Yahoo buys Startup Bookpad

Acquisition of Indian software product startups by Facebook, Google, and Yahoo over recent months is the tipping points for Indian Entrepreneurs. Bangalore based Bookpad become the first Indian Tech Startup to be bought by Yahoo. The US Internet giant who is in line to reap about $9.5 Billion from Alibaba IPO has bought the firm in a deal worth around Rs 50cr. Yahoo has so far bought 100 companies.

Bookpad is competing with large companies like Google and Crocodoc in document viewing. It allows users to create and edit files from within their apps. It supports all popular documents formats and works on desktops as well as mobile devices. It runs on HTML 5. With this acquisition, we can expect Yahoo to bring Google Docs like features in its Yahoo Mail service so that users can edit and share documents. This means when you receive documents in the mail, you can open, edit, save documents on the cloud.

Yahoo bought seventeen companies after Marissa Mayer took over as CEO. Bookpad was originally named as Docspad, where users can create spreadsheets, slideshows, from the web and save them on cloud or in their mail. In January, Facebook also acquired Bangalore based Little Eye Labs. It became the first Indian Firm to be acquired by Facebook. According to some news, Walmart, Target, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, and Goldman Sachs are among also looking for suitable matches.

Several global bodies are engaging with industry bodies like Nasscom and iSpirt to reach the right startups. According to a report, Google senior Vice President Sundar Pichai attended a roundtable organised by Nasscom, where he might with eight startups companies of his interest. Nasscom is also looking to organize the same roundtable for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is set to visit India this month. A year before, US companies were not looking towards Indian companies but now most of them are looking towards Indian start-ups to grow their business.

Zomato acquires Poland Gastronauci

Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah as Foodiebay founded Zomato in 2008. Starting with 1200 restaurants in and around Delhi, they quickly expanded to Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune. In 2010, Info-edge invested $1 Million in the company. In 2010, it rebranded as Zomato to have a brand name that was short and easy to remember.

In the recent news, India based online and mobile restaurant search and discovery services acquired Poland’s leading restaurant service Gastronauci. This was Zomato fourth acquisition in last three months and they have now increased their presence in 16 countries. Ola Lazar founded Gastronauci in 2007. Zomato wants to be Google of food and presently they are in aim of covering Central and Eastern European Market.

Backed by $37 Million it raised from Sequioa Capital and Info-Edge in 2013 it acquired three more firms this year. These include New Zealand based restaurant service MenuMania in July 2014, Czech Republic based restaurant guide Lunchtime.cz, and Slovakia popular restaurant guide Obedovat.sk. Zomato now provides information over 260,000 restaurants across 16 countries. The market it operates includes UK, UAE, South Africa, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, Indonesia, Srilanka, and Qatar. It also operates across 35 cities in India.

In India, it provides information on over 60,000 restaurants. In the next one year, Zomato plans to enter into nine new markets these includes Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Vietnam, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and Colombia. For Zomato the big markets are in US, Germany, Australia, Japan, UK, and Russia. Their competitors in other countries are Yelp, which is present in 28 markets, JustEat, which is present in 13 countries, and Open Table, which has its presence in 20 countries. The primary focuses of these companies are on food ordering and table bookings and they do not aid discovery like Zomato.

Zomato wants to first Internet based Indian brand out to India. The day Zomato did their fourth acquisition, Delhi based Website performance testing startup Wignify acquired US based Concept Feedback, a community platform of user experience experts for online. In the coming days we may see fashion and retail giant Jabong to operate in UK and Printvenue in Australia.

Rocket's Indian Firms expanding Globally

Rocket Internet is one of the world largest e-commerce venture capital firms. Samwer Brothers started it in 2007 in Germany. The founders gained visibility through successful investments in eBay, Groupon, Facebook, Jabong, LinkedIn, and Zynga. The company business model is to find successful internet ventures from other countries and replicate them in emerging markets.

