After 3D camera, Fujifilm launches 3D Print System

After 3D camera, Fujifilm launches 3D Print System

Fujifilm has announced the development of the new "3D Print System" which achieves high-quality and natural 3D print captured with a 3D digital camera. This new system, the printer and a PC, is ideal for on-location 3D photography at tourist spots, theme parks, events, and other locations that offer photo printing services on site because it is easy to set up and requires small foot print, announced Shigetaka Komori, President and CEO of Fujifilm. Thanks to this new development in the field of 3D imaging, the enjoyment of 3D images will be more accessible to a wider audience than ever before. This new 3D Print System is scheduled to be available from 2nd Quarter of 2010.

Featuring Fujifilm's "Image Intelligencee" technology, the system employs a printing method that uses thermal sublimation to transfer images directly onto lenticular sheets to create a 3D effect. Prints will be available in four different types from 4x6 inches (10.2 x 15.2cm) to 6 x 9 inches (15.2 x 22.9cm). In addition, varieties of 3D prints are available including 3D composite prints using 3D templates.

This has been called the first year of 3D, with predictions for rapid mass-appeal of 3D image enjoyment, from sales of 3D televisions to the popularization of 3D images and contents.

Fujifilm pioneered 3D in the photographic industry in 2009 with the successful launch of the "FinePix REAL 3D W1" 3D digital camera and the "FinePix REAL 3D V1" 3D Digital Viewer allowing users, for the first time, to capture and view 3D images without wearing 3D glasses. Fujifilm has also been providing a 3D printing service for images taken on its camera.

These exciting launches in 3D have positioned Fujifilm as an industry leader in 3D photography. Now, with the new "3D Print System", Fujifilm will continue new product development and promotion initiatives in the marketplace, with a view toward even further expansion of the 3D imaging field.

Ref: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/After_3D_camera_Fujifilm_launches_3D_Print_System-nid-65639.html/1/1

Internet will make you smart or dumb?

Internet will make you smart or dumb?

A survey of nearly 900 Internet stakeholders reveals that internet enhances and augments human intelligence. The Pew Internet/Elon University study shows fascinating new perspectives on the way the Internet is affecting human intelligence and the ways that information is being shared and rendered.

The web-based survey gathered opinions from prominent scientists, business leaders, consultants, writers and technology developers. It is the fourth in a series of Internet expert studies conducted by the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University and the Pew Research Center?' Internet and American Life Project.

"Three out of four experts said our use of the Internet enhances and augments human intelligence, and two-thirds said use of the Internet has improved reading, writing and rendering of knowledge," said Janna Anderson, study co-author and director of the Imagining the Internet Center. "There are still many people, however, who are critics of the impact of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools."

Anderson and co-author Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, asked a number of questions in the survey. Some of the most compelling responses were answers that extend the debate over criticisms leveled by tech scholar and analyst Nicholas Carr in a 2009 Atlantic Monthly magazine cover story titled "Is Google making us stupid?"

"What the Net does is shift the emphasis of our intelligence, away from what might be called a meditative or contemplative intelligence and more toward what might be called a utilitarian intelligence. The price of zipping among lots of bits of information is a loss of depth in our thinking," says Carr.

This is what a Google employee had to say, "Google will make us more informed. The smartest person in the world could well be behind a plow in China or India. Providing universal access to information will allow such people to realize their full potential, providing benefits to the entire world," said Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google.

Ref: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Internet_will_make_you_smart_or_dumb-nid-65661-cid--sid-.html

Virgin Mobile GSM Arrives in Maharashtra

Virgin Mobile GSM Arrives in Maharashtra

After expanding its GSM Services in the southern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Kerala circles, Virgin Mobile has announced the launch of the same in the Maharashtra and Mumbai circles. These circles were already covered by Virgin Mobile's CDMA network, and now they are looking for a pie in the GSM market.

As always, Virgin Mobile offers competitive packages to its target audience - most of which are the youth. Subscribers across Maharashtra and Mumbai will be charged 20 paise per minute for Virgin-to-Virgin calls across any circles. For other networks, the rates would be 40 paise per minute for local and 50 paise per minute for STD calls. These are the standard rates without any additional "special" plans. Another option the consumers have is to opt for another plan that provides all local and STD calls at 1 paise per sec with a recharge of Rs. 12 and with a talk time of Rs. 10.88, which is valid for 365 days. The charges for SMS are 50 paise for local and Re. 1 for national. All calls on roaming are charged at 60 paise per min. Apart from these, Virgin is also offering two SMS pack options priced at Rs. 33 and Rs. 69.

Virgin Mobile has tied up with Tata DoCoMo to offer its GSM services in the country. For its CDMA network, they have a tie up with Tata Indicom. Virgin Mobile yearns to garner 10% of the market in the urban youth segment. Its CDMA services started in 2008 and currently both platforms only offer prepaid connections. They have also roped in Ranbir Kapoor and Genelia D' Souza as brand ambassadors for the GSM platform.
Ref: http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Virgin_Mobile_GSM_Arrives_in_Maharashtra/551-109396-613.html

Nokia Siemens bags $700 Million contract from Bharti

Nokia Siemens bags $700 Million contract from Bharti

Bharti Airtel and Nokia Siemens Networks have further strengthened their strategic partnership with a $700 million network expansion contract. The contract includes network planning, implementation and project management, handling of local logistics and materials, as well as system integration for the base station sites.

This GSM network expansion will cover the eight existing circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand, Orissa, Kolkata and West Bengal where Nokia Siemens Networks already provides equipment and managed services for Bharti Airtel. With close to 60 percent of Airtel's monthly customers coming from rural regions, this contract will enable Airtel to further aggressively expand its footprint into rural India.

