Tech News Stop - Sharing by Wasim Akhtar

::::Olympus to cut 2,500 jobs, sell equity stake - media::::

::::Apple CEO sees TV as area of::::

::::Should Your Startup Start Overseas?::::

<img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/xphoto_1338312212_temp.jpg.pagespeed.ic.5nFmY-ILSP.jpg" border="0" alt="Image" width="200" height="150" align="left" />Feeling adventurous? If simply creating a start up isn’t exciting enoough for you, try doing it outside the borders of the United States. You might find that the advantages outweigh the added excitement.There are plenty of good reasons for starting up a company abroad. Your new company may be targeting an overseas market, or you you could be in search of a more affordable labor pool or less government regulation. And some countries - like Chile, for example - offer startups significant financial incentives.<div id="more" class="asset-more" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left">Whatever your reasons, in addition to everything required for a domestic startup, doing it in a foreign environment requires a lot of extra research, a good deal of patience and - as always - a bit of luck.The most important preparation is to be aware of what you’re getting into. Let these real-world experiences be your guide:India, to get more for your money<img src="http://www.readwriteweb.com/files/six.jpg" border="0" align="left" />David Urmann, who started developing websites after grad school, decided to start his social travel business Touristlink in India. “As an Internet business, I had a fixed amount of revenue coming in monthly that was not location-dependent,” he explains. “I figured if I set up business in India I would be able to have a much larger staff, and grow the business much faster.”If you want to follow Urmann’s lead, start by assessing possible locations. Think about what customers expect from your business, how you’re going to market your business, your competitive set, what labor pool and infrastructure exists in the country you’re targeting, and what permits and licenses you need.Amsterdam, because it’s a great place to liveThat’s what David Samson did several years ago when he chose Amsterdam as the home for Cloud Provider USA. Samson says, “Amsterdam has brought us a very advanced pool of technical resources, and additional… support that allow us to have better availability to our customers.” Samson advises tech companies to consider Asian markets as a place to start: “They offer a significant pool of talent as well as a very large population that would like to take advantage of new goods and services.”Of course, it’s also important to choose a city where you want to live. “As the founder of an overseas business, you are going to be spending a lot of time wherever you start up,” says Urmann. “This should be a factor even if doesn’t seem like a real criteria when you first set out.”Whatever country you choose, it’s smart to start with a local partner who can help you set up. Urmann found his initial partner by searching online. Your partner needs to be “well connected and a hustler,” says Urmann. And don’t feel obligated to stick with that initial partner past setup. “I think once you’re actually working alongside people and solving problems on a day-to-day basis, it’s much easier to identify a good potential partner.”Urmann’s initial partner “only lasted a few months. I developed a close relationship with one of the initial employees I hired, who has now been working with me for a number of years and ended up being a great choice.”Paris, for obvious reasonsMeryl Job, the founder of Videdressing, a social marketplace for high-end fashions based in Paris, agrees, and feels “very fortunate” to have a French business partner with “a very solid knowledge of the French legal and business environment. He took care of all formalities related to the creation of the company.” Job, who will soon expand operations to the U.S., adds, “There are aspects of starting a company in France that could seem difficult to someone who isn’t French. The laws and regulations are different. [My partner’s] knowledge of the French business environment was very helpful.”You also need to be ready for unforeseen problems. What you take for granted in the U.S. might not exist overseas. “I didn’t count on the extra infrastructure costs and downtime,” explains Urmann. “I had to invest in a back-up generating system, and we had a lot of issues with getting a good Internet connection when we first started, but were able to resolve the problems by moving our office to a government-backed IT park.”To best navigate local customs and regulations, it’s smart to get to know the people in charge. “If anything, the local officials are usually helpful and supportive,” says Urmann. “Sometimes things do move slowly, and you have to have a certain amount of patience. And, it always helps if you have friends with good connections.”Learning to fit inUrmann, whose Touristlink site had $2 million in sales last year, advises you take the time to appreciate the differences in conducting business and learn how to fit in with the locals. “If you start a business like I did, in a place where not a lot of foreigners live, you will probably attract a lot of attention. This can be good and bad. On the positive side, you might be able to arrange meetings with important people who may not have ordinarily met with you. On the downside, sometimes these meetings might just be for the sake of curiosity.”Are you planning to eventually move your business to the U.S. or expand to the U.S.? Think ahead so your transition won’t be too difficult. “My choice to move overseas actually had a much larger impact on how the eventual business would develop than I realized that at the start,” says Urmann. “For example, I have 60 desktops and they all rely on a backup power system. If I had to buy the same equipment again, I might put more laptops into the mix.”Perhaps the only way to truly know what it takes to start a business overseas is to live it. “As a graduate of the Northeastern University EMBA program, I had traveled overseas, and had exposure to international business,” says Samson. But, he adds, “Nothing can truly prepare you for this experience other than the experience itself.”</div> 