Rocket Internet operates in more than 50 countries and has more than 75 ventures such as Zolando in Germany; Lamoda in Russia, Zalora in South East Asia, Iconic in Australia, global food delivery sites Foodpanda, and property listing sites Lamudi and Carmudi. In India, Rocket Internet operates Jabong and Printvenue. Rocket Internet wants to be world largest e-commerce platform outside the U.S and China. By the end of this year, Rocket Internet Group may close its initial public offering. It would be second e-commerce firm IPO this year, after Alibaba.

One of the Indian E-commerce firms Printvenue plans to start operations in Australia with a team of marketing, content, and sourcing. There is no competitive environment in Australia for the company. It will soon be seen in Asia-Pacific Region such as South East and Middle East too. Over the next four five years, Printvenue plans to venture into Europe, and Latin America. Printvenue is already operating in Singapore with a small team.

Earlier this month, German venture capital group decided to take online fashion retailer Jabong.com to a global platform by merging it with four other such businesses in Latin America, Russia, Middle East, South East Asia, and Australia. Jabong has also opened an office in London where a team of 15-20 people will design its private label. These steps of Rocket Internet taking portfolio companies global were always on its agenda and these are linked to upcoming IPO.

Its global online food-ordering firm, Foodpanda is continuously expanding into developing markets. Foodpanda is present in more than 45 countries across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. After Jack Ma Alibaba, soon people will see Billionaires from Germany and Rocket Internet world largest e-commerce venture capitalist firm.

Infosys ties up with Hitachi, Huawei, and Microsoft

Infosys is an Indian Multinational Corporation that provides business-consulting, information technology, software engineering and outsourcing services. It is India’s second largest IT services company. Infosys is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. Vishal Sikka is the current CEO of Infosys. It had widened collaboration with Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems, and Huawei in a bid to expand offerings in Cloud Computing, Big Data & Analytics, Communication, Infrastructure, and Data Transformation segments.

The Bangalore based firm, which is a systems integration partner of Microsoft Corp, will also establish a global ‘centre of excellence’ for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning that will train over 1,000 engineers by the end of Fiscal year 2015. This collaboration will offer enterprises easy access to an analytics platform without the need of big investments and extended time to market. A recent report said that, Infosys is strong in delivering services but lacks innovation, hinting if its areas of execution became less significant, customers might switch.

The expanded partnerships with Hitachi Data systems will add to Company infrastructure and data centre transformation solution capabilities. Infosys would set up a centre to co-create pay per use solutions with Hitachi Data Systems. The new solutions will facilitate transition of clients IT infrastructure to Cloud based environments and will be tailored to meet the refresh cycles of enterprise data centres at lower costs. China has committed $20 Billion investment in India over next five years and has agreed to provide greater market access to Indian products in farm, Pharma, gems and jewellery sectors with a view to reducing trade gap.

Under the partnership with Chinese Huawei, the two companies will jointly develop IT solutions that combine Huawei Cloud Infrastructure and Infosys IT services expertise. The solution develops under this partnership will target enterprise customers looking to modernize their operations by leveraging and infrastructure.  Infosys Cloud Ecosystem Hub, a solution that help firms build and manage a unified hybrid cloud environment, will be integrated with Hitachi Unified Compute Platform to reduce time to market and simplify complex migrations. The combination will enable enterprises to move to a 100 percent virtualized environment with management, orchestration, and hypervisor integration.

Microsoft buys Mojang

Gaming is a top activity snapping devices, from PCs and consoles to tablets and mobiles, with billions of hours spent each year. Microsoft has recently announced the purchase of Mojang. Microsoft is continuing to spend its overseas cash with its acquisition of Minecraft creator Mojang for $2.5 Billion. Games and gaming as one of the Microsoft’s biggest “digital life” categories in which the company planned to continue to invest.

Since the start of 2014, Microsoft has acquired six companies, including Mojang. Of these six companies, four were headquartered outside the U.S. Mojang founders, Notch, Carl, and Jakob, are leaving the company. Minecraft, a construction game in which the players can build nearly anything imaginable, block by block, in a digital, Lego like world has spread like wildfire since its full release by developer Mojang in 2011. Minecraft is the top paid for app on both Apple Inc’s iOS and Google’s Inc Android systems and helped Mojang.

