Category: Software

NEW DELHI: Hailing the country‘s telecom sector as “one of the biggest success stories of market oriented reforms”, the Economic Survey of India, tabled in the Parliament today, has said that by the end of 2012, a total of 650 million telephone connections (including 66 million wired and 584 million wireless connections) are expected to be achieved.

Interestingly, the report informs that a large number of foreign companies like Alcatel, Cisco etc. have also shown interest in setting up their research & development (R&D) centres in India.

A proposal for setting up a Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council and Telecom Testing and Security Certification Centre (TETC) is in the pipeline. With the above initiatives, India is expected to become a manufacturing hub for telecom equipment, the report holds.

It says that broadband connectivity would be made available on demand, without limiting the speed.

“Each village would have at least one broadband enabled kiosk. Broadband connection would be provided to schools, health centres and panchayat offices,” it has envisaged.

It is also been envisaged that internet and broadband subscribers will increase to 40 million and 20 million, respectively, by 2010.

“India is now amongst the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Supportive government policies coupled with private sector participation have fuelled the unprecedented expansion of this sector,” the report asserted citing data.

Looking back, it has said also that the announcement of the New Telecom Policy, 1999, was a watershed event for telecommunications in India. Other policy milestones include the opening of the long-distance market in 2002, the termination of VSNL‘s monopoly over international traffic in the same year, and the resolution of the wireless in local loop issue.

“As a result, telecom tariffs which were among the highest in the world less than four years ago have now dipped to being among the lowest. Tele- density has also increased from 12.7 per cent in March 2006 to 16.8 per cent in December, 2006.

The data given by the Survey shows that the number of CDMA were 0.61 million in 2003 and in 2006 stand at 44.17; similarly, for the same period, the users of GSM sprang from 12.69 mn to 105.43 mn, and the figures for wireless (CDMA and GSM) rose from 13.30 mn to 149.60 mn.

The Survey has put the annual growth rate in 2006 stands at 45 per cent, as compared to 2003, when it was 40 per cent.

The Survey has note that the total number of telephones has increased from 54.63 million on March 31, 2003 to 142.09 million on March 31, 2006 and 189.92 million on December 31, 2006.

“While 43.72 million telephones were added during the 12 months of 2005-06, during the current year, about five million subscribers are being added every month.
“With this growth, the number of telephones is expected to reach 250 million by the end of 2007,” says the report

“The growth of wireless services has been phenomenal, with wireless subscribers growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of above 90 per cent per annum since 2003.

“Today the wireless subscribers are not only much more than the fixed subscribers in the country, but also increasing at a much faster pace.

“The share of wireless phones has increased from 24.3 per cent in March 2003 to 78.77 per cent in December, 2006. Improved affordability of wireless phone has made universal access objective more feasible,” says the report.

“The number of internet subscribers grew at 25 per cent, while broadband subscribers grew from a meagre 0.18 million to 1.32 million, during 2005-06. It is necessary to increase the broadband connectivity for the knowledge-based society to grow quickly and for reaping the consequent economic opportunities.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the important sources to meet the huge funds that are required for rapid network expansion, the report has noted, adding that the FDI policy provides an investor-friendly environment for the growth of the telecom sector.

“The total FDI approved and the actual inflow up to July, 2006 were Rs 389.2 billion and Rs 11,801.46 billion, respectively,” says the report.

It says also that of the more than 235.4 million public call offices (PCOs) functioning in the country, 200,000 are in the rural areas.

“Apart from this, 560,000 village public telephones (VPTs) are also providing access to telecom facilities in the rural areas. The Mobile Grameen Sanchar Sewak Scheme providing telephone at the doorstep of villagers in about 12,000 villages is also in place.

On the issue of manufacture of telecom equipment, the report notes that the Indian telecom industry manufactures a complete range of telecom equipment, using state of the art technologies designed specifically to match the diverse terrain and climate conditions.

