't fallen, Jain says, device prices have fallen due to intense competition. That the firm grew 44% in fiscal 2011 from the Rs 1,600 crore sales in fiscal 2010 may be helpful in fully appreciating the current slowing down. 

Even that stands out starkly when looked alongside the fiscal 2010 growth of 358% from Rs 349 crore in fiscal 2009. That may be why Mehrotra, and two other seasoned hands - Khaja Muzaffarullah from Sony Ericsson and Ajay Sharma from smartphone maker HTC - have been brought in to help the crouching tiger make the giant leap to billion dollars in sales by March 2013. 

In the last week of December, Mehrotra joined Micromax from India's largest mobile telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, where he was operations director. Muzaffarullah and Sharma will head two newly created businesses, feature phones and smartphones. 

"For an outside observer, it may look like that but we have been looking for somebody as passionate about Micromax as we (promoters) are," Jain said, explaining that the slowdown was not the reason for bringing the professionals on board. 

For his part, Mehrotra played down the relevance of the slowdown as the trigger for inducting professionals such as himself. "That (falling device prices and flat sales) may be frustrating for sure, but I don't think that is the only reason (for bringing in professional managers)," the new CEO said. 

With a year almost gone by without making much progress in growing sales, nothing short of doubling current sales will help Micromax keep that billion-dollar promise. The base effect may be waning for Micromax, but at about Rs 33,000 crore revenue - as per Voice and Data estimates - Indian handset market offers sufficient headroom for Micromax to keep growing. 

In terms of unit sales, calendar year 2011 clocked 184 million pieces, which is expected to grow to about 301 million units by 2015, according to IDC. To re-kindle growth in the near term, Mehrotra and his team are working on strategic tie-ups with operators for improving the sales of smartphones as well as build relationship with partners before introducing tablet computers. 

For the medium-term the professionals are endeavoring to put in place processes and controls besides striking strategic partnerships to help the young enterprise break out and enter its next phase of growth. 

"Not too long ago, these guys (the promoters) pretty much exploded on to the scene but this industry is such that without credible entry barriers, any Tom, Dick or Harry could come in and sell phones," says Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director at Sequoia Capital, a private equity firm that has invested in Micromax. 

And, the Indian competitors are catching up. During the July-September quarter, Spice Mobile, one of the larger competitors of Micromax, saw a 34% jump in shipments while Maxx Mobile, another Indian brand saw a 10% jump, according to data available with technology market researcher IDC. 

"Rest of the prominent Indian brands saw a decline," said G Rajeev, lead analyst (mobile phones) at IDC. "While a number of Indian brands were affected due to their heavy dependence on imports, the addition of smartphones to their device portfolio would expectedly help them on the margins front." 

Sequoia's Bhatnagar admits that bringing in experts ensures that "promoters do not have to re-invent the wheel, be it in getting distribution or branding right." "Professional with rich experience in the Indian telecom market will help promoters plug the gaps, and strengthen the existing team so that they (Micromax) can go fight and make a mark in the market," Bhatnagar said. 

"Out there, it is street fighting, FMCG style." Sequoia is looking at a five-year horizon, and does not want to "get carried away by quarterly blips," said Bhatnagar referring to the sales growth hitting a plateau. 

"As long as we are moving along with the intent of capturing double-digit market share withAndroid and smartphone being critical elements, I am not too worried as an investor." Double-digit market share is still some ways away. 

Industry journal Voice and Data estimates that Micromax has a revenue market share of 7% in the domestic handset market. In its first wave of growth and rural push, Micromax had established itself as an undisputed leader in the entry to mid-level feature phone category. Now, the Gurgaon-based firm wants to graduate to the so-called smart phone category, where device price and profit margins are is higher. 

It is also very close to introducing its own tablet computer in the sub Rs 15,000 category. That Indian cellular operators are aggressively pushing high-speed internet services that uses third generation or 3G technologies helps Micromax's cause as it creates demand for smartphones with high-end capabilities. 

"With the changing product mix, we are tweaking our distribution strategy, which was earlier feature phone-centric ," Mehrotra said, "This may mean using specialized distributors to target different set of towns and cities." 

