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Celebrating
MARCH 2012
Convergence
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Vol. 8
Issue # 10
RAILWAYS—
HIGH ON TECH TRACKS Mobility Interview We are focusing on providing local service support to partners Mobility Analyse
Smartphones, surging ahead MOBILITY Full Steam
Matrix Comsec Set to Unveil Video Surveillance Products
Mobility Enterprise
ILM—Helping Enterprise Win on www.mobilityindia.com the Storage Advantage
Trends in Convergence
Android Powering Mobiles March 2012 | 31
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Content
Mobility Voice
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Mobility News
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D-Link Wins Four 2012 red dot Design Awards
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Global Event
CeBIT 2012 Puts Spotlight Towards Data
Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire NDS Avaya Enters Into Agreetment to Acquire.... Dellj Unfurls New Enterprise Solutions Subex wins Managed Services Contract from Idea IDC-Google Android increases marketshare....
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Mobility Enterprise
Fluke's OptiFiber Pro OTDR Redefines..... Gartner - Global Semiconductor Spending... Comviva to Lead MasterCard Mobile Money... Archos Offering Android 4.0 Upgrade for G9.... HDS all set to Unveil Server Line-Up Based on.... IMImobile Deploys IBM SW to Enhance Cloud... Bharti Airtel appoints NSN to manage 4G.... IBM India lauches Smart Cloud Entry Gartner Bets Big on Personal Cloud Huawei Enterprise Unveils Enterprise Network...
ILM — Helping Enterprise Win on the Storage Advantage
Wonder Connect Unveils Wonder Lamination...
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COVER STORY
Railways - High on Tech Tracks
Mobility Analysis
Smartphones, Surging ahead Full Steam
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Trend in Convergence Android Powering Mobiles
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Mobility Interview Matrix Comsec Set to unveil Video Surveillance Products
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Mobility Review
Mobility Interview We are focusing on providing local service support to partners 15 MOBILITY
True Ace — Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos A Ray of Hope — Nokia Asha 300 Value for Money—iBall Fab9 Handset Under Budget—Nokia Lumia 610 The Budget Tab—iBerry BT07i Tablet Super performer—Zync Pad Z909 The Budget Choice—TabPlus Rio Swift and Polished—Swingtel Hello Tab 16GB
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Mobility News
Editorial Front Editor Chief Editor Asst. Editor
: Swapan Roy : Manoj Jha : S. Goswamy
Design Desk Art Director
:
Anit Kumar
Acct. & Finance Finance
:
Sandip Sarkar
Marketing & Sales Marketing Manager : Marketing Executives : Circulation Manager : Production : System Manager :
Tridip Dey Pratap Biswas Tenzin Kunkey S. Dutt Raj Kumar P. Biswas Ashish Ghosh Ashok Paul Ajay Biswas
H.O.: Delhi / Editorial Office Roy Mediative S-39, 1st Floor, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi-110020 (INDIA) Mob: 09810380882, 09811346846 Ph: 91-11-41602841, 65683896, 40536384-87 Redg.Off.: 38-B / 56 Block, C. R. Park, New Delhi-110019 (India). Branch Office: Mumbai: E-mail: roy@ mobilityindia.com Kolkata: 105/12B, Dum Dum Road, Sil Colony, Kolkata-74 Contact: 09330922965; 09903392620 E-mail : roy@ mobilityindia.com Orissa: Krushna Nagar, 5th Lane, Lalji Palli, Berhampur-760008 (Orissa) (India) Contact : Raj Kumar-09338410809 Email : info@mobilityindia.com ncn_reporter@yahoo.com Mobility monthly News Paper, Printed, Published & Owned by Swapan Roy at 38-B / 56 Block, C. R. Park, New Delhi-110019 (India). Printed at Pushpak Printer, C-96, Okhla Industrial Area-I, New Delhi-20. Retail selling price of News Paper Rs. 20/-. Annual subscription Rs. 240.
VOICE FM Climbs Up a Hill and Goes Down a Mountain
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s a matter of fact, there is almost nothing worth getting excited about in the union budget. It is unclear how this is a reform budget. What are we doing to create credibility in Indian industry? Indian enterprise business is in bad shape. Big business is running away, it is impossible for small business to operate and existing business is being strangled. This kind of scenario is surely going to continue unless the macro-economic fiscal situation improves. The government is crowding out private enterprise. Indian business wants the Goods and Services tax (GST) to become operational and Indian manufacturing wants their energy requirements to be met. India has such a national entrepreneurial urge, but there have been hardly any new start-ups in recent times. Unfortunately, this government has done almost nothing to promote business in India and allowed crony capitalism to take deeper root. No matter how we say it, the fact remains that unless you are someone who has the ear of a politician, you cannot conduct any legitimate business activity in India. Additionally, foreign investors are watching Indian business carefully and this does not go down very well with them. Recent developments, which has the government wanting to snoop even on e-mails, also doesn’t help and creates a negative environment. The only reform on the horizon is the GST—which has been talked about by the government for the past five years—but even that is not happening. India is also an argiculture focused economy but where are the agricultural reforms? Why not give agriculture an economic boost at this point in time? Even the public sector has not been able to generate enough excitement. There is hardly any proposal to build infrastructure. So all in all, it is not a enterprise-friendly budget. Swapan Roy
Editor : edit@mobilityindia.com roy@ mobilityindia.com Marketing : tridip@mobilityindia.com marketing@mobilityindia.com Info : info@mobilityindia.com Subscribe : subscription@ mobilityindia.com Web : www.mobilityindia.com 2 | March 2012
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Mobility News
D-Link Wins Four 2012 red dot Design Awards ‘With this D-Link engineers continue to contribute to the development of the rapidly evolving networking environment’
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our of D-Link’s latest each individual entry applying products, the DNS 320L the highest standards. With Network Storage, DCS 6010L their performances, the laureates Fisheye Camera, DHP W310AV did not only demonstrate an Wireless Powerline Adapter, and extraordinary design quality, but DWR 910 Petit Router have they also showed that design is been awarded the an integral part of 2012 red dot product innovative product design award. The solutions.” red dot design award D-Link pinned is the largest and its success on its most renowned pioneering D-Link international accolade Cloud technology for industrial design. and the company’s Each year, prominent renewed emphasis on designers and usability. “It’s an honor experts from all over to be recognized with the world evaluate several design awards Chung, VP products based Jocelyn this year. Our enduring of Marketing, D-Link on criteria such as Headquarters focus on the cloud degree of innovation, has delivered some functionality, and overall quality. especially innovation solutions This year, over 4,500 products that will change the way vied for this this coveted people approach networking.” distinction. said Jocelyn Chung, VP of Professor Dr. Peter Zec, Marketing, D-Link Headquarters. initiator and CEO of the red “The DNS 320L, for instance, dot design award, pointed is a convenient storage device to the high quality level of that allows our customers to the competition: “The most leverage the cloud to remotely distinguished products of the access, view, and share files and respective branch of industry multimedia using a computer faced up, not only to the tough or mobile device. Technologies competition this year again, but like the mydlink™ platform now also to the critical eye of the make setup and usage simpler jury. The experts thoroughly and more convenient than ever examined, tested and evaluated before.”
Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire NDS Acquisition of NDS Will Expand Cisco’s Ability to Transform How Service Providers and Media Companies Worldwide Deliver NextGeneration Video Experiences to Subscribers isco announced its intent has an established customer to acquire NDS Group footprint. Ltd., a leading provider of Under the terms of the video software and content agreement, Cisco will pay security solutions that enable approximately $5 billion, service providers and media including the assumption of companies to securely deliver debt and retention-based and monetize new video entertainment experiences. NDS uses the combination of a software platform and services to create differentiated video offerings for service providers that enable subscribers to intuitively view, search and navigate digital content anytime, incentives, to acquire all of anywhere and on any device. the business and operations of The acquisition of NDS will NDS. The acquisition has been complement and accelerate the approved by the boards of delivery of Videoscape™, Cisco’s directors of both companies. comprehensive platform that The acquisition is expected enables service providers and to close during the second media companies to deliver half of calendar year 2012, next-generation entertainment subject to customary closing experiences. Acquiring NDS will conditions, including regulatory broaden Cisco’s opportunities review in the United States and in the service provider market, elsewhere. The net impact to expanding its reach into Cisco is expected to be accretive emerging markets, such as to EPS in the first full year on a China and India, where NDS non-GAAP basis.
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Avaya Enters Into Agreement to Acquire RADVISION Technology Combination Expected to Allow Avaya To: • Deliver ease of use video with intuitive collaboration • Enable anywhere, anytime, any device communication • Simplify and reduce the cost of today’s complex video networks vaya Inc. announced it has signed an with Avaya’s award winning Avaya Aura Avaya and RADVISION portfolios will agreement to acquire RADVISION Ltd., Unified Communications (UC) platform extend intra-company business to business a leading provider of videoconferencing and to create a compelling and differentiated (b2b) and business to customer (b2c) video telepresence technologies over IP and wireless solution designed to accelerate the adoption communications, and also supports internal networks. Through this acquisition, Avaya of video collaboration. The RADVISION “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) initiatives. RADVISION’s SCOPIA Video product will provide customers a highly portfolio includes a full range integrated and interoperable of videoconferencing products, line and expertise integrated with the open suite of cost-effective, easy technologies and expertise serving architecture of Avaya Aura® will bridge to use, high-definition video enterprises, small business, and existing H.323 communications networks service providers. It includes and SIP-based environments, delivering collaboration products, with the ability to plug and play multiple standards-based applications, scalability and a user experience designed to mobile devices including Apple open infrastructure and endpoints be intuitive and easy to operate. At the close iPad and Google Android. for ad-hoc and scheduled of the transaction, RADVISION and Avaya Upon closing, RADVISION’s videoconferencing with room- channel partners will be positioned to deliver based systems, desktop, and complete UC Video integration, operational enterprise video infrastructure and high value endpoints will be integrated mobile consumer devices. The integrated support, and professional services.
