With native apps, Apple Watch tries to step away from iPhone

Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook announced on Monday an update to the operating system for its Watch that should make apps for its latest gadget speedier and help untether it from the iPhone.Cook said that so-called "native" apps will be coming for the Watch and was among the big news in the early part of his address at an annual developers conference.
Like other Apple products, the Watch's commercial success will likely hinge on a compelling collection of apps. But early apps for the timepiece have been tethered to the iPhone, placing some limits on what developers could do.
The expanded software kit should lead to better and faster watch apps, said Bob O'Donnell, an analyst at TECHnalysis Research, in an interview before the event.at the event. The company behind the iPod and iTunes has long been a leader in digital music, but it has lost ground in recent years as subscription services such as Spotify have caught on with consumers.

Analyst Van Baker of Gartner said he expects Apple to release a new service to win a bigger share of the streaming business.

"This is catch-up for Apple," he said.

An Apple spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The company also unveiled new details about its Apple Pay service, saying it was already supported by more than 2,500 banks and will surpass 1 million locations accepting it next month. In addition, the company said it would roll out the service to the United Kingdom next month.

Apple Inc shares were down about 1% at $127.48 in early afternoon trading as Cook and others spoke.  

Google won't charge transaction fee for Android Pay: Report

Google's new mobile phone payment service, Android Pay, will not garner any transaction fees from credit card companies, which may put pressure on competitor Apple to drop or lower its charges, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Apple Pay, which launched last year, reached deals with big banks and other credit card issuers to receive 0.15% of the value of each credit card transaction, the journal said on Friday. Apple collects a half-cent per purchase on bank debit cards, it said.

Google's service will not receive any fees for the transactions, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. It said Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc have made their "tokenization" card-security service free, which prevents payments services from charging fees to issuers.

"There is one agreement with Visa and the banks can have confidence that there are no pass-through fees," Visa President Ryan McInerney told the newspaper.

The Wall Street Journal said the rules may prompt changes in Apple's mobile phone payment deal with banks. It said some banks are not happy about sharing fees and could try to use Google's arrangement to effect changes in Apple's deals.

Two for the price of one

A few years ago, tablets were touted as notebook killers, but over time, the need for a keyboard was acutely felt. Tablets became consumption devices, used primarily for checking e-mail, browsing the web, playing games and to watch movies. While for productivity: typing documents, working with spreadsheets and presentations, or even replying to long e-mails, people still turned to their laptops and the comfort of a physical Qwerty keyboard. But with the launch of Windows 8 - an OS that combines a touch interface with the familiarity of a desktoplaptop computer - twoin-one devices began making an appearance.

These hybrids comprise a detachable touchscreen that can be used as a slate, and a docking keyboard for whenever you need to type. With the advancements in hardware, these two-in-ones are available at budget prices. You can get almost all your basic productivity tasks done, and these hybrids also work for watching Full HD movies every now and then.

More importantly, if you're looking for a portable gadget to carry along on trips, these two-in-ones strike the best balance between both form factors...

LENOVO MIIX 3-1030

The Lenovo Miix 3 is a sleek two-in-one, with an aluminium body and slim-line keyboard dock that gives it a very elegant ThinkPadlike appearance.

It is the only two-in-one here that sports a Full HD display; colours appear punchy and vibrant. However, the glossy screen is highly reflective and a big distraction.

The dock is not as secure as the Acer One. Using it on an incline or moving it suddenly could cause the tablet to dislodge from the keyboard, but this is not exactly a deal breaker. The device still feels robust.

The Miix 3 comes with a good webcam. Image quality is on the warmer side and the captures in video calls are much better than the Micromax LapTab and Acer One.

This device also scores high on ergonom ics. The dock has two slim USB 2.0 ports that expand to accept a pen drive. Moreover, its smaller keyboard is very comfortable to work on. The keys are proportionately down sized and evenly spaced. Unlike the Acer One's haphazard placement of special keys, this one sticks to the standard positions.

The Miix 3's Full HD display tends to drain the battery . At best, we were able to eke out around six hours of mixed use from this device.

SPECS: 10.1-inch (1920x1200px) IPS touchscreen | 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z3735F quad-core processor | 2GB RAM | 32GB (flash), microSD, USB OTG | 2MP webcam | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro HDMI, (2x) USB 2.0 | 6800mAh battery

MICROMAX CANVAS LAPTAB

When taken individually, the LapTab's tablet and dock are solidly built, and with a metallic finish. But when combined, the former attaches itself rather lightly on the latter's magnetic dock, and you stand the chance of dropping either if you do not hold them both when moving the device around. Also, unlike the other two-in-ones here, the tablet can only be docked with its screen facing the keyboard.

