Microsoft deal allows B&N to go toe-to-toe with Amazon and Apple

On a conference call today announcing a new partnership with Microsoft, Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said the company's new $139 Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight is currently sold out but would be in stock soon.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

In the last couple of years Barnes & Noble has made some big inroads into the e-book market, cutting into Amazon's huge lead. As it stands, Amazon still has about 60 percent of the e-book pie, Barnes & Noble has around 25 percent, and Apple sits at around 15 percent, with smaller players like Sony and Kobo left to fight over the crumbs. Of course, those numbers are just estimates, and depending on who you talk to, Amazon's share might actually be closer to 65 percent.

While a strong second place is not a bad position to be in, the problem for Barnes & Noble has been how much it cost to get there and how much it's going to cost to pick up more market share from Amazon and Apple, which has steadily ramped up its iBooks digital reading platform and recently launched a major digital textbook initiative. Both Amazon and Apple, needless to say, have huge cash reserves to dip into for marketing, engineering, and R&D while Barnes & Noble has appeared at times as if it's simply battling for survival

Enter Microsoft and its $300 million investment in what amounts to a spinoff of Barnes & Noble's Nook digital media business, which includes e-books, textbooks, and all those digital newspapers and magazines its been selling on Nook devices. So far the new "subsidiary" of Barnes & Noble doesn't have a name (it's simply referred to as Newco) but you might as well call it Nooksoft (read more here about the announcement here).

Obviously, the cash injection is important because 'Barnes & Noble' has been hemorrhaging money as it beefs up its Silicon Valley-based digital operation with expensive software engineers and hardware designers (a New York Times article noted that Barnes & Noble already has 300 employees in its Palo Alto, Calif. office). The new company also frees up additional cash for Barnes & Noble to compete with Amazon and Apple's huge marketing machines and attract more talented engineers with potentially lucrative stock options. The other obvious benefit to the deal is it allows the bookseller to bring the Nook e-bookstore to Windows 8 devices, whether they be PCs, tablets, or smartphones, though Amazon's Kindle app will be available for the Windows 8 platform as well.

Today's announcement also marks the first time that Barnes & Noble has openly talked about going global, though it remains unclear when it will bring its Nook devices to overseas markets. In a conference call, CEO William Lynch said that few companies were "on more screens than Microsoft" and that the new partnership would allow Barnes & Noble to to extend the Nook digital bookstore to thousands of users in the U.S. and globally. Amazon is also making a big push into global markets and Apple, of course, is already selling millions of iPhones and iPads around the world.

Here in the U.S., in the wake of the government's lawsuit against Apple and five of the "big six" publishers (and subsequent settlement with three of them), there's talk of Amazon once again lower prices on e-books and selling certain titles at a loss. In the past, competitors had trouble matching Amazon's prices, but Microsoft's cash infusion would make it easier for Barnes & Noble to go toe-to-toe on pricing.

Ultimately, however, the biggest benefit of the deal may be a change in consumers' psyche about Barnes & Noble. In the commodity world of e-books, branding is important, and many consumers fear that their purchases, which are stored in a "digital locker," will vanish if a company goes out of business. When Borders went belly up, consumers were simply migrated over to Kobo because Kobo already powered Borders e-book store. But no one knows exactly what would happen if Barnes & Noble went down the tubes, and not a Nook story goes by on CNET without a commenter voicing some concern over Barnes & Noble's longevity.

"I've always thought that the'Nooks' were a bit better designed than the Kindles," said CNET reader tgibbs in a recent comment concerning the arrival of the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight. "But I bought a Kindle because I'm more confident that Amazon will be still be around in the future."

With a giant like Microsoft backstopping the Nook, consumers may now have more confidence that the Nook platform will indeed be here to stay. And that type of peace of mind is just as essential in helping Barnes & Noble gain market share than money alone.

(courtesy:cnet.com)

App depicts impact of climate change on planet

Whether it is melting glaciers, coastal erosion or drying lakes, a new app displays the impact of climate change on the planet by using before and after satellite images. Called Fragile Earth, the app for iPhone and iPad shows how our planet is impacted by global warming by featuring more than 70 sites such the receding Muir Glacier in Alaska, the impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the draining of the Mesopotamia Marshes in Iraq. "We don't necessarily put an opinion on it," said Jethro Lennox, head of publishing at Collins Geo, a division of Harper Collins UK which created the app. "We're just trying to visually portray some of the geographical features and changes around the world."

Keeping an eye on our planet

The app also shows the impact of natural disasters including the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Pakistan and the tsunami in Japan, and how mining, deforestation and dam building have changed areas of the planet. Users of the app slide birds-eye photographs depicting before and after states of environmental changes. "When you're looking at the earth changing, it's almost surprising and it shows how amazing the place is," said Lennox. "For years glaciers have been retreating and advancing, and we don't really know exactly why this is taking place. But the rate of some of these changes is amazing."  Lennox said that some of the most astounding images are of the Aral Sea, which was once the world's fourth-largest lake but has drastically reduced in size over the past 40 years. 