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::::College Grads Shun Startup Jobs - and How to Hire Them Anyway::::

<img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338311877_temp.jpg" border="0" alt="Image" width="200" height="150" align="left" />Join a cutting-edge new company, spend your days with an office full of hip people and your nights at rockin’ rooftop parties. Sounds like the perfect life for a newly minted college graduate, right? Maybe not.The startup mix of an exciting lifestyle and the potential to strike it rich if the company hits it big would seem to be a big draw for young workers - especially as the overall economy continues to struggle adding new jobs. But the opportunitiy has yet to register with the class of 2012. And that could make it surprisingly difficult for startups to attract top talent.<div id="more" class="asset-more" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; clear: both; text-align: left">A recent study of graduating job-seekers by job-search engine SimplyHired.com, suggests that this year’s college graduates are not particularly interested in going to work at a startup. In the survey, a measly 4% listed a startup as their ideal place of employment.“When you see the hiring taking place in Silicon Valley, there really is a boom going on here,” says SimplyHired CEO Gautam Godhwani. “So to see a lack of enthusiasm for startups from new grads is not something we expected.”Potential vs. security?Apparently, what college graduates want most is job security. Some 33% listed that as their top priority, above salary (23%) and benefits (23%).The popular wisdom holds that young people today are more entrepreneurial. But keep in mind that the class of 2012 entered college just as the recession hit - and they have been scared away from risky ventures. Economics 101 seems to have had a bigger impact on their career goals than “The Social Network.”Perks like free sodas and a company kickball game sound cool, but today’s college graduates are more interested in their long-term future.“While startups offer a culture that new graduates might enjoy, such as flexible hours and casual dress, this graduating class is looking for stability over perks,” says Godhwani. “And it’s no mystery why. Over the last four years, while they’ve been working on their bachelor’s degree, they’ve watched their friends and family struggle in the job market. The economy has been tough and the class of 2012 had a front-row-seat to witness it all happen.”How to hire recent gradsSo what can startups do to attract employees? Get funded.“Employers need to understand why a lot of new grads are not interested in working for a startup,” Godhwani says. “And when you look at the numbers on success for venture-backed companies, it is significantly higher. When a new grad becomes convinced that a startup is well-funded and growing and stable - and they will have a job for the next several years - that alleviates a lot of concerns.”SimplyHired.com offers a list of 10 Tips for Hiring New College Graduates (get PDF here), but it’s unclear how well many of them will apply to startups.A couple that do make sense for brand new companies include demonstrating how your company makes a difference and choosing employees for their passion instead of their experience.It can be hard for large multinational firms to show how they’re changing the world instead of maintaining the status quo, but many startups are laser-focused on filling needs and creative disruption. That’s an opening startups need to exploit.As for hiring for passion, remember that passion doesn’t have to be for your company. At least not at first. The report gives this example of hiring for passion:“A recruiter at a popular technology startup described a recent successful hire that was a new college graduate with little work experience. The thing that stood out? His leadership of his college comedy improv group, and several comedy training workshops he had attended each summer. The recruiter recognized the candidate’s longtime commitment to a passion and desire to learn and grow within the specialization, which proved successful for the employee now in a client services position.”</div> 

