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Jayshri

Jayshri is an Electronics Engineer, but her passion towards writing made her to be in this field. Apart from content writing, she loves reading, writing and surfing on various topics. In her free time, she likes to watch TV series and news. Sherlock Holmes is her all time favorite show. Jayshri loves cooking various Indian-western dishes.

Mobile World Congress 2020

Amazon and Sony denied participation in Mobile World Congress 2020 due to Coronavirus Outbreak

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Highlights

Mobile World Congress 2020 is the biggest mobile technology trade show, scheduled on 24-27 Feb in Barcelona, Spain.

Earlier, Nvidia, LG, ZTE, and Ericsson have already step back from the event. Now, Amazon and Sony pull out of 2020 Mobile Congress.

These companies cancel their presence due to Global Emergency i.e. Coronavirus outbreak all over the world.

Mobile World Congress 2020

Mobile World Congress 2020 will be taking place this month in between 24-27 Feb. However, this year the MWC is organized in Barcelona, Spain. In fact, it is the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry, organized by the GSM Association. It is also famous for conferences held by prominent executives of the mobile industry.  

Why Sony and Amazon step back from the Event?

Earlier, LG, ZTE, Ericsson, and Nvidia already step back from the various events at Mobile World Congress. However, Sony and Amazon also set their name on the list of companies to denied participating in the event. It is said that the Coronavirus outbreak is the reason behind this. 

Recently, Sony posted on its website, “Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30th, 2020”. Also, it added, “As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media, and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain”.

Amazon higher authorities reported that “Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain”.

Previous History of Amazon and Sony at Mobile World Congress

As we see back, Sony often uses MWC as a platform to showcase its most important mobile devices. In fact, last year, Sony revealed its Xperia 1 flagship phone at the show. “But this year, we will instead make its announcements online through its Xperia YouTube channel”, said Sony. 

However, Amazon has not visited the event that often in history; neither presented its devices at MWC. 

Coronavirus Safety Measures at MWC

Yesterday, the GSM Association, which organizes MWC reported about the steps to be taken to avoid the spread of the coronavirus further. “No travelers from China’s Hubei province, where the outbreak began, will be permitted access to the event, while anyone who’s visited other regions of China will need to prove that they have been out of the country for 14 days beforehand”, said GSM Association. Further, it added, “With MWC set to start in two weeks today, that is likely to complicate the plans of several Chinese companies that were planning to attend”.

Kiichiro-Toyoda

Kiichiro Toyoda: Journey To Transform Family Business Into An Automobile Manufacturing Company

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Whenever someone wants to buy a car, few names of famous automobile companies come into mind and Toyota is some of them. A Japanese multinational automotive firm Toyota is considered as tenth largest firm on earth by revenue. As of 2018, it was also the second-largest automobile producers worldwide. In fact, it is a pioneer to manufacture over 10 Million vehicles/Year. Toyota also reported the production of its 200 Millionth Vehicle in 2012. Also, in 2014, it was Japan’s largest listed firm by revenue and market capitalization. 

Kiichiro Toyoda set up the firm after he got inspiration from father. Kiichiro always wanted to chase his dream to manufacture an automobile. But that time, he was considering it as a risk to the family profession. Finally, in 1937 he formed Toyota, an automobile firm in Japan. Kiichiro’s colleagues often mentioned him as a “Japan’s Thomas Edison”.

Glimpse to Founder Life

Early life

He was born on 11 June 1894 in Japan at Aichi Prefecture. His father Sakichi was a well-known businessman. As well, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works’ founder. After his father’s death, Kiichiro’s brother became head of the Loom works business. However, Kiichiro always wanted to chase his dream to set up an automobile manufacturing unit. Thus, he persuaded his brother to invest in the expansion of the family business into an idea of automobiles division. 

Backstory

The family background of Kiichiro was strong enough to support his idea of perusing the automobile business. In fact, the Toyoda family had experienced inventing steam, electric looms, and oil. Also, his father was known to the fact that his son would solidify the mechanical prowess the family had in history. So, he encouraged his son to follow his dream. Finally, the decision of Kiichiro changes the family business’s automatic loom manufacture unit to the automobile manufacturing unit by setting firm in 1937. 

