Mark-to-market losses due to the unexpected fall of the rupee against the US dollar, euro and pound; the impact of wage increases in the first quarter; a stagnant global economy; and margin pressure owing to inflation are expected to impact the rupee-term fortunes of Indian IT firms that will declare their quarterly results for the April-June 30 quarter beginning this week.

Rupee fall may not help IT companies in Q1

Business Standard

P>From being a subsidiary of a UK-based firm, British Airways, to buying out a captive unit of another UK-based firm, Aviva, the around Rs 2,000-crore business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, WNS Global Services, has indeed come a long way under the leadership of Neeraj Bhargava  its co-founder and Group CEO since 2004.

NEWSMAKER: Neeraj Bhargava

Indian software development firms have started developing iPhone applications for the Apple iPhone, which is yet to be introduced in India.

Developers hear iPhone ring

&nbsp;But stock tanks 7 per cent on market sentiments. 
&nbsp;Despite a rough global scenario, a falling rupee against the US dollar helped Infosys Technologies  India's second largest software services exporter  report a 20.7 per cent increase in its consolidated (Indian generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP) net profit at Rs 1,302 crore for the first quarter of the current financial year against a net of Rs 1,079 crore for the same quarter of last financial year.

Weaker rupee strengthens Infy Q1 net

Internet data centre (IDCs), like Reliance IDC and Sify are moving away from providing plain-vanilla hosting services,like Internet hosting, managed security services and simple infrastructure services, to hosting software services.

Data centres chart course to move up the value chain

Pankaj Mohindroo, national president of the Indian Cellular Association, is certainly headed in the right direction.

Driving, the tech way

The one with the curious name is the runaway leader, setting benchmarks in programming, standardisation and localisation.

Plenty in a name

P>What will it take to give Chak De India or Sivaji the same kind of global release that Harry Potter And The Order Of Phoenix gets? The answer  global marketing and distribution muscle, something Indian film companies lack at this stage of the industry's evolution.

Vanita Kohli-Khandekar: Going global

On June 3, Aksh Optifibre Ltd, a cable and optical fibre manufacturer, signed an agreement with the government owned BSNL to offer IPTV services to its subscribers in 20 cities in the north India.

"We're cheaper and better than DTH or cable"

With its three sports channels  ESPN, Star Sports and Star Cricket  getting dropped from the basic bouquet of direct-to-home (DTH) operator Tata Sky, ESPN India is exploring legal options against the DTH operator.

`Our sports channels are not niche, they have mass appeal`

From luxury mobile phones with titanium buttons to PDAs that clone desktop PCs, Sidharth Banerji, managing director of Kyndal India, devours his technology with ilan.

Pressing the right buttons

In a move to make inroads into the rural markets in India through product vernacularisation, Spice Telecom has introduced its people's phone' with a lifetime prepaid connectivity at just Rs 599.

Spice Telecom launches 'Sabka' phone

Pricey iPod accessory but definitely not a waste of money.

Good projection

The battle between the Ambani brothers flared up again today  this time over the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's (ADAG's) bid to seal a merger deal with South African telecom company, MTN.

Mukesh calls MTN to disconnect Anil

&nbsp;A few weeks back I spent a day at an Indian Newspaper Society Congress. It promised to delve into the question of The Future of Newspapers.

Vanita Kohli-Khandekar: Cheer up, newspaper men

WNS (Holdings), a global business process outsourcing (BPO) company, acquired Business Applications Associates (BizAps)a provider of SAP solutions to optimise ERP functionality for finance and accounting processes for an undisclosed sum.

BPO firm WNS buys BizAps

Having picked up an additional 17.5 per cent stake for Rs 803 crore in UTV Software Communications, the parent company of UTV, Walt Disney is now looking to leverage its presence in India.

`UTV investment is long-term play`

There is something to be said about the clash between art and the bureaucratic red-tape.

The theatre and red tape

There is no 3G spectrum available in certain circles for allocation to CDMA players, according to an internal Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) study  a move that is bound to affect the plans of existing and new operators.

No spectrum for 3G CDMA operations in some circles

Desi Valli, executive director &amp; COO, Net4 India, might be uptodate with all the latest gizmos but he still has his very first gadget, a 25-year-old Walkman, carefully tucked away at home.

He`s his own guru

Even as the hunt for 'employable' talent continues, IT-BPO firms are increasingly hiring interns to maintain costs as their margins come under pressure due to a US slowdown and lag in firming up deals.

Margin pressure: IT firms hire interns

Tech News: Latest Techn news & updates on Smart Watches, Gaming Console, iOS updates with launch date and price straight from Business Standard.com.

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