Gigastone SmartBox Now Available at U.S. Retailers Nationwide

Gigastone, a leading Taiwan-based technology innovator, announces the availability of the SmartBox at U.S. retailers nationwide. The patented SmartBox is three devices in one -- a wireless card reader, portable content streamer, and backup battery charger. With a free mobile app for Apple and Android, up to six users can wirelessly stream content to their tablet or smartphone, without an Internet connection.

Pricing & Availability:The Gigastone SmartBox is currently at Fry's, B&H, BestBuy.com and Amazon.com starting at $39.99. It includes a microSD adapter and USB cable for charging.

 

Watch Apple's livestream to today's ipad event - here's how to watch

Apple to Livestream Today's iPad Event here - http://www.apple.com/apple-events/october-2013/

Watch streaming video from this special event and learn more about our exciting announcements.

Live Streaming video requires Safari 4 or later on OS X v10.6 or later; Safari on iOS 4.2 or later. Streaming via Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 5.0.2 or later.

 

Just SAFARI... fair play? If competitors in Seattle do something like this.... then there is huge noise :) Anyways you can watch this event only from Apple ecosystem and not Windows PC!!

More innovation is expected this time around, here you go (lighter side:))... various color options iPad, few pounds lighter, new lightning charger that makes old one and other third party devices you invested in obsolete, 3D/4D maps, Keyboard/keypad this time around to be little productive, voice recognition software - Siri who is trying to get better, higher screen resolution, higher MP camera, video burst shooting, security software/biometrics and more applications (actually meant games :))! Cost ...slightly higher of course we deserve more margins but don't worry we also have mini! :) Let's stay tuned and see how many are correct :)

Stream events (fun moments) -

LaserLock announces updated version of VerifyMe for identity verification...

LaserLock announces updated version of VerifyMe for identity verification...

LaserLock provider of identity verification and product and brand authentication, company that authenticates products and people, today announced a new version of VerifyMe.

VerifyMe™ is a free app for iPhone, iPad and iPod that allows users to store their passwords locally and access password protected websites with a unique identifier based on a swipe pattern and color choice chosen by the user. VerifyMe™ is available for free on iPhone, iPad and iPod now in the Apple Store at http://applestore.com/verifymesso.

-D

Microsoft officially releases Visual Studio 2013

Microsoft officially releases Visual Studio 2013 and is available now for download (link below):

Personally still haven't installed it myself but planning soon. Here are few highlights as read on MSDN forums and blogs on the new VS 2013 released:

•	New project template for Office 365 Cloud Business App - to enable developers to quickly build modern business applications that can integrate with and extend the Office 365 platform experience. The Cloud Business App template provides a rich set of tools and built-in functionality that make it easy to work with data and leverage Office 365 services such as identity and social.   New MVC 5 web application template and SharePointContext for SharePoint apps - MVC web application template for app for SharePoint has been introduced since Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2013 Preview. In this Visual Studio 2013 RTM release, the MVC web application template in app for SharePoint has been updated based on the latest one for MVC 5.   SharePointContext is a set of classes (in SharePointContext.cs/SharePointContext.vb) that provides a set of APIs to relieve you from the tedious steps of dealing with communication between SharePoint and web application. Need to decide whether your app be authenticated with Windows Azure Control Services or a certificate (high-trust)? SharePointContext makes it possible for you to use the same snippet of code no matter which way you go. Need efficient but safe strategy to cache the access tokens? APIs in SharePointContext provide a good pattern and the default implementation for you. Which APIs can you use for hosting web and which ones for app web? API naming convention carefully designed in SharePointContext gives you an explicit view what you can use in which case. You can also easily extend the SharePointContext helper by subclassing to provide more advanced features to fulfill your scenarios. Apart from the Visual Studio 2013 in-box release, the new SharePointContext helper is also included in App for SharePoint Web Toolkit - NuGet package, which means you can install the package and leverage the helper APIs in any VS 2013 or VS 2012 project that you want to communicate with SharePoint. For the app for SharePoint projects that you’ve created with VS 2013 Preview, you can simply upgrade the SharePointContext helper to the latest by updating the App for SharePoint Web Toolkit NuGet package (which is installed in the web project when you created the app for SharePoint).
•	Support for Windows 8.1 app development: Visual Studio 2013 provides the ideal toolset for building modern applications that leverage the next wave in Windows platform innovation (Windows 8.1), while supporting devices and services across all Microsoft platforms. Support for Windows Store app development in Windows 8.1 includes updates to the tools, controls and templates, new Coded UI test support for XAML apps, UI Responsiveness Analyzer and Energy Consumption profiler for XAML & HTML apps, enhanced memory profiling tools for HTML apps, and improved integration with the Windows Store.
•	Web development advances: Creating websites or services on the Microsoft platform provides you with many options, including ASP.NET WebForms, ASP.NET MVC, WCF or Web API services, and more. Previously, working with each of these approaches meant working with separate project types and tooling isolated to that project’s capabilities. The One ASP.NET vision unifies your web project experience in Visual Studio 2013 so that you can create ASP.NET web applications using your preference of ASP.NET component frameworks in a single project. Now you can mix and match the right tools for the job within your web projects, giving you increased flexibility and productivity.

