India IT News Capsule - Aug 2006, Issue 3

AOL coming to India: America Online or AOL as it is better known is all out to set up shop in India and bring to Indians that have made it a household name in the United States. AOL has not revealed a foray into Internet service providing business but speculation is rife that AOL would try and acquire Sify, one of the largest privates ISPs in India to jump start its India operations.

Google looking for India Internet startups: Google is reportedly looking out for Indian Internet startups to be acquired as part of its expansion plan in the country. On its India site, Google has invited applications from people who can “identify and evaluate acquisition opportunities across existing and future market opportunities, drive management team decisions, lead deal execution, and help manage post-acquisition integration and performance evaluation in the South Asia Region.” Google’s ideal candidate would be “a top performer with proven deal management,” said the site. A hint about what Google might be seeking to do in India comes in the form of investment experience that the candidate must have: Internet, communications, or e-commerce.

Airtel offering MS-Office products on its mobile network: Airtel, the leading cellular phone service provider has tied up with Microsoft to allow its mobile users access to Microsoft Office products over their mobile phones. Airtel subscribers can access MS Word, Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint and Internet Explorer on their mobile devices. Beside, users will also get access to several other multimedia applications, including camera, video recording and MP3. The MS Windows Mobile 5.0 will be available to customers on the HP I-Paq and I-Mate handsets, priced between Rs 16,000 and Rs 65,000. Whereas, the service will be offered under plans ranging from Rs 399 to Rs 799.With this association Bharti Airtel thus joins 115 existing mobile operators who currently offer the Windows Mobile solution worldwide.

Indian Company launches Podcast services for corporates: Chennai PR Club, a PR professionals association, and Prime Point Foundation, an NGO, jointly launched 'Podcast' service for corporates on Monday. Podcast is the distribution of audio stream, which can be downloaded and played through any MP3 player.

NIIT - IIM to offer Management courses over Internet: NIIT Ltd., Asia's largest IT trainer, and one of India's top management colleges plan on offering management programmes through broadband.Content would be provided by Indian Institute of Managment, Ahemadabad while infrastructure would be NIIT's hold. NIIT will initially set up six computer centres in as many cities and the number will subsequently rise to 75. IIM will design two programmes meant for professionals having at least five years of work experience. They will be priced at 50,000 rupees ($1,076) for 60 hours of training and 180,000 rupees for a course lasting 150 hours.

India - Information Technology Pulse