IT to bounce back soon

Software firms that were banking on a revival in the second half of the fiscal can take some cheer from the words of Gartner’s top man in India.

Partha Iyengar, who heads the India arm of the global research organisation, says the collapse of Lehman and other financial giants will not significantly worsen the slowdown for software firms and a revival could be in the offing before the fiscal end.

“Software firms are already in a slowdown. I don’t see that trajectory changing because of the events of last week. The December quarter will follow the quarter we are in currently. We will start seeing an uptake after the US elections. The sentiment will start to shift after that and software companies may recoup some of the losses they made in the earlier quarter in the fourth quarter,” Iyengar, vice-president, Gartner India, told ET.

Contrary to the gloom inspired by the fresh bout of bad news, his outlook for FY09 remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ and that for FY10 ‘fairly optimistic’ with growth returning to earlier levels. Iyengar said there were big differences across the key IT markets.

There was a higher level of uncertainty and close to a sense of panic among IT buyers in the US and UK (because of its proximity to US). But companies in Asia-Pacific, while being cautious, were going ahead with their IT projects. The sentiment among European buyers fell somewhere between Asia Pacific and US buyers, he said.

Since the events of last week, the BSE-IT index has lost 167 points over worries dogging some of the largest customers of Indian IT companies. Merrill is one of the top financial services clients for number one software exporter Tata Consultancy Services, while Wipro and HCL Tech have exposure to Lehman.

On Monday, outsourcing firm eClerx Services Ltd, which went public less than year ago, said it had outstanding receivables of $1 million from Lehman. The collapsed investment bank was one of its top five clients, accounting for about 13 per cent of revenues.

However, Iyengar said some of the consolidation among large financial services players such as Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch and Lloyd TSB’s takeover of HBOS would provide huge integration opportunities for IT firms.

“It’s true, there will be some redundancies and IT vendor consolidation but they will take time to play out. The bigger issue will be the integration opportunity it creates in the near-term, integration is the biggest single issue for banks,” he said.

The most significant difference between the last slowdown in 2001-02 and the current one was the ‘incredible amount of credibility’ Indian firms have built. Gartner is also advising IT firms not go back on job offers they have already made and not cut too deep to the bone when they rationalise recruitment.

“Resources (people) tend to have fairly long memories, and when the company gets back to hire-mode, you don’t want it to have negative impact,” he added.
source : times of india

GPHONE: Googles New Product in Mobiles

Google, the nearly $13.5 billion search engine major, is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with service providers in India for an exclusive launch on one of their networks.

Talks are believed to be taking place with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, respectively India's first and third largest mobile telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

Sources close to the development said a simultaneous launch across the US and Europe is expected, and announcements would be sent to media firms in India and other parts of the world. US regulatory approval, which is expected soon, is the only hurdle that Google is waiting to cross, they added. Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony foray.

In India, it is also believed to be in talks with Indian providers to offer data and content and platforms including Instant Messaging (IM) and Search functions. However, these could not be confirmed.

A Google spokesperson said, "We don't comment on market rumour or speculation. However, Google is committed to providing users with access to the world's information, and mobile becomes more important to those efforts every day. We're collaborating with partners worldwide to bring Google search and applications to mobile users everywhere. However, we have nothing to announce at this time."

Reports of the Internet major getting into handset manufacturing as an answer to Apple's iPhone has been doing rounds in cyberspace and international media for some time. These reports suggest that Google has developed a prototype that will hit the markets in a year's time. The US-based company has neither confirmed nor denied these reports. The Wall Street Journal too had reported that Google had invested "hundreds of millions of dollars" in the project and was involved in discussions with US-based T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

Globally, Google is likely to participate in the upcoming auction for 700 MHz spectrum for which it is prepared to spend up to $4.6 billion. The firm is also introducing ads to YouTube videos which could be replicated on mobile phones. Ironically, Google recently partnered Apple to produce services such as e-mail and maps for its iPhone handset. And Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said recently that more Google services for the iPhone would be rolled out.

The most important news is just heard before few hours is that the world's first number search engine announced to launch Gphone. There is a rumor about the Gphone is that Google launch new mobile phone but fact is that Gphone is not a mobile phone it's just mobile powerful software.

Reports online store is a handset production in response to Apple's iPhone has made rounds in cyberspace and international media for some time. These reports indicate that Google has developed a prototype, which is printed on the market after one year. The U.S. company has not confirmed or denied these reports. The Wall Street Journal was also reported that Google had invested "hundreds of millions of dollars in the project and was involved in discussions with the United States-based T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

Google's first Android-powered 'GPhone' could be announced at a New York press event as soon as Sept. 23, Reuters reports, citing the usual "people familiar with the matter." Read more at wiki pages..

Taare Zameen Par is the official Entry to Oscar from India

Actor Aamir Khan's debut directorial venture 'Taare Zameen Par', a sensitive story of an eight-year-old dyslexia child, is selected as India's entry to the foreign language category for Oscars at the 81st annual Academy awards.

Taare Zameen Par is India's entry for Oscar Times of India
Aamir Khan's Taare Zammen Par is India's official Oscars entry Business of Cinema