India IT News Capsule - May 06, Issue 5

• Pantaloon to start online store : FutureBazaar.com is the new online store being planned by Pantaloon chain of retail stores in India. Scheduled to be thrown open for the general public next week, Pantaloon plans to make online prices of commodities much cheaper than those available via stores. Pantaloon is also open in making it known that it is preparing itself for competition from the likes of Wal-Mart when such giants descend on India.

• Market Abuzz with Mobile Virus Warnings : Cell Cos are issuing warnings to mobile users to safeguard themselves against mobile viruses that pose a real threat to cell phones. The viruses infect cells via Bluetooth and MMS attachments.

• Star TV to explore IPTV possibilities : Rupert Murdoch's Star TV has tied up with HongKong's Telecom network operator PCCW to explore the possibilities of Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) in billion plus markets of India and China where Star already has a massive presence. This move should help boost high speed internet in these nascent markets.

• Siemens and Huawei and 3Com tie up to provide networking services to Indian companies. These services include data, voice and video services to customers.

• Maharashtra plans Knowledge Grid : Maharashtra government is planning a Knowledge grid that would rope in educational institutions across the state into a common network, thereby ensuring free flow of information among the constituent institutions. The plan is to use the network grid initially for student services like timetable disbursement, exam form filling, etc and extend it later for hosting educational and discussion forums.