Nivio-worlds first Windows based online desktop

Brief us about Nivio and what it offers to organizations.

Nivio is a cloud computing platform aimed at removing the computing constraints of hardware costs, software licenses and complex maintenance. Nivios flagship product is the worlds first Windows based online desktop that enables customers to access a personal virtual desktop from any device connected to the Internet. Our online desktop service lets users enjoy unrestricted storage and power, wherever they are. In addition, users can rent original and up-to-date softwares on a rental (pay as you go) basis.

Is it a browser based desktop offering? Can it be accessed from any machine with any type of hardware constitution?

True, its a browser based online desktop facility which can be accessed from anywhere and from any machine in the world. To use the service, you have to register on www.nivio.com and open an account. For the first month, the service is offered for free whereas to continue using it, users have to pay a nominal charge which is as low as `250 per month. The service is so real-time that you will never realize a difference between a normal desktop and our service. You get the same interface as on a normal Windows machine.

Secondly, the beauty of this service is that it can be used from a cyber cafe or a system thats not your own. You need not really own a hardware to use it. It gives you the feel of your own desktop, maintained by Nivio.

What is in the offing with regard to your company? In what ways will you further this service in India?

Coming up are 2 product launches, CloudBook and CloudPC to help masses access the holistic benefits of cloud at 1 platform. These gadgets will be powered with Nivios Watermelon Linux operating systems and will be offered at affordable prices. These products will enable users to run Nivios Windows based online PC and will be cost effective. To offer these gadgets, we have partnered with a manufacturer. The devices are being tested currently in-house and will be ready for use soon.

How do you take competition?

As of now, Nivio wants to stick to its Windows offering. Windows, we and everyone knows, will stay in the market. Moreover, our offering bars users from using pirated software.

Further, Nivio is not a cheap, but an affordable service. It lets you work on Windows platform from anywhere for a nominal monthly rental. Moreover, its secure and allows users to transfer their data at any point to their systems without hassles.

Onkar Sharma
onkars@cybermedia.co.in

Cisco Appoints New
Marketing Head

Cisco India has announced the appointment of Nand Kishore Badami as the senior vice president of marketing for India and Saarc region. Kishore is an IT industry veteran with over 27 years of experience, and has worked in various organizations in India and abroad. As SVP, Kishores mandate is to ensure proper alignment of strategic marketing objectives and outcomes with Cisco Indias business plans. In the past, Kishore has held senior positions with leading IT organizations including HCL Infosystems, Tally Solutions, and Citrix Systems. Prior to joining Cisco, he was the vice president of global marketing with Netmagic Solutions.

Sonata Appoints Ramesh Shastri as the CIO

Sonata Software has roped in Ramesh Shastri for the role of chief innovation officer. In this role, Ramesh will be responsible for tracking and interpreting technology trends, creating IP and solution accelerators, fostering innovation in business models, and bringing differentiated solution offerings to the market. Shastri has over 30 years of industry experience, having worked in India and the US. Prior to Sonata, Ramesh was the managing director of Spike Source India, and was responsible for its overall operations in the country. During his stint with Satyam Computer Services, Ramesh played a key role in pioneering the concept of offshore development centers, before it became an industry best practice.

Sales Head Sandeep Mehrotra Quits Adobe

Adobe Systems has announced the resignation of Sandeep Mehrotra, head of sales for Adobe India, who departs to pursue new interests. Mehrotra will remain in his current position until a successor is appointed. Under Mehrotras leadership, Adobe India has made significant growth and progress. Mehrotra worked with Adobe for almost 10 years. He is said to be instrumental in building a robust and efficient ecosystem of channel partners and strategic alliances.

EMC Appoints Niranjan Thirumale as CTO

EMC has appointed Niranjan Thirumale as the chief technology officer (CTO) of the EMC India Center of Excellence (COE). In this role, Niranjan will incubate advanced research and technology development projects within the India COE, and raise the technical capabilities of the organization by working closely with Sarv Saravanan, vice president and managing director, EMC India COE. Prior to joining India COE, Niranjan worked at NetApp where he was the founding member and technical leader of its Advanced Technology Group in India. He was responsible there for driving innovation and long term vision. He also worked at IBM for over 8 years in the US.

