“All the world’s a stage” Mr. William Shakespeare

The corporate world is the strangest of places perhaps even more interesting than the soap operas and stage, nobody knows what the next episode promises. Consider the case of sworn tech rivals Microsoft and Sun. Till the beginning of this month the much heated debate over standards where Sun opposed Microsoft’s Open XML tooth and nail and fired missile after missile is now warming ( actually make it heating) up to Microsoft. If that sounds too good to be true then the fact the heat of the new alliance is currently a hot topic in the tech arena will make it more believable. An optimistic Forbes sees this as ” Sun Streams through Windows”. And the big news is that Sun will now begin selling computer servers running Microsoft Window! Yes, I wrote it correct it’s SUN. Read more

Published in Hindustan Times on September 14th, 2007

There are winds of change sweeping the global software market— and you could see it next in the most ubiquitous activity on the Internet: e-mail.

If current indications are anything to go by, Microsoft’s popular Outlook software and IBM’s Lotus Notes could see a part of their markets chipped off by free alternatives, though one could always argue about the richness of features.

Gmail is the service from Google that literally changed the way e-mail is accessed and stored. Three years ago when Gmail was launched it gave the flexibility which no other e-mail, not even your very own POP and SMTP (that enabled downloading of your e-mails on your desktop computer) offered.

Combined with virtually unlimited storage (currently at 2.9 gigabytes (GB) and increasing by the second), flexibility using the Ajax software framework, Gmail has been a dream-come-true for users needing large amounts of space and an easy manageability which search features provide.

Gmail and e-mail have today become almost synonymous for many, with built-in features like a browser-based chat and other applications that have added to the traction.

Currently Gmail stores your e-mail online. Which means you cannot access it when you are not connected to the Net. But all that may be about to change.

According to highly placed sources, Google has developed an offline version of Gmail. Gmail Offline will allow users to browse, reply, save drafts and do everything that currently Gmail does in an offline mode even when you don’t have an Internet connection. On current indications, this would mean that you would download a software client for this. When you get online your Gmail client would automatically synchronise (sync) with the Gmail server (network computer) and send and receive e-mail. A Google spokeswoman in India officially denies such a thing but there is ample evidence to believe Gmail Offline is in fact a reality and may soon be hitting a browser close to you. This has tremendous implications for corporate e-mail, but more on that later.

The ground for Gmail Offline was set on March 31 this year when Google launched Google Gears, an open-source technology platform under which software developers could create offline Web applications. The following three features that Google Gears provides are noteworthy – and here is where the framework for Gmail Offline is based. Read more

We are living in a digital civilization that belongs to the web and internet. Our entire user experience as a consumer, as a citizen and perhaps as a being is transforming into an online one. The Microsofts and Googles of the world are corporations that govern our very existence today. Just think about your dependence on them for your small day to day activities and you get will an answer how much they have become a part of your life. As commerce grows and business prospects of this digital economy become brighter so does the need for corporate domination. This digital age is currently witnessing a phase when corporate giants to gather a foothold in the mega market of tomorrow are fighting it out. The current user experience is between
desktop and web. While Microsoft perhaps leads in “desktop dominance” Google on the other hand at “Total Web Experience dominance”. As the desktop and web divide becomes narrower conflicting interests are taking shape between the two tech giants. Google Gears is perhaps another attempt by Google to get into the offline “desktop dominance” space which Microsoft rules. Read more

The Google Phone

We are an e-civilization and gizmos our new tools for communication, for pleasure and perhaps more. The luster of Apple’s iPhone has barely faded and there are now talks about a Google Phone, christened by some as Goophone and GPhone by others.

According to Andy Goldberg in Bangkok Post “If the speculation about Google’s planned mobile phone is even half true, the GooPhone will have iPhone users dropping their expensive devices as quickly as hot bricks.”

The Pros

Andy does have a point if the fact is considered that Google does have a strong presence in handsets as far as browsing platforms are concerned. Google reportedly also have partnerships with Vodafone, Samsung and LG. Besides that mobility has been high on Google agenda for a long time.

