Daily News Digest- 15th Jan'15

Thought of the Day:

Today in History:

Following made the Headlines:

India:

• David vs Goliath: Boomerang Commerce Takes on Amazon in Pricing Battle: In a war, the real winners are almost always the arms dealers. In e-commerce, a small, three-year-old startup is emerging as a sought after `arms dealer'. Boomerang Commerce, founded by former executives of eBay and Amazon, is helping retailers stand up to e-commerce giant Amazon as it can enable them to manage prices dynamically . “We are beating Amazon at its own game on pricing,“ said Boomerang CEO Guru Hariharan, 35, who worked for over half a decade with the online retail giant, where he got a front-seat view of the revolution afoot in the industry. “It was very clear that there was a large analytical divide building up between Amazon and others.“ Sunnyvale, California-based Boomerang, which has a development team in Bengaluru, offers a platform that helps retailers match their competi tor's discounts without hurting its profit. It has found takers in five of the top 10 US retailers, including Staples, Sears and Groupon Goods. “Boomerang's cutting edge platform is a win-win solution, helping us set competitive prices, while realising strong bottom line growth by testing multiple pricing strategies,“ Anthony Chvala, executive vice president at the SWI Group: Swiss Watch Interna tional, a Boomerang client, said by e-mail.

• Wishberry Raises Rs 4 Cr from 44 Investors: A bandwagon of 44 investors, including the likes of musician Shankar Mahadevan, Google India's MD Rajan Anandan and MakeMyTrip's Deep Kalra have pumped in 4 crore in crowd-funding site Wishberry, marking a coming of age of an alternate form of funding in India. Other investors include film director Vikramaditya Motwane, who had directed movies such as Udaan, Dev.D and Lootera. “Wishberry is very crucial for creative projects as they need alternate funding routes. So, we looked for investors from diverse background,“ said CEO Anshulika Dubey, who plans to use the funds to expand her technology and marketing team. “We also want to invest in analytics on the psychology of giving in India. What emotional connect should be established to increase it,“ Dubey added. Founded in 2012 by ex-McKinsey analysts Priyanka Agarwal and Anshulika Dubey, the platform has raised ₹ 4 crore for 200 projects, which are mostly in the film and music category. Going forward, the team wants to showcase regional art, films and bands, which get eclipsed by the more prominent English and Hindi platforms.

• Phone Retailers Try New Nos. in Online Fightback: India's largest cellphone retailer, The MobileStore, has revamped its e-commerce strategy, promising four-hour delivery in 90 cities and towns in what could be the first sign of offline retail fighting back e-commerce. The retailer will offer phones on its website at ₹200-500 more than the lowest price across e` commerce sites on that day. It hopes customers will pay the extra for doorstep services such as payment by cash or card after delivery buyback of old handset, data transfer and installation of accessories ­ all bundled in the offer. Other large brick-and-mortar cellphone chains like Sangeetha Mobiles and UniverCell too are planning to reboot their e-commerce venture and scale it up with faster delivery with their stores acting as warehouses. These chains plan to offer competitive online pricing, which will be lower than their store prices but may not be the lowest compared with ecommerce portals since they would comply with manufacturer's pricing policy , which they claim their e-commerce rivals don't. The MobileStore has also tied up with price comparison websites such as mysmartprice.com and zopper.com to attract e-commerce buyer traffic and will offer online the entire suit of services it offers in its 700-odd stores.

• SpiceJet to get extension for AAI dues till Jan- end: In a reprieve for troubled lowcost carrier SpiceJet, the government has decided to extend the credit period for its dues to state- run Airports Authority of India ( AAI) till the end of January, after the airline gives a revival plan with details of fresh investment on Thursday, say senior civil aviation ministry officials. The carrier is also expected to give an investment plan to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), with new investors, led by founder- promoter Ajay Singh, seeking a waiver from an open offer. Industry sources said Ajay Singh, along with private equity investor JP Morgan, was expected to acquire stake of about a 25 per cent in SpiceJet and pump in about ₹ 600 crore to revive the airline. At Wednesday’s closing share price of ₹ 18.10 on BSE, 25 per cent stake is worth ₹ 242 crore.