Later Life 

He devoted his whole life to building a strong foundation for the company. It was not an easy journey to transform the structure of the family business. Obviously, he had financial support from the family business. But one needs a belief and strong will to take the risk to alter the business. In 1950, Kiichiro resigned after serving for a long time. However, he died just two years after his resignation in 1952. Unfortunately, he would never know the success that would come to him. Even after a huge loss, the company thrived impeccably.

Achievements

Toyota Motor Corp. introduced the compact Corolla Model in 1966. However, it became the best-selling car in the world as of 1997. In fact, over 35 million models were sold at that time. Also, Toyota focused on developing fuel-efficient models, which later became the center of attraction in America. Additionally, the firm also launched the 4Runner sport utility vehicle as well as Camry compact car. In 1989, the company launched the luxury car Lexus. As of 2001, the company introduced the first-ever mass-produced hybrid vehicle all over the world. However, this vehicle called Prius was introduced in Japan in 1997. Furthermore, the had produced over 100 million vehicles in Japan by the end of the 1990s. 

Later successes 

After Kiichiro’s death, his cousin Eiji Toyoda served to flourish it further. He builds the Kiichiro’s successful expansion into a world-class conglomeration of engineering. Also, he assists in the launch of the most prominent luxury brand in Japan. Today, it is one of the leading automobile manufacturers universally. In the year 2018, Toyota was also the second-largest automobile manufacturer on the earth. Also, the firm set the record to manufacture over 10 Million vehicles/Year.

Kenichi Ayukawa

Maruti Suzuki is Ready to Invest 4,000 Crore Rupees on New Models: Ayukawa

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Highlights:

Mr. Kenichi Ayukawa expressed the concept of Futuro-E in the SUV segment.

This year, Maruti Suzuki to invest ₹4000 (US$ 572.33 million) crore on plant renovations and new product development.

Kenichi Ayukawa at Auto Expo 2020

On Wednesday, at Auto Expo 2020 in New Delhi the Managing Director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Mr. Kenichi Ayukawa expressed the concept Futuro-E in the SUV segment. Maruti Suzuki India is the largest passenger carmaker in the country. However, the company is ready to invest more in new product development. Kenichi Ayukawa, CEO of Maruti Suzuki unveiled the decision of the company to invest ₹4,000 crores this year on new product developments and plant renovations.

He said to BusinessLine on the sidelines of the Auto Expo that “We will invest around ₹4,000 crores in developing new products and modifications of the factories (in Haryana) this year”.

The company announced on the first day of Expo that it would work towards alternative fuel models. As well, electrification of its future models to contribute to environment safety.

What is Mission Green Million?

In this decade, Maruti Suzuki aims to sell around one-million cars that are adapted to new technology. Such as smart hybrid, strong hybrid, and electric vehicles.

“Mission Green Million is our commitment to bring advanced powertrain technologies for Indian customers. In this mission, ‘Make in India’ will be our core philosophy. S-CNG and Smart Hybrid technologies on Maruti Suzuki cars have seen huge acceptance by customers,” CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said.

He also added, the company has complete faith in the future of the Indian automotive market and will accelerate its efforts for electrification of powertrains, with a technology-agnostic approach.

“Our endeavor will be to offer realistic solutions for mass acceptance by customers,” Ayukawa said.

Maruti Suzuki Gujarat plant

Regarding the Gujrat plant, the CEO of Maruti Suzuki said, “It was delayed a bit in terms of completion. But is now on schedule and on track to expand the capacity by 2.5 lakh units to 7.50 lakh units this year”.

Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Partnership

On the partnership with Toyota, “all works were progressing as planned and products would start rolling out in the near future”, he said. Also, Ayukawa added, rolling out of the new Brezza by Toyota this year, and branding it, would also depend on when Toyota decides to launch the vehicle.