Production of telecom equipment has increased from Rs 160.9 billion in 2004-05 to Rs 178.33 billion in 2005-06, it has noted, adding that “Rising demand for a wide range of telecom equipment, particularly in the area of mobile telecommunication, has provided excellent opportunities to domestic and foreign investors in the manufacturing sector.”

NEW DELHI: The Government has formulated a proposal to establish 100,000 Common service Centres (CSCs) in rural areas, which will serve not only as the front-end for most government services but also as a means to connect the citizens of rural India to the World Wide Web.

According to the Economic Survey 2006-07 tabled in Parliament today by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, the scheme will be implemented through Public Private Partnership (PPP). An outlay of Rs. 57.42 billion has been approved of which the share of the Central Government and the State Governments would be Rs 8.56 billion croe and Rs 7.93 billion, respectively. The balance would be invested by the private sector.

Listing the Policy Initiatives For Electronics and IT Sector, the Survey says that In order to ensure that the benefits of IT reach the common man, the Government has initiated a move to make available tools and fonts in various Indian languages freely to the general public. Tamil, Hindi and Telugu software tools and fonts have already been released. All Indian languages are expected to be covered in the next one year.

A proposal for Electronics and IT Hardware Manufacturing Policy is also under consideration which aims to rationalize tariff structure on capital goods and inputs, unify manufacturing for domestic market and exports, facilitate registration of international patents, transfer state-of-the-art technology (TOT) and enhance Research and Development.

The Information Technology Amendment Bill has been introduced in the Parliament on 15 December, 2006 to put in place technology applications, security practices and procedures relating to such applications. Furthermore, it addresses the issue of technological neutrality in IT laws as recommended by UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signature.

The Survey noted that the Indian IT-enabled Services and Business Process Outsourcing (ITES-BPO) have demonstrated their superiority, sustained cost advantage and fundamentally-powered value proposition in the international market. The software and ITES exports from India grew from $12.9 billion (Rs 582.4 billion) in 2003-04 to $17.7 billion (Rs 782.3 billion) in 2004-05. Software and ITES exports from India estimated at $23.4 billion during 2005-06 was up 32 per cent from the previous year.

This sector is growing with Indian companies expanding their service offerings, enabling customers to deepen their offshore engagements and shifting from low-end business processes to high-value ones.

While there have been no spectacular achievements in the hardware segment as in the case of the software segment of the IT sector, there has been a steady progress in production and exports of hardware.

Contrary to some popular misperceptions, the growth of the IT and ITES sector has had a salutary effect on the employment scenario with total number of professionals employed in this sector growing from an estimated 284,000 in 1999-2000 to
1,287,000 in 2005-06. The increase in the number of employed person in the sector wasas high as 230,000 in 2005-06 itself. In addition, Indian IT-ITES is estimated to have helped create an additional 3 million job oppurtunities through indirect and induced employment in telecom, power, construction, facility management, IT transportation, catering and other services. Government has taken several steps to further enhance this industry.

With strong demand over the past few years placing India among the fastest growing IT markets in the Asia-Pacific region, the industry’s contribution to GDP rose from 1.2 per cent in 1999-2000 to an estimated 4.8 per cent in 2005-06. Indian companies are enhancing their global services delivery capabilities through a combination of greenfield initiatives, cross-border mergers & acquisitions, partnerships and alliances with local players. This is enabling them to execute end-to-end delivery of new services. Global software giants such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, have established their captive development centres in India.

A majority of the companies in India have already aligned their internal processes and practices to international standards such as ISO, CMM, and Six Sigma. This has helped establish India as a credible sourcing destination. As of December, 2006, over 400 Indian companies have acquired quality certifications with 82 companies certified at SEI CMM Level 5 – higher than any other country in the world.

MUMBAI: From being a virtually non-existent market in 2003, the IP video test and measurement market saw significant growth in 2005.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, World IP Video Test & Measurement Market, finds that this market earned revenues of $52.2 million in 2005 and is likely to reach $289 million in 2010.

