NetApp Support of Intel Adapter Gives Customers More Options to Reduce Costs and Improve Performance

NetApp

NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) today announced it will support the Intel® Ethernet X520 family of SFP+10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) server adapters. This extends NetApp’s ecosystem of tested Ethernet solutions and offers customers more ways to deploy an end-to-end Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) infrastructure. By offering customers tested options to make the transition from a Fibre Channel infrastructure to a high-performance FCoE infrastructure, NetApp helps them increase the flexibility of their IT to manage more storage and protocols at lower costs.

10GbE unified networking provides a simple, flexible, and well-understood fabric for today’s dynamic data centers and lays the groundwork for new computing models, including cloud computing. With long histories of leadership in Ethernet storage and networking, NetApp and Intel are helping drive the transition to a unified data center on 10GbE. Both companies were early supporters of FCoE. NetApp is the first storage vendor to support native FCoE storage, and Intel is the first Ethernet adapter vendor to support Open FCoE (www.open-fcoe.org), which enables FCoE in standard 10GbE adapters.

“NetApp’s core belief is that unified storage helps our customers achieve business breakthroughs by giving them a universal storage solution to support all aspects of their business,” said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Solutions and Alliances at NetApp. “By enhancing our product portfolio with supported 10GbE and Open FCoE products from Intel, we’re giving customers the flexibility they need to set up unified Ethernet solutions in their existing environments and realize substantial benefits in cost reduction, ease of use, and efficiency.”

“It is exciting to see NetApp support Intel technology to advance 10GbE and Open FCoE and help customers consolidate their data centers,” said Tom Swinford, vice president and general manager, LAN Access Division, Intel Corporation. “The Intel Ethernet X520 family of 10GbE server adapters makes it easier for customers to move to a single platform, reduce the cost of building out, and maintain their storage network.”

NetApp® unified storage supports customers’ existing Fibre Channel investments as well as FCoE, iSCSI, and NAS, allowing them to take a phased approach to consolidating their data centers around Ethernet. This single platform approach allows customers to transition their existing Fibre Channel infrastructure with new, cost-effective FCoE technology, helping them consolidate and simplify their storage infrastructure. This can reduce the amount of storage hardware customers need in their data center, which in turn can lead to significant reductions in power use and administrative overhead. By working with Intel, NetApp hopes to make it even easier for customers to consolidate around 10GbE and FCoE by working with vendor technology they already know and trust.

Customers such as Databasement, a leading cloud-based storage provider, are achieving operational and capital savings as well as enhanced performance with NetApp unified storage and FCoE. Since Databasement serves a diverse set of clients, all with different needs and price points for performance, availability and capacity, the company looked to NetApp and its solutions partners to help safeguard and simplify its customers’ data storage. NetApp helped Databasement easily manage any protocol and offer its customers 10GbE FCoE as a high-performance yet low-cost option without deploying additional hardware or affecting service levels.

“Since Databasement’s founding, in 2001, NetApp has been one of the most important technologies in our portfolio, providing the flexibility and efficiency we need to be able to keep costs down and performance up and provide our customers with a full range of storage options,” said Rob Christ, Databasement’s founder and director. “Regardless of what setup the customer has, we can use IP-based protocols such as iSCSI and FCoE on our side to keep costs down. The more options we can provide our customers, the better we’re able to serve their needs, and that’s why we rely on NetApp’s unified storage.”

Change in Withdrawal of funds from PayPal accounts for India users

Yesterday i have read that Paypal stopped Electronic Fund Withdrawal in India

Today morning i got a mail from paypal

” We’ve received good news. You can continue to enjoy electronic withdrawals just as you did before.

Paypal

While we have received your appreciation for the advanced notice and the refund of the cheque processing fee, we also have heard loud and clear that you highly value the ease-of-use of our electronic withdrawal service. Our customers are our number one priority and we are working tirelessly to improve our service.

Thank you for your patience and in appreciation for your continued support, we will still provide the $5 USD processing fee refund for any cheque withdrawals made from July 29, 2010 until further notice.

