All Posts by Himanshu Sheth

|In: AI|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Reiterating Intel’s commitment to deliver a seamlessly connected world through Artificial Intelligence [AI], Intel India hosted its first AI Day where the government, the industry, and the academia congregated to discuss the potential of accelerating the AI revolution in the country. The company deep dived into its global AI strategy, and also highlighted how it is working with the ecosystem in India to improve solution performances on Intel’s AI platforms.

Image Source – PCMag

Additionally, to engage students, researchers and developers, Intel India announced a comprehensive developer community initiative-the AI Developer Education Program, targeted at educating 15,000 scientists, developers, analysts, and engineers on key AI technologies, including Deep Learning and Machine Learning. Through 60 programs across the year, ranging from workshops, roadshows, user group and senior technology leader round-tables, the initiative aims at empowering this community with the know-how for adoption of AI via technical sessions involving the use of ready-to-deploy platforms and tools for solution development.

Prakash Mallya, Managing Director, Intel South Asia, said

As India undergoes rapid digital transformation, the data center and the intelligence behind the data collected will enable the government and industry to make effective decisions based on algorithms. This means increasing opportunities for using AI in the country, and to make this happen, Intel India is collaborating with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Wipro, Julia Computing and Calligo Technologies, by enabling them with AI solutions based Intel architecture.

Our collaboration with the industry and the academia will help democratize AI, by reducing entry barriers for developers, data scientists and students. In India, we are targeting the BFSI, telecom, and e-commerce sectors, across High Performance Computing [HPC], big data, and Internet of Things, all of which are complementary to AI.

According to Professor Pushpak Bhattacharya, Director, IIT Patna

Research and academia are great platforms to initiate AI into the society. IIT Patna has been doing cutting edge research and development in Artificial Intelligence, distributed computing, network security, social networks, and beyond, using data driven machine learning, as well as knowledge and deep learning based methods. Our research groups are currently working on implementation of evolutionary algorithms in parallel environments, and using Intel based platforms and software tools to deploy, parallelize and optimize systems. Intel India has provided IIT Patna with the necessary know-how to best optimize Intel based AI platforms and technologies, making this collaboration extremely fruitful and promising.

D N Narasimha Raju, CEO, National Institute for Smart Government, who was a panelist at the AI Day, said

Digital transformation is at the heart of government’s endeavor to connect and develop India. As high speed networks get established, a number of disruptive changes can happen. These changes will impact productivity. Data analytics and machine learning can automate processes across e-Governance, research and the private sector. It is recognized that the potential of Artificial Intelligence is high in sectors such as healthcare, disaster mitigation, and financial services.

In order to realize this potential, there is a need to impart and develop the required skill sets in a major way. As I understand, Intel India is engaged in this effort and it’s proactive approach in skill imparting and solution development in the area of AI by utilizing local talent and collaboration will contribute significantly towards adoption of AI.

AI is the fastest growing workload in the data center, growing at two times the overall computing market. By 2020, the industry expects more servers running data analytics than any other workload, and analytics predictors will be built into every application. Staying ahead of this curve, Intel announced its AI strategy last year to drive breakthrough performance, democratize access and maximize societal benefits.

Today, Intel powers 97 percent of data center servers running AI workloads and offers the most flexible, yet performance-optimized portfolio of solutions. Backed by its unified approach to AI, Intel is leading the AI Computing era through its end-to-end hardware and software that is designed for building AI applications across virtually any industry.

Intel’s collaboration with companies such as Google, and the company’s acquisition, including Saffron, Movidius, Nervana Systems and Mobileye, further Intel’s AI capabilities, giving the company an edge, especially at a time when embedded computer vision is becoming increasingly important the world over.

Last month, the company also announced a cross-Intel organization – the Artificial Intelligence Products Group (AIPG), which will align Intel’s AI efforts, and rally the industry around a set of standards for AI that ultimately brings down costs and makes AI more accessible to more people – not only institutions, governments and large companies, as it is today. Intel also aims to set up an applied AI research lab dedicated to pushing the forefronts of computing to explore architectural and algorithmic approaches to inform future generations of AI. This includes a range of solutions from the data center to edge devices, and from training to inference – all designed to enable Intel and its customers to innovate faster.

|In: Droom|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Droom, India’s pioneering online automobile transactional marketplace, has launched an HR mobile app, which will now host a whole new set of interesting facets. The App is intended to provide visiting guests and new recruits with a quick overview of the organization, while bridging the waiting time.

