HCLTech and Verizon Business Launch FlexSpace 5G, An Advanced Digital Workplace Experience-As-A-Service

HCLTech, a leading global technology company, today launched FlexSpace 5G, an advanced digital workplace experience-as-a-service that boosts efficiency and security for global businesses.

Powered by Verizon’s secure, reliable network and HCLTech’s best-in-class hardware partnerships, this offering is a significant upgrade to HCLTech FlexSpace, which supports the entire workplace experience value chain. It enables a smooth transition to a digital workplace for all categories of employees, whether at the desk, remote, on-the-go, or on the frontline.

HCLTech FlexSpace 5G carries unique benefits for businesses.

• It provides ‘Experience-as-a-service’ to support end-to-end device life cycle management.
• It extends mobility for enterprise users in the hybrid work model, going beyond Wi-Fi.
• It provides fast and more dependable connectivity, proving advantageous for various sectors, including financial services, technology, life sciences, healthcare, telecom, media and entertainment.
• It assuages data security worries for users working remotely.

Earlier in November of last year, Cisco partnered with HCLTech to launch Meeting-Rooms-as-a-Service (MRaaS).

“With HCLTech FlexSpace 5G, powered by our strategic partner Verizon Business, we aim to provide our clients with a fluid, hybrid and sustainable future of work that fosters collaboration, productivity and innovation,” said Rakshit Ghura, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Digital Workplace Services, HCLTech.

“We continue to make significant investments in our network in order to support solutions such as these, which enable employees to work virtually wherever they need to connect, be that in an airport, a client’s office or on the road,” said Jonathan Nikols, Head of Global Enterprise Americas, Verizon Business. “Connected devices on our network also provide our customers with additional peace of mind due to the enhanced, built-in security inherent to the Verizon network, a significant improvement over public Wi-Fi.”

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) was formed in 2000 and is one of the world’s leading providers of technology and communications services. Headquartered in New York City and with a presence around the world, Verizon generated revenues of $134.0 billion in 2023. The company offers data, video and voice services and solutions on its award-winning networks and platforms, delivering on customers’ demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity, and security.

HCLTech is a global technology company, home to more than 224,000 people across 60 countries, delivering industry-leading capabilities centered around digital, engineering, cloud, AI and software, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. We work with clients across all major verticals, providing industry solutions for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, and Public Services. Consolidated revenues as of 12 months ending December 2023 totaled $13.1 billion. To learn how we can supercharge progress for you, visit hcltech.com.

AOL Launches Area51, A Startup Incubator for Its Employees and Fresh College Graduates

With the competition in the internet world getting tougher by the day, it comes as no surprise that older players are trying their best to remain popular and relevant. One such company which seems to have taken a cue from the recent Yahoo downfall, is AOL, which is originally credited for getting America online.

The internet veteran has recently announced about the launch of its startup incubator, Area51.

Like any other startup incubator, Area51 will be taking in a few chosen startups, and provide them with guidance, give them capital with the hope that one day they will grow into big, successful businesses. According to experts, ideally, some of these incubated startups will be providing AOL with a return on its investment, or maybe even end up becoming a part of AOL as partners or acquisitions.

In addition to the incubator, AOL is also trying to bring innovation back to the centre of the organisation. The company had recently entered into a collaboration with Cornell University on a technology lab in the NYC.

To begin with, Area 51 will be working with a couple of companies in the next few months and gradually expand to 10 over the end of next year. The six months long program is open to all the current AOL employees and fresh college graduates.

In order to efficiently run the incubation program, AOL has enlisted the help of venture capital funds: Dawn Patrol Ventures, BBG Ventures and Nautilus. Not only with investors from these venture capital funds be mentoring the selected startups, but they would also be handling the vetting process.

While experts predict that AOL might consider all types of companies, though there is a possibility of them being related to AOL's own competencies— consumer Internet services, media and advertising, so that startups can easily fit into and take advantage of the company's rich corporate resources. The program is being considered as a move by AOL to retain employees with entrepreneurial streak.

In the past, AOL has made some serious efforts in emulating the free-thinking and agile style of the startup industry. For example, AOL's Alpha, the company's experimental arm that builds various projects such as photo editing app Vivv, Starlike, an app for tracking friends on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and messaging app Pip.

