Amazon Acquires Indian Payments Processor Emvantage

Amazon.com Inc said it has acquired Indian payments processor Emvantage Payments Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

Emvantage's employees will join Amazon's India unit that will use the company's technology on its e-commerce website, Amazon said in a statement.

Amazon has been rapidly expanding into India's fast growing e-commerce segment that is likely to grow to $220 billion (roughly Rs. 15,04,800 crores) by value of goods sold by 2025.

Tata Group's retail firm Trent Ltdlast week said online retail giant Amazon has picked up 26 percent stake in its publishing arm Westland for Rs. 9.5 crores.

"The investor would subscribe to Westland's share capital such that it holds 26 percent of the Westland's share capital on a fully diluted basis, for an aggregate amount of approximately Rs. 9.5 crores," Trent Ltd said in a BSE filing.

Under the definitive agreements signed by Trent, Amazon.com NV Investment Holding LLC and Westland, Amazon will have a right to appoint a director on the Board of Westland and also have the option to acquire the remaining 74 percent of shares at a later date.

Rival Snapdeal on Monday announced it had raised $200 million (roughly Rs. 1,362 crores), giving it a valuation of around $6.5 billion (roughly Rs. 44,457 crores). The firm is looking to ramp up investments in logistics and infrastructure in the fast-growing domestic e-commerce sector.

The fundraising, led by Canada's Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and funds advised by Iron Pillar, comes at a time when there are increasing worries about incremental funding among Indian startups.

In December, Snapdeal co-founder had told Reuters the company is looking to increase spending on logistics and technology to better compete with rivals.

Flexible Camera Developed That Can Be Wrapped Around Objects

A team led by an Indian-origin professor at Columbia University has created a novel sheet camera that can be wrapped around everyday objects to capture images that cannot be taken with one or more conventional cameras. "Cameras today capture the world from essentially a single point in space. While the camera industry has made remarkable progress in shrinking the camera to a tiny device with ever increasing imaging quality, we are exploring a radically different approach to imaging," said Shree K Nayar, computer science professor at Columbia University. "We believe there are numerous applications for cameras that are large in format but very thin and highly flexible," added Nayar who graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, in 1984. Nayar's team designed and fabricated a flexible lens array that adapts its optical properties when the sheet camera is bent. This optical adaptation enables the device to produce high quality images over a wide ...

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo back Apple in its fight over encryption with FBI

The nation's leading tech companies joined security experts, independent programmers and civil liberties advocates who filed court papers backing Apple in its fight with the FBI over an encrypted iPhone used by an extremist killer. Several law enforcement groups, meanwhile, filed briefs in support of federal authorities who are seeking Apple's help in hacking an encrypted iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. These "friend of the court" briefs come in advance of a March 22 hearing in which Apple is asking U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym to reverse an order requiring Apple to create a software program that overrides iPhone security features. That program would let authorities try to unlock Farook's phone by guessing its passcode; Apple says it would make all other iPhones more vulnerable to future attacks. Relatives of five people who were killed, along with one survivor of the December 2 attack, also filed a brief saying the FBI's ...

Samsung Galaxy S7: 5 Features That Stand Out

Klutzes of the world should rejoice Friday, as Samsung officially starts sales of its new water-resistant Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. The phones, which the company first unveiled last month, are now widely available in all their dunkable glory. The latest two Samsung's high-end smartphones are supposed to be able to withstand submersion up to five feet for as long as 30 minutes. So you're in luck if you drop your phone in the drink - as long as you fish it out reasonably fast. Samsung provided me with a review unit of the Galaxy S7, a 5.1-inch smartphone. Once I opened the box, I duly dropped the high-performance, expensive phone into my sink while doing the dishes. Apart from the mild palpitations I gave myself, there was no damage at all. The phone's touchscreen didn't work under water, but it continued on without a hiccup and was unharmed and still working perfectly when I pulled it out. It was just as impressively zippy as ever and no worse for ...

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