Citrix plans to announce Monday that it will buy VMLogix as part of a larger push to offer more self-service tools and address concerns like vendor lock-in facing enterprises using the cloud.
Courtesy: Infoworld News
Archive for August, 2010
Citrix buys virtualization vendor VMLogix
August 30th, 2010Staunch Wimax-backer Intel to support LTE
August 30th, 2010
Mumbai: The world’s largest computer chip maker, Intel Corp., which promotes the so-called wireless inter-operability for microwave access, or Wimax, technology as the standard for wireless broadband Internet, now says it may support the rival Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.
“Question is, (in the) long term is LTE much bigger? Possibly yes, quite possibly yes,” said Tom Kilroy, Intel’s global sales and marketing head. “Whenever LTE makes it to the market, Intel will support LTE.”
Looking ahead: Intel’s Tom Kilroy says Intel will support Long Term Evolution whenever the new technology enters the market.
Wimax and LTE are similar but competing technology standards that telecom operators can choose between for offering wireless broadband services. Intel, which earned $35 billion (Rs1.41 trillion) of revenue in 2009, manufactures chips that make computing devices Wimax-enabled. LTE is backed by another chip-maker, Qualcomm Inc.
In June, India auctioned wireless broadband spectrum for Rs38,540 crore, with just one company—Infotel Broadband Services Pvt. Ltd, now owned by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)—emerging as a pan-India operator. Qualcomm participated in the auctions and won access to four regions, or circles.
Kilroy, who met local telecom operators during his trip to India last week, said Intel was not “religious” about Wimax and its research and development (R&D) plans are geared to support LTE if that technology becomes the industry standard.
But the chip-maker continues to bet on an interim Wimax phase as network equipment for LTE is evolving slowly.
For Intel, the uptake of Wimax by Indian operators translates into demand for Wimax-enabled devices. India, with low Internet and computer penetration levels, offers a huge opportunity for companies such as Intel.
“They (Indian telecom operators) have signed the big checks, they’ve got the spectrum,” said Intel’s managing director, sales and marketing, South Asia and India head Sivakumar Ramamurthy. “These are like tomatoes on the shelf; they tend to rot if you don’t make use of them. And you paid for that already.”
He added that the operators know if they want to deploy a technology today, they have only one choice—Wimax. “The question is: Do you jump in, go the whole hog and build that business out, and then figure out what your long-term strategy is?”
RIL, which bought Infotel after that company won the pan-India spectrum, talked about the spectral efficiency of LTE but remained silent on Wimax in a statement announcing its entry into telecom space.
RIL’s choice of technology is crucial as others are likely to follow suit to avoid being sidelined from a technology perspective as well as to ensure smooth inter-operator roaming for users.
Mint reported on 6 July that Tikona Digital Pvt. Ltd, having spectrum to offer wireless broadband in five telecom circles, will go with RIL’s choice of technology.
Analysts tracking the evolution and adoption of these competing technologies appear to have already called the game in favour of LTE in the long run.
“There is increasing momentum around LTE,” said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at Arizona-based market researcher In-Stat, who has tracked Intel’s business over several years. “LTE will take away the lion’s share from Wimax as the future is definitely tending more towards LTE.” Wimax is facing a fall in support, both among operators globally and telecom equipment makers.
Clearwire Corp., Intel’s $1.6 billion Wimax vehicle and one of the largest Wimax operators in the US as well as globally, has already stated its intent to consider LTE as the technology standard going forward. So has Yota, the Russian Wimax operator.
Among network equipment makers, Cisco Systems Inc. and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson have been slowly withdrawing support for core Wimax equipment.
NTT DoCoMo Inc., the largest telecom operator in Japan, and Verizon Wireless, one of the largest carriers in the US, are set to roll out LTE-based network by December. Another US carrier, AT&T Inc. has awarded equipment contracts to Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson for LTE’s commercial deployment in 2011.
The moment of truth for Intel came in January 2009 when it announced writing off $950 million from the value of its investment in Clearwire, based on the current market valuation of the company listed on the US technology exchange Nasdaq.