• Network 18 Appoints AP Parigi as Group CEO: Network 18 Media & Investments has appointed AP Parigi as its group chief executive, as the company with investment across television, print, Internet, film, mobile content and related businesses aims to strengthen its leadership team. Parigi, who has experience spanning sectors including infrastructure, telecommunications, media and entertainment, will start his tenure on January 29, the company said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. He replaces B Saikumar, who exited Network 18 Media & Investments some time ago.

• Marico Names Ashish Joshi as New COO for S-East Asia: Consumer goods firm Marico has hired Ashish Joshi, a senior executive at Colgate Palmolive, as chief operating officer (COO) for its Southeast Asia business. Confirming the appointment, Saugata Gupta, MD and CEO of the maker of Parachute hair oil, said: “We want to drive expansion in the Southeast Asia region.“ Joshi will oversee Marico's personal care business across Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia. He joins the company from Colgate Palmolive Thailand where he was leading the customer development function. An alumnus of IIM Lucknow, Joshi has been with the oral care major for the last 12 years before which he was with Hindustan Unilever for six years. Until now, PQ Cong, co-founder of Vietnamese personal care firm International Consumer Products that Marico has acquired, was leading the firm's operations in Southeast Asia.

• Sterlite to Shut Broadband Services from Feb 12: Sterlite Networks, a Vedanta Group company, will from February 12 pull the plug on some 1.5 lakh customers of its fibre-tothe-home (FTTH) high-speed broadband service spread across six cities for reasons unclear at this point. Sterlite Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sterlite Technologies Ltd, retails broadband services in six cities under the FiON brand banner. According to documents seen by ET, the company has started informing FiON broadband customers about the stoppage of services from next month. “We regret to inform you that we have decided to discontinue our FiON FTTH broadband services to all subscribers w.e.f. February 12, 2015, for reasons beyond our control,” said the company’s customer care service department in a mail. The company assured subscribers that it would “refund credit balances in customer accounts as on February 12, 2015, within 30 days from the date of the receipt of the FiON broadband service withdrawal notice”.

• Uber may apply for radio cab licence in Delhi: In a bid to get back on Delhi’s roads, Uber is seeking a licence to operate under the revised Radio Taxi Act of 2006. The app-based rideshare service was banned in the city following the rape of a passenger in December. Uber insists it is a technology company and not a cab operator. Neeraj Singhal, head of expansion (India & the subcontinent) at Uber Technologies, told TOI, “We are evaluating options in Delhi where we have suspended operations. One of these is applying for a licence under the amended radio taxi scheme.” 

• Coca- Cola to lay off some workers in India: Beverages major Coca- Cola will dismiss some staffers in India as part of a global cost cutting exercise. The Atlanta- based company is in the process of laying off about 1,800 people worldwide. There are about 250 employees at Coca- Cola India. “ As part of The CocaCola Company’s recently announced multi- year productivity initiatives, we are redesigning our operating model to streamline and simplify our structure and accelerate the growth of our global business. As we have acknowledged previously, this redesign work will result in impacts to jobs across our global operations, including in India. Since we are still working on the redesign, we do not fully know the impact of this process yet. We have however committed that we will ensure fair, equitable and compassionate treatment of our people throughout this process,” said a Coca- Cola India spokesperson.

International:

• Neiman Marcus Expands Digital Experience: In a small space inside Neiman Marcus Direct in Dallas, the luxury chain manages a big mission — evaluating, designing and testing new technologies and applications, the kind that have been inundating the retail scene. “I can run from 10 to 15 different projects in it today,” said Scott Emmons, enterprise architect for the Neiman Marcus Innovation Lab, also known as the iLab. Two-and-a-half years ago, Emmons built the iLab, which was launched in a conference room, moved to its current 450-square-foot space, and is now expected to be relocated to a larger work area and adjourning showroom for presentations to Neiman’s executives. The iLab at the Neiman Marcus Group suggests the company’s deepening dive into emerging technologies, many bridging the online and brick-and-mortar channels. “Memory” mirrors are popping up in a handful of Neiman’s fitting rooms, beacon technology has been turned on in a few doors and recently, custom-designed “interactive” tables have been placed in a few of Neiman’s posh shoe salons — all technologies that began as discrete test projects inside the iLab and advanced to pilot projects on the selling floors.

