Going Green

Green, eco-friendly, environmental friendly...
Lately, these words have found salience amongst large retailers in the US. There seems to be a need to look and feel eco-friendly in their community. In part, to do their bit for the environment, more so to grab the increasing number of socially conscious customers



Though the retailers are working at a break neck speed to project a healthy image, they are following specific strategies to gain competitive advantage in this sphere.
Following the complete value chain, we observe that from suppliers to the customers, the retailers are trying to effect changes in all segments.
Starting with suppliers, the retailers enable sourcing eco-friendly materials to design a healthy product. Although healthy products form a valuable part of the retail store, initiatives like waste management, using recyclable paper and reduction of harmful carbon emissions from the stores form a significant part of their ‘greening’ efforts.
The above efforts also need effective communication to ensure healthy sales, thus the retailers, in tandem with manufacturers promote their products through an assortment of marketing activities.
Some effective tools in this regard are social activities and alliances with various ‘Healthy’ associations that ensures the much desired visibility amongst the consumers.
However, customers are still wary of many products which dot their shelves. Like the organic foods, the customers are full of skepticism for healthy products on offer by these companies. They feel that the products are nothing more than marketing ploys to attract the socially conscious customer base. They feel that the functional utility of these healthy alternatives isn’t much different than the conventional products.
The retailers don’t seem to be complaining though; companies like Wal-Mart, Tesco and Lowe’s sell organic apparel, natural foods as well as energy saving electronic appliances.
All the above activities make sure that the retailers get the desired clientele in their stores.

By Varun Kumar

Windows Mobile: Gen- NXT

The Windows Mobile, a compact operating system (OS) combined with a suite of basic applications is designed based on the Microsoft Win32 application. The operating system is compatible with Pocket PCs, Smart phones, Portable Media Centers, and on-board computers for certain automobiles. The current available version is Windows Mobile 6 and there are a few more new releases scheduled for 2008.

The features of the Windows Mobile are very similar to the Windows desktop version. It has the ability to convert your phone to a virtual PC that lets you stay in touch with your work even without your presence at office. Windows Live Messenger allows the user to chat online and can capture images with a high resolution embedded digital camera, listen to your favorite music and view movies (& the list never ends).

Windows Mobile is not the only operating system that is available; there are a few operating systems like Symbian, and Palm used by different mobile manufacturers like Nokia and Sony Ericsson. But unlike these operating systems the Windows Mobile enables the user to operate on applications like Microsoft Office and much more…

Windows Mobile in India
Currently the few brands of PDA and Smart phones that operate on Windows Mobile are HTC (High Tech Computers), Motorola, HP and O2 in India, but there are a few more brands that are yet to be launched with the Windows operating System.

Can You Believe It!!!!!

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile (WM) has achieved a record sales of 1, 00,000 units in just over 15 months of its launch in India, making it the fastest growing mobile operating system in the country.

"The one lakh mark is a significant achievement for any player in the messaging space. We are greatly enthused by the response we received, and at crossing this important milestone. We aim to touch the two lakh figure by end of FY08," said Sumeet Gugnani, director, mobile communications business, Microsoft India.

So People, Lets get synchronized with the future of windows mobile handsets!!!!!!!

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praveen.B.M

Nvidia – Graphics Unlimited

Welcome to the world of pixels, shaders, graphics processing units (GPUs) and stream processors. We are talking about Nvidia here, the Forbes company of 2007. If you belong to a certain category called as “gamers” (yes, we are humans too!!), then Nvidia would be on your lips 24x7 because it is the holy grail of gaming supercomputing. But, there is more to that. Nvidia is a prime example of clear vision and strategy. Not only do they set the bar, they continue to raise it time after time. Read on.

Origins
Since its inception in 1995, Nvidia has been at the forefront in graphics innovation. It’s Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang and cofounders Christopher Malachowsky (Nvidia's vice president of information technology) and Curtis Priem (retired in 2003) noted the low textured graphics which gave a less satisfactory cartoonish feel to games prevalent at that point of time. It was then that Nvidia saw a glimpse of the future. It was all about improving visual and gaming experience.

The GPU – Why is it important?
In simple terms, a GPU completely offloads the graphics processing from the processor thereby ensuring that it is only used for its computational abilities. The high graphics requirements in Windows Vista are a testament to this fact. A GPU’s primary function lies in processing high amounts of raw graphical data. Currently, Nvidia addresses different segments through its different range of cards – The Geforce series for consumer PCs, the Quadro range for animation, Tesla series for the computing requirements of scientific data, GoForce for mobiles and the GeForce M for laptops. To give an idea about the graphical requirements today consider this - an Intel Core 2 Quad processor has up to 4 processing cores on a single chip; Nvidia's new GeForce 8800 GTS has an astounding 128.

