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Intex Aqua Craze
The Aqua Craze is the newest addition to Intex's range of 4G budget smartphones. It has a 5-inch HD display (1280 x 720 pixels), dual SIM support and runs Android 5.1. Specs include a 1Ghz quad core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage and a 2,500mAh battery.Cameras are 8MP rear and 2MP front.Other features include a microSD slot (up to 32GB supported), WiFi and Bluetooth. Intex has a `Matrabhasha' service that lets you communicate in 21 regional languages along with pre-loaded apps like Follo, Opera Mini, Clean Master, Newshunt, Myntra and Chaatz.
Sony MP-CL1
Sony India has launched a portable mobile projector called the MP-CL1. It has a native resolution of 1920 x 720 pixels, uses a laser light source and is capable of projecting a 120-inch screen from a distance of about 11 feet. You can connect devices via HDMI or MHL and it even has built-in WiFi to connect to devices wirelessly. The built-in 3400mAh battery is capable of 120 minutes of continuous video playback.Correction: The price of the Sony VPL-VW320ES projector featured on February 3, 2016 is `7,08,300.

 

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Tech Buzz

Samsung Rolls Out Android 6.0

Google rolled out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to Nexus devices in November last year and now Samsung has announced that it is beginning to bring the update to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge and to other Galaxy devices soon.

3.5 million The amount that Wikipedia is spending on a search program

Google Net Balloons are Coming Soon

Google's ambitious project to deliver internet to remote parts of the world using highflying balloons has survived a brutal development phase and will enter the testing mode later this year. With “Project Loon“, Google struggled to find the right balloon design that could be both inexpensive and durable not only to float but navigate to predictably travel through the stratosphere, ReCode reported. “We busted a lot of balloons,“ Astro Teller, head of Alphabet's X unit was quoted as saying. -IANS

Jargon Buster Ladyphone

A ladyphone is a term used to refer smartphones that are designed and marketed for women. Though there are no set standards, it is based on colour, design and accessories.

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Oh! All the Places I'll Go, With Just Me, Myself and I

Some startups discover the virtue of being single as it enables quicker decision-making power and lesser compromises

Startups are setting a trend of disruption, and some startups buck the trends even within the startup ecosystem. In contravention to the classic practice of having multiple cofounders, some like to tread the lone road. Despite the increased odds it may pose, they choose to `remain single' enabling quicker decision-making power and lesser number of compromises to be made.“I have seen strengths in being the single founder,“ noted Major Prashant Rai, Founder of Bengalurubased resources-aggregator Onetimejobs.com. “When you have cofo unders investing in the company, you have to listen to them while making decisions and utilising funds.This way the decisions are fast. I take ideas from my team, but final decision will be mine.“
Some draw inspiration from the stalwarts for continuing as single founders -like Urvesh Goel, founder of Hyderabad-based tech etailer SyberPlace.com. “I believed in profitable sustainable growth rather than aggressive acquisition of customers. My business model had few takers -most of the people I talked to believed in Amazon's way of doing business.“ Urvesh.
The thread that connects all single-founders is the strong belief that having an efficient team is better than having one or two individuals as cofounders.
“Most cofounder stories tell how they had been together for a long time sharing the passion and the ideas and having a certain amount of understanding about each other. In the beginning it might help you too,“ admits Sakshi Vij, founder of self-drive service Mylescars.com.
“But moving forward, what matters more is the talent you hire and your team on the ground.“ However, founders admit that the sole journey might bring along with it its own challenges.
Shaifali Holani, who started call repair and maintenance provider EasyFix.in in 2011, notes, “when I look back it has worked out all good, but having a cofounder could also have been a good idea. When you are starting a business you are not looking at hiring expensive resour ces. If you have a cofounder who is on the same page with you, then that part can be taken care of.“
Shaifaly remembers the difficulties in raising funds, fighting against the stereotypes associated with a woman running a company single handed. Others too agree with her and opine that the biggest challenge might come in the form of investors. Vivek Durai, founder and CEO of Chennai-based startup Termsheet, remembers how his team helped matchmaking startup Aisle.co, which too had a single founder, to raise funds.
“They had been trying to raise funds for over a year before approaching us,“ said Durai, who himself, is a single-founder.

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ET Roundtable - Big Boys Want Front Seat in this Disruptive Tech Drama