A year may be nearly gone by without much sales growth but Mehrotra says the investments made in "product development, strategic tie-ups and fine-tuning of distribution strategy to match the changing product portfolio will now start paying off." 

"Look, the core thesis here is that 15-18 million handsets are being consumed every month in this country and if you are able to create a credible brand that caters to this demand, you can expect to be adequately rewarded," says Bhatnagar.


Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/strategy/Micromax-brings-in-industry-professionals/articleshow/11653043.cms 

DoCoMo to ask for changes in Android -Nikkei

(Reuters) - NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T) will ask Google Inc (GOOG.O) to modify its Android operating system so that smartphones using it would put less pressure on networks, a move that could spark wider protests against the leading mobile software platform, the Nikkei reported.

The leading Japanese mobile phone service provider identified an Android application, which enables free-of-charge voice communication, as a major cause behind a service disruption that occurred on Wednesday, the business daily said.

Some Android applications send out control signals once every three to five minutes even when not in use. This translates to ten times that of a conventional mobile phone, placing additional strain on the network, the newspaper said.

A sharp rise in data consumption puts more pressure on wireless operators to speed up capacity investments, as they are struggling with clogged telecom networks to keep up with growing demand for data services on the go.

DoCoMo intends to request that Google make Android transmit control signals less often, since frequent service disruptions could hurt the popularity of Android phones, the Nikkei reported.

"Other operators have complained, some publicly, about the pressure Android apps in particular are putting on their networks," said John Jackson, analyst at British wireless consultancy CCS Insight.

The Japanese paper said that DoCoMo also hopes to team up with other mobile service providers, along with Google, to ask Android application developers to limit the frequency of control signals.

"I expect that at the very least operators worldwide will watch this dispute closely to see what remedy might be in the offing," Jackson said.

Other operators may use the dispute as an occasion to demand similar modifications, he said.

"Either way, DoCoMo's move comes at a challenging time for Google with the Android ecosystem failing to generate Apple-like (AAPL.O) revenue and OEM licensees coming under legal pressure from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) in particular," he added

Source : http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/27/us-docomo-idUSTRE80Q1YU20120127 

Google Music the best digital music locker

In the wake of the Megaupload take down, it might seem like a good time to back away from increasingly locked-down cloud storage. After all, you don’t want to lose all your media if the worst happens. At least one digital locker is bucking the trend: Google Music. The search giant’s cloud music service added a new feature this week; US users can now download their entire MP3 library, both purchased and uploaded tunes. The result might be the ultimate free music locker.

When Google Music launched, it offered users a handy desktop app that monitored the entire music library on a PC, helpfully uploading new tunes to the cloud. Many users spent days getting all their songs into Google only to realize that, in some misguided effort to appease overly-cautious music labels, those songs were stuck in the cloud. Only purchased songs could be downloaded to a local PC, which made Google Music a pretty awful backup option.

Under the new policy, you can use the Google Music Manager software to download the entire library, or songs can be downloaded individually from the web interface (although you are limited to two downloads per track there). Should you ever lose any music, anything you uploaded to, or bought from Google can be restored.

This simple change means that Google Music makes enormous sense as a music backup service. Google has confirmed that accounts will remain free, and you can put 20,000 tracks in your account. That’s more than enough for most users, and you never have to worry about manually backing up. Google’s Music Manager keeps your cloud up to date while sitting quietly in the background.

The other cross-platform music locker of note is Amazon, which turned some heads last year when they began offering free upgrades to 20GB accounts with any album purchase. These accounts also have unlimited music storage space. The only problem is that it’s been almost a year since Amazon started offering the deal, and unless you pay the $20 membership fee, it’s back to the free 5GB plan very soon. Only music bought from Amazon gets unlimited storage then.

Because Amazon’s music uploader app doesn’t run as a service, you have to manually update your Cloud Player library, which is less than ideal for backup. Amazon also lacks an option to download all your music at once like the Google Music Manager does. If you need to restore your tunes after a catastrophe, you don’t want to go one album at a time.

