Sony unveils pen drives for smartphones, tablet

Eyeing a new market for data storage devices, Sony has launched the world's first pen drives compatible with smartphones and tablets. The new flash drives are "2-in-1 devices" with both USB 2.0 and microUSB connectors, allowing buyers to use them in laptops and desktops as well as smartphones and tablets. 

Sony has launched the world’s first pen drives compatible with smartphones and tablets.

Viviano Cantu, director of consumer media marketing, Sony Electronics, said, "These new drives combine convenience, peace of mind and performance and are perfect for mobile multi-tasking." 

The new drives are compatible with Android (Ice Cream Sandwich to Jelly Bean) operating systems and offer USB on-the-go (OTG) functionality. Sony says that it is working on making them compatible with Android 4.4 (KitKat), the latest version of Google's mobile operating system. 

Apart from copying data between devices, these flash drives can be used to as additional or temporary storage for smartphones and tablets. 

Their locking caps (available in three colours) will protect the connectors from damage, dust and debris, says Sony. The metal body of the flash drives is durable enough to withstand everyday mobile use, it claims. 

Sony has said that the new flash drives will be available in of 8, 16 and 32 GB capacities, priced at $19.99, $29.99 and $62.99. While the Japanese manufacturer has not announced their India launch date, it has said that the flash drives will hit global markets in January next year.

App developers, data scientists in for salary surprise

Dull pay hike prophecies this year may refuse to die down for now, but for some niche profiles, handsome hikes and rewards are in order, as corporates look to retain this pool of scarce talent. 

Profiles like that of management accountants, data scientists, app developers and marketing managers are expected to be rewarded significantly in the current appraisal season, more or less in line with last year's levels. 

The profile of a data scientist is among the hottest across sectors and hikes can range from 30% to 50%, says Subeer Bakshi, director oftalent and rewards at Towers Watson India. "As much as 90% of the world's data was created in the past two years and these professionals are in short supply, which gives them the ability to write their own pay cheques," he says. 

Sectors like retail will have tons of data, and these professionals can help them with data assessment and analysis. Layout designers in retail companies and media managers who can formulate strategies based on insights from data scientists can expect hikes ranging from 20% to 30%. 

Consulting firm Mercer estimates that roles like that of experienced marketing analyst and sales representatives in sectors like automobiles, consumer durables and pharmaceuticals will continue to be on companies' priority list. In information technology, salary hikes will be dominated by profiles in mobility, cloud and security, says technology and market research firm Forrester's VP and country manager for India, Manish Bahl. 

"There will be more spending on security as a skillset," he says. With greater focus on customer experience, mid-to-senior IT roles like app development and business consulting can fetch hikes of 15% to 17% compared with average hikes of 10% to 12%, he says. Hikes in IT were in the range of 10% to 11% last year, according to Forrester estimates. 

Jobs in regulatory affairs in the pharma and medical devices sector are in demand and can expect hikes in the range of 11% to 20%, according to Kelly Services. 

"This is mainly because a lot of Indian companies have been wanting to sell in the US for which they require FDA approval and expertise in FDA filing," says Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services. Jobs in supply chain management and purchase in pharma and consumer goods can expect hikes in the 9% to 18% range across levels, due to a steady increase in exports. 

While last year's hikes for roles in regulatory affairs were estimated to be at 11% to 18%, they were in the region of 10% to 18% in supply chain and purchase. An increasing number of professionals are opting for specialised courses that help them cultivate niche expertise. 

Sriram Kameshwar, a director of finance and corporate facilities, was a chartered financial analyst and associate member from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India when he decided to enroll for the CIMA course in 2005. Considered to be more than just pure play accounting, a CIMA course in management accounting combines accounting, finance and management. 

This year's salary survey of 40% of CIMA India's 500 members revealed that over the next 12 months, 95% of part-qualified students are expected to receive a salary increase of 13.6% well over the 2013 'IMF World Economic Outlook on Price Inflation' forecast of 10.8%. In 2013, qualified CIMA members in India are earning an average of Rs 26.3 lakh in basic annual salary plus Rs 3.6 lakh in bonuses, totalling Rs 30.02 lakh per year. 

Among all its members and students, a good 62% are satisfied with their salary. "The qualification has helped me look at situations from different functional perspectives as the course is a good blend of core technical, strategic and business management domains," says Kameshwar. 

Apart from accounting, he adds the course has helped him in business development, in contributing effectively as a member of the company's leadership team and board, and in influencing strategy.

Nokia's low-cost 'smartphone for India' leaked

Nokia's new Lumia 525 is yet to arrive in the Indian market, but the company may be readying another low-cost smartphone aimed at budget buyers.



Data recorded by Zauba, a logistic tracking website, shows an unannounced Nokia device codenamed RM-977. This device has a 4.5-inch touchscreen and single sim slot and will reportedly ship for Rs 7,966 in the Indian market. This device was sent to India from Finland for testing and evaluation purposes, according to the website.

No other details about this upcoming smartphone are available at present.

The recently unveiled Lumia 525 is the successor to the popular Lumia 520, however, the only differences between the two devices are RAM upgrade and glossier body. At present, Lumia 520 is available in the market at approximately Rs 8,000, while there is no word on the launch date of Lumia 525.

Nokia has already listed the entry-level Lumia 525 and top-end Lumia 1520 smartphones on its India website. However, it has not announced their launch dates.

Andriod app Homely for house property search

Trivandrum-based IT company Mind Media Innovations has launched an Andriod application   'Homely', which helps users to find house properties.

The application 'Homely' lets users browse through properties by major builders and find their dream home, the company said in a statement.

The main attraction of 'Homely' is that it lets you find homes by specific builders as well as your requirements such as location, amenities and budget, it said.

