::::Seagate to acquire controlling interest in LaCie::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338001029_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>Seagate and Lacie announced an exclusive agreement with the intent for Seagate to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie. Seagate has offered to purchase from Philippe Spruch, LaCie&rsquo;s chairman and CEO, and his affiliate, all of their shares, representing 64.5% of the outstanding shares of LaCie.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>Following governmental approvals and the close of this transaction,&nbsp;<span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Seagate</span>&nbsp;would commence an all-cash simplified tender offer (followed as the case may be by a squeeze-out procedure) to acquire the remaining outstanding shares in accordance with the General Regulation of the French Autorit&eacute; des March&eacute;s Financiers (AMF).</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>Seagate has offered Mr. Spruch and his affiliate &euro;4.05 per share in cash, minus a potential adjustment depending on the cash and debt position of&nbsp;<span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>LaCie</span>&nbsp;at closing. This price may be increased by a possible price supplement of 3% in the event that the threshold of 95% of the shares and voting rights of LaCie would be reached by Sparrow within 6 months following closing, resulting in a maximum potential price per LaCie share of &euro;4.17. Without the price supplement, the offer currently values LaCie at an approximate &euro;146 million, or $186 million total equity value, including acquired net cash of approximately &euro;49 million, or $65 million, as of March 31, 2012. The &euro;4.05 per share price represents a premium of 29% to LaCie&rsquo;s average closing stock price over the 30 trading days ended May 22, 2012.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>Ricol Lasteyrie &amp; Associ&eacute;s was appointed today as independent expert by the board of directors of LaCie, to deliver a fairness opinion on the price that would be offered in the context of the tender offer, including in the perspective of a potential squeeze-out procedure.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>The transaction would combine two complementary product and technology portfolios, adding LaCie&rsquo;s line of premium branded consumer storage solutions, network-attached storage solutions and software offerings to Seagate&rsquo;s array of mainstream consumer storage products. The combination would accelerate Seagate&rsquo;s growth strategy in the expanding consumer storage market, particularly in Europe and Japan, and add strong engineering and software development capabilities, as well as relationships with several key retailers.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>The transaction is expected to be neutral to Seagate&rsquo;s fiscal 2013 earnings per share. Following the close of the sale of his shares to Seagate, Mr. Spruch would join Seagate and lead the company&rsquo;s consumer storage products organization. Reporting to him would be Patrick Connolly, who currently serves as vice president and general manager of Seagate&rsquo;s retail group, as well as Pierre van der Elst, who currently serves as deputy general manager of LaCie. The financial terms of the new position of Mr Spruch are not determined as of today and would therefore be described subsequently, including in the tender offer documentation.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>&ldquo;Seagate has a strong commitment to the growing consumer storage market and bringing the most dynamic products to market. LaCie has built an exceptional consumer brand by delivering exciting and innovative high-end products for many years. This transaction would bring a highly complementary set of capabilities to Seagate, significantly expand our consumer product offerings, add a premium-branded direct-attached storage line, strengthen our network-attached storage business line and enhance our capabilities in software development,&rdquo; said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO. &ldquo;We are also excited that Philippe, who is a true visionary and leader in the consumer storage business, would join Seagate to run our consumer storage products organization.&rdquo;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 16px&quot;>&ldquo;With the proliferation of devices and content being shared and stored today, consumer demand for high-quality branded storage solutions continues to grow,&rdquo; said Philippe Spruch, LaCie&rsquo;s chairman and CEO. &ldquo;We are excited about the potential for this combination to benefit customers and employees by creating significant scale and opening up new markets. We look forward to making the resources of a much larger company available to our customers around the world.&quot;</p>

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::::MongoDB or MySQL? Why not both?::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338000935_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>Someone please tell me we&rsquo;ve gotten past the either-or debate over NoSQL and relational databases.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>While NoSQL databases are foundational technologies for web startups &mdash; with most of these young companies opting for<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent&quot;>MongoDB,</span>&nbsp;Cassandra,&nbsp;<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent&quot;>CouchDB</span>&nbsp;or something else to fulfill their database needs &mdash; they might be better served going a hybrid route instead. There&rsquo;s always room for a good, old-fashioned relational database &mdash; especially if they want to conduct and store financial transactions.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>Just ask Mark O&rsquo;Neill, CTO of&nbsp;<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent&quot;>Thrillist,</span>&nbsp;a New York City-based media company that fields e-commerce and consumer recommendation services. Thrillist uses the NoSQL&nbsp;<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent&quot;>MongoDB</span>&nbsp;to track and store tons of data about user interactions, but it&rsquo;s MySQL all the way&nbsp;when it comes to bread-and-butter transactions and financial data that runs the company.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>There&rsquo;s a reason for that, O&rsquo;Neill said. As great as MongoDB (or Cassandra or CouchDB or insert your favorite NoSQL entry here) may be, they&rsquo;re still relatively immature compared to their SQL forebears. The ancillary tools aren&rsquo;t as robust and it&rsquo;s hard to find NoSQL talent.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>&ldquo;Skillsets around NoSQL are lacking and SQL [as a language] is relatively simple to learn &mdash; writing queries in SQL &nbsp;is not so bad. With NoSQL, the tools are less robust and the barrier to entry is much higher,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neill told me in an interview.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>Thrillist, founded in 2005, looked at several NoSQL options but went with MongoDB over the NoSQL alternatives because at the time it was more stable, had a larger community around it and better tools than the others, O&rsquo;Neill said.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>Make no mistake: MongoDB is great for handling all the critical social interactions that take place. &ldquo;For each action taken by a user, you want to know what the user&rsquo;s friends were doing and you want to pull all that data out from a single location. Say you take an action on Meet Up, it will update your user references and update all your friends. Non-relational stores are really good at that and you can afford to keep that data in multiple places &mdash; we use Mongo for that,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neill said.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>But, for transactions? Well, &ldquo;Mongo doesn&rsquo;t really have transactions. If I write [data] in multiple places and want to check all that in at one time, Mongo can&rsquo;t do that,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neill said. When someone buys something at Thrillist&rsquo;s Jackthreads site, the system must record their order and all the items associated with that order, or nothing works. &ldquo;It all gets written or none of it does. Mongo is not good at that,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Neill.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>So a word to the wise web startup: NoSQL &mdash; in this case MongoDB &mdash; is great for what it does, but for your financial transactions stick with SQL.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>For more discussion about the technologies &mdash; NoSQL or not &mdash; powering the web sites and mobile applications we all use, come check out GigaOM&rsquo;s&nbsp;<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent&quot;>Structure conference</span>&nbsp;next month.</p>

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::::Sign o‘ the Times: IBM, SAP Now Support Microsoft‘s Standardization Move::::