As far as ergonomics are concerned, the Qwerty keys on the LapTab's dock are smaller than what you would find on a similar-sized netbook, although they feel springy allow ing you to touch type once you get accustomed to it. What we didn't like, however, is that the charging port sits at the top edge of the screen making it slightly inconvenient to use when docked.

Noticeably missing from the LapTab is an HDMI port, but this is not a deal breaker.

Camera captures during video chats appear washed out when compared to the output of the Lenovo Miix 3, but it is definitely better than what we saw on the Acer One.

On the positive side, it's the only two-in-one that comes with a 3G SIM slot for on-the-go connectivity, and gave us around 6.5 hours on a single charge.

As another plus, the Micromax Canvas LapTab comes with Microsoft's cloud-based Office 365 productivity suite.

SPECS: 10.1-inch (1280x800px) IPS touchscreen | 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z3735F quad-core processor | 2GB RAM | 32GB (flash), microSD, USB OTG | 2MP front & rear camera | Wi-Fi, 3G SIM, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 | 7700 mAh battery

XOLO CHROMEBOOK

If most of your laptop use revolves around the in ternet - sending e-mails, browsing the web, social networking, video chats and using cloud-based apps - then you might want to try out the Xolo Chromebook.What you get is a sturdily-built, but understated machine with a good keyboard that belies its budget pricing. The device is equipped with a 16GB flash drive for storage, and boots up in under 10 seconds. For extra storage, it also has a microSD card slot, and can connect to external hard drives via its two USB 2.0 ports.

Out of the box, the Xolo Chromebook supports popular audio and video file formats including AVI, MOV , MP4, MP3, MKV , OGG and WAV . It handles most Full HD videos without a problem, though you would still need to use headphones or external speakers for better sound.

The fact remains, you need a robust internet connection for this device to be of practical use. You can use apps like Gmail Offline and Google Docs when the computer is not connected to the internet. But to sync your updated files and inbox, you will need an internet connection. That said, this device also works well to edit photos and images, using cloud-based utilities - and you can also find a whole bunch of apps, services and games (including those that work in offline mode) on the Google Chrome Store.

Still, for a computer that is so heavily dependent on the internet, we would have preferred if this machine came with an RJ45 port for a wired internet connection andor a 3G SIM slot.

SPECS: 11.6-inch (1366x768px) display | 1.8GHz Rockchip RK3288 quad-core processor | 2GB RAM | 16GB (flash), microSD | 1MP webcam | 4200mAh | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI, (2x)USB 2.0 | Chrome OS

NOTE: All the two-in-ones in this review are evenly specced to run casual games and Full HD videos. Heavy-duty imageand video-editing apps, however, could pose a problem. Also, you will need external speakers or earphones for better audio quality. On the flip side, these machines support USB on-the-go (OTG) that lets you connect a pen drive directly to the tablet's microUSB port for direct file transfer. And you also get full access to apps in the Microsoft Windows store.

ACER ONE

The Acer One looks chunky and plasticky when compared to the other twoin-ones here, but it is sturdy to hold and use.The device feels extremely secure when docked with keyboard. The connectors are robust and the link is strong enou robust and the link is strong enough to be safely used on the lap or an incline.And you can also dock the tablet with its screen facing outwards, snap it close and carry it about.

While its touchscreen is bright, it suffers from poor viewing angles. This 2-in-1 comes with two cameras. However, its VGA webcam is quite unfit for video conferencing. If you plan to use your hybrid for lots of video calls, this is a deal breaker.

Also, the Acer One's keyboard takes some time getting used to. For some strange reason, the `M' key has been made narrower than the rest, and the position of a few other keys have been changed. This could affect touch typists.

When it comes to battery, you can expect to get around six hours of use on a single charge.

Still, this is the only two-in-one that comes with a 500GB hard drive in its keyboard dock, apart from the flash storage and microSD slot on the tablet.

SPECS: 10.1-inch (1280x800px) IPS touchscreen | 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z3735F quad-core processor | 2GB RAM | 32GB (flash), 500GB hard drive (in keyboard), microSD, USB OTG | 0.3MP webcam, 2MP rear camera | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro HDMI, USB 2.0 | 5700 mAh battery

Most don't know how to exit the chakravyuh: Ravi Narayan

Microsoft Ventures has played a leading role in India's startup eco-system with the accelerator programme it started in 2012. Its managing director, Ravi Narayan, has been a successful entrepreneur and investor.

Your programme has now had six batches of startups. Do you see the profile of entrepreneurs changing from the time you started?

