Tech News Stop - Sharing by Wasim Akhtar

::::ValueFirst Messaging buys Way2Online for Rs 200 crore::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337716416_temp.jpg" border="0" align="left" /></div> ValueFirst Messaging, an enterprise mobility and communication services company, has acquired Way2Online Interactive that owns way2sms.com and 160by2.com - websites used by millions to send free text messages to any mobile phone in the country. The websites became prominent when telecoms regulator Trai imposed a rule in September last year that barred users from sending more than 200 text messages a day. The all-cash deal that industry sources reveal to be close to Rs 200 crore marks the third complete acquisition by the mobile value-added services player since 2009. The deal has been funded through internal accruals and investment from US-based New Enterprise Associates and Headland Asian Ventures Fund (formerly HSBC Private Equity). With this, the Gurgaon-based company has acquired a customer base of around 37 million unique users, second only to Facebook's 50 million in India. "We want to become India's largest digital media company. This acquisition completes our set of offerings. It will help our clients to reach out new customers and for us to get bigger deals. We will be able to compete with larger companies out there like Network 18 and Rediff," ValueFirst Group's chief executive officer Kumar Apoorv told ET. On a marketing level, the websites will remain as independent brands but since both offer practically same services, the back-end will be integrated on to a single platform within ValueFirst. The integration will require around eight to 11 months, during which Raju Vanapala, the owner of Way2Online Interactive, will exit with his team of 50 people based out of Hyderabad. <table border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="border: 0px"><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/13400435.cms" border="0" /></td></tr></tbody></table> Apoorv added that a differentiation between both the acquired peer-to-peer message websites would have to be created. "We have about 500 million contacts saved on their address books, that means, we have more than half of India's mobile subscribers as our registered users. We will devise a strategy to leverage this around sharable content and make it more social," he said. ValueFirst will hire about 100 people to support functions of the newly-acquired company. It is expecting revenues of around Rs 250 crore this year coming largely from mobile advertising. The company is also planning an initial public offer of around Rs 4,000 crore either on the local stock exchange or Nasdaq. It has not yet filed the draft red herring prospectus, an application to begin preparation for a public listing.

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::::Microsoft puts Azure accelerator in Bangalore to woo startups::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337716140_temp.jpg" border="0" align="left" /></div>In its push to get traction for Windows Azure as a development-and-deployment platform for cloud services, Microsoft is opening an Azure accelerator in its Bangalore office. The goal is to help the company find and help startups across India and Southeast Asia — and get them aboard Azure, Microsoft’s platform as a service. The center will also serve European startups.Microsoft Windows Azure is behind the eight-ball  – while it claims thousands of new users every month, it lags Amazon Web Services in adoption. By far. While AWS is infrastructure as a service (IaaS), it also offers some PaaS capabilities. And, over the past few years, Amazon has evolved into the development platform of choice for many startups that are able to spin up and down compute instances fast and cheap to build their products. In addition,  in-house developers at big companies also use Amazon services to quickly build and test new software, often using their own credit cards to fund that work. For that reason, Microsoft is adding more incremental IaaS functions to Azure.<h2 style="margin: 27px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline">Luring developers with credit and perks</h2>For the new Indian effort, Microsoft is inviting startups working on Azure applications to apply to the accelerator before July 1.  Starting September 3, the selected companies will be enrolled in Microsoft’s BizSpark program, which comes with $60,000 in Azure credits, and get workspace in Bangalore and access to Microsoft resources.Microsoft opted for India because of the entrepreneurial ethos there.  Said Amit Chatterjee, managing director of Microsoft India R&D via email:India has a great start-up culture. It has over 5 million developers, a large domestic market, large venture capital available and a fast growing angel investment community. All these factors are driving a vibrant startup ecosystem that is focused on both the India and global market, and demonstrating an increasing maturity in building product companies. We believe these new breed of entrepreneurs will benefit immensely from our Accelerator.<h2 style="margin: 27px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline">Microsoft takes on Amazon, Google for developers</h2>To bolster Azure and to combat Amazon as well as Google, which pitches Google App Engine as a development platform, Microsoft has turned up the volume on its startup recruitment efforts in the U.S. and, as we now see, abroad. In March, Microsoft opened a similar facility in Israel. Stacey wrote about some Microsoft’s startup efforts early this year. The company has also  been active in the Boston area, hosting seminars and other start-up focused events at its Cambridge, Mass., New England Research and Development center (NERD), for example.We’ll probably hear a lot more about Microsoft’s Azure plans at GigaOM’s Structure conference next month, when Derrick Harris sits down to talk with Microsoft Server and Tools Business President Satya Nadella.Jockeying for developers and startups by Microsoft, Google and Amazon for their respective cloud services will reach a fever pitch in the coming months.  Google kicks off its Google I/O Conference in June;  the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference  comes to Toronto in July; and Amazon launches its inaugural developer conference in November. Stay tuned.

