Tech News Stop - Sharing by Wasim Akhtar

::::48 percent of CIOs identify business continuity as one of their top five priorities::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335321011_temp.jpg" border="0" width="300" height="200" align="left" /></div>IT functions are responding to the current volatile markets and uncertain economic outlook by focusing on establishing lean and agile IT that can quickly respond to business demands. A two-pronged approach of cautious spending coupled with focus on innovation to support revenue enhancing abilities of IT has emerged as per the Ernst & Young and CIO KLUB 4th Annual Survey The Enterprise IT Investment Trends Survey 2012. The survey, based on interactions with over 184 CIOs of companies with annual revenues ranging from less than INR 1 billion to greater than INR 10 billion, indicates the increasing importance being placed by businesses on IT. A wider community of CXOs is better appreciating the role of IT to achieve business transformation. This change is reflected in the budget outlook numbers provided by the CIO community. Approximately 60 percent of the respondents have reported a planned increase in capital spending on IT with 20 percent of respondents reporting more than 20 percent increase in IT spending. On similar lines, 60 percent of the respondents plan to increase operational expenditure. Devendra Parulekar, Partner-Advisory Services, Ernst & Young says, “While IT budgets experience a steady increase over previous years, the CIOs will be Read More

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::::Google+ Launches Share Button, Ignores That Few Users = No Referral Traffic = No Installs::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335320691_temp.png" border="0" align="left" /></div>Blogs and content sites are only willing to give up valuable real estate and clutter themselves with social sharing buttons if they get ample referral traffic in return. That’s the big problem with theGoogle+ Share button that launched todaywith no launch partners or live examples of it in use. The embeddable button for posting webpages to the Google+ news feed with an optional comment is going to struggle for installs unless Google can prove it drives page views.After flops like the Google Buzz and +1 buttons, and plenty of competition, it’s going to be a tough sell. In the end, it could backfire, sidestepping thebullshit registered user counts Google cites as awesome growth and exposing the social network as a place few people spend time. And it’s all kind of sad because the G+ Share button could be the answer to the Google+ content drought.The G+ Share button and +1 button are almost identical so lets clear up how they work. One-click the +1 button and a public recommendation for the page shows up in search results for it, and it appears in the +1s section of your G+ profile. Add a comment or click Share and select an audience when you +1 something and a full story will appear in the G+ news feeds of those you shared to who’ve circled you as well.Meanwhile, the Share button isn’t public by default. It requires an initial click to bring up the share prompt and comment box, and a second click to share that Page to the G+ feed. So really, the +1 button is more versatile and powerful, but also public and I bet lots of people one-clicked it thinking they were sharing to their feed as if they clicked a Like button. 

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::::MapMyIndia launches iPhone App providing house number search and navigation::::

<img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335320914_temp.png" border="0" alt="Image" align="left" />Digital navigation company MapMyIndia has partnered Telenav to launch a mobile app MapMyIndia Navigator that offers house number search and navigation on iPhones. MapMyIndia Navigator by Telenav provides voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation, moving maps and access to millions of places for easy search and discovery. Users can search and navigate to house numbers in 18 cities, reach any of the 579,000 towns and villages and navigate at street-level across 1,200 cities in India.MapmyIndia is offering a promotional price for the application – users can try MapmyIndia Navigator for $3.99 for one month. An ongoing subscription can be purchased for $29.99 for one year. The application has millions of places and points of interest to choose from – either by category or name - including restaurants, ATMs, hotels, hospitals and more. Users can then select and navigate to the destination chosen and save frequent destinations as favorites.The application turns your iPhone into a full-fledged GPS navigator, including voice instructions for each turn, speaking street names as well in an Indian accent. The application also generates a new route if the driver misses a turn. Users can shake their phone to instantly start navigation to their home address from wherever they are.Besides these, on major highways, the application notifies drivers when they exceed the posted speed limit. The application switches to night-time mode automatically, allowing for safer viewing conditions while driving at night. 