With telecom and cable TV companies aggressively offering triple play services, there is a rising trend among test equipment and solution vendors to offer IPTV test capability ‘within the same box‘. Telecom companies are increasingly launching VoIP and offering bundled video, data and voice services to meet the intense competition from cable TV providers and the growing migration of customers to VoIP-based telephony and wireless networks.

IPTV enables telecom companies to leverage their DSL access networks, and thereby offer their customer base an additional video service to supplement existing voice and data offerings. By adopting such measures, they are able to contain losses while retaining valuable customers.

“With such intense competition among service providers, subscriber experience and quality of service become key differentiators, compelling them to roll-out monitoring systems and protocol analyzers at the same time as they launch their IPTV services,” remarks Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager Jessy Cavazos. “This factor is considered to be a strong driver, particularly for the network monitoring systems market segment, and is expected to have a very high impact on market revenues throughout the forecast period.”

Tolerance levels in IP video services are minimal compared to VoIP services, in which the conversation can be continued even if a couple of packets are lost. Thus, it becomes highly essential to have effective monitoring and troubleshooting tools when networks are deployed in the present market scenario, increasing the demand for suitable test equipment.

Again, the emphasis on quality is higher in the IP video and TV market than in the VoIP market. This poses a significant challenge to test equipment providers catering to this market. The capital costs of the test equipment used for IPTV and video are very high, running into billions of dollars. Since these costs eventually get passed on to the users, it is hardly surprising that they demand the highest quality possible to get maximum value from the service.

The challenge for test equipment providers is to keep pace with the latest technologies in IP video and TV and to be able to develop suitable solutions to test them.

“With end users looking at channel change time issues before roll-out and measuring channel change infrastructure in networks after deployment, this presents a significant opportunity for test vendors,” says Cavazos. “Frost & Sullivan believes that channel changing performance test to assess the functioning of one or more devices under test (DUT) or systems under test (SUT) in IPTV deployment is the biggest opportunity, from a customer target application perspective, in the near future.”

MUMBAI: Sharp India has launched its latest range of AQUOS Full-Spec High Definition Televisions (HDTV).

The firm says that the television sets employ LCD panels made from the eigth-generation mother glass substrate manufactured at Sharp’s second Kameyama Plant in Japan, which started operations in August 2006.

The features the products have Sharp says include high dynamic contrast ratio and fast response time. The dynamic contrast ratio of 10000:1 enables reproduction of images with enhanced lighting and shadowing. Dynamic contrast detects the source video characteristics and smoothly adjusts the screen brightness accordingly to achieve deeper black level. The 4ms High Speed Response Time reduces the sense of visual lag as a result of high-speed moving images, thus reproducing clean, clear and “easy-on-eyes” pictures.

Sharp notes that the reason for the excellent quality of high-definition signals is high-density information. Therefore, the AQUOS employs Full-Spec HD panel (1920 x 1080) to deliver high-resolution, high-definition picture in its entirety with same quality as the High-Definition signal format (1080i/p). This it says is in contrast to any other high-definition panel (1366 x 768) which delivers only about 50 per cent of the image information.

In addition by applying Multi-Pixel Drive on the LCD panel, each RGB sub-pixel is further divided into two cells, thus having a greater control over color gradation. Viewers get to have a wide viewing angle of 176 degrees from top to bottom and from left to right, which results in greater freedom in viewing position. MPD takes care of light reflection and colour tone changes caused by angled viewing. Reproduction of people’s natural skin color can be enjoyed without white out.

Sharp also states that its proprietary Four-Wavelength Backlight System adds crimson to the three conventional color wavelengths (blue, green and red) enabling the expression of deep red colours which were conventionally difficult to reproduce. It also enables reproduction of neutral colors such as translucent clear natural skin or healthy skin. The Four-Wavelength Backlight System reinforces overall color reproductivity.