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::::MetaWatch smartwatch now smarter: supports iOS and Bluetooth 4::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337715966_temp.jpg" border="0" align="left" /></div>MetaWatch announced two key improvements for its smartwatch development platform on Tuesday, in an effort to better compete with new competitors. The MetaWatch team has added support to wirelessly get data from iOS devices and also aims for better battery life with the addition of a Bluetooth 4.0 radio. The new model, aimed at developers who can build apps for the wearable display, is now available for $199 directly from Texas Instruments, whose chip powers the smartwatch.I last looked at the MetaWatch nearly a year ago andfound it to be an excellent partner for an Android smartphone. The reflective display paired with a highly capable Bluetooth radio allowed me to get notifications for email, text messages, phone calls and more from my Android device; even as far as 80 feet before losing the connection. I found that triaging email on your wrist is a huge time saver.  But as the Pebble e-paper watch has recently shown: Android support alone isn’t enough for mass market success in the smartwatch market, although Motorola’s MotoActv shows much promise – I wear one all day, every day.Pebble was the first such watch to include support for Apple’s iOS devices, and the project blew through all funding records on Kickstarter, eventually finding nearly 69,000 backers with a cumulative funding total that topped $10 million. The Pebble device also supports Android phones, but I suspect much of the project’s success was due to iOS support via Apple’s Made for iPhone program. Ironically, as MetaWatch has added the same iOS support, Pebble has opted to go with Bluetooth 4.0. That makes sense as the new Bluetooth Smart standard uses far less power for wireless connections; a key aspect for a watch if you don’t want to charge it for a week or more.

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::::McGraw-Hill: Build education tech, and weâ€™ll buy you::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337715445_temp.jpg" border="0" align="left" /></div>If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Or better yet, acquire ‘em. As competition heats up in the educational technology space, that seems to be the thinking at publishing giant McGraw-Hill’s higher education division.During a presentation for reporters Tuesday about adaptive learning and e-books, Brian Kibby, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, frequently referenced the startups angling to bring technology into college classrooms across the country. But instead of taking a territorial position, the longtime leader in educational content took an open-arms approach.“I encourage startups in this space because I’d like to acquire you and partner with you,” he said. “So please join this space.”When asked about how the company will compete with startups offering free or more affordable content, (such as Coursera, Boundless, Akemos, and others), he said “the more ideas that come into this space, the better off the student is going to be.”  Ultimately, the companies that succeed are the ones that can prove their value by improving student performance, he added.As for players that are resistant to new and different models? “I think they’re a little foolish,” he said. “I think they need to try anything and be a little bold.”As higher education costs continue to climb, and new technologies open up access and more affordable options, incumbent companies like McGraw-Hill are under pressure to maintain their leadership and relevance. The company’s adaptive learning platform LearnSmart, which it launched in 2008, is one of its leading-edge tools. It also provides digital lecture and homework tools for students and professors, and backed e-book startup Inkling.Following general technology trends regarding mobile and broadband adoption, Kibby estimated that the use of adaptive-learning technology will accelerate in the next 15 months and be ubiquitous on college campuses in the next 36 months.Noting the rise of “big data,” Jay Chakrapani, vice president and general manager of digital at McGraw-Hill Higher Education, said during the presentation that the company wants to be the “Netflix of education.”Just like Netflix gets better at personalizing suggestions for consumers as it gathers more data, LearnSmart also improves its personalization capabilities for students. As of April 2012, the company said, more than 800,000 students have answered almost 750 million questions. Every second, students answer about 17 LearnSmart questions, or about 1.5 million every day.For now, Kibby said, the company offers LearnSmart programs for every major course category at the university (which is about 40, according to its website). But, eventually, he said they want to expand globally and to K-12 schools. As it scales, it will likely face mounting competition from other learning startups like NY-based Knewton and others.