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::::Credit Card Agreements Easier to Understand Than Facebook, Google Policies::::

<img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335320412_temp.png" border="0" alt="Image" width="250" height="150" align="left" />Just how complex are those user agreements that most people skip reading when they sign up for Facebook or Google? More complex than a credit card agreement or a government notice, according to a study released Tuesday by branding firm Siegel+Gale. On average, 400 survey participants who had carefully reviewed the agreements were only able to answer four out of 10 comprehension questions about the policies after their review. What's worse, of users who did understand the policies or had them explained to them, 75% said they would change their Facebook privacy settings and 63% said they would be more careful about how they used Google in the future. 'It's time for these online giants to recognize that their policies bring an unacceptable web of complexity and risk to the lives of their users. The lack of understanding of online privacy is pervasive,' said Thomas Mueller, global director of customer experience of Siegel+Gale. 'Bringing greater simplicity to what Web users read online will engender trust among users and only benefit Facebook's and Google's reputation.' Among the study's other key findings:<ul> <li>The comprehension rates for credit card agreements (70%) and government notices (67%) were far higher than those for Google (36%) and Facebook (39%).</li> <li>Just one in five Facebook users were able to figure out how to block a third-party application or website from accessing information they shared on Facebook after reading the social network's privacy policy.</li> <li>Less than one in four Google+ users could figure out whether their profile was publicly viewable to anyone after reading Google's privacy terms.</li></ul> All of these issues are compounded by the fact that privacy policies, particularly those used by social networks, are ever-evolving and ever-changing. Even if a user can understand a privacy policy, it can - especially in the case of Facebook - change without their knowledge.  'This complexity erodes trust and jeopardizes online privacy,' said Irene Etzkorn, executive director of simplification of Siegel+Gale. 'Clearly, Facebook, Google and other online service providers operate based on consumer trust, and failure to address privacy concerns in a meaningful way will lead to consumer disenchantment and additional regulatory restrictions.'<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/readwriteweb/~4/KhK6GfIWqdc" border="0" width="1" height="1" />

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::::How Apple's growth is hurting companies::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335320794_temp.png" border="0" align="left" /></div>Apple is set to report another record quarterly profit on Tuesday, continuing the relentless string of results that's made it the world's most valuable company. Those profits don't come out of thin air: A range of businesses -- from the company's wireless carrier friends to its PC-making foes -- are seeing their profits melt away and flow to Apple's bottom line.Apple's success is good for the US economy, and some businesses, like software developers and memory-chip makers, have benefited from the disruption Apple is causing. But its enormous gains have resulted in others' pains, sometimes in unexpected places.* AT&T Inc, for instance, took a chance on Apple's unproven phone in 2007, but the company might be regretting that decision. Since it became the first US phone company to carry the iPhone, its stock is down 25 percent. Apple's is up 415 percent.* Best Buy has sold Apple products off and on since the late 1990s, but analysts now see Apple as a major threat to the US' only remaining national big-box electronics chain.* Worst off, of course, are rival phone makers. Apple has just 8 percent of the global phone market, but makes about 80 percent of the industry's operating profits.Wall Street analysts expect Apple Inc. to post a profit of $9.2 billion for the January to March quarter when it reports on Tuesday. That's roughly in line with the profit expected from the world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp.The majority of the profit will come from iPhone sales, especially now that three of the four national US wireless carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon- sell the phone.But, for a phone company, selling an iPhone is a bit of a gamble. The company pays Apple an average of $659 for iPhones and then sells them to consumers for between $50 and $200.The phone companies count on making their money back, and more, in monthly service fees over the life of a two-year contract. Each iPhone comes with a data plan that adds at least $30 to a consumer's monthly bill. At AT&T, the average iPhone user pays more than $100 per month.It turns out, however, that some of the added income wireless carriers get from data plans is just compensating for a drop in what they're able to charge for calling minutes. The money is also eaten up by the cost of network upgrades to support all the data traffic -- the emails, photos andYouTube videos iPhone users consume."The primary beneficiary of the growth in wireless data has been one company - Apple," saysWilliam Power, an analyst with R.W. Baird & Co.Despite the smartphone boom created by Apple's iPhone, "free cash flow," or the cash left over every quarter after expenses and capital spending, hasn't grown at the major U.S. wireless companies since 2007, according to Power's calculations.In the same period, Apple's free cash flow has grown more than sixfold, to over $40 billion last year.