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MOBILITY
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Mobility News
Dell Unfurls New Enterprise Solutions
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ell has announced a suite of powerful new enterprise solutions launch in India to help customers deliver results faster. Organizations are dealing with quickly changing and often unpredictable demands and require end-to-end IT solutions that allow them to respond rapidly to customer needs. With this announcement, Dell is delivering an end-to-end IT platform that raises the bar on customer-centric innovation which provides simplified management, increased performance and superior long term value. Through the launch, Dell plans to provide solutions with the best value, ease of use and flexibility to its customers and to further capture the growth opportunities in the evolving Indian enterprise market. Its portfolio of 12th generation blade, rack and tower poweredge servers optimized to run mission-critical business applications. Dell designed and built its 12th Generation servers with input from more than 7,700 customer conversations in 17 countries across four continents – focusing on their needs for innovation to deliver business results faster. The new Dell PowerEdge servers work seamlessly with Dell’s storage and networking products and deliver innovations such as: Dell’s Virtual Network Architecture (VNA) is an open framework for virtualizing, automating and orchestrating network services in data center, campus and branch environments. Dell Virtual Network Architecture provides for an endto-end 10GbE framework, which includes 10GbE Top-of-Rack and 10/40GbE distributed core fabrics. In the six months since acquiring Force10 Networks, Dell has dramatically extended the global availability of its products by more than 40 percent to more than 80 countries and added nearly 600 customers. Dell also unveiled vStart for Dell Private Cloud, which is designed to help businesses rapidly deploy their own private cloud. vStart for Dell Private Cloud will enable businesses to accelerate application and IT service delivery through a converged, pre-built infrastructure which includes the new 12th Generation PowerEdge server, storage, networking and B Rudramuni, Executive Director, Dell R&D Center, management components. Dell unveiled the Dell Quickstart Data Warehouse Appliance that will help mid-market and departmental users easily organize, access and analyze data, enabling them to take advantage of business intelligence to make more informed decisions. The data warehousing appliance, which is based on the new Dell PowerEdge servers and Microsoft SQL Server 2012, will leverage Dell Boomi for data integration. “Customers tell us they want a high-performance infrastructure that is easy to manage and helps them quickly deliver business outcomes. Today we are introducing a new set of datacenter infrastructure solutions that share key capabilities across our entire portfolio, from servers to storage to networking,” said Sathyaseelan, Executive Director (Enterprise Solutions), Dell India. Commenting on the R&D aspect of the launch, B Rudramuni, Executive Director, Dell R&D Center, said, “12th generation servers are critical component of Dell’s enterprise business and they are designed to help our customers to do more. Dell’s DNA is to listen to customers and solve their problems. This year, Dell will be spending more than $700 million on R&D, the vast majority of which will go toward enterprise solutions offerings including servers, storage, services and networking.”
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Subex wins Managed Services Contract from Idea
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ubex Ltd, a leading global provider of business support systems (BSS) for Communications Service Providers (CSPs), announced that it has won a million dollar contract for providing its industry leading ROC Fraud Management solution through Managed Services for IDEA for Postpaid and Roaming. This is a fully outsourced Managed Services deal where Subex will be running the operator’s entire fraud management operations. IDEA Cellular is the third largest mobile services operator in India, in revenue terms, with over 100 million subscribers. Subex was the partner of choice because of its domain knowledge, operation skill-sets and its ability to execute business processes based on global best practices. Subex Managed Services deliver unmatched strategic and operational advantage to the service provider. With
significant financial savings, lowered operational risks and enhanced business agility, service providers can now focus their resources on the core business-centric and customer-centric activities. Subex’s team of highly experienced and knowledgeable Fraud Domain Experts have accumulated a significant and focused understanding of fraud processes in a CSP’s environment. This provides unique flexibility and immense scalability options to the service provider. Subex’s offering opens up a complete off-the-shelf approach for the service provider to pick-and-choose specific fraud related Managed Services depending on its strategic objectives, business priorities and focus fraud environments. IDEA is a current customer of Subex’s ROC Fraud Management Solution, which is built to drive fraud prevention by eliminating known frauds, uncovering new fraud patterns, minimizing fraud run time, augmenting internal controls, and supporting continuous fraud management process improvement. “We are pleased that IDEA has signed a contract for our Managed Service offering to complement our industry leading ROC Fraud Management Solution,” said Sudeesh Yezhuvath, Chief Operating Officer at Subex. “We are seeing increased traction for our Managed Services offering, as operators are looking to reduce their Opex and improve their services to customers. Subex’s Managed Services complement existing operations and deliver a solution which is flexible to the operators business and highly scalable for future growth.” MOBILITY www.mobilityindia.com
Enterprise News
IDC - Google Android increases marketshare in media tablet to 45% in Q4 2011 IDC said Android made some strong gains in Q4 2011, thanks in large part to the Amazon Kindle Fire's success (the Fire runs a custom version of Google's Android OS). Google Android has increased its market share in media tablets to 44.6 percent in Q4 2011 from 32.3 percent in Q3 2011. IDC said Android made some strong gains in Q4 2011, thanks in large part to the Amazon Kindle Fire's success (the Fire runs a custom version of Google's Android OS). Apple iOS slipped from 61.6 percent market share to 54.7 percent. Blackberry slipped from 1.1 percent to 0.7 percent. WebOS, which owned 5 percent of the worldwide market in Q3 2011, dropped to zero in Q4 2011. IDC expects Android to continue to grow its share of the market at the expense of iOS. "As the sole vendor shipping iOS products, Apple will remain dominant in terms of worldwide vendor unit shipments. However, the sheer number of vendors shipping lowpriced, Android-based tablets means that
Google's OS will overtake Apple's in terms of worldwide market share by 2015. We expect iOS to remain the revenue market share leader through the end of our 2016 forecast period and beyond," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices, IDC. Global media tablet shipments increased 155 percent in Q4 2011 to 28.2 million units from Q4 2010. The market experienced stronger-thanexpected growth across many regions and at many price points, leading to a full-year 2011 total of 68.7 million units. IDC has increased its 2012 forecast to 106.1 million units, up from its previous forecast of 87.7 million units. According to IDC, despite the strong growth of media tablet shipments, ePaper-based eReaders also experienced stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter. That growth occurred thanks to sharp price cuts in established markets such as the U.S. and Canada, as well as increasing shipments in regions outside of North America.
Gartner - Global Semiconductor Spending to Reach $316 Billion in 2012
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orldwide semiconductor revenue is projected to total $316 billion in 2012, a 4 percent increase from 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This outlook is up from Gartner's previous forecast in the fourth quarter of 2011 for 2.2 percent growth. "The semiconductor industry is poised for a rebound starting in the second quarter of 2012," said Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Gartner. "The inventory correction is expected to conclude this quarter, foundry utilization rates are bottoming, and the economic outlook is stabilizing." In the memory sector, DRAM pricing is expected to improve beginning in the second quarter of 2012. The DRAM market will show a slight revenue increase in 2012 (up 0.9 percent from 2011) after being the worst-performing market in 2011, declining 25 percent. DRAM prices were down about 50 percent in 2011, and Gartner analysts expect pricing to rebound in part due to Elpida filing bankruptcy protection. NAND flash memory, however, is one of the MOBILITY
fastest-growing device types in 2012, with revenue forecast to grow 18 percent. Analysts attribute the NAND flash growth to a strong increase in mobile consumer devices and solidstate drives. PC unit production in 2012 is projected to increase 4.7 percent, and semiconductor revenue from PCs will reach $57.8 billion. Mobile phone unit production is expected to grow 6.7 percent, with semiconductor revenue for mobile phones totaling $57.2 billion in 2012. Gartner analysts said that further innovation focused on location and context will require advances in sensing, processing, displays, connectivity and power efficiency. "2012 should be a reasonably strong year for the semiconductor industry if the macroeconomic outlook stays in check," Mr. Lewis said. "Gartner's 2012 semiconductor forecast of 4 percent growth assumes the European debt issues stay contained, Iran/ Israel tensions stay in check, and solid growth from China." www.mobilityindia.com
Fluke’s OptiFiber Pro OTDR Redefines Enterprise Fiber Testing Nine out of ten enterprise client devices purchased in India during Q3 2011wereNComputing
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luke Networks announced the OptiFiber Pro OTDR, the first handheld OTDR (optical timedomain reflectometer) built from the ground up for enterprise fiber testing. Performance breakthroughs of the OptiFiber Pro OTDR allow users to reduce costs associated with premise fiber testing, while enhancing productivity and improving network reliability. The OptiFiber Pro OTDR creates a new standard for usability with a smartphone interface that supports gesture-based commands, and technology enhancements that simplify testing in datacenter environments. “This tester changes the game for fiber troubleshooting,” said Doug Swalec, senior fiber application engineer at Panduit Corp. “The OptiFiber Pro OTDR’s new multitouch, smartphone-like interface dramatically reduces the learning curve associated with using an OTDR. The simplified Datacenter Mode and project management tools will help industry technicians immediately deliver accurate test results and quickly archive and access data.” “Enterprise fiber use is growing at 57 percent a year,* which increases the frequency and importance of fiber testing necessary to minimize issues that can be devastating to network operations,” said Jason Wilbur, vice president of datacom cabling and installation tools at Fluke Networks. “Our new OptiFiber PRO is aimed squarely at the challenges our enterprise customers are facing today. The tester’s new smartphone interface dramatically reduces the learning curve associated with using an OTDR, and the simplified Datacenter Mode will help industry technicians immediately solve problems in mission critical datacenter environments.” March 2012 | 5
Enterprise News
Comviva to Lead MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program
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omviva, the global leader in providing mobile solutions beyond VAS, today announced a strategic partnership with MasterCard to launch a first-of-its-kind open loop Mobile Money Partnership Program. Working together, Comviva and MasterCard will help the more than 2.5 billion financially underserved consumers globally to gain access to mainstream financial services – via their mobile phone. Building upon its leadership in technology, Comviva has created a solid ecosystem of trusted business relationships and symbiotic partnerships. This has enabled Comviva to deploy a large number of Mobile commerce solutions across the globe. Comviva’s mobiquity is a multi award winning mobile financial solution that has already crossed over 55 deployments, 490 million subscribers in 38 countries. With mobiquity™ mobile users can quickly, easily and safely access a range of financial payment services. It also provides multiple proven integrations – including payment, banking, credit card and ATM switches and systems. Commenting on this strategic
partnership with MasterCard, Manoranjan Mohapatra, CEO, Comviva said, “With our established leadership in empowering mobile money technology across geographies, we are thrilled to support MasterCard’s first-of-its-kind open loop Mobile Money Partnership Program. Our dominance in emerging markets makes us as an unequivocal partner of choice for MasterCard to cater to underbanked segments with intuitive financial services. With mobile financial services turning into a key business strategy for banks and telecom vendors, this program will also give the right impetus to financial and social inclusion.” “With about five billion mobile phone users worldwide, this partnership program provides powerful, smart and convenient new payment options to people through a device that’s already in the palm of their hands today. To ensure success of this program, MasterCard has partnered with the leading players in the mobile money ecosystem. Comviva was a key partner of choice to empower billions of underserved segments in the developing market,” said Mung Ki Woo, Group Executive, Mobile, MasterCard Worldwide.
Archos Offering Android 4.0 Upgrade for G9 Tablet Owners
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rchos has released the latest version of the Android platform for its G9 tablet range -- Android 4.0.3 also known as "Ice Cream Sandwich." Starting the over-the-air (OTA) upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich will begin rolling out to G9 owner's worldwide. Just look for the notification "A" in the lower right hand corner of the device to start the upgrade. Unique Archos add-ons for Ice Cream Sandwich include full 1080p support for most video codecs, movies and TV shows description and subtitles automatic download, wireless content sharing between your device and any computer or DNLA compatible TV' and 3D video support for MKV3D files. Additional features include an optimised File Manager with full drag and drop support, Ethernet USB dongle support and the Archos remote control application that allows your tablet to be controlled by any Android device.
