Biggest tech news of 2008

[soniyaa]

Biggest tech news of 2008

As we enter in 2009, it's time to look into the big happenings that kept made headlines in 2008. In many ways 2008 can be called an unprecedented year, history has seen collapse of corporate giants, but never has so many companies that signified the strength of the financial industry gone bust, and with them throwing the entire world economy in tailspin. With the economy down, the fate of IT industry could have been better. The financial crisis means IT industry losing out as much as $170 billion in sales in 2009. As meltdown melted IT spending, IT companies went on a belt tightening mode: giving pink slips, extending holidays and cutting perks. Other than the grim reality of meltdown, the year 2008 also saw several big mergers and launches. Indian telecom industry finally made its 3G leap, with MTNL launching the services in Delhi. On M&A front, the IT services giant EDS merged with HP. Indian IT cos too were no behind in the acquisition space, three big IT companies buying overseas firms to extend their global and product footprint. Here's bringing to you all the big IT stories of 2008.

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Tech terror

The gruesome terrorists attacks that rocked several parts of the country brought to the fore the fact that the technology which makes our live simpler has also become a handy tool for terrorists. The use of technology is evident everywhere, right from providing recruiting grounds (social networking sites) to being a communication platform (Internet, mobile and satellite phones) to providing geographical details (digital maps). The ease and frequency with which terrorists freely communicated using sat-phones, BlackBerrys and used Google maps to pin down locations, deepened the intensity of terror attacks across the country. The recent Mumbai carnage also saw terrorists using Google Earth maps to establish locations, sat-phones for un-intercepted communication, Global Positioning Systems and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Earlier in Feburary, Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Fahim Ahmed Ansari, arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police with maps and details of the spots hit during the recent terror attacks, in his statement had conceded that his masters showed him the maps on Google Earth to pin-point the specific targets. The Google Earth Map gives a bird’s eye view of the city providing detailed topography of the area in the forms of actual photographs. The details provided in the application can be useful for identifying buildings, roads, streets. Also, unlike the mobile phones that can be easily intercepted by the security agencies to track data, sat-phones are non-interceptable in India. This is primarily because no satellite phone network operator has its centre in India. Also, since these phones are satellite driven and the operator doesn't need any interconnectivity with India's domestic network, the communication cannot be traced.

[soniyaa]

Microsoft's Yahoo chase

The year 2008 began with the software giant Microsoft proposing a $31 per share buyout to Yahoo. However, the bid was rejected by Yahoo board of directors saying it "substantially undervalues" the company. On its part, Yahoo announced an expensive severance package which made any acquisition attempt more expensive. In May, Microsoft revised its offer to $33 a share, which was again rejected by Yahoo. This was followed by speculations that Microsoft may go for a forced deal with the company talking tough. Yahoo reportedly tried exploring alternative deals with News Corp, Google and Time Warner unit AOL. The chief executive Jerry Yang kept waiting for the software giant to offer a better price than $47.5 billion for Yahoo. However, it never happened. Instead, Yahoo's stock started to fell and hit nearly five-year lows. Yahoo's plan 2, an advertising deal with Google too failed, after Google pulled out fearing a court battle with the US Justice Department. In November, Yang stepped down and Yahoo, in December, overhauled its severance plan apparently hiked to discourage Microsoft's acquisition plans.

[soniyaa]

Infy loses Axon

Infosys-Axon deal was hailed as the largest outbound acquisition by an Indian IT company. The analysts termed Axon as strategic fit for Infosys. Then came the rumours that there was competition: a rival UK security firm has quoting a price higher by 7 pence per share to counter Infosys' offer. But the software giant was confident. MD and CEO, S Gopalakrishnan said that the company can sail through the deal with its transaction advantage of a full cash deal offer. However, it seems the Indian IT giant underestimated its rivals, tough competition was there, and closer home. In October, HCL Technologies makes a counter offer to Infosys' Axon bid by raising the value by 8.3 per cent to seal the biggest overseas deal by an Indian firm in this space. The deal got shareholder's nod in November.