<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338000662_temp.jpg.pagespeed.ce.sgS5akm0TU.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /><p><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>It's perhaps the one way that database interaction can work reliably using any format, any server and any client on the Web today. It happens to be a protocol created by Microsoft. But in a symbol of how Microsoft is now perceived today as just another major player instead of a dominant force, the leading platform makers are joining Microsoft in a formal move to standardize&nbsp;OData, the Open Data Protocol.&nbsp;The reason Microsoft and IBM are no longer fighting over this? The real competition is no longer just amongst these old-line technology companies, but largely between them and a new breed of competitors often based around new mobile devices and consumer platforms.</span></p><div id=&quot;more&quot; class=&quot;asset-more&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left&quot;><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>Nearly six years ago&nbsp;one of the most bitter standards battles&nbsp;in all of computing was fought betweenOASIS, caretaker of the OpenDocument format, and Microsoft. The issue was whether, by making the document formats for Microsoft Office available as open standards, the company was unfairly leveraging Office's broad base of installation to unseat its only real competitor, the storage format behind&nbsp;OpenOffice.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>That year, 2006, marked the turning point in Microsoft's public stance towards openness and interoperability. This despite bitter opposition led by IBM, which was working to resurrect theSymphony&nbsp;brand it had acquired through Lotus. IBM argued that Microsoft was undermining the standards process to suit its purposes. Just how much the computing environment has changed since then was made evident today as IBM (whose heart grew three sizes this day) joined with SAP and Citrix in&nbsp;backing&nbsp;a move by Microsoft to declare the OData HTTP-based database interaction prototol - also known as Open Data Protocol - an OASIS standard.&nbsp;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;OData is an application-level protocol for interacting with data via RESTful Web services,&quot; reads a white paper on an OData extension for XML published by OASIS (PDF available here).&nbsp; &quot;An OData Service&rsquo;s contract is defined by simple, well-defined conventions and semantics applied to the data model exposed by the service, providing a high level of semantic interoperability between loosely coupled clients and services.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>Phrasing data in XML, ATOM or JSON format does allow it to be visible to many different database engines. They can see data in these formats, so that's not the problem. Essentially, how does a Web client (any browser on any device) request data from any server (any database engine or framework), and then initiate a dialog with that server so it can update or change one or more records? Remember, HTTP is a stateless protocol: Clients make GET requests and the occasional POST statement, and servers acknowledge and, when they can, comply.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>So OData enables communication using any of these three formats for data expression, setting up the mechanism for clients to authenticate themselves and enter into a secure dialog. It already works. And as IBM discovered two years ago, OData was pretty much the only way of creating a single Web client for WebSphere data that worked with .NET, AJAX and PHP clients.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>While an XML document contains the body of data, expressed explicitly within the markup, OData expresses the&nbsp;schema&nbsp;- the arrangement and relations between data in a database. It also allows for vendor-specific properties that enable features that one vendors database might utilize while another's does not, though these properties are typically flagged within the metadata using obvious vendor-specific tags; for example,&nbsp;sap:filterable.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>Writing on behalf of the OData organization today, Microsoft's senior program manager for ODataAlex James said today, &quot;With interoperability front and center in OData we saw more and more technology stacks that started to work with it. Now there are a number of companies that use OData in their products to ensure the data they manage is easily accessible beyond the boundaries of their applications. Many of these companies regularly collaborate on the ongoing design effort for OData. While so far we&rsquo;ve run the OData design process as transparently as we could (sharing designs, taking feedback through the odata.org blog and distribution list, etc.), we are at a point where the level of adoption and the scale at which organizations are betting on OData require a more formal commitment to shared ownership of the design of this protocol.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>It&rsquo;s tempting to draw the conclusion that Microsoft and IBM are &ldquo;joining forces,&rdquo; in coalition against a common enemy. The facts are more economic than melodramatic: Waging platform wars, especially over something that should be as ubiquitous as data exchange, costs way too much money. While the Open Office XML/OpenDocument fracas generated plenty of headlines and even sparked a few campaign rallies, it was a drain on both sides&rsquo; resources at a time when the platforms supporting both standards &ndash; client-side applications &ndash; were starting to become obsolete anyway. The fact of the matter is, OData&nbsp;works, and creating a competing format just to rally the troops and produce headlines is a waste of time and money.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s best that companies pick their battles more wisely. What&rsquo;s more, IBM, Microsoft, and SAP alike have come to the realization &ndash; perhaps a mutual one &ndash; that the best platforms are never islands unto themselves.</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Sign-o-the-Times-IBM-SAP-Now-Support-Microsoft-s-Standardization-Move-12632'>View More</a>

::::6 Time Management Strategies for Startups::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338000338_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p class=&quot;p1&quot;><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Many startups seem to be powered solely by excitement over the new business (occasionally mixed with some Red Bull and Starbucks). Startup founders typically devote every waking moment to their companies, and probably even dream about it too. But while pure passion can propel entrepreneurs 24/7 for a while, eventually even the most committed startup teams need to learn to manage their time.</span></p><div id=&quot;more&quot; class=&quot;asset-more&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left&quot;><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>Burnout is one obvious danger of poor time management. But even more important is the risk that something important will fall through the cracks. If you fail to respond to a potential partner or prospect in a timely fashion because there&rsquo;s too much on your plate, you could be blowing a make-or-break opportunity.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>Time management is one of the top challenges for every entrepreneur I know. After years of experience working with&nbsp;entrepreneurs&nbsp;and business owners, I have learned a few tricks for getting more done in the 24 hours we all have.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>1. Know thyself.&nbsp;Everyone has a natural rhythm - some of us are morning people and some don&rsquo;t become fully awake until after noon. Pinpoint your &ldquo;up&rdquo; times and use them for the most crucial business tasks - like meetings with investors, brainstorming sessions or putting together proposals. Feel your energy flagging? Use that time for tasks that don&rsquo;t require as much brainpower, like checking email, updating your calendar or organizing your files.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>2. Prioritize.&nbsp;The first step is to recognize you can&rsquo;t do everything you want to do. Then you need to figure out what&rsquo;s most important and work on that first. What&rsquo;s most important is likely to vary from day to day, but in general, focus on the activities that generate the most money or have the potential to do so. That may mean concentrating on developing game-changing features or product improvements instead of day-to-day tasks. It may also mean responding to leads from bigger prospects or proposals from larger investors before smaller ones - or completing projects for bigger or more established clients before slower-paying or newer ones.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>3. Harness technology.&nbsp;Make sure the tech tools in your life work together to simplify and streamline time management. Use cloud solutions to store your data and synchronize files and calendars so you&rsquo;re not entering appointments in multiple devices or finding yourself without crucial files. Use online project management tools to keep you on top of what your team is doing at a glance. Regularly weed out apps you aren&rsquo;t using or tools that aren&rsquo;t working - sometimes, we get so enamored by what technology can do for us that we stop recognizing when it&rsquo;s getting in our way.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>4. Identify time-wasters and find solutions.&nbsp;Keep a log of your activity for a week or so. You may be surprised how much time you&rsquo;re using inefficiently. Are you typing the same response to emails over and over? Create a template or shortcut to save time. Maybe you spend hours sorting receipts for accounting. Try an app that lets you quickly scan them and trash the paper.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>5. Delegate.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s hard to let go of your &ldquo;baby,&rdquo; and even if you&rsquo;re willing to, at this stage you probably don&rsquo;t have enough staff to delegate a lot. But if you&rsquo;re lucky enough to have some employees, independent contractors, or even friends and family who will donate some of their time, sit down and assess what you could possibly offload to others. You&rsquo;d be surprised how getting some grunt work off your plate can free up your creativity and energy to truly grow your business.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>6. Get offline.&nbsp;I&rsquo;m not advocating abandoning your email or leaving your smartphone at home, but even tech entrepreneurs recognize that the onslaught of input has to be shut off every now and then. Set aside blocks of time to focus on important projects. You&rsquo;ll be surprised what an hour or two a day can do for your business.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>What time management tactics work for your startup?&nbsp;</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p>

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::::College Degrees: More and More, They‘re Just a Piece of Paper::::