Google Music now has all the hallmarks of a truly great backup system for your music. It updates itself, offers ample free storage, and lets you blast your collection down onto any hard drive with the Music Manager software. Android users also get the added extras of mobile streaming and caching. Even if you don’t plan to stream tracks from Google Music, it can’t hurt to have a free backup of your tunes in Google’s cloud.

Source: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/115897-how-one-small-change-just-made-google-music-the-best-digital-music-locker 

Kids over 13 can sign up legally for G+ Mr. Bradley Horowitz VP Product, Google+

Mr. Bradley Horowitz VP Product, Google+  


His Post on G+  


Teens and young adults are the most active Internet users on the planet [1]. And surprise, surprise: they're also human beings who enjoy spending time with friends and family. Put these two things together and it's clear that teens will increasingly connect online. Unfortunately, online sharing is still second-rate for this age group.

In life, for instance, teens can share the right things with just the right people (like classmates, parents or close ties). Over time, the nuance and richness of selective sharing even promotes authenticity and accountability. Sadly, today’s most popular online tools are rigid and brittle by comparison, so teens end up over-sharing with all of their so-called “friends.”

With Google+, we want to help teens build meaningful connections online. We also want to provide features that foster safety alongside self-expression. Today we're doing both, for everyone who’s old enough for a Google Account (13+ in most countries [2]).

Safety starts with your circles
The difference between friends, acquaintances and strangers is a crucial one—especially for teens. Google+ includes circles to help people manage their different relationships, but we’re going a step further for our younger users.

Sharing content
With Google+ you can share privately with your circles, or publicly with the world. Posting something for everyone to see is a big deal, however, so when teens try and share outside their circles, we encourage them to think before they post. [Screenshot #1] 

Receiving notifications
Google+ is a great place to connect with close friends, as well as discover others with common interests. We want to help people explore the community safely, however, so we give users control over who can contact them online. By default, only those in teens’ circles can say hello, and blocking someone is always just a click or two away. [Screenshot #2] 

Hanging out with friends
Google+ Hangouts bring people together using live multi-person video, and the results range from heartwarming [3] to awe-inspiring [4]. However, we recognize that connecting face-to-face is special and serious, so if a stranger outside a teen’s circles joins the hangout, we temporarily remove the young adult, and give them a chance to rejoin. [Screenshot #3] 

Our newly launched Google+ Safety Center [5] describes these and other changes in more detail, but our approach is straightforward: build awesome features that teens really want, encourage safe behavior through appropriate defaults and in-product help, and make abuse reporting tools easy to find and use.

People and pages for the young(er) at heart
The joy of real-life sharing lies in connecting with everything we care about—from family and friends, to businesses and brands. Teens, like adults, deserve a rich experience online, so today we’re welcoming some of their favorite individuals and organizations to the Google+ community. [6]

Between strong user protections and teen-focused content, it’s our hope that young adults will feel at home (and have some fun) on Google+. And of course, we do have at least one thing in common with our newest users: we’re both busy growing up.


Source: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113116318008017777871/posts 

Apple regains its No.1 position as Smart Phone Vendor

Apple has emerged as the top smartphone vendor worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2011, by a small margin, after losing ground to Samsung in the previous quarter, research firms Strategy Analytics and IHS iSuppli said.

But the Korean giant has emerged as the market leader for the first time in 2011, the research firms said Thursday. Samsung shipped nearly 100 million smartphones during the year.

Samsung had a close to 20 percent share for the year, in comparison to Apple's 19 percent share, according to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung had overtaken Apple in the third quarter, as customers waited for the iPhone 4S. Apple's introduction of the new phone in the fourth quarter unleashed tremendous pent-up demand for the iPhone as consumers awaited the arrival of the latest model, said IHS iSuppli.

Besides competing in the market, Apple and Samsung are in fierce patent litigation, with Apple trying to block Samsung devices in many markets.

Global smartphone shipments grew 54 percent annually to reach a record 155 million units in the fourth quarter, said Strategy Analytics.

Apple's smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter were 37 million, up 128 percent from the same quarter a year ago, it said. Shipments by Samsung in the quarter were 36.5 million, up 241 percent.

