New Apple Iphone 4.0(new Design)  

Posted by ajay karthick in ,

New IBM Strategy: Help Startups Capture More Business  

Posted by vinoth in

Last summer IBM began asking their 120 venture capital partners what it would take to launch the world's most successful initiative for helping startups capture new business. They concluded that the initiative had to be offered to startups for free, with no upsell and regardless of VC status. Add to this IBM's preferred software, as well as access to IBM's social network of 8 million IT professionals and you have IBM's version of BizSpark.

So today is launch day and Drew Clark, Director of Strategy for IBM's Venture Capital Group defined Big Blue's new initiative for startups as a "small crisp set of capabilities that are what startups most want."

Of course what IBM offers is anything but small. With over 400,000 employees world-wide their strategy to collaborate with startups in areas of health care, energy efficiency, retail and manufacturing under the SmarterPlanet vision is significant. At the start of the year we coveredCEO Sam Palmisano's London speech about IBM's heavy investment into this sector, which is often refered to as smart systems or internet of things.

Yet there have been few commercial success stories for startups in this sector so it stands to reason that IBM needs to focus on supporting startups in this emerging market. Drew Clark recognizes that this initiative may not be for everyone, but if your startup is in alignment with IBM Smarter Planet ambitions they want to work with you. So today in Bangalore, India they are announcing their Global Entrepreneur Initiative.

Claudia Fan Munce of IBM Venture Capital Group says, "Our vision of a smarter planet is really a collaborative vision. It's about collaborating with all aspects of the ecosystem: with academia, with government, and more importantly, with the real innovators."

The initiative's aim is to help your startup find and develop your niche with markets and developers who most suit you, which they refer to as "impedance matching."

Here's a breakdown of what IBM offers once you sign up, and are accepted:

Access to IBM's Software

IBM provides software access either on-premise or in a cloud computing environment to help you build your software applications. Expertise will also be made available to help you better understand how to navigate and fully utilize the full range of the software options IBM is making available.

Access to IBM developerWorks

Last April we told you about IBM's big geek network, reportedly the largest online technical resource for software developers in the world. Today, half of the world's developers use it; that's around 8 million members.

Dedicated Project Managers to Help You Build, Market and Sell

Jim Corgel, IBM ISV and Developer Relations, says that "...real project managers are going to be assigned to work with our entrepreneurs." So whomever your target client is, from consumers, to small businesses, to large corporations, to governments both small and large, IBM has a project manager familiar with that territory.

Work Side-By-Side With Scientists and Technology Experts

With more than $6 billion per year invested into Research, IBM has more than 3,000 workers in eight major labs around the world. In 2009 they produced nearly 5,000 patents. With this many patents being produced imagine how eager they are to work with startups who can help get their new patented technologies into the market place?

Attend Global SmartCamp Mentoring and Networking Workshops

Smart Camps will be occurring every other month around the world. Locations over the course of this coming year are: Boston, Paris, Stockholm, Dublin, Israel, England, and the Silicon Valley. At Smart Camp you'll not only get feedback on how to present and refine your startups, but you'll also be able to network with the people most prepared to guide you in gaining the notoriety your startup deserves. The Smart Camp Community is also a collaborative online group where your projects can be reviewed and refined in connection with upcoming Smart Camp events.

The criteria for start-ups to participate in the IBM Global Entrepreneur Initiative are; 1) the company must be privately-held; 2) in business less than three years; and 3) actively developing software aligned to IBM's Smarter Planet focus areas.

Do You Buy Gadgets Online in India?  

Posted by vinoth in

“What’s your favorite website for buying gadgets in India?”

Unlike the US, there aren’t many online stores in India that sell electronic gadgets so when I asked this question on Facebook, there were quite a few interesting responses.

sumantSumant Srivathsan wrote:

20north.com has a significant markup on US prices, not to mention ridiculous S&H charges. eBay isn’t too bad, as long as you’re careful about researching the seller well. There’s virtually no e-commerce destination that can compete with Lamington Road/Palika Bazaar/Ritchie Street. The silent reality of shopping in India is that price sensitivity rules even at the top end of the price chain.

pankajPankaj Jain wrote:

Excluding eBay, I find it strange that Indian online stores are so highly priced compared to brick and mortar stores. I almost always buy gadgets online in the US for better prices and great service. The India online story baffles me because personally, I find most of the stores in Palika Bazaar, etc. to be filled with thieves looking to slit my throat and would much rather buy online but prices are too high. Amazon needs to dip it’s toes in Indian water to get the game going.

Praveen Deepak wrote:

I check out the prices on ebay.in and end up bargaining for a lesser price on SP Road, Bangalore. Works for me ! :D

People don’t mind buying gadgets from eBay as long as the seller has a good reputation but in general, gadget fans are really disappointed with the state of online shopping in India. You don’t get the latest gadgets, the prices are always on the higher side and the user experience on most of these online gadget stores is often pathetic.

GadgetsGuru.com
IndiaPlaza.in
FutureBazaar.com
ebay.in
Rs 17,874
Rs 16,500
Rs 18,400
Rs 15,500
IndiaTimes
Rediff Shopping
Infibeam.com
20north.com
Rs 16,644
Rs 20,549
Rs 17,499
Rs 18,525

As an experiment, I compared the price of an iPod Touch 32 GB across all the ‘known’ online gadget stores in India and the numbers were almost in line with what other people had written on Facebook. You expect stuff to be less expensive online because the overheads are less but it’s a completely different story here (see chart above).

Today, Google India introduced a new comparison shopping tool that, they say, will help you compare prices of products from different India stores on one page. I tried it to get an idea about the price of an iPod Touch in India and the results obviously don’t give the right picture because the tool relies on price information from gadget websites which are just too expensive.

AVG Free Edition 9.0.790  

Posted by Ashwin




AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is trusted antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows available to download for free. In addition, the new included LinkScanner® Active Surf-Shield checks web pages for threats at the only time that matters – when you're about to click that link.

AVG Anti-Virus Free has these following features:

  • Award-winning antivirus and antispyware
  • Real-time safe internet surfing and searching
  • Quality proven by 80 million of users
  • Easy to download, install and use
  • Protection against viruses and spyware
  • Compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is only available for single computer use for home and non commercial use.


Download from here

IntelliPoint 7.1  

Posted by Ashwin




IntelliPoint software enables you to customize the unique features of your Microsoft mouse. You can reassign mouse buttons to perform commands, shortcuts, and application-specific functions. You can also modify mouse settings, such as pointer speed and updated horizontal scrolling.

IntelliPoint software enables you to customize the unique features of your Microsoft mouse to fit your needs. With IntelliPoint mouse software, you can reassign each mouse button—including the wheel button—to perform a command or keyboard shortcut, like Undo, Close, or an application-specific function.

You can also modify mouse settings, such as pointer speed and updated horizontal scrolling. IntelliPoint 6.1 even offers biometrics support for advanced identity management. If you have a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, you will need to have Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed.


Download From here