There’s no stopping for Amazon. It seems like the company is spreading its legs across all the markets, big or small. According to the news by Insider, Amazon is set to release Amazon-branded TVs in the market as soon as October in the US.
The TVs will have Alexa, screen sizes “in the range of 55 to 75 inches,” and will be designed and manufactured by third parties such as TCL, Insider reports. The report also suggests that Amazon is also developing a TV designed in-house, but its release is still unclear.
However, this new market domain of TV is nothing new to Amazon. The company already partners with BestBuy to sell Toshiba and Insignia TVs that runs Amazon’s Fire TV software. The company also offers an AmazonBasics branded Tv in India.
The launch, involving teams from Amazon Devices and Lab126, has been in the works for almost two years. The TVs, which will be powered by the voice assistant Alexa, is currently being designed and manufactured by third parties, including TLC, the report cited.
In other Amazon-related news, CEO Andy Jassy said on September 1 that the company is planning to hire 55,000 people for corporate and technology roles globally in the coming months. That’s equal to more than a third of Google’s headcount as of June 30 and close to all of Facebook’s.
Have you ever got in a situation where your one of the most trustful smart home gadget Amazon Alexa failed to understand your commands or respond loudly, due to a noisy environment? Yes, we all have been through that because most of us place Alexa in our kitchen or living room where most of the loud things like dishwashing, people talking, music playing on another device happen.
Earlier, when we were in a noisy environment, we used to shout loud or repeat the commands to Alexa, but soon this frustration will vanish as Amazon is working on a feature called Adaptive Volume, which will detect if you’re in a noisy environment and help Alexa to respond louder. The adaptive volume feature will volume up according to surrounding noise and help you hear more clearly.
The feature is currently available for United States customers, and they can turn it on by saying, Alexa, turn on the adaptive volume. The feature will be soon roll out to the rest of the countries. It’s not the first time a smart home gadget is responding based on the environment. Google’s smart speaker, Nest Audio already has a feature called Ambient IQ that allows it to react and respond according to surrounding volume.
However, Alexa already has an opposite direction feature to the adaptive volume called whisper mode, where Alexa whispers its response if users talk to it quietly. Alexa users can adjust the volume depending on what time it is? by adding a set volume response to a custom cycle or making it part of a bedtime routine.
Amazon recently announced the availability of India’s first celebrity voice feature on Alexa, where users can choose the voice of Amitabh Bachchan for a response instead of Alexa. Sadly, the celebrity voice feature is not available for free; users will have to pay Rs 149 for one year to listen to responses in the voice of Amitabh Bachchan.
The secret of getting ahead is getting started, and not every multinational company begins with huge sophisticated office spaces and wealthy founders. Some of them start their journey with hope and passion, and when it comes to choosing a start-up place within a budget, no place is better than a household garage.
Famous founders, who we idolise today, were once ordinary people who decided to achieve their dreams with exceptional drive and motivation but how they started their journey is still the talk of the town. So, here are the top 10 popular companies who began their journey from a garage and proved that great ideas could come from anywhere but works adequately if the place is your garage.
Amazon
Founder: Jeff Bezos
We all know about Amazon and who owns it, thanks to its worldwide reach and customer friendly service. It all started with one dream when Mr Bezos quit his job at a Wall Street investment firm and moved to Seattle to try his hands in the online bookselling industry, and the rest you know is history.
Currently, Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace, but to your surprise, when Mr Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994, it was just an online bookstore and used to deal with only book-related sales and operations right from Bezos’ household garage in Bellevue, Washington.
Today, Jeff Bezos is one of the wealthiest guys in the world, and Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world, but the initial days of Amazon were packed with struggle as it took them an entire year to sell their first book, which makes sense to the quote, patience is the key element to success.
Amazon began as an online bookstore and has since expanded to various other e-commerce products and services, including audio and video streaming, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Mr Bezos has announced he would step down from his role as CEO of Amazon on 5th July 2021 and fly to space on 20th July 2021 along with his brother, Mark Bezos.
Disney
Founders: Disney Brothers
The Walt Disney Company is well-known as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and famous for creating iconic cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. In 1923, Walt and his brother Roy moved to Los Angeles to their uncle’s house and set up their first studio, Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, in the one-car garage and started operating from there, looks like a very humble and dedicated beginning.
The first-ever film they shot in this tiny garage was Alice Comedies, which would later inspire Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. Later on, in 1926, they changed the company’s name to The Walt Disney Company. Disney faced a lot of sorrows in its journey toward prosperity but conquered all the combats and became one of the world’s most popular and biggest entertainment conglomerates, with current worth over $200 billion.