"We even have to change our world maps quite regularly because it changes so fast," he said. The app explains what is happening in the images, which Lennox thinks is part of its appeal because a user doesn't need to be a scientist to understand what is happening. It is an extension of the book "Fragile Earth," which was published in 2006 and is now out of print. A second edition of the book will be published later this year. Collins Geo plans to continue to develop the app, adding more image sets and other features.

Lennox said the company views apps as an important channel, especially for visual content. "Some of the more reference and illustrative books are starting to really come alive in the app environment," he said. Images within the app come from a variety of sources including NASA and GeoEye, a satellite imagery company. They date from 1914 up to the present day. The app is available worldwide and costs $2.99.

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View from space shows Earth in a state of flux.

(courtesy:tech2.com)

FCC report reveals Google employees knew of data breach

An investigation by the officials from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into the data collection practices of one of Google’s most popular, and controversial services, Street View has thrown up some shocking results. FCC, in its report now reveals that Google staffers were aware of the service’s controversial nature, and that it was picking up details of one’s personal information, like emails and text messages in 2007 and 2008. The report, reveals that the Google engineer who was assigned the responsibility of collecting private information via wireless networks from Street View cars, kept his other colleagues, which also included a senior manager constantly updated on the data breach, i.e. that the Street View cars were designed to collect personal information in 2007 and again in 2008. This report comes as an update to an earlier report about the FCC imposing a $25,000 fine on Google for having delayed the investigation into their data collection practices for its Street View Project. 

Getting the Street View

It all began when it was realized that between May 2007 and May 2010, Google had collected data from Wi-Fi networks from across the world, as part of its Street View project, and in the process also collected data that was not needed for its location database project. These details, which included passwords, Internet usage history and other sensitive personal data, were classified as payload data, and with Google publicly acknowledging that that it had collected payload data in May 2010, an FCC investigation on whether it had violated the Communications Act began. 

In an official statement given to The Guardian, a Google spokesperson stated, "We decided to voluntarily make the entire document available except for the names of individuals. While we disagree with some of the statements made in the document, we agree with the FCC's conclusion that we did not break the law. We hope that we can now put this matter behind us."

Google Street View Project has been one of Google's most ambitious projects, which saw it bringing several global landscapes to the comfort of one's computer. 

(courtesy:tech2.com)

Nokia advances with Vertu sale talks

Nokia’s bid to sell its UK subsidiary and luxury cellphone unit, Vertu to private equity group, Permira has reportedly reached an advanced stage of talks, the reports coming in confirm. Reports further estimate that if the sale of the luxury unit goes through successfully, then Nokia, which only recently had its credit rating cut to "junk" status by ratings agency Standard & Poor's, will be able to raise roughly 200 million euros. The report further went on to add that there is no word yet indicating the outcome of these talks, but stated that Goldman Sachs would be advising Nokia on the Vertu sale. Financial Times also reports that Permira's decision to buy luxury brand, Vertu doesn't come as much of a surprise, since the brand already owns luxury brands, like Valentino and Hugo Boss. 

Luxury handset manufacturer to be sold

Talks about Nokia planning to sell off the luxury handset unit, Vertu first surfaced in early December, last year, wherein it had been revealed that with the money from the Vertu sale, the Finnish company was looking at a business overhaul and aimed at holding its ground in the face of stiff competition in the smartphone market. Permira, however, reportedly isn't the only one to have been in the run for acquiring Vertu. EQT, the Northern European private equity group, has also been in talks about buying the group, however, they haven't been progressive. Vertu, better known as the makers of some of the world's most expensive smartphones by hand, complete with crystal displays and sapphire keys, and precious metal components have been quite popular, despite their high prices. Reports state that some these handsets can cost as much as 200,000 million pounds, speaking of just how expensive owning a Vertu phone can get.

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FIFA STREET..

Game4U's FIFA Street Corporate Championship – Second Round.

(courtesy:tech2.com)

Game4U's FIFA Street Corporate Championship – Gurgaon

After Mumbai, Game4U’s next destination for the FIFA Street Corporate Championship was Gurgaon. Held on the 26th and 27th of April, we witnessed more corporates battle it out in the ring. The companies that participated in the event include Deloitte, Intelenet, Star TV, PVR, Annik Systems and WNS. The rules are simple; the person with the highest number of goals scored in 180 seconds wins goodies from Game4U.

Put your game face on!

Here are the winners from above corporates. 

• Star TV - Saurabh
• Intelenet - Vivek Singh
• Deloitte - Anubhav
• Annik Systems - Puneet Nayar
• PVR - Sonica Kapoor
• WNS - Saud

Here are what some of the winners had to say about the whole experience:

Tech2: How did you find the Game4U experience? 
Vivek: I had an awesome experience. I love playing video games.