Nokia's global smartphone market share halved from 33 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2011, mainly on account of a lackluster touchscreen smartphone portfolio and a limited presence in the U.S. market, Strategy Analytics said. Nokia's partnership with Microsoft will be very much in focus during 2012, and the industry will be watching closely to see how swiftly the two companies can expand in the high-value 4G LTE (long term evolution) market that is rapidly emerging across the U.S., Japan and elsewhere, it added.

Other major Android licensees like Sony Ericsson and Motorola did not match Samsung's strong smartphone performance in the fourth quarter or for the entire year, indicating that the Android smartphone market is becoming too crowded "as the various licensees compete for limited consumer mindshare and shelf space", IHS iSuppli said.

Sony Ericsson shipped 9 million phones in the fourth quarter, a 20 percent decrease year-on-year, citing fierce competition and price erosion as reasons for the poor result. Its results for the quarter, which included a net loss and a drop in revenue, highlighted the struggles of many vendors who rely on Google's Android to power its smartphones.

Global handset shipments meanwhile were 445 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 11 percent from the same quarter in the previous year. Nokia is still the leader with a 25.5 percent share for the quarter and close to 27 percent share for the full year, but its share has fallen from over 30 percent in the previous year. Strategy Analytics said. Samsung was the number two, followed by Apple.

source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223757/Apple_is_the_No._1_smartphone_vendor_again_say_research_firms

India mobile phone sales (unit shipments) touch nearly 166 million units

India mobile phone sales (unit shipments) touch nearly 166 million units in the first 11

months of calendar 2011; shipments in November flat on account of post-festive

season cyclical effect

Multi-SIM handsets account for over 54% of total shipments in November 2011; Nokia

emerges leader

Smartphone shipments in India crossed 10 million units for the first time in 11 months

of ended November 2011, account for over 6% of total market

Increased installed base of smartphones and greater operator focus on arresting declining

ARPUs set stage for rise in share of revenues from data services in 2012 and beyond

Chennai, January 24, 2012: The overall India mobile handsets market recorded sales of 15.4 million

units during November 2011. This was reported in the India Monthly Mobile Handsets Market

Review for November 2011 released today by premier IT, Telecoms, Semiconductor & Electronics,

Government, Entrepreneurship, Energy & Healthcare and User research firm CyberMedia Research.

Total mobile handset shipments during the first eleven months of calendar year 2011 touched nearly

166 million units.

In the overall India mobile handsets market, Nokia retained leadership position with 28% share,

followed by Samsung at second position with 12% and Micromax at third position with 4%, in terms of

sales (unit shipments) during the month of November 2011.

Multi-SIM Mobile Handsets

Multi-SIM mobile handset shipments accounted for 54% of the total India mobile handsets market

during November 2011 in the country.

Nokia, a late entrant to the Multi-SIM device category, made up by having as many as seven models

on offer by November 2011 and is the market leader in the category with 19% market share, followed

by Micromax with 7.1% and Karbonn with 6.9% market share.

Table 1. India Monthly Mobile Handset Shipments (millions of units), Number of Models

Launched by Device Type: November 2011*

Device Type                                         Total Shipments           New Models Launched

Featurephones                                    14.4                              74

Smartphones                                       1.07                              23

Total                                                                  15.47                              97

*Source: CyberMedia Research India Monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review for November 2011

Growth of Smartphones

Smartphone shipments touched 10 million units in first eleven months of calendar year 2011.

November 2011 was only the third consecutive month when smartphone shipments in India crossed 1

million units. Moreover, the month witnessed the launch of as many as 23 smartphone models.

“A new trend that is becoming visible is the launch of dual SIM smartphones by vendors”, stated

Tarun Pathak, Analyst, Monthly Mobile Phones Market Review Program, CyberMedia Research

Telecoms Practice.

At the fag end of the month Nokia launched its Lumia range of devices (Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia

Lumia 710) based on the new Microsoft Windows 7.5 Mango operating system. It remains to be seen.

Table 2. India Mobile Handsets Market: Shares of leading Vendors in Smartphones during

November 2011*

Vendor Name Market Share (% of unit shipments)

Samsung 34.1%

Nokia 22.4%

RIM 18.6%

* Source: CyberMedia Research India Monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review for November 2011

3G Phones