Google
Founders: Larry Page & Sergey Brin
The world is made up of tiny matters, and you won’t believe it, but Google also followed the same path. Yes, the world’s most famous search engine and the basic need of modern life began its official journey in current YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki’s 2,000-foot Menlo Park garage in September 1998.
Two Stanford Graduate students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, started Google as a research project in January 1996, and after a couple of years, they decided to register the domain name www.google.com on 15th September 1997. The main goal behind creating Google was to organize and maintain all kinds of information on a single platform accessible to all people worldwide.
In March 1999, the company shifted its base along with its eight employees to Palo Alto, California, home to several prominent Silicon Valley technology start-ups. Today, Google is the most trafficked site in the world and has also launched other helpful websites, applications and devices like Gmail, Google+, Google Drive, Pixel phones and Google Nest.
Harley Davidson
Founders: William Harley & Davidson Brothers
Everyone knows about the unique and distinctive sound of Harley Davidson Motorcycles, but not everyone knows that the world’s first Harley Davidson was built in a 10 by the 15-foot wooden shed at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The shed was equivalent to a garage because they didn’t have cars.
In 1901, 20-year-old William Harley outlined layouts for a small engine designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame and started working on a motor-bicycle project for a couple of years along with his childhood friend Arthur Davidson. The project was completed in 1903 with the help of Arthur’s brother Walter Davidson, and soon they officially founded Harley-Davidson in 1903.
Harley Davidson was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company. Today, Harley Davidson is the most well-known and respectable motorcycle brand in the world. Their engines’ deep, rumbling and muscular sound still make people go crazy to buy these motorcycles.
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Founders: Bill Hewlett & David Packard
Stanford University has something with developing future-oriented students, and we’re back again with another founder duo from Stanford. Bill Hewlett & David Packard were students of electrical engineering at Stanford, who later on founded Hewlett-Packard, popularly known as HP, in 1939, inside Packard’s 12 by 18 foot rented garage in Palo Alto, California, with an initial investment of $538, equivalent to $9,891 in 2020. Today, the Packard’s garage is recognised as the birthplace of HP and Silicon Valley.
The very first product HP developed was an audio oscillator (HP200A), and one of their first clients was Bud Hawkins, Chief Sound Engineer for Walt Disney Studios, who bought eight audio oscillators for testifying the surround sound systems installed in theatres for their motion picture Fantasia. Following its inception, HP has evolved into a robust and active company, developing numerous computers, laptops, printers, 3D printing solutions, and other computer-centric accessories with advanced technologies.
Apple
Founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak & Ronald Wayne
Without standards, there can be no improvement, and one should learn how to set high standards and win hearts from Apple, which is currently amongst the group of insanely popular international brands. However, it is widely believed that it was founded in the household garage in 1976 by a trio Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak & Ronald Wayne. Apple’s first product was the Apple I computer which was designed and hand-built entirely by Wozniak.
One of their first big orders was from a local retailer who ordered 50 units of Wozniak’s Apple I computer at $500 apiece, which they hand-built in 30 days. Ronald Wayne gave up on the company before it finished the first-ever order. The first big order helped the company achieve more, and shortly the team continued to create the Apple II computer. Later on, they built a Macintosh line of products which made them millionaires.
Steve Wozniak permanently left Apple in early 1985, stating the company had been going in the wrong direction, but time proved who was going in the wrong direction. Today, Apple is worth $2.2 trillion and leading a technological revolution with its devices like iPhones, iPods, iPads, Macbooks and Mac computers; special thanks to the late Steve Jobs, who helped transform the world of computers through Apple.
Microsoft
Founders: Bill Gates and Paul Allen
Microsoft is a household name, and if you’re not aware of it, you must be living in an alternate dimension, existing in parallel to the human world. When childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, they had a small garage, and they thought it’s enough space to start a coding company.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen were keen on developing programming language and software operations; they collaborated with IBM and built their first operating system and licensed it for $80,000. They decided to name the company Microsoft, short for micro-computer software, which was a suggestion from Paul Allen.
Furthermore, they developed their most popular operating system, called Windows, which currently runs on 80% of the computers in the world. Recently, the company launched its latest OS, Windows 11, the most advanced version of Windows. Today, Microsoft is worth $1 trillion, and its co-founder Bill Gates is the 2nd richest person in the world.