HDS all set to Unveil Server Line-Up Based on Intel Xeon E5 Hitachi Compute Systems to Feature Faster Performance, Higher Density and Greater Energy Efficiency Leveraging Latest Intel Processor Technology
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itachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. has announced that it will expand its family of blade and rack server products for the enterprise market. The forthcoming Hitachi Compute Systems will be based on the new Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 product family introduced today by Intel Corporation. “By leveraging the new Intel Xeon processor E5 family, upcoming Hitachi Compute Systems will feature faster performance, higher density and greater energy efficiency,” said Roberto Basilio, vice president, Infrastructure Platforms Product Management, Hitachi Data Systems. “Hitachi Compute Systems offer innovative designs with unique advantages in scalability, flexible I/O configuration and high availability. They are ideal servers upon which to build converged data center solutions. Seamless management integration with Hitachi Data Systems storage and data networking components give customers an easy operational interface. This saves costs, reduces errors and allows faster, 6 | March 2012
more effective deployment Organizations can deploy and management of virtual IT applications faster and with environments – all of which more predictability because create greater efficiencies Hitachi Data Systems converged across the data center.” data center solutions are preHitachi Compute Systems configured and optimized for are built upon a solid leading applications such as foundation of more than 50 Microsoft® Exchange 2010, years of R&D innovation and SAP HANA™ and solutions with leadership in the enterprise VMware. Hitachi converged server market. Hitachi Data Roberto Basilio, VP, data center solutions drive Systems sells Hitachi Compute Infrastructure Platforms operational efficiencies that Blade and Hitachi Compute Product Management, Hitachi can reduce costs and improve Rack servers based on Intel Data Systems centralized management of Xeon processors globally. They are part enterprise application implementations. of an expanding portfolio of pre-tested “Through its new innovations, the Intel® converged data center solutions that offers Xeon® processor E5-2600 product family tight integration between Hitachi storage, provides exceptional energy efficiency, compute and industry-standard data increased security, flexible performance networking systems. This integration delivers and the opportunity for streamlining significant advantages in enterprise-class customer’s data centers,” said Dylan Larson, reliability, deployment speed, performance director of marketing for Intel’s Datacenter and management compared to loosely Infrastructure Group. “Hitachi platforms coupled solutions offered by other vendors take advantage of these innovations to that require significantly more time to deliver the versatility and performance that configure and manage. every customer is demanding.” www.mobilityindia.com
MOBILITY
Enterprise News
IMImobile Deploys IBM SW to Enhance Cloud Services Management
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BM announced that IMImobile, a global mobile data technology infrastructure and solutions provider to telecom operators, media companies and enterprises has deployed IBM software to enhance its existing service and cloud infrastructure management processes. IMImobile is a leading provider of cloud-based mobile data services for revenue generation and customer lifecycle management across Asia, Europe, Americas, Africa and the Middle East, With its services reaching over 900 million people in 64 countries and with operator customers like Vodafone, O2,Telefonica, France Telecom, Centrica, Barclays Bank, BBC, Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, MTN, Reliance, Tata and Virgin Mobile, the company required a cloud solution that would help answer its growing business requirements. The recently completed deployment of IBM SmartCloud Foundation software
will help IMImobile further within our data centres and streamline management of its operator networks worldwide. cloud services infrastructure, With the adoption of IBM strengthen compliance software, our customers stand with stringent service level to benefit from the improved agreements (SLAs), improve operational efficiencies and infrastructure utilization and service levels. We will also be evolve process maturity with able to leverage IBM’s global compliance. Further, IBM expertise to offer enhanced software will help IMImobile service levels for the mission implement a follow-the-sun critical services we deliver to model for service management Vishwanath Alluri, Founder blue-chip customers, which across IMI’s Virtual Network and CEO of IMImobile include mobile operators, media Operations Centre (VNOC) teams spread in companies and enterprises..” Europe and India. “IBM has been providing clients with Vishwanath Alluri, Founder and CEO of a holistic approach to delivering and IMImobile said, “We have adopted a cloud- managing infrastructure services aligned to based delivery model since our inception. All evolving business priorities,” said Pradeep our products and platform are architected Nair, Director, Software Group, IBM ISA. for the cloud. Today our infrastructure “IMImobile’s cloud-based delivery and the comprises 1,000 high-end servers and 300+ scale of infrastructure demonstrate the network equipment nodes deployed both impressive power of cloud computing."
Bharti Airtel appoints NSN to manage 4G network in Maharashtra
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harti Airtel, a leading operator in India, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to build and operate its TD-LTE (time division duplex long term evolution) network in Maharashtra, one of the country’s largest telecom circles. TD-LTE is a 4G mobile broadband technology that delivers instant internet access and can support video streaming and high-definition video conferencing. The launch of commercial TDLTE services later this year will offer Bharti Airtel subscribers in Maharashtra a much improved experience when using bandwidth-intensive applications, with more consistent network coverage and faster response times (low latency). Bharti Airtel will deploy its TD-LTE network in the 2.3 GHz frequency band allocated by the Indian government for broadband wireless access (BWA) technologies. Sanjay Kapoor, CEO Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia) said, “In the next five years, data will be the main thrust in India, riding on the waves of 3G or 4G technologies. As per industry estimates, mobile data traffic in the country will increase nearly 100-fold by 2015 MOBILITY
and consumers will stream nearly 600 hours of video content every second, thus paving way for the ensuing data revolution! LTE provides ultra high speed data access, in conjunction with 3G, this will lead the data revolution and drive fundamental changes in individual lifestyles, businesses and the society at large. We look forward to the advent of 4G technology which will be launched in India at the same time, as the rest of the world.” Being part of India’s large-scale 4G commercial rollout, Nokia Siemens Networks will deliver the TD-LTE network and end-user data devices that can provide data speeds of upto 100 megabits per second (Mbps) as specified by 3GPP. The company will use its newly introduced and industry’s first TD-LTE 6 pipes radio*. This integrated solution considerably reduces site space and the operator’s total cost of ownership per site compared to the traditional approach of using one remote radio head per sector. Nokia Siemens Networks is widely deploying this TD-LTE solution to commercial customers in Russia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
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IBM India launches Smart Cloud Entry
BM India announced the launch of the IBM Smart Cloud Entry, specifically designed to address customer requirements in India. The IBM Smart Cloud Entry is an entry-level private cloud offering that is simple to deploy and easy to use. The IBM Smart Cloud Entry enables organizations to quickly deploy self-service provisioning of virtualized workloads, allowing them to easily start the transition to a cloud-based infrastructure and reap the benefits of a cloud delivery model. It uses a simple interface to provide the best overview, while increasing IT efficiency and lowering administration costs. Users can now request and provision an environment quickly through an easy-to-use web-based interface, while IT managers can monitor and manage this environment for improved efficiency and utilization of the data center. This enables rapid scalability by allowing additional servers or blades to be added to the cloud infrastructure. It also includes basic workload metering to support a "pay-per-use" business model. A new report from The Economist Intelligence Unit and IBM has found that among 572 business leaders surveyed, almost three-fourths indicate their companies have piloted, adopted or substantially implemented cloud in their organizations – and 90% expect to have done so in three years. And the number of respondents whose companies have “substantially implemented” cloud is expected to grow from 13% today to 41% in three years. “Cloud computing is much more than simply saving on IT implementation costs because it offers an enormous opportunity to innovate. With the IBM Smart Cloud Entry, we will enable customers to transition smoothly to a cloud-based infrastructure through an easy-to-use web-based interface. The solution is competitively positioned for Indian enterprises to easily tap in to the benefits of Cloud,” said Rahul Bindal, Vice President, Growth Initiatives, Systems and Technology Group, IBM India /South Asia.
www.mobilityindia.com
March 2012 | 7
Enterprise News
Gartner Bets Big on Personal Cloud Says Personal Cloud Will be the Center of Digital Lives by 2014
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he reign of the personal computer as the sole corporate access device is coming to a close, and by 2014, the personal cloud will replace the personal computer at the center of users' digital lives, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner analysts said the personal cloud will begin a new era that will provide users with a new level of flexibility with the devices they use for daily activities, while leveraging the strengths of each device, ultimately enabling new levels of user satisfaction and productivity. However, it will require enterprises to fundamentally rethink how they deliver applications and services to users. "Major trends in client computing have shifted the market away from a focus on
whirlwind in the client computing space, leaving many enterprises asking what comes next and what the environment will look like in five years. "Many call this era the post-PC era, but it isn't really about being 'after' the PC, but rather about a new style of personal computing that frees individuals to use computing in fundamentally new ways to improve multiple aspects of their work and personal lives," Mr. Kleynhans said. Megatrend No. 1: Consumerization — You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet Gartner has discussed the consumerization of IT for the better part of a decade, and has seen the impact of it across various aspects of the corporate IT
and increased the options for how IT organizations can implement client environments. Virtualization has, to some extent, freed applications from the peculiarities of individual devices, operating systems or even processor architectures. Megatrend No. 3: "App-ification" — From Applications to Apps When the way that applications are designed, delivered and consumed by users changes, it has a dramatic impact on all other aspects of the market. These changes will have a profound impact on how applications are written and managed in corporate environments. They also raise the prospect of greater cross-platform portability as small user experience (UX) apps are used to adjust a server- or cloud-resident application to the unique characteristics of a specific device or scenario. Megatrend No. 4: The Ever-Available SelfService Cloud The advent of the cloud for servicing individual users opens a whole new level of opportunity. Every user can now have a scalable and nearly infinite set of resources available for whatever they need to do. The impacts for IT infrastructures are stunning, but when this is applied to the individual, there are some specific benefits that emerge. Users' digital activities are far more selfdirected than ever before.
personal computers to a broader device perspective that includes smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices," said Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner. "Emerging cloud services will become the glue that connects the web of devices that users choose to access during the different aspects of their daily life." The past two years have been a 8 | March 2012
world. However, much of this has simply been a precursor to the major wave that is starting to take hold across all aspects of information technology as several key factors come together: Megatrend No. 2: Virtualization — Changing How the Game Is Played Virtualization has improved flexibility www.mobilityindia.com
Megatrend No. 5: The Mobility Shift — Wherever and Whenever You Want Today, mobile devices combined with the cloud can fulfill most computing tasks, and any tradeoffs are outweighed in the minds of the user by the convenience and flexibility provided by the mobile devices. The emergence of more-natural user interface experiences is making mobility practical. "The combination of these megatrends, coupled with advances in new enabling technologies, is ushering in the era of the personal cloud," said Mr. Kleynhans. "In this new world, the specifics of devices will become less important for the organization to worry about. Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role. Access to the cloud and the content stored or shared in the cloud will be managed and secured, rather than solely focusing on the device itself." MOBILITY
Enterprise News
Huawei Enterprise Unveils Enterprise Network & Server Products at CeBIT 2012
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uawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has announced the launch of multiple enterprise products at CeBIT 2012, including S9700 series highend switches (3 models), S5700-LI series mid-range switches (8 models), AR200/150 series enterprise access routers (7 models), WLAN products (7 models of ACs and APs), Open Service Platform (OSP) forum and TecalTM V2 servers (6 models) that are supported by Intel Xeon E5 processors. Based on its customer-centric approach to innovation, these new products demonstrate Huawei's continual efforts to meet the everchanging ICT needs of global enterprises, providing customers with a better way to do business. “Customer-centric innovation is at the core of everything we do at Huawei Enterprise,” said David He, President of Marketing, Huawei Enterprise. “When it comes to designing hardware solutions, we approach innovation from the viewpoint of our customers, examining what their specific needs are in terms of features and operability. Our new WLAN products, switches, routers and servers embody this focus on the customer and we are confident that our enhanced product portfolio will set new industry standards.” Switches, access routers and WLAN products that promote the evolution of "10G Cloud Campus", “Enterprise Branches” and "Enterprise Mobility" The S9700/S5700-LI series switches
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supplement Huawei's current campus network product family. Among these new products, the S9700 provides a 320 Gbps per slot switching capacity and the highest 10GE/40GE port density in the industry to cope with the emerging highdefinition video services and fastdeveloping "10G cloud campus". In addition, the S5700-LI follows an energyconservation design principle, adopting an innovative port sleeping, hibernate David He, President and awakening of Marketing, Huawei Enterprise technology to reduce the total power consumption by over 40%. WiFi technology is promoting the evolution of enterprise networks to integrated wired/wireless networks, and enterprises have an urgent need for a unified network management platform to manage wired, wireless, and IT devices. Huawei eSight enterprise network management software will help enterprises manage and maintain their network devices on a unified basis and improve network service quality. The 7 models of AR200/150 enterprise access routers offer various industry-leading wireless network solutions for customers to choose from.
