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1. Internet
New Delhi, May 26 (PTI) The Internet, which has transformed the way we live, work, shop, socialise and
now, is also emerging as a powerful catalyst for job creation, says a survey by global management
consultancy McKinsey.
According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, the Net has a sweeping impact on growth, prosperity
and has "created 2.4 jobs for every job that it has destroyed".
"The Internet is a contributer to net job creation," McKinsey Global Institute said in its report, titled,
''Internet matters: The Net''s Sweeping Impact on Growth, Jobs and Prosperity''.
"While jobs have been destroyed by the emergence of Internet, many more have been created during
the same period, including jobs directly linked to the Internet, such as software engineers and online
marketers as well as more traditional jobs -- logistics to deliver online purchases," it added.
McKinsey further noted that notwithstanding the fact that some jobs have been destroyed by the
emergence of the Internet, a detailed analysis of the French economy showed that while the Internet
has destroyed 500,000 jobs over the past 15 years, it has created 1.2 million other jobs.
"A net addition of 700,000 jobs, or 2.4 jobs created for every job destroyed...," it said.
This result was also reflected in another McKinsey survey of more than 4,800 SMEs, which showed that
2.6 jobs were created for every one destroyed, confirming the Internet''s capacity to create jobs across
all sectors.
McKinsey examined the impact of the Internet on 13 countries -- the members of the G8, Brazil, China,
India, South Korea and Sweden.
In the 13 countries that the survey covered, the Internet contributed an average 3.4 per cent to the
GDP, more than agriculture, energy and other better established industries.
Meanwhile, the United Nations, in its millennium development goals, lists Internet penetration as a key
metric in efforts to reduce poverty and encourage rational development.
Around two billion people are now connected to the Internet and the number is growing by 200 million
each year.
India and China are strengthening their position in the global Internet ecosystem rapidly and are
showing growth rates of more than 20 per cent in terms of new connections.
Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/Internet-creates-2-4-jobs-job-pti-528924368.html
How social networking is becoming real-time feedback tool?
In a world where reaching out for help either means a recorded message stating how important the
consumer is followed by a list of numerical choices or a webpage where "help" diverts to an index of
frequently asked questions, the old-fashioned way to provide direct assistance has been a far away call.
However, the Indian consumer is increasingly realising the importance of the social media as a real-time
customer feedback tool.
Sample this: When Ahmedabad-based pharmacist Rahul Sharma experienced a data connectivity
problem on his Tata Photon Plus, he was quick to note that the service provider had a customer
feedback page on Twitter.
"I wrote to them about my data troubles and within three hours, my problem was responded to online.
Soon a customer-care executive called asking me details of the problem."Shirsendu Roy, a Mumbai
Indians fan, opted to book match tickets on the team's Facebook page.
"When I booked tickets through the MI page, I could directly share the date and time of my tickets with
my Facebook friends and ask them to join me, instead of telling everyone individually."
The MI Facebook page, one of the top five brand pages accessed by over 1.5 million fans, has seen close
to 100,000 users joining the group in the past 30 days, reports online metrics' site Facebakers.
The overwhelming response by the net-savvy social networker to help desk services offered on sites like
Facebook and Twitter is reflected in a study by Experian.The compiled data suggests that social media,
which accounts for 13.16 per cent of the total Internet visits in India, is led by Facebook with 32 per cent
of total hits and 51 per cent of market share with respect to page views - i.e. one in every two social
network pages viewed is a Facebook page.
Twitter, a microblogging site, is also fast catching up with the trend. India ranks in the list of top 10
countries in terms of twitter users, contributing around 6.5 per cent of the site's total traffic, an Alexa
data release says.
It's not surprising that the platform is being used as a customer feedback tool: Brands such as Cleartrip,
MakeMyTrip, Idea Cellular, Tata DoCoMo, Airtel, Vodafone, Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Bajaj Allianz, HDFC
Bank, ICICI Bank, Pizza Hut and Barista, among many others, are seen actively engaging users on social
platforms
Users like Deepti Kalra, a regular on e-commerce site Flipkart, prefer to type in their queries on the
Twitter page instead of dialling the customer care number.
"When I was unable to complete my transaction on Flipkart, I posted my query on their Twitter page and
within minutes they answered my query online and a customer care executive on phone assisted me to
resolve the billing issue," she says.