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::::TCS 'refuses' to follow Infosys, to give increments::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335320081_temp.png" border="0" width="200" height="105" align="left" /></div>India's largest technology outsourcing services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) laid to rest nagging concerns around industry growth by meeting earnings expectations in the March quarter, backed further by a confident commentary from the management on growth outlook. In stark contrast to cautious and diffident commentary from peer Infosys, TCS management said it is confident of growing faster than the industry."It is a normal year," said chief executive N Chandrasekaran."The order book is very healthy and has been continuously improving. We see very good momentum." Net profit in the fourth quarter grew 1.6% from preceding three months to . 2,932 crore on the back of revenues of Rs 13,259 crore.Infosys to cut employees' variable pay | Infosys freezes salary increments TCS, which crossed $10billion in revenues in fiscal 2012, does not give growth forecast. Infosys's disappointing growth and tepid forecast had raised concerns about the sector's growth prospects. But so far software industry body, which has projected an 11-14 % growth for the sector, has maintained its forecasts. Justifying the stance, Nasscom president Som Mittal said US, the biggest buyer of Indian ITservices, was seeing a recovery and uncertainty in Europe was dissipating. Global-head of human resources , Ajoy Mukherjee, said employees would receive hundred percent of their variable pay for the fourth quarter. TCS also intends to hand out an average of 6-8 % pay hike for its offshore employees and 4% foronshore employees. Rival Infosys froze pay hikes for the year and is paying out only 70% of variable pay on an average for entry-mid level employees. "It has been a good year for us, and the employees have contributed to it. If it (pay hike) is going to add pressure on our profit margins, we will deal with it," Chandrasekaran told analysts in the earnings call. Analysts were upbeat about the sector following TCS earnings. "TCS' performance is one step to clearing concerns around any potential slowdown for the industry. It shows the issues facing Infosys are more company-specific," said an analyst with a foreign brokerage. Ahead of the earnings announcement, TCS shares fell 2.8% on BSE to close at Rs 1,059.25 on Monday, when benchmark Sensex ended 1.6% lower. However, along the lines of Infosys commentary, TCS' saw a flattish growth in financial services but Chandrasekaran said he did not see any cause for worry and there have been no project cancellations or ramp downs. Infosys had blamed a few client specific issues for its dismal performance. TCS has signed three large outsourcing contracts from financial services clients. The IT firm intends to hire around 50,000 employees during FY13 against 70,000 gross hire in fiscal 2012.

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::::iPad popularity sends laptop component makers to cloud::::

<img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335320187_temp.png" border="0" alt="Image" align="left" />The world's two biggest laptop assemblers are seeking shelter in the cloud as Apple Inc's iPad threatens the future of personal computers.  Quanta Computer Inc and Compal Electronics Inc, the Taiwanese companies that together make half of all portable computers, are turning to servers and the tablets that access them.  Revenue from building notebooks for clients such as Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc at Taoyuan, Taiwan-based Quanta fell last year for the first time since the company listed in 1999 as the US PC market declined for the first time in a decade.  Sales of the iPad, cheaper and lighter than most laptops, have forced a slowdown in the $233 billion PC market, pushing the assemblers to chase orders from Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc for servers and tablets.  The Taiwanese companies are taking a cue from their customers. Dell is cutting its reliance on PCs and HP considered spinning off the business, seven years after International Business Machines Corp ( IBM) exited the market.  "The golden era for notebooks is over," said Arthur Liao, an analyst at Fubon Financial Holding Co in Taipei, who rates Quanta an add and has no rating on Compal. "Quanta and Compal need to diversify into cloud computing devices like tablets and servers if they want to survive and grow."  The success of iPads and other tablets has accelerated the growth of the cloud. Unlike PCs, tablets don't store reams of data, but rather rely on frequent access to remote servers to run their applications, stream videos and music, and tap into all manner of other data.  Cloud computing  Sales at Quanta, the world's biggest laptop assembler, from cloud-computing products will climb 80 per cent this year as Google and Amazon boost orders, said Kirk Yang, an analyst with Barclays Plc. Compal last year more than doubled the proportion of its revenue from devices other than notebooks, said Jimmy Chen, an analyst with Masterlink Securities Corp in Taipei.  Sales of cloud-computing products, including servers, tablets such as Amazon's Kindle Fire and Internet routers, at Quanta will account for 13.4 per cent of revenue this year from 8.7 per cent last year, Yang said. Analysts estimate revenue growth will be 9 per cent this year after dropping 1.3 per cent last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Quanta Chief Financial Officer and spokesman Elton Yang declined an interview request.  Facebook, Twitter  "Quanta and Compal recognized a while ago that notebook growth is slowing and they needed to look for new products," said Chen, who rates both companies hold and estimates that combined they made about half the world's laptops in the past decade. "Moving into cloud devices is new and risky territory for them, but it's a move they need to make."  Quanta's shares have climbed 20 per cent this year in Taipei and Compal's have added 8.6 per cent, compared with a 7.8 per cent advance in the benchmark Taiex index.  With social networking sites such as Facebook Inc, Google and Twitter Inc gaining in popularity and more people using the Internet to buy and store music and data, demand for servers continues to climb.  That same can't be said for PCs. Global computer shipments climbed 0.5 per cent last year to 353 million units, trailing the 7 per cent rise in sales volume for servers, according to researcher Gartner Inc. Significantly, server revenue gained even higher, at 7.9 per cent, Gartner said, indicating average prices increased during the year. 

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