The app has every information about Droom, including prevalent vacancies within the company, so that interested candidates can apply directly. The application provides great utility in terms of portraying Droom’s culture and core values, specifically to interview candidates at Droom or at campuses.

Speaking on the same, Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Droom, commented

We are currently looking at hiring in big numbers. The HR app aims to provide more content to candidates sitting at Droom office while they have come to give an interview.  It is a major move towards creating a paperless office. The added features are a bonus that will inform existing and potential candidates with every information that they need. We, as a company are growing at a blitzkrieg rate and this new initiative is a logical and strategic move in that direction.

Commenting on the features of this new app, Babita Vaishnawa, Senior Director-Human Resources, Droom

We have introduced many interesting features and updates to engage and immerse individuals visiting our HR app, including those who are looking to join our team or passive visitors, just seeking information. This app will streamline all HR processes conveniently and smoothly.

For instance, the HR app home page has added three blocks, namely, About Sandeep, which will lead the person to Droom’s Founder website, next comes the OBV which leads the visitor or a candidate to OrangeBookValue, a platform that helps in determining the fair market price of used vehicles via algorithms. The third block is termed as Droom History. Here, the app visitor will be directed to the page DroomHistory.

To manage the app in a better way, Droom has also added a module in the matrix – HRMP which primarily capture the feedback gathered from candidates and guests and collects and analyses visitors site surfing behavior.  Droom has also updated all the latest photos and videos in the app.

About Droom

Founded in April 2014 in Silicon Valley, Droom is India’s first online marketplace to buy and sell new and used automobiles and automobile services. Droom has taken a completely innovative and disruptive approach to build trust and pricing advantages for buyers.

The current experience of buying and selling an automobile is completely broken, antiquated and full of pitfalls. Droom offers a truly 21st century experience in buying and selling automobiles. With its technology driven marketplace approach, Droom enables transactions between buyers and sellers by bringing transparency, building trust, and mitigating information asymmetry. Droom is a mobile first marketplace with a presence on three platforms i.e. Android, iOS and Desktop. Prior to Droom, Sandeep founded ShopClues.com, India’s first and largest managed marketplace and 5th Unicorn in the Consumer Internet space in India. Droom has a team of 200+ and is funded by some of the leading global venture investors. For more information, please visit Droom

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

A laptop has become a necessity today because unlike a desktop, laptops provide greater flexibility of working wherever you want. The increased demand for laptops has resulted in a wider choice for buyers at affordable prices.

Here are four trending laptops under INR 60,000 you could choose from.

Hewlett Packard (HP) Pavilion 15-AB219TX

Priced at INR 53,300, this laptop is available with a 15.6-inch display. It comes with Windows 10 and works on an Intel Core i5 2.2 GHz processor. The storage is 1TB hard disk drive (HDD) with 8 GB Random Access Memory (RAM).

Dell Inspiron 5558

This laptop is provided with 1TB HDD storage and 8 GB RAM. It runs on Windows 8.1 operating system. It also features the Intel Core i5 with 2.2 GHz processor and a 15.6-inch screen. The laptop is priced at INR 54,300.

Lenovo Z51-70

This laptop has a 15.6-inch screen and operates on the Windows 8.1. It is also equipped with a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 1TB HDD storage and 8 GB RAM. The laptop is priced at INR 57,500.

Apple MacBook Air

It is available with 11.6-inch and a 13-inch display screen. Both the variants come with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM and 128 GB Solid State Drive (SDD) storage. The 11.6-inch laptop is priced at INR 56,800 while the cost of the 13-inch model is INR 60,000. Moreover, both variants run on the OS X 10.10 Yosemite operating system.

There are several affordable and reliable laptops available in the market. However, if you do not have the entire amount to pay for the laptop, you may opt for consumer durable loans offered by banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

These loans are easily available and come with attractive features. Here are five features of such credit facilities:

  1. You may avail of a loan for an amount between INR 8,000 and INR 5 lakh
  2. The entire process is quick and hassle-free as you need to submit only some basic documents when you apply for a consumer durable loan
  3. The loan is generally available at 0% interest and low down payment, which makes it affordable
  4. Lenders provide flexible Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) schedule, which ensures you do not face financial difficulties during repayment
  5. If you want to pay the loan before the end of the tenure, you do not incur any foreclosure charges

Buying a laptop on EMI is simple and affordable. Lenders do not levy any hidden costs or additional charges to avail of such loans. You may easily compare loans offered by different lenders to find the most appropriate option for your needs. Some financial institutions also enable you to check your loan eligibility online and know your loan approval status instantly. Therefore, with such loans, you may easily purchase the laptop you always wanted.

