Microsoft‘s Nokia deal, Layoffs look inevitable

 Microsoft and Nokia's India operations are among the biggest outside their home countries, and it looks like a certain number of redundancies and consequent layoffs are inevitable. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's email to Microsoft employees on the Nokia deal said the companies would integrate all global marketing and have a unified brand and advertising strategy. It said that finance, legal, HR, communications, evangelism, customer care and business development would integrate functionally at Microsoft. ICM/IT will also integrate functionally for traditional IT roles, it said.

Microsoft, Most Xbox One pre order supply sold out

Retail stores in many markets have run out of Microsoft's Xbox One consoles available for pre-orders, a senior company executive said, ahead of a major clash with Sony's new lower-priced Playstation 4 this November.

Microsoft's first new gaming console in eight years will go on sale November 22 in 13 countries, Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of marketing, strategy and business for the Xbox, said in an interview.

That will put it one week behind the PlayStation 4 in the United States but ahead in many European countries where Sony's first new console in seven years is slated to go on sale on Nov. 29.

Kodak CEO talks about company s future

You can feel the spirit of George Eastman in Antonio Perez's office.

A picture of Eastman, who founded Kodak in 1880, sits among the current CEO's collection of family photos. The outer areas of Perez's office, built and first inhabited by Eastman about a century ago, include some of Kodak's Oscar and Emmy awards, along with a collection of historic photos. A large portrait of Eastman, who died in 1932, hangs near the entrance.

Perez's surroundings serve as a constant reminder of Kodak's hallowed history in the print and movie film industries - and of the pressure he is under to revive the ailing company.

Nestle makes fun of Apple on new KitKat website

Internet giant Google has announced the next version of its Android mobile operating system will be called Kitkat. The company has partnered with confectionary brand, which is owned by global FMCG giant Nestle.

The surprise element, however, is that just a day after the announcement, Nestle has taken an unexpected dig at Apple, which rivals Google's Android mobile OS in the mobile arena.

The confectionery company has redesigned itsKitKat website to make it look like that of a gadget, with phrases reminiscent of Apple. Terms like 'Confectionery Perfectionary', 'wafer thin CPU' and 'global coverage, you can take it literally anywhere' remind users of Applehyperboles like ultrafast wireless internet (which the company used when 4G connectivity was introduced with iPhone 5).

The pull of Big Data start ups

An existing large global Big Data and analytics market and a fast growing domestic market for this industry seems to have triggered the preference for Big Data start ups by Gen Y.
According to IDC the Big Data market is projected to reach $18.1 billion by 2013 end, an annual growth of 61%. This puts it on pace to exceed $47 billion by 2017; which translates to a 31 per cent compounded annual growth rate over the five year period 2012-2017.