8-year-old makes $1.3 million a year

This 8-year-old makes $1.3 million a year via YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

What were you up to when you were 8-years-old? Probably something less impressive than Evan.

Evan is the kid behind EvanTubeHD, which is a family-friendly YouTube channel where Evan (and occasionally his sister or mom) reviews toys and video games. And Evan rakes in $1.3 million a year from posting his toy reviews to YouTube.

It started out as a fun project Evan and his dad embarked on together. The pair would make Angry Birds stop-motion videos, and according to a Newsweek interview with Jared, Evan's father, "all of the proceeds from the channel goes into investment and savings accounts for their children."

Tech-savvy and smart. Not a bad combo.

In an interview with Newsweek, we learn a little more about the business behind Evan's viral videos. Jared says they have a dedicated sales team that sells ads and negotiates deals with brands and businesses.

"These include both ads that appear in and around each video as well as products actually featured in our videos. The majority of the revenue is generated by the ads placed on the video itself," he says. "Outside of the networks, YouTube/Google handles all ad placement within the site. Content creators have a few options regarding the format of ads they would like to allow on their videos. But the actual ads are chosen by some higher power."

Take a look at this review, which has over 50 million views. 50 million!

GPS

GPS-like technology used for surgery

 BANGALORE: Something on the lines of the much-in-vogue GPS technology has found its way to hospital corridors where it's being used for knee-replacement surgeries. The technology ensures higher precision, minimal complications, reduced blood loss and perfect alignment errors, say doctors.

On Wednesday, Fortis Hospital organized a live surgery workshop on computer-navigated knee replacements for over 50 orthopaedics. So far, Fortis has seen 17 knee-replacement surgeries using this method.

Manual measurement of the bone in the muscle can be relative and inaccurate, said Dr Narayan Hulse, consultant orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeon at Fortis who operated on two patients on Wednesday.

Homemaker Anjana Devi, 53, from Tumkur underwent a total knee replacement. "I don't know much about the new technology that'll be used for the operation. But it's intriguing to know that a computer can gauge my pain. All I wish is to get rid of this knee pain that's almost rendered me immobile," she said before entering the operation theatre.

Doctors recalled the unique case of a 55-year-old bank manager from Hassan, whose right knee bone bent after he met with an accident. "No stent or rod inserted can measure a bent knee. We used the computer navigation technique to know the exact angle in alignment and positioning of the implant," said Dr Hulse.

How it works: Surgeon uses a computer to deter mine the spatial location of conventional instruments, and to provide positional feedback regarding their use. With infrared signals and a special pointing device, the precise angle of the thigh and knee can be seen on the screen; trackers are attached to the patient and the instruments. Display screen feeds the surgeon with a map of the knee area and its real-time measurements.

Computer-navigated knee-replacement surgery allows the surgeon to make more accurate cuts on the thigh and knee joint, while placing an artificial knee with its critical angles. "We have seen cases where one degree or half a degree of critical angles were missed, leading to faulty alignment. This is something we can easily overcome now," said Dr Hulse.
 

Amazon

In tax tussle, industry backs Amazon India

 

 

 

 

BANGALORE: Indian industry has reacted strongly to the ongoing tax related hurdles faced by US e-tailing giant Amazon in Karnataka, and called on the state government to remove impediments to the growth of e-commerce.

Bangalore is home to India's e-commerce poster boy Flipkart and is the India headquarters of Jeff Bezos' Amazon, companies that have together lined up cumulative investments of $3 billion into what is one of the fastest growing consumer sectors in the country.

R Chandrashekhar, president of IT industry body Nasscom and former Union telecom secretary, said the government should do what it can to catalyze the growth of e-commerce, a sector that brings efficiency to the market.

"The industry increases the pace of economic activity. To realize that benefit, we need to work on regulation, taxation, infrastructure, and also on the innovation ecosystem in the country," he said. Nasscom would soon unveil case studies that show how disruptive technologies used in the e-commerce industry can dramatically impact economic growth.

Tax authorities in Karnataka have raised objections to the way Amazon India and its sellers file their tax returns while operating out of the former's warehousing facilities, located on the outskirts of Bangalore.

HV Harish, partner in Grant Thornton India and past president of Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), said that new businesses (like e-commerce) haven't been envisaged in our tax system.

Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail consultancy firm Technopak, said the government must sit down and draw a tax framework for the e-commerce industry. "At present, there is just no clarity on the subject. I don't think this has been intentionally done as central government and various state governments are supportive of the e-commerce sector," he said.

In June, M Veerappa Moily, the Congress MP from Chikkballapur, wrote to the state government cautioning them that Maharashtra could benefit in the eventuality of e-commerce operators pulling out of the state.

"I understand that the e-commerce industry in Karnataka is facing certain setbacks. In view of the obstacles, the business (industry) has been thinking of shifting base to Maharashtra," Moily wrote in his letter, a copy of which is with TOI.

Given the large tech workforce in the city and state, who are at ease shopping online, Bangalore and Karnataka have emerged as one of the top three sales markets for e-tailers in the country. Bangalore is the largest revenue generator for some of the niche furniture e-tailers.

The state finance department has issued notices to some 50 of Amazon's vendors to stop supplying products to the company. It has also asked the vendors not to store their products at Amazon's warehouse, located in Moily's constituency.