• Blogger Traci French Founds Mavenhaus Collective: Traci French is going from pinning to selling. The popular Bliss blogger, who has 4 million followers on Pinterest, this week launched The Mavenhaus Collective with her sister, Tara Schlosser, an alumnus of Target’s public relations department. The number of designers Mavenhaus features will vary each month. In some ways, Mavenhaus is an extension of French’s Web site, Bliss, a stream of consciousness exploration of things she loves, except there’s a shopping component. On Mavenhaus, items are presented to the public and crowdsourced. If enough people commit to an item, it will go into production, eliminating waste by creating goods only for those who want them. If there’s not enough demand for an item, the sale will be canceled. Schlosser said items have different minimums, ranging from one piece to 50, depending on the product. “From the beginning, we focused on putting all of our energy into producing in smaller batches,” she said.

• Kering Appoints Sergio Rossi CEO: Kering has appointed Giovanni Giunchedi as chief executive officer of shoemaker Sergio Rossi, a spokeswoman for the group said on Wednesday, confirming a report in Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. Giunchedi has been deputy general manager at Sergio Rossi over the past five months, according to market sources. Previously, Giunchedi was sustainability director at Bottega Veneta, having held that post since 2012. He succeeds Christophe Mélard, who left his post as president and ceo of Sergio Rossi in September. Kering, parent of Sergio Rossi, Saint Laurent and other brands, has seen a flurry of management changes in recent months, headlined by Marco Bizzarri becoming ceo of the Gucci brand.

• China Allows Full Foreign Ownership of E-commerce Firms in Shanghai FTZ: China has allowed foreign investors to fully own e-commerce companies in Shanghai's free trade zone as part of a pilot scheme, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Foreign investors previously required a Chinese joint-venture partner to operate an e-commerce firm in the highly competitive market. The pilot scheme could provide an easier route for overseas companies to enter the ring and fight for a slice of one of the world's biggest e-commerce markets. Telecommunications authorities in Shanghai will regulate the scheme and the foreign investors, according to a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) statement reported by Xinhua. Since the launch of the free trade zone (FTZ) in September 2013, policy makers have trumpeted reforms and relaxed regulations to boost China's e-commerce industry, dominated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

• Alibaba Buys Control of AdChina: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Wednesday it has bought a majority stake in online marketing company AdChina to develop its online and mobile marketing capabilities. Alibaba is not disclosing the size of the stake or price of the transaction. Alibaba said AdChina will work closely with Alimama, Alibaba Group’s online marketing technology platform and Aliyun, Alibaba Group’s cloud computing unit. Together, they will develop "an end-to-end data-driven digital marketing platform that provides comprehensive online marketing services and data marketing products to businesses, online media clients and third-party service providers," Alibaba said. "As China’s leading digital advertising technology platform, we hope by combining strengths with Alibaba Group, our partners and customers will find it more convenient to use data-driven digital marketing technology,” said Alan Yan, founder and chief executive officer of AdChina.

Tech:

• Karnataka to Use Aadhaar to Log into Mobile One: The Karnataka government is planning to change the current authentication process on its Mobile One platform by providing an option to login with just the Aadhaar number. This step is expected to eliminate the need for the citizens to enter their number and a one-time password. The current login process has been cumbersome for many as it is time consuming and often fails, acknowledges Ratan U Kelkar, chief executive of e-governance Karnataka. “We wanted the platform to be secure as innumerable transactions take place on this daily ,“ he said. The Aadhaar move is expected to maintain the security of the platform while helping to bring more citizens on board. The first-of-its-kind mobile application, M-One, which provides a single window for about 4,000 services, was launched by the Karnataka government in December.Since launch, close to one lakh downloads of the application have taken place on Android and iOS platforms, state officials said.