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::::Apple still dominates worldâ€˜s top brands - study::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337715333_temp.jpg" border="0" width="300" height="200" align="left" /></div>Apple has maintained its place as the world's most valuable brand over the past year, leading a group of technology-related companies that dominate the top 10, according to a study published on Tuesday.The iPhone and iPad maker has boosted its brand value by 19 percent in the past year to $183 billion, or 37 percent of its market capitalisation, according to the annual BrandZ study by leading brands and market-research agency Millward Brown.Facebook, with a market value of $82 billion after its initial public offering last week, was the fastest climber in the top 100, seeing its brand value rise by 74 percent to $33.2 billion to put it in 19th place.Seven of the top 10 were technology-related firms, although McDonald's and Coca-Cola kept their respective number four and number six rankings.Marlboro moved up a notch to seventh place despite anti-smoking campaigns in much of the world.Nick Cooper, managing director of Millward Brown Optimor which produced the study, said the strength of technology brands was a measure of the central and transformative role it plays in contemporary life."It's all pervading," Cooper told Reuters, "and there's a lot of excitement and new news. This is where it's all happening. That tends to increase not only the demand and financial performance but also the role of brand."Millward Brown, part of global advertising group WPP, takes as its starting point the financial value of the company or the part of the company that produces the brand, and combines it with the brand's ability to create loyalty."When cars first appeared or when air travel first appeared, they became liberating. It's the turn of the technology sector at the moment," said Cooper.Business technology brands also featured prominently in the top 10, with IBM switching places with Google to rise to second place. Microsoft kept its position at number five.Cooper said the so-called consumerisation of IT, in which business hardware and software makers increasingly have to come up to the standards that consumers are used to in their private lives, played a role."The brands that are generally demonstrating the best growth are those that tend to be occupying spaces where there is a lot more intuitive natural use, where the consumer experience is informing the B2B experience rather than the other way around."Mobile phone brands AT&T as number eight, Verizon as number nine, followed by China Mobile completed the top 10.Cooper said, however, some technology brands were vulnerable to public opinion swinging against them, especially over emotive issues such as privacy, where Facebook and Google have already suffered a backlash for gathering large amounts of user data."Consumer technology is receiving the same kind of scrutiny once reserved for banks and brands will have to respond convincingly to increasing regulatory oversight. This may impact social brands like Facebook in the future," he said.Cooper added that Apple's increasing its brand value despite the death of its visionary founder Steve Jobs in the past year was extraordinary."They are catchable but they've either got to falter or someone else has got to put on a sprint," he said.Millward Brown will publish the complete list of its top 100 brands at www.millwardbrown.com.

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::::Zynga launches prepaid debit card with American Express::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337715160_temp.jpg" border="0" width="300" height="200" align="left" /></div>Zynga Inc., the social games publisher, has reached a partnership agreement with American Express (AXP.N) to issue a prepaid debit card that could be used to redeem virtual credits, the two companies said.The partnership will help increase use of American Express' digital payments platform Serve as the credit card issuer competes with online gateway Paypal, a unit of eBay Inc (EBAY.O), which is pushing to process transactions by mobile phones.Zynga, whose shares have fallen as user numbers for its most popular games decline, aims to boost the profile of its partnership programs with major companies and also to retain users, who will be rewarded with in-game credits for swiping the American Express card."This is the first rewards program for a pre-paid card, and Zynga and American Express have the opportunity to bring value to Zynga players, while connecting and expanding American Express' customer base," Jeff Karp, Zynga's chief marketing and revenue officer, told Reuters.The two companies declined to disclose financial details of the partnership.Beginning this week, cardholders who make purchases exceeding $25 will collect "Farm Cash," the currency used to purchase virtual goods within Zynga's FarmVille game.Zynga said it will roll out similar rewards for its CastleVille and CityVille in the coming months."This enables us for the first time, in a fully integrated fashion, to link everyday spend that you would do online or offline to in-game virtual currency rewards and special offers," said Daniel Schulman, group president of enterprise growth at American Express.In the future, Schulman said, the program will be expanded so Zynga players can receive real-life discounts for in-game activity.Zynga shares have shed almost half its value since April 1 amid investor doubts over whether the company can sustain its revenue growth.The company's stock has been battered especially in recent days, as Facebook's poorly received initial public offering has tainted some Internet stocks.Zynga shares closed down 1 percent on Monday at $7.09.