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments
Image Source – richvisionssb.co.uk

Every business requires capital for meeting operational expenses and growth. Arranging funds through personal resources may not always be possible for you. In such cases, you must consider availing of a loan from banks or non-banking financial companies [NBFCs].

Most entrepreneurs may apply for a loan, which is often customized as per the specific needs of their venture. However, there are certain eligibility criteria that need to be met. Here are four types of businesses that are eligible to apply for these loans:

  • Self-employed professionals, such as doctors and chartered accountants
  • Sole proprietorship firms
  • Partnership firms
  • Private limited companies
  • Manufacturing ventures
  • Retailers
  • Trading companies

Here are five features of business loans:

Loan amount

You may avail of a loan from as low as INR 3 lakh up to a maximum amount of INR 75 lakh. In addition, you may avail of a top-up facility on an existing loan.

Loan tenure

To ensure you do not face any financial difficulties, the loan tenure offered by lenders is between six months to three years.

Security

Several lenders do not require any collateral for availing of a business loan in India. This especially makes it easier for small and medium enterprise [SME] owners to apply for such loans because most of the times they are unable to provide any security.

Repayment schedule

Most financial institutions offer flexible repayment schedules while determining the Equated Monthly Installment [EMI]. This ensures you do not undergo any difficulties while servicing the loan.

Rate of interest

In addition to the interest, you may need to incur additional expenses like processing fees, late payment charges and prepayment penalties. Clarifying these expenses before signing the loan agreement is important to determine the effective cost of the loan.

Following are the common documents required to avail of these loans:

  • Ownership proof
  • Audited financial statements
  • Know your customers [KYC] documents, such as photo identity and residential address proof
  • Form 16 A, which shows the amount of tax deducted at source [TDS]
  • Income tax returns
  • Bank statements

Applying for a business loan in India is no longer difficult. You may easily find all the necessary information online on the lenders’ websites. Alternatively, you may check an online portal that enables you to compare the features, eligibility criteria, business loan interest rates and other terms and conditions offered by different lenders. Conducting extensive research on different aspects related to these loans will help you make the right decision.

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments
Image Source – www.finheal.com

Business and personal loans work on the same basic principles. However, there are some differences between these two types of credit facilities. Understanding the workings of the two loans will be beneficial in comprehending their differences.

Features of personal loans

Generally, personal loans are borrowed by individuals and not businesses. Lenders perceive individual and business applicants distinctly, which is why personal loans have some exclusive features. Here are four features of such loans.

  • Personal finance is often available for smaller amounts
  • The process of loan application and approval is quick and simple
  • Personal loans are unsecured, which means they require no collateral
  • Such loans are beneficial for startup ventures that may not be eligible to avail of business finance

Features of business loans

In the last few years, business finance has seen several modifications and lenders now offer attractive options to businesses. Here are four features of business finance.

  • The loan amount is higher than personal loans
  • Banks, as well as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), offer wide range of business loans in India to meet the different needs of applicants
  • Lenders offer customized loans to meet the specific needs of businesses across different sectors and industries
  • Financial institutions offer excellent support to applicants requiring loans for their business with the objective of helping them grow their ventures

Having seen the features of both types of loans, here are three differences between the two credit facilities:

1. Security

Most loans offered for business purposes are secured against some assets, such as equipment, premises or receivables. On the other hand, personal loans are unsecured, you do not face the risk of losing your assets in case you are unable to repay the loan amount on time.

2. Purpose

Personal loans may be used for any legal purpose. Furthermore, you generally do not need to provide the lenders with the purpose of the funds at the time of application. In comparison, the business loan amount must be used for meeting the operating expenses and other needs of your venture.

3. Loan amount

Business loans are available for higher amounts ranging between INR 3 lakh and INR 75 lakh. However, the personal loan amount is restricted between INR 50,000 and INR 10 lakh.

Self-employed professionals, medical practitioners, sole proprietors, private companies or partnership firms may apply for business loans in India. Additionally, traders, manufacturing companies and retailers may avail of such loans. A large number of financial institutions offer such loans at an attractive rate of interest. One of the leading lenders includes Capital First that provides such loans. The financial institution also offers affordable business loans interest rates, which ensure you do not face financial difficulties while repaying the loan amount.

|In: Digital|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The battle between traditional and digital marketing has been going on for over 20 years. Two decades ago, we didn’t have the technological tools we have today to conduct a productive campaign in the online environment. With the advent of the internet, the marketing industry is changing. People use social media and smart devices to buy things and hire services. Very few still do it with the help of a newspaper. That being said, it’s only natural to believe that traditional marketing is dead. However, the average client can be attracted to a product or service with a conventional method, such as direct mail for example. The best approach is to consider a mix of strategies in an attempt to create a seamless experience.

