technology | Pixr8 News

NIIT Techs Arm Acquires 55% Interest in US Firm RuleTek

1Jun By AdityaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

NIIT Techs Arm Acquires 55% Interest in US Firm RuleTek

Incessant Technologies, an arm of NIIT Technologies, today announced it will acquire 55 per cent interest in US-based RuleTek, in a bid to boost its digital integration capabilities and expand North America footprint. Incessant Technologies has "signed a definitive agreement to acquire 55 per cent interest in RuleTek", NIIT Tech said in a regulatory filing without disclosing the deal size. "The transaction will enable Incessant to strengthen its digital integration capabilities and expand its footprint in the high-opportunity North American market and near-shore capabilities to its existing delivery model," the statement said. RuleTek, headquartered in Meridian, Idaho (US), is a business process management architecture services company that has done implementations for Fortune 500...

22May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

Tech

New Tech Allows Deaf-Blind to “Watch” TV

Scientists have developed a new, ground-breaking software that allows deaf and blind people to enjoy television content in real time without any intermediaries. The software, PervasiveSUB, compiles all the subtitles of television channels and sends them to a central server which forwards them to smartphones or tablets. They are sent to the Braille line of the deaf-blind person using an app that is compatible with different Braille lines and makes it possible to control the speed of the subtitles that are captured directly from the TV broadcast in perfect synchronisation. The software, developed by researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and Federation of Deaf-Blind Persons Associations (FASOCIDE) in Spain, was tested by a group of deaf-blind users. Users highli...

Softbank-Saudi Tech Fund Becomes World’s Biggest With $93 Billion of Capital

21May By reutersNo Comments

FUNDING

Softbank-Saudi Tech Fund Becomes World’s Biggest With $93 Billion of Capital

The world's largest private equity fund, backed by Japan's Softbank Group and Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund, said on Saturday it had raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics. "The next stage of the Information Revolution is under way, and building the businesses that will make this possible will require unprecedented large-scale, long-term investment," the Softbank Vision Fund said in a statement. Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, chairman of Softbank, a telecommunications and tech investment group, revealed plans for the fund last October and since then it has obtained commitments from some of the world's most deep-pocketed investors. In addition to Softbank and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), the ...

95% Engineers in India Unfit For Software Development Jobs

21Apr By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

ANALYSIS

95% Engineers in India Unfit For Software Development Jobs

Talent shortage is acute in the IT and data science ecosystem in India with a survey claiming that 95 per cent of engineers in the country are not fit to take up software development jobs. According to a study by employability assessment company Aspiring Minds, only 4.77 per cent candidates can write the correct logic for a programme — a minimum requirement for any programming job. Over 36,000 engineering students from IT related branches of over 500 colleges took Automata — a Machine Learning based assessment of software development skills — and over 2/3 could not even write code that compiles. The study further noted that while more than 60 per cent candidates cannot even write code that compiles, only 1.4 per cent can write functionally correct and efficient code. “Lack of p...

Cisco to Make India Hub For Global Hardware Export

11Apr By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Cisco to Make India Hub For Global Hardware Export

Networking giant Cisco today said it plans to make India a global export hub for its products, after recently having started manufacturing access points and routers at a facility in Pune. The US-based company also expects to complete 50 digitisation projects by the end of the year across India, which is part of its USD 100 million investment announced last year. "Our roadmap is very clear. Our first intention was to start with 5 or 6 products that we wanted to make in India for domestic market such as access points, routers etc. "The second stage is to make that centre (Pune) a global export hub. That is the next stage we are working on right now," Cisco President India and SAARC Dinesh Malkani said at the Cisco India Summit 2017. In March, Cisco had unveiled its first 'Made in...

Google.org Offers $8.4M Grants to 4 Indian NGOs

9Apr By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Google.org Offers $8.4M Grants to 4 Indian NGOs

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, today announced grants of $8.4 million to four NGOs in India that offer technology-based learning solutions. The NGOs include Pratham Books StoryWeaver ($3.6 million), Pratham Education Foundation ($3.1 million), Million Sparks Foundation ($1.2 million) and Learning Equality ($500,000). They will receive the grant for two years to expand and scale the work they are doing. These grants are part of a global $50 million commitment that Google.org has made towards supporting non-profit entities that are building tech-based learning solutions. "These grants will be used to scale existing initiatives to reach more children and build more innovative and engaging tech-based learning solutions to close the gap in learning and academic opportunity," ...