For any enquiries, please contact PayPal customer support by logging into your PayPal account and clicking on ‘contact us’ at the bottom of the page. “

Now up to 60% dynamic discount on 1 paisa per second – Uninor launches India’s best GSM mobile tariffs in Mumbai

Uninor GSM Mobile Tariffs

Uninor’s breakthrough new concept of Dynamic Pricing will now deliver India’s best mobile tariffs with up to 60% discounts on a 1-paisa per second billing. This discount is applicable on all local calls from Uninor to any operator. With Uninor’s Dynamic Pricing plan now, a customer could enjoy an effective tariff as low as 0.40 paisa per second simply by crossing a street.

Dynamic Pricing offers discounts that change with location and  time. Every cell phone tower broadcasts a different discount. This discount is always visible on the screens of all mobile phones in that area. So discounts change as a customer moves from the coverage of one tower to the next. At the same location, the discount changes every hour. This means a better discount could be available at the next traffic signal or maybe the next station.

Now riding on a 1-paisa per second billing, Uninor’s Dynamic Pricing will by far be the most affordable mobile plan for customers in India. At full discount, a 1-minute call could now cost 24 paisa only.

This plan is available on a recharge tariff of Rs. 26 with a validity of 3 months. The plan will be available at 24 exclusive Uninor stores and over 12500 points-of-sale across Mumbai. All you need to do is walk up to the nearest retail shop and get it activated.

This earlier Dynamic Pricing plan with per-minute billing will continue to be available in the market.

“By choosing the time and place to make a call, you decide how much you want to pay. This has been the philosophy of our Dynamic Pricing concept – power of tariffs in the customer’s hands and an end to the fixed tariffs raj. Now applicable on a 1-paisa per second billing, this is by far the most attractive tariff available in India today,” said Olav Sande, Executive Vice President – Mumbai Hub, Uninor.

“DP is our anchor product. It’s not just about the best tariffs, but how we deliver these to our customers. Our way is a transparent and engaging way, as customers actively seek out and discover maximum discount zones on their mobile screens. We believe this will make an otherwise routine activity exciting and encourage our customer to keep and use our SIM card in their phones”

Visa Debit and Bookmyshow.com associate to give their customers this exclusive offer

Bookmyshow.com

Bookmyshow.com, India’s largest entertainment ticketing website, today announced that customers can now buy movie tickets through their website for just Re. 1. Bookmyshow.com has tied up with Visa to provide its customers with this exciting new offer. From now, up to December 31, 2010, the first 200 tickets can be purchased everyday using Visa Debit cards under the Re. 1 offer. Not just that, 2000 tickets following those 200 transactions each day, will be sold at a 20% discount.

Movies and Cricket are a passion in our country. The Re. 1 offer gratifies the Visa Debit Card users, giving them added value for the buck spent. There is also the second offer of 20% off on movie tickets, in case they miss the bus with the first one.

According to Ashish Hemrajani, Founder – CEO, Bigtree Entertainment, “Bookmyshow.com is pleased to provide its esteemed customers with such an excellent offer on movie tickets. Bookmyshow.com has been the pioneer in online ticketing in the country and our major strengths include our technological prowess and innovative offers, coupled with hassle free ticketing. With the loyalty Bookmyshow.com has garnered in the online entertainment ticketing space, this association with Visa is a perfect fit. This Re. 1 offer will be beneficial to both film makers and movie buffs and will ensure delight for Bookmyshow customers and Visa debit cardholders.”

Details about the offer are available at  http://in.bookmyshow.com/offers/visa.

Statistics indicate that 75% of all cinema tickets sold online are booked on Bookmyshow.com, resulting in sales of over 650,000 tickets, with customer spends of over Rs.100 million, on an average every month. Bookmyshow.com has ticketed for over 750 screens across 86 cities and has partnerships with all major Indian production houses and studios with real time ticketing for most major cinema chains.

