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TATA Nano now from Sanand, Gujarat

TATA Group chairman Ratan TATA has signed an agreement with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to start the production of world cheapest car TATA Nano.

TATA will manufacture 2.5-3.5 lakh units in the first phase and 5 lakh units in the second phase. More than 60 industries will come up together in the same complex. Rajkot will be the location for the second and the third ancillary units.

Ratan Tata added “This is an extremely momentous day and a very happy day and this is a very special day because we have been through a rather sad experience from a small quarter of residence of West Bengal despite the state government’s efforts and so quickly and so efficiently and with so much enthusiasm we now have a new home. This new home and new agreement is signed on an auspicious day; the Seventh Anniversary of Chief Minister, Mr. Modi’s leadership, and that’s’ a special occasion for us.”

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Nokia Tube – Nokia 5800 Xpress Music vs iphone vs HTC G1

Nokia has announced Nokia (code Name Tube)  5800 Xpress Music Touch screen Phone. So where does it stand in comparision with the iphone and HTC (Tmobile ) G1 ? Going by what we have seen in the previous versions of Nokia XPress Music series phones, this is definitely not a real Nokia smartphone. But feauture wise it fits in the class of iphone minus the ‘i’ and the looks.

For many who was expecting an N95/N96 as touchscreen phone this would be a huge disappointment.  The N series and E series phones of Nokia are a totally different league compared to its 5*** series music phones. But Nokia  has taken a safe step.

To bring a touchscreen in a smartphone means compatibility with various apps and much more testing, for which Nokia needs more time. And to a put N96 with a touchscreen and fail miserably with glistches would catastrophic for Nokia and its image. So they have decided to send out a Nokia 5*** phone with limited functionality and hence less intense scrutiny and better tested product.

Apple which specialises in developing its closed systems, it is easier to control quality of apps and other software running on iphones. But Nokia which lets the users do whatever they want with their smartphone, this is definite disadvantage for Nokia in terms of Quality assurance.Hence the obvious choice of a limited capability device.

Currently Android based HTC G1 is the only “SMART” smartphone around with touch screen built for your fingers. The G1 really looks cool and hopefully delivers in terms of performance. Personally IM very much looking forward to Android OS , little sneakpeeks i had with the emulators are encouraging. The basic application set including Google Talk,Google Maps and Gmail are nowdays a minimum requirements for any web enabled device. Hopefully we will have more applications to choose from on the launch date.

Still there is no serious contender for iphone , iphone beats most other touchscreen phones in terms of its touch screen  , simple UI and Application set. But rest assured this will last long. There is already rumours abound on a Touchscreen phone from Nokia from N series coming out by the end of the year or early next year.

I would really like E61i with a touch screen and full keyboard…

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TCS might fire employees in bench for more than 2-3 months

TCS,Mumbai.

Desperation seems to be getting better of TCS Management. Faced with falling stocks, deserting clients and loss of business in US Financial market, TCS is gearing up for some tough measures in the next few months. TCS has already stopped its promotions for this cycle.

Next target for the management seems to be unallocated employees.

Due to loss of projects many of its employees are sitting idle “unallocated” which is popularly known as getting benched. These employees get salary from the company’s profits and they attribute to zerobilling income. Now there are many employees in bench for more than 2-3 months, these will be the initial target for getting the pink slip.

Many reasons can attribute to being in bench. If the reasons are either incompetence, or employees choice of projects, they sure can expect to go home permanently. Many employees have used these tactics over the years to make MATC (which handles allocations) hand them either onsite oppurtunities or their preferred projects. This trick might not work in the current situation.

Many senior resources with more than 6-7 years of experience are more at risk(if unallocated for long time), as most of them want better roles and usually demand more.The pay packages for them are also higher.

Now the company is in process of preparing a list of associates are benched for a long time and trying to come up with a strategy. You might hear some news very soon from TCS House in Mumbai.

TCS – TATA Consultancy Services