<p class=&quot;p1&quot;>&nbsp;<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338000196_temp.png.pagespeed.ce.yG3PYgAXje.png&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Faking a computer science degree cost&nbsp;Scott Thompson his CEO job. But with one&nbsp;notable exception, most observers thought he was doing OK, under lousy circumstances.</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Sure, the lying was wrong, but apart from that, would Thompson&rsquo;s lack of a computer science degree have hurt his career? Does having the right degree - or any degree - really matter that much any more?</span></p><div id=&quot;more&quot; class=&quot;asset-more&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left&quot;><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>There&rsquo;s plenty of evidence that in a world where a&nbsp;9-year-old can write an iPhone app, degrees may be obsolete. After all, Bill Gates and Michael Dell did just fine without finishing college, and dropouts like&nbsp;Steve Jobs&nbsp;and&nbsp;Richard Branson&nbsp;have questioned the value of traditional education. Paypal co-founder&nbsp;Peter Thiel is offering standout youngsters $100,000&nbsp;in angel investments to start companies instead of going to college.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>To find out what a degree means today, we asked a Bay Area headhunter. She specializes in financial services, but also works with medical and high-tech clients. Under condition of anonymity, she revealed that while a degree helps, lacking one is usually not a deal-breaker, particularly if the prospect has solid experience.</p><h2 style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.2em; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p2&quot;>Are You a &ldquo;Front-Pager&rdquo;?</h2><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>&ldquo;A computer science degree from 1987 isn&rsquo;t worth much if they haven&rsquo;t stayed current. I&rsquo;d rather present a self-taught developer if he has a couple of shipped products under his belt.&rdquo; She does admit that a degree can be a good tie-breaker, and a paper from a top-tier school shows an applicant &ldquo;was at least smart enough to get in.&rdquo; In the end, though, &ldquo;Clients are interested in ability. If you have the chops and the experience, you&rsquo;re getting hired &ndash; unless [the client] is looking for a front-pager.&rdquo;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>A &ldquo;front-pager,&rdquo; or high-profile executive, needs a different set of credentials to impress the public. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re director-level or below, we can be flexible, but VPs and C-Levels need to build confidence with the board, the public and investors. They need a solid track record with no holes, and it helps to have a couple of relevant degrees. They need to be groomed and vetted.&rdquo; Degrees set baseline expectations, and the lack of a degree would not put investors at ease.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>In many cases, the shorter the list of accomplishments, the longer the list of degrees. Executive rosters seem to bear this out. Even maverick CEOs surround themselves with highly educated cabinets, particularly in technical and financial positions. Michael Dell may have dropped out of college, but his&nbsp;Enterprise Group CTO&nbsp;has a Master&rsquo;s in Electrical Engineering. Avadis Tevanian, a former Apple CTO, has a doctorate in computer science. Microsoft&rsquo;s&nbsp;CFO&nbsp;has an MBA.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>Of course, a lot of these executives predate the current democratization trend. And many of today&rsquo;s director-level execs will eventually work their way up through the ranks. Ten years from now, we&rsquo;ll probably see more degree-less VPs who were hired under &ldquo;or equivalent experience&rdquo; clauses.</p><h2 style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.2em; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p2&quot;>Social Performance Reviews</h2><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>Degrees may become optional, but assessments will not.&nbsp;Internet Research Group&rsquo;s Peter Christy sees a codified analysis of &ldquo;demonstrated behaviors&rdquo; as the answer. &ldquo;The idea is to have someone tell you about important behaviors - how they dealt with problems previously that were thought of as important to the position in question. One can imagine a much more valuable &quot;CV&rdquo; in a modern form, in which the person made assertions about what they did of importance in a previous position and there was the opportunity for others to comment on the assertion (a more substantial form of Facebook, perhaps). Sort of like a social form of performance reviews - interesting but a little frightening&hellip; .&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>So don&rsquo;t spend the kid&rsquo;s college money just yet. Making the initial cut to get to that interview will always require a standout resume, and a degree is still a good way to start building. And that&rsquo;s particularly true for folks who want to do something&nbsp;other&nbsp;than coding apps.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>Still, despite Thompson&rsquo;s travails, there&rsquo;s no question that the technology world is more open than ever to hiring star performers who never bothered to go to college.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot; class=&quot;p1&quot;>It&rsquo;s as good a reason as any to start requesting testimonials on LinkedIn. Here&rsquo;s hoping nobody lies.</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p>

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::::A Five-Year Update: The State of the Web in India::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><br /><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338000097_temp.png.pagespeed.ce.BuF_mXV9gG.png&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;><div style=&quot;text-align: justify&quot;>Since this 2006 article on RWW about the&nbsp;Top Web Apps in India, a&nbsp;lot has happened in the Indian web industry. Some new entrants have made a mark for themselves and some existing ones have strengthened their market positions, while still others got lost somewhere in between. We take a homegrown look at the changes in India during the past five years.</div></span></div><div id=&quot;more&quot; class=&quot;asset-more&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left&quot;><p style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>First, some quick stats. According to a report,&nbsp;Internet in India 2011, published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) as well as a&nbsp;short video&nbsp;published by Nielsen:</p><ul style=&quot;margin: 5px 0px 7px 25px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: outside; list-style-image: initial&quot;><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>There are currently 112 million Internet users (88 million urban dwellers, and 24 million more from rural villages) in India, out of which 90 million are active users;</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>240 million Indians accessed the Internet on their mobile phones last year;</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>20 million Indians look for job openings on the Internet every month;</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>54 million Indians check online reviews for the products they wish to purchase, out of which 15 million do so only on social media sites;</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Young users continue to drive Internet usage in India;</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Internet usage in smaller towns continues to dominate over the top eight cities, with a combined usage of more than 60%.</li></ul><p style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>In this fast-changing Indian Web ecosystem, here are 10 Indian Web apps that have been successful in capturing the popular imagination:</p><ul style=&quot;margin: 5px 0px 7px 25px; padding: 0px; list-style-position: outside; list-style-image: initial&quot;><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Flipkart: Founded in 2007, Flipkart started its journey by selling books online. Today, with 11.5 million book titles, 11 different categories - including movies, music, games, mobiles, cameras, computers, health care and personal products, home appliances, and electronics - and with more than 2 million registered users and sales of 30,000 items a day, Flipkart can easily be considered a trendsetter for e-commerce in India. Recently, the company introduced a digital music store, along the lines of iTunes, called Flyte.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Redbus: Started in 2006, Redbus is a first-of-its-kind online travel portal, concentrating on bus ticket reservations. Through Redbus, users can book bus tickets online for more than 10,000 routes across India. They even allow bookings over interactive voice response through their call centers.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Snapdeal: Started in 2008, Snapdeal is often hailed as the Groupon of India, but with a difference. The business had its origins in selling coupon books, discount cards, mobile coupons, etc. It was only in 2010 that they moved into a Groupon-like model and entered the online daily deal space. However, unlike Groupon, group buying is not mandatory in Snapdeal; deals are valid even if only one person buys it. With more than 10 million subscribers, more than 10,000 merchant partnerships and deals in more than 50 Indian cities, it is among the 30 most-visited websites in India. Recently, Snapdeal has ventured into selling products, as well.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Paytm: Launched in 2011, Paytm is an online recharge service for mobile, direct-to-home satellite TV and data cards. Though there are other recharge services in India, what distinguishes it from the crowd is its simple user interface, which aids in easy recharge. The application had more than 1 million registered users as of November 2011.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Zomato: A restaurant and lifestyle portal launched in 2008, the app is primarily noted for its restaurant guide, which features more than 18,000 restaurants from 10 major cities in India and is populated by user-generated reviews. The application also has an event section that provides ticket sales for local events.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>JustDial: This service started operations way back in 1996, but the app in its present form was launched in 2007. It offers local search services across multiple platforms - Internet, mobile, call center and SMS text. According to JustDial's statistics, it has a database of approximately 7 million listings and has addressed more than 250 million search queries.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>BookMyShow: Launched in 2006, BookMyShow is India's largest entertainment ticketing website. With ticketing for more than 850 screens across 87 cities, 75% of all cinema tickets sold online in India are booked on BookMyShow. In addition, BookMyShow has ticketed for several concerts, plays, live events, stand-up acts and sports events.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Slideshare: Launched in 2006, SlideShare is a true Web 2.0 product that supports the world's largest community for sharing presentations. With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million page views, it is among the 200 most-visited websites in the world, according to Web analytics company Alexa. It also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars. On May 3, it was acquired by LinkedIn.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Shaadi.com&nbsp;: An old-timer (started in 1996), Shaadi.com is India's leading matrimonial site; it claims to have helped about 20 million Indians find their partners. Its services are also available to Indians living abroad.</li><li style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 0px 0px 7px 7px; padding: 0px&quot;>Naukri&nbsp;:&nbsp;Another old-timer (launched in 1997), Naukri.com is India's leading job portal. As of March 2009, it had a database of about 17 million registered job seekers, and more than 70,000 live job listings from corporate customers.</li></ul><p style=&quot;text-align: justify; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>This list is in no way all-inclusive, but these Web apps definitely have top-of-the-mind brand recall in India. There are several others that have made their valuable contributions to the Web industry in India; please feel free to add your choices in the comments section.&nbsp;</p></div><p>&nbsp;</p>