Bookmyshow.com has also ticketed over 1,500 plays online and is the exclusive and permanent ticketing partners for major theatre venues across cities like NCPA, Prithvi etc. With more than 20 million page views per month, Bookmyshow.com has ticketed for more than 300 live large format events and sporting events such as Commonwealth Asian Badminton Championship, city Marathons, etc. Bookmyshow.com was also the exclusive ticketing partners for Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab and the official online ticketing partners for the Delhi Dare Devils this season.

· Introduces for the first time LED TVs in 22” and 26” screen sizes across Series 4000 and Series 5000
· Expands product portfolio to include 13 LED TVs models across four LED TV series

Samsung LED TV

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced the expansion of its LED TV lineup by introducing for the first time LED TVs in 22” and 26“ screen sizes in order to meet the growing consumer demand. These models have been introduced across Series 4000 and Series 5000 of Full HD LED TVs, to complement the existing 2010 lineup of Series 6200 and Series 6900 LED TVs. Thus, Samsung’s LED TV lineup now extends from 22” to 55 “ screen sizes across 13 models priced between Rs. 25,000/- to Rs.200,000/-. In addition to its LED TVs, Samsung also offers 3D LED TVs across its Series 7000 and Series 8000 in the screen sizes between 40” to 55”.

Samsung LED TVs which use LEDs as their primary light source, rather than traditional Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (CCFL) offer benefits that include ultra-high contrast ratios, slim depths for more artful designs, plus increased energy savings. All Samsung LED HDTV Series boast of Mega Dynamic Contrast Ratio, which complements Samsung’s ground breaking LED TV Engine. The Ultra Clear Panel supports by showing every detail even in brightly-lit, imperfect viewing conditions. Samsung’s entire LED HDTV line-up incorporates another innovative feature, the acclaimed Clear Motion Rate frame interpolation technology that reduce motion blur and image judder for crisp, easy viewing of sports, video games and movies.

Similar to the Series 6200 and Series 6900, the new Samsung Series 4000 and Series 5000 not only offers a lifelike viewing experience but breaks free from the conventional limits of integrating a television into a room’s décor. By using Edge LED technology, Samsung has been able to shave its entire LED TV lineup to ultra-thin depths. Furthermore, the AllShare feature in the Samsung LED TVs allows users to wirelessly connect their TV with compatible mobile devices. This means that users can share movies, photos and music through a single device – the Samsung LED TV. And with four HDMI ports – all with Anynet+ (HDMI CEC support), other compatible HDMI connected devices can be controlled via a single remote.

The Series 4000 and Series 5000 stand out on account of their design. The latest evolution of Samsung’s Crystal design which uses dual-injection molding to coat a translucent, coloured surface to achieve an attractive crystalline appearance begins with a deep piano black bezel that fades into light ruby highlights. The intensity of the colour subtly changes depending upon the viewing angle, and further accentuates these TV’s slim bezels.

Energy consumption in the Samsung LED TVs is reduced by 40%+ versus traditional LCD HDTVs of similar size. LED TVs are mercury-free and lead free, which adds another degree of environmental friendliness and safety compared with other currently available backlight technologies.

Announcing the launch of the new LED TV Series in the Indian market, Mr. Ravinder Zutshi, Dy Managing Director, Samsung India said, “ Based on the strong acceptance that we witnessed for our LED TVs since their introduction, we are expecting our LED TVs to contribute over 15% of our Flat Panel TV sales this Year.”  Samsung was the first Company to launch Full HD LED TVs globally as well as in India. Samsung, which is a market leader in the fast growing Flat Panel TV market in India, is expecting to garner a 40% market share in the Indian market by the end of the year.

The Gadget Guru Hunt for Television Displays

Gadget Guru Hunt

This week, Gadget Guru is on a market watch to hunt for television displays plus 55 inches. Vikram & Rajiv explore the options, the price points and the strategies each company is deploying to be a big winner.

Join Gadget Gurus, Vikram Chandra & Rajiv Makhni in their journey only on NDTV Good Times on Friday, 30th July, 2010 at 8:30 PM.