According to AOL chief technology officer Bill Pence's statement to Fortune, experimental labs and sandboxes that most large companies are creating internally has become quite a trend. Social networking giant Facebook ran its Creative Labs unit for years until recently, and of course one has to mention Alphabet’s X division, which has been serving as a large research and development arm for quite sometime now. But, a sandbox might not always be enough to retain entrepreneurs at a big company, and Yahoo ended up learning this lesson the hard way. Despite of spending the billions of dollars in buying startup entrepreneurs, many of them ended up leaving the company eventually.

In addition to being a ploy to keep talented employees, Area51 will also be serving as a breeding ground for the potential acquisitions or business partners of AOL, which was itself acquired by Verizon last year for a whopping $4.4 billion.

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Verizon Buys Yahoo For $4.83 Billion

Web pioneer Yahoo has finally found a buyer. Monday saw Verizon Communications Inc.(which also owns AOL) officially making an announcement about the whopping $4.83 billion acquisition deal. The deal finally puts an end to Yahoo's months-long sale dilemma which it was facing.

According to the deal, Verizon will be taking over Yahoo's core internet properties, which which includes its advertising, content, search and mobile activities and use it to expand its media and digital advertising business.

Industry experts predict that the Yahoo acquisition deal will help in boosting Verizon Communications's AOL internet business, which it bought for $4.4 billion in a deal last year. The acquisition deal also provides Verizon with an access to the Yahoo's assets such as messenger, mail and search, and its much famous advertisement technology tools such as Flurry and BrightRoll.

“The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising," said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Chairman and CEO in a press release regarding the deal.

It's important to note that the Web Pioneer's stakes in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba haven't been included in the acquisition deal. As of figures calculated on 22nd July, Yahoo's 34% stake in Yahoo Japan is worth a good $8.3 billion, and its 15% stake in China's Alibaba is worth a whopping $31.2 billion. Further, the Web Pioneer's $1 billion worth patent portfolio has also been kept away from the deal.

Verizon Communications Inc. has decided to integrate Yahoo with AOL, and designated Marni Walden, Verizon EVP and President of the Product Innovation and New Businesses organization to head the process.

The transaction is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2017. According to the company, Yahoo will continue as an independent company until the acquisition deal receives shareholder and regulatory approval.

According to Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's Chief Executive, the sale of Yahoo's operating business, which effectively separates their Asian asset equity stakes, is an important step in the company's strategic plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo.

Mayer, in a Tumblr post, said she planned to stay at Yahoo, but Verizon's Marni Walden is yet to take a decision on the new leadership team.

February this year saw the Web Pioneer making an official announcement about exploring offers for acquisition. Then in March, a controversial letter by activist investor Starboard surfaced stating that there is a need to replace the entire board and that the management team and the board were intentionally dragging the acquisition process. One could smell Starboard's desperation to sell the company as quickly as possible so as to maximise the acquisition price.

When Marissa Mayer joined the Web Pioneer in July 2012, there were huge expectations from her. But, even after a number of tries (such as acquiring Tumblr for $1.1 billion, acquiring Brightroll for $640 million) she somehow couldn't revive the company's fortunes.

Verizon even justified the acquisition in an official announcement. According to it, Yahoo has a global audience of more than 1 billion users, which includes 600 million on mobile.
Further, it also owns premium brands in sports, finance and news. And when it comes to advertising technology and analytics, Verizon Communications stated Gemini, Brightroll and Flurry. Lastly, it also mentioned that the Yahoo Mail currently has approximately 225 million monthly active users.

Whether Yahoo's acquisition will have a considerable effect on Verizon's fortunes is something that only time will tell.

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Twitter beats Yahoo, Amazon, Verizon to sign deal with National Football League to live stream Thursday Night Football

Twitter has won the deal with the National Football League (NFL) to exclusively live-stream the upcoming Thursday night football games. The microblogging site will show the 10 games broadcast by NBC and CBS television to its over 800 million users worldwide on mobile phones, tablets, PCs and connected televisions.

The win gives Twitter the ability to show the games to users around the world, without requiring them to sign in to the service. The company hopes that can help kick-start its slowing user growth and provide new and returning Twitter users with a feature they’ll be able to instantly appreciate.

Twitter will also be able to stream the games via its apps on platforms like Xbox game consoles, and the NFL says it is exploring ways to let Twitter stream the games via its syndication partners, including Google and Yahoo.

Bloomberg reports that Twitter beat out other major players in the tech space, including Verizon (which owns Aol), Yahoo, Amazon, and Facebook.

According to some news sources, Facebook withdrew its bid to live-stream the NFL Thursday games due to disagreement over commercials. The social media giant reportedly wanted an ad-free live-streaming while NFL expected to follow the traditional advertising model to earn revenue, which led to the fallout.