More people with matured careers are coming now. They are a lot surer of themselves. There is a lot of hype about students directly coming out of IITs and IIMs to become entrepreneurs. It is not something that should be hyped up. If they have the talent, let them do it. But it should be more an exception than a rule. If you want to take an entrepreneurial risk early in your career, that is fine. But not everybody is a Mark Zuckerberg. It could be that you are completely unencumbered by what is around you, could have fresh thinking, a new perspective, but on the other side, you could have no clue how a product should be built, you may not know how to negotiate a contract, you may not know how to manage a team. There should be a happy balance. India is a very unorganized market and you need organizational skills.

Do you have Rahul Yadav in mind when you say this (Yadav, a student at IIT when he co-founded Housing, recently had run-ins with his investors and others)?

No I don't. It's just a general comment. Everybody has a right place and a right time to found ventures. Some people find it early. But if somebody is not ready, they should not be encouraged to take that path.

You have spoken about startups being stuck in an Abhimanyu chakravyuh, unable to get out. Can you explain what exactly you mean?

Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley invariably have a clear exit strategy - like who is a potential acquirer or how will an IPO take place. Any investor will want to know, if I put in money, when will I get it back. In India, when investors ask this question, earlier entrepreneurs would be shy about answering it. Now, they will say, if I build this, such-and-such company could acquire me. The investor will then usually ask, is acquisition your exit strategy. Then they will say, "No, no, I can also go for an IPO." There is no clear answer or perspective to this. So they will have two slides, one for the acquisition exit strategy and one for an IPO. Depending on what they think the investors want, they will swap it. An investor asks only to know whether the founders have thought through this properly till exit.

You don't see growth and profitability as an option to get out of the Chakravyuh?

Like Zoho, for instance, is trying to do.

In that case you should not take money from VCs. VCs have a time-bound contract to their capital providers; they have to return the principal plus something. That is why this is highly risky as well as rewarding. And there is never nirvana. If you raise seed money, you have to look for Series A, and then Series B, and after many rounds of fund raising, you look for an IPO; and then you have to look at the results every quarter.

How feasible is an IPO as an exit strategy?

IPOs are beginning to take off in Silicon Valley. But generally, you have to be an Unicorn (billion dollar in valuation) to go IPO.

Do you favour the idea of a separate exchange for startups?

These have been attempted several times around the world, but none have really succeeded, barring in London. They impose certain levels of compliance that startups may not be up to. The concept has to be really thought through, especially the compliance requirements, before it is introduced.

How do you see other elements of maturity in Indian startups?

There was a time when entrepreneurs started ventures without even thinking about who the customers could be. Now, some of them have IP, they have customers, have good talent, they know they can be acquired by global companies. But the other side is, many are still not clear what acquirers value. Companies who acquire may only want the IP, or only the talent, or only the customers. They might want only one thing or a small piece of one thing. But the entrepreneurs think, we have all of these, why don't they value everything. The startups should know precisely what is the value they are creating and for whom.

Would you recommend building products for the global market or the Indian market?

The opportunities in India are huge. It is better to build the product here in India, test it here, and then try to go global like Zomato did. Your value proposition will go up. I foresee tech unicorns--beyond e-commerce--in the next few years from India.

How focussed is Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) on the startup accelerator initiative?

Early in his job, Nadella came to the Valley and held discussions with VCs. He asked what we should be doing differently at Microsoft and the VCs gave him feedback. These VCs have a fair understanding of how the global markets are changing. That is also one of the reasons why we are establishing a Valley office now. This will give us a chance to engage deeper with VCs as we evolve and make internal decisions based on that.

Tech Mahindra forecasts Rs 3,100 crore digital revenue for 2015

Tech Mahindra, India's fifth largest IT services company, expects digital revenue to cross $500 million (about Rs 3,100 crore) by the end of 2015, helping the company move towards its $5 billion topline target.

TechM's had assumed that a tenth of that would come from new digital technologies, but growth has exceeded expectations. 'Digital is growing faster than we had anticipated and faster than the rest of the business," TechM chief executive officer CP Gurnani told ET. "We will end the year with much more than $500 million in digital revenue."

Typically, IT firms include revenue from analytics, cloud and social media-based services and mobility solutions in their overall digital sales. Tech Mahindra's digital unit, however, also includes technologies related to network, security and sensors that comprise the Internet-of-Things, an idea of connecting almost everything online. The company uses the acronym NMACS for these technologies that comprise its digital offerings.

The company has over 2,500 people trained in digital specializations and over 200 consultants. The unit is augmented by TechM's overall workforce, which is about 100,000 people.