Hyderabad Based Startup Smartron Raise Rs 250 Crore

8Apr By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Hyderabad Based Startup Smartron Raise Rs 250 Crore

Technology company Smartron today said it will raise up to Rs 250 crore more and plans to more than double its workforce over the next 18 months. Smartron, a Hyderabad-based start-up today celebrated its first anniversary of the public launch and introduction of tbook, tphone, and ttab devices and tronxIoT platform. The day also marked the expansion of the R&D and other operations with the opening of the new corporate headquarters located in Gachibowli here, which was inaugurated by Telangana’s IT Minister K Taraka Rama Rao. Smartron Founder and Chairman Mahesh Lingareddy said "this expansion is a step towards building a stronger base to support the R&D and innovation to create a smart product ecosystem." Smartron, in the last two years, went from inception to 200 plus team...

Hyperloop One Unveils its Vision for America, Details 11 Routes as a Part of Global Challenge

8Apr By AdityaNo Comments

USA

Hyperloop One Unveils its Vision for America, Details 11 Routes as a Part of Global Challenge

Executives from Hyperloop One joined leading policymakers and transportation experts here today to reveal details of select Hyperloop routes in the United States and to initiate a nationwide conversation about the future of American transportation. Of more than 2,600 participants in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, 11 teams presented routes, linking 35 states and covering more than 4,200 miles. They join 24 other teams from around the globe, each vying to be among 12 finalists. Three eventual winners will work closely with Hyperloop One engineering and business development teams to explore project development and financing. "Hyperloop One is the only company in the world building an operational commercial Hyperloop system," said Rob Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer of Hyperloop One....

Paytm Steps In Healthcare Domain, Invested in Startup

7Apr By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Paytm Steps In Healthcare Domain, Invested in Startup

Paytm, India's leading mobile payment company has invested in healthcare startup QorQI. The funding amount has been undisclosed. The startup offers a solution that gives doctors access to patient’s health and clinical data at the touch of a button. The startup aims to use AI and big data to improve productivity and care quality of doctors and help patients manage their health and existing ailments better. Commenting on the funding, QorQl’s Sanjay Singh said, “QorQL is pursuing the vision to democratise healthcare access. Our connected health applications are leveraging AI and big data to collect, integrate and interpret data for all users. This not only helps us solve tough problems but also helps our users stay healthy.” “Paytm’s investment in QorQl is a huge endorsement of our prod...

19Mar By AnkitaNo Comments

News

MIT Pune, IBM Unveil Robot Chintu

The students of Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) Pune and technology giant IBM have developed a robot, Chintu, which would assist senior citizens in their everyday tasks. Chintu, under 2ft tall robot, was developed after MIT Pune received a grant of Rs 10 lakh last year from IBM. It is powered by the US-based companys cognitive assistant, IBM Watson. Chintu can move his hands and read books to an audience. "Drawing from Watsons domain knowledge, Chintu will assist senior citizens in conducting everyday tasks such as reading the newspaper/book and generate reminders on their daily medication," Professor and Head of Computer Engineering Department at MIT Pune, Vrushali Kulkarni, told Pixr8. She added that the students have been working on the project for the past few months. Wh...

Hyperloop One and Indian Government Officials Lead First-Ever Summit on Hyperloop Technologies

1Mar By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Hyperloop One and Indian Government Officials Lead First-Ever Summit on Hyperloop Technologies

Hyperloop One, the global leader in developing the world's first operational Hyperloop, convened a landmark innovation summit – The Hyperloop One Vision For India in New Delhi today. The summit, which was graced by Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon'ble Minister of Railways and Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, discussed how Hyperloop One can integrate with and augment India's vast transport network with reliable, clean, and on-demand autonomous transport, connecting India's major cities at faster-than-airline speeds. Hyperloop can reinvent and transform transportation in India, making the nation a global leader in innovation, efficiency, and regional economic growth. The Hyperloop concept has generated excitement and interest from start-ups around the world since it was first proposed in 20...

Google Rolls Out AI Tool Perspective to Combat Online Trolls

25Feb By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Google Rolls Out AI Tool Perspective to Combat Online Trolls

Google said it will begin offering media groups an artificial intelligence tool designed to stamp out incendiary comments on their websites. The programming tool called Perspective, aims to assist editors trying to moderate discussions by filtering out abusive "troll" comments, which Google says can stymie smart online discussions. "Seventy-two per cent of American internet users have witnessed harassment online and nearly half have personally experienced it," said Jared Cohen, president of Google's Jigsaw technology incubator. "Almost a third self-censor what they post online for fear of retribution," he added in a blog post yesterday titled "When computers learn to swear". Perspective is an application programming interface (API), or set of methods for facilitating communication...