Ignitee Brings in Anand Yalvigi as President

Ignitee Digital Solutions appoints Anand Yalvigi as the president of Ignitee Sports. Yalvigi is a veteran cricketer having represented 3 states in Ranji Trophy. With around 10 years of experience, Yalvigi has successfully launched and set up 3 sports management companies earlier. He will focus and promote various niche premium sports properties with both offline and online manifestations.

Swedish Court Orders WikiLeaks Founder Detention

A Swedish court ordered the detention of Julian Assange, the founder of whistle blowing website WikiLeaks, on suspicion of rape and other sexual crimes, allegations which he denies. Assanges lawyer, Bjorn Hurtig, told journalists that a European arrest warrant would be issued for Assange, who had visited Sweden sometimes in the past, and that he would probably appeal. Hurtig advocated Assanges innocence. The prosecutors office started an investigation into the allegations of rape, sexual molestation, and unlawful coercion against Assange in September. WikiLeaks has angered the Pentagon with its release of documents related to the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Amitabh Bachchan Threatens Action Against Bharti Airtel

Amitabh Bachchan is upset about companies using his voice to promote brands without his permission. Recently, he expressed his resentment against a gutka company copying his voice for its advertisement. Now, Bachchan has threatened to initiate a legal action against Bharti Airtel for offering its consumers a chance to talk to the superstar for a fee, and that too, without his consent. In a blog post, the actor wrote that a legal notice was being sent to the countrys largest telco for misuse of his face and advertising on the national television. However, Airtel has issued a statement that the company is into a tie-up with Inside India, which has the rights for using Bachchans voice on mobile.

Juniper Boosts Indian Leadership

Juniper Networks has strengthened its Indian market leadership team with the appointment of Ashish Dhawan to lead the companys enterprise business and Dhananjay Ganjoo will head the service provider business. Dhawan and Ganjoo will provide strategic direction to Junipers key business units with their appointment signifying Junipers increased focus on India. Dhawan joins Juniper from Microsoft, where he headed the Western region. Ganjoo also joins Juniper from Microsoft, where he led the media and communications business in India.

ESPN Software India Appoints Aloke Malik as MD

ESPN Software India (ESI) has appointed Aloke Malik as the managing director of its India operations. Aloke joins ESI after exiting from Idea Cellular, where he was the chief operating officer of the companys east operations. Having worked with the leading local and multinational companies such as ITC, Pepsi, Reliance Retail, Madura Garments, and Idea Cellular across India, Aloke brings over 23 years of industry experience comprising of general management, marketing, sales and distribution across a wide range of industries. Aloke will head the management of ESI, which oversees the distribution, sales and marketing of its multimedia brands including ESPN, STAR Sports, STAR Cricket, espnstar.com, mobile ESPN, and event management group for the South Asia region covering India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and Maldives. Aloke will be based in ESIs Gurgaon headquarters, and will report to Manu Sawhney.

Akshay Aggarwal Appointed Country GM at Micro Focus

Micro Focus has roped in Akshay Aggarwal as country general manager for its India business. Based in Delhi, and reporting directly to David Taylor, president of Asia Pacific and Japan, Akshay will be responsible for driving business growth for the entire Micro Focus business portfolio across India and Saarc region. He has over 14 years of experience in the IT industry. Prior to Micro Focus, Akshay spent 2 years at Oracle India where he was director for sales consulting/pre-sales for the Fusion Middleware line of business and with BEA Systems for over 8 years as country head, systems engineering.

Tesco HSC Appoints Dayanand Allapur as HR Head

Tesco Hindustan Service Center has appointed Dayanand Allapur as the head of human resources. In his role, he will be responsible for overseeing all the human resource functions including business partnering, talent acquisition, HR operations, employee engagement, and learning and development. Dayanand brings with him over 20 years of a dynamic global experience in human resources, having lived and worked in UK, Australia, USA, and India. During these years, he managed significant portfolios in employee engagement, talent management, mergers and acquisitions, change management as well as program management of large initiatives. His last role before joining Tesco HSC was with Patni Americas as the vice president and head of HR.