"Digital has to grow faster because that is where there is demand," an analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage said on condition of anonymity. "But for IT firms to grow at their previous levels, the contribution of digital has to go much higher. For some of the US outsourcers, it is reaching 20% of revenue."

Digital is expected to be the saving grace for Indian IT players, who are facing pricing pressure in their traditional businesses. The segment is growing fast, as companies look to spend more on digital while cutting back on their existing contracts.

The National Association for Software and Services Companies has said 12-14% of the industry's revenues came from digital offerings in FY15, a proportion that is expected to rise. In its latest financial year, Accenture's revenue from digital was about $5 billion, roughly 17% of its overall revenue.

Among the Indian IT companies, Tech Mahindra is one of the few to disclose overall digital revenue. Cognizant, the second-largest India-centric IT firm by revenue, said it generated $500 million in revenue from SMAC in 2013, after that the company stopped breaking out its digital revenue.

Govt may order telcos to compensate users for call drops

Frustrated by frequent call drops in the middle of conversations? You may soon be reimbursed money for the inconvenience. The government is looking to order operators to return the money charged for the dropped calls or throw in extra airtime to compensate for deficient services.

Call drops have been a recurring irritant for Indian mobile phone users, who have emerged as the world's second-biggest market, behind only China. While low call rates and fast adoption of internet on mobile have marked the journey of the Indian phone market, service quality has been deteriorating over the years.

"The idea is to ensure that a customer is not made to pay for a deficiency on the part of an operator," a key official in the telecom ministry told TOI. The ministry is "working aggressively" on the issue, especially as call drops have become a regular phenomenon in choked networks of metros, the official added.

"I would be a millionaire if I am reimbursed money for dropped calls by my operator," Vishnu Mathur, a harried mobile customer who lives in east Delhi said when told about the impending proposal.

Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has been raising the issue of call drops time and again. "Call drops need to be minimized. Private operators need to reinforce their mechanism. I have directed officials in the telecom department to work on a disincentive architecture (for the operators) to address the issue," Prasad said while speaking at a conference on completion of one year of the NDA government.

The official source said the ministry also plans to rope in sectoral regulator Trai on the issue. "We plan to find a solution soon. It could be as early as the next six months," the source said, without giving further details. Surprisingly, Trai's customer satisfaction survey related to mobile services has failed to recognize the issue of call drops and poor broadband connectivity.

However, experts say that tackling the issue by making operators pay for it may not be easy. "There needs to be a mechanism in place to recognize when a call is dropped due to network issues. Also, there should be a way to confirm this so that the customer is aware of the deficiency," a telecom industry expert said.

An official of a leading mobile operator said that the companies can incorporate a mechanism to measure the rate and number of call drops. "It can be configured into the network. However, this will be done only if there is a regulation on the same," the official said, requesting anonymity.

Mobile operators blame the lack of adequate spectrum and problems related to erection of mobile towers for the growing network congestion and call drops. "We face a stiff resistance in installation of mobile towers. Also, we need more spectrum to handle the additional traffic on mobile networks," Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal said.

However, some operators have decided to recognize the issue, albeit quietly, and are compensating customers for dropped calls. Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications doesn't charge a customer for the outgoing mobile pulse where the call gets disconnected due to network problems. Similarly, Uninor gives a minute of free talk time within 24 hours for disconnections during a call.

New irritant in H-1B visas for IT companies

A new ruling by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) requires employers of H-1B visa holders to file a fresh Labour Condition Application (LCA) if the employee is moved to a worksite in a different city.

The USCIS has also issued a 90-day guideline to employers to comply with the decision and if the amended petition is not filed before August 19 for those who have already moved workers, USCIS could revoke the H-1B worker status or deny request for extension.

An employer of the H-1B applicant is required to submit an LCA to the US Department of Labour well in advance of the intended start date of employment. The LCA, once certified, is to be included in support of the H-1B application. The LCA needs to identify , among other things, the intended places of employment.

Vikram Shroff, head of the HR Law practice at law firm Nishith Desai Associates, said that with the new ruling, the US government has clarified its stand that a proposed change to the place of employment (a place which was not mentioned in the original application documentation) will require the employer to file a new LCA along with an amended H-1B petition."While the exceptions may provide some relief, this ruling is likely to affect employee mobility under the H-1B visa regime by reducing flexibility to move employees to different locations or client projects in quick time," he said.

The exceptions include moves to other cities for up to five days for things like conferences, and shortterm placements of up to 30 days in a year.

Rakesh Prabhu, partner immigration practice in ALMT Legal, said the order does not come as a surprise."Change in the location of an employment, than what has been indicated in the existing LCA, will certainly amount to 'material change'. So an amended or a new H-1B petition (along with LCA) needs to be submitted by the employer."