Tax authorities have objected to VAT not being collected by the warehouse facility and vendors designating the facility as "an additional place of business".

"When and who pays the tax has to come from interpretation of law," said Harish. 

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg wants more students to take up tech

  REDWOOD CITY: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to turn more American high school students into well-paid techies — and even hire some of them to work at his social-media company.

Zuckerberg told students at Redwood City's Sequoia High School that understanding technology and computers will be critical to having options later in life.

Facebook says it is donating 50 laptops and creating a class to teach mobile-application development at Sequoia High, a short drive from Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters.

Zuckerberg's appearance is part of Facebook's campaign to encourage more young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Silicon Valley companies have recently come under criticism for workforces that are mostly young, male, white and Asian. 

Quikr

Quikr gets $60 million funding for business expansion

 

 

 

 

MUMBAI: Online classifieds firm Quikr said it has raised USD 60 million funding for business expansion.

Tiger Global Management along with all existing investors in the company participated in the funding, Quikr said. The current investors are Kinnevik, Matrix Partners India, Nokia Growth Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Omidyar Network, Warburg Pincus and eBay.

"The explosive growth in mobile internet is fundamentally reshaping the Indian classified internet market, and we are well-positioned to be at the forefront of growth," Quikr founder and CEO Pranay Chulet said in a statement.

Quikr is a large-scale cross-category online classifieds business with more than 30 million monthly consumer and small businesses users in 940 cities.

"Quikr has grown rapidly to become one of India's major classifieds players with a deep understanding of the local market. By leveraging the company's strengths as a local player, Quikr has seized a tremendous opportunity in a rapidly growing market," Tiger Global management partner Lee Fixel said. 

Alibaba

Alibaba in funding talks with Snapdeal

 

 

 

 

BANGALORE: China's Alibaba has been in talks with Snapdeal as it looks to enter India's booming online retail industry, according to two people aware of the development. Alibaba, whose mammoth share sale in the US is underway, is considering investment in Snapdeal as one of its options while it sizes up the online consumer market in this country. "India is a huge opportunity for Alibaba," said a person directly aware of the matter.

"Eventually it will look at entering the business-to-consumer space in India and talks are on." The Chinese company, which is expected to be valued at over $165 billion (Rs 10 lakh crore) at the conclusion of its initial public offer, has discussed a possible investment with Snapdeal, though both firms are yet to reach any conclusion, said the person.

So far, Alibaba has only been linking Indian merchants with overseas buyers and sellers. If it enters the Indian online retail space by aligning with Snapdeal, it will be competing directly against market leader Flipkart and Amazon. While the Chinese company would be a late entrant, it has the advantage of size — by sales Alibaba is bigger than Amazon and eBay combined — and cash (it will raise up to $25 billion in the IPO this week)

"We are currently in a quiet period," said Pamela Munoz, manager (international corporate communications) at Alibaba, in reply to an email query on the developments. One source estimated that Snapdeal could raise up to $300 million in a potential round of fund-raising.

So far this year, Delhi-based Snapdeal has raised a total of $233 million in two rounds of investments, which saw participation from eBay and billionaire Azim Premji's family office Premji Invest. The last round in May valued the firm at $1 billion.

Snapdeal, one of India's biggest online marketplaces, is also attracting attention from other Asian conglomerates including Japan's largest ecommerce company Rakuten and communications provider SoftBank, according to sources in the investment banking community.

Snapdeal, in which former Tata Group head Ratan Tata has a personal investment, could well be the vehicle to infuse a predominantly Asian flavour to Indian online retail, expected to be worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2016, according to market rating agency Crisil. A spokeswoman for Snapdeal declined comment for this report.

However, in an earlier interview, co-founder Kunal Bahl had said that while "lots of external investors are interested in this space, and are very interested in Snapdeal", his company will "decide when is the right time to raise money, from whom, how much and at what value".

Bankers are of the view that Rakuten's aggressive track record of acquisitions this year, including messaging app Viber and rebate site Ebates, purchased last week, makes it a prime contender in the investment sweepstakes for Indian Internet commerce. For Softbank, any potential deal could hinge on approval from local partner Bharti Group.

SoftBank and Rakuten did not reply to emailed queries on the developments.

Ericsson to shut modem business

Ericsson to shut modem business, expects savings

 

 

 

 

Ericsson, the world's top mobile network equipment market, will stop developing modems, it said, shutting a loss-making unit it took on after joint venture partner STMicroelectronics pulled out a year ago.

Europe's semiconductor firms are struggling to compete with bigger US and Asian rivals, which have largely outsourced chip manufacturing to cope with volatility in demand and prices.

"Since integration, the modems market has developed in a direction that has reduced the addressable market for thin modems," Ericsson said in a statement.

"In addition, there is strong competition, price erosion and an accelerating pace of technology innovation. Success in this evolved market requires significant R&D investments."

The unit lost 456 million Swedish crowns ($63.7 million) in the second quarter.

The Swedish company said the decision to end the development of modems would mean it could shift resources to developing radio networks. It said it expected the move to lead to significant cost savings.

"Modems will have no impact on Group P&L from the second half of 2015," it said in a statement.