Microsoft has spent lavishly in the Nordic region in recent years, buying the handset business of Nokia for US $7.2 Billion in a deal, which closed this year. In 2011, it spent US $8.5 Billion on Skype, which has its roots in Scandinavia and Baltics. This was Microsoft’s sixth purchase this year. Microsoft is eyeing to capture the gaming and OS market. Development of Windows phones and eye-catching games will increase their market share. Let us look at Microsoft other purchases so far this year. Microsoft bought Parature in January 2014. It is a Herndon, Virginia based customer-case service provider, to bolster its Dynamics CRM line up.

In March 2014, Microsoft buys the Osterhout Design Group. However, they did not buy the entire Group, but may have bought $150 Million worth of wearable intellectual property from the San Francisco Company. In May 2014, Microsoft bought New Zealand based GreenButton, to integrate its technology into Azure to help manage computes intensive workloads in the cloud. In May 2014, Microsoft bought Capptain, a cross platform French mobile analytics vendor, and plans to integrate its technology with Azure for mobile-app dev.

In July 2014, Microsoft bought SyntaxTree, the French company behind the cross platform UnityVS game-development plug-in for Visual Studio. In July 2014, Microsoft bought InMage, a San Jose based disaster recovery vendor, to integrate its cross platform recovery/cloud continuity technology into Azure. According to news, Microsoft is planning to buy another non-U.S. based company by the end of this year. Microsoft is also working to purchase Israeli cyber security startup Aorato. Aorato is focused on improving the security IT infrastructure, including that of Microsoft’s Active Directory Technology.

Cognizant Buys Trizetto

Cognizant is a global leader in information technology, consulting, and business process services. It provide services such as claims processing, billing and call center operations to insurers, hospitals and some state run health care exchanges set up under President Barack Obama’s affordable care Act, as known as Obamacare. Colorado based Trizetto provides information technology services, including care management and the administration of benefits. 

Cognizant struck up its biggest deal, acquiring healthcare IT services provider Trizetto Corp for $2.7 Billion. It is the biggest acquisition in Indian IT sector. Healthcare is undergoing structural shifts due to reform, cost pressure, and shifting responsibilities between payers and providers. Trizetto will provide Cognizant to increase their market share. In 2008, Apax acquired Cognizant, a London based private equity firm. Trizetto was built up through 16 acquisitions in last 15 years, according to their website. It serves about 350 health care plans and supplies software to almost 245,000 doctors and other care providers.

Following this acquisition, Cognizant grip on the segment will increase further, leaving behind peers like WIPRO, Infosys, and TCS. At present, healthcare accounts for around 26 percent of Cognizant revenue, which is estimated to go up to 30 percent on integration with Trizetto. Cognizant and Trizetto have had a long-term relationship. This acquisition represents a great opportunity to integrate services across three horizons. Traditional IT services, high growth businesses like management consulting, business process services, and IT infrastructure services and will provide greater value to clients.

There are lot of acquisitions and changes going on in Indian Healthcare sector. E-commerce sector is focusing on providing medical facilities online. Companies like Ranbaxy, Cipla, and Sun Pharma are into manufacturing of new medical products. IT sector is all set to provide services to clients and hospitals. Tech giants are developing products which includes health apps or which can tell people health status. We can assume that technology is going to play a major role in Healthcare sector and it is going to benefit millions of people. It is estimated that Healthcare business is to grow at a rapid pace.

Mobile Wallet

Mobile wallet is a virtual money wallet that can be used to make instant payments. Domestic e-commerce companies, such as Flipkart, plan to launch a wallet soon, while a few payment gateways, such as Paytm and Mobikwik, offer semi-closed wallets already. Telecom operators also offer this facility internationally. Apple Inc. also introduced an iPhone Wallet, which will have tie-ups with Visa Inc., Master Card Inc., and American Express Co.