Sharp’s TVs are also equipped with Dual High-Definition Multimedia Interface inputs which are compatible with all current and future 1080p sources, such as Blue-ray player or next generation game consoles. With the DVI-I terminal, the LCD TV can also be turned into a marvelous computer monitor.

According to an official announcement, this measurement system is based on the establishment of a new viewing panel, recruited and managed by TNS, which will initially comprise 6,500 households equipped with digital satellite television. The digital set-top boxes (STB) in these households have been deployed with the NDS Audience Measurement System (AMS) software to collect and analyse viewing data.

A key element of NDS‘ end-to-end digital broadcasting platform on which Sky Television relies to protect and enhance its pay-TV business, the AMS is capable of securely tracking and reporting many types of digital TV viewing activity.

The data collected from the STB are processed and delivered by TNS to provide insights into how subscribers consume digital satellite television. The system will initially focus on providing robust viewing data for all satellite channels. The service will additionally be able to measure and provide an understanding of enhanced television viewing activity such as electronic program guide (EPG) usage and interactive advertising viewership, adds the release.

TNS will be responsible for design, recruitment and maintenance of the viewing panel, and processing of viewing data. Analysis of viewing data will be carried out via a bespoke version of InfoSys, TNS‘ television audience analysis system.

TNS director of TV Audience Measurement Tony Taylor said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Sky in this service. It represents a key milestone in our audience measurement strategy which is leading the way in new digital measurement services and our involvement in the region. TNS is confident that the data will offer real value to Sky in understanding digital TV subscribers as well as providing greater insight on both the programming and advertising sales fronts.”

NDS Australia and New Zealand GM Peter Iles said, “NDS Audience Measurement System resides in the subscribers‘ set-top boxes and enables Sky Television to directly capture viewing data from domestic set-top boxes, without truck rolls and without the cost of additional hardware in the home. Previously, it was not possible to capture viewing behaviour in such depth, but NDS AMS is a downloadable software extension which enables existing settop boxes to provide detailed tracking in selected households.”

MUMBAI: Video sharing site YouTube, Inc. and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have launched Post Up the NBA on the new NBA Channel on YouTube.

The new channel will provide fans around the world and the entire YouTube community with the opportunity to submit video clips of their best basketball moves, and access original NBA content throughout the remainder of the 2006-07 NBA season.

NBA fans are encouraged to upload their “best moves” to the site www.youtube.com/nba) and rate other videos posted by fans. The top Post Up the NBA videos submitted will be selected and compiled into a special weekly highlight reel “NBA Top 10 on YouTube” that will be featured on the “NBA Channel.

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley says, “By delivering a wide array of programming to YouTube, the NBA will be able to connect with its existing worldwide fan base and reach a vast new audience that is passionate about basketball”.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt says, “The NBA consistently delivers some of the most exciting content in all of sports. We are thrilled to partner with the NBA to give them access to an amazing platform to further engage their fans around the world.”

NBA commissioner David Stern says, “NBA fans will be able to interact and share their passion for the game by posting their ‘best moves,’. YouTube’s popularity and wide-reaching community of users provides the NBA with another unique way to reach our fans.”

Along with providing fans an opportunity to post their best basketball moves, the NBA will post select plays and behind-the-scenes video highlights from NBA.com on the “NBA Channel” on YouTube.

YouTube and the NBA have extended their partnership beyond video footage and community building. As part of the agreement, the NBA will join the growing number of content partners taking advantage of YouTube’s “Claim Your Content” program. This features a content identification and reporting system for user uploaded videos, allowing the league to identify its copyrighted content. The NBA will have the option to remove content from YouTube or share in the advertising revenue generated, if any.

Google and the NBA are also currently conducting a test to syndicate NBA video content across Google’s AdSense network, adding to the growing list of content providers sharing engaging, relevant material with participating publishers. As part of this test publishers small and large, cutting across a variety of categories, will receive syndicated clips of NBA action.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster National Geographic has launched the National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone.