Registration opens today for participation in the BSA Hercules India Cyclothon – Delhi 2010

Sport18, the sports marketing division of Network 18 group, along with TI cycles today announced the launch of India’s largest cycling event, BSA Hercules India Cyclothon – Delhi 2010 to be held at Barakhamba Road on Sunday, 29th August, 2010.

BSA Hercules India Cyclothon

The nation’s capital will, for the first time, host the BSA Hercules India Cyclothon, a mass mobilization cycling event “to promote the practice of cycling in the city”. The BSA Hercules India Cyclothon will have multiple categories — the Amateur ride of 25 km, the Corporate/Group ride of 25 km, the Green ride of 15 km and the Kids ride for youngsters between the ages of 8 and 13 spanning 5 km. This is what proves to be the big draw with thousands turning up on cycles to proclaim their support for greener, cleaner urban spaces.

Interested participants can register themselves on www.cyclothon.tv; SMS Cyclo to 51818 or call the event helpline at  092217 38009 between 10 am and 7 pm including Sundays.

BSA Hercules India Cyclothon – Delhi 2010 will have participants from all walks of life including amateur cyclists, cycling enthusiasts, working professionals, housewives and school children, thus adding colour and festivities to the whole event.

The event offers the citizens of Delhi an opportunity to show their support to the long-awaited Commonwealth Games by coming out in large numbers.

Satish Menon, CEO of Sport18 said, “Close to 6,000 cyclists took to the streets in Bengaluru and Mumbai’s turn-out was pegged by the media at over 7,000. The message of reducing the carbon footprint in urban areas was magnified by a live telecast that took the event into the homes of millions of viewers. We expect the people of Delhi to rise to the occasion and turn out in huge numbers to take the national movement of BSA Hercules India Cyclothon forward.”

Further to the success of the Mumbai Cyclothon, TI Cycles, in the 60th year of their operations in India, are carrying forward their association with the event as the principal partner for BSA Hercules India Cyclothon – Delhi 2010. “TI Cycles of India is happy to bring India’s biggest mass mobilizing cycling event the BSA Hercules India Cyclothon 2010 to New Delhi. The Cyclothon is an innovative and fun way of creating environmental
awareness and educating people on how to reduce pollution levels and make our cities  cleaner and greener places to live in.” said Dr Raghuram, President, TI Cycles. He added that the Murugappa group took an active role in promoting sports in India. “We have been sponsoring The Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey tournament in Chennai and the Chennai Tennis Open which attracts the best players from around the world. Now we are promoting cycling and encouraging sportspersons involved in cycling through these Cyclothons. We believe with support from the government we can develop world-class sportsmen and sports women to successfully represent India in International cycling events”.

Various partners have come on board for the event including Hindustan Times, Pioneer Publicity, Le Meridien, CNBC-TV18,CNN-IBN, Big FM, Bookmyshow, Cafe Coffee Day, ESPN, PVR, Topdoctorsonline.com, La Marion and Uber Charity. LG will be furthering their CSR association with environment-friendly initiatives by partnering the popular Green Ride.

The event will be held under the aegis of CFI and UCI and supported by FICCI. It is jointly promoted by Sport18 and ID Sport. The event will open with the National Elite race for 65kms which will showcase the best of Indian talent in the field of cycling. Cycling Federation of India (CFI) is extending its full support in the organization of the mass mobilization rides across various categories.

· Customised for students, ME Series 50 to be available with easy financing options
· Special trainings to be offered to integrate use of  technology in classroom teaching
· More than 70 management and engineering colleges to participate

HCL

HCL Infosystems Limited, India’s premier hardware, services and ICT system Integration Company today held the “EduME’ educational series in Andhra Pradesh (AP) with the introduction of HCL ME Series 50 to the students of AP. HCL ME Series 50 is a customised range of laptop designed to meet the students need. Available with easy finance options, HCL ME Series 50 is expected to propel the PC adoption through easy accessibility in the state. The easy finance option will also be available for the existing range of notebooks. In this congregation of academicians & technology experts, the company shared a focused approach towards increasing ICT adoption and accessibility in the education system of the state. The summit has witnessed participation from more than 70 management and engineering colleges of the state. The summit kickstarted in Bhopal last month and is scheduled to reach out every state to accelerate ICT adoption in the education system.

