Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Amazon Secret: Work Backwards from the Customer

So finally, Amazon has launched the much awaited Android tablet – a tablet that doesn’t look like any other Android tablet. A tablet that has a mass appeal (thanks to pricing) and is well integrated with Amazon’s core offering as well.

In short, a worthy iPad competitor.

So what makes Amazon so distinctly innovative? Importantly, how is this (big) company able to work backwards (from customer needs)?

Do watch this video where Diego Piacentini, Senior VP of International Retail for Amazon, discusses the company’s growth-centered business model, its global presence, and the strides it takes to sustain a successful customer experience.


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Vaultize – A cloud based backup service targeted at enterprises

Anoosmar technologies, a Mumbai based startup has launched Valutize which is a data storage solution on the cloud specifically targeted at Enterprises. It comes with enterprise class SLAs, and they mention that ” Vaultize ensures complete and secure protection of files, emails and application databases on laptops, desktops and servers.”

Vaultize targets all kinds of enterprises starting from SMEs to Large enterprises. They target the very demanding needs of enterprise data backup on the cloud and this product is aimed at solving backup needs without much CAPEX. As this is based on a SaaS model, the upfront expenditure of companies is aimed to be less as hardware setup costs would be low. The OPEX, we assume, will be slightly higher than on premise backup solutions but that applies to most cloud solutions anyways. 

online_backup

They also provide flexibility in terms of hosting – from their own cloud or any other public cloud and even private clouds of the companies themselves. This is a very important customization as Enterprise needs are usually very specific and non negotiable – this flexibility would give them the ability to cater to needs of lots more companies. They also have a very cool “disk shipping” feature – although the viability of such a system (and security) has to be ascertained over the long run. 

While there is a market for enterprise backup solutions, do you think Indian companies will adopt 3rd party cloud backup solutions soon? 

Also see: Nexus Venture Partners Leads $12 Million Funding in Druva, Pune Based Startup


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Indian Government’s $35 Tablet Is Launching On October 5th [Finally]

The much-awaited and debated “$35 tablet” will be launched on October 5th. The tablet was supposed to launch in the month of June, but the project was delayed as HCL tender was cancelled, owing to bank guarantee related issues.

From what we learnt earlier, Indian Government will subsidize the cost by 50%, so a student would have to pay only Rs. 1,100/ for the device, though we aren’t sure whether this holds true during the launch phase or not.

$35 Tablet: Features/Specs

  • 7 ‘’ Touch-screen
  • 2 USB ports
  • 32GB HD
  • 2 GB RAM
  • Video-conferencing facility
  • Multimedia content

Well,  we are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the device and we certainly hope that this project lives up to its expectation. If executed well, this can drastically change the way education is imparted and importantly, open up plethora of possibilities for startups/technology companies to build products around the education ecosystem.

But for this to happen, Government needs to train teachers, build the right ecosystem and open up the sector for private partnerships.

Question: Indian MPs Officially Sanctioned iPads, But Why?


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News Roundup: Most Trusted Brands List (Nokia slips), 1 Million To Enroll/Day for Aadhar (UIDAI)

One million people to enroll per day for Aadhaar by October:Nandan Nilekani

More than a million people will enroll for unique Aadhaar identity number per day by October which has so far been provided to 37 million people across the country. “new people are getting enrolled across the country at the rate of 6,00,000 a day in about 20,000 locations, by October the figure will be one million people per day”.[source]

Also see: Indian Government Approves UIDAI (Aadhar) To be Used For KYC Norms

Bollywood movie Mausam tests waters for PE-funded films

Vistaar Religare Film Fund, with a corpus of Rs 200 crore and co-promoted by financial services giant Religare, is the coproducer of Mausam, the Rs 30-crore Bollywood extravaganza directed by actor Pankaj Kapoor.

Mausam could well turn out to be the template on how future productions are funded. If the film does well, a lot of its success will be due to having identified the best content available, putting together the right team and marrying it with best accounting practices,” says Sheetal Vinod Talwar, the film’s producer and managing director, Vistaar Religare Film Fund.[source].

