Microsoft failed to create a buzz around the tablet PC. Apple, with the iPad, has resurrected this form factor. And around 10 million users are expected to buy tablet PCs this year.

The return of tablet PC

Business Standard

US-based Apple made millions by selling mobile apps &mdash; applications like games, productivity tools, location-based utilities, etc. But it is yet to make a dent in India, a country where mobile handset penetration is in the hundreds of millions. Realising that a bulk of the country&rsquo;s mobile user-base is still unable to access the internet from mobile devices, Arun Menon, CEO of Onward Mobility, thought of an app store that could service these users.

Need a mobile app? You can now get it offline, too

Serving under-served routes in India is paying rich dividends for Tony Fernandes&rsquo; AirAsia. Can the largest low-cost carrier in South-East Asia stay ahead of rivals? Tiruchirappalli or Trichy lies somewhere in the middle of the highway that connects Chennai with Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the country. It is a hub for industrial engineering, houses a number of institutions of higher education &mdash; some of them over a hundred years old &mdash; and is famous for its temples. It is an ancient city and the fourth-largest urban centre of Tamil Nadu. Still, it is an unlikely place for an aggressive international budget airline to start its Indian operations. But that&rsquo;s precisely what AirAsia, the largest low-cost carrier in South-East Asia, has done. It found that people from Trichy travelled first to Chennai and then took a connecting flight to destinations like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. It was expensive, and it wasted a lot of their time.

Destination India

Today, over half of India&rsquo;s population carries a mobile phone. And, as these devices get both smarter and cheaper, there is a new world of apps that awaits them. The app store revolution came about with the launch of the first iPhone in the US. Around that time, games and music were the only things that were downloaded on mobile phones. But, in the last two years, a lot has changed in terms of availability of apps and also the accessibility that users have to them.

'Appvolution': Your destiny in your hand

The grand cantilever staircase and the iconic red dome were singed by flames and pockmarked with gunfire when terror struck Mumbai a little more than 18 months ago. So when Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told the Taj Mahal Hotel employees looking over the wrought-iron balustrades last week that the venerable old lady will reopen with the splendour that it has enjoyed for over a century, it was more than just symbolic.

The makeover of Taj

English general entertainment channel (GEC) space, with Reliance Broadcast Network (RBN) launching a 50:50 joint venture with CBS Studios International.

BIG CBS joins the rush for English GECs

Delhi-based HCL Infosystems became the first Indian company to enter the handheld gaming console market earlier this month. The move is part of the company&rsquo;s plans to expand its hardware, services and ICT systems integration and distribution business.

HCL Infosystems enters the gaming zone

The Indian music industry is riding high on the success of the mobility sector in both emerging and mature markets.

Upward mobility sets music industry on song

PC penetration in India has doubled in the last three years and desirability continues to be on the upswing among the urban population, said a study.

PC reach  doubles in 3 years: Intel

Volkswagen guns for the Honda City with the petrol and diesel Vento.

Vent-ing machine!

I plan to buy a luxury car and have a budget that stretches up to Rs 21 lakh. I am rather confused about which one to go for. The car should be great to drive, have good features, look good and offer great value.

Lux looker

Samir Suhag was only 17 when he first played professional polo. At that time he never imagined he would become the captain of the national polo team. But things were different back then. Polo has always had an elite tag, with celebrity spectators, high tea in fashionable tents and more people watching the players and each other than perhaps the game itself. Now 38, Suhag sees a sport which has been embraced by the rich and famous, but one that he continues to play with the same enthusiasm he had when he started. &ldquo;Historically, it&rsquo;s been a niche sport played and patronized by royalty and even now money and glamour are its defining factors,&rdquo; he says .

Views from the top

Geo-strategic pundits may reduce Asia to a quagmire of border disputes and nuclear weapons. But there is another, older, more closely-bound entity.

The idea of Asia

The ban on vuvuzela for the next FIFA World Cup (2014) may not take away the shine from the sport, but the ban levied on the high-tech body suits by FINA, swimming&rsquo;s governing body, has made the sport of swimming retrograde by two decades. In what has been termed as a landmark decision, one which will &ldquo;slow down&rdquo; even Michael Phelps, came into effect in January 1 this year. Body/racing suits including the famous wear &mdash; the Speedo LZR Racer, BlueSeventy Nero, Aqua Zone Renegade, Jaked, and the new TYR A7 have thus been rendered useless.

Against the tide?

Suraj Randiv, 25 years 203 days and two Tests old, has already served a one-match ban. He also lost his match fees.

Collateral damage

This film turns the conventional worldview of the farmer on its head by evoking empathy, not pity.

Peepli like us

Dmitry Andreikin and Anna Muzychuk won the World Junior Championships in Chotova, Poland. The top-seeded Russian Andreikin, who is rated 2650 didn&rsquo;t have everything his own way. His younger (1993-born) compatriot Sanan Sjugirov (2610) scored the same points (10 from 13 rounds) but Andreikin had the better tie-break. Bronze went to Darius Swiercz (Poland). India&rsquo;s best placed performer, Parimarjan Negi, tied for 7th-16th.

Chess #640

We need to preserve our cinematic heritage.

Celluloid betrayal

Seldom does life and career turn out according to plan; the main narrative, perhaps, yes, but the many sub-plots too? Hardly ever. So it&rsquo;s rather intriguing to meet someone who says he knew the &ldquo;script&rdquo; at 19, and whose life over the next nearly four decades, has worked out almost exactly according to it. Call it perspicacity or good fortune, Anil Sachdev, the 55-year-old founder of the School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL), one of India&rsquo;s leading HR consultants and the founder of two very successful consulting organisations &mdash; Eicher Consultancy Services (ECS), and Grow Talent &mdash; has had both in good measure.

The spiritual manager

Boman Irani returns to television with UTV Bloomberg&rsquo;s business reality show Pitch. His earlier outing with Sahara Filmy&rsquo;s movie-based quiz show Bollywood Ka Boss did not get eyeballs. Sohini Sen talks to the actor on his second TV coming, and other things.

Making a pitch

Raghuram G Rajan located the fault lines beneath the economic crisis.

Let them eat credit

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