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::::How Big Tech Companies Keep Quiet on Big News::::

<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337999968_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /><p><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Even as all sorts of questions swirl around&nbsp;last week&rsquo;s initial public offering&nbsp;and&nbsp;this week&rsquo;s release of a camera app&nbsp;that looks a lot like the camera app it paid $1 billion for last month,&nbsp;Facebook&nbsp;has taken its usual quiet stance, issuing as few public statements and offering as few public answers as possible to the questions that business journalists and tech bloggers have been asking.</span></p><div class=&quot;asset-body&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left&quot;><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>It&rsquo;s a tried-and-true public relations tactic: While startup companies crave the kind of exposure that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to public relations firms, established tech players often pick and choose when they speak, if they choose to speak at all.</p></div><div id=&quot;more&quot; class=&quot;asset-more&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left&quot;><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>None of Facebook&rsquo;s top executives, including founder Mark Zuckerberg, gave interviews last Friday as the company became the third-largest IPO in history, and none have publicly commented as shares slid this week. Zuckerberg&rsquo;s last interview was a&nbsp;fawning report of the company&rsquo;s announcement on ABC News&nbsp;about an initiative to encourage Facebook users to list their organ donor status on their profiles.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>&ldquo;Many [companies] work on the theory, you can't go wrong by saying no,&rdquo; said Mark Shapiro of&nbsp;SRS-Tech PR. &ldquo;As long as the media clamors for info, hoarding it works as a publicity strategy.&rdquo;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>As a result, the tech world was watching as Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg&nbsp;gave the commencement address at Harvard Business School on Tuesday, hoping she&rsquo;d say something - anything - about the company&rsquo;s poor performance since going public last Friday. But in the end, Sandberg stuck to familiar themes about women in the executive suite and barely mentioned the company&rsquo;s $100 billion valuation.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>Sandberg&rsquo;s only reference to the IPO was when she joked that, as the newly minted MBAs started their careers, they should stay in touch on Facebook. &ldquo;We are public now,&rdquo; she quipped, &ldquo;so you can click on an ad or two while you are there.&rdquo;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>Facebook seems to be taking a page from&nbsp;Apple, which famously (or infamously) only makes its executives available in highly orchestrated media events. At the same time, founder Steve Jobs was known more than occasionally to answer an email from a shareholder, a customer and even the occasional journalist.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>&ldquo;For the bellwether companies, the likes of Apple and Facebook, they are going to get covered no matter what they do, so they have the luxury of being more selective,&rdquo; said Frank Strong, the director of public relations at Vocus. &ldquo;That said, it's still a delicate balance of give and take. Even the largest brands in the world need to answer questions that make them uncomfortable sometimes, because sooner or later, they are going to have a pitch they'd like that reporter or blogger to consider.&rdquo;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>And both companies have PR teams in place, as well as outside agencies on retainer. The key for tech companies, according to Barbara Bates, co-founder and CEO of Eastwick, a digital communications consultancy, is to make sure the buzz around their products does not appear as if it&rsquo;s being driven by PR.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>&ldquo;The impact of Steve Jobs standing up at MacWorld - count the YouTube views on those - or answering an email isn't available to every company. Most companies have to look across the whole communications continuum and decide what channels and messages work best,&rdquo; Bates said. &ldquo;Trust me, Apple and Facebook both have PR teams and work with agencies. But they do it differently because of the unique positions they hold.&rdquo;</p><h2 style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.2em; padding: 0px&quot;>Changing Dynamics</h2><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>These are, of course, general rules of thumb: Some big companies are incredibly forthcoming in the PR strategies, and some startups try hard to fly under the radar. Tech companies also have a dedicated segement of the press; about one in four Americans reads tech news, and the companies covered are often better served by chasing coverage from niche publications than doing big media campaigns.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>Paul Kenjora, the founder of&nbsp;AwareLabs, a PR marketing toolbox for startups, says another factor might be at play: Through analytics, companies have more data than ever on what does and doesn't work, and increasingly they are finding that public relations spending doesn&rsquo;t always offer a consistent return on investment.&nbsp;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>&ldquo;Almost all startup founders eventually see a big PR spike in traffic to their site,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They also see that very little of that spike translates into sales.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p><h2 style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.2em; padding: 0px&quot;><br /></h2></div><p>&nbsp;</p>

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::::Microsoft wins ruling against Motorola over texting::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337999853_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p>A German regional court ruled in a hearing on Thursday that Motorola Mobility(<span>GOOG.O</span>) infringed Microsoft(<span>MSFT.O</span>) patents by offering the option on its mobile phones to send a longer text in a batch of several messages.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;We're pleased the court agreed today that Motorola has infringed Microsoft's intellectual property, and we hope Motorola will be willing to join other Android device makers by taking a license to our patents,&quot; Microsoft said in a statement, referring to Google's Android operating system for mobile phones.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Motorola, which was recently bought by Google, said: &quot;We expect a written decision from the court on June 1 and upon review, will explore all options including appeal.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The two companies are fighting each other in courts across the globe, as are several other makers of devices including Apple (<span>AAPL.O</span>), over the intellectual property of software features offered in the latest smart phones and gadgets.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>In another case, the same regional court in the city of Munich on Thursday rejected a complaint by Microsoft against Motorola Mobility's use of a software feature called programme localisation.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Motorola Mobility, in turn, is currently suing Microsoft in the U.S. over features in the Xbox gaming console.</p>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Microsoft-wins-ruling-against-Motorola-over-texting-12627'>View More</a>