During the ‘EduME” educational meet, the company shared its plan to offer contemporary trainings for faculties and aspiring students of the state to improve the utilisation of technology for classroom teaching. HCL ‘EduME’ also showcased a platform for interactive discussions and knowledge sharing through seminars, forums and online ‘EduME’ portal for easy access and knowledge sharing  amongst the student community  across the country.

Mr. George Paul, Executive Vice President, HCL Infosystems Ltd said, “It has always been our endeavor to see a PC in every household even in the remotest parts of the country. In our commitment to sustain and support the cause of widespread PC adoption with EduME, we have today taken a step forward for the enhancement of ICT in the education system. Education is a powerful instrument for laying the foundation for sustained economic growth, for which computer and internet has to play a pivotal role.”

HCL ME Series 50 is ISO 14001 certified, Energy Star 5.0 certified and power packed with innovative software applications, designed to come handy in the day to day use of a student. The customisation equips a student with a host of features and software applications including:

* HCL Touch:  One touch in-built button embedded in the PC, for anytime support & service
* EC2: A complete one button, data recovery mechanism for a student in case of system crash and data loss problems
* SPLIT ME: Where a student can share data (e.g. EBook) without worrying about the size of the file
* LOCK ME: Where a student can ensure privacy and avoid any data theft from the system. This feature ensures data cannot be copied on to external storage devices, USB memory sticks, CD optical disk drives, hard disk drive without getting authorisation from the user

NAS, a Saudi Arabian Airline, recruits students of Frankfinn Institute for International Cabin Crew

Frankfinn Institute

Saudi Arabian airline, NAS, has recruited 10 Indian students of Frankfinn Insitute for its international cabin crew. The selected candidates would receive compensation package as per international scales.

NAS flies to 20 destinations, including 7 international destinations.  In India, they operate from Mumbai and Kochi.

Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training has grown to become the world’s No.1 airhostess training institute and the quality of training imparted by the institute is acknowledged globally.

EXL Service Holdings, Inc. (“EXL”) (Nasdaq:EXLS), a leading provider of outsourcing and transformation services, today announced the signing of a multi-year contract with Petrogas, the largest independent operator of the Applegreen chain of service stations in Ireland.

EXL Service Holdings

Under this agreement, EXL will provide finance and accounting services to Petrogas and manage the entire finance and accounting operations from its service delivery centre in a special economic zone in Noida, India. Petrogas will gain the flexibility and scalability to continue its expansion in Ireland and the UK with a more focused approach and greater force.

EXL’s President and CEO, Rohit Kapoor stated, “We are extremely pleased to be able to work with Petrogas as they take an aggressive stance to grow and expand their business in Ireland and the UK. EXL continues to strengthen its capability in finance and accounting and looks forward to working with Petrogas to achieve their objectives of strategic cost management and driving operational flexibility while improving service levels. We will leverage our transformation capabilities in the areas of analytics and process improvement to provide Petrogas a competitive advantage as they grow their business.”

Petrogas’ CEO and Director, Bob Etchingham stated, “This is an important strategic initiative for Petrogas as the group consolidates its financial standing and profitability in a very challenging economic and banking environment in Ireland. With EXL providing our Finance and Accounting services, we are better able to focus on streamlining the back office processes supporting the expanding network of the group and licensee sites. This is particularly important as we prepare to open Ireland’s first Motorway Service Areas with six sites coming on stream in September 2010.  Longer term, we anticipate taking advantage of re-engineering and decision analytics capabilities offered by EXL to enhance our business proposition”

EXL’s finance and accounting services are designed to address multi-pronged business imperatives of the modern-day chief financial officer. The services help enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and controls within finance functions by leveraging high quality finance and accounting capabilities, strong domain focus, and flexible global delivery model.