Besides its $1.6 billion investment in Clearwire, it has invested in $43 million in UQ Communications in Japan, $26 million for buying radio spectrum in Sweden, $15 million in Packet One Networks in Malaysia, besides unknown amounts in similar projects in Egypt, Mexico and Taiwan to promote Wimax.
“They have invested a considerable amount through Intel Capital, but have never broken that information out, but it is likely many times higher than the company’s investment in Clearwire,” In-Stat’s McGregor said.
Intel Capital is Intel’s venture capital arm.
“We’re certainly proud about the investments we’ve made in Wimax. We are steadfastly behind our partners and we will continue to support them, and stand behind Wimax,” Kilroy said. “On the other hand, we will support LTE when it comes out.”
Asked if it is possible that Intel may have recouped its investments in Wimax through device sales, McGregor said, “No. Not a chance.”
Even as Intel appears to be signalling its willingness for a course correction, analysts say it is not as though Intel backed the wrong horse.
“Intel backed a technology that evolved from the computing industry, and then LTE evolved from the telecommunication industry and got wider acceptance.” said McGregor.
lison.j@livemint.com
Courtesy: LiveMint
Gaming industry to touch Rs3,100 crore by 2014
August 29th, 2010
Mumbai: The Indian gaming industry is expected to grow 32% at Rs3,100 crore by 2014, a top industry official said.
“Indian gaming industry is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 32% to Rs3,100 crore by 2014 with factors such as a young population, rising disposable incomes, increasing wireless users and proliferation of developers and publishers,” Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) business head Kumar Warrier told PTI here.
MAAC is a leading player in high-end 3D animation in India.
The size of the Indian gaming industry was estimated at around Rs790 crore in 2009, compared to Rs650 crore in 2008, implying a growth of 22% during the period.
While addressing a special seminar for students and professionals seeking a career in the gaming industry here, Matthey Jaffery of Electronic Arts, UK, said, “the increasing telecom bases and the expected roll-out of 3G services are likely to provide efficient high-speed data networks to mobile gamers. The telecom subscriber base is expected to increase to 725 million by 2013 with a mobile penetration of 60%.”
The console gaming industry in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19% from Rs580 crore in 2009 to Rs1,160 crore by 2014 on the back of increasing disposable income and favourable demographics, India’s largest Gaming company Gameshastra’s Vijaya Raghavan, said.
Courtesy: LiveMint
Gaming industry to touch Rs3,100 crore by 2014
August 29th, 2010
Mumbai: The Indian gaming industry is expected to grow 32% at Rs3,100 crore by 2014, a top industry official said.
“Indian gaming industry is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 32% to Rs3,100 crore by 2014 with factors such as a young population, rising disposable incomes, increasing wireless users and proliferation of developers and publishers,” Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) business head Kumar Warrier told PTI here.
MAAC is a leading player in high-end 3D animation in India.
The size of the Indian gaming industry was estimated at around Rs790 crore in 2009, compared to Rs650 crore in 2008, implying a growth of 22% during the period.
While addressing a special seminar for students and professionals seeking a career in the gaming industry here, Matthey Jaffery of Electronic Arts, UK, said, “the increasing telecom bases and the expected roll-out of 3G services are likely to provide efficient high-speed data networks to mobile gamers. The telecom subscriber base is expected to increase to 725 million by 2013 with a mobile penetration of 60%.”
The console gaming industry in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19% from Rs580 crore in 2009 to Rs1,160 crore by 2014 on the back of increasing disposable income and favourable demographics, India’s largest Gaming company Gameshastra’s Vijaya Raghavan, said.
Courtesy: LiveMint
Update: Microsoft co-founder sues Google, Apple, others over patents
August 28th, 2010A firm owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has filed a lawsuit against Google, Apple, Facebook, and other companies alleging that they have violated patents related to search, multimedia, screen pop-ups, and database management.
Interval Licensing filed the patent lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington. The companies named in the lawsuit are Aol, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo, and YouTube.
Courtesy: Infoworld News
Java founder Gosling launches T-shirt campaign for free Java
August 28th, 2010Java founder James Gosling’s campaign for a “free” Java has extended to offering a line of T-shirts and other merchandise.