::::They‘re here. They‘re geeks. Get used to it::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337999772_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p>Turns out, geeks are inheriting the earth.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Thanks to ubiquitous consumer electronics and the prominence of technology executives like Facebook Inc's(<span>FB.O</span>) Mark Zuckerberg and the late Steve Jobs of Apple Inc(<span>AAPL.O</span>), it's no longer an insult to be called a geek.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The geek -- broadly speaking, the tech-obsessed, socially-awkward type who spends more time online than offline -- is more respected than ever, according to a survey by Modis, the technology staffing arm of Adecco SA (<span>ADEN.VX</span>), the world's biggest staffing company.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Most Americans -- 51 percent -- now consider geeks professionally successful, up from 31 percent a year ago, Modis' annual &quot;Geek Pride&quot; survey found. More people also consider geeks to be extremely intelligent: 54 percent say so, up from 45 percent last year.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The survey is Modis' way of marking Geek Pride Day, held each year on May 25th, the anniversary of the release of the first &quot;Star Wars&quot; movie in 1977.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;When you talk about a geek, you used to think of the guy in the back of the room, pocket protector with a bunch of pens in it, the white shirt, the high pants, very socially inept,&quot; said Modis President Jack Cullen.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;Today, when I think of geeks, I think of Steve Jobs. One guy has redefined the geek concept. You could put Zuckerberg in the same category.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Pop culture has had a big hand in the mainstreaming of geek. Popular U.S. television shows like &quot;The Big Bang Theory&quot; and &quot;Glee&quot; make geeks cool, while stories based on comic books, such as &quot;The Avengers,&quot; dominate the movies.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Much of the shift is generational.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;Millennials, every year, have more and more visibility and these are people who were born with technology,&quot; Cullen said. &quot;For the millennials it's all about openness. 'Find me. I'm eating a taco right now.' It's such a different view of the world.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Millennials are people in their 20s and 30s who became adults around the turn of the millennium.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Once pejorative, the word &quot;geek&quot; is now synonymous with &quot;aficionado.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;Dork,&quot; however, is still a negative, Cullen said.</p>

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::::Citi unit lost $20 mln in Facebook IPO - source::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337999701_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p>Citigroup Inc's(<span>C.N</span>) Automated Trading Desk had trading losses of about $20 million from Facebook Inc's(<span>FB.O</span>) botched initial public offering on Nasdaq OMX Group Inc's(<span>NDAQ.O</span>) U.S. exchange, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Friday.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The unit's losses were in addition to claims by market makers Knight Capital Group Inc (<span>KCG.N</span>) and Citadel Securities, which each had losses of $30 million to $35 million.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>UBS AG (<span>UBSN.VX</span>)(<span>UBS.N</span>), the other large market maker involved in the IPO of the social networking company on May 18, has not disclosed any losses.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Nasdaq asked firms to detail estimates of losses by Monday night. After that, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will evaluate the filings and put out a report on the matter in about four weeks, two sources said.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>A technical glitch delayed Facebook's market debut by 30 minutes and many client orders were delayed, giving some investors and traders significant losses as the stock price dropped.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The exchange operator is facing lawsuits from investors and threats of legal action from brokers.</p>

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::::Tech Mahindra revenue up 3%::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337886699_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;Telecom-focused IT company&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Tech Mahindra</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;on Wednesday reported a 3% increase in its revenues for the year ended March 31, to $1.15 billion, thus beating street expectations which were predicting a dip in its revenues due to the flailing telecom sector globally.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The company's board elevated&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Mahindra Satyam</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;CEO CP Gurnani, as the new Managing Director of Tech Mahindra, which will be subject to government's approvals. The company suffered a 2% drop in its revenues from the December quarter due to the shutdown of Indian operations of its two telecom clients Etisalat DB and STel, as their 2G licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Tech Mahindra invoked the bank guarantee of Rs 200 crore of Etisalat DB, as their contract was pre-maturely terminated. Tech Mahindra's net profit increased 63% to $230 million, backed by a part of profits from Mahindra Satyam, which it acquired three years ago.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The company expressed its concern on the telecom sector, which contributes 98% to its revenues.</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The company counts Alcatel Lucent, British Telecom, Motorola as clients. &quot;Because of the global distress, most telcos are trying to reduce their IT spends,&quot; said Vineet Nayyar, current Vice Chairman, MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra.</span>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Tech-Mahindra-revenue-up-3--12614'>View More</a>

::::4G services: Bharti Airtel to acquire 49% stake in Qualcomm::::

<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337886579_temp.jpg.pagespeed.ce.9bizkm3RG3.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; />&nbsp;<span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Sunil Mittal led&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Bharti Airtel</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;on Thursday announced that it will acquire 49 per cent stake in Qualcomm's Inc's fourth-generation (4G) broadband venture in the country for $165 million.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Bharti Airtel will buy a 26 per cent stake held by two Indian partners in the&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>broadband venture and the remaining by subscribing to fresh equity, the company said in statement.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The company plans to take full control of the</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>BWA entities</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;by 2014. Qualcomm expects to provide technical assistance to Bharti in connection with network architecture and optimization, infrastructure and device testing, as well as continuing to develop and support the underlying technology and the&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>LTE</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;TDD ecosystem.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The deal will give Bharti access to four telecoms zones, including the lucrative Delhi and Mumbai cities, where it does not have its own 4G airwaves.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Bharti, which won&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>4G airwaves</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;in just four of 22 telecom zones - Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra, has said it would like to have a nationwide&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>4G broadband</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;network. The company recently launched commercial 4G networks in Kolkata and Bangalore cities.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Shares of Bharti Airtel provisionally closed at Rs 297.75, up 5.6 percent on the Bombay stock Exchange. It hit an intraday high of Rs 301.50 and a low of Rs 281.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Commenting on the partnership Sunil Mittal, Chairman Bharti Airtel said, &quot;We are delighted to partner with Qualcomm, who shares our commitment to the government's agenda of broadband for all.&quot;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;One of our key objectives has been to include a strong partner in the Indian venture with the scale, experience and resources to deploy LTE TDD networks. We are pleased to have Bharti's participation and support in this effort,&quot; said Dr Paul E Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm, which was embroiled in a dispute with the telecoms ministry, was granted the 4G airwaves this month, nearly two years after it won them in the auction. The ministry cut the usage period of the airwaves by 18 months.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm, which spent nearly $1 billion to buy 4G radio airwaves in a 2010 Indian state auction, had sold a total 26 percent stake to Indian companies Global Holding Corp and&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Tulip Telecom</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;for about $58 million to comply with the sector's foreign holding rules.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The venture's equity value was about $223 million and enterprise value, which includes debt, was more than $1 billion in 2010 when it entered into the stake sale agreements with the two Indian companies.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm, which is pushing for the deployment of LTE (long-term evolution) broadband technology in India, has previously said it is looking at one or more operator partners in the India broadband venture.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Reliance Industries, controlled by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, is the only company to have 4G airwaves in all 22 telecoms zones in India. Reliance is yet to start commercial services.</span>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/4G-services-Bharti-Airtel-to-acquire-49-stake-in-Qualcomm-12613'>View More</a>

::::Microsoft‘s social network So.cl now open to all::::

<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337886342_temp.jpg.pagespeed.ce.O_G00biv0w.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; height=&quot;150&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; />&nbsp;Microsoft<span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;has opened up its&nbsp;</span>So.cl<span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>social networking service to the general public, which lets users share and comment on interesting search results and connect with &quot;like-minded&quot; people.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>It is targeted at students and had earlier been restricted to invitees at universities and schools in the US.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>The service integrates with&nbsp;</span>Facebook<span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;and is being pitched as an &quot;experiment&quot; rather than a rival to other networks.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>Microsoft revealed that the product was developed by its Fuse Labs unit as a &quot;research project... focused on the future of social experiences and learning.&quot;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>Members are invited to create &quot;collages of content&quot; using the firm's Bing search engine technology and external links, which they can, then share with others.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>Users can then identify people who are interested in the same topics, monitor their associates' feeds and take part in &quot;video parties&quot; during which members watch online videos together, commenting on them via chat function.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>Members can sign in using their Facebook login details, however, their So.cl activities do not show up on Facebook's pages unless the option is activated.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>The move to open up the service to the general public was taken over the weekend with little fanfare, prompting some analysts to speculate that Microsoft only had limited ambitions for the project.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>&quot;The fact that So.cl is targeted at students echoes Facebook's beginnings and has made many assume it is a Facebook clone,&quot; the BBC quoted Eden Zoller, principal analyst at technology consultants Ovum, as saying.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>&quot;But So.cl is, as Microsoft stresses, an experiment designed to be a layer on existing social networks.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>&quot;Microsoft is being sensible in positioning So.cl in this way - the opposite approach of&nbsp;</span>Google<span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>, which entered social networking all guns blazing with a full on service, and is having modest success,&quot; Zoller said.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>Zoller added that the project could also help Microsoft further improve Bing's search capabilities.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>A study by Comscore suggested that Microsoft had a 15.4 percent share of the US search market in April compared with Google's 66.5 percent lead.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;color: #3f3f3f; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left&quot;>Earlier surveys have suggested that the gap is even wider in the UK and parts of Europe.</span>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Microsoft-s-social-network-So-cl-now-open-to-all-12612'>View More</a>