Gautam Ghosh Joins MMD Philips as Country Director

Gautam Ghosh joined MMD Philips, a monitor manufacturer, as the country director for its India Operations. In his new role, Gautam will be managing all aspects of India sales and marketing operations. He will be leading the Indian management team to further drive growth in the business. Ghosh moves from his current role as the country manager for ViewSonic India, where he was responsible for companys business interest in India by providing strategic business direction to ensure continuous and dynamic growth of the brand.

CPA Appoints Mandeep Baweja as VP HR

CPA Global has hired Mandeep Baweja as the vice president of human resources, learning and development, for their India office. Mandeep comes with years of experience in talent acquisition, employee engagement, rewards management, and leadership development. He joins CPA Global from SpiceJet, Indias leading airline, where he played a key role in overall turnaround of the company with a strong focus on performance management, building teams, and employee branding.

Nokia Appoints Jerri DeVard as EVP and CMO

Nokia has appointed Jerri DeVard as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. According to the company, the newly formed marketing and communications organization under the CMO will bring together all of Nokias marketing, brand management, communications and selected industry collaboration activities. DeVard brings with her more than 25 years of marketing experience across leading consumer brands, including Verizon, Citigroup, Revlon, Harrahs Entertainment, and the Pillsbury Company.

Hossein Eslambolchi to Advise Subex

Hossein Eslambolchi, former chief technology officer and chief information officer of AT&T will be associated with Subex in the capacity of an advisor on strategic matters. He is currently the chairman of 2020 Venture Partners, which provides technology and operations consulting to private equity and venture capital firms in the area of telecommunications, IP software and infrastructure. In addition to serving as AT&Ts CTO from 2000 to 2005, Dr Eslambolchi was president of the AT&T Global Networking Technology Services, president and CEO of AT&T Labs, and chief information officer during his 19 years stint with the company.

Ajay Goel Takes On as Symantec India MD

Symantec has announced the appointment of Ajay Goel as managing director for Symantec in India. In his new role, Goel is responsible for driving the companys business strategy development and sales operations in the Indian market. Goel brings over 25 years of engineering and sales experience with some of the worlds leading multinationals, including Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems, and Asea Brown Boveri.

Moon B Shin Clinches Man of Electronics Award

Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association felicitated Moon B Shin, MD, LG Electronics India with the Man of Electronics award. Shin received the coveted award for an outstanding performance and contribution made in the promotion and development of Indian consumer electronics industry.

Kodali Joins Spectacle Industries Board as Chairman

Tejesh Kodali has joined as chairman of the board of Spectacle Industries. Kodali will oversee all the strategic and operational aspects of the Spectacle Industries. Before joining Spectacle Industries, he served as the chairman of LGS Global, where he helped drive sales and operational excellence that culminated in 399% growth in a short period of time.

Now, Transfer Money Via Mobile

NPCI has rolled out the much-awaited Interbank Mobile Payment Services (IMPS) in the country which is instant, real-time, 24x7 fund transfer facility in the retail payment sector. The service provides an inter operable infrastructure for the banks to offer real-time money transfer facility to their customers through the mobile channel. The service can support the transactions from low-end mobiles to high-end mobiles to serve everyones needs.

HP Launches DreamScreen Tablet PC

Hewlett-Packard has unveiled the HP DreamScreen, which is claimed to take the centerstage in Indian homes and the world. In the DreamScreen, HP has created an icon based, touch enabled intuitive interface which brings a host of latest services to the users fingertips. HP DreamScreen promises to enable the users to access the most relevant and best-in-class content, affordably through the Internet, like education, video chat, music, movies, news, browsing, temple darshans and much more. HP DreamScreen comes with complete entertainment package which includes music, bollywood movies, bollywood TV, and games. It also boasts to address the lifestyle and education needs of the users and offers live content.

Google Banks on SMEs for India Expansion

Google has plans to expand in nearly 30 cities across the country by offering services in 8 regional languages within a year to cater to the needs of small businesses. It was recently announced by Sridhar Seshadri, head of online sales of Google India. He further said within 6 months Google would start offering suport services in 9 Indian languagesHindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, and Oriya. The company has already started offering regional language support in 4 south Indian languagesTelugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalamfrom its Hyderabad office, where it has opened a new call center to manage both inbound and outbound calls in 6 languages.