Another noteworthy factor is Google’s bread and butter is advertising. The next wave of advertising is likely to be on the mobile. Besides with the web and mobile merging Google could be seeing it as the next big thing for its advertising platform (read bread and butter for Google). Consider the following case. It’s dinner time. Google Phone knows exactly where you are and at the appropriate time suggests you a restaurant down the road. For Google it means revenues. Revenue is the ammunition Google needs in its battle with Microsoft, someone it has attacked right in its heart. And the defender happens to be the biggest company in the world!

The Cons

The telephony market is much more complex than the market Google is in currently. It hasn’t really been a cake walk for even somebody of Steve Jobs stature whose hyped iPhone has been getting mixed reviews. The presence of the world’s biggest companies further makes it complex. Another factor a project of this scale requires tons of money. Does Google have the money or the right partners?

Google’s Corporate Communication

The good or bad part, depending on the side you are on, about Google corporate communication is that it neither denies nor confirms such rumors. In fact it would not be wrong to say Google thrives on it. Probably the adage “any publicity is good publicity” works for Google perfectly well. Noteworthy is Google not just thrives on such publicity it probably flames it further through its informal communication channel on its Google Blog. It happened with Gmail, it happened with YouTube and throughout the same pattern has been observed.

This time again Google as usual has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors. The Google spokesperson on being contacted said “Mobile is an important area for Google and we remain focused on creating applications and establishing and growing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide. However, we have nothing further to announce.”

The Last Word

Andy may have a point considering Google’s intellectual think tank and the launch of some superb applications from Google labs in the recent years. On the other hand it is noteworthy that the mobile phone market has some of the biggest giants in the corporate world. The market has immensely matured feature wise over the last few years. Google Phone isn’t going to find it easy for sure.

Puneet Mehrotra is a columnist for HindustanTimes.com You can email him on puneet@tbe.in

“Dogs and Indians not allowed”
Circa 1945, signboard outside the elitist British Club in Calcutta

“India is the 2nd biggest investor in London”
Circa 2006, small news snippet in the business page of a leading newspaper.

How times change. In less than seven years the India Inc story is going on the success route very few anticipated. And if you thought India because of its cheap labor was the perfect back office of the world then obviously you had your facts wrong. The far east has shown it has a far bigger cost advantage in terms of back office processing and therefore the new round of mushrooming call centers in Philippines and China. India is now offering to the world what it is best at. Knowledge.

The Great Indian Brahmin

“Asathoma Sadhgamaya, Thamasoma Jyothirgamaya”

The above is a Sanskrit verse from an ancient Hindu text meaning from the unreal lead me to the real, from shadows lead me to the light. The great Indian brain is doing exactly that. Leading the world’s largest money market into light. Yes, that absolutely right. Not talking about some mundane back office processing work. The work happening here is pure pundit-giri consisting of analysis and more, about which is a hot stock, where to invest, about mergers and charting the growth of the world’s biggest financial market. In simple words brains at Gurgaon, out skirts of Mumbai and Chennai are actually running the Wall Street Market.

If that sounds like an understatement and too unreal to be real would somebody please answer what are companies like iRevna, Evalueserve, Fidelity, Copal Partners and others doing in India. Surely they can get cheaper labor in Philippines and perhaps many more countries. Read more

The chip is again making news. Again? Well again because if you have been reading about what’s happening to the chip it makes me wonder if someday chips are destined to take over our brains! Don’t believe me? Ok have a look at the recent developments.

Memory reinvention in the Winter of 2006

Imagine a memory chip which is 500 times faster than the current flash cards. Imagine a chip that uses less than one-half the power to write data into a cell. As the demand for portable storage for music, video and photo increases so is the pace of innovation. This new innovation shows that unlike flash, phase-change memory technology can improve as it gets smaller with Moore’s Law advancements. The organization behind the current innovation is the IT major IBM along with scientists from Macronix and Qimonda.

The Spring of 2007

In February this year Intel leaps us into the world of Star Trek. It announced a super computer which we can hold in our hands! Intel developed a processor that delivers supercomputer-like performance. If that isn’t enough imagine all this from a single, 80-core chip not much larger than the size of a finger nail. Wait there is more. All this while using less electricity than most of today’s home appliances. There is yet more. It can perform about “a trillion calculations per second, or deliver a performance of 1.01 teraflops”. Now that was some super performance.

The Magnetic Resonance of IBM

Well done IBM and well done Intel. IBM labs have another invention to boast of and this isn’t a simple small invention. This invention could actually wave way for a whole new world of new generation chips.

