Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and the Williams sisters will be the main draw, yet again.

Wimbledon: A preview

Business Standard

The 2010 FIFA World Cup has failed so far to live up to the hype.

Trash talk of the town

Michel Di Capua on how watching football is like reading fiction.

The rhythm and the edge

Anatoly Karpov is campaigning actively with road-shows and internet releases. The 12th world Champion has Serbian WGM Alisa Maric as his Vice-Presidential candidate.

CHESS #633

Want an affordable automatic? Team BSM puts together four models to choose from under Rs 10 lakh.

Automatically yours

Mention the initials RD and almost everyone who knows something about motorcycles will go weak-kneed.

RD Dreams!

A couple of days back I read the article on your website titled &quot;5 lakh hatchback? Or pre-owned luxury instead?&quot; The article about the Skoda Octavia RS in particular caught my attention because I saw mentioned there that a pre owned Octavia RS can cost as low as Rs 3.5 lakh. I am still considering the cost in the range of Rs 5-6 lakh depending on the owners&rsquo; practice of maintaining the car in good condition.

Second thoughts

A new breed of processors should draw a collective cheer from users, but that&rsquo;s a rarity. Primarily because, most users do not realise what a fast processor can do to a machine &mdash; Intel&rsquo;s Core series of processors makes a PC or laptop sing, literally.

The new secret sauce in laptops

I have never boasted about my gaming abilities; hand me an Xbox Controller and I am all thumbs. While I am passionate about the gaming industry in India and expect it to be a core entertainment option for families, I have never been overly optimistic about it exploding into a multi-billion-dollar industry in India overnight. Therefore, it is no surprise that my Xbox gamer tag happens to be &ldquo;Indiancynic&rdquo;.

Gaming's new face and moves

Volkswagen recently announced the launch of its high-end luxury car, the Phaeton, in India. Named after the son of Phoebus, the Greek Sun God, it was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2002, and it hit the market in 2003. But the sales fell short of expectations. It was positioned against top-end brands like Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and Volkswagen&rsquo;s own Audi. But it lacked the appeal of the rival brands &mdash; hence the lacklustre performance. But so keen is Volkswagen to make the Phaeton work in India that it has taken the car back to the drawing board. The result: LED daytime running lights, 18-inch wheels, a new dashboard, 18-way adjustable seats, better upholstery and even new air-conditioning to suit the Indian climate.

German designs

Kodak has been slow to leave its days of silver halide glory behind and make the arduous transition to a digital imaging company. As recently as 2005, its profit margins had been eroded as nimble digital players such as Canon and Nikon stole a march over it. But after certain course corrections, it has created leadership in point-and-shoot digital cameras in the US and other markets. Since late last year, India too has seen a similar curve for the company.

Q&A: John Blake, Vice-President & GM,Eastman Kodak Company

Outside Chennai, the Renault-Nissan alliance is investing Rs 4,000 crore in a 400,000 units a year plant to make its mark in India. Nissan, which will foot half the bill, is looking to take its production to 200,000 units a year and the one car that can help it get there is the Micra.

Micra management

FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever has launched Pureit Compact, a new product in its Pureit range of water purifiers. With this, Hindustan Unilever claims it straddles the entire consumer segment. It has in its portfolio Pureit Classic which is priced at Rs 2,000, Pureit Autofill at Rs 3,900 and now Pureit Compact which is priced at just Rs 1,000. Next on the company&rsquo;s drawing board is a new in-wall version which will be known as Pureit Marvello.

Compact cleaner

The shaving market in India is estimated at around Rs 1,500 crore.

KIT: The shaving market in India

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The top 10 business bestsellers

    What do terms like BYB, BAY and RUB refer to? They are used by the top 10 software companies in India.

The Strategist Quiz (#154)

    After a head of state caused considerable damage to the reputation of Swiss banks in the mid-1980s, they established a process to screen PEPs. Expand PEP and name the head of state.

Answers to last week's quiz (#153)

But Amul&rsquo;s owners say the boardroom battle won&rsquo;t affect business as the brand is managed by professional managers.

Taste of India gets bitter

The over 60-year-old shirt brand, has stuck to just one store when most others have gone mass.

Chiragh Din: In a niche of its own

Do terms like Pentium, Celeron, Dual core, icore, Atom, Opteron or Phenom matter fox you when buying computers? You may want to do with some help.

Know which chip best processes your PC

The more, the merrier&rsquo; has been the theme song of Bajaj Auto for many years. Not anymore.

Tale of contrasts

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