Mobile wallet is going to next wave of change in the way people make payments. Let us see more about what is Mobile Wallet and how is it going to work? It is a virtual money wallet that can be used to make instant payments same as with a physical wallet. It is an application stored in cell phones, which enable users to make payments for utility bills, book tickets, transfer money, other such transactions. It can also be used to make e-payments while shopping, in physical stores or at e-stores.

Once an application is stored in the phone, a user is registered and knows your customer documents are submitted, a user can transfer money to this wallet and then make payments. Customer can provide any of his documents such as driving license, passport, voter identity card, Aadhaar card, and PAN card for identity and address proof. Bank account statement can also be given for address proof. The outlets where payments can be made depends on the wallet- closed or semi-closed. Closed wallets generally allow payments only at particular merchants, while semi-closed wallets allow payments to a group of establishments that have agreed to accept payments through the wallets.

It is more convenient to use it than a web based payment method such as paying through a website. The payment can be made over a mobile network as well as through a message using the unstructured supplementary service data platform. Users can make payments without using cash, debit cards, and credit cards, while in a store. This protects users from card data being misused through phishing and cloning. Since the application requires a Mobile personal Identification Number (MPIN) to make transactions, even if the mobile is stolen or lost, without the MPIN, a transaction will not be possible.

Daily and monthly limits to the number of transactions are the big hurdle while making big purchases. It cannot be used at all outlets is also a worry. Mobile wallet will have money stored in it, it will not earn any interest, while money in a bank savings account earns 4-7% interest, depending on the bank.

Twitter partners with TV channels in India

Television partnerships are a key way in which the company is looking to monetize its user base globally. Last year, it paid $67 Million for Bluefin Labs, a startup that uses analytical to tie social media charter to television. In order to increase its user base globally, San Francisco based company, Twitter Inc. is speeding up its partnerships deal with television channels in India.

The move is expected to help Twitter, as it increases the conversation around hit shows and helps the channels by getting new viewers to tune in. The company also launched its Amplify product, which helps networks monetize content, last month with Star Sports and Vodafone. Twitter already has a tie up with Airtel DTH, which allows customers to view tweets on their television screen. More deals in the space are underway. The channels are also using Twitter to discover more audiences for their shows, for instances shows like Roadies, Big Boss, and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa etc. promote tweeting to boost viewership. Star Plus is debuting the promo for the Aamir Khan hosted Satyamev Jayate on the site by asking fans to tweet with a hashtag.

Apart from this, Twitter Inc. has announced its plans to raise $1.3 Billion in its first debt offering by issuing convertible senior notes. Until now, Twitter has made around 41 acquisitions. Twitter has recently introduced new product experiences, launched new web profiles with a number of new advertiser tools. The firm has also acquired three companies as Gnip, TapCommerce, and SnappyTV. The company has also acquired mobile advertising startup Namo Media for a deal amount of around $50 Million. The company has launched “pay by tweet” service with American Express and “Keyword Targeting ad feature.” It had collaborated with WPP to increase its advertising revenues and offers text based password recovery service.

Second screen devices such as Tablets, Ultrabooks, and Smartphones are likely to be principal force behind social TV experiences. TV and video content providers such as cable companies have a great opportunity to target heavy users with Social TV in order to reduce potential churn. Twitter had also added a new video sharing feature on Mobile with two of the World Cup Advertisers Visa, and Adidas.

Snapdeal ties up with Mapmygenome

The cutthroat competition in the Indian e-commerce market has seen many websites try to outdo each other by offering unique services. Snapdeal seems to be super aggressive as far as expansion is concerned. After cracking partnership with Tata Value Homes, the Delhi based company has tied up with Mapmygenome India to offer DNA testing services.

Founded in 2012, Mapmygenome India is a company that offers a range of services to paint a picture of one’s genetic makeup and suggest ways to lead a better and healthier life. The services offered on Snapdeal include Cardiomap, Genomepatri, Mycalmbeat, and Webneuro. With this service, customers will be able to order personal genomic tests, which will help them identify the ideal lifestyle to lead a healthy and fit life. Mapping the genome aids in predicting, preventing, and treating a number of diseases. Mapmygenome offers tests in between Rs 1,000 to 25,000.