IRobot

Irobot: American Advanced Technology Company Founded By Three of Mit’s Ai Lab Members

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iRobot is an American advanced technology company. Three of MIT’s AI lab members set up the company in 1990. It has been working in robot design for space exploration as well as military defense. Also, the company creates a wide range of consumer robots that can perform both outside and inside works of home. For example, its robots Roomba and Braava. These are robots as a vacuum cleaner and floor moppers respectively. 

After serving at MIT’s AI lab, H. Greiner, R. Brooks, and C. Angle set up the company in 1990. 

iRobot 

It is an American advanced tech company that works in the field of Robotics. However, the company started the development of PackBot in 1998. Just after receiving the DARPA research contract. In 2002, iRobot started designing home robots. As of the year 2004, its home robot the Roomba sold a million units. Also, in 2005, the company began being traded on the NASDAQ. Until the year 2012, the company sold 8+ million home robots. Additionally, it has deployed more than 5000 defense & security robots. 

Best Home Robots

iRobot designing home robots since 2002. Roomba, Braava, Create, Mirra, and Terra are well-known and mostly sold robots of the company. The robots Roomba and Brava operate as an automated vacuum cleaning robot and floor mopping robot respectively. However, the company’s robot Create is designed as a hobby robot. Mirra is designed to clean swimming pool floors, while Terra is designed for mowing the lawn using mapping.

Founders of iRobots

Colin M. Angle

He is the CEO and iRobots co-founder. Under Colin’s policies, the company is at the leading robot enterprise. Also, he showed the world an example of team empowerment and innovation to deliver market-friendly robots. In addition, under his guidance, the company has built a strategic network with many companies like Boeing, Clorox, etc. Together, these companies are delivering new and innovative robot solutions.

Education 

Colin Angle is an honorable student at MIT. He holds a tech bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering as well as a master’s degree in computer science. During his master’s, Angle’s thesis assisted to produce a six-legged autonomous walking robot called Genghis. Presently, it is at Smithsonian National Air and Science Museum, Washington D.C. 

Career

In 1990, he was Artificial Creatures’ president. Also, he worked at the AI Laboratory of MIT. At that time, he first met Helen Greiner and Dr. Rodney Brooks. Later, they turned as partners in the foundation of iRobot. Earlier, just after the formation of iRobot, Colin and his team worked for NASA. For NASA, they designed behavior-controlled rovers. In fact, the team won the NASA Group Achievement award. As well, the Angles name is inscribed on the spirit case of the Mars exploration rover. 

Awards and Recognition 

Colin M. Angle has been honored with numerous professional awards. Also, the Mass Technology Leadership Council honored him as CEO of the year. He marked the name in the list of Best Bosses, the list declared by Fortune Small Business Magazine. Besides, Ernst and young honored him New England Entrepreneur of the year. 

Helen Greiner

She is iRobot co-founder and teammate of Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle at MIT AI Lab. Also, she served as CTO of Aria Insights. 

Early life 

She was born in 1967 in London. At the age of five, Helen’s family shifted to Southampton, New York, USA. Helen decided to work with robots when she was ten-year-old. It was the Star-War movie that inspired her.

Education

Helen is a Mechanical engineer studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, she earned a Master’s in computer science. Apart from that, Greiner holds an honorary degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clarkson University. 

Achievement

At iRobot she assisted in designing the first-ever version of iRobot called Roomba. However, she served as chairman of the company until 2008. Also, she served as an iRobot president until 2004. Under her guidance, the company released a PackBot, Roomba and military robot called SUGV.

Other Achievements 

Helen served the United States Army as an advisor in Logistic and Technology. Also, she affirmed as highly qualified Expert for Robotics, Autonomous Systems & AI for the Army.

Awards and recognition

In 2000, the World Economic Forum honored her as one of the Global leaders. Also, she named Ernst and Young New England Entrepreneur of the year. Helen also set the name in Fortune Magazine list of “Top Ten Innovators”. She also awarded as Entrepreneur of the Year by Good Housekeeping. Furthermore, she honored as one of America’s best leaders by Kennedy School at Harvard. Apart from that, she had been honored with many such awards and titles. Recently, in 2018, Wentworth Institute of Technology awarded her as “Women of the Year”.