Given Twitter’s slowing growth numbers — the company has plateaued at around 300 million active users — this deal could be a huge boost for the platform. Putting aside its slower growth than networks like Facebook, Twitter is best when paired with live TV. It’s the fine Cabernet to a medium-rare filet mignon.

With the new deal, Twitter can likely see more engagement out of fans who never really cared for Twitter, but came to the platform for some Thursday Night Football.

This is also an important move for the NFL, which has long been the stronghold of cable television. As more and more users cut the cords, the NFL is having to think beyond the cable model to reach as many viewers as possible.

But if you’re a cable kid with a football package, have no fear. The big game will still be available on television and on other parts of the web.

Specifically, Twitter won the global streaming rights to 10 games of the 16 TNF games to air this season. That means that the games will still air on CBS, NBC, and the NFL Network, as well as their respective web sites. That said, CBS.com (and the others) will only have the right to stream domestically and not worldwide.

This NFL season is going to be interesting one with Twitter's attachment to it.What's your opinion on this deal signing?

 

The Top 20 IoT Companies Right Now

Internet of Things (IoT) involves connecting everything from wearable devices and traffic signals to waste control systems and door locks to a huge network. We recently reported about how Industry veterans from Vodafone, Tesco, Tech Mahindra, Philips, GE and Cisco have joined hands to form an Internet of Things panel in India.  While Internet of Things seems to have recently started gaining pace in India, it is a well known concept in the international markets since the year 1999.

A lot of companies over the years have tried to do their bit for IoT and have given us some of the most amazing IoT products that we could have ever imagined in the process. Currently, the numero uno position is a close contest between five of the largest technology companies in the world, namely: Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and IBM.

Iot-analytics.com has come up with a list which ranks the top twenty Internet of Things companies in the world right now. The ranks are based on number of Google searches, Twitter mentions and blogs and newspaper headlines that the Internet of Things companies are able to attract. They have also taken into account the number of Internet of Things focused employees these companies have employed.

1. Intel -

   
   Brian Krzanich, Intel’s CEO, seems to be a person who learns from his past mistakes. When Smartphones first came into the market, Krzanich thought it wasn’t an opportunity worth capturing and the concept would fizzle out after sometime but as time has it, he was horribly wrong. With Internet of Things, he doesn’t want to repeat the same mistakes. He wants every fifty billion connected devices that the IoT promises in the next five years to have “Intel Inside”.
   
   Intel is one of the forerunners in manufacturing new generation low-power chips for Internet of Things connected devices. The company’s Research and Development centres and a number of other industry co-operations lay the foundation of its Internet of Things push. The software giant is currently focusing on developers and startups. The company is marketing its Intel Galileo developer kit all over the world. With the kit, anyone can create their own thing. The company has recently added a new addition to its Internet of Things profile. It’s a platform that will connect the data from your devices to the cloud.




2. Microsoft -

   
   This software giant followed the footsteps of Intel, when it comes to Smartphones. Windows Phones enjoy a small three percent share in the Smartphone market.
   
   The software giant has come up with three IoT propositions till now. First comes the Azure platform. This platform has the potential of becoming a one- stop- shop cloud platform for all your connected devices. Secondly, the software giant has Microsoft Streaming Analytics, which has an aim of benefitting from a new kind of processing that will be essential for extracting meaning from sensor data in real time. At the third spot is Microsoft Band. The software giant has made a foray into the health and wearable space through this invention. Apart from the above mentioned three products, the software giant has been experimenting a lot in the industrial Internet of Things space. The company recently worked with Kuka, the robot manufacturer, on a project that equipped a Jeep Wrangler plant with the company’s Microsoft technology to run manufacturing lines. Microsoft is planning to launch similar projects in the connected car and connected health space.




3. Cisco -

   
   
   The Company has been crowned for coining the term Internet of Everything. Cisco has managed to centre its business strategy around IoT like no other big technology companies. IoT has always remained at the heart of what the company does. Cisco has developed network equipment like switches and routers for its enterprise customers. The company is also highly active in security solutions. it is also the host of the esteem IoT World Forum.




4. Google -

   
   
   The search giant has increased the pace of its IoT activity over the years. The company bought Nest, the smart home company, for a whopping $3.2 billion in January last year. That day marked the commencement of mass market awareness for the IoT. The search giant’s self driving car project and Google glass also come under the IoT category. In addition to all this, the California based company recently announced the “Physical web platform”. Nothing much has been revealed about the platform yet but it is for sure an IoT.