Traditional marketing is here to stay

Why do people still market their products offline? The answer is quite simple: we still need conventional marketing because prospects need to be convinced with physical samples. Let’s assume that you’ve just a beauty brand. You’ve made the website, linked to social media, and so on. But in order to compel people to buy your latest wrinkle cream, you have to let the people try your product. This is traditional marketing. You set up a campaign and invite prospects to test it.

Then you give them samples in the hopes that they’ll share their opinions with friends and family. Last but not least, they’ll check you out online and probably give you a review. As you see, the model we’ve presented is not merely dependent on traditional marketing. It’s a seamless blend of tactics that combines both online and offline advertising.

Digital marketing – an industry that grows little by little with every year that goes by

Digital marketing is an industry that has taken the internet by storm. Twenty years ago we didn’t have websites to recommend us products or Facebook pages from where you can shop with just a click of a button. In the online environment, the goal of a company is to raise awareness and broaden its audience. Offline, the goal is to compel the people and wait for them to share the amazing experience they had with you with their loved ones.

Sadly, these days if you’re not active online you’re almost invisible offline too. What’s the point of a huge billboard in the heart of a city with hundreds of thousands of people, if nobody can find the product you’re selling anywhere online?

Digital marketing vs. traditional marketing

Today’s savviest marketers know that a complete advertising campaign needs both traditional and digital marketing. Most people use smart devices to buy things they haven’t had the chance to see in real life. However, there are prospects that don’t believe that what they see is what they get. This means you need brick and mortar stores and samples to prove that your product is of the highest quality. Back in the day we used newspapers to look for products. But all ads had physical addresses at the end, as well as an invite to come check out those products. There are online stores that don’t advertise offline. The internet is packed with stores that only sell via a website. Can you afford to take that risk?

A core drawback of traditional marketing is the lack of utensils to balance results. In the online environment we have metrics and analytics programs that we can use to help us measure results and check whether our campaign appeals to the people or not. Thanks to review websites and social media platforms, marketers can interact with their prospects, assess the feedback received, and make modifications in an attempt to correct glitches. Offline, if you made a mistake and the wrong message got out; there was nothing that you could do to fix things.

Why should we choose between digital and traditional marketing when we can use both to compose a brilliant campaign? Blending social media, direct mail London, email marketing, and conventional advertising helps people understand a brand a lot better. Offering prospects is a seamless experience when introducing them to a product is the best way to prove them that what we advertise is exactly what they get when they hit the “Buy” button.

This is a guest article by Denny Averill

|In: Elearning|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Education is something which was once not available in certain parts of the world. Even if there was education available, there were many countries that had issues with getting it to the general public. Technology has changed the way of life of humans. It has a huge impact on different aspects of life and redefined living.

Technology is growing every day and there are many ways that it can be applied to different things. And undoubtedly it plays a major role in education. It has made education to become more readily available than it was in the past. The use of computers in schools and institutes has made it easier for teachers to teach and students to learn.

There are many ways in which technology has changed the world of education in the 21st century. We can understand how essential technology is to education by knowing about the advancements and the impact technology has on education around the world. The use of different technologies in classrooms has a huge impact on the education of students and the process of learning has become more enjoyable and interesting. Students are more interested now in understanding Math concepts than earlier.

Supplemental Teaching tool

Image Source – Education

The introduction of computers and tablets offers an interactive audio-visual experience. Animation software and power-point presentations help students to experience learning in an interactive way. Teachers are equally benefited and they can use projectors and screen to share information visually to a large number of students simultaneously via smart classes. These teaching aids have led to the improvement in attentiveness and attendance of students in class.

Easily accessible information

Image Source – YourHub

The Internet is a huge information base for education. Students can have access to information on literally everything in the world. All a student needs to do is to type the queries in the search engine and users are presented with thousand of search results. Both students and teachers can benefit from this.

Making student’s life easy and enjoyable

Image Source – Pixabay

Students can express themselves with much more than pen and paper. They can make projects and presentations on topics like geometry, Algebra, trigonometry etc by using different software. This will make the topics more interesting which can help in memorizing better. Technology has made a student’s life easier and they can now carry a Tab than carrying big fat books to school.