Rodney Brooks

He is an Entrepreneur and co-founder of robotics companies iRobot and Rethinks Robotics. Presently, he is the Rethink Robotics CTO and Chairman. Brooks also served at MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. 

Education

He studied at Flinders University in Pure Maths. Also, he has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford. At Carnegie Mellon and MIT, he held research positions. Brooks has published many papers in computer vision as well as in artificial intelligence and robotics.

He also served as a member of the International Scientific Advisory Group of National Information & Communication Technology, Australia. Presently, Rodney is serving at Xconomy.

Awards and Recognition

In 1991, Brookes won the Computers and Thought Award at the Int Joint Conf on Artificial Intelligence. Apart from that, he worked as the Cray Lecturer at the University of Minnesota. Also, the Mellon Lecturer at Dartmouth as well as Forsythe Lecturer at Stanford. Brookes works actively in Artificial Intelligence. Additionally, he appeared in the movie called “Fast, Cheap & Out of Control” in 1997. That movie was named for one of Brookes’s scientific papers.

Liu Qiangdong

Liu Qiangdong: The Journey of jd.Com Founder To Set One Of The Largest Chinese E-Commerce Company

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Today, JD.Com is the famous and largest Chinese enterprise. Also, for delivery services the company boasts the largest fleet of drones. It also provides a wide range of quality products and the best customer service. In fact, it acquired 300+ million active customers. Liu Qiangdong set up the JD.com with his extraordinary vision in mind. However, in a very short period, it became one of the successful companies in China. Presently, the company aims to grow the business into Europe, Southeast Asia, and other regions of the world.

Liu Qiangdong

A Chinese entrepreneur and businessman, Mr. Liu Qiangdong is well-known for business skills. JD.com is the e-commerce venture of Liu. The company is also known as Jingdong Mall, China’s well-known e-commerce industry. Liu holds the net worth of USD 12.7 billion approximately.

Early life

He was born in China, either on 14 Feb 1974 or 10 March 1973. The parents of Liu were in the business of Coal-shipping. However, he spent most of the time at hometown, where he completed his formal education. Liu attended the people’s University of China for a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. At his young age, the Internet was just breaking the eggshell. But still, he was busy in learning programming, exploring the internet. As well, he discovered the e-commerce landscape very soon.

Career and Earlier businesses

During college, Liu started a restaurant venture. That time, he invested the income that he earned from programming also took loans from the family. But unfortunately, the business was unsuccessful. After his education, he served at Herbal supplement Giant Japan life. Soon, he became the director of the computer and service there.

The Backstory of JD.com Foundation

Eventually, he plunged into entrepreneurship with his innovative idea in 1998. He started the business by renting a small retail space located in the tech hub of China. It was the magneto-optical product distributor. However, he discovered that an e-commerce platform has much potential than physical retail stores. That time, the e-commerce platform was thriving, fortunately, which favored and encouraged his idea. So, he executes his idea and starts the E-commerce company called Jingdong. Afterward, it renamed as JD.Com. The initial J and D stands for JingDong.

One thing is very admirable that Liu always focuses on customer satisfaction, throughout his journey. In fact, the company uses advanced technology to offer a seamless user experience.

Achievements at JD.Com

The company soon flourished as the fastest growing E-commerce firm in China. Initially, the company JingDong was in the business of brick-mortar sales. But in 2005, after gaining online customers, Liu stopped those stores. In 2005, Liu had an offer in hand to sell his company for big money, almost 18 Million Yuan. However, he rejected the offer and focused on improvising the business. He included a wide range of goods in 2007. Earlier, the company was limited to selling consumer electronics.

Today, Liu Quiangdong has fame in the business world. Also, he has been compared to Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos. However, JD.Com is a tough competitor of Amazon.

Personal life

The company JingDong is named after Liu and his ex-girlfriend Gong Xiaojing. He has a son, but the mother is anonymous. However, in 2015, he married Zhang Zetian. She is an Internet celebrity popular as “Sister Milk Tea”. The couple has one daughter. Also, he was suspected in some controversy related to Criminal Sexual Conduct. Later, no evidence found against him and he released and did not face charges.

