In a series of articles from Business Week magazine you can track the events.....
Monday, April 6, 2009
IBM - Sun Merger Talks Off
In recent times, there was a huge hype about IBM buying Sun Microsystems. But on 5th April this hope died and now Sun Microsystem is under tremendous pressure.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Wipro develops integrated police information system
Wipro Infotech, a provider of IT and business transformation services has announced that it has developed an integrated police information system which covers all the important activities related to the day-to-day functioning of the police departments including the back-end administrative processes of general administration, finance and stores.
The processes have been automated to ease the tasks of administration and record keeping, thereby bringing in operational efficiency throughout the police department. Currently the application is in a pilot stage.
Ranbir Singh, General Manager, Government and Defence, Wipro Infotech said, "To combat high crime rates more effectively Wipro sees a huge role for information technology. This is a path breaking application and will bring in a lot of efficiency and agility in the functioning between various units of the police department through real time information sharing thereby resulting in better service to the citizens."
The application has been developed on a flexible software oriented architecture that allows it to be used in a centralized deployment mode as well as a de-centralized deployment mode. This architecture enables each police station to function independently and at the same time allows for data to flow to the divisional and headquarter levels at regular intervals, thereby achieving the benefits of a centralized system.
The application also has a citizen interface through which complaints can be raised and the status of an already lodged FIR can be tracked. The user interface can display content both in English and the local language.
The application has several operational modules which will maintain records within the police stations and other police bodies pertaining to various activities of the police in areas like crime, law and order, wireless, traffic, intelligence and counter intelligence. Each module has the search function to retrieve relevant data. A standard based information exchange gateway will make available the required crime and criminal information for access by other states. The information exchange will also retrieve the required information from other states enabling a seamless sharing of crime and criminal information across the country.
The processes have been automated to ease the tasks of administration and record keeping, thereby bringing in operational efficiency throughout the police department. Currently the application is in a pilot stage.
Ranbir Singh, General Manager, Government and Defence, Wipro Infotech said, "To combat high crime rates more effectively Wipro sees a huge role for information technology. This is a path breaking application and will bring in a lot of efficiency and agility in the functioning between various units of the police department through real time information sharing thereby resulting in better service to the citizens."
The application has been developed on a flexible software oriented architecture that allows it to be used in a centralized deployment mode as well as a de-centralized deployment mode. This architecture enables each police station to function independently and at the same time allows for data to flow to the divisional and headquarter levels at regular intervals, thereby achieving the benefits of a centralized system.
The application also has a citizen interface through which complaints can be raised and the status of an already lodged FIR can be tracked. The user interface can display content both in English and the local language.
The application has several operational modules which will maintain records within the police stations and other police bodies pertaining to various activities of the police in areas like crime, law and order, wireless, traffic, intelligence and counter intelligence. Each module has the search function to retrieve relevant data. A standard based information exchange gateway will make available the required crime and criminal information for access by other states. The information exchange will also retrieve the required information from other states enabling a seamless sharing of crime and criminal information across the country.
Now Cellphones take on e-readers
The e-book reading revolution triggered off by Amazon and Sony through much celebrated gadgets like Kindle and Reader Digital Book seem to be short-lived as their service is now offered by iPhones. Getting the book fix via mobile phone is a method now readers consider more convenient than using an exclusive e-book reader like the above said gadgets, reports Businessweek.
Take the case of Adam Parks, an avid reader of digital books. Instead of downloading the titles he reads each year onto an electronic book device like Kindle, Parks flips through pages -Website design manuals and Sun Tzu's The Art of War are recent favorites- on his iPhone.
The new twist in the e-book reading revolution is going to help travelers more. "I travel a lot in Asia and in the U.S.," says Parks, a marketing executive, adding, "If you are running from airport to airport and from city to city, bringing an extra piece of equipment loses some of its value."
Though owning a Kindle may hold value for the consumers who are snapping up the devices so fast that it has been sold out since November, the idea of downloading a book onto a device you already own appears more appealing for cash-strapped and space-constrained consumers. And as smartphones have become more ubiquitous, so have the tools that make it easy for users to download a book for a fraction of the cost of buying one elsewhere.
According to Readdle, the Ukraine-based startup that created the free application that makes the download possible, users of the iPhone and its cousin, the iPod touch, have downloaded William Shakespeare's collected works more than 300,000 times from the Apple iTunes App Store. The books section in the Apple iTunes App Store lists about 700 titles; Apple separately offers 72 audio books.
While new titles like Twilight may cost as much as a paperback at a book store, many royalty-free classics are available for cheap prices. The most purchased book on iTunes is a 99-cents collection of 14 children's books, including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, and Robinson Crusoe. At Amazon's Kindle store, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland alone sells for 99 cent to $2.
Some book publishers embrace the mobile-book trend and see it as a way to attract new readers. "There's a chance for us as publishers to reach a wider audience, maybe people who weren't walking into the bookstore or going to Amazon," says Matt Shatz, vice-president for digital at Random House. In December, Random House made some of its best sellers available through the iPhone iphoneand iPod touch. A month earlier, publishers Pan Macmillan and Simon & Schuster made their books available for the iPhone through a free application called Stanza, made by Lexcycle.
Though owning a Kindle may hold value for the consumers who are snapping up the devices so fast that it has been sold out since November, the idea of downloading a book onto a device you already own appears more appealing for cash-strapped and space-constrained consumers. And as smartphones have become more ubiquitous, so have the tools that make it easy for users to download a book for a fraction of the cost of buying one elsewhere.
According to Readdle, the Ukraine-based startup that created the free application that makes the download possible, users of the iPhone and its cousin, the iPod touch, have downloaded William Shakespeare's collected works more than 300,000 times from the Apple iTunes App Store. The books section in the Apple iTunes App Store lists about 700 titles; Apple separately offers 72 audio books.
While new titles like Twilight may cost as much as a paperback at a book store, many royalty-free classics are available for cheap prices. The most purchased book on iTunes is a 99-cents collection of 14 children's books, including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, and Robinson Crusoe. At Amazon's Kindle store, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland alone sells for 99 cent to $2.
Some book publishers embrace the mobile-book trend and see it as a way to attract new readers. "There's a chance for us as publishers to reach a wider audience, maybe people who weren't walking into the bookstore or going to Amazon," says Matt Shatz, vice-president for digital at Random House. In December, Random House made some of its best sellers available through the iPhone iphoneand iPod touch. A month earlier, publishers Pan Macmillan and Simon & Schuster made their books available for the iPhone through a free application called Stanza, made by Lexcycle.
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