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::::Opera would cost Facebook over $1 bln - analysts::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338311760_temp.jpg" border="0" width="300" height="200" align="left" /></div>Opera Software (OPERA.OL) would cost Facebook (FB.O) over $1 billion as competition from Google (GOOG.O) and others could push up the price tag, analysts said on Tuesday, as takeover talk pushed the shares up as much as 26 percent on Tuesday.Oslo-listed Opera, coveted for its advanced mobile phone software technology, would be a perfect fit for Facebook but the firm's business is also vital for some of the industry's biggest players so any bid is likely to attract others to the table."Opera would be sensible for Facebook on several levels," Arctic Securities said."It would enhance the now limited mobile experience of Facebook, improve Facebook's mobile monetization problem, help Facebook retain online game developers leaving the social network over the lack of a mobile platform and further improve Facebook's ability to target ads."Opera makes various web browsers that work across an array of platforms including mobile phones, tablets, PCs, and TVs.The software is available on most phones, including the iPhone and the BlackBerry, and works on various operating systems, including Android, giving Opera the reach Facebook is seeking.The browser can compress data by as much as 90 percent, saving consumers on data charges, and has the technology to better display ads, a key factor for Facebook which has struggled to convert its rapidly increasing traffic from mobile platforms to revenue.Opera, which has about 200 million Mobile and Mini subscribers, has also built a significant market share in key emerging markets, such as India, Brazil and Asia, where Facebook has been generally weak.$1 BLN PLUS?It would be such a perfect fit for Facebook, analysts said it would have to pay a hefty premium.DNB, Norway's top bank, said the price would have to be double Friday's closing level, or 68.6 crowns, valuing the firm at $1.35 billion, while Danske Bank and ABG Sundal Collier both predicted a price between 50 and 60 crowns a share, or between $1 billion and $1.2 billion.At 1139 GMT, the stock traded up 17.2 percent at 40.2 crowns a share, valuing the firm at around $800 million.Opera officials have repeatedly declined to comment.However, Chief Executive Lars Boilesen last October said he would "love to" further cooperate with Facebook."We are already Facebook's platform of distribution in emerging markets like Africa and India. A big part of the Opera Mini traffic is from Facebook. So we are already their channel in these markets," he said in October."We would love to cooperate with Facebook, but the same goes for Google and everyone else. There are no limits here, because we are the leading mobile client in these markets," he added.OBSTACLESStill, several obstacles remain.Opera founder and top shareholder Jon S. Von Tetzchner said the firm should focus on organic growth."I want Opera to focus on growth and delivering good results; there are big opportunities for Opera," Tetzchner, who holds 10.9 percent of Opera told Reuters. "We have been promised 500 million users by 2013 and I think that's a good goal and the firm should keep going for it.""I personally think that an ARPU (average revenue per user) goal of $1 is even modest," he said. "I am not pushing for a takeover."Tetzchner said he was not aware of a bid and had not decided how he would react to one but added it would be "undemocratic" for him to try to block it if others supported it.Another obstacle could be Google, which has extensive relationships with Opera."A takeover by Facebook will likely send cold water down Google's spine," Arctic Securities said.Google is Opera's default search partner for Opera Mini and Opera Mobile worldwide outside Russia/CIS, making the firm a key relationship for Google.

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::::Samsung Galaxy S3 gets head start on rival iPhone::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338311560_temp.jpg" border="0" width="300" height="200" align="left" /></div>Samsung Electronics launched its top-of-the-range Galaxy S3 smartphone in Europe on Tuesday, aiming to outsell its previous model that helped the South Korean company topple Apple (AAPL.O) as the world's largest smartphone maker.The Galaxy S3, which tracks the user's eye movements to keep the screen from dimming or turning off while in use, hits stores in 28 European and Middle East countries, including Germany, as Samsung aims to increase its lead over Apple months ahead of its new iPhone, expected in the third quarter.Samsung has tried to create the kind of frenzy around the launch that has become the norm for Apple's new gadgets. But some customers will have to wait a couple of weeks to get their phone because of delays in making it in a newly-invented "Pebble Blue" colour.In Berlin, about 50 customers queued outside the BASE mobile phone shop on Monday night eager to be the first to lay their hands on the S3.Also in Frankfurt some 100 people were in the queue this morning when the Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) shop on the city's busiest shopping street The Zeil opened."That's about the same as when the latest iPhone went on sale," said 21-year old Steven Barth, who was taking orders at the shop. "I think our publicity campaign also helps. We are giving away about 100 Galaxys today, in this shop."Robert, a student from Frankfurt, who declined to give his last name as he should have been studying, said he had already ordered his Galaxy S3."I didn't really like it when Apple was selling the iPhone only via Deutsche Telekom. That's when I decided to buy a Samsung and never left," the 28-year old said.Other Frankfurt cellphone stores were not so busy.And in Paris, several cellphone stores did not have the S3 and sales assistants said they did not know when they would get it."Consumers have been waiting for the Galaxy S3. It's one of the few emblematic smartphone launches this year," said Laurent Lame, marketing director of devices for French operator SFR.He said Samsung was aiming for a similar buzz as with iPhone launches."Samsung has closely guarded the details of the phone to create a sense of secrets and confidentiality that then makes the launch into an event. They do 'teasing' like Apple does now," Lame said.A spokesman for Vodafone in Britain said the device had been the most pre-ordered Android device in its line-up ever.MASSIVE MARKETINGThe smartphone, running on Google's (GOOG.O) Android operating system, boasts a 4.8-inch (12.2 cm) screen, one of the largest on smartphones ever, and much bigger than the 3.5-inch display on the iPhone 4S.Top global carriers - from Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L) to Singapore's SingTel (STEL.SI) - have started to promote the S3 aggressively, fuelling speculation the smartphone could top its predecessor, the Galaxy S2's 20 million sales worldwide.Samsung itself has said it expects the new flagship model to outsell its predecessor.Samsung introduced its first Galaxy in 2010, three years after the iPhone's debut, to counter Apple's roaring success in smartphones when the troubles of bigger rivals Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM.TO) had started.Samsung sold 44.5 million smartphones in January-March - equal to nearly 21,000 every hour - giving it 30.6 percent market share. Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones, taking 24.1 percent market share."The Galaxy S3 is a real challenger to the upcoming iPhone," said Francisco Jeronimo, an IDC analyst based in London. "This is likely be one of the most sold smartphones this year, though the real test will come when the next iPhone is launched."In the race for global smartphone supremacy, Apple has accused Samsung of copying some of its products. The South Korean company counter-claims that Apple has infringed its patents. Both have denied the allegations, and a long-running court saga continues.Apple plans to use a larger screen on the next iPhone, according to people familiar with the situation. The current iPhone 4S model was introduced last October.Samsung has launched its own music service on the Galaxy S3, putting itself head-to-head with Apple. It has previously rebranded existing music and video services."Samsung is not known for our content services; we make good hardware products but we haven't done much in the content space but that's changing," T.J. Kang, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics' Media Solution Center, said."We are doing it to create a better experience for our users. There are things we could do better if we have complete control over all of the service."MORE ROUNDEDIn a departure from its predecessor, whose look and feel became the main subject of the legal dispute with Apple, the latest Galaxy has a more rounded outline. It also has voice recognition, dubbed S Voice, which will inevitably be compared with Apple's Siri, and image recognition software that can tag and share photographs.Prices vary depending on the contract. A model with 16 gigabytes of memory costs up to 189 pounds under a 12-month contract with Vodafone (VOD.L). A similar package for the iPhone 4s costs 159 pounds, but comes with a more expensive monthly data plan.Samsung said it will release the S3 via 296 carriers in 145 countries by July.Profit from Samsung's mobile division nearly tripled in January-March to $3.6 billion, accounting for 73 percent of operating profit.Analysts estimate its global marketing campaign for the S3 will likely have cost several hundred million dollars.Samsung - whose shares have gained 82 percent since late-August, beating Apple's 58 percent rise - is now banking on an aggressive marketing campaign ahead of the summer London Olympics to further drive sales. It has said its mobile market share in China doubled after the 2008 Beijing Olympics."The S3 is supported by an unprecedented promotional campaign," said Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS Insight in London. "Samsung's timing with the Galaxy S3 is perfect."