"There are many home-finder websites in the market but 'Homely' gives users the edge of searching for homes in their smartphones from anywhere, anytime," Mind Media Innovations MD Narayanan Nair said.

The app provides users with details of a property such as floor plans, image gallery, amenities, number of bedrooms, etc. 

Amazon's drone delivery concept: PR stunt or real innovation?

mazon CEO Jeff Bezos has outlined plans to have drones---specifically versions for Prime subscribers---deliver packages weighing up to 5 pounds in 30 minutes as early as 2018 or 2019. Cue the debate on whether Amazon timed its news perfectly for Cyber Monday or is really innovating.

Here's a look at the flavors of drone speak today followingAmazon's 60 Minutes profile:

1. Cynic: Bezos knows damn well that a five year time line is way aggressive and the FAA is going to look long and hard at the concept. Bezos' 60 Minutes spiel is nothing more than a PR stunt.
2. Techno-optimist: Amazon is reinventing shopping and will close the gap between instant gratification and e-commerce. Amazon is innovative beyond belief.
3. Realist: Amazon concept could work, but will likely take more than five years to pull off, but sounds neat. Who am I to doubt Bezos?

So what's this drone idea really about? Messaging. Amazon is increasingly being known for its innovation---whether it's Amazon Web Services, supply chain or its Kindle business model. This innovation culture keeps people interested and away from annoying questions about profit margins.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster noted:

While it's highly unlikely we have flying Amazon delivery drones in four to five years, the recently announced initiative illustrates the culture of innovation at Amazon and the depth of its goal to re-engineer the fabric of retail for the next 100 years.

Munster also noted that Zookal, a textbook rental company in Australia, works with Flirtey, a commercial drone service, for quick deliveries.

In other words, Amazon's drone idea may not be all that original. If drones can shoot at bad guys and patrol the skies, surely they can drop off a package at your doorstep.

The overall theme is that Amazon could actually find profit margins with a fleet of drones. These drones, which could carry up to five pounds for 10 miles, would cover 86 percent of the goods Amazon sells. Shipping costs would plummet and Amazon could depreciate its fleet of drones. In theory, Amazon's bottom line could improve dramatically---unless Bezos finds some other venture to invest in.

What do we make of Amazon's drone plan? The realist, cynic and techno-optimist outlined above are all correct. Bezos is a showman so you can bet the drone story is well timed so Amazon dominates the news on Cyber Monday. Amazon will also target new markets that initially look crazy and prove you wrong. And Amazon will likely have drone delivery, but it'll take some tim

New smartphone app to help you save money

A new smartphone app that keeps tabs on your expenses, creates a monthly budget and suggests ways to curb over-spending has been developed. 

On the basis of the financial information you provide to 'HelloWallet' while signing up, the application will instantly show you recent transactions, accounts and a budget summary. 

HelloWallet also helps you determine where to trim excess spending so you can work towards saving more money, 'Mashable' reported. 

The app also creates a budget to help you work toward your financial goals in addition to providing spending insights. 

Hellowallet adds all of your financial information - income, checking, savings, credit cards, healthcare and investments, the company said on its website. 

It connects to your banks to retrieve balances and transactions to keep information current and creates budgets and analyses trends, it said. 

The application keeps tabs on your spending on its own, keeping you in the loop with the help of alerts and reminders, the report said. 

HelloWallet also has a unique feature to help you reduce your interest rates and other fees that can add up to big spending.

Apps to automatically delete Facebook, Twitter posts

The Snapchat app popularized the concept of sending photos and videos that self-destruct in minutes and new apps do the same for posts on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. 

Smartphones and mobile apps have made sharing photos faster and easier than ever, but privacy has become a growing concern. Designers have created new apps because they said people want to control who sees their content and for how long on social media sites. 

"Most of these ephemeral media apps have been focused on private messaging. But this is more to do with control and cleaning things up so that the average user can't see what you've posted in the past on social networks," said Pierre Legrain, a developer of Spirit for Twitter, an app that can auto-deleteTwitter posts. 

Secret.li, an iPhone app, lets users can take a photo with their iPhone's camera and post it to Facebook knowing it will be automatically deleted an hour, day, or week after it is posted. 

"Publishing is so easy but privacy is so obscure," said Deepak Touwari, co-founder of Secret.li, based in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

After taking a photo with the app, users can decide who they want to share it with and for how long. Recipients will see a scrambled or hidden version of the photo, which they can open and view completely in the Secret.li Facebook or iPhone apps. After the photo is deleted it also disappears from Facebook and Secret.li. 

"We see it more like a photo shedder application," said Touwari, adding the motivation behind the app was privacy. 

"(Social networks) are great keepers of memory but very poor keepers of context," he said. 

Another app for iPhone and Android, called Facebook Poke, which was created by Facebook, allows users to send their friends messages, photos and videos and decide how long they can view it. 

Spirit, a web app for Twitter released last week, lets members of the micro-blogging site add a hashtag to their tweet so it will auto-delete. Users authorize their account and add hashtags such as "#30m" or "#10d", which will delete their tweets after 30 minutes and 10 days respectively. 

Legrain, a former Twitter employee based in Palo Alto, California, said the motivation for the app was privacy. Part of the value of Spirit for Twitter, he added, is its ability to filter out content that loses accuracy or relevancy over time. 

"If you're a meteorologist or weatherman tweeting about an unfolding hurricane, you want the info on Twitter to be as relevant and accurate so tweets from half an hour (ago) shouldn't be there," he explained. 

Legrain attributes the popularity of the apps to the growing privacy concerns among consumers. 

"With the ongoing privacy scares, people are thinking about what they put out there now and looking for ways to have more control," he said. "People now feel they have slightly more control than they had yesterday," he added.