Cardiomap evaluates if you are at risk to heart diseases or diabetes based on your genetics. The service costs Rs 12,000 on Snapdeal. Genomepatri is the most expensive of the lot, priced at Rs 25,000. It essentially studies one’s DNA and suggests ways to change one’s lifestyle to lead a healthier life. Mycalmbeat, priced at Rs 5,000 is described as a personal stress reduction monitor that decreases stress and increases focus on personalized slow breathing. Webneuro, priced at Rs 1,500 is a web based 30 minute test that assesses the cognitive strength and weaknesses of individual. The collaboration will help both companies in reaching out to out 25 Million+ members across the country and enable them to understand the gene-disease interaction better.

Snapdeal has also announced its entry into the hospitality segment with 50,000 products across brands like cookware and bakeware, dining and serving and bar & glassware among others. Last month, Snapdeal raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata. Earlier this year, it had raised $133 Million led by eBay along with Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital, and Saama Capital.

Free Cloud Storage

Computer hard drives are prone to failures and which is why one should not rely on keep our data safe. Apart from keeping multiple backups of essential data, one can store data in cloud. Cloud computing concept is increasing day by day. Companies and their employees are storing most of their data on cloud these days. In this way, our data is safe from theft, hard drive crashes, and even natural disasters.

Main advantage of cloud computing is that one can access their data from anywhere and any device and any time as long as one have an internet connection. With few of the free services combined, one can easily get over 200GB of online storage. Let us look at some sites, which provide free space on internet.

Surdoc - 100GB (www.surdoc.com)

The most generous is Surdoc, which offers 100 GB space on internet. There are no apps or downloads, it can be accessed using a web browser. One can also get a space of one Terabyte of additional free storage by doing few things. Referring a friend gives additional 10 GB bonus, Tweeting Surdoc or engaging with Surdoc on Facebook gives extra 1 GB. Answering a survey gives 5 GB and linking an additional device to account gives extra 5 GB.

Mega – 50GB (mega.co.nz)

Mega is a private company, which performs end-to-end encryption on all files stored on its servers. This means as one upload data it is encrypted and is decrypted when one download it on other device. There is a synchronous client for computers and apps for Android, Blackberry and iOS. Mega also offers Chrome and Firefox extensions to add Mega features right into browser.

Adrive – 50GB (www.adrive.com)

Adrive personal basic plan is always free and it offers apps for Android, iOS and easy access from a web browser from any device. It also allows one to view, edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online. It also offers cheapest premium plans in the industry. One can purchase a premium plan with 100GB of storage for just $2.50 per month or $25 per year.

Onedrive – 15GB (www.onedrive.live.com)

Previously known as Skydrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage solution is built into the latest Windows 8 computers, Xbox 360, and the upcoming Xbox one. It is also available on Android, Windows Phone and iOS. It also gives extra 500MB for referring a friend and extra 3GB when one activate camera roll backup on phone.

Dropbox – 2GB (www.dropbox.com)

It offers the lowest amount of storage. Dropbox has an excellent desktop client and full featured apps for Android, Blackberry and iOS. Data stays synchronized across all devices one use. One can auto upload smartphone photos so that they stay safe in case you lose your phone. Free space can be added by referring your friends.

Hard drives are going to be obsolete in coming years. Big companies are creating their own cloud storage servers and storing client/employee data on its servers. Microsoft is also setting up cloud data centre in India. Soon, Cloud computing will become a popular platform for storing data in India.

Apple iPhone and Watch

It is one of the biggest weeks of the year in the technical industry. Apple is holding its annual iPhone unveiling on Tuesday at IFA in Berlin. September 9 marks a high holiday for Apple fanatics, and this year the company is expected to announce even more iThings than ever. While Apple never reveals anything before the day of event but rumors begins before the month of the event.

