Airbus hails record year in battle of the skies

Airbus hails record year in battle of the skies

‘Rupee appreciation contributed to fall in inflation’

‘Rupee appreciation contributed to fall in inflation’

India heading for 9 per cent growth, says Chidambaram

COLOMBO: India is heading for a nine per cent growth this year on top of buoyant investments and domestic environment, the Finance Minister, Mr P Chidambaram said here.

Is India ready for the mobile TV revolution?

With mobile TV soon to debut in India, everyone is eager to know what this new service will offer businesses and consumers alike. Not only does this emerging entertainment medium promise a paradigm shift for TV buffs but also for wireless and broadcast industries that are poised to benefit tremendously from it.

Combining the technologies of television and mobile telephony, mobile TV makes high quality television content available on the go and in a format that the viewers understand. The convergence of these two technologies also introduces new forms of interactivity and personalisation, enabling the delivery of compelling content and services for a rich, immersive consumer experience.

Although mobile TV is a recent phenomenon, countries such as Japan and Korea have been quick to embrace the opportunity and deploy new services. South Korea in particular has had a head start in broadcast mobile TV.

However, Japan and the US are expected to overtake it in terms of the number of users, purely based on their large addressable mobile subscriber bases. According to Juniper Research, Japan, the US and South Korea are predicted to eventually comprise 39% of the projected $11.7 billion global broadcast mobile TV subscriber market while Germany, Italy, the UK, India and China will account for 36% by 2011.

What will attract viewers to mobile TV?

Traditional television viewing has been largely ‘place-bound’ -– restricted to the home or occasionally in a restaurant or sports bar. The home television has been shared by members of a family, with everyone fighting over the remote control to see their favourite shows. Mobile TV, by definition and in sharp contrast to traditional TV, will enable ‘place-shifting’ – allowing consumers with the most personal experience of viewing content wherever they go.

Indian IT Pros Among Worst Paid

Heard a lot about constantly swelling tech salaries in India and how this is undermining India’s IT edge. The rising salaries may be “bleeding” Indian IT cos, but they are still far from the global level, as the Mercer’s 2007 IT Pay around the World survey shows. Six of the world’s 10 highest-paying countries for information technology (IT) managers are in Western Europe, according to a new survey by Mercer. Switzerland pays the highest salaries followed by Denmark, Belgium and the UK. The United States and Canada are ranked sixth and eighth respectively.The survey compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in 6,545 companies in 35 different countries.Based on gross annual total cash, IT staff at all levels are paid the most in Switzerland, where the IT Manager job pays an average of $140,960 annually. The same job level in Denmark (the second-highest-paying country) pays $123,080, while Belgium (third) pays an average of $121,170. The UK and Ireland are ranked fourth and fifth, with an average pay of $118,190 and $108,230, respectively. In the United States, the average IT manager earns $107,500 a year compared with Canada (ranked eight) at $93,340. According David Conroy, a principal in Mercer’s London office, “The globalisation of the IT function continues to develop. Companies in Europe and the US continue to be more imaginative in their remuneration strategies to ensure that they keep the best talent. Employers understand local markets and look to developing successful staff attraction and retention strategies to remain competitive.”Talking of low paying countries, Bulgaria, Philippines, Indonesia, India and Czech Republic pay the lowest annual total cash packages to their top IT personnel on a global level. The survey found that IT managers in Vietnam, Bulgaria and the Philippines receive the lowest pay, respectively, at $15,470, $22,240 and $22,280 a year. Indian IT managers were fourth from the bottom, earning an average of $25,000. The other countries on the list were Indonesia at fifth with average wages of $31,720, followed by China (Shanghai) with earnings of $33,770, Malaysia $35,260, Czech Republic $35,880, China (Beijing) $36,220 and Argentina $43,180.In the most-junior career band surveyed, defined as IT Professional – Experienced, employees in Switzerland earn the highest salaries at an average $101,510, ahead of Belgium (second), Germany (third) and Denmark (fourth). The UK ranks fifth with an average of $64,340 followed by the US (sixth). In the lower-paying countries, Vietnam again pays the least at $5,570, followed by the Philippines and India at $8,130 and $9,630, respectively.