Last week IBM today that researchers at its labs have demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to visualize nanoscale objects. This technique lead by IBM’s Almaden Research Center brings MRI capability to the nanoscale level for the first time and represents a major milestone in the quest to build a microscope that could “see” individual atoms in three dimensions. “Using Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MFRM), IBM researchers have demonstrated two-dimensional imaging of objects as small as 90 nanometers, a key advancement on the path of 3D imaging at the atomic scale. Such imaging could ultimately provide a better understanding of how proteins function, which in turn may lead to more efficient drug discovery and development,” said Dr. Daniel Dias, Director, IBM India Research Laboratory.

“This research brings us one step closer in our quest to build a microscope that we hope can eventually see atoms in three dimensions,” said Dr. Dias. “This would allow scientists to study the atomic structures of molecules — such as proteins — which would represent a huge breakthrough in structural molecular biology.” MFRM offers imaging sensitivity that is 60,000 times better than current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology.

Chips get Natural

Now that was last week. This week IBM announced followed this with another interesting development. Using a “self assembly” nanotechnology IBM has created a vacuum between the miles of wire inside a Power Architecture microprocessor reducing unwanted capacitance and improving both performance and power efficiency.

What is interesting is that is the first time and probably the first ever application where a process from nature has been borrowed to build a next generation chip.
The natural pattern-creating process that forms seashells, snowflakes, and enamel on teeth has been harnessed by IBM to form trillions of holes to create insulating vacuums around the miles of nano-scale wires packed next to each other inside each computer chip.

“In chips running in IBM labs using the technique, the researchers have proven that the electrical signals on the chips can flow 35 percent faster or consume 35 percent less energy compared to the most advanced chips using conventional techniques,” said Dr. Daniel Dias, Director, IBM India Research Laboratory.

The Last Word

Well Daniel congrats to you. As for IBM that’s a very good development for two reasons. The first is the leap into a world of energy efficiency. The second and perhaps more important reason is showing the world of technology the importance of getting back to our source. There is a lot to be learnt provided we are prepared to listen, nature has it all. By the way IBM is a small correction. You didn’t “borrow” anything from nature. I guess you “deserve” it. Well done.

Puneet Mehrotra is a columnist for HindustanTimes.com email puneet@tbe.in

Is Google getting too big for its boots? I bet Steve Ballmer thinks so. I bet he even laced it with an abuse or two (remember what he called Google two years ago!). As the war between tech giants Microsoft, the biggest organization in the universe and Google, the entrepreneurial technology wonder, enters its fourth year, the precision factor gets high definition. It isn’t about buy outs, building empires, any longer. That’s already been done. It’s now time for high definition action. Attack right in the heart of the enemy. Google surely has guts of steel. But the point is is Microsoft really getting punched?

Read more

India is a unique democracy, probably as unique as unique could get. A powerful judiciary, a free press, all very good. But will somebody please explain since when has India turned a demo-militia. You think that is an exaggeration then why is the defence raising objections in commercial policy matters of the country? Will somebody please explain what is the defence’s problem in allowing the country to progress in the new global economy? Why isn’t spectrum being allotted to 3G services as per promises made by the Telecom Ministry?
Read more

A single atom in itself is a form of the entire universe. The entire universe is manifested in it. So says one of the best books I have read in my life “An Autobiography of a Yogi”. The human body is made of several atoms is a universe in itself part of the larger universe. And now Rakesh Mathur (Who is this dude? Remember Junglee and Amazon? That rings a bell, right?) decides to atomize our entire information universe in our pockets. Pockets? Yes if you keep your cell phone in your pocket that is. How about sizing a few million terrabytes of data dividing it by 20,000 times and condensing it to your hard disc. Still not happy. Ok how about condensing the data on the topic of your interest in just a few mega bytes that you can download and view on your cell phone. That sounds nice, right? That what Webaroo’s latest invention is all about. Read more

The Enigma of Being Google

‘It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity’ said Titus Livy. The breed of Steve Jobs and Larry Page seems to have perfected the excellence to maturity path. Apple is one enigma which delivers excellence and then disappears to create another masterpiece. Google has the same gene. Perfection, excellence and masterpiece are metaphors for Google. Like the thoroughly bred topper the enigma of Google lives on. This time there are rumors of a Google Phone. Read more