Apple is going to unveil two new iPhone this year. One with 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch both marked bigger than the current 4-inch screen. Some of the features of the new iPhone is it will be working on ultra-durable sapphire crystal screens, which would protect the iPhone 6 from scratches and cracks. Apple iPhone will include an NFC Chip for mobile payments and a new A8 processor.

News is, Apple is going to unveil its fifth new product in the market - Watch. This will be the first product in the absence of Steve Jobs. The Watch like the iPhone 6 is rumored to come in two sizes. The watch will do all sorts of cool stuff like tracking your sleep patterns and allowing to pay for things at terminals using NFC technology. It will also be linked to the HealthKit app that Apple previewed during its iOS 8. HealthKit can track heart rate, sleep patterns, and blood pressures and other stats. Users can also give doctors at certain health facilities access to the data.

Apple wants the Watch to be fashionable. However, Watch is also expected to sport a sapphire screen and NFC Chip. Price point is expected to be $400. This new product will face the problem of battery life. Competitors like Samsung, LG, and Google have been churning out new big and bulky smart watches over the past two years. Apple will announce the next iPad Air as well in future. Tuesday is already slated to be one of the most packed fall events in Apple’s history.

Type without Keyboard

The undoubted convenience of carrying a tablet is sometimes offset by the impractically of having to use the keyboard on the touch screen, rather than physical keyboard which one is most familiar with desktops and laptops. We have typing the same way for almost 150 years. A new portable device that translates finger movements into readable type can bring the keyboard free typing closer.

Airtype is a set of cuff-like devices that attach to your hands and makes the letters you want by learning your finger movements. This is a wireless keyboard that reinvents how we interact with tablet or other mobile device. For this, the device uses two Bluetooth wrap around the hand. One paired with the device, each gadget picks up finger movements before bringing them letters on the screen of the mobile. Airtype learns the typing habits of the user to provide a custom keyboard. No need for keys, simply tap on a surface for the necessary recognizes the letter or the key in question. The straps can be attached to the device or stored in pocket for easy transport.

The project is under development and for now, only prototype is available. The startup Texan has created “keyboardless keyboard.” One can check the video of the product by clicking on Airtype website link (http://airtype.io/concept/). The slogan on the website claims, “There is no need to learn Airtype, he will learn from you.” One can therefore assume that the device is able to learn to read the most of the movements of the hands of the people using it, to allow a more precise writing and with fewer errors.

It is a very interesting and new concept. However, the bad news is that at for the moment, Airtype still seems to be the level of concept rather than a product actually constructed and operating. It gives a potential that the solution like this could have for those who use tablets and smartphones to write. The product will keep an eye on what could be a great innovation.

Mobile apps for Managing People

Companies across sectors are increasingly using mobile apps to carry out resources related tasks such as recruitment and talent management, and cut the time that goes into key processes including collecting and filling data, and waiting for approvals. Let us look at some apps of some companies and their use.

TCS NextStep is an app used by TCS and is in use since 2012. Candidates can register for a job from this app and track the status of the job. This app gives update on the interview location and Google maps synchronize it. Candidates can view and save their offer letter with the help of app., TCS is using the app as its main hiring tool. By this app, TCS hiring process has become paperless. Companies have seen a 20-30% increase in the adoption of application.

Zoho People is an app developed by Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd and is in use since November 2013. Zoho is Chennai based CRM software Provider Company. Zoho People allows people to mark their attendance. Instead of swiping card to enter office, the app lets employees to log in the check in and checkout times. Employees find this useful to check in to work, especially when they work from client locations and it helps keep a check on their activity. The company will include a leave request feature through which employee can apply for leave and their managers can accept it over mobile device.

SuccessFactors is an app used by Godrej Industries Ltd since December 2013. The app has features such as job requisition approvals, interview feedback, offer approvals, and performance evaluations and lists the number of tasks pending against the feature, making it a ready reckoned for executives. The user interface of this app is designed in such a way that it lays out all necessary details on a single page. The interview feedback feature allows senior executives to view the overall rating given to a candidate, view the resume, and even see if the potential hire fits the budget of the organization. This leads to more efficiency in the recruitment process.