MakeMyTrip 2nd Quarter Revenues Soar

MakeMyTrip has announced its financial and operating results for its 2nd fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2010. This is the companys first postIPO publicly announced quarter results. MakeMyTrip successfully completed its initial public offering on August 17, 2010. The company is listed on the Nasdaq global market under the symbol MMYT. Its revenue for the quarter ended September 2010, was $23.8 mn, an increase of 40.5% over $17.0 mn in the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

A Solar Powered Tablet for Indian Students

Now, Indian school kids have another device to wait for. Its a solar powered tablet, the iSlate. According to the reports, Singapores Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in collaboration with Rice University, US is developing the iSlate. The device is designed to be an electronic notepad, especially useful in areas where schools are without electricity. However, there is no information on how long it will take to come to the market, and how much it will be costing.

Microsoft Launches Lync

Microsoft has come up with Microsoft Lync, which it claims to be the next generation of communication that connects people in new ways. Anyone can download a free trial version of Lync at http://www.lync.com, and business customers can purchase Lync beginning December 1, 2010. Lync is, according to Microsoft, a single platform that integrates instant messaging, presence, audio, video, and web conferencing and voice to bring people together in ways they communicate best under a single interface.

Genpact Opens Center in Kolkata

Genpact has opened a new facility at Kolkata, thereby claiming to be one of the first organizations to set up business process management operations in the city. This new facility is in Unitechs SEZ campus, which will enable Genpact to cater to the growth across a broad range of business process services, technology services, analytical services, and meet the growing customer needs and new business, says the company. This 2 lakh sq ft SEZ facility has the capacity to accommodate more than 3,000 employees when fully operational. The range of work will include finance and accounting, business analytics, and software development.

Vodafone Asked to Deposit `2500 cr in Tax Case

The Supreme Court has directed Vodafone to deposit `2500 crore ($550 mn) within 3 weeks in relation to the $2.5 bn tax dispute. In addition, Vodafone has also been asked to make a bank guarantee worth `8500 crore ($1.9 bn) within 8 weeks. The next hearing for the case would be held on February 5, 2011. Vodafone is fighting a tax case over its purchase of Hutchison Whampoas mobile business in the country in 2007. Meanwhile, Netherlands has also written to India to consider an alternate out-of-court settlement of the case. According to sources, India would examine the request for a decision in accordance with the provisions of the India-Netherlands double tax avoidance agreement.

Infor Launches Demand Management Solution

Infor has announced Infor AutoConnect, a demand management solution for suppliers in the automotive industry. AutoConnect boasts to provide a single view into planning, production, and shipping across the industrys complex supply chains. AutoConnect integrates with Infor enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as Infor ERP LN, as well as third party ERP systems. According to the company, the combined power of Infor AutoConnect and Infor ERP systems helps the suppliers strengthen their critical relationships with OEMs, accelerate response time to customer demands, better support varying OEM business practices, and ease expansion into new markets.

Nagarro to Fill 2,000 New High Level IT Jobs

Nagarro has announced that it plans to hire upto 2,000 new employees over the next 3 years. Nagarro also predicts a rise in staffing levels based on the growing demand for its outsourced software development services. Nagarro will hire highly skilled resources in Java as well as Microsoft technologies, including SharePoint, WPF, WCF, and Silverlight. The company will also focus on recruiting people with experience in other technology areas such as mobile applications, business intelligence, mathematical optimization, SAP implementation, and cloud computing. These new positions will primarily be filled in the companys development center in Gurgaon, and also at Nagarros Jaipur campus, which will accommodate 750 employees when it is completed in 2012.

Tata Tele and Acer Launch Embedded Netbook

Tata Teleservices and Acer have launched together what they claim to be a next generation netbookAspire One AOD 260. Embedded with Tata Photon Plus, Aspire One offers high speed Internet access for connectivity on-the-go at broadband speeds. Priced at `17,999, the netbook sports a 10.1 inch screen with LED back-lit and 16:9 aspect ratio, Intel Atom N450 CPU, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, 6-cell battery with 8 hours of life, Windows 7 Starter preloaded, 3 USB ports, Bluetooth connectivity, and in-built wireless capability amid many other features.