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::::Two-step common entrance examination for IIT admissions from 2013::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1338311438_temp.jpg" border="0" width="200" height="150" align="left" /></div>Admissions to all centrally-fundedengineering institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, will have to take place through a two-step common entrance examination from 2013. For the first time Class XII board results will be taken into consideration for admissions.  This decision was taken at a joint meeting the IIT Council, NIT Council and IIIT Council on Monday. Human resource development minister Kapil Sibalwas able to forge this consensus only after conceding to the demand by the IITs that they would have a different formulation for selecting students.  Even though all engineering aspirants would have to appear for the two-step Joint Entrance Examination (main and advanced) for selecting students and class XII board examination results will count for admissions, the manner in which these scores will be used is different for the IITs and all other Centrally Funded Institutes. Even as Sibal emphasized that there was no "dissent" among the Councils about the move to a common examination system, the minister acknowledged that "resistance from the IITs" was the main reason for not having a uniform system of admissions.  The IIT Senates and faculty federations had opposed the idea of using one set formula for all engineering schools. "There was a lot of resistance from the IIT system. In the end I have accepted their point of view, one that I don't understand," Sibal said.  In order to ensure that IITs participated in the "one nation, one test" formula, the ministry accepted two core demands-first, the IIT merit list would not include class XII results and it would be based on a system set up by the IITs and second, academic control would remain with the IIT system. The IITs will give equal weightage, 50% each, to class XII board and the JEE (main) results. This will be used to filter roughly 50,000 students, corresponding roughly with the top 20-30 % of students who appear for the entrance examination.  The performance of only these shortlisted students in the JEE (advanced) will be considered. The final merit list for admission to the IITs will be prepared based on performance in the JEE (advanced) exam. For all other Centrally Funded Institutions, admissions would be based on a combined score which gives a weightage of 40% to class XII board results, and 30% each for the JEE (main) and JEE (advanced).  Even as the process of selection to the IITs would be different then other institutes, he said the counselling to IITs and other institutes will be done jointly and allotment of seats will be done together. "I as a student will get a rank in IIT and also get a rank for NIT and IIIT. I will give my choice in both and depending on which is my first choice in either, I will get a seat," Sibal explained. 

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