News in Brief

Infosys taps Middle East business

BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies Ltd. said on Wednesday that it had opened an

office in Sharjah as it seeks new business opportunities in the Middle East.

"In the Middle East, Sharjah is rapidly evolving as the technology hub of

the region, making it the logical choice to base our operations," Infosys

banking business unit senior vice-president and head, Girish G. Vaidya, said in

a statement. Infosys said it was negotiating with various banks in the Middle

East to provide them with its banking technology. Infosys, India's third-largest

listed software exporter is based in Bangalore, the country's high-technology

capital. The Nasdaq-listed firm reported a 136 per cent jump in its revenues in

the October-December quarter to Rs 5.52 billion ($118 million) over the previous

year-ago period. —Reuters

First KnowledgePub in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The first KnowledgePub of the country is scheduled to start

operations at South Extension in Delhi on March 13, 2001. Covering over 1400 sq.

ft it has leased line connectivity, four online classrooms,

an electronic library and a snack bar. The focus is on the mode most suited to

their needs and convenience so that they can juggle education with their hectic

schedules, and not the other way around. This was the rationale behind the

concept of KnowledgePub as envisaged by Globsyn Technologies. KnowledgePub will

provide all three modes of it instruction under one roof - Instructor-led

Training (ILT), Computer-based Training (CBT), and Web-based Training (WBT)

thorough KnowledgePub.com, Globsyn's learning portal. The total investment

envisaged in the project is Rs 30 crore.-CNS

Microsoft boosts Xbox development in Japan



SEATTLE: With only few months for the scheduled release of the Xbox videogame
console, Microsoft is boosting its software game development effort, especially

in Japan by hiring up to 100 new game developers. The Japanese launch of the

Xbox appears in trouble as Microsoft has only recently initiated a comprehensive

effort to develop games specifically tailored to the Japanese market, which

analysts say is a must for the product to have any chance in this tough market.

A former Sony developer, Toshiyuki Miyata, leads Microsoft’s development

effort in Japan. "We are building a world-class development team in Japan,

said Microsoft vice president (games publishing) Ed Fries. - SVNS