Microsoft opens door to Android, Apple phone apps

Microsoft Corp is making it easier for apps written for rival Google Inc's Android and Apple Inc's iOS systems to work on Windows phones, in a bid to attract users to its unpopular mobile devices, the company's operating systems chief said on Wednesday.

The move marks a radical shift in strategy for the world's biggest software company, which still dominates the personal computer market but has failed to get any real traction on tablets and phones, partly because of a lack of apps.Microsoft has found itself in a circular trap, as many developers will not build apps for Windows phones which have few users, and few people want the phones which have fewer apps than Android or Apple phones.Getting apps built for Android and iOS onto its phones and tablets could be a shortcut to breaking out of that trap."Microsoft is making a major play to win back developers," said Forrester analyst Michael Facemire. "They’ve opened up the once-impenetrable castle walls."

Speaking at Microsoft's developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Executive Vice President Terry Myerson said developers will be able to use the vast majority of their Android code to turn their apps into Windows-compatible versions, which will work on Windows phones running a special subsystem.

The apps will technically be Windows apps and available only through Microsoft's online app store. The apps would automatically use Microsoft's services such as Bing maps, rather than Google's services, as an app would on an Android phone. That is a crucial distinction because Google gets revenue from ads on services rather than from the Android system itself.

Myerson also announced a surprise move to make it easier for iOS developers to make Windows apps, saying that Microsoft's developer software will be compatible with Objective C, the main programming language used by Apple.Google declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Microsoft, which bought Nokia's handset business last year, has only 3 percent of the global smartphone market. By contrast, Android phones, led by Samsung (005930.KS), control 81 percent of the market and Apple 15 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.

Microsoft is scheduled to release its new Windows 10 operating system this summer, which for the first time will run across PCs, tablets and phones. It said on Wednesday it is aiming for one billion devices running Windows 10 in two to three years time.

Its new browser will arrive as Microsoft Edge, replacing the waning Internet Explorer, when Windows 10 is released, the company said.

Car-to-Car Communication: A simple wireless technology promises to make driving much safer.

Fig: Using Wifi Technology

         Hariharan Krishnan hardly looks like a street racer. With thin-rimmed glasses and a neat mustache, he reminds me of a math teacher. And yet on a sunny day last September, he was speeding, seemingly recklessly, around the parking lot at General Motors’ research center in Warren, Michigan, in a Cadillac DTS.

          I was in the passenger seat as Krishnan wheeled around a corner and hit the gas. A moment later a light flashed on the dashboard, there was a beeping sound, and our seats started buzzing furiously. Krishnan slammed on the brakes, and we lurched to a stop just as another car whizzed past from the left, its approach having been obscured by a large hedge. “You can see I was completely blinded,” he said calmly.

          The technology that warned of the impending collision will start appearing in cars in just a couple of years. Called car-to-car or vehicle-to-vehicle communication, it lets cars broadcast their position, speed, steering-wheel position, brake status, and other data to other vehicles within a few hundred meters. The other cars can use such information to build a detailed picture of what’s unfolding around them, revealing trouble that even the most careful and alert driver, or the best sensor system, would miss or fail to anticipate.

          Already many cars have instruments that use radar or ultrasound to detect obstacles or vehicles. But the range of these sensors is limited to a few car lengths, and they cannot see past the nearest obstruction.

          Car-to-car communication should also have a bigger impact than the advanced vehicle automation technologies that have been more widely heralded. Though self-driving cars could eventually improve safety, they remain imperfect and unproven, with sensors and software too easily bamboozled by poor weather, unexpected obstacles or circumstances, or complex city driving. Simply networking cars together wirelessly is likely to have a far bigger and more immediate effect on road safety.

          Creating a car-to-car network is still a complex challenge. The computers aboard each car process the various readings being broadcast by other vehicles 10 times every second, each time calculating the chance of an impending collision. Transmitters use a dedicated portion of wireless spectrum as well as a new wireless standard, 802.11p, to authenticate each message.

          Krishnan took me through several other car-to-car safety scenarios in the company’s parking lot. When he started slowly pulling into a parking spot occupied by another car, a simple alert sounded. When he attempted a risky overtaking maneuver, a warning light flashed and a voice announced: “Oncoming vehicle!”.

          More than five million crashes occur on U.S. roads alone every year, and more than 30,000 of those are fatal. The prospect of preventing many such accidents will provide significant impetus for networking technology.

          Just an hour’s drive west of Warren, the town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has done much to show how valuable car-to-car communication could be. There, between 2012 and 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the University of Michigan equipped nearly 3,000 cars with experimental transmitters. After studying communication records for those vehicles, NHTSA researchers concluded that the technology could prevent more than half a million accidents and more than a thousand fatalities in the United States every year. The technology stands to revolutionize the way we drive, says John Maddox, a program director at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.

          Shortly after the Ann Arbor trial ended, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it would start drafting rules that could eventually mandate the use of car-to-car communication in new cars. The technology is also being tested in Europe and Japan.