Wonder Connect Unveils Wonder Lamination Sheet
onder Connect a company dealing in a wide range of mobile phone accessories, has been selling s o m e exclusive accessories and has a very good distributor a n d dealer network in different parts of the country. The company has recently introduced, a special quality lamination roll which lasts at least three times longer than the normally available lamination sheets in the market. The lamination sheet is of same weight and thickness in comparison with the normal lamination sheets, but is durable because it is made of superior quality materials. At the same time, this lamination sheet does not get pale in longer period and reduces many times, the chances of getting scratches. This special lamination sheet also helps reducing the reflections while in the sun and at the same time, protects the eyes of the consumer. This feature was so far limited to the high end scratch guards only. Manufactured with high grade ULTRA THIN POLYMER MATERIAL, a company dealing in a wide range of mobile phone accessories, has been selling some exclusive accessories and has a very good distributor and dealer network in different parts of the country. The company has recently introduced, a special quality
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The AR G3 routers, based on industryleading third generation architecture, are supported by multi-core CPUs and nonblocking switching network and integrate voice, data, and security services on one device. This all-in-one design extends cloud-based services to enterprise branch networks, while reducing customer's investment by 30%. In addition, the AR G3 routers are based on the Open Service Platform (OSP), allowing partners and end customers to customize based on their needs and requirements. These new products launched today provide more flexible choices for enterprises to keep pace with the fast development of cloud computing, WiFi, and smart terminal technologies in the "10G cloud campus" and "enterprise mobility" era. Liu Shaowei, President of Huawei Enterprise network product line, said: "Huawei will continuously increase investment in the enterprise network market and devote our efforts to providing competitive products and solutions though constant innovation." “TecalTM servers have witnessed outstanding growth in the past three years. With a wide range of products including rack servers, blade servers, high density and scalability data center servers, Huawei servers are used by top ISPs and other wellknown enterprises all over the world,” said Chen Shijun, General Manager of Huawei Server Product & Storage Domain.
lamination roll which lasts at least three times longer than the normally available lamination sheets in the market. The lamination sheet is of same weight and thickness in comparison with the normal lamination sheets, but is durable because it is made of superior quality materials. At the same time, this lamination sheet does not get pale in longer period and reduces many times, the chances of getting scratches. This special lamination sheet also helps reducing the reflections while in the sun and at the same time, protects the eyes of the consumer. This feature was so far limited to the high end scratch guards only. Manufactured with high grade , this lamination roll matches the quality of any high end, expensive scratch guard, available in the market. Now, the retailers can spare themselves from the huge investment in terms of model wise scratch guards for numerous brands and models, at the same time, being able to serve every brand and model without the huge investment and fear of leftovers in the longer run. Shopkeepers now need to concentrate on perfecting the art of lamination instead of searching for scratches guards of numerous brands and models, thus investing the savings on something else in their outlets. To know more, please visit: www.wonderconnect.com
www.mobilityindia.com
March 2012 | 9
Cover Story
Railways - High Indian Railways is one of the biggest enterprise when it comes to procuring ICT applications and solutions and most of the ICT vendors are targeting this big enterprise with their focused strategy
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Cover Story
on Tech Tracks K
eeping in mind the sheer size and nature of operations that the Indian Railways goes through on a daily basis, it is surely one of the biggest enterprise when it comes to buying IT and telecommunications products and solutions. The vision of Indian railways is to tap revenue generation potential in the telecom and IT sector, using the its 64,000-km long 'right of way' for laying optic fibres, signalling towers and other infrastructure assets that Indian Railways already owns. This is likely to be done in collaboration between the RailTel Corporation and private sector companies in a transparent framework. Three proposals are under consideration of ICT expert Committee headed by Sam Pitroda for expanding the RailTel business. These are:(a) Provision of OFC on balance 15,000 Rkms of Indian Railway network. (b) Provision of Broadband connectivity to 50,000 Panchayats using RailTel’s existing OFC network. (c) Provision of Broadband services to public on RailTel OFC network on PPP basis. Provision of OFC on balance 15000 Rkms is expected to be completed by 2014. Broadband connectivity to 50000 Panchayats is likely to take off by March 2011 for completion by 2015. Vendors targeting Indian Railways According to Puneet Saxena, DGM Sales, Huawei Enterprise, at present Government of India is investing heavily in Indian Railways for upgrading their Signal and Telecom Networks Infrastructure. “Keeping this in mind, Huawei Enterprise is targeting Indian Railways in a big way for providing MOBILITY
E2E communications solutions to carry voice, video & data traffic in a seamless manner. This high speed communication network will provide a common pipe for transmission of information relating to all IT, voice & video applications. RAILTEL is considered to be strategic account for Huawei because we believe that Huawei has capability to create transport network for RAILTEL based on SDH, DWDM, IP technology. Huawei is also positioning them to participate in big revenue projects from RAILTEL which includes Broadband connectivity to 50000 Panchayats for catering Broadband services. As far as Huawei enterprise group is concerned, Indian Railways is a strategic and key account and we are looking forward to big business opportunity coming from this sector,” he explained. Speaking about the Railways opportunity, Nafis Kazim, Senior Vice President, Shyam Networks say that everything about Indian Railways is special. “Indian Railways is a special enterprise. The sheer size of this government organisation makes it important and critical for the country. Actually, the Indian Railways' contribution to national growth has been unparalleled. It has knitted together the country, by connecting all the regions, geographies, and almost all the states, in a fabric of single transport network. So whether it is procuring IT infrastructure or networking focused solutions, this huge enterprise has always been on the trend setter mode and creates bigger opportunities for technology innovation and implementation at the national level. We are ideally poised to cater to the technology oriented networking needs for the Railways. Shyam is a globally recognised manufacturer of both GSM & Non-GSM products. We are positioning a big portion of our Non-GSM products www.mobilityindia.com
towards the Indian Railways so this enterprise holds big potential for us,” he is quick to add on. And as Hemal Patel, CEO, Elitecore Technologies puts it Indian Railways is a huge enterprise opportunity and holds tremendous potential. “We would obviously be looking at Railways opportunity through our prism. Indian Railways uses Internet for Online Booking. But apart from that, it is using Internet for its back-end office management and administration. So, it will be needing a Firewall, Application and Content Filtering and Intrusion Prevention Systems. Cyberoam's Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances provide Firewalls and IPS protects IR from any unauthorized incursion attempts and DDoS attacks originating outside and inside the network. Application and Content Filtering are necessary to restrict employees from accessing any objectionable application or content. Cyberoam's recent security feature - Web Application Firewall is a Solution that can help IR protect its Web servers from external attacksdefacements, SQL injection attacks and more,” he adds on. What Railways Want? In today’s scenario, Indian Railways is all fired up when it comes to incorporating cutting edge technology and communications solutions and it is this technologically progressive environment within the Railways that is attracting global vendors to eye this market opportunity. “We have world-proven solution for Railways sector which are working successfully across the globe. Huawei has complete product portfolio which includes Transmission products (SDH, CWDM, DWDM), IP products (Routers and Switches), and Datacenters infrastructure March 2012 | 11
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Secondly, we have Cyberoam Central Console - appliances that offer flexibility of hardware CCC appliances and virtual CCC appliances to provide centralized security management across distributed Cyberoam UTM appliances, enabling high levels of security for MSSPs and large enterprises. And thirdly, we are positioning Cyberoam IView Appliances- which offers centralized logging and reporting of network and user activity over multiple devices across distributed locations, providing real-time and historical information of security events to MSSPs and large enterprises. Available as an open source solution and as a dedicated appliance, it offers intelligent logging and reporting with Layer 8 Identity-based visibility,” he explains. Talking about Shyam Network’s offering targeted towards Indian Railways, Nafis Kazim says that with its unique mantra to locally manufacture, globally recognised telecom products and solutions, Shyam is offering a wide range of solutions directed towards the burgeoning enterprise segment and tap the Indian Railways opportunity. Looking at special requirements coming from big segments like the Indian Railways, Shyam is positioning a wide range of Data products, which can deliver integrated technology solutions that will go on to improve safety and security, comply with i n d u s t r y standards, and minimize operating expenses as well. Delivering an unparalleled competitive “Keeping this in mind, Huawei turf, Shyam Enterprise is targeting Indian products and Railways in a big way for solutions are locally providing E2E communications manufactured solutions to carry voice, video in India and are & data traffic in a seamless built to perform manner. This high speed communication in extreme environmental network will provide a common pipe for conditions. These products transmission of information relating enable secure and reliable to all IT, voice & video applications. Wireless Connectivity, Remote Monitoring, Physical Security, RAILTEL is considered to be strategic Sensors, and Video Surveillance, account for Huawei because we believe supported by a single wireless that Huawei has capability to create communication platform that transport network for RAILTEL based on fulfills all security requirements in a cost-effective manner. This SDH, DWDM, IP technology." is a biggest advantage that Puneet Saxena, DGM Sales, Shyam Networks brings with all Huawei Enterprise its product range.
solutions. Huawei has developed the intelligent railway solution including GSM-R, Surveillance Centre, Dispatching Center, PIS (Passenger Information System), AFC (Auto Fare Collection), HRC (High Speed Railway Communication), Recording Center and OA (Office Assistant), Railway Video Surveillance, Data Network Services, Transmission Network solution, Unified communication and collaboration solution, Video Conference and Telepresence solution. All of these solutions, are directed towards streamlining the operation, keeping the services running safely, enhancing passengers and cargos safety, and improving travelers’ satisfaction. These solutions are also directed towards helping Railways build a safe, efficient and passenger satisfied intelligent Railway communications infrastructure,” Puneet Saxena from Huawei confirms. Targeting Railways for its various products and solutions, Hemal Patel from Elitecore says that Elitecore is eyeing the Railways opportunity with a three pronged approach. “Firstly, we have Cyberoam UTMCyberoam Unified Threat Management appliances that offer comprehensive security to organizations ranging from large enterprises to small and branch offices. Multiple security features integrated over a single, Layer 8 Identity-based platform make security simple, yet highly effective. Cyberoam, with its Extensible Security Architecture (ESA) and multi-core technology carries the ability to combat future threats to organizations' security.