• Samsung brings Tizen-run Z1: Battling stiff competition from lowerpriced smartphones running on Google’s budget Android One platform, Korean mobile giant Samsung got in an allnew smartphone, Z1, powered by its proprietary Tizen operating system. The new device has been priced at Rs 5,700 and Samsung will look to use the phone to counter rising competition from Android-run low-priced devices from homegrown companies like Micromax, Karbonn and Lava, apart from other players like China’s Xiaomi. Tizen, which has so far been deployed in Samsung’s smartwatches and cameras, is yet another attempt by the Korean phone major to push an in-house platform on its devices after the failure of the Bada OS, which was launched in 2009. Samsung said that Z1 (not to be confused with Sony flagship device) will help it counter rising competition not only from low-cost Android devices but also get a higher share of feature phone buyers, who will find it as a viable cost-effective option.

• Patent war: Apple, Ericsson sue each other: Apple Inc and Ericsson AB are suing each other in US courts after failing to reach an agreement over the pricing of wirelesstechnology patents used by the maker of the iPhone and iPad. Apple, saying that Ericsson is seeking excessive royalty rates, on Tuesday asked a federal court in California to rule that Ericsson’s patents aren’t essential to long term evolution, or LTE, standards. Stockholm-based Ericsson said today it filed a complaint in a district court in Texas, asking for a verdict on whether its fees are fair. While Apple’s iPhone and iPad have won over users in recent years, Ericsson helped pioneer the mobile-device market with its handsets in the 1990s. The company sold its mobile-phone business to Sony Corp. in February 2012, five years after Apple introduced the iPhone.

• Lenovo rolls out its budget tablet in India via Snapdeal: Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo has launched its latest affordable tablet TAB 2 A7-10 exclusively on Indian e-tailer Snapdeal. The PC maker claims that the ultra-portable tablet, which comes with a sub-Rs 5,000 price tag, is equipped with multi-media features and an all-day battery life. Those who are planning to buy their first tablet or a secondary computing device may bring this device home as it won't fall heavy on pockets. Looking at the features of this TAB 2 A7-10, the ergonomically-designed device is only 9.3 mm thin and weighing only 269 grams. It runs on Android 4.4 KitKat and a 1.3 GHz Quad Core processor. The 7-inch display allows users to comfortably view photos, videos and web content from any angle. Lenovo has coupled the screen with Dolby audio with an aim to make it versatile for multi-media users. The tablet is also equipped with built-in Lenovo DOit Apps, which Lenovo claims that it allows easy transfer of files, secures & speeds up the device, and syncs contacts.

• BlackBerry denies Samsung buyout rumors: After rumors started spreading earlier today that Blackberry was in the midst of talks to be acquired by Samsung – causing its stocks to rise suddenly by 29 percent – the company has offered an official comment: it “has not engaged with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry.” Blackberry then goes on to say its policy is not to comment on rumors – how nice of them to make an exception – and will talk no further about the matter.

• Google’s Project Ara pilot will be launched in Puerto Rico later this year: We finally know who will be the first to get Google’s modular Project Ara phone: the device will launch in a pilot program in Puerto Rico later this year. At its developer conference today, the company notes it chose Puerto Rico because of its high level of mobile engagement. 77 percent of its users access the internet primarily through mobile devices, and the country features both American and Latin American carriers. It also makes an optimal testing field because user’s devices vary broadly from entry-level to premium – a good trial for Ara’s buy-what-you-need approach to smartphones. As for the device itself, Google has updated the hardware slightly in its Spiral 2 prototype. The main change is that the magnets holding the pieces together are now located in the frame rather than the phone itself – this should allow modules to make more adequate use of their real estate. Additionally, Spiral 2 introduced an RF bus, which allows an antenna in one module to interact with radios in different modules. Google intends to have moved onto a ‘Spiral 3′ phase, which will bring the phone closer to parity with standard smartphone power and battery life, before the market pilot.