Dell
Founder: Michael Dell
Dell is one of the largest technology corporations in the world that develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products. Still, its founder Michael Dell is not a familiar name for us like we know Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, though he’s also a college dropout like them who made a name in the computer world by designing customized computers for people. Michael Dell dropped out of school to focus full-time on his business and founded Dell Computer Corporation in 1984, headquartered in his dorm room.
The company designed the first computer of its design in 1985, the Turbo PC, and sold it for $795. Later on, Michael moved to North Austin to expand the company from his own office, which he acquired through the early profits. Over the years, Dell grew up as one of the trustworthy brands in the computer world. Currently, Dell is worth $78.05 billion and competing fairly with several computer manufacturing opponents like HP, Lenovo and Acer.
Lotus Cars
Founder: Colin Chapman
If you are a fan of competitive racing and sports cars, you must be aware of the Lotus Cars, which manufactures lightweight and fine handling sports and racing cars. The Norfolk headquartered British automotive company was founded in 1948 by then 20-years old Colin Chapman in a garage where he built his first racing car, and the first factory was situated in old stables next to the railway hotel in Hornsey, London.
Over the next few decades, Lotus emerged as one of the top racing and sports car manufacturing companies where Lotus was also involved in Formula One racing via Team Lotus, winning the Formula One World Championship seven times. Lotus encountered financial troubles after the death of Colin Chapman, and later on, it was bought by General Motors. Currently, Lotus is owned by Chinese multinational group Geely which holds a 51% controlling stake in Lotus and the remaining 49% were acquired by Etika Automotive.
Along with these 9 companies, several other companies started their journey from a Garage or even smaller space, including Mattel – a toy manufacturing company founded in 1945 and popular for products like Barbie, Hot Wheels, and more. The next on the list is Maglite – a flashlight manufacturing company which Anthony Maglica founded in 1979, and last but not least is Nike, which began as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 and started its journey from the trunk of a car, which is way smaller than a garage.
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word IMDb? Of course, movies and series, as the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website, have been serving the world for a long time. Originally started as a fan-operated website, the database is now owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.
In 2019, Amazon founded IMDb TV, a free, ad-supported streaming service, and since then, it is a dedicated hub for free, ad-supported movies and series, which also telecasts content produced by Amazon Studios. It’s been available on various platforms, including the IMDb app, where you could access IMDb TV’s content slate.
All these years, IMDb TV was away from the limelight of iOS and Android as it did not have a standalone app, and that’s where Amazon decided to come up with a dedicated app, which is now available on iOS and Android in the United States. The separate app will make your experience more straightforward, but only if you don’t mind ads.
The newly launched IMDb app provides access to the entire service’s catalogue for free. The content includes a range of classic and even latest movies and shows such as Chicago Fire, Mad Men, How to Train Your Dragon, Schitt’s Creek, All in the Family, Wolf of Wall Street, Donnie Darko, and even Amazon Originals crime drama Leverage: Redemption.
Additionally, according to a recent deal between Amazon and Universal, IMDb TV will also exclusively stream some films made by Universal following their release in theatres and a pay-one premiere on Peacock. Previously, the subsidiary released IMDb TV apps for newer LG Smart TVs, PlayStation 4, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox, Android TV, NVIDIA Shield and TiVo Stream 4K in March.
Amazon Alexa, or simply Alexa, is a device that has been a part of our smart life since its invention in 2013. It helps us through virtual assistance, whether waking up in the morning or reminding us to pay pending bills. Alexa allows users to activate the device using a wake-word, Alexa or Amazon or Echo, but now the device finally gets a new name, Ziggy.
The backstory behind the name might be that Amazon wants to keep the name related to its design element, which indicates the message that Amazon sells everything from A to Z. Alexa and most of the other companies’ virtual assistance devices started out their journey with a feminine voice because female voices sound more pleasant and amusing to listeners of any gender.
However, there are many people out in the world who’ll prefer a masculine voice over a feminine voice, and that’s where the change arose, and companies started offering male voice assistance. Among prominent companies, Amazon is the last to provide virtual assistance devices in a masculine voice. The newly added masculine voice is available for users to either use with the Ziggy or Alexa.
The Ziggy wake word joins the existing Alexa, Computer, Echo, and Amazon wake words, but Ziggy will be the first name to appear as an option besides Alexa. Also, users can mix and remix the feminine and masculine options however they want since they are not linked to each other, and different setting options are available for voice.
The feminine and masculine voice may matter for users, but it doesn’t matter to Alexa at all, as the device answers, I’m not a woman or a man; I’m an AI when asked about its gender. The new masculine-sounding Alexa voice feature is only available in the United States for now, but soon it will make its way to the rest of the world.