The road to glory
A decade ago games did not require an additional GPU setup because they were not graphically intensive. A processor was enough to run them. As the degree of complexity increased in game creation so did the requirements. Then emerged the GPU, which in layman terms is the graphics card. Since then, Nvidia and ATI have slugged it out in the GPU industry, which recently Nvidia has dominated with absolute authority. Not only it has enhanced gamer experience, but it allowed game developers to bring innovation into the mainstream. Its Geforce 8 series, especially the mid-range 8800 GTS and high-end 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra have confirmed its dominance in the consumer graphics card segment. These were the only cards in the market that allowed for extensive graphical quality in games at high resolutions, something impossible to experience in older cards.

Their recent acquisition of Aegia Technologies has confirmed that it aims to strengthen their already formidable presence in the gaming segment. As mentioned before, Nvidia has also proliferated into different segments as well – laptops, workstations, high performance computing and mobiles. It was the first company to release NVIDIA Quadro; the World's First Workstation GPU in 1999 and NVIDIA GeForce2 Go; the World's First Mobile GPU. Movies like Spiderman 3 and Open Season have used Nvidia’s Quadro range to render graphics. On the other hand, University of Illinois and Systems Integration have used their Tesla range of cards. Currently Intel still leads the graphics chipset market because of their integrated chipsets in motherboards and mobile phones, spaces that they still dominate. However, Nvidia has been catching up with Intel in the recent past. Nvidia’s market share has increased from 19% in Q2 2006 to 34% in Q3 2007, compared to Intel’s 40% to 38% in the same period.

The X-factor – Innovative technologies
Now, the list can go on stretching for ever but let us restrict ourselves to a few, just to get a taste of what Nvidia capable of. Its scalable link interface (SLI), a technology that allows multiple GPU (through two graphics cards) usage was the first of its kind in the world. In its present form, it continues to push and challenge its own benchmarks in the world of gaming and high end computing (Beware of the new triple SLI feature which allows usage of three cards simultaneously!). Hybrid SLI, a power saving feature which gives the option of using two different types of chipsets (e.g. a low power consuming 8500 GT with a high power draining 8800GTX) for usage in Windows Vista. Its Purevideo feature uses advanced techniques found only on very high-end consumer players and TVs to make Blu-ray, HD DVD, standard-definition DVD movies, PC and mobile device content look crisp, clear, smooth and vibrant.

The road ahead – A smooth sail?
As technologies improve, no doubt GPUs will continue to become more powerful. However, there is a question to ask – Does innovation come at a price and what are its limitations. The current range of GPUs, especially the high end GeForce 8800 GTX and 8800 Ultra consume huge amounts of power. A single card pushes the whole system usage to 360 watts when fully utilized. In addition, if one throws into the mix the technologies of SLI and triple SLI, peak wattages of 500 watts and 750 watts are just a stone’s throw away. Hence, the first challenge lies in the form of minimizing energy usage. To some extent, this problem is being addressed by many semiconductor companies like Intel and AMD through constantly reducing the size of transistors present in their chips. Intel’s Yorkfield and Wolfdale use 45nm technology which has showed reduced power usage. Nvidia currently uses a 65nm chip codenamed as G92 for its new Geforce 8800 GTS card.

However, in recent years there have been limitations to Moore’s law which states that the number of transistors on a chip would continue to double every two years. In his own words, Moore has opined that the semiconductor industry has10-15 years to go before hitting a roadblock. Then remains the competition from consoles – they offer a gaming experience (albeit at a relatively lower graphical quality compared to that of a high end PC) at the price lower than that of a high end GeForce graphics card. Since the last four years, Nvidia has always been in a position to charge at a premium because of the quality it offers. This trend is set to continue unless ATI comes up with a monster. As Jen-Hsun Huang rightly knows, if one can deliver something exciting and newer, even if for just 6-8 months, that fickle customer will be mighty pleased.

By Dipankar Mohanty

India: The World’s Prominent IT And Outsourcing Focal Point

India is undoubtedly a world leader in outsourcing. Its IT supremacy has reached overseas shores, with the government deserving appreciation for having supported the focus on various fields like education, information technology, sciences, etc.

These intensive efforts by the government on the education sector, and the industries combined have paid off. “India today has not only projected itself to IT prominence, with Bangalore named as Silicon Valley, it also acquired the faith of Fortune’s top corporations over other outsourcing locations.”

Today, India is experiencing a boom in employment generation, in both domestic and foreign markets. India provides three major outsourcing services to clients:
• Financing,
• Human Resource and
• Customer Service

The outsourcing sector contributes an amazing growth of 90% in the country’s revenue for the fiscal year 2006-2007. Maintaining its lead over other outsourcing target in the world, India is now targeting its sights on other industry like pharmaceutical with an estimated strength of over $17 billion worldwide, followed by legal services.

“The prospect looks superior for both pharmaceutical and legal services with a projected growth of at-least $50 billion worldwide for the next five years, and legal services registering $6 billion by the same number of years”.

Today, it has refined its approach to produce more offshore clients, as it is visualizing on elevating the nation as the “world’s prominent IT and outsourcing center”.

By Rohith R R