Workday is an app used by Philips India Ltd since April 2014. This app let executives enter objectives of employees and track them on a real time basis. They also help executives log in feedback given on projects on a real time basis. It also generates manpower requests across the organization, and is looking to upgrade it to performance and talent management functions over the next few months.

With continuous change in technology, companies are now shifting their focus on the use of smartphone for all their work. Internet is also playing a major role in executing all processes. This is also reducing use of paper work in the companies and connectivity is more in using mobile apps. It also requires less number of employees in executing processes and it is easy to sort data out of it.

Android Restaurant in China

It is more teatime than Terminator – a restaurant in China is electrifying customers by using more than a dozen robots to cook and deliver food. Mechanical staff greets customers, deliver dishes to tables, and even stir-fry meat and vegetables at the eatery in Kunshan, which opened last week.

It seems very strange to see robots cooking and serving foods instead of humans, but it is reality. These robots are made on Android platform and are controlled by different technologies. Two robots are positioned at the door to cheerfully greet customers and four short but humanoid machines carry trays of food to the tables. In the kitchen, two large blue robots with glowing red eyes specialize in frying, while another is dedicated to make dumplings.

The founder of the restaurant Song Yugang said that each robot costs around 40,000 Yuan ($6500) roughly equal to the annual salary of a human employee. It shows the future to this world i.e. Man vs. Machine. The restaurant, in the western province of Jiangsu, follows in the tracks of another robotic eatery, which opened in the northeastern city of Harbin in 2012.

Rising labor costs in China have encouraged manufacturers to turn to automation, and the country last year surpassed Japan to become the world’s biggest consumer of Industrial Robots. The cooking robots, which have a fixed repertoire exhibit limited artificial intelligence, and are loaded with ingredients by human staff that also helps to make some dishes. Customers at the restaurant that tucked into fried tomatoes with egg, soup, and rice were thrilled with the experience. The round headed waiter robots can only move along fixed paths, and politely asked customers to move out of their way whenever their routes are blocked. This advancement in technology has replaced humans from the work and machines are generating profits for businesspersons.

Day is not far when people will see terminators in reality!

DHL to test e-commerce model in India

DHL is a division of the German Logistic company Deutsche Post DHL providing international express mail services. DHL is the world market leader in sea and airmail. It was founded in 1969 to deliver documents between Honolulu and San Francisco. DHL is serving in countries such as Iraq, Iran, China, Vietnam, North Korea, and Soviet Union. Deutsche Post DHL has chosen India to pilot its e-commerce business model for Asia-Pacific region and will invest more than €100 million in country over the next two years to create infrastructure.

Globally, e-retail is rapidly evolving. Over the next five years, the global e-commerce sector is expected to grow by more than 10% per annum. Asian region is expected to surpass North America and Europe as the biggest online market in the world. It is a huge opportunity for DHL to become the world’s largest provider of e-commerce logistics. Over 20 online retailers including Flipkart, Snapdeal, Urban Ladder, Fashionandyou, and LimeRoad have venture capital funds in the past four months. More are in talks to raise funds in the next six months.

Flipkart rising revenues, its acquisition of Myntra, the rise in shopping on smartphones and the change of government centre aided in attracting investors. The hype around the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has revived hope that if China can come up with large e-commerce businesses, so can India. Online retail is estimated to grow to $22 Billion in five years. DHL is present in 220 countries with 315,000 employees. DHL holds 75% stake in India listed small parcel transportation firm Blue Dart Express.

DHL will start 15 e-fulfillment centres to facilitate e-commerce business in metros including New Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai. There are also plans to start such centres in Tier-II and Tier-III cities including Coimbatore and Jaipur. DHL is specialized in providing integrated logistics solutions. DHL and Blue dart are moving away from vanilla transportation to specialized and Integrated Service.