Qualcomm spectrum cancellation stayed by Indian telecoms tribunal

Giving relief to the company, the tribunal’s chairman Justice SB Sinha passed an interim order that restricted DoT from forfeiting Qualcomm’s bid amount and giving BWA airwaves meant for Qualcomm to any other operator till further orders. The tribunal also asked DoT to reply to the company’s petition within two weeks.[source]

Most Trusted Brands 2011: Nokia slips from the top spot

Nokia’s dream run at the top of the charts has come to an end. After being voted India’s Most Trusted Brand three years in a row, the Finnish cellphone manufacturer slips to No. 5 this year. While being in the Top 5 is still something that most brands would give an arm and a leg for, it nevertheless marks one of the sharpest declines from the top in the history of the survey.[source]

GlobalLogic acquires US-based consultancy firm Method

Software product development services provider GlobalLogic today said it has acquired San Francisco-headquartered global design and innovation consultancy firm Method for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition will help GlobalLogic to better serve clients in social media, mobile commerce, IPTV, medical devices, and tablet computing segments, GlobalLogic said in a statement.

Indian Government’s $35 Tablet Is Launching On October 5th [Finally]

The much-awaited and debated “$35 tablet” will be launched on October 5th. The tablet was supposed to be launched in the month of June, but the project was delayed as HCL tender was cancelled, owing to bank guarantee related issues.[source]


Link to full article

Building A Viable Social Business – 30 Sep

This Friday, the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre will organize a talk entitled Building A Viable Social Business with Jack Sim (see interview with SGE) of World Toilet Organization as the speaker. He will speak on the potential of the Base of Pyramid Marketplace and how the audience can seize this opportunity to make an impact regardless of current resources.


Event Details


When: Friday, 30th September 2011
Time: 6pm-8pm
Where: NUS University Hall Auditorium, Lee Kong Chian Wing level 2, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road (Map)
Register here.

 


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CODE_n:Invitation to Apply For International Innovation Contest On New IT Based Business Models

GFT, a German based IT Solutions Company has kick-started a global innovative initiative called “CODE_n” on the theme of “Shaping mobile life”.

Start-ups around the world can apply for being one of the 50 innovators getting presentation space at the world’s most important technology fair CeBIT 2012, in Hanover, Germany. Winners will receive the CODE_n Award, donated with 25.000€ and a 2-year coaching by our strategic partners.

Submissions should focus on cutting-edge innovations – a new product, process, service or business concept. It should be either gearing up for launch or already launched. Anyone from any country can apply and the event will be run in English.

The jury will comprise of renowned experts and IT specialists, top managers and respected forward thinkers.

CODE_n provides a unique stage for showcasing radical, unconventional approaches. It will also inspire and stimulate feedback and opportunities to collaborate and build partnerships.

Believe it or not, the event will be held in an amazing space as pictured below:

When: 6-10 March 2012

Applications close: 30 November 2011

50 Nominees selected: 15 December 2011

Where: Hanover, Germany

How: Apply here (entry requirements)

 

 

Related posts:

  1. G-Startup Competition Prizes Announced, So Apply Now!
  2. Six Business Models Built On Sina Weibo, Monetizing Microblog in China Sounds Easy
  3. 3rd September, Innovation Works Partners With TechNode to Welcome Startups to Jump-Start Program


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Lawson Makes Its Character Girl Be Vocaloid

Japan's 2nd biggest convenience chain-store Lawson makes its image character girl 'Akiko-chan' transformed to Vocaloid, Yamaha's artificial voice synthesizer brand well-known by used for a popular virtual singer Hatsune Miku.

The official Lawson-channel [J] is made on Nico Nico Douga.

via ITMedia

See Also:

Asiajin » Japanese Virtual Diva Hatsune Miku First US Tour In July



Lawson Makes Its Character Girl Be Vocaloid


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September 2011 Japan IT Links (Part 1)

Early part of September news which we did not write as a dedicated article. Continued to (Part 2)

Referred pages are all in Japanese, unless otherwise stated.

If you want to know any specific news more, but unable to find them in other English blog/media, please let us know.



September 2011 Japan IT Links (Part 1)


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eBook Initiative Japan Goes IPO

eBook Initiative Japan Co., Ltd., who runs Japanese online e-book mall eBookJapan [J], announced that their IPO at Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers section has been approved [J]. The planned date is October 28.

eBookJapan started selling online book since year 2000, when the company was established. The site now boasts 50,000 e-books, 80% of which are online manga(comics).

Readers are offered for Windows, Macintosh, iPad/iPhone/iPod touch, Android and Windows Phone.

In Japan, there is an e-comic authoring tool vendor Celsys has already been listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Second Section.



eBook Initiative Japan Goes IPO


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