EBay to open 'shoppable windows' in New York

EBay Inc is launching virtual stores called "shoppable windows" this month that the e-commerce company hopes will help retailers generate more sales from their existing physical store networks.

The first four of these screens will open from June 8 through July 7 in busy parts of New York City, such as the lower east side and Soho. They will sell 30 items from Kate Spade Saturday, a new fashion brand launched this year by apparel retailer Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc.

Cognizant ranked 12th on Forbes Fast-Tech 25 list, LinkedIn grabs top position

US-headquartered Indian IT services major Cognizant has been ranked at 12th place on a Forbes list of America's 25 fastest growing tech companies, which has been topped by business networking site LinkedIn.

Social networking giant Facebook is ranked second, followed by global IT major Apple at the third place.

3 ways how cybercheats defraud you

As the popularity of online transactions is on the rise, so are the attempts by unscrupulous entities to defraud you and make good with your money. Here are some common ways of defrauding the online citizenry and some must-have precautions when you are transacting online.

Phishing

Most financial (banking, credit/debit card) hack attacks start with 'phishing' - a term given to an online scam where fraudsters steal a victim's personal information by sending out emails that appear to have originated from legitimate financial institutions, mostly banks. These emails usually state that the user needs to urgently update or validate his/her account information after clicking on a link in the email. The link, however, leads the victim to a fraudulent website.

NIIT to offer courses through cloud campus

In one of its most significant shift in business model, computer education major NIIT will offer courses directly on student's tablets and desktops, via what it calls a cloud campus. Besides, in the next three years, it sees non-IT courses like banking, design and social media marketing account for about one-third of its revenues.

This branching out into an alternative medium, as well as diversification drive, is about both a pull and push. "We are using the slowdown opportunity to shift to cloud," says Rajendra S Pawar, chairman of NIIT. "It will redefine how education is delivered." NIIT will offer about 50 courses via the cloud. Among the new ones are social media marketing, which will train students on how to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs for marketing. There's also digital media marketing, online marketing, business & financial services for commerce graduates to make them job-ready for sectors like banking and insurance.

India to have 348 million internet users by 2017: Cisco

India has the fastest internet traffic growth globally and is expected to have 348 million users by 2017, a study by networking giant Cisco said.

According to Cisco's Visuals Networking Index (VNI) forecast (2012-17), internet traffic in India will reach 2.5 exabytes per month in 2017, up from 393 petabytes per month in 2012. One exabyte equals 1 million terabytes.

"In India, there will be 348 million internet users in 2017, up from 138 million in 2012," the VNI forecast said.

Woman locked up, tortured by parents for 4 years in Bangalore

A 36-year-old woman was locked up and tortured by her parents in Bangalore as they did not approve of her relationship with a boy

Leaked images of 'cheaper iPhone' appear online

As Apple's annual WWDC developer conference draws near, the buzz about the company launching new devices is getting stronger. Grapevine is rife that Apple may unveil two iPhones at the conference, one of which will be the cheaper version of the device. Now, a website has published what it claims is the leaked image of the long-rumoured handset.

Two users of Chinese microblogging website Weibo have posted images that are said to be of the alleged cheaper iPhone. Consistent with previous reports, the device has a curved body and is made using glossy plastic. The Weibo users who leaked the images say that the device has a curved back and feels good in the hand.

How apps are the new salesmen in US stores

Shoppers walking into a clothing store in New York City's SoHo neighborhood should not be surprised if a smartphone app, rather than a salesperson, greets them at the door.

Some retailers in the United States are starting to communicate with shoppers via a smartphone app called Swirl that uses in-store sensors to track their location in the shop to send them personalized offers and recommendations.

It's just one of the ways that brick-and-mortar shops are using apps to appeal to younger, more tech-savvy consumers.

Why BT dumped Yahoo Mail

A British telecom company has ditched the third-largest email provider, Yahoo Mail, as its default email service, keeping in view the service's vulnerability to getting hacked.

Online director for British Telecom's consumer division, Nick Wong, said the company would be switching the email of its six million customers over to its own BT Mail, which will incorporate all the features and functions of a modern email service, reports Huffington Post.

Apps by Bangalore teen make it to Microsoft store

 'Writing a bug-free C# code to develop an app' might sound distressing to many, but Pratik Mohapatra, 15, excels in the art. Born in a generation of touch screens and social media, the teenager has developed a number of major ideas, some of them finding space on Microsoft's app store as well.

The latest by the 10th grader from National Public School, Koramangala, is 'Calculator Hub' - an app with a combination of six calculators on one screen.

"This app gives a variety of options to the user, that too on the same screen of the phone. It includes a BMI Calculator with two options, and you just have to swipe to change, a temperature conversion calculator, a scientific calculator, an age calculator and calculators for simple interest and compound interest. This app was published by Microsoft very recently," Pratik explains.