          There will, of course, also be a few obstacles to navigate. GM has committed to using car-to-car communication in a 2017-model Cadillac. Those first Cadillacs will have few cars to talk to, and that will limit the value of the technology. It could still be more than a decade before vehicles that talk to each other are commonplace.

Linux makers release patch to thwart 'Ghost' cyberthreat

Red Hat Inc and other makers of the widely used Linux operating system for business computers updated their software to thwart a serious new cyberthreat they warned could allow hackers to gain remote control of their systems.

The previously undisclosed vulnerability, dubbed "Ghost," is deemed critical because attackers could exploit it to covertly gain complete control of a targeted Linux system, according to cybersecurity firm Qualys, which uncovered the bug.

To highlight the severity of the risk, researchers identified a way to craft malicious emails that could automatically compromise a vulnerable server without the email even being opened, said Amol Sarwate, director of engineering with Qualys. The firm has not released that code and has yet to develop other methods for attacking other types of Linux systems, including servers that run websites.

Sarwate knows of no cases in which hackers exploited the Ghost vulnerability to date, but suspects that motivated hackers could figure out how now that the bug has been disclosed."We were able to do it. We think somebody with good security knowledge would also be able to do it," he said.

The vulnerability is caused by a security flaw in the open-source Linux GNU C Library, which is used by Red Hat and other Linux software makers, according to Qualys. It is called GHOST because it can be triggered by what are known as gethostbyname functions.

Qualys uncovered the bug following discoveries last year of high-profile vulnerabilities, including Heartbleed and Shellshock, which were caused by security flaws in other kinds of widely used open-source software. "It won't be as widespread as those flaws, but it is widespread enough that IT operations at many companies are scrambling to patch," said Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer of security software firm Veracode.

Red Hat, the No. 1 provider of Linux software to businesses, recommends that customers update their systems "as soon as possible to mitigate any potential risk," said company spokeswoman Stephanie Wonderlick.

Xiaomi to set up research & development centre in India

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi will set up a research and development unit in Bangalore, its first such facility outside of its home country, as it looks to beef up presence in the booming Indian smartphone market. 

The company, which expects the centre to be operational in the next few months, will focus on localizing its products and features for the Indian market through the unit. 

"We have always stated that India is one of our most important markets. We are in process of signing the lease on a facility in Bangalore, which will be our R&D unit. This is the first one outside China," Xiaomi India head Manu Jain said. 

Work on the facility is expected to commence by the end of March and in the next few months, it will be operational

PM Narendra Modi gives Twitter direct access to government

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has permitted Twitter unprecedented access to his administration in a drive to put social media at the heart of government, the US internet company said.

Modi deployed an army of supporters over Twitter and Facebook during his successful election campaign. He has put both the microblogging site and Facebook at the centre of his government's media and research strategies since taking office a month ago and has asked ministers and lawmakers to follow suit.
The 63-year-old's focus on social media presents opportunities for the companies, which see India as one of their top growth markets and are sending senior executives to forge relationships with the government.

With 5 million followers, Modi is the fourth most followed world leader on Twitter. He has 18.8 million Facebook likes.

Twitter has been given direct access to ministers and their staff, advising them on social media usage, as well as organizing workshops to train ambassadors and other diplomats, said Raheel Khursheed, head of news, politics and government at Twitter India.

He said the level of interaction between the company and the new government was "unmatched" globally.

On Tuesday, President Pranab Mukherjee debuted on the site after three months of behind-the-scenes negotiations.

Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is currently in India, promoting the potential of Facebook as a tool for small businesses and economic expansion.

Sandberg has requested a meeting with Modi, a source at his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said. She will meet India's minister for information and technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Thursday, the source added.

Details were not available about Sandberg's discussion with government officials, but experts said India's low internet penetration and legal cases often filed against Facebook for content posted by its users were likely on her agenda.

Though India has the world's third-largest internet user base after the United States and China, just 13.7% of the population had access to the internet in 2013, according to consulting firm eMarketer. By 2018 more than a quarter of population is forecast to be on the Web.

Markets outside North America account for roughly 84% of Facebook's 1.28 billion monthly users but account for a fraction of revenue.

"In terms of revenues (India) is minimal. Mostly it is skewed towards US.But soon marketers will realise how Facebook can help increase engagement for their brands," said Neil Shah of Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

"We could see a shift in Facebook and Twitter's fortune in India."

Google overtakes Apple as world's top brand: Survey

US search engine Google has overtaken rival technology titan Apple as the world's top brand in terms of value, global market research agency Millward Brown said on Wednesday. 

Google's brand value shot up 40 per cent in a year to $158.84 billion (115 billion euros), Millward Brown said in its 2014 100 Top BrandZ report. 

"Google has been extremely innovative this year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intelligence and a range of partnerships," said Benoit Tranzer, the head of Millward Brown France. 

Google Glass is Internet-linked eyewear for which the firm has joined hands with Luxottica, a frame giant behind Ray-Ban and other high-end brands, to sell the new product in the United States. 