You can download Visual Studio 2013 here - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=306566 

Thanks - Dipesh

Seed funding... Microsoft Ventures

Found this interesting and thought to share - If you are looking to buy a house, this is the wrong place :) but if you are intending to fund your startup probably Microsoft ventures program that was launched recently would be of interest.

"Microsoft Ventures is a strategic partner for promising startups around the world focused on business growth & customer development, industrial strength technology and beautiful usable products. We’re especially keen to partner with proven young B2B startups looking to leverage our global routes to market. "

Buzz Table, Buddy and KitchenBug are few of the initiatives funded...

More here... https://www.microsoftventures.com/

Cheers- D

Best known Supply Chain Network Optimization Simulation tools...

Model, Optimize and Simulate Your Supply Chain using some of the best known Simulation tools -

Llamasoft -
Network optimization can identify major improvements in cost, service, sustainability, and risk – often leading to total supply chain savings of 10 percent or more. The LLamasoft Supply Chain Guru and Transportation Guru applications provide the most complete and easy-to-use network optimization functionality in the market, including:

• End-to-end model from tiers of suppliers to the customer
• Detailed modeling of complex production processes, BOMs, multi-time period capacities, etc.
• Comprehensive constraint modeling to accurately represent true behavior of your corporate supply chain
• Flexible costing model to better represent unique supply chain characteristics
• Easy-to-use scenario generation for detailed sensitivity analysis or multi-objective optimization
• Rich visualization and reporting including interactive flow diagrams, transportation routing, and much more
• Fastest solve times on the largest models

http://www.llamasoft.com/supply-chain-network-optimization-software.html

FlexSim - http://www.flexsim.com/supply-chain-simulation/

Arena - How to simulate Manufacturing Supply chain using Arena by Rockwell automation tool videos - http://www.arenasimulation.com/Tools_Resources_Video_Library.aspx
 

Accenture and Siemens Form Joint Venture to Unlock Full Benefits of Smart Grids to Improve Energy efffecieny

Accenture and Siemens form Joint Venture to implement Smart Grids and improve energy efficiency

Accenture and Siemens have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture in the smart grid field that will work with utilities to improve energy efficiency, grid operations and reliability.

The new company, named Omnetric Group, will provide the energy industry with advanced solutions and services focused on data management and systems integration. These solutions will integrate operational technologies - such as distribution management and real-time grid operations - with IT systems supporting smart metering, energy consumption and work and asset management.

 

What is Smart meter? "Smart meter" - is an electrical meter that records consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less and communicates this information at least daily back to the utility companies for monitoring and billing purposes. Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system.

 

Unlike traditional home energy monitors, smart meters can gather data remotely and can avoid theft or tampering. This advanced metering differs from traditional automatic meter reading and Accenture Microsoft can solution this around upcoming Microsoft SQL 2014 to help scale companies in their transformation of capturing and managing data from 5 million (per month user consumption) to 5 billion data inputs.