Courtesy: Infoworld News
Employees Cranky About Web Browsing Restrictions
August 28th, 2010Workers who can’t browse certain Web sites or access particular networks at the office are voicing their complaints, says staffing firm Robert Half Technology.
Courtesy: CIO.in
Doctors, Detectives, Educators and Executives Top “Jobs” of Emmy Nominees
August 28th, 2010
If the Emmy Awards are any indicator, high school staff, police investigators and business owners/executives lead the most interesting lives — or at the least the lives that make for good TV. Out of the 24 actors nominated for an Emmy award for lead actor or actress in a television series: Four of their characters work in public high schools, four work as investigators for a police department and four are business owners or executives.
But that’s not where the similarities stop.
Three of the characters who garnered Emmy noms for their respective actors work in health care, two are comedy writers, two are mid-level managers and two are lawyers — for a grand total of 20 out of 24 characters that share an occupation with at least one other Emmy-nominated character.
With all the different careers paths out there (the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists 280 different occupations in its Occupation Outlook Handbook), that’s got to say something about our entertainment — or occupational — preferences.
Below, a list of Emmy-nominated characters that are also professional peers.
The high school staff:
- “Glee”’s Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, Spanish teacher and glee club director, William McKinley High School
- “Breaking Bad”’s Bryan Cranston as Walter White, high school chemistry teacher
- “Friday Night Lights”’ Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor, coach, Dillon High School football team
- “Friday Night Lights”’ Connie Britton as Tami Taylor, guidance counselor, East Dillon High School
The investigators:
- “Monk”’s Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, police homicide consultant, San Francisco Police Department
- “Dexter”’s Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, blood spatter analyst, homicide unit, Miami metro police department
- “The Closer”’s Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Johnson, deputy chief, Major Crimes Division, LAPD
- “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”’s Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson, detective, Manhattan Special Victims Unit
The business execs:
- “30 Rock”’s Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy, vice president of East Coast television and microwave programming, GE
- “Mad Men”’s Jon Hamm as Don Draper, partner, advertising firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Price
- “The New Adventures Of Old Christine”’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine Campbell, owner, women’s health club
- “Damages”’ Glenn Close as Patty Hewes, partner, Hewes and Associates LLP
The health-care workers:
- “House”’s Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, doctor and chief of diagnostic medicine, Princeton‑Plainsboro Teaching Hospital
- “Lost”’s Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard, doctor
- “Nurse Jackie”’s Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, nurse, All Saints’ Hospital
The comedy writers:
- “Curb Your Enthusiasm”’s Larry David as himself (a comedy writer)
- “30 Rock”’s Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, head writer, sketch comedy show
The mid-level managers:
- “The Office”’s Steve Carell as Michael Scott, regional manager, Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Inc. (A division of Sabre)
- “Parks And Recreation”’s Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, director of the Pawnee (Ind.) Department of Parks and Recreation
The lawyers:
- “Damages”’ Glenn Close as Patty Hewes, lawyer(also partner), Hewes and Associates LLP
- “The Good Wife”’s Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, lawyer
The others:
- “The Big Bang Theory”’s Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper, theoretical physicist
- “Glee”’s Lea Michele as Rachel Berry, student
- “United States Of Tara’’s Toni Collette as Tara Gregson, mural painter
- “Mad Men”’s January Jones as Betty Draper, housewife
Who will take home Sunday’s awards? Let us know your favorites in the comments section!
For more on work and the entertainment industry, check out:
When Celebrities Decide to Un-retire
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Courtesy: The Work Buzz
Putting Google Realtime to real-world use
August 27th, 2010Google has added new functionality to its real-time search engine, and moved it from an obscure feature buried in the options on the left pane of the standard Google search, to its own website. The new Google Realtime can be a powerful tool for businesses that know how to use it.
Courtesy: Infoworld News
Employees cranky about Web browsing restrictions
August 27th, 2010Workers who can’t browse certain websites or access particular networks at the office are voicing their complaints, senior IT leaders say.
Among 1,400 CIOs surveyed by Robert Half Technology, 12 percent said it is “very common” and 29 percent said it is “somewhat common” for employees to complain about IT security measures that limit their access to certain websites or networks. (Also see the tech debate: Social network sites: Block or not?)
Courtesy: Infoworld News