"All these activities send a very strong signal to consumers about the essence of Google," Tranzer said. 

Apple, which dominated the top position for three straight years, saw its brand value fall by 20 per cent to $147.88 billion. 

The top 10 of the 100 slots were dominated by US firms. IBM was in third place at $107.54 billion, a fall of 4 per cent, followed by Microsoft at $90.19 billion — a 29 per cent rise. 

Fast food chain McDonald's ranked next at $85.71 billion, followed by Coca Cola ($80.68 billion), it said. 

China led in the insurance sector with Ping An valued at $12.4 billion and China Life ($12 billion).

French luxury goods manufacturer Louis Vuitton ranked 30th overall but was the top luxury brand with a value of more than $25 billion. 

Brand value is calculated on the basis of the firms' financial performance and their standing among consumers

What Flipkart, Snapdeal are doing to attract more customers

With price being the most potent weapon in their arsenal, online retailers looking to snare more customers are cajoling sellers to offer steep discounts and reimbursing those who do so.

The country's largest online marketplaces like Amazon.in, Flipkart and Snapdeal are adopting several models to ensure that merchants on their portal offer discounted prices.

Their unbridled aggression is drawing the ire of smaller peers as well as traditional retailers who are struggling to keep pace.

"P&G gives a margin of 13% for a pack of Pampers diapers. But Amazon was selling it at a discount of 28%," said the founder of an online site that sells babycare products among other categories.

"How is that fair? We can never match that kind of discounts," said the person on condition of anonymity. Amazon declined to comment. As the fight for top honours in India's Rs 12,000-crore online retail industry acquires a razor-sharp intensity, portals are doing all they can to attract and retain customers.

Officially, most portals maintain that they only offer a technology platform where merchants sell to customers, and that they have little role to play in pricing. However, several merchants that ET spoke to said they are constantly badgered to drop prices.

Discontent in ecommerce sector over predatory pricing

"The first level of price control happens when the seller uploads his catalogue," said Sayak Sahu, founder of IE Ventures that runs design-led gift products and gadgets firm Smiledrive. He sells products on Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart and eBay and is urged by each to compare prices for similar products and offer the lowest price.

"We get regular calls from category managers of all sites. They tell us to give earth-shattering discounts," said Sahu, who sells only online and expects sales of Rs 5 crore this fiscal.

When marketplaces want to run across-thesite or category-wide discounts, the cost of discounting is borne fully by the merchant, split between merchant and portal or paid for completely by the e-tailer . Often, the online retail company takes the entire hit for discounts.

"I had listed a Wi-Fi adapter for Rs 399 on Snapdeal which they sold for Rs 299, but I got my price," said Devesh Tanna, chief executive of Mumbai-based VeeDee Enterprises, an electronics seller who earns Rs 1.5 crore a year from marketplaces.

Snapdeal declined to comment for this article. Such strategies , termed as predatory pricing, are creating ripples of discontent across the country's fastgrowing ecommerce industry, expected to grow to $56 billion in the next decade. Saurabh Malik, business head at Indiatimes Shopping, said that while the portal co-funds some of the discounts, most are funded by sellers.

"We are against the philosophy of selling products at loss," said Malik. Amazon too reimburses merchants. In an email sent to sellers at the end of 2013 when the marketplace introduced Amazon Marketing Promotion Program (AMPP), the company said, "Amazon will pay for the promotional activities carried by you only for those orders wherein the customer has purchased those items under promotion within the validity of the promotion period at the specified discount price." Flipkart, on the other hand, makes adjustments in commissions.

"In some promotional campaigns, we either reduce or waive our commissions to allow sellers to offer better prices to customers," said Ankit Nagori, vice-president (marketplace) at Flipkart. "However, we do not reimburse sellers as this is not in the spirit of a true marketplace."

Sumant Chopra, a manager at electronics merchant Delhimall, said that if Flipkart regularly charges a commission of 10-15 %, it charges only 1-2 % for a few weeks when it has a scheme and gives that benefit to the customer. This additional discounting falls under the marketing expenses of online sites, whose large fund raises are primarily meant for such initiatives. Flipkart raised $360 million (. 2,140 crore) in 2013 and Snapdeal raised about $183 million (over Rs 1,000 crore) in 2013 and 2014.

Experts said these kinds of discounts are legal. "It is a marketing expense aimed at gaining customers," said Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail advisory Technopak. "However, if it falls under predatory pricing then there could be a problem." Traditional traders and even smaller online sites argue that rampant discounting followed by online marketplaces is indeed leading to predatory pricing.

"The minimum operative price has to be maintained, this is important," said Anwar Shirpurwala, executive director at MAIT, the trade association for manufacturing and hardware companies in India. "Predatory pricing does affect traditional traders."

While MRP is the maximum retail price at which a product is sold, the minimum operative price is set by brands beyond which a retailer cannot reduce the price of a product. These discounts result in products being sold below MOP.