For companies, the focus on Facebook and Twitter pages, especially for consumer-dependent
businesses like Flipkart, makes sense because customers are comfortable with the experience of real-
time support to their queries.
Subsequently, telephone calls to Flipkart's toll-free customer care number have declined, says Sachin
Bansal, CEO of Flipkart. Instead, the e-commerce portal's 750,00 Facebook fans and over 5,000 Twitter
followers post feedback on its offers, services and products in real time.
"There's a limit to what we can do on our website or blogs, as opposed to content that can be consumed
and shared on Twitter and Facebook."
Realising that the concept has caught the fancy of the Indian consumer, the company decided to market
its stock of Apple iPhones and iPads on the Facebook page.
"For any marketing message that we put out on social media platforms, we get an average 100,000
customers sharing the news with friends or responding to the communication. We are able to convert
about a few hundred of such users in to actual sales," adds Bansal.
An independent study by Iffort, a web-strategy & social media consulting firm, revealed that brands like
Acer India's Twitter account has been inactive since November 2009.
The other prominent profile is that of Apollo Hospitals who haven't posted a single tweet since July
2009.
Daksh Sharma, director at Iffort Consulting, has been working with brands like www.dealsandyou.com a
daily deal site where customers prefer to connect via social media channels.
Since the brand has over 200,000 followers on Facebook, we are also able to collate a lot of feedback
through wall posts, by asking questions and constantly adapting to what customers are looking for and
when we do our customers show their appreciation in a public forum which is great for the brand."
Recently, the site ran a promotion on the Cricket World Cup using the social media platform to engage
customers - the game had over 13,000 unique players where the winners won prizes and the brand
gained a lot of user mileage online.
But handling disgruntled users on sites like Twitter or Facebook is a trick that Indian companies are
beginning to learn.
Financial institutions like ICICI Bank actively offer support to its banking customers over Twitter.
The Iffort study reveals that there were irate customers who took on the bank for not receiving support
through the conventional methods.
For such cases, ICICI Bank has dedicated staff to constantly monitor its tweets and address concerns on
net banking, transaction charges and debit card issues.
Hareesh Tibrewala, joint CEO of Social Wavelength says: "We recently did a project for a major pharma
company that makes OTC drugs. The company had certain hypothesis about consumers' perception of
their brand. Using social media listening tools, we were able to validate those hypothesis."
Tibrewala, who essentially manages social media communication for brands, adds that almost 40 per
cent customer support requirements are emerging on Twitter.
Facebook would account for less than 10 per cent and sites like Mouthshut, Customercourtforum.in,
consumercomplaint.org are also very popular with consumers who want to vent their frustration."
An Experian analyst says the popularity of social networking sites as a feedback tool arises from the fact
that consumers feel emboldened by voicing and sharing their opinions.
"Word of mouth and personal recommendations are extremely powerful tools in advertising, because
people instinctively trust the recommendations of real consumers rather than the marketing slogans of
a company."
EBay, PayPal sue Google over trade secrets
NEW YORK (Reuters) - EBay and its online payment unit, PayPal Inc, on Thursday sued Google Inc and
two executives for stealing trade secrets related to mobile payment systems.
The two executives, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, were formerly with PayPal and led the launch
on Thursday of Google's own mobile payment system in partnership with MasterCard, Citigroup and
phone company Sprint.
The suit highlights the growing battle by a wide range of companies from traditional finance to Silicon
Valley trying to take a major stake in what has been described as a $1 trillion opportunity in mobile
payments. The mobile phone is seen as the digital personal wallet of the future.
The eBay suit said Bedier worked for nine years at PayPal, most recently serving as vice president of
platform, mobile and new ventures. He joined Google on Jan. 24 this year.
Tilenius was at eBay from 2001 to October 2009 and served as a consultant to the company until March
2010. The suit says Tilenius joined Google in February 2010 as vice president of e-commerce.
Bedier is accused in the suit of having "misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within
Google and to major retailers."
The suit accused Tilenius of recruiting Bedier, thereby breaking a contractual agreement with eBay. It
also claims Bedier attempted to recruit former colleagues still at PayPal.
Ebay said PayPal and Google worked closely together for three years until this year on developing a
commercial deal where PayPal would serve as a payment option for mobile application purchases on
Google's Android phones.
It said Bedier was the senior PayPal executive leading and finalizing negotiations with Google on Android
during this period.