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Shyam’s product basket offers following solutions: 1) E1 Wireless ISM Band Radios for providing redundant connectivity when Fibre cuts down. 2) Complete range of CCTV & Surveillance Solution including Cameras, VMS & Video Analytics. 3) Wide range of Repeaters for providing limitless connectivity. 4) L2 Switches for networking. 5) Wireless ADSL Routers for having WiFi connectivity. Technology Trends in Railways As Puneet Saxena from Huawei Enterprise puts it, telecommunication is an essential input for operating a rail transport system efficiently and Indian Railways is investing heavily in signaling and telecom infrastructure to put the Indian Railways at par with International Rail networks. “The voice network of Railways will be migrated to IP using Voice over IP (VOIP) technologies. This will provide the advantage of communication from anywhere to anywhere in a seamless manner. Implementation of High speed rail communication is also on the discussions which puts the Indian railways at par with International rail network. If it happens it requires lot of wireless and wire line communication network which will become the gold mine for all the major players in this field,” he affirms. Stressing the fact that Indian Railways is all about connecting common people, Nafis Kazim from Shyam Networks states that as an organisation that is built for the common people of the country, Indian Railways has a huge focus towards making sure the safety & security of the passengers. “In this regard, market for CCTV & Surveillance along with Integrated Security System has a vast potential in the near future. Similarly E1 Wireless links hold big potential for Railways where network is needed to be redundant both in Wireline as well as Wireless. This is where the Indian Railways is moving to,” he adds on. The Road Ahead With global vendors setting their eye closely on this burgeoning segment called Railways, the future surely looks bright and sunny. Technology is sure to be right at the helm of activities for Indian Railways and become a great enabler as far as taking Railways services to the common masses is concerned. And as a big positive Indian government has shown great commitment MOBILITY
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and promise towards making sure that the Indian Railways surges ahead on technology wheels and deliver more value for its end customers. Railways at a Glance Railways Signalling Systems to be Modernized to the Full Signalling system on Indian Railways is set to get an injection of will be modernization with the provisioning of advanced technological features. These would include Panel/ Route Relay Interlocking covering 700 more stations by 2014 thereby completing 5500 out of the required 6200 stations; Interlocking of more than 1500 level crossing gates in addition to the 10000 already interlocked, leaving a balance of 250; complete track circuiting at 1250 out of 6200 identified stations, installation of axle counters at 3000 more stations and provision of isolation at the remaining 625 stations. The erstwhile Minister of Railways Dinesh Trivedi introducing the Railway Budget for 2012-13 in Parliament has already said, one of the significant advancement would be the provisioning of Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS), which ensures automatic application of brakes whenever a driver over-shoots a signal at danger, thereby eliminating chances of collision of trains. He has said that the Railways is taking necessary action to ensure that TPWS technology is suitably adapted to Indian conditions. Besides the efforts to develop TCAS (Train Collision Avoidance System) integrating features of different technologies will be continued by RDSO. These would also be a pre-requisite to increase speed of passenger trains to 160 kmph. Panel Mulls Rs. 8 trillion Railways modernisation plan A high-level panel on railway modernisation, headed by technocrat Sam Pitroda, has suggested a total funding of over Rs. 8 trillion (or Rs. 800,000 crore) for revamping the Indian Railways network in the next five years. It may be recalled that the expert group was formed September last year to recommend ways and means to modernise Indian Railways so it is able to meet the challenges of economic growth, aspirations of the common man, new technology and an expanding market while focusing on social and strategic requirements of the country. Among the major recommendations MOBILITY
of the report are “We would obviously modernisation of 19,000 be looking at Railways km out of the total 64,000 km of existing opportunity through our track, strengthening prism. Indian Railways of 11,250 bridges to uses Internet for Online sustain higher load Booking. But apart at higher speed and from that, it is using eliminating all level crossings. Internet for its back-end The panel has office management and also suggested administration. So, it will be needing implementation of automatic a Firewall, Application and Content block signalling, deployment of on board train protection Filtering and Intrusion Prevention system with cab signalling on all Systems. Cyberoam's Unified Threat other routes and introduction of Management (UTM) appliances provide GSM based mobile train control Firewalls and IPS protects IR from any communication system. unauthorized incursion attempts and In order to attract private investment, the panel suggested DDoS attacks originating outside and development of public private inside the network. " partnership PPP models and Hemal Patel, CEO, policies in various areas to Elitecore Technologies augment core capabilities such as stations and terminals, high functional at 76 stations by 31st March speed railway lines, elevated rail corridor, private freight terminals, 2012 and at remaining stations in 2012leasing of wagons, locomotive and coach 13. The CCTV System will be installed in manufacturing, captive power generation the stations area in such a manner that it covers the entire station premises including and renewable energy projects. concourse, waiting halls, platforms, overRailways plans integrated security at bridges. The CCTV system will be internet 202 stations Indian Railways is implementing protocol IP based and will have important Integrated Security System at 202 video analytics which will give automatic important and sensitive stations of the signals in case of suspected baggage, excessive crowd, intrusion by unauthorized country. The persons. 'Integrated Baggage screening of the passengers Security System' will be done through large size X-Ray provides multiple machines. Bomb Detection & Disposal screening and System will be available with latest checking of equipment at important stations. passengers right from the point of entry. Comprising of “Indian Railways is a special latest machines enterprise. The sheer size of and software, it this government organisation will supplement makes it important and critical conventional for the country. Actually, methods of security which the Indian Railways' contribution to are also being strengthened. national growth has been unparalleled. There will be dedicated It has knitted together the country, by control rooms at strategic connecting all the regions, geographies, locations for round the clock monitoring through the Close and almost all the states, in a fabric of Circuit TV (CCTV) based single transport network." surveillance system. Nafis Kazim, Senior Vice President, Shyam Out of these 202 stations, the Networks system is scheduled to become www.mobilityindia.com
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www.mobilityindia.com
MOBILITY
Mobility Interview
"We are focusing on providing local service support to partners" What is the focus of Mercury today when it comes to pushing the handsets in the country? Mercury launched their Mobile handset range in late 2010 with focus of the mid-end segment. 2011 has been a game changer for Mobile Handset business, it has witnessed sudden evaporation of some brands which had positioned themselves in the entry segment and also witnesses big brands coming in the mid and entry markets. At Kobian, we don’t compromise on product quality or features and thus we couldn’t compete with many local brands and parallel brands in the market. But 2011 has been a sieve for separating the brands that are serious in this business and has given confidence to us on our product range and support which we offer to our partners. Mercury’s focus is for both the mid end and high end market handset market with highlight on smart phones with latest operating software, applications and features. What kind of market trends are governing handset intake in the Indian market and what kind of market share are you expecting to garner in India? The market size is huge and percentage of market share is not our target. We are catering to select areas especially focusing on upcountry markets where people need good quality product backed with a local service support. We provide both the features along with being affordable. In your opinion how big is the handset market now in India? And where is it likely to move ahead? The volumes are huge and the expected market size is over 225million units. 2012 should witness at least a 20-25% growth especially in the Smart phone segment. The Multi-core processor based Smartphone’s provide a boost to usage like Gaming, Auto stereoscopic 3D enabled handsets, video streaming, HD (high definition) video recording and playback, video conferencing, HDMI user interface. Dual-core processors will enable full HD video playback and recording at 1080p resolution, which is a big leap forward from the 720p video playback currently available in top present day Smartphone models. Beyond full HD support, dual-core processors would enable Smartphone’s to run more demanding applications like videoconferencing and video streaming. These Smartphone’s will also provide a significantly higher speed and performance for multitasking in comparison to 'first generation' Smartphone’s. What is your go to market strategy in India? Which market segments are you looking at for now? Our go-to-market strategy is highlighting on the features and local service support to partners. There are numerous brands available in the market with very aggressive price but the consumers face challenge on the service which is the USP with Mercury. Our main focus is in the B, C, D class cities MOBILITY
where the user is aware and does not want to buy amongst the various parallel and fake brands which have flooded the market. They need elegant and feature rich models at an affordable price band and with a proper service backup. How many channel partners and distributors do you have for your set of Handsets in India? Currently we have a Distribution Partner focused for specified region and we are catering to a channel base across country. We shall be finalizing new partners for the latest Smartphones and other models that are planned for launch later this quarter. What is your opinion on potential of the rural market when it comes to pushing the handset envelope? Rural market is a growing market and holds great potential for exploring and developing. But success depends on the service infrastructure which can back up the sales in such region as we have witnessed many brands who have sold in volumes but lost the market and customer confidence due to lack of service support. What do you feel about the introduction of new technologies like cloud computing, virtualization, 3G or LTE in India? Are these technologies likely to increase intake for smart phones in India? Technology growth is a booster for the mobile industry. These technologies open new avenues for newer products supporting higher end applications and improving the consumer experience. We expect a big leap in the Smartphone business which shall be affecting the regular Laptop and PC business.
At a time when the Indian market is getting flooded with different national and international handset brands, it is getting extremely difficult for vendors to create differentiation and this is where Kobian is focusing heavily towards providing local service support. Mobility spoke with SUSHMITA DAS, Country Manager- India, Kobian Pte Ltd about the company’s current plans and future course of strategy for India. www.mobilityindia.com
What are some of the biggest challenges that you are facing today? The influx of no-brand and numerous local brands who bring in products inconsistently and disturb the market operating prices. There is an artificial pressure created to bring the mid and high end products to a cheaper price band which eventually affects the product quality. A structured business always helps the growth of the business fraternity as a whole and creates platform for coexistence. The imbalance in this area is the major challenge in today’s mobile handset market. Please share with us some of your recent milestones as a company? Mercury has been one of the first to launch the sub10K tablets which is not only price aggressive but also feature rich. Mercury mTab has been one of the very few with the higher version of operating software and packed with all features and applications at the above price band. Kobian plans to repeat the ground breaking launches again and shall be announcing the latest Tablet and Mobile Handset with similar attractions in a few weeks. March 2012 | 15
Global Event
CeBIT 2012 Puts Spotlight Towards Data Data was undoubtedly one of the biggest focus areas for global vendors and keynote speakers like IBM, Microsoft, HP, Huawei and SAP conference sessions
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lobally speaking, Germany’s CeBIT exposition is an unbelievably vast series of more than 30 airplane hanger-sized halls, (we have only two such halls at New Delhi, India’s Convergence Exposition) with thousands of vendors taking up spacious booth space coming from all parts of the globe and a seemingly infinite number of products on display to the attendees moving from one exhibition hall to another. Trying to absorb it all is overwhelming - not unlike the challenges facing enterprise IT departments grappling with data usage and maximizing returns from data. This year, the official theme of CEBIT 2012 was "managing trust", and data became the most discussed hot topic with most of the global vendors, keynote speakers and conference sessions that were delivered as part of this year’s CeBIT. Though they sometimes differ on the particulars, most IT industry professionals broadly define data as the unstructured information that's accumulating inside and outside organizations due to the proliferation of Internet-enabled mobile devices, the surge in social mediagenerated content and the increasing speed of transactions that take place both online and off. In his keynote address on CeBIT's first day, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said that Microsoft strategy towards data would be based on using Windows Server and its System Center management software to handle processing workloads, then connecting to what he called ublic data sets in its Azure marketplace and offering the results through common productivity tools like Microsoft Office and SharePoint. "Microsoft will be open and flexible using Windows Azure and SQL Server," he said. Data was also the focus of a panel discussion at CeBIT, where a number of companies talked about how they are starting to utilize data in interesting ways. 16 | March 2012
At Vodafone Germany, for example, the company has 350 million customers, 37 million of which are mobile customers, according to its chief commercial officer for the enterprise business unit, Jan Geldmacher. Hence, Vodafone is now working with GPS System provider TomTom, to produce predictions on potential traffic congestion based on the movement of mobile customers, he said. On the other hand, US based IT heavyweight, IBM, is using data in some parts of South America to forecast major rainfall before it hits cities. "People often talk about real time, but real time is sometimes too late," said José Carlos Duarte Gonçalves, Big Blue's CTO from Brazil. "Many times we need information and critical data in advance. All this can improve our prediction capabilities." Interestingly, the level of data mining that goes into such projects can raise concerns around data privacy, but much depends on how granular the analysis becomes, said Yves de Talhouët, senior vice-president and managing director of HP's EMEA region. "Most of the big data analysis is about one individual but about trending," he said, using healthcare as an example where large data sets could unlock helpful insights on treatment and providing better care.
