Computer Hardware Update: 16/06/09

 

GET REAL WITH DIGITAL BOLLYWOOD
Omkar Sapre, Pune
The Economic Times (Kolkata edition)

Graphics chip manufacturer Nvidia is stepping up its two year-old ‘Digital Bollywood’ initiative. It now wants to get involved with Hindi films from the scriptwriting stage to promoting visual effects, also called VFX. The aim is to help filmmakers reduce costs by using VFX.

While Nvidia does this routinely with Hollywood filmmakers, this is the first time the company is getting involved with Indian producers. It had scaled back its plans for Bollywood following the recession in its home market in the US, but is now reactivating the connection.

Prasad Phadke, Nvidia’s head of professional solutions business in India, said: “Nvidia technology is used by VFX studios in India and almost every visual effect in Bollywood films makes use of our products. Till now, we stepped in only at the post-production stage through the visual effect studios, to whom we supply our technology. We are now trying to get involved with the producers at the pre-production stage, when they finalise the script and get an idea of locations and duration, they need to shoot the film. We will give them an understanding of the technology which they can use to optimise costs and maximise returns.”

Nvidia is working with two Bollywood producers who Phadke declined to name.

Visual effects or VFX is a ‘cheat-theeye’ technique where certain non-existent objects are created on screen to make the audience believe those are actually real. In its simplest form, VFX is used for a double role, with images of the actor in both the roles shown on the screen at the same time.

VFX also recreates what exists in real life, where a real life shoot is costly, time consuming, involves safety or logistic issues. The Miami skyline in Dharma Production’s Dostana, the stadium crowd in Yashraj’s Chak De, the shots of Sonam Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan inside the Taj Mahal in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6 are instances of the technology used in Bollywood films. The clever use of VFX helped reduce effort and cost.

IBM CLAIMS NO.1 SPOT
Bangalore
The Economic Times (Bangalore edition)

IBM said that it has attained number one position in the India external disk storage market and non-x86 Unix server market in terms of factory revenue in Q1 of 2009 as per IDC’s Asia-Pacific enterprise disk storage and enterprise server tracker. IBM said that in external disk storage market, it has attained a 33.1 percent share in terms of factory revenue, thereby registering a substantial gain of 18 points y-on-y. It also said that in Unix server market segment it has attained a 39.2 percent share in terms of factory revenue.

MS TO PUSH XBOX 360 SALES THROUGH 300 MORE OUTLETS
Saahil Anant
Financial Chronicle

Software giant Microsoft Corp is focusing heavily on the retail and online segments to drive sales for its XBOX 360 gaming consoles this year, in a bid to cash in on the gaming market in India that is growing at 30-35 percent annually.

“Our focus this year is on the retail and online segments,” Jaspreet Bindra, regional director, entertainment and devices division of Microsoft India said. The XBOX console is sold in large format retail stores such as Tata’s Croma and Reliance Digital.

“Most retail chains shut down some of their stores and stopped taking stuff (consoles and their equipment) due to the recession, which was challenging,” Bindra said. The company hopes to set up more such retail chains to expand XBOX 360’s distribution across the country.

“Around 200 retail stores and 100 specialty gaming stores are expected to open over the next one year,” he added.

Microsoft is hoping the country’s broadband operators will beef up internet speed in the country – which would be beneficial to XBOX 360’s ‘Live’ service – which allows users to connect to the internet and interact globally. A minimum speed of 512 kilobites per second (kbps) is required for the service to run smoothly, which creates a problem for gamers living in cities with low broadband speed. “High speed of broadband is a challenge in India, but I see some scope in this space because broadband operators are coming up with speeds more than 16 megabits (mb),” Bindra said. Globally, the Live service on XBOX is used on 20 million out of the total 30 million consoles.

Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter would also be able accessible in the next four months, he added. The total gaming market in India (console, mobile, PC and online) is a mere $120 million, as compared to the global gaming market, which is pegged around $35 billion. It is estimated that the Indian gaming market will reach $500 million over the next three-five years.

At the moment, there are two versions of XBOX being sold in the Indian market – Arcade, which costs Rs 16,990, and Pro, priced at Rs 27,990. Microsoft’s next console launch will be project Natal, which would allow gamers to play without a joystick. Bindra, however, did not wish to comment on the console’s launch date and price.

 

LENOVO OPENS STORE IN KOCHI
Kochi
The Hindu Business Line

Lenovo on Monday announced the expansion of its retail presence in Kerala with the inauguration of its 8th Lenovo exclusive store (LES) in the State, in lieu with Oxygen, the digital shop.

Kerala is among the most important States for Lenovo in India and the company is aiming to strengthen its presence by offering consumers from stylish innovative products to a strong network of sales points and service centres, Aditi Ganguly, National Activation Manager, Lenovo India, said.

The newly opened store in Kochi will offer the company’s full range of stylish feature rich cutting edge Lenovo IdeaPad notebooks and netbooks and desktops including the latest Lenovo IdeaCentre A 600 all in one desktop.

The Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 was also unveiled here.

SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT SLUMP BOTTOMING OUT
Bangalore
The Times of India (Bangalore edition)

The semiconductor equipment industry will gradually improve through the rest of the year and into 2010, according to a report by Gartner.

“The outlook is beginning to improve, as it appears capital equipment spending has bottomed out in the second quarter of 2009,” according to the consulting firm. But the current uptick in semiconductor sales will not be sufficient to overcome the effects of industry-wide overcapacity and low utilization rates in the short term. The industry has faced one of the worst downturns, and has been responding to it by eliminating unnecessary spending, cutting purchases and inventories and not doing anything dramatic.

Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending is on pace to total $24.3 billion in 2009, a 44.8% decline from the 2008 spending of $44 billion. In 2010, such spending is forecast to reach $29.4 billion, a 20.9% increase from 2009.