It also claimed Bedier transferred up-to-date versions of documents outlining PayPal's mobile payment
strategies to his non-PayPal computer just days before leaving PayPal for Google.
"By hiring Bedier, with his trade secret knowledge of PayPal's plans and understanding of Google's
weaknesses as viewed by the industry leader (PayPal), Google bought the most comprehensive and
sophisticated critique of its own problems available," the suit said.
Google spokesman Aaron Zamost said the company had not yet received a copy of the complaint would
not be able to comment until it has had a chance to review it.
Google and PayPal have done battle in the recent past in online payments via computers with the launch
of Google Checkout in 2006, but Checkout has had a minimal impact on PayPal's market dominance.
The suit was filed at Superior Court of the State of California, county of Santa Clara, Case No: CV20l863.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, additional reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Gary Hill, Bernard Orr and
Matt Driskill)
Iphone 4 Released in India
Kolkata, May 27 (PTI) Eleven months after Apple''s next-generation smartphone hit stores worldwide,
the iPhone 4 was launched Friday in India, the world''s second biggest market for mobile phones.
Declaring the roll-out of one of the most expected smartphones in the world by Bharti airtel here and in
34 other cities in India, Airtel CEO (West Bengal and Orissa) P D Sharma told PTI the iPhone 4 will create
a separate space from the clutter of smartphones in the market, many of them having copied Apple
features.
"iPhone 4 will stand out for its original applications and cater to the middle segment as well, with
attractive pricing which will not create a pinch both in the long and short term," Sharma said on the
sidelines of the launch here.
Asked about the delay of almost one year in the product arriving in India after its June launch in the US,
Sharma said, "With third generation (3g) mobile networks only coming of age in recent times in India,
there was no other option but the iPhone 4 to wait." "The handset will be priced at Rs 34,500 with 16-
GB capacity and Rs 40,900 with 32-GB capacity, which is attractive considering the long-term use. The
set is powered by Apple''s A4 (operating system), boasts of a retina display, FaceTime for video chat, 5-
MP rear facing camera with LED flash and HD video recording," he said.
The iPhone 4 boasts a higher-quality screen and longer battery life than the previous model, he said,
adding that Bharti already sells earlier models of the iPhone in India.
"With the high number of mobile users, smartphone market will grow in the country," he said.
The iPhone 4 was launched way back in June in the US, followed by other countries.
To the question if the pricing would offset the buying of the model at inflated rates over and above the
USD 1500 price tag from the grey market, Sharma said that stage seems to have been over.
The iPhone 4 was launched in the city by Tollywood actress Paoli Dam, who was among the 35
celebrities in different cities of the country gifted a handset on the occasion of the launch.
"I am happy to possess one iPhone 4 from Friday. I have also been given a favourite number by Airtel,
which I can memorise very easily. I am sure this handset will become a part of my accessory," Dam told
PTI.
About whether she had been using Apple products earlier, the actress said, "I had been using Apple
Mac." PTI
Courtesy http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/iPhone-4-launched-India-pti-3307961153.html
India among most entrepreneur-friendly nations: global poll
On Thursday 26 May 2011, 2:51 PM
London, May 26 (PTI) India along with US, Canada and Australia, has been ranked among the nations
with the best cultures in the world for people to start a new business, a new global poll has showed.
While India finds itself bracketed with the better ranked countries, Colombia, Egypt, Turkey, Italy and
Russia are the least friendly to innovation and entrepreneurship, showed results of the 24-country BBC
World Service poll. The world''s two major economies - US and China - are also among the most
favourable countries for innovation and creativity, according to the results. In both nations, 75 per cent
say that their country values innovation and creativity -- second only to Indonesia (85 per cent), and well
ahead of other emerging economies such as Brazil (54 per cent) and India (67 per cent). At the other end
of the scale, only 24 per cent of Turks and 26 per cent of Russians and Egyptians say they feel that
innovation and creativity is valued in their country. The results are drawn from a survey of 24,537 adult
citizens across 24 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the UK, the US, among others. Most
countries surveyed in Asia were found to have a well-developed entrepreneurship culture, and except
Pakistan, all had good ratings on the entrepreneur-friendly index. Indonesia scored the highest ratings of
all participating countries in the survey (2.81), just ahead of the US. .
Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/India-among-most-entrepreneur-pti-773898865.html