"Airtel continues to drive innovation and leadership in the telecom sector. This expansion will not only expand our networks deeper into the rural hinterland but will also allow us to deliver a rich end-user experience, and satisfy the increasing demand for top-quality services," said Sanjay Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer - Designate, Bharti Airtel. "We are delighted with Nokia Siemens Networks' proven expertise and deep understanding of our requirements along with the assurance of network infrastructure that helps us sustain our leadership edge in India."

"The unprecedented growth in the Indian telecommunications sector is compelling telecom operators to offer compelling solutions," said Rajeev Suri, Chief Executive Officer at Nokia Siemens Networks. "With this upgrade, Bharti Airtel can enhance network efficiency for a better end-user experience and, just as importantly, reduce the overall cost of owning and operating its network."

Nokia Siemens Networks will deploy its energy-efficient network solutions, including Flexi multi-radio base stations, packet core platforms and microwave solutions for new and legacy networks to boost performance at a lower total cost of ownership and reduced carbon footprint.

The project will result in improvements to network capacity and spectral efficiency by employing a full range of services comprising network planning, implementation and optimization. Nokia Siemens Networks will also provide an operations and business management platform for the effective monitoring and management of the network. In addition, the company will ensure that Bharti Airtel's core and transport network is 3G-ready in order to reduce time to market and enable the fast rollout of 3G services at a later date.

Nokia Siemens Networks already supplies Bharti Airtel with a wide spectrum of solutions, including device management, mobile network portability, next-generation fixed-network and an interactive voice response system.
Ref: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Nokia_Siemens_bags_700_Million_contract_from_Bharti-nid-65390.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber

Wipro to Hire 7,500 Freshers in 2010-11

Wipro to hire 7,500 freshers in 2010-11

India's third largest software exporter Wipro plans to hire about 7,500 fresh graduates in the next financial year starting April 1, 2010. It will consist both engineering and non-engineering students.

Talking to Bloomberg UTV, Girish Paranjpe, Joint CEO of Wipro Technologies said, "We plan to bring in 7500 engineers for which we plan to go to campus. Not only engineers we are also planning to hire non engineering students."

Currently, the company is busy in making lateral hires. Recently the company had announced gave salary hikes to all its employees. With effect from February 1, employees are likely to get a pay hike in the 8 to 12 percent range with some even getting a 15 percent increase.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2009, the company's net profit rose to Rs.1,203 crore ($263 million) under international accounting rules, from Rs.1,010 crore a year ago. The company expects its revenue grow by 3.6-5.4 percent in the quarter ending March 31, 2010 from the preceding quarter to $1.16-$1.18 billion, after it posted a 4.9 percent sequential rise in the latest quarter.

Ref: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Wipro_to_hire_7500_freshers_in_201011-nid-65374.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber

Genpact plans to acquire Intelenet Global Services

Genpact plans to acquire Intelenet Global Services

Pramod Bhasin led Genpact plans to acquire Intelenet Global Services. The company is in talks with Blackstone, which holds a little under 80 percent in Intelenet, to explore a potential acquisition, reports Economic Times.

The acquisition may benefit Genpact, as the company is still dependent significantly dependent on its one-time parent, General Electric (GE). GE contributes around 40 percent of Genpact's revenues. "Intelenet's India business is the chief attraction to Genpact, but Blackstone is not willing to sell that alone," said a person related to the acquisition. The transaction value of the acquisition is likely to be around $600-750 million.

Replying to the mail sent by economic Times, Intelenet's Executive Vice President, Sandeep Aggarwal said, "The information was incorrect and the company was not aware of it." Whereas a senior Blackstone said, "I cannot comment on speculation."

It has not been easy market for Genpact in India, as the company failed to scale up its domestic business. On the other hand, Intelenet has an established domestic BPO business under Sparsh BPO, an acquisition it made in 2006. Alok Shende, Principal Analyst, Ascentius Consulting said, "Slowdown in the western markets has compelled internationally-focussed BPO firms to seriously evaluate risk diversification strategies. Focus will turn to markets that hold innate potential for size as well as growth."

GE which holds 18 percent in the company also plans to exit its holdings. Genpact's GE business has been under strain and its substantial contribution to revenue has been a cause of concern. In 2008, GE extended its master services agreement (MSA) with Genpact, ensuring a committed volume of business to Genpact, but concurrently advanced the expiration date of the provision requiring it to hold a minimum number of shares in the back-office firm from December 2009 to March 2009.

ref: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Genpact_plans_to_acquire_Intelenet_Global_Services-nid-65067.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber

Mahindra Satyam recalls 2000 virtual pool Staff

Mahindra Satyam recalls 2000 virtual pool Staff

Following the strong performance in the manufacturing and infrastructure sector in the last six months by Mahindra Satyam, the company plans to hire more number of employees in the running fiscal, and also recalled 2,000 virtual pool employees, reports CNBC-TV18.

Even though the company has witnessed a dip in its headcount by 43 percent since September 2008, it plans to hire up to 200 fresh graduates and 200 lateral employees in FY11. In June 2009, the company had announced a virtual pool programme (VPP) under which about 6,000 employees were sent home.

According to the sources, the top management from the company said that it was engaged in selective hiring in specialized skill sets. However, it wil give priority to the people on virtual pool.

Ref:

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Mahindra_Satyam_recalls_2000_virtual_pool_staff_-nid-65071.html?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Subscriber