Information doesn't have the same value all the time, de Talhouët added. "When we talk about privacy/security, have to think about information aging and when does it have value and when does it stop having value? As we go into more realtime interaction, information starts having an extremely short life-cycle. He said. Talking about an ICT approach to a smarter enterprise, John J. Roese Senior Vice President & General Manager, North American R&D, Huawei Technologies said that handling data with efficiency is one of the most important parts towards helping enterprise become smarter and eventually more profitable. John is also the executive leader of Huawei's Enterprise Global Competency Center, which provides Enterprise technology innovation and incubation as well as sales, marketing and operations
support for Huawei's Enterprise field sales and marketing teams worldwide. Beyond trending, however, many companies are starting to eye big data as a means to get a better understanding of a particular customer's likes and dislikes so they can tailor products and services accordingly, said Steve Garnett, chairman and president of Salesforce.com in Europe. "The ultimate idea is of one-to-one marketing," he said, adding that companies are also beginning to invest a lot more in monitoring social media conversations to www.mobilityindia.com
MOBILITY
Global Event
of the survey, which was conducted in six major Western countries, further suggest that the professional segment of the tablet market will grow considerably this year. Germany’s Bitkom IT industry association has forecast sales of around 2.7-million tablet PCs in Germany alone this year – 29% up on 2011. But the fight for market share is also hotting up. At present, iOS (Apple) and Android (Google, various hardware brands) totally dominate the mobile operating systems speak directly with customers. "The days, I think, are diminishing where you buy a product or service and something goes wrong where you call the company. You go to Facebook, Google, Twitter and find out what other people are saying." As companies figure out a big data strategy, they will likely need to bring in or develop new skill sets. Kaspersky Lab CTO Nikolay Grebennikov said his firm is one of them. As part of its security research, Kaspersky creates some 70,000 malware records a day, most of them by robots, but the company is putting an increased emphasis on hiring staff with expertise in data mining and mathematical models. While a lot of hype is coming from the vendor side, IT professionals on the customer side appear to be just as interested in big data. "I did a talk about it this morning on the show floor," Laber said. "It was full." New Tablets Galore at CeBIT 2012 Global vendors such as Acer, Samsung, Dell etc Unfurl their latest Tablets at CeBIT 2012 Riding high on their convergence friendly capabilities, Tablets are getting more popular than ever and CeBIT 2012 was an ideal platform for global vendors to unfurl an array of Tablets to the world. These stylish superthin computers are not only handy for trips away or one’s living room couch, but are also increasingly making inroads into the business world. According to a recent Cisco survey of 1500 information technology (IT) managers, Germany is quite well ahead of other countries in the use of tablet personal computers (PCs) for sales purposes. Thirty-one per cent of German sales professionals today work with webtab computers, compared with the international average of 21%. And, at 29%, the figure for senior managers in Germany is only slightly lower. The results MOBILITY
market, with iOS enjoying a small lead, with a market share of 58% during the last quarter of 2011, according to a Strategy Analytics survey. However, this is likely to change when Microsoft joins the fray in the tablets market with its new Windows 8 operating system, which is designed for touchscreen applications. As a truly global ICT exposition, CeBIT is known the world over for glamorous product launches, and this year was no different. Acer, for instance, released one of the world’s first tablet computers with full high-definition resolution. The teninch screen of the Iconia A700, which features a resolution of 1 920 × 1 200 pixels, is expected to set a new standard for tablet PCs. Acer’s new flagship product, which runs on the recently released Android Version 4.0 and features Nvidia’s new Tegra3 quad-core processor and 3G connectivity, is expected to hit the shops in the second quarter of this year. Acer also released two other tablets at this year’s show: the Iconia A510, which also features a quad-core processor and has a resolution of 1 280 × 800 pixels, and the A200 entry-level model. Samsung showcased a number of much- anticipated new products, such as the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus N tablet PC, which combines high-performance hardware – a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and 16 www.mobilityindia.com
GB of on-board storage, expand- able through the use of a microSD card – with Android functionality. With its seven-inch touchscreen, the device, which weighs in at a mere 345 g, will comfortably fit into any coat pocket. Additionally, Samsung also showcased its new Slate PC, featuring Windows architecture and an 11.6-inch screen, which combines the benefits of a tablet with the performance of a notebook. Other standout features include flexible data entry – through a touchscreen, pen or bluetooth keyboard – and an integrated Trusted Platform Module, which delivers added security for business environments. On the other hand, Dell’s new Latitude ST tablet was designed for commercial users, particularly healthcare and education professionals. The unit’s 10.1-inch screen and Windows operating system can be seamlessly integrated with Dell’s Electronic Medical Records and Mobile Clinical Computing solutions, which give doctors and healthcare workers mobile access to patient files and allow them to log medical examinations and conduct research. In the education sector, the Latitude ST facilitates classroom interaction and collaboration between teachers and students. The multitouch model comes with a wide range of connectivity options, such as WLAN and broadband Internet access, an HDMI inter- face and two integrated webcams. The device’s Intel Atom processor and Windows 7 operating system provide the ideal environment for working with all commonly used Windows applications. CeBIT 2012 has surely been a top notch event and this year was no different. The event has given a positive fillip and a direction to the world of ICT and the key IT decision maker community is already looking up to attending the next year’s edition of this fabulous ICT extravaganza at Germany’s Hannover city. March 2012 | 17
Mobility Enterprise
ILM — Helping Enterprise Win on the Storage Advantage E
Information Lifecycle Management for enterprise class data is helping a lot of enterprise customers win on the storage advantage and move ahead with better managed storage solutions that last longer and deliver more 18 | March 2012
ven though most of the enterprises have long regarded their stores of data as one of their most valuable corporate assets, how this data was managed and maintained differs enormously from one geographical location to another. Originally, data was used to help achieve operational goals, run the business and help identify the future direction and
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success of the company. However, on the other hand new government regulations and guidelines are a key driving force in how and why data is being retained, as they are now requiring organizations to retain and control information for very long periods of time. So today there is two additional objectives IT managers are trying to satisfy: to store vast quantities of data, MOBILITY
Mobility Enterprise
for the lowest possible cost; and to meet the new regulatory requirements for data retention and protection. Data and Regulatory Requirements In earlier days, big and small enterprises retained data because they wanted to, today, many organizations have to retain specific data for specified periods of time. Therefore, around the world, a number of regulatory requirements, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, DOD5015.2STD in the US and the European Data Privacy Directive in the European Union are changing how organizations manage their data. These regulations specify what data must be retained, whether it can be changed, and for how long it must be retained, which could be for a period of 30 years or even longer. These regulations frequently demand that electronic data is secure from unauthorized access and changes, and there is an audit trail of all changes to data and by whom. Therefore a user can be authorized to insert data, but can never change it. When data does have to be deleted, then it would be performed by a special job, which was given privileges just for that task. What is ILM? Information today comes in a wide variety of types, for example it could be an email message, a photograph or an order in an Online Transaction Processing System. Therefore, once you know the type of data and how it will be used, you already have an understanding of what its evolution and final destiny is likely to be. The challenge now before all organizations, is to understand how their data evolves, determine how it grows, monitor how its usage change over time, and decide how long it should survive. Whilst adhering to all the rules and regulations that now apply to that data. Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) is designed to address these issues, with a combination of processes, policies, software and hardware so that the appropriate technology can be used for each phase of the lifecycle of the data. An analysis of your data will most likely reveal, that initially it is accessed and maybe updated on a very frequent basis. As the age of the data increases, its access frequency diminishes to almost negligible, if any. Therefore, most organizations find themselves in the situation where most of their users, are accessing all of the current MOBILITY
data, and very few users, are accessing, all of the other data. Thus, data can be described as being; active, less active, historical or ready to be archived. Data Lifecycle With so much data being held, data, during its lifetime, the data will be moved to different physical locations. This is because depending on where it is in its lifecycle; it needs to be located on the most appropriate storage device. Application Transparency is very important in ILM, because it means that there is no need to customize applications and it also allows various changes to be made to the data without any impact on the applications that are using that data. Therefore, data can easily be moved at the different stages of its lifecycle and access to the data can be optimized via the database. Another important benefit is that application transparency offers the flexibility required to quickly adapt to any new regulatory requirements, again without any impact on the existing applications. With so much data to retain, using low cost storage is a key factor in implementing ILM. Since Oracle can take advantage of all the different types of storage devices, because it is hardware independent, the maximum amount of data can be held for the lowest possible cost. Information Lifecycle Management is concerned with all data that is held within an organization. This means not just structured data, such as orders in an OLTP system or a history of sales in a data warehouse, but it is also concerned with unstructured data such as email, documents and images. Implementing ILM in 3 Steps Building an Information Management Lifecycle solution can be achieved by following three simple steps. Step 1 - Defining Data Class The first step is to look at all the data in your organization, what type of data is it, where is it stored? and determine: • which data is important, where is it and what needs to be retained • how this data flows within the organization • what happens to this data over time and is it still needed • the degree of data availability and protection that is needed And once there is a clear understanding of how the data will be used, it can then www.mobilityindia.com
be classified on this basis. The most common type of classification is by age or date, but other types are possible, such as by product or privacy, or a hybrid classification could be used such as by privacy and age. Once the data has been classified, the policies that will be applied to that data, will depend upon its class. In order to treat the data classes differently, the data needs to be physically separated. When information is first created it is often frequently accessed, but then over time it may be referenced very infrequently. For instance, when a customer places an order, they regularly look at it to see its status and that it has been shipped. Step 2 – Storage Tiers for the Data Classes Enterprise customers can take advantage of all the different storage options that are available, the next step is to establish the following storage tiers: • High Performance • Low Cost • Online and Offline Archiving The high performance storage tier is where all the important and frequently accessed data would be stored. This would utilize the smaller, faster disks on high performance storage devices. The online archive storage tier is where all the data that is never or hardly accessed would be stored. It is likely to be extremely large and to store the maximum quantity of data on the online archive storage tier, various techniques can be used to compress the data. This tier could be located in the database or it could be in another database, which serves as a central archive database for all information within the enterprise. Step 3 - Low Cost Storage Devices Stored on low cost storage devices like the ATA drives, the data would still be online and available, for a cost that is only slightly higher than storing this information on tape, without all the disadvantages that come with archiving data to tape. If the Online Archive storage tier is identified as read-only, then it would be impossible to change the data and database backups would not be required after it is backed up the first time. The offline archive storage tier is optional, because it is only used when there is a requirement to remove data from the database and store it in some other format such as XML on a tape. March 2012 | 19
Mobility Analysis
Smartphones, Surging ahead Full Steam
After global handset companies like Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung etc it is now the turn of Indian companies like Micromax, Max Mobiles etc to turn their eye towards this burgeoning mobile segment 20 | March 2012
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MOBILITY
Mobility Analysis
S
martphones are one of hottest trends in consumer electronics today and specially in India, it is gaining on big momentum. According to various industry estimates, usage of smart phones has increased 700 percent over the past four years. And it’s no surprise why. Combining the functions of a personal computer (PC), mobile phone, personal media player and recorder in a single device, consumers are using them to organize data, manage e-mail, access the Internet, listen to music, play games, take and view still photos and videos, handle voice calls, and even navigate their way around. All of this is placing greater demands on the smartphone hardware, which is being asked to deliver ever increasing performance while at the same time keeping power consumption to a minimum, even as consumers expect longer battery life from their devices. These demands will only increase as the industry moves from current 3G to 4G networks. With faster data rates, and with mobile data projected to increase at a rate of 130 percent annually, consumers will migrate to using their smartphones for more media-rich applications. As consumers spend more time using their devices as multimedia platforms, they will expect higher-quality audio and video performance as well as a battery life that accommodates these longer use times. Unleashing the Audio Potential of Smartphones In today’s market conditions it is becoming very important for vendors to stand out and make their presence felt in the market and one of the most important features is the audio capability. Dedicated audio ICs like smart audio codecs and hybrid Class –D amplifiers can help solve system-level challenges, offering mobile users increased audio performance and battery life. Typically, it’s the smartphone’s application processor that is being asked to handle more of these multimedia functions. This is in addition to its primary role of providing the smartphone’s main functionality, which includes running the phone’s operating system, user interface and applications. The applications processor must do all these tasks efficiently, providing the additional processing capabilities while still using minimal power consumption. To meet these increasing needs, many smartphones are using 500 MHz or better MOBILITY
mobile processors, while off-loading tasks such as audio/video decoding to a separate dedicated processor(s). The dedicated processor is able to perform the certain functions more efficiently, offering better performance at lower power, than can be done on the main processor. In a similar fashion, off-loading audio functions to a dedicated audio subsystem can offer improved audio performance and more efficient power management, as well as ease of design. This often includes integrating audio signal processing as well, which further optimizes power consumption by moving these function off the apps processor — which is critical as end users increasingly spend more time playing back higher-resolution audio and video on their smartphones.