::::Sony launches Xperia U, Xperia P, Xperia Sola in India::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337886123_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><span><div id=&quot;storydiv&quot;><div class=&quot;Normal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0px; padding: 0px&quot;>Sony&nbsp;Mobile Communications has officially launched three new&nbsp;Xperia smartphones&nbsp;in the country: Xperia U and P, and Xperia Sola. The smartphones were initially unveiled at the Xperia S launch last month.&nbsp;<br /><br />Sony Xperia U has a 3.5 inch scratch-resistant TFT touchscreen with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels and is powered by a 1 GHz STE U8500 dual-core processor. The smartphone runs onGoogle Android 2.3 operating system&nbsp;(upgrade to&nbsp;Android Ice Cream Sandwich&nbsp;promised). There's a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus, 16x digital zoom and LED flash. The phone has 8 GB internal memory and 512 MB RAM. The smartphone is priced at Rs 17, 399.&nbsp;<br /><br />Sony Xperia P is powered by a 1 GHz U8500 dual-core processor. It sports a 4-inch scratch-resistant TFT touchscreen with a resolution of 960x540 pixels. It runs on Google Android 2.3 OS (upgrade to&nbsp;Android 4.0&nbsp;or Ice Cream Sandwich promised). There's an 8 megapixel camera with auto focus, 8x digital zoom, LED flash. The phone offers internal phone storage of 16GB, and 1 GB RAM. The Sony Xperia P is priced at Rs 26,799.&nbsp;<br /><br />Sony Xperia Sola&nbsp;is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor. The smartphone has a 3.7 inch scratch-resistant TFT touchscreen The phone's 5 megapixel camera has auto focus and LED flash. There's 8 GB internal storage with microSD memory card slot expandable up to 32GB. Sony Xperia Sola is priced at Rs 20,449.</div></div></span>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Sony-launches-Xperia-U-Xperia-P-Xperia-Sola-in-India-12611'>View More</a>

::::How India is hurting Dell::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337886015_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><br /><img src=&quot;http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/133516280760/u/53/f/533923/c/33039/s/1fab9f79/a2t.img&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /> <span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Weaker performance in India brought down Dell's first-quarter&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>earnings</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;in the Asia Pacific &amp; Japan (APJ) region as the company's revenue in the region stood at $3.1 billion, down 0.5% sequentially.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;Demand was down in many countries, most noticeably India, which affected the results,&quot; said Amit Midha, president, APJ, Dell. Globally, the revenue fell 4% to $14.4 billion. First quarter profit declined by 33% to $635 million from $945 million in the same quarter last year.</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Midha highlighted the macroeconomic challenges posed by the fluctuation in rupee. He also cited the activity in the low-end consumer</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>PC segment</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>. &quot;We remain number one in revenue but not in units. So there is clearly a shift in the market towards the low-end segment,&quot; said Midha. &quot;Certain state governments in India gave out about 100,000 notebooks at around $260 and that changed the unit game dramatically. We stayed away from that because that is not part of our strategy.&quot;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Asked whether&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Dell</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;would stay away from future government contracts as well, Midha said, &quot;We remain committed to our&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>strategy</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;to serve customers' needs and to be financially successful. If we cannot make money on a certain project, we will certainly stay away.&quot;</span>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/How-India-is-hurting-Dell-12610'>View More</a>

::::Samsung Galaxy S III: Inspired by Nature, Not Lawyers::::

<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/xphoto_1337884794_temp.jpg.pagespeed.ic.H--kn8_CA_.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /><p>Samsung&rsquo;s Galaxy S III wasn&rsquo;t designed by the company&rsquo;s lawyers, though they surely approved it. And speculation that it was carefully crafted to dodge Apple&rsquo;s trade dress patent infringement claims is silly.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.45em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>So says Samsung design VP Chang Dong-hoon, who today took exception with claims that the Galaxy S III is &ldquo;the first smartphone designed entirely by lawyers.&rdquo; According to Dong-hoon, the Galaxy S III boasts a design that has gone through hundreds of iterations, all quarterbacked by Samsung&rsquo;s market-leading design team. &ldquo;Our change in smartphone design is part of a five-year plan, not a sudden turnaround,&rdquo;&nbsp;he told reporters at the 2012 Seoul Digital Forum.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.45em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>So the aesthetics of the S III are the result of a natural evolution and not the intervention of Samsung&rsquo;s legal team. If you&rsquo;ve got an issue with its design, blame Samsung&rsquo;s designers, not its lawyers. Or, better yet, buy a different phone.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Samsung-Galaxy-S-III-Inspired-by-Nature-Not-Lawyers-12608'>View More</a>

::::100 Most Valuable Brands: Apple Tops Again; Nokia Disappears::::

<p>&nbsp;<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337884627_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; />WPP&rsquo;s Millward Brown published its&nbsp;annual BrandZ study, ranking the world&rsquo;s leading brands, which are increasingly technology companies. According to the research house, four of the top five global brands and seven of the Top 10 are tech firms.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.45em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>At $183 billion, Apple is the world&rsquo;s most valuable brand, a title it claimed last year as well, though at that time the brand was worth $153.3 billion. In the ensuing year, it has grown another 19 percent. IBM ranked second with $116 billion in value. Google, which ranked second last year, this year swapped places with IBM, after its brand value slipped 3 percent year over year. With a $76.7 billion brand, Microsoft claimed fifth place, ranking below McDonalds &mdash; the only non-tech company in the top five.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.45em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>The biggest year-over-year gain also went to a tech company: Facebook, which rose from No. 35 in 2011 to No. 19 in 2012. A meteoric rise, and one that spiked the company&rsquo;s brand value 74 percent to $33.2 billion.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 0.45em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline&quot;>Nokia,&nbsp;which ranked 81st in brand value in Millward Brown&rsquo;s 2011 study&nbsp;after a 28 percent year-over-year decline in value, fell even further in 2012. So far, in fact, that it seems to have fallen right off the chart. Not a surprise, really, given the company&rsquo;s current situation. But worth noting just the same;&nbsp;as recently as 2008, Nokia was the world&rsquo;s ninth most valuable brand.<img src=&quot;http://allthingsd.com/files/2012/05/BRANDZ2012-640x404.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;BRANDZ2012&quot; width=&quot;500&quot; height=&quot;500&quot; /></p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/100-Most-Valuable-Brands-Apple-Tops-Again-Nokia-Disappears-12607'>View More</a>

