 Sree Vijaykumar |
From the Editor's Desk The internet's global expansion is entering a new phase, and it looks decidedly unlike the last one. Instead of typing searches and emails, a wave of newcomers - "the next billion," the tech industry calls them - is avoiding text, using voice activation and communicating with images. They are a swath of the world's less-educated, online for the first time thanks to low-end smartphones, cheap data plans and intuitive apps that let them navigate despite poor literacy. Incumbent tech companies are finding they must rethink their products for these newcomers and face local competitors that have been quicker to figure them out. A look at Megh Singh's smartphone suggests how the next billion might determine a new set of winners and losers in tech. Mr. Singh, 36, balances suitcases on his head in New Delhi, earning less than $8 a day as a porter in one of India's biggest railway stations. He isn't comfortable reading or using a keyboard. That doesn't stop him from checking train schedules, messaging family and downloading movies. Mr. Singh squats under the station stairwell, whispering into his phone using speech recognition on the station's free Wi-Fi. It is a simple affair, a Sony Corp. model with 4GB of storage. On his screen are some of the world's most popular apps - Google's search, Facebook Inc.'s WhatsApp - but also many that are unfamiliar in the developed world, including UC Browser, MX Player and SHAREit, that have been tailored for slow connections and skimpy data storage. Continued here. Introducing TradeBriefs SME - Print edition - Subscribe Now! | Sample copy Advertisers of the day Standard Chartered Bank (Personal Loans): Your dream holiday is now closer than ever On behalf of SAP India: Identify the perfect SAP solution for your business in 3 easy steps shivkhera: Optimize Performance and Move Up to the Next Level : Programs by Mr. Shiv Khera Our advertisers help fund the daily operations of TradeBriefs. We request you to accept our promotional emails (B2B Decision-Makers, B2C Decision-Makers, TradeBriefs Premium). |
Sree Vijaykumar |
From the Editor's Desk According to the latest study of 200 startup pitch decks by DocSend, investors spend an average of 3 minutes and 44 seconds reading one deck. That's not a lot of time. Every second counts. And good deck should be simple, to the point and have 10-15 pages. In this article, I'll explain ten core pages of a pitch deck based on a structure considered an ideal standard by many including Sequoia Capital, which also recommends these ten categories. Continued here. Introducing TradeBriefs SME - Print edition - Subscribe Now! | Sample copy Advertisers of the day On behalf of SAP India: Get GST-Ready in just a few weeks shivkhera: Optimize Performance and Move Up to the Next Level : Programs by Mr. Shiv Khera Our advertisers help fund the daily operations of TradeBriefs. We request you to accept our promotional emails (B2B Decision-Makers, B2C Decision-Makers, TradeBriefs Premium). |
Sree Vijaykumar |
From the Editor's Desk On Tuesday, Amazon announced that it will slash the price of membership to its Prime program by almost 50 percent for low-income shoppers on federal welfare. The move might seem like a unique form of private-sector charity for poor Americans. But it's also a direct challenge to Walmart, the reigning king of American retail, which relies heavily on low-income shoppers and receives nearly one of every five dollars of its revenue through SNAP, or food stamps, each year. Walmart is also expanding its e-commerce business with recent acquisitions like Jet.com and Modcloth. It seems like Amazon wants to become Walmart faster than Walmart can become Amazon! More here Advertisers of the day On behalf of SAP India: Get GST-Ready in just a few weeks shivkhera: Optimize Performance and Move Up to the Next Level : Programs by Mr. Shiv Khera Our advertisers help fund the daily operations of TradeBriefs. We request you to accept our promotional emails (B2B Decision-Makers, B2C Decision-Makers, TradeBriefs Premium). |
Opinion