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::::TCS wins the People's Choice award from the US National Science Foundation::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337714976_temp.jpg" border="0" align="left" /></div>MUMBAI, India, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of associates from Tata <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-color: #009900 !important; background-image: none !important; background-attachment: scroll !important; background-color: transparent !important; cursor: pointer !important; position: static; display: inline !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; float: none !important; background-position: 0% 50%" class="IL_AD">Consultancy Services(TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), the leading IT services, <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-color: #009900 !important; background-image: none !important; background-attachment: scroll !important; background-color: transparent !important; cursor: pointer !important; position: static; display: inline !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; float: none !important; background-position: 0% 50%" class="IL_AD">consulting and business solutions firm, have won the "People's Choice" award at the ninth International <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-color: #009900 !important; background-image: none !important; background-attachment: scroll !important; background-color: transparent !important; cursor: pointer !important; position: static; display: inline !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; float: none !important; background-position: 0% 50%" class="IL_AD">Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge with their interactive game called: Velu the Welder. The international challenge was jointly organised by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), publisher of the journal Science, to celebrate the grand tradition of visualization, specifically for communicating science, engineering, and <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-color: #009900 !important; background-image: none !important; background-attachment: scroll !important; background-color: transparent !important; cursor: pointer !important; position: static; display: inline !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; float: none !important; background-position: 0% 50%" class="IL_AD">technology for education and journalistic purposes.The TCS team developed an interactive game called "Velu the Welder" for personal computers and popular gaming consoles to help school drop-outs in India develop a highly marketable trade skill.The 2011 Challenge received over 200 entries from 33 countries in five categories, which were evaluated based on visual impact, effective communication of a scientific idea, and overall originality. Visualizations with the most votes from the public received the People's Choice award. This year <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-color: #009900 !important; background-image: none !important; background-attachment: scroll !important; background-color: transparent !important; cursor: pointer !important; position: static; display: inline !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; float: none !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important" class="IL_AD">for the first time participants were permitted to submit entries online, while the public was allowed to vote for its favourite images as "People's Choice" winners.The awards criteria was also based on the visual impact, originality and clarity. The entries weren't just limited to photographs. Contest categories also included illustrations, informational graphics, videos and even interactive video games.Ajoy Mukherjee, Executive Vice President and Head, Global Human Resources said, "The advancement of information technology tools combined with visualization and innovation enhances the effectiveness of learning especially in the area of vocational training." He added, "At TCS we try to foster a culture of innovation, create space and opportunities where individuals are able to bring fruition to their thoughts and ideas. The award winning interactive game "Velu the Welder," is one such example where TCSers have combined the power of visualization and technology to bring about an innovative learning method." Selection: A committee of members from Science and NSF screened the entries and, in a new departure this year, the selected finalists were posted on NSF's Web site and visitors were invited to vote for their top choice in each category. A total of 3200 votes came in; entries that received the most votes were named the "People's Choice." Independently, an outside panel of experts in scientific visualization reviewed the finalists and selected the winners.Note on "Velu the Welder":Welding is a method used for binding metal or nonmetal structures. In this game an apprentice, who goes by the name Velu, gets basic training in the art of welding. The game is designed to expose a person to basic skill sets aimed at getting acquainted with the craft of welding. Developed as atechnology demonstrator for the National Skills Development Initiative of India, this game could be used to train millions of apprentices in a cost effective way. The objective of the game is to introduce the apprentice to two types of welding -- gas and arc, and is designed to have five tasks. In the first two tasks he learns hand coordination and movement using gas welding. In the remaining sets he is exposed to arc welding to join four metal pieces together to build a frame. The game is best played using a Nintendo Wii Remote which mimics the actual welding gun. The console's motion-sensing controller makes players feel like they're holding a real welding torch.Learning to weld takes patience and nimble fingers. Some time spent on a Wii gaming console might not hurt, either. In this interactive challenge, the brainchild of developers at Tata Consultancy Servicesin Chennai, India, players step into a virtual apprentice workshop. They follow in the footsteps of Velu, a young Indian man getting a crash course in welding. The aim is to provide marketable skills to school dropouts in India.About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS)Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata Group, India's largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 238,500 of the world's best trained consultants in 42 countries. The Company generated consolidated revenues of US $10.17 billion for year ended 31 March, 2012 and is listed on the <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-color: #009900 !important; background-image: none !important; background-attachment: scroll !important; background-color: transparent !important; cursor: pointer !important; position: static; display: inline !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; float: none !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important" class="IL_AD">National Stock Exchange and <span style="border-bottom-width: 1px !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-color: #009900 !important; background-image: none !important; background-attachment: scroll !important; background-color: transparent !important; cursor: pointer !important; position: static; display: inline !important; padding: 0px 0px 1px !important; float: none !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important" class="IL_AD">Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.comSOURCE Tata Consultancy Services

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