What if David and Goliath worked together, instead of duelling?
More importantly, can they? This was the gist of a fascinating discussion at the NasscomET round-table discussion on the theme “Smart Enterprises and Startups A new Symbiotic Relationship in the making?“ on the sidelines of the Nasscom India Leadership forum '16. The idea was to explore the possibilities if natural born rivals -large enterprises and startups -could collaborate. Moderated by ET's TV Mahalingam, the panel featured Pankaj Patel (Chief Development Officer, Cisco), Ravi Gururaj (serial entrepreneur), Umesh Adhikary (President, Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Group), R Chandrashekhar (President, Nasscom), Rajat Paharia (Founder, Bunchball). Excerpts:
What can startups and large firms expect from each other?
Umesh Adhikary As the group grew from $2 billion in 1995 to $41 billion in 2015, a question we found ourselves asking was -how do we as an organisation remain flexible, nimble and how do we encourage innovation within the group? In August, we launched the Aditya Birla Bizlabs programme across three sectors: telecom, financial services and retail. Around 1,200 startups had applied for the programme and after the 20-day programme, 20 startups were selected who are now scaling up with us. The main idea of Bizlabs was how do we collaborate with startups and grow together.Ravi Gururaj What do startups expect from large companies? Five Cs, primarily. One, Coaching -there is a lot of deep expertise within large companies.Startups end up using a lot of their early energy and passion and cash in doing wrong things sometimes. Two: a potential customer relationship. Third: Capital. Then there is Connects. Companies can connect startups to their customers. And that's a powerful next step.Finally, creating cofounders. A lot of startups are formed because people are peeling away from big companies.Can large enterprises create intrapreneurs instead?
An recent study found that large enterprises and startups stand to miss a $1.5 trillion in growth opportunities when they don't collaborate on digital. Is collaborating with startups an imperative for large enterprises?
Pankaj Patel It's an imperative. Cisco has $2-billion venture arm which we invest in over 100 firms. We don't acquire all of them. Of the 100, we acquired only 30. By investing, we get the front seat to see what's going in some of the potentially disruptive technologies which can come to disrupt you. There is nothing that stops two people in an apartment in Bengaluru or two guys in a Palo Alto garage to disrupting things. Adhikary As a group, we have been very progressive about how we can engage and collaborate with the startup ecosystem. Today, a lot of our discussions are about disruptions that ecommerce guys are doing. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to compete with them but makes sense to collaborate.
As a conglomerate, how do you approach a very complex and diverse startup ecosystem?
Adhikary When we surveyed the startup ecosystem, we found that telecom, financial services and retail comprised about 70-80% of startups. When we looked internally, we had leadership positions in telecom, retail and financial services. That became a huge value proposition for startups. So, we invited startups from these spaces to participate in the programme not just for funding but also for coaching. We also said that if you have an innovative solution, we will get you a pilot project.
How do you view partnerships with large enterprises?
Rajat Paharia It's scary. You have all your critical, scarce resources....your time, your people and money... sucked out by dealing with a big company.That's just because of the fundamental mismatch between the two entities.The big companies have different time lines. The startup has 50 people of which 30 are devoted to this relationship and if it goes bad, that's it for the startup. As a small startup putting resources and investment, I have to know that I'll get 5x when I come out. That's not a problem for the big company. For the big company, if it fails, it fails. Given this, how can startups and large enterprises manage the cultural disconnect? Patel First and foremost, it's about the culture. We've had to let go of several hot companies because the culture didn't match. Second is location. Thirdly, talent. We want to keep talent as much as we can.
How important is it for Indian IT to collaborate with startups?
R Chandrasekhar Indian IT services' evolution is well recognised. Having seen what Indian IT is capable of, customer expectations are also very high.The demands that they place, in terms of outcomes, cannot be done by just delivering IT services. Innovation is needed. To innovate, there are constraints for large companies based on culture you have had. Some of the innovation they will have to do in-house and some of it will have to be sourced externally.





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Have a Break, Grow Your Ideas: AB Group to Staff

TO NEW BEGINNINGS Aditya Birla Group plans to start an intrapreneurship programme; looks at partnering with companies in Israel and Silicon Valley for its Bizlabs programme

In an attempt to tap into the entrepreneurial ideas of its employees, Aditya Birla Group plans to kick off an intrapreneurship programme soon. Under the programme, called Innolabs, the company will allow its staff to take time off from work and pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions.In August 2015, the conglomerate had flagged off Aditya Birla Bizlabs, a programme to collaborate with start-ups in the retail, financial services and telecom businesses, where the group has a dominant presence.Over 1,200 startups applied for the programme, out of which 20 were eventually chosen to “scale up“ with the conglomerate.
“When we were doing all of this (Bizlabs) for startups outside, our employees joining us from IITs and IIMs started asking: what is there in it for us? So, we have started working on something for our employees called Aditya Birla Innolabs,“ said Umesh Adhikary , president, corporate strategy and business development, Aditya Birla Group at a ETNasscom roundtable, last week. “If your idea is great and we see conviction and passion in you, we are going to help you create a company of your own. At the same time, we are going to give you a six-month or one-year sabbatical where you are going to go, develop the product, create your own team... and in case you fail, you can come and join back,“ added Adhikary , who also added the programme was still in a nascent stage and the fine print is still a work in progress.
Adhikary also revealed that the company is looking beyond Indian shores for partnerships in the startups space. “We visited Silicon Valley and last week, we were in Israel,“ he said, adding that there was a lot of exciting health technology related work happening in Israel.
The group is also partnering with startup incubators to identify startups it can collaborate with. “We are forging partnerships with Nasscom 10,000 startups, Microsoft Ventures, Techstars, 500 startups,“ said Adhikary , who says the group would prefer to work with slightly older startups which are looking at geograp hic expansion. “One of the value propositions we can put forth to these markets is the access we can provide. We can also provide customer acquisition at a low cost. These two value propositions are very enticing for any startup outside India,“ said Adhikary .
As technology-driven startups continue to disrupt the industries they operate in, large conglomerates have adopted a two-pronged strategy to get a “front seat“ in the flourishing startup ecosystem -other than just bankrolling in them. For instance, the Mahindra Group, the Aditya Birla Group, is banking on “intrapreneurship“, a model that encourages staff turn into entrepreneurs.
RIL, on the other hand, has set up GenNext Innovation Hub, a startup accelerator programme which it runs in partnership with Microsoft Ventures. Industry watchers believe that such moves allow these large enterprises to get a piece of the action from startup scene. “It's a healthy development,“ says Sharad Sharma, cofounder of iSPIRT, commenting on Birla's move. “It's a playbook that Indian conglomerates have companies from tech companies globally and it's a proven one,“ he adds.