 

About Siemens

The Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector (Munich, Germany), with approximately 90,000 employees, focuses on sustainable technologies for metropolitan areas and their infrastructures. Its offering includes products, systems and solutions for intelligent traffic management, rail-bound transportation, smart grids, power distribution, energy efficient buildings, and safety and security. The Sector comprises the divisions Building Technologies, Low and Medium Voltage, Mobility and Logistics, Rail Systems and Smart Grid. For more information, visit http://www.siemens.com/infrastructure-cities

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 275,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

 

Does bringing ex-CEO help firms transform?

Does bringing ex-CEO help firms transform?

There's some news/rumors floating around these days that Bill Gates would take the helm back from Steve Ballmer at Microsoft. Personally, I don't believe this would happen as Bill is very much involved in philanthropy work with "Melinda and Gates" foundation and believe he has crossed that desire to run a profit organization. Sure, he still loves Microsoft and is chairman of the board. However, his vision and thought process to help poorest of the people come to next level by helping them in areas of basic necessities is remarkable and applaud able. Initiatives around having a "polio free" world, working with Pharma companies and investing heavily in creating medicines to eradicate malaria, TB and others is more important than selling Windows :) Sure, Google and other companies are also contributing to the world in such areas... but for someone like Bill this is full time job~! :)

However, these rumors of having Bill rejoin as CEO started me thinking that do companies really outperform/transform themselves by having prior leaders join back?

JC Penny would bring back ex CEO Ullman back and ousts someone who was trying to transform the company - Ron Johnson! Without Ron having enough time/opportunity and lacking full support for transformation, Ron was left lonely... fair?
Results: We haven't seen outstanding results yet...but time will tell..

Infosys gets ex CEO Narayan Murthy back, good move but is it a great choice? Sure, he was the co-founder and CEO who deeply believed in the company and it's success. But what does his return indicate? Lack of next generation entrepreneurs in the company or just boredom.
Results: We haven't seen outstanding results yet (this quarter was helped with Rupee dropping significantly)...but time will tell..

Apple - had a slightly different story by having Steve Jobs come back but that was with an intent to buy his company Pixar back. Also, point to be noted is that Mac is still struggling to have its market share against PC. They have been successful in few of their recent products (iphone, ipad and others) because of weak competition and being the first adopters to consumer market. Ofcourse, Steve had stewardship qualities that helped Apple transform but lets not forget the distinguished engineers who toiled hard to get finest products out.

Recently, with P&G's former CEO A.G. Lafley's return puts the iconic company's reputation at stake as well. All will rest on whether he can turn around P&G quickly....

I think returning the reins to a former CEO signals of desperation and failed succession planning. Hiring a CEO is a very key decision and I am sure lot goes into the thinking left to the best of the lot! :)

Cheers - DJ
 

Point of View on Microsoft Surface launch...

Microsoft released RT and then released PRO last holidays, many people don't know this and many people didn't follow the difference,

1. Microsoft RT is based on ARM, really meant as cheaper option for mass consumers. - $399?
2. Microsoft PRO is based on Intel i5 processor, really meant for more productive work and targeting enterprises. - $899?

Do you think this is a good move for customers?
a) Actually, it confuses consumer more especially end users... who are not IT skilled.
b) After releasing RT, MSFT decide to release another product - Surface PRO. They actually killed their own product - RT which is "self destruction"...why would someone buy RT?

Interestingly, Microsoft now is launching Surface on Oct 22 2013 - newer version of Surface and decide to call them as - Surface 2 (without an RT) - does that add to confusion further?

My PoV is = Microsoft go forward should only have 1 high end product - Surface, that's it! Both consumers and enterprise customers need one product who can do all that tablets can do with Office installed so that it can be productive fun. Kill RT and reduce price of PRO and move ahead.... this will enable to have the decent market share for Microsoft in this space. Personally, I believe they have the potential but the road ahead has few bumps!

Cheers-  DJ