Sony plans to launch online entertainment portal

Sony has introduced plans to launch an online portal for music, movies, books, and other content such as applications. The market, named Sony Online Service, is expected to fulfill CEO Howard Stringer`s goals and help the company compete against alternatives such as iTunes, according to BusinessWeek. "Sony has been too focused on hardware," said Tokai Tokyo Research Center Analyst Osamu Hirose, echoing a common criticism. "It has to focus on networked products and delivering digital entertain...
Published about 20-11-2009 | Rated 0

Global warming research exposed after hack

An anonymous hacker has posted private e-mails, files and other documents belonging to a noted climate researcher, sparking an international debate between skeptics of global warming and those who see it as an urgent problem. The files include about a decade of e-mail correspondence belonging to Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. Shortly after news of the leak began circulating Thursday, critics of global warming science ze...
Published about 20-11-2009 | Rated 0

RIL again tops valuable brands chart

NEW DELHI: In a year marred by the global financial crisis, stock market volatility and cost-cutting all around, India Inc has managed to retain a tally of 19 homegrown companies with a brand value of more than $1 billion each. With just one company slipping below that mark — last year there were 20 companies with a brand value of more than $1 billion — the latest edition of India’s Most Valuable Brand 2009 (IMVB) study gives a sense of déjà vu with the Top 10 league carrying all the ...
Published about 19-11-2009 | Rated 0

PCS valuation pushes Patni brothers to open market

MUMBAI: The Patni brothers, Gajendra and Ashok Patni, have sold a 0.6 per cent stake in Patni Computer Systems on Monday and Tuesday, a possible indication that potential buyers negotiating to buy the firm are quoting lower than the current market price. But a source close to the brothers denied this was the case. “The stake sold is very small and no significance can be attached to it,” the person said. Private equity player General Atlantic and the three Patni brothers — Gajendra, ...
Published about 19-11-2009 | Rated 0

Infosys Consulting eyes US buy

Infosys Consulting Inc, the strategic consulting arm of IT services giant Infosys Technologies, is planning to acquire a small consulting company with revenues in the $100-140 million range (Rs 450-650 crore) as part of its inorganic growth initiatives in the US. Market sources said Infosys had been looking at a suitable acquisition target in the US with consulting expertise in verticals like aerospace, retail, healthcare and financial services. "These are areas where the company has been ...
Published about 19-11-2009 | Rated 0

China, India and Japan are the Fastest Growing Internet Countries (Asia-Pacific)

China, India & Japan constitutes the fastest growing countries of Internet population in Asia-Pacific region, with China being the home to largest Internet audience in the world. The study report released by Comscore Inc., measured internet population accessing web from a home or work location and excluding public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs. In September 2009, China with 220.8 million internet population showed a 31 percent increase, making it the fa...
Published about 19-11-2009 | Rated 0

Is having more than one boss good for you?

There is an age old maxim that says too many cooks spoil the broth. Does the same analogy hold true in the corporate world? Does having multiple bosses have an impact, negative or positive on employee productivity? Since it’s the new truism of global India, it’s time we examined this emerging phenomenon. Chances are if you are working with multinational corporations who have set up their India office, you would have more than one boss. Your day to day functional work is supervised by some...
Published about 18-11-2009 | Rated 0

U.S. students prefer India as key study destination

Bangalore: Just like U.S. is the top study destination for Indian students, India too is a preferred destination for U.S. students. A new survey has found out that India is one of the five nations preferred by the U.S. students as a key educational destination. China, Japan, South Africa and Argentina are among the other preferable educational destinations for U.S. students. According to the Open Doors 2009 survey conducted by the Institute of International Education, the number of Americans ...
Published about 18-11-2009 | Rated 0

Air India to resume pay cut talks

Air India is to again start the process of negotiations on productivity-linked incentives (PLI) in pay with the staff unions. Earlier meetings held to agree on an amount to cut from salaries have not yielded satisfactory results. “We will be meeting the unions soon and are hopeful that we will agree to a percentage, as all the employees also want the airline to survive,” said a senior government official. The official also added that any cut in PLI would be across the board, and no mov...
Published about 18-11-2009 | Rated 0

IT pays to work at home as technology brings world closer

Global hr experts abhor the idea of taking work home. But local HR managers have turned the debate on its head: they now prod employees to carry their office home. A raft of technology firms such as Hewlett-Packard, Nokia Siemens Networks, Dell, Cisco and IBM reckon that letting employees work from home not only saves office expenses, but also helps ramp up productivity by saving precious time wasted in India’s labyrinthine peak-hour traffic. “If I commute to compute, I’m wasting critic...
Published about 18-11-2009 | Rated 0