Audio sources in smartphones A number of audio sources exist in today’s smartphones. Speakers, headphones, and headsets pump out voice data from the phone and compressed audio files from the built-in music player. Many smartphones have voice recorders to take notes, and some have built-in GPS systems that provide voice commands to give directions. As smartphones increase in functionality, the number of audio functions will increase. Smartphones are being asked to provide levels of audio quality far exceeding that of conventional phones, particularly as software applications proliferate for various business productivity and personal entertainment tasks. Smartphones are increasingly required to provide dynamic ranges around 95dB for the audio playback path and incorporate features such as multiband equalizers, 3-D surround effects, audio www.mobilityindia.com
enhancement and echo/noise cancellation. Such demands are dictating the need for audio components able to process signals with fewer losses at higher frequencies, and with lower power consumption than existing audio components. Audio Challenges Ahead The great number of audio inputs, outputs, and corresponding use cases on smartphones present many challenges for the system designer. These include complex mixing and routing of various mono and stereo audio signals (in analog or digital formats) to and from speakers, microphones, and headphones, as well as the recording and playing back of content in a wide variety of digital audio formats with various bit depths and sample rates. In most smartphones, audio functionality must be able to accommodate at a minimum two input microphones (one internal and one external headset) and several speaker outputs (internal stereo and external headset), as well as possible additional transducers depending on the phone design or desire for extra functionality (e.g., noise cancellation, hands-free use etc.). In addition to handling traditional voice telephony communication and its typical 8 kHz sample rate, today’s phones are expected to be able to play back multimedia files like videos, music MP3s and ringtones, as well as streaming audio from online sources, which means being able to accommodate a variety of other sample rates. And as a result, many of these functions must be accomplished simultaneously - such as a user playing a music file while talking on a headset - so that the appropriate audio signal is synchronized and routed to the proper output destination, all with minimal processing and power consumption. Moving forward, more and more smartphones are likely to look beyond audio and provide better and enhanced feature set to their end customers, global as well as Indian smartphone companies are now looking ahead to this segment more fervently than ever before. March 2012 | 21
Trend in Convergence
Powering Mobiles Android operating system is gaining a lot of momentum and is becoming mainstream for any smart phone today
22 | March 2012
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he global smartphone market is growing exponentially and it is even growing faster in India, but there is one OS in particular that is enjoying particularly rapid development. That system is Google’s Android, which according to Gartner has grown from a 23% market share last year, to become the dominant market force at 38% in 2011. The reason for this is choice – consumers are able to choose from a broad range of manufacturers and price levels opposed to Apple’s mono-device approach. New technologies always create new areas of concern for information security teams. As put in by a number of experts, usually early adoption of such products is slow and it allows some maturity to www.mobilityindia.com
develop in the market, providing time for the development of effective security controls. Indeed often these new devices will be slowly introduced to the corporate environment as part of an internal strategy. And the rapid growth of the intelligent mobile market and the use of these devices for email, online banking, and accessing other forms of sensitive content has lead to the emergence of a new and ever-changing threat landscape in the mobility space. This when combined with the fact that anyone can be user has led to smartphones appearing as part of the corporate estate before the appropriate controls are in place. It is interesting to note that even without these technologies connecting to MOBILITY
Trend in Convergence
the corporate network, there are security implications brought about by their mere presence in an office environment. A malicious user or malware on the device can create a number of risks for an organisation, and so the fact that these devices are not necessarily connected does not translate to a lack of security risks. Today’s Android in BYOD Picture With so many connected devices entering pockets and handbags, what is the risk for employers? What measures can consumers and enterprises take to protect the information stored and accessed by these devices? Despite some challenging the impact of mobile malware as overhyped, new figures would suggest otherwise. This is a typical BYOD or Bring Your Own Device situation for a CIO or any IT manager. We al know this for a fact that mobile malware was always rife on Symbian but rapid adoption of mobile platforms by both personal and business users has seen to become more attractive to cybercriminals. Trends in mobile threats have matched what we see at a wider industry level, with Android becoming the mosttargeted of the mobile platforms, according to McAfee, much as Windows has on the PC. The number of Android devices under botnet control has peaked at 40,000 Android devices worldwide on several occasions4, and the problem is getting worse with Lookout claiming 0.5-1 million users were infected in the first half of 20115. In Q2 this year there were no new malware signatures detected for iOS, whereas there were 44 for Android in that same time period6. The threat is very real, and rapidly developing. In emerging as the top mobile platform, Google’s little green Android has painted a big red target on itself. The threats we see appearing on mobile, are not going to be a new concept to the security professional – rootkits, Trojans, and even botnets are making appearances. Indeed the SpyEye botnet has successfully transitioned from the PC to Android, highlighting the commercialisation of mobile malware. MOBILITY
Mobile malware such as this strive not just to acquire data but also to monetise the attack by using the device to access premium SMS and voice services. The open nature of Android and its large user base have made it an attractive and profitable platform to attack. Common exploits and tool kits on the OS can be utilised across a wide number of devices, meaning that attackers can perform exploits en masse and re-use attack vectors. It is obvious why Android is a target, but why is it vulnerable? Google did take measures in the development of the Android kernel to build security measures in; the OS is sandboxed, preventing malicious processes from c r o s s i n g b e t w e e n applications. Whilst this
attempt to eliminate the concept of infection is admirable in some regards, it fails to address the issue of infection altogether. Android is a victim of its own success, not just in the way it has attracted malicious attention, but in its very nature. One of the reasons the OS has succeeded in gaining market share so rapidly is that it is open source, it is essentially free for manufacturers to implement (patent settlements excluded!). Additionally this has led to substantial fragmentation of Android versions between devices and means that vendors have been reluctant to roll-out updates, presumably out of some concern regarding driving demand for future devices. There is little value to the manufacturer in updating a device, something that to date Google has tried to encourage but been largely unsuccessful in doing so. Where updates do occur, manufacturer specific software on top of Android and even network provider bloatware, serve only to further delay patch management. After Google release an update www.mobilityindia.com
this must then be customised by the manufacturer and network before release, unless of course it is a vanilla device such as the Nexus range. As a result vulnerabilities are left unpatched in stock ROMs, and advanced users are turning to flashing custom ROMs on their devices which raises a whole host of other issues. In an enterprise environment, who is responsible for patching a connected consumer device? And what of the users? Increasingly employees want to be able to use their smart phones at work, they want to access their email on the go, may need t o access a content management system, and might prefer to log on to the corporate network than use 3G. Where Blackberry went from enterprise to consumer in terms of market penetration, Android is doing the inverse (much as iOS has) – consumers are buying these devices for personal use but wanting to utilise them in a professional capacity as well but without regard for the impact. Vulnerabilities Taking specific malware out of the equation, what are some of the threats/ vulnerabilities on Android devices that might be cause for concern? These certainly are not comprehensive, but do cover a significant range of the vulnerabilities and risks that may be exploited on the Android OS: User as admin Install apps, grant app permissions, download data, and access unprotected networks - The user can reign free over their Android domain without restriction. And more so, Google’s verification processes for applications entering their market have been shown to be woefully lacking over the last year or two, which has prompted a number of malwareinfected applications and games being made legitimately available to users. Even after all this concern about the security in an Android realm, the platform is moving leaps and bounds in the mobility arena and is set to sail through tough times as well. March 2012 | 23
Mobility Interview
Matrix Comsec Set to unveil Video Surveillance Products After having entrenched itself in the Indian IT space, Matric Comsec is now looking at the burgeoning surveillance market and is looking forward to unveil its surveillance products and solutions in India. Mobility magazine spoke with Jatin Desai, Product Engineer-Security Products, Matrix Comsec Pvt. Ltd about the company’s current and future plans in the surveillance segment. they understand the product, its features and associated benefits before they actually buy it. This is advantageous to manufactures like us, as it allows us to function accordingly.