It has ben designed specifically for the needs of the traveling public. It allows for affordable calls from over 100 countries, with no contracts to sign and free incoming calls in most international markets.

GSM cell phone technology experts at Cellular Abroad in California, collaborated with National Geographic in a licensing partnership to provide this service that works seamlessly across international borders, picking up local cellular networks and providing consumers with the best coverage available.

Unlike other services, the phone number stays the same, no matter where the consumer travels. As an added benefit, the National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone features a dedicated toll-free number to reach Cellular Abroad‘s 24/7 customer support service.

Cellular Abroad president Sebastian Harrison says, “Staying in touch while overseas has proved difficult for travellers the majority of overseas travelers have not been able to afford the security and convenience of a cell phone.

“With expensive rates and little or no technical support, international cellular service has excluded the general public. Now, it is at their fingertips.”

National Geographic senior VP licensing John Dumbacher says, “National Geographic is excited to offer the Talk Abroad Travel Phone to all international travellers. Students, vacationers, business travelers and our own explorers and photographers can now stay connected with this affordable travel phone and SIM card, while they seek to understand and experience our world”.

The National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel phone will be available from next month at www.Cellularabroad. com/ travel phone.

MUMBAI: The total size of the television hardware market in Asia measures at nearly $22 billion

GfK Asia has released its 2006 year end pan Asian consumer electronics data summary. This highlights the trends in the region‘s consumer electronics sector. The report includes data from 13 countries overall including China, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

For the first time, LCD televisions are the largest television category, equaling 40 per cent of the total market value, compared to conventional televisions (39 per cent), plasma televisions (18 per cent), and rear projection televisions (three per cent).

On a volume basis, LCD televisions out-sold plasma televisions four-to- one in 2006. In all, more than 50 million televisions were sold by retailers in 13 countries across the Asian Region
last year. In 2006, 83 per cent of televisions sold in Asia were conventional televisions, a figure that is predicted to slip to 75 per cent in 2007.

GfK Asia commercial director of consumer electronics Steven Kaiser says, “The future is certainly bright for LCD screens in Asia. We expect that LCD televisions to continue a strong advance in 2007 and see a regional growth rate of 72 per cent for volumes in the year ahead.”
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Markets such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam that had seen relatively low LCD television volumes in 2005 exhibit robust increases in 2006 as the product gains a solid foothold throughout the Asian Region.

Further evidence of the product‘s vitality is seen in China where more than four million LCD televisions are reported sold at Chinese retailers in 2006 and is forecast to reach eight million units in 2007.

DVD Player and Recorder: DVD recorders enjoy a banner year in 2006. The market value of DVD recorder retail sales across 12 countries in the Asian Region is nearly $500 million, representing 22 per cent of the overall DVD player market. On aggregate, more than 23 million DVD players are reported sold in 2006 in the Asian Region. The DVD player market is forecast to hold steady in 2007.

Kaiser explains, “With the two next-generation hi-definition video disc formats finally becoming a reality, it is not surprising to see current-generation DVD players reaching a natural sales plateau. Yet, despite the impending ‘hi-def‘ future, DVD recorders are actually flourishing in today‘s market by offering Asian consumers a strong value proposition: a rich feature- set at ever-better price points.”

Audio Home System and Home Theatre System: In the audio sector, a China boom is expected for home theatre systems next year when the market volume is forecast to increase by 33 per cent in 2007.

The total market volume of audio home systems and home theatre systems combined in 2006 stands at just below four million units across the Asian countries measured. Regionally, no growth is forecast for home audio products in 2007.

MP3 Digital Portable Audio Player and MP4 Digital Portable Video Player: More than 20 million digital portable multimedia players (digital portable audio players and digital portable video players combined) are reported sold in retail shops. Approximately six million of these devices feature playback of digital video; the number of these devices is forecast to rise to nine million units in 2007.