::::Morgan Stanley, others make $100 mln profit on Facebook trades - WSJ::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337884094_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p>Morgan Stanley (<span>MS.N</span>) and other underwriters have made a profit of about $100 million stabilizing Facebook (<span>FB.O</span>) stock since trading began on Friday, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Facebook's listing, envisioned as a crowning moment for an eight-year-old company that has become a business and cultural phenomenon, has instead turned into a legal and public relations fiasco for the company and its lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>As a lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley would receive the largest chunk of those profits arising from stabilizing Facebook's stock price, the people told the Journal. These profits come on top of millions of dollars of IPO fees, according to the newspaper.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The underwriters made the bulk of the profit in Monday's trading when they bought shares below the $38 offering price, a person familiar with the matter told the WSJ.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Morgan Stanley was in charge of an overallotment of about 63 million shares that can be used to help support Facebook's share price. The underwriters are given the option to buy the overallotment of shares from the company at a discount.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The underwriters bought from Facebook the offering's 421,233,615 shares, but sold into the market 484,418,657 shares, including the overallotment and doing so made the underwriters &quot;short&quot; 63,185,042 shares, the paper said.</p>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Morgan-Stanley-others-make-100-mln-profit-on-Facebook-trades-WSJ-12605'>View More</a>

::::Facebook launches Facebook Camera for iPhone, complete with filters and batch photo uploading::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337883740_temp.png&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p style=&quot;vertical-align: baseline; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>Just after its proposed&nbsp;$1 billion&nbsp;acquisition&nbsp;of mobile photo sharing service Instagram, Facebook has announced Facebook Camera for iPhone this afternoon in a&nbsp;blog post.&nbsp;&nbsp;The app features filters just like Instagram and features the ability to upload a batch of photos at once, where as the regular Facebook app only allows you to upload one photo at a time. Upon first opening Camera, it detects any Facebook accounts already associated with the iPhone so you can begin uploading photos. Facebook Camera for iOS is&nbsp;now available&nbsp;on the iTunes App Store.</p><p style=&quot;vertical-align: baseline; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>As you can tell from the screenshots of the app in the gallery below, it reminds us a lot of Instagram. There&rsquo;s also the ability to view your friend&rsquo;s photos in a single timeline. Complete with filters and quick sharing options, it&rsquo;s almost like Facebook has launched a competitor to its own app.</p><p style=&quot;vertical-align: baseline; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>Here&rsquo;s the full breakdown of features:</p><ul style=&quot;vertical-align: baseline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: none&quot;><li style=&quot;text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 15px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>Post multiple photos from your camera roll at a time</li><li style=&quot;text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 15px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>Crop and apply filters to give your photos a new look</li><li style=&quot;text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 15px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>Scroll down a single feed of all your friends&rsquo; photos</li><li style=&quot;text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 15px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>Tag your friends, add photo captions and say where you are</li><li style=&quot;text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; margin: 15px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>See photos from the different apps your friends use</li></ul><p style=&quot;vertical-align: baseline; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>&nbsp;</p><div id=&quot;gallery-1&quot; class=&quot;snap_nopreview gallery galleryid-175163 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail&quot; style=&quot;vertical-align: baseline; margin: auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-24-at-1-10-08-pm.png?w=155&amp;h=103&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Screen Shot 2012-05-24 at 1.10.08 PM&quot; title=&quot;Screen Shot 2012-05-24 at 1.10.08 PM&quot; width=&quot;155&quot; height=&quot;103&quot; /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-24-at-1-15-49-pm.png?w=155&amp;h=113&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Screen Shot 2012-05-24 at 1.15.49 PM&quot; title=&quot;Screen Shot 2012-05-24 at 1.15.49 PM&quot; width=&quot;155&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/screen-shot-2012-05-24-at-1-15-42-pm.png?w=155&amp;h=113&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Screen Shot 2012-05-24 at 1.15.42 PM&quot; title=&quot;Screen Shot 2012-05-24 at 1.15.42 PM&quot; width=&quot;155&quot; height=&quot;113&quot; /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/mza_6994328467552621843.jpeg?w=86&amp;h=130&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;mza_6994328467552621843&quot; title=&quot;mza_6994328467552621843&quot; width=&quot;86&quot; height=&quot;130&quot; /><br /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/mza_2980066498118615432.jpeg?w=86&amp;h=130&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;mza_2980066498118615432&quot; title=&quot;mza_2980066498118615432&quot; width=&quot;86&quot; height=&quot;130&quot; /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/mza_4435136449462719345.jpeg?w=86&amp;h=130&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;mza_4435136449462719345&quot; title=&quot;mza_4435136449462719345&quot; width=&quot;86&quot; height=&quot;130&quot; /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/mza_1811103374789598310.jpeg?w=86&amp;h=130&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;mza_1811103374789598310&quot; title=&quot;mza_1811103374789598310&quot; width=&quot;86&quot; height=&quot;130&quot; /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/mza_7178373315264897789.jpeg?w=86&amp;h=130&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;mza_7178373315264897789&quot; title=&quot;mza_7178373315264897789&quot; width=&quot;86&quot; height=&quot;130&quot; /><br /><img class=&quot;attachment-thumbnail&quot; src=&quot;http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/atrt2decaaeqzpz.jpeg?w=86&amp;h=130&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;AtrT2dECAAEqZPZ&quot; title=&quot;AtrT2dECAAEqZPZ&quot; width=&quot;86&quot; height=&quot;130&quot; /><br /></div><p style=&quot;vertical-align: baseline; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px&quot;>A lot more to come.&nbsp;</p>

<a href='http://techgig.com/tech-news/editors-pick/Facebook-launches-Facebook-Camera-for-iPhone-complete-with-filters-and-batch-photo-uploading-12604'>View More</a>

::::As rivals falter, Lenovo has emerging market edge::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337883200_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p>With home turf advantage in the world's biggest computer market and a foothold in major emerging economies, China's Lenovo Group (<span>0992.HK</span>) is looking to turn market share into profit, heaping more pressure on U.S. rivals Hewlett-Packard Co (<span>HPQ.N</span>) and Dell Inc (<span>DELL.O</span>).</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Concern that global tech spending, particularly in the developed world, is weakening faster than expected has battered Dell shares and prompted HP to axe some 27,000 jobs. To counter weakness in consumer spending in major cities in the world's second-largest economy, Lenovo is Casting its net wider.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;We are seeing strong growth in smaller Chinese cities,&quot; Chairman and CEO Yang Yuanqing said this week, unveiling a 59 percent jump in quarterly net profit. He noted that personal computer penetration in China is still just 20-30 percent versus 99 percent in the United States.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>China has been Lenovo's traditional stronghold, contributing 42 percent of group revenue and boasting the business's highest operating margins. Lenovo has around a 30 percent share of the Chinese PC market, well ahead of Acer (<span>2353.TW</span>), Dell, Asustek (<span>2357.TW</span>) and HP, all with single-digit market share, according to data from research firm IDC.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Lenovo sold 2.5 million PCs in China in January-March, according to IDC, and company data showed the average selling price across its products rose 1.5 percent from the previous quarter to $545. In the fast growing tablet segment, its Lepad trails some way behind Apple Inc's (<span>AAPL.O</span>) iPad, but outsells Samsung Electronics' (<span>005930.KS</span>) Galaxy Tab.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>GRAPHIC: Global PC shipments&nbsp;<span style=&quot;cursor: pointer&quot;>r.reuters.com/deh48s</span></p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Analysts note that while Dell has focused on high-margin products, Lenovo has aimed for volume sales to gain market share. The key for Lenovo, which has risen to the world's No.2 PC maker after its 2005 acquisition of IBM's (<span>IBM.N</span>) PC business, is how to turn that market share into profit.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>In the year to end-March, Lenovo's operating margin was below 2 percent - though it was 4.5 percent in China - compared to more than 7 percent at Dell and HP. Yang said Lenovo would look to turn a profit in emerging markets once it hits a certain volume - or 10 percent market share. This would allow it to hook in customers and profit later when they upgrade their products, particularly corporate clients, analysts said.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>After quarterly profit fell sharply at both HP and Dell, investors are asking questions about their product strategies and management focus in a weak global economy.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Sunny Chung, Allianz Global Investors Taiwan Domestic Equity head, said a slowdown would cause some build-up in PC inventory as there would be more uncertainty over demand later this year. Allianz Global Investors owns Lenovo shares.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Lenovo lags HP by 4-5 percentage points as global PC market leader, but analysts expect the Chinese firm to take the top slot this year or next.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Lenovo has unveiled a series of consumer products in China as it moves aggressively into smartphones, tablet PCs and smart TVs, though some analysts question whether all its products will have the same level of success it has had in PCs.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;Lenovo's strategy in China is to continue building its own ecosystem, such as notebook, desktop, tablet, smartphone and TV. This could be kind of a dream as it's not easy to generate large profits from building hardware,&quot; said Angela Hsiang, an analyst with KGI Securities in Taipei.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>BUYING MARKET SHARE</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Lenovo has been winning market share in other emerging markets, such as Russia and India, where it is the top vendor, but that has been at the expense of operating losses due to aggressive pricing.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Yang said his company's focus over the coming quarters would be to improve profitability in these markets by increasing volume sales and controlling costs in areas such as hard disk drives. In mature markets, which generate more than 40 percent of Lenovo's revenue, the company has taken market share more by acquisition.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Last year it bought Medion in a deal that valued the German consumer electronics retailer at around $900 million, and signed a joint venture with NEC Corp (<span>6701.T</span>) to sell laptops in Japan.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Chief Financial Officer Wong Wai Ming says Lenovo is open to more acquisitions.</p>