Q) How do you look at the surveillance market in India? What kind of focus do you have on this segment at the moment? Indian surveillance market as compared to global market is still at a nascent stage, but has immense potential. The demand for this industry is robust today and is expected to accelerate in future. Overall market size is enhancing day-by-day as customers are getting aware about the benefits associated with it. Indian surveillance market is about 40% of the entire security market and we are trying to be part of the market by providing different solutions that can cater various customer requirements. We are developing new surveillance products by utilizing latest technologies to be one of the major Indian manufacturers’ in this segment. Q) What kind of surveillance solutions and trends are being accepted in the Indian enterprise market today? What is the road ahead? Even today, in India there is a big chunk of market that continues to use the traditional analog surveillance system. However, strong and steady conversion from analog to IP-based surveillance is taking place. Indian enterprise market is valuing the importance of IP-based video surveillance, which will continue to drive the future of surveillance industry in the country. 3G and Video Analytics are the latest technology trends in global and domestic surveillance market. Addition of this video analytics software into the surveillance solutions, enterprises are adopting these solutions to get new perspective into their businesses. With specialized video surveillance devices, intelligent video will continue to emerge as a tool for gathering business intelligence. People will be able to avail surveillance solutions from a company specializing in the same for their homes and businesses. Q) What are some of the biggest challenges for surveillance in India? Is it any different from global challenges? Massive resemblance can be observed in local and global market due to global economic conditions. However, Indian market is very challenging as customers want to buy products that can cater their demands. Primary challenge for surveillance in India is upgrading the knowledge of the entire ecosystem. Though, Indian consumers are intelligent enough to cope with the technology and market trends. Being little price cautious 24 | March 2012
Q) How do you differentiate with your surveillance focused products and solutions for India and what is your go to market strategy? After having an acceptable and encouraging response from the market for our biometric security products we are motivated to develop enhanced technological products in surveillance segment. Looking into the technological shift and requirements, we are also coming up with our video surveillance range of products for our esteemed customers. We are trying to develop unique products that can fulfill the demand of each vertical. Looking into the demand we have started with DVR and are developing NVR & other similar solutions for our customers. Simultaneously, surveillance being new industry in India we will also focus on educating our partners for this new technology, pre and post-sales support will always be offered to them. Q) The government is already promoting concepts on 'smart city' within different states. Where does surveillance systems and solutions place themselves in this scenario? City surveillance solutions can be utilized for traffic monitoring and providing traffic updates to commuters. Specialized video analytics such as automatic number plate recognition, congestion monitoring, parking management, etc. will have large contribution towards achieving this “smart city” concept. In industries like bank, retail and entertainment complexes technologies like ATM integration, POS integration, crowd monitoring can be implemented beyond regular surveillance. Further, IP based surveillance can be applied for residential surveillance.
Q) How important is surveillance segment for your organization? What kind of revenue are you having from this segment today and what are your expectations here? Our product portfolio will be enhanced once we launch our surveillance product in the market. It will be too early for us to comment on revenues but we are confident that our combined access control and surveillance solution will make a marked difference in our market share. MOBILITY www.mobilityindia.com
Mobility Review
True Ace — Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos `14,700
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he original Samsung Galaxy Ace was quite a popular phone, even though it wasn’t the best in the milkyway. The Galaxy Ace Duos features a dual SIM slot and comes with a 3 MP camera (the original had a 5 MP camera with LED flash) without LED flash. There’s not much that has changed here – this phone has the exact same looks as the Ace with the addition of an extra button for dual SIM configuration. The same 3.5-inch screen has been retained with a pixel resolution of 320 x 480. With the addition of a second SIM card slot you get more icons on the top of your screen and some more settings in the connectivity options. But still the phone is powered by the same 800 MHz processor with 158 MB of internal storage and 278 MB RAM.
A Ray of Hope — Nokia Asha 300
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innish handset maker, Nokia launched its Asha range of feature phones, back in December 2011 and today we have, the Asha 300, the candy-bar feature phone, which was touted as one of the first phones to have Angry Birds pre-installed. As is the case with most of the Nokia handsets, the Asha 300 brings with it great build quality and great attention to detail. The candy bar phone rests neatly in your palm and isn’t too heavy as well at just 85g. The phone is mostly built of plastic, but thankfully, there aren’t too many glossy bits, other than the screen and the chrome strip at the front. This is a touch-and-type phone, so there’s no directional pad - just the keypad and the call answer and end keys, along with a shortcut to e-mail. The keypad is built MOBILITY
well and the buttons offer good feedback. Having been accustomed to QWERTY keypads, going back to this conventional style was a bit odd, but those who are used to them should not have a problem. The Asha 300 also supports 3G, but there’s no front facing camera for video chat. In the box, you get a 2GB microSD card, charger, user manual, data cable and headset. Overall, a pretty good feature set in a very nice form factor. Despite the Asha 300 running on the Series 40 Operating System, it still comes with a 1GHz CPU. The interface is fast, but it doesn’t feel snappy and that’s probably the way the OS is designed. The homescreen is similar to the C2-03, which we reviewed a while back with similarly styled icons.
` 5999
www.mobilityindia.com
March 2012 | 25
Mobility Review
Value for Money — iBall Fab9 Handset Rs.2,799
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ere’s yet another entry-level phone that has made an entry into the Indian market. This time around it’s from iBall and has been designed for the youth and entertainment loving people, dubbed Fab9. The phone promises a host of features and comes pre-loaded with hordes of content to keep users entertained. The Fab9 keeps users engaged and glued to the screen and also features a durable and reliable attire, says the company. The iBall Fab9 promises to be durable and efficient with a powerful speaker and quality earphones. It also equips a 1200mAh battery. iBall also incorporates the device with security features, like the mobile tracker. The company calls it more of a device to keep users entertained at an affordable, entry-level price point. It has a trendy design with a 2.4-inch display
and a dedicated music key, along with functions, like background music and FM playback. The device comes with interactive abilities and the phone maker calls it truly smart. Some more features include night-vision and special effects for its 1.3 MP camera, Bluetooth, WAP and GPRS for effectively connecting to social networking sites, like Facebook and Orkut. The Fab9 also keeps users engaged with functions, like reading e-books and using live video wallpapers. The phone comes with up to 300 hours standby time, 5 hours of talk time and seven hours of music playback. It is pre-loaded with songs from the film, Agneepath, loads of other hit Bollywood songs and videos. Apart from music, the device also stores an entire movie - Dabangg. The 4GB MicroSD card has been packed for free. The Fab9 phone has been priced at Rs.2,799.
Under Budget — Nokia Lumia 610
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okia’s upcoming Windows Phone budget handset is already up on their home site for a product overview. Nokia had made the device official at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. The Lumia 610 is expected to debut in India in the month of April and is going to cost close to Rs. 11,000.
However, with that price tag, you are having a trade off with the processor speed and the RAM.
In case you have already forgotten, here's a list of the specifications for the Nokia Lumia 610: •Display: 3.7-inch LCD display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels •Processor: 800 Mhz single core •Camera: 5 MP camera •Video resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels, 30 fps •Internal memory: 8 GB •RAM: 256 MB •USB 2.0 high-speed through micro USB connector •3G, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot •Bluetooth wireless technology 2.1 + EDR •Battery: 1300 mAh Li-ion/Li-polymer •Weight (with battery): 131.5 g The Lumia 610 retains the same screen size as the Lumia 710 and there’s not too much of a difference in the form factor either. 26 | March 2012
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` 11,000 (approx.)
MOBILITY
Mobility Review
The Budget Tab — iBerry BT07i Tablet ` 7990
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hile Aakash set the affordable tablet stage on fire with its price tag, performance issues didn't ensure a smooth landing, the newest entrant is iBerry, the brand may be unheard of and the name has probably taken cues from Apple’s ‘i’devices and BlackBerry. Yes, it falls under the sub-10K price range, on this average 7-incher dubbed, iBerry BT07i. This is a good looking tablet with greyish edges and a matte grey with a purplish tint on the rear side. The front shows a WVGA 800 x 480 and fortunately, a capacitive touchscreen. The touchscreen responded efficiently to our touch gestures. But, the screen, itself isn't too great. Below the screen, on the bezel, one will find touch buttons, like Menu, Home and Back. All ports are lined up on the right edge - microSD card, miroUSB port, HDMI, 3.5mm jack and mic and charging port. The volume controls and the main power button run along the upper edge. There is a front facing VGA camera embedded on the right corner below the screen, but the company chose not to include a primary camera. It's portable at 376 grams and measures 190mm x 120mm x 8mm. The iBerry tablet bundles up a USB cable and a
connector, charger, and a carrying to the point, the and a misfit, buttons and stay secure in
user manual, earphones case. Coming straight case is almost useless covering the essential the tablet doesn’t the case.
Super performer — Zync Pad Z909
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he sheer openness available with Android has brought it capacitive screen, the ZYNC is no exception. The tablet equips within the reach of all level of users. Android tablets across a resistive touchscreen, featuring 800 x 480 resolution and has all budgets have been surfacing since the iPad made its way a stylus to assist in inputs. To begin with, the device took more on to the store shelf, from renowned makers like Samsung and than 2 minutes to boot-up. Motorola to companies you may not have ever heard of. One such low-cost Android tablet, dubbed ZYNC Pad Z909 made its way to our review labs. This is Priced at Rs.5,200. This tablet has a gray backside, while front was embedded with the 7-inch, 800 x 400 resistive touchscreen, VGA front-facing camera and a physical LED lit button with a Back symbol marked on it. The front facing camera takes its position off the center, it shifts towards the left side. The upper edge has the Home and Menu/Power button, while the right edge comes with the charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack, mini USB port, microSD card slot that supports up to 16GB of memory and a standard USB port. The tablet runs on Android 2.2 and is fuelled by an 800 MHz processor with 256 MB RAM. Going by the fact, most of the low- end tablets cannot afford a March 2012 | 27 MOBILITY www.mobilityindia.com
` 5200
Mobility Review
The Budget Choice — TabPlus Rio Y
`9990
et another tablet maker has joined the ranks of the budget device segment and this one, too is from the Bangalore sector of our country. Where the Rio stands out amongst the rest of the budget tablets is in its overall design. In no way does it look or feel like a “cheap” device. Its rounded edges, white detail and light weight body makes it easy to manage and is quite portable. It features a 7-inch capacitive display, which is not easy to come by in this price range, with an 800 x 480 pixel resolution. It’s not the easiest of displays to use, when you’re outdoors in bright daylight, as it proved to be quite reflective making legibility a bit of an
issue. Indoors however, it’s crisp and clear for any and all purposes. The Home and Menu buttons are placed on one side (or on top), followed by the Power/Screen lock button and a volume rocker. On a bit of a low note, the Rio can only be charged via DC cable and input that is provided, it does not support charging via micro USB (Ethernet). In fact, it doesn’t even have a Micro USB port. What it does have though is a mini HDMI port, a standard mini USB and regular USB socket (for reading thumb drives and using Data Dongles) and a micro SD card slot for further expanding storage. On board it has about 3GB of user data available.
Swift and Polished — Swingtel Hello Tab 16GB
S
wingtel, the company which has launched their first product - a tablet - has entered this market place with a 16GB tablet called Hello Tab, running on the Android OS and sporting a 7-inch form factor. Here is a closer look at the tablet and what it has to offer. Considering it’s Swingtel’s first product, it’s still a solid one. The Hello Tab has a good, sturdy feel to it. We’ve seen other brands launch their tablets at a similar price, but with way shoddier build qualities. Well known brands, such as Spice had launched their MiTab and the tablet had an inferior build quality. Unlike them, Swingtel have not compromised on the design and quality here. The tablet is available in two colour options - silver and black and the one we received was the black variant. The Hello Tab features a fairly large bezel, but this does not affect its looks in any way. The tablet has a glossy finish on the face and besides the capacitive buttons, the front 28 | March 2012
features a speaker that is located at the bottom left.
`16900
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