Robust information storage

Image Source – Michigan State University

Computers and tablets have replaced chalk and board. Computers enable more and better storage of information. Digital libraries does not require any physical space and teachers and teachers and students can access the same library at the same time sitting in different parts of the world. Computer mouse and keyboard have replaced notebooks and the compact memory device is the new notebook. Storing data has become a lot easier, owing to technology.

Students can learn at their own pace

Image Source – PCAdvisor

Every student learns at their own pace and there are many ways that introduction technology into the classroom has helped students learn at the rate they are comfortable. This helps them to retain information for a longer time. Students can also access to study materials and lectures which are easily understandable to them rather than the traditional teaching method.

Prepare students for the future

Image Source – CivicNews

The introduction of technology in education has changed many things. Students can find the subjects they are interested in. The can participate in educational games and check themselves where the stand. These help students to build their interest in education which is very important for their future.  By learning to use technology in the classroom at a young age, a student is developing the skills and knowledge that is essential in today’s world.

As technology changes so will the effect it has on education and one of the best things about technology is that it’s constantly changing. We can look at our past and compare how technology has changed the face of education. Today almost everything in a classroom is done electronically. Technology in the educational field has made the process of knowledge-sharing and learning, a more pleasurable and interactive experience.

About the author

With a degree in Engineering, Shankha Samanta is a content writer by profession. He is a vehement reader apart from writing and blogging along with part-time teaching. He is presently exploring all about the digital education with Byju’s-the Learning App.

|In: Incubators|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Tata Elxsi, a leading global design and technology services company, is supporting a new healthcare startup, Niramai. The startup has been on the incubation program for three months, during which Tata Elxsi has been providing infrastructure, expertise, and support in access to key markets.

Image Source – incub@TE

Niramai Health Analytix Pvt. Ltd is a Bengaluru based startup with a mission to create a universal cancer screening method that can save lives by detecting breast cancer at an early stage. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women today. Early detection is the key to survival. Niramai is a pioneer of a new patent-pending technology called Thermalytix that can remove technological, logistical, and cultural barriers that hinder breast cancer screening among women today.

The startup’s solution uses artificial intelligence to address effectively issues with thermography. The company’s goal is to create an innovative cancer screening method that can save lives by detecting cancer at an early stage, through solutions that are accurate, automated, affordable, and accessible to all. The product is expected to be launched in mid-2017, starting with a few locations in Bengaluru.

Tata Elxsi’s Incub@TE is helping Niramai through key consultations from Tata Elxsi in-house professionals, mentorship, access to service providers, and establishing key connections with people/organizations of interest. Furthermore, with Tata Elxsi’s help, the startup has been able to interact with leading design thinkers, technologists, business leaders & peer entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences. The mentoring and logistical support provided by Tata Elxsi has allowed Niramai to focus entirely on the execution, providing them with an environment that has helped them improve their entrepreneurial thinking and get clarity on the go-to-market.

Speaking on on-boarding Niramai on Incub@TE, Rajesh Kumar, Vice President – Strategic Initiatives, Tata Elxsi said

Many startups have innovative solutions, and require some help in infrastructure, mentoring and creating market visibility. Incub@TE is a platform that helps startups create sustainable businesses, by providing them with the necessary facilities such as above. Use of Emerging Technologies in healthcare is starting to gain momentum in India, and helping startups that are in line with these developments is a great opportunity for us. It has been a great pleasure working with Niramai, and we look forward to the remaining months of working together.

Dr. Geetha Manjunath & Ms. Nidhi Mathur, co-founders of Niramai Health Analytix said

Being women, we understand the sensitivities and social-cultural aspects of breast cancer screening. This has to lead us to make our solution privacy-sensitive, in a unique way that removes the psychological burden of voluntarily opting for early screening as a preventive measure. Tata Elxsi is one of the companies that has helped us bring our vision to reality. We are happy to be a part of Incub@TE and value the mentorship that Tata Elxsi has provided to our products/services.

Companies that have previously been part of Tata Elxsi’s incub@TE program are Sismatik Solutions and Street Smart Mobile Technologies.

About incub@TE

The Tata Elxsi incub@TE program has been set up to foster entrepreneurial activities in the technology space. They provide a platform for start-ups and prospective entrepreneurs to convert their ideas into commercially viable products or services. They help you take your ideas to the market real fast by providing ready-to-use infrastructure, key technical consulting through in-house experts, mentorship, access to service providers, plug-n-play office and connections with people and organizations who matter. For more information, visit incub@TE