Businessweek has launched a new section on its site that focuses on innovation. The site features lots of interesting stuff - ranging from blogs, design prototypes, articles and news - all with the underlying theme of innovation. With innovation being the buzzword in the corporate world’s operating mantras, this new site should serve as a useful resource for anyone looking for the latest in innovation.
Monthly Archive for June, 2006
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It was a sudden shift from orange to pink for my mobile phone operator. From an extremely popular and widely recognized brand “Orange”, the mobile operator shifted itself to “Hutch” - a brand popular in Northern India. The transition was supposed to have no effect on the mobile subscribers and all the features and billing plans continued with the status quo. But the first change was imminent when the bill mailing envelope changed color from Orange-Black to Pink-White.
Whether this is related to the shift, or has reasons of its own, but the Hutch network in Mumbai has been deteriorating with time. The service has started to get irritaing with a lot of lost calls, network congestion error messages, erratic voice clarity, and conversations getting disconnected suddenly. It is high time that Hutch took note of this, and revamped its network to take care of such extreme problems. With Airtel on a subscriber addition binge, Hutch should take care not to let its existing customers shift to other operators because of bad network.
I had written about the highly priced GPRS service offering of Orange. However, it seems that Hutch has taken note of this and has reduced its entry level prices. But the data usage charges still remain the same for the INR 499 package; the same being higher for lower tariff plans. But the lower plans seem to be a good start for tapping the increasing pool of people interested in trying out the GPRS service. I am sure that Hutch must have seen an increase in the number of subscribers who have opted for this service.
With Reliance finalising its plan to provide GSM services as well, the competition is getting hotter. On one hand, mobile operators are looking at technologies like 3G and WiMax, but on the other their networks are getting badly marred because of high subscriber additions month-over-month; and no significant improvement in the infrastructure. The entry of Reliance into GSM space would not only mean increased competition and better tariff plans, but it would also put the existing GSM operators in Mumbai under a lot of pressure.
Whether the likes of Hutch take the new threat seriously, and ramp up their operations in order to counter Reliance’s entry - this is a question left for all of us to see within the coming six months. Expect a lot of action in the mobile telephony space. The space has suddenly become HOT and EXCITING.
The 6th Annual Party of Netscribes was a fun event. On the evening of 9th June, all the roads led to Amnesia, the pub/disc at Hotel Leela. It was true to the Netscribes tradition - a cheerful bonhomie with everyone hitting the dance floor and swaying to the music. The party went on till the wee hours of morning. Of course, equally interesting were the test tube shots that some of us tried. I had a great time.
It was also the last day at Netscribes for Biplab Das, who had come for his summer training from IIMK, and I had come to know this chap as a happy-go-lucky fun chap. Here is wishing him the very best in all his future endeavours.
According to a recent BusinessWeek article, Hewlett-Packard is slated to overtake IBM by the end of this year. The new “Tech Superdog” has been consistenly focusing its energies on understanding consumer behaviour and coming out with innovative products - products that are not only at the cutting edge of innovation, but with an excellent after sales support service as well. I had written an article on the extremely pleasant experience of HP Customer Support service sometime back.
After selling its PC business to Lenovo, IBM a.k.a. the “Big Blue” has shifted its focus to large enterprises and corporations. And HP has taken the consumer route. It will be an interesting trend to watch as to what drives more growth. Though it is not exactly comparing apples with apples, but the different strategies of the two companies would provide some insight into the new set of business paradigms. With a leading market share in the printer business as well, HP is all set to become a strong contender for the number one position by the end of this year.
I have always liked HP as a company, and my recent purchase of HP notebook has been one of the best investment decisions that I have made in recent times. I do not doubt that given a chance, HP would be one company that I would love to work for. Or anyone else would for that matter.
Businessweek also provides an interesting piece of information:
IBM started off selling time clocks in 1914, and HP began in 1939 by building audio oscillators.
Some interesting links to check out:
- Yahoo has launched a revamped My Web site with a lot of new features, and a new AJAX-based user interface.
- BYOMS - A new service that lets you build your own mobile search. An easy way to search preselected sites by using an IM tool or a mobile device. As of now, the service works only with AIM. But a neat idea worth checking out.
- Google Spreadsheets is going to be launched soon. The service is inviting limited testers as of now, and is in the final stages of a beta launch. The application looks useful and has a great possibility of becoming popular than other similar services that are currently online.
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