Tech2: What’s your take on FIFA Street gaming experience?
Vivek: FIFA is the only game i play and i was waiting to play FIFA STREET and finally i did it today! Loved it. 

Tech2:  How would you describe the whole experience in one line?
Vivek: I enjoyed playing today at the event organized by Game4u. I will also go to their new store in Gurgaon to pick up some new games.

Here’s what Sonica Kapoor from PVR had to say:

Tech2: How did you find the Game4U experience? 
Sonica: It was a great experience and everyone was full of enthusiasm and excited to play. I enjoyed it a lot.

Tech2: What’s your take on FIFA Street gaming experience?
Sonica: I am a newbie to gaming and I wasn’t aware about the rules of the game and all. But once I understood everything it was pretty cool.

Tech2:  How would you describe the whole experience in one line?
Sonica: The event was organized really well and there was a lot of crowd especially during lunch time. All in all it was really good.

Here are some of the gamers caught in action at the various venues:

Intense session at StarTV

The action at PVR

At Annik Systems

We still have a couple of more corporates left in Gurgaon, which will conclude the FIFA Street challenge. So stay tuned to this space for more coverage. If you’ve missed our previous coverage of the event then hit the links below to check out the action that went down in Mumbai

Nvidia launches GTX 690, world's fastest graphics card…for now

NVIDIA yesterday announced their GeForce GTX 690, which is touted to be the world's fastest consumer graphics card, at the moment. The card sports a bold industrial design and is powered by dual Kepler architecture-based GeForce GPUs, the GTX 690 is meticulously designed - inside and out - to deliver the most refined, elegant and smooth PC gaming experience possible. The surprise announcement was made by NVIDIA CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang during his keynote address at the NVIDIA Game Festival in Shanghai. There’s no denying that Nvidia have designed an incredibly sexy looking card for a reference design,which means board partners need not speed too much time on re-designing the cooler, simply slap on a sticker and you’re good to go. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 GPU will be available in limited quantities, starting May 3, 2012, with wider availability by May 7, 2012 from NVIDIA's add-in card partners, including ASUS, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Inno3D, MSI, Palit and Zotac. The expected pricing is $999 (48,950).

Amazing design

Engineered to reach a new threshold in gaming performance, the GTX 690 also looks the part. Its array of innovative technologies is complemented by sleek materials that contribute to the exotic design of the card, including:

• An exterior frame made from trivalent chromium-plated aluminum, providing excellent strength and durability
• A fan housing made from a thixomolded magnesium alloy, which offers excellent heat dissipation and vibration dampening
• High-efficiency power delivery with less resistance, lower power and less heat generated using a 10-phase, heavy-duty power supply with a 10-layer, two-ounce copper printed circuit board
• Efficient cooling using dual vapor chambers, a nickel-plated finstack and center-mounted axial fan with optimized fin pitch and air entry angles
• Low-profile components and ducted baseplate channels for unobstructed airflow, minimizing turbulence and improving acoustic quality

SLI anyone?

The GTX 690 is powered by a total of 3,072 NVIDIA CUDA cores for ultra-high-resolution gaming and multimonitor NVIDIA Surround configurations, the card delivers close to double the frame rates of the closest single GPU product, the GTX 680. Plus, it is more power efficient and quieter when compared to systems equipped with two GTX 680 cards running in NVIDIA SLI configuration. The GTX 690 graphics card is designed using GeForce GPUs based on NVIDIA's 28-nanometer Kepler architecture, following the introduction late last month of the GTX 680.

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Nvidia to debut GTX 690 GPU soon..?

(courtessy:tech2.com)

Indian Railway plans satellite-based software to track train movement

The Indian Railway is planning to deploy a satellite-based tracking software to record precise details about the movement of trains on its network. The proposed software will be backed up by SIMRAN ( Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation), for which a pilot project is underway in 18 pairs of important trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto. The Railways plans to roll out the new service for all trains in next 18 months.

"With the approval of this system on a stretch of 3,300 kilometres to cover the entire high density stations, a major step has been taken towards train's safety, said Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board.

Mr. Mittal also noted that the Railways will be providing Internet services in running trains and extend Optical Fiber Cable across the Indian Railways route. The apex body will also be bringing in IP based train control communication and replacement of overhead alignment with underground cables, the official revealed. Railways would install the Train Protection Warning System ( TPWS) covering a stretch of 3,300 kms, which will cover high density stations.

Of late, the Indian Railways hast taken a number of steps to modernise its services. The IRCTC recently launched mobile services for booking tickets. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has now launched its mobile website, which is said to be more convenient and easier to use. The mobile site can be accessed via any mobile phone having GPRS functionality.

(courtesy:thinkdigit.com)