Thomas Cook Joins Hands with Airbnb

Under the deal, company will have access to Airbnb's stay options across the world

In a bid to widen its offerings for the outbound travellers from India, Thomas Cook (India) has inked a partnership with accommodation website Airbnb to offer unique stay experiences at various price points.Airbnb is a website for people to list, find, and rent lodging, with the platform featuring over two million properties around the world. Under the partnership, Thomas Cook will have access to Airbnb's stay options which include apartments, private rooms, castles, boats, manors, tree houses and private islands across the world.
“A year ago, we focused on how to get into the hotel space, not as a provider but to scale up our offerings in this segment. Our tie-up with Oyo Rooms last year was the first step we took to scale up our offerings in India. With this tieup with Airbnb, we are targeting Indian outbound travellers, many of whom no longer look for standard accommodation but prefer non-stan dard stays,“ Thomas Cook (India) chairman Madhavan Menon told ET.
The travel company aims to target families, ad hoc group of friends and business-cum-leisure travellers through this partnership. According to an internal research conducted by the company , 25% of the individual traveller segment looks to explore local stays and engage deeper with local culture and people. Menon said the partnership will also enhance the travel firm's brick and mortar business. Like its partnerships with hotels and airlines, Thomas Cook (India) earns a commission on each booking that it generates for Airbnb. The partnership is currently applicable to Airbnb properties outside India.
As online travel companies gobble up market share, offline players are looking to diversify and gain business with new service offerings.Several of them are reworking business strategies to follow a `Click & Brick' model, getting business from both offline and online presence. Backed by billionaire investor Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings, Thomas Cook (India) is an integrated travel and travel-related financial services company offering services that include foreign exchange, corporate travel, MICE (meetings, incentive, conference, exhibition), leisure travel, insurance, visa and passport services and e-business. Last year, it acquired Zurich-headquartered Kuoni's travel business in India and Hong Kong . 535 crore.for `

You may Not Get iPhones Below Rs. 20,000 in India

Apple has exited the fast-growing `20,000 sub-.smartphone category in India to boost its flagging average selling price and profitability which have been under strain in the country lately.The United States-headquartered company has withdrawn its successful iPhone 4s model which was selling for as low as `. 12,000, a move aimed at gaining share and acquiring new consumers. It has also withdrawn iPhone 5c, which was selling at ` . 20,000. As a result, its cheapest phone now is the iPhone 5s, which is priced . 24,000, according to people at ` familiar with the matter.
An email sent to Apple did not elicit any response till late evening on Tuesday.
This is the company's first major step towards aligning its Indian product portfolio with global operations driven by the Cupertino headquar ters after it took direct charge of Indian operations following the exit of its erstwhile country head from the company .
“It's a step to improve the ASP (average selling price) which was falling since iPhone 4s was till recently one of their highest selling model in India due to its lower price,“ said Pulkit Baid, director at Great Eastern, a consumer electronics retail chain in eastern India. According to Counterpoint Research, App le's ASP in India increased sequentially during the last quarter of 2015 due to the new iPhone 6s series, but it declined 20% compared to that a year ago.
Analysts said Apple's exit from sub-. `20,000 smartphone segment may lead to an increase in market share of its main rival Samsung as well as Chinese brands. The ` . 10,00020,000 segment is among the fastest growing in India, after the `. 5,000-10,000 segment. Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said iPhone 5s will fill the gap created by iPhone 4s.“The recent price cut of iPhone 5s is in line with Apple's strategy of positioning this model as affordable in emerging countries and will continue to pull aspirational young audience looking to upgrade their smartphones in the midsegment,“ he said. A senior executive, who is a trade partner of Apple, said the company continued selling iPhone 4s in a few emerging markets such as India, Brazil and Russia even after pulling it out of bigger markets like the US and Europe two years ago.
“Their idea is to have an entry-level model at an attractive price to hook newer consumers to the Apple ecosystem which have high retention value. But it finally decided to stop production due to fall in ASP and to boost sales of newer models in most of these emerging markets,“ he said, requesting anonymity.