In 2008, he volunteered as a part of the Red cross. Basically, for helping the victims of the Sichuan Earthquake.

Bottom Line

JD.Com, the tiny enterprise founded by Liu Qiangdong has flourished in a very short period. In 2014, it was the Largest IPO as of its NASDAQ public listing. Today, the company is the result of business skills and the Future tech perspective of Liu. However, one thing is very admirable that Liu always gave top priority to customer satisfaction throughout thriving the business.

mu-sigma

Mu Sigma A Million Dollar company that is a product of Dhiraj Rajaram’s Million-dollar idea

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All know that μ and σ have significant importance in engineering as well as mathematical analytics. Similarly, Mu Sigma has significant importance in the data analytics industry. An Indian firm, specifically a consulting organization in management is a leading data analytics service provider. Also, it recognized as one of the fastest-growing businesses on the planet. In the periods of 9 years, the company successfully raised $ 163 million in funding. It is set up by Dhiraj C Rajaram and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. As well, Mu Sigma’s global delivery center is located in Bangalore.

The Backstory of foundation

Dhiraj C Rajaram founded it in 2004. However, how Rajaram ventured to invest more than 80% of his personal saving to set up Mu Sigma has its own story. Before starting the company, he had worked as a strategy consultant with many firms. Such as Pricewaterhouse Coopers, etc. No one will believe that the founder had no intention to start a business. Yes, what Dhiraj wanted is to learn continually at every stage of life. But fate must have some different plan for Dhiraj. In the end, his everlasting desire to learn manifested itself into a successful business venture.

Though his intention was not to step into entrepreneurship, Dhiraj always had faith that innovation in business is nothing but a chance. As a born learner, Dhiraj was also known to the fact that experimentations are the best chance to innovate better. Finally, with all these facts and strong belief he set up Mu Sigma back in 2004.

Dhiraj Rajaram- The person Behind Mu Sigma establishment

He is also a present CEO and chairman of the firm. However, the firm is born out of curiosity and the eternal desire of Dhiraj to learn new things. Presently, its a leading analytics and decision science service provider across the world.

Early Life

He is born in 1975 in Chennai, India. However, he spent most of the childhood in Bengaluru where he brought up. Furthermore, he attended the college of engineering, Guindy to study Electrical Engineering. After that, he perused M.S. from Wayne State University Michigan in computer engineering. Also, he went to Booth School of Business University, Chicago for an MBA. Thereafter, he worked as a management consultant in the US and India. 

How he enters into entrepreneurship?

It all starts after Dhiraj quit his big-money job. As said earlier, he had no intention to start a business. But his hunger to learn new things made him do so. In 2004, he then set up Mu Sigma a data analytics company in Bengaluru. Presently, the company provides service to 125+ companies that are the Fortune 500 firms. Also, the Fortune mentions it as Unicorn Category in 2016. As a matter of fact, this category has given to any company when it valued at more than 1B US dollar. 

Personal life

At the age of 21, he married college friend Ambiga. The couple has one son named Akash. However, they split in 2016, after that he took the position of CEO at Mu Sigma. Earlier, his wife held that position for a long time. 

Dhiraj Rajaram’s Awards and Achievements

In 2013 and 2011, Dhiraj was listed in the 40 under 40 list of Fortune Magazine. Also, he honored as Entrepreneur of the Year India by Ernst and Young India. He also won Young Turk Award in 2014 at CNBC TV18 business leaders awards.

Mu Sigma- Awards and Recognition 

In 2012, the company ranked 907 in the Inc. 5000 list of Americas’ fastest-growing private companies. Also, the company’s rank was 386 and 204 in 2011 and 2010 respectively. Though the company’s beginning was humble, today it is a million-dollar firm. However, it holds a unique distinction as a business analytics company to secure the largest funding round ever. But it must be remembered that the million-dollar company is the product of belief and the million-dollar idea of extremely curious Mr. Dhiraj Rajaram.