Kaiser adds, “Such is the pace of technology. The digital portable video player segment did not exist two years ago. Today, video playback is a feature on nearly one-third of all players sold in the Asian Region. We expect memory prices will continue to drop and video content will become even more accessible, positioning digital portable video players as the likely successor to portable video disc players in the
marketplace.”

Portable Radio Player: The market for portable radio players is currently tracked in 11 Asian countries. The market size is measured at nearly $300 million. China and Indonesia have the largest base of consumers for portable radio players in the Asian region, with the total market volume measured as 2.6 million units and 1.5 million units respectively in each country in 2006.

MUMBAI: Hewlett-Packard (HP) India has introduced the HP Pavilion tx1000 Entertainment Notebook PC.

It has what the company calls a ‘twist and touch’ screen. the aim is to enhance the world of digital entertainment and the mobile lifestyle

The lightweight Pavilion tx1000 seriesthe firms says is targetted at young professionals, entrepreneurs, who have frequent meetings and presentations with clients.

They may like to take notes or mark comments and would like to carry a lightweight yet fully functional notebook. The notebook PC also allows one to enjoy the freedom of wireless mobility, movies and music on the go.

The PC is also handy for students to jot down class notes, carry easily within the campus and stay connected to email and the Internet almost anywhere using the latest wireless technology. The Pavilion tx1000 is HP’s premium offering, which combines superior technology with affordability, at an exciting price point.

Offering the technology to help the user “the way he works” rather than adapting his work to the technology available, the Pavilion tx1000 is a must-buy for people seeking convenience with technology. With a touchscreen that does not require a stylus; the Pavilion tx1000 with its twist feature enables easy sharing of presentations across the worktable. With an integrated fingertip reader that allows multiple assigning of individual fingerprints for user accounts and private files, the Pavilion tx1000 is as secure as a safety vault.

The launch of the tx1000 series is targeted to further strengthen the position of the HP Pavilion brand in the ‘Personalised Digital Entertainment’ space. HP India country category manager – consumer portables Rajiev Grover says, “As the leaders in the notebook segment with a market share of 40.5 per cent in unit shipment terms, we are targeting a 20 per cent rise in the sales contribution of the Pavilion brand with our slew of next generation models. This will be supported by an aggressive Go-To-Market”.

The product enables users to launch music, photo and video files at the push of a button without booting the notebook. It has a high definition display with HP BrightView technology.

A mini remote control allows users to easily control and navigate multimedia features and adjust volume levels. there is also an integrated webcam and dual, omni-directional microphones for easy video-conferencing.

MUMBAI: Qualcomm, a developer of code division multiple access (CDMA) technology for mobile communications, has announced the selection of winners for its $ 1 million wireless reach Brew application funding program.

The program challenges developers to create the most innovative Brew public service application in one of five areas: healthcare, education, public safety, governance and the environment.

The grand prize winner is Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). TCS will receive a grant for $ 100,000 for development of its proposed application. The application development team, led by TCS‘ head of advanced technology and applications, Dr Arun Pande, will demonstrate how CDMA networks can help provide specific and useful advice to farmers and spread the benefits of technology deep into rural India at an affordable cost. For the grand prize, Qualcomm will also apply additional funds to put TCS‘ proposal into action through a new or existing wireless reach project.

The other grant recipients include Bandung Institute of Technology, Beijing InfoQuick SinoVoice Speech Technology Corp, BeWell Mobile Technology and University of California, Berkeley.

“Qualcomm is very proud to recognize these organizations and their creative efforts to develop Brew applications that will serve the public interest,” said Qualcomm CEO Dr Paul Jacobs. “The innovative applications they‘ll design hold great potential to enhance the quality of life for all who use them. As mobile broadband services expand into underserved communities, we‘re pleased to support these developers in our shared commitment to improve the way people communicate and access information around the world.”