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::::See, where Apple, Samsung phones still can‘t beat BlackBerry::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337828102_temp.jpeg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Along with firearms, radio and other standard-issue gear, Constable Ken Koke's police cruiser comes equipped with portable technology made by Research In Motion Ltd that he says has become an important tool in policing rural&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Canada</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Koke, with the Chatham-Kent police force in southwestern&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Ontario</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>, uses&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>RIM's PlayBook</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;to run checks on vehicles and suspects. Unlike his old laptop, the tablet is portable enough to take out of the car to record evidence at crime scenes.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>But for law enforcement officers like Koke, the big draw is RIM's acclaimed network security, a feature that&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Apple</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;and RIM's other competitors can barely match, and cannot beat - at least not yet.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Police, along with insurers, the military and thousands of government agencies, remain important customers for the struggling&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>BlackBerry</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;maker as a data breach could invite litigation, compromise reputations or even endanger national security.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;Despite the adversity and displacement RIM is experiencing across its enterprise customers, it's obvious that a hardcore contingent still see no solution better than BlackBerry,&quot; said&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>John Jackson</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;at CCS Insight, which advises wireless companies.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The loyalty of that core customer base is a rare bright spot for RIM as it fights a tide of defections to flashier devices.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Its still-unrivaled leadership in secure communications could also pique the interest of a potential buyer for the Canadian company, whose shares have sunk 80 per cent since February 2011.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;When I go in the street I have my handcuffs, I have my sidearm, and I have my BlackBerry. It's part of my gear and not something I would leave the station without,&quot;&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Koke</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;said. &quot;The PlayBook is a natural extension of that.&quot;&nbsp;</span><br /><br />Niche not safe<br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>But it's far from clear if that niche will be big enough to rescue RIM, which faces a continuing decline in sales for its once-ubiquitous BlackBerry, and whose compact PlayBook never took off with consumers.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>RIM does not specify what proportion of its sales go to&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>security</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;focused government, legal and military customers, and analysts don't break that market out of the broader &quot;enterprise market,&quot; which they believe has stagnated in recent years to make up about a quarter of RIM's 77 million BlackBerry users.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Unlike Apple and other rivals, security-focused RIM has built direct connections between its servers and those of carriers and big customers, and its private network offers encryption that others need help to get.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>But the niche is not as safe for RIM as it used to be, given the arrival of smaller providers such as Good Technology, a private outfit based in Sunnyvale,&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>California</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>, that help companies beef up security on their employees' iPhones and Androids.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Such offerings may not be as convenient for a corporate IT manager as RIM's out-of-the-box security, but they have enabled many companies to let their employees use personal devices in the workplace.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The BlackBerry's secure approach is &quot;becoming less of an advantage for RIM because, frankly, organizations are being forced to put solutions in place to allow secure access to documents and apps and other things on (Apple's) iOS and&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Android</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;devices,&quot; said Tyler Lessard, who left RIM six months ago to join Fixmo, a small mobile security company.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>To fight this challenge, RIM is taking an &quot;if-you-can't-beat-them-join-them&quot; approach, offering to manage other devices via a service it calls Mobile Fusion. Even if it no longer sells every device, the thinking goes, RIM can still profit by keeping office communications secure.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Several analysts say RIM's strength in security and network components could attract takeover interest from companies that deliver online content such as Akamai Technologies Inc or Amazon.com Inc. Amazon took a look at RIM last year, but decided not to bid after RIM made it clear it wanted to fix its problems on its own.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Ken Dulaney, vice-president for mobile devices at research firm Gartner, said RIM's connections into hundreds of carriers worldwide represent an &quot;intriguing&quot; asset that could hold value to Amazon or Akamai, the company that powers Apple's iTunes store.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>At a current valuation of less than $6 billion, a fraction of its 2008 peak of $84 billion, RIM might look cheap to a company such as&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>International Business Machines Corp.</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>IBM</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;could use RIM's assets to expand corporate services on to mobile platforms, said Northern Securities analyst Sameet Kanade.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>RIM's customer base alone could tempt buyers such as Cisco Systems Inc, he added, but cautioned that prospective buyers could also choose to build such capabilities internally.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Security aside, the larger market for&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>smartphones</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;and tablets is turning away from RIM, which now has less than 7 per cent of the global smartphone market, according to Gartner, down from 13 per cent a year ago.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>CEO Thorsten Heins is putting his hopes on a new generation of phones, due later this year, as well as possible asset sales. He has not ruled out a sale of the entire company.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;The rules have changed,&quot; said David Krebs, vice-president for mobile and wireless practice at VDC Research. &quot;They're not acting from a position of strength today.&quot;&nbsp;</span><br /><br />A loyal core<br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>But at the same time, the most security-conscious customers prefer the tried-and-true RIM approach.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Aviva, one of Britain's largest insurers, has handed out&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>PlayBooks</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;to scores of risk assessors, the type of traditional road warrior that first worshipped the BlackBerry.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;For any role in&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Aviva</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;that's collecting data, why would we use anything but the PlayBook,&quot; said Paul Heybourne, who heads the company's global technology innovation efforts.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Meanwhile, the Pentagon, RIM's single largest customer, this month approved six recent BlackBerry models for use on its secure networks, meaning some quarter of a million military and intelligence staff can upgrade to more modern devices. Counterparts in Britain and Australia followed soon after.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>David Paterson, RIM's vice-president for government relations and public policy, said BlackBerry sales to the&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>US government</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;are still growing.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;There is no mass exodus,&quot; he insisted, even after Washington's main procurement agency, the</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>General Services Administration</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>, loosened its BlackBerry allegiance to adopt an approach more open to RIM's rivals.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>If RIM fends off its challenges until new phones and tablets are ready - and if the market embraces the new devices - its future could brighten. If not, a takeover could loom.</span>

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Chrome 123 to Replace GoogleUpdate.exe with New Updater.exe Tool

SUMMARY: Chrome 123.0 and later versions will use a new version of Google Update tool. The previous GoogleUpdate.exe will be replaced with n...