5. IBM -

   
   
   Acquiring fifth position in the top five IoT companies is the software giant IBM. The company is famous for making huge investments in enterprise application infrastructure and databases for connected devices. It has also been investing heavily in Analytics. The software giant also partners with other companies in order to create IoT showcases in various different areas.
   
   Related Reading - Top 10 IoT-based Product Startups From India
   





6. Samsung -

   
   The Company’s acquisition of SmartThings, a leading smart home platform, has helped it make a cut into the top 10 IoT companies. Apart from this, the company is also a major player in the wearables market.




7. Apple -

   
   The Company believes in doing everything in its own, secretive way. It lays low for some time and then comes out with a bang. Currently, the company’s IoT activity is focused on its Apple HomeKit platform and Apple iWatch. It also has an Apple HealthKit. If some rumors are to be believed, the company is planning to enter the Internet connected car market.





8. SAP -

   
   The Germany based company is at the top of the enterprise software market right now. But the German giant believes that the IoT market will soon undergo a drastic change. The company has planned to position its HANA database as “the secret sauce to make Internet of Things run simple”. The company has worked hard to enable its ERP-System with Internet of Things functionality. It has also been experimenting vigorously with machine-to-machine platforms. The company is working on several projects in service, logistics and manufacturing operations.
   




9. Gartner

   
   The Company has a very good reputation when it comes to IoT. Its great reputation is a result of its much famous hype-cycle. The company placed IoT into the steeply rising part of its hype-cycle in the year 2011, when almost no one was using the term IoT.  In 2014 the company announced that the IoT has finally reached its peak and is now up for a fall. While Garnter believes that IoT is up for a downfall, most of the other IoT don’t agree with it. They believe though the concept may face a little setback, it won’t fall as deeply as concepts such as “gesture control” or “virtual reality” have.





10. Oracle -

    
    The Company is quite behind in IoT when compared to its other heavy weight contemporaries. Most of its activity is focused on its cloud platform. Oracle is renewing its push to promote Java as a platform for developers to build applications for small devices and the Internet of things.
    
    The company also announced Java ME Embedded 8.1 early access, featuring support for ARM Cortex M3/M4 microcontrollers and a developer preview for Freescale FRDM K64 boards with mbed support. Updated Raspberry Pi support is featured as well.
    
    Oracle has announced a collaboration with mobile network operator Vodafone to develop internet of things (IoT) systems as demand for smart cities, connected cars and m-health increases
    




11. ARM -

    
    The United Kingdom based company’s mbed cloud platform and low-power Cortex processor family is its answer to IoT. With IBM, the company offers ARM mbed IoT starter kit which allow hobbyists to make Internet of Things (IoT) products that are cloud ready and capable of transmitting and receiving data for alert or analysis.





12. General Electric -

    
    The Company is credited with being one of the most enthusiastic Industrial IoT companies. GE was behind the coining of the term Industrial Internet. The company is providing solutions in a number of areas such as power generation, manufacturing or aviation. GE achieved revenues worth $1 billion with its industrial internet products last year.
    
    In India, GE along with other tech firms is forming an India Internet of Things panel to build open source IoT solutions for solving problems in areas such as healthcare, education and agriculture.
    
    





13. Accenture -

    
    The Company should credit its place in the top 20 to a number of recent publications. The number of Accenture employees associated with Internet of Things shot up from a mere 11 to a good 250+ on LinkedIn in a period of just three months.





14. Amazon

    
    Its Echo has the potential of becoming a great Internet connected home companion. The company is also in the midst of preparing its much famous cloud services for Internet of Things devices.






15. HP

    
    The Company has an aim of connecting devices with its open-source dev-ready cloud platform called Helion cloud platform.
    




16. Arduino -

    
    The Company’s development boards are a great hit with the developers. They are used by many startups for their prototypes.





17. IDC -

    
    The Company is working hard with Gartner in order to establish itself as one of the topmost IoT companies focused on market research.




18. Blackberry -

    
    The once famous Smartphone manufacturer also provides an Internet of Things platform, specifically for automotive and asset tracking.
    




19. PTC

    
    It is the mother company behind the much famous Thingworx IoT platform.





20. Verizon -

    
    It is a top player in North America for machine-to-machine (M2M) managed services. The services allow data communication through cellular network. The company is famous for showcasing communication solutions specifically in the connected car and the connected health space.