Fresh off his trip to space, Founder and Chairperson of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, offered NASA a discount of at least $2 Billion on Monday. The catch being, the space agency has to agree upon giving his company, Blue Origin, a lucrative human lunar landing system contract.
The contract, which aims to send astronauts to the moon, was offered to his rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX earlier this year. Musk won the $2.9 billion bid to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2024.
Bezos, in his open letter to Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, said that Blue Origin would waive payments in the government’s current fiscal year and the next ones after that up to $2 billion. The company would accept a firm, fixed-priced contract and cover any system development cost overruns.
“Without competition, NASA’s short-term and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, will ultimately cost more, and won’t serve the national interest.”
Bezos added,
“We are convinced that, to America’s future in space, NASA must now quickly and assuredly return to the moon. All NASA needs to do is take advantage of this offer.”
The plea comes a week before the watchdog Government Accountability Office rules a formal protest of NASA’s award to SpaceX that Blue Origin filed earlier this year. Lori Garver, a former Deputy Administrator at NASA, said that the amendment might not be as simple as it sounds.
Lori said that Bezos’ offer is something NASA shouldn’t brush aside, but it might not work out the same way Blue Origin wants it to.
“I see this as a positive sign overall but it should not impact the current awards or strategy,” he said.
Garver thinks it is unlikely that the ‘new offer’ would change NASA’s mind about the current award. She believes tweaking NASA’s decision to award SpaceX could spawn new legal problems for the agency.
“NASA just couldn’t take offers because funding is offered. There’s absolutely nothing to stop Blue from moving forward with their own money to get in a better position to win something in the next round,” Garver adds.
Jeff Bezos and fellow Billionaire Richard Branson are the only two significant players in the space tourism market. Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which completed a crewed flight, has historically sold seats between $200,000. And $250,000 per ticket.
Bezos’ offer comes six days after he completed a trip to the edge of the space along with other crewmates. The company is bidding big to become the key player in the space tourism market.
Pandemic and consequent lockdowns have brought many things to a shortage. The dismantling of the supply chain halted many lives. It also happened for the people who turned towards gaming as their alternative during idle time. Nintendo Switch once faced the low-inventory syndrome for a long time during this pandemic period. Now, questions like how it happened and when it happened are out of the debate topics. The good news that is coming out for gamers is that the Nintendo switch will be easily available after primary e-commerce and online retail stores have started keeping this product in bulk. Let’s know more about this latest update through this Exhibit blog.
Nintendo Switch Back into the Market
Many firms like Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, and others have started keeping a bigger stock of Nintendo switch products after a global shortage was witnessed. Hence, you can get wide variants in configurations and colors of this product. Apart from this, you may find lucrative and exciting deals related to the newest version of Nintendo – the Nintendo Switch OLED model.
Where to find these products?
As mentioned above, many online retail and e-commerce websites will help you find your most desired Nintendo console. Among them, the most popular one is Amazon. From Amazon, you can find three memory variants of the Nintendo switch – 64 GB at $314 (INR 23,370/-), 128 GB at $326 (INR 24,263/-), and 512 GB at $344 (INR 25,603/-). There’s hardly any difference in price against the memory upgrade for each variant. If you are thinking of getting the Lite variant of the Nintendo console, all famous platforms can deliver you at a price of $199 (14,811/-). If you think that a concern of quality may arise, you can directly visit the Nintendo website and explore all the products and order them online.
About Nintendo Switch
On UN World Wildlife Day (3rd March) in the year 2017, Nintendo released its new product Nintendo Switch console, worldwide. This wireless console has a Joy-Con controller with standard buttons and analog sticks for directions. This console looks like a highly portable tablet, which means you can connect the same directly to television sets. The best part about this gaming console is that it supports both local and internet connectivity, due to which a supersonic player like you can enjoy online games. In addition to this, Nintendo products are cheaper than PS; many can opt for it and have a power-pack gaming experience for sure.
The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, will fly to space this morning (Tuesday) on his company’s suborbital rocket.
A week after fellow billionaire Richard Brandson flew to the edge of space, it’s time for Bezos to make his attempt. Along with three other crew members, he will be taking a 10-minute flight onboard his Blue Origin New Shepard Rocket, developed by Bezos’s private space company.
Jeff Bezos, who recently stepped down as Amazon’s CEO, announced on Instagram that ‘he can’t wait for the excursion.’
If successful, the Amazon founder will make history for taking part in the first unpiloted suborbital flight with a civilian crew. But Bezos is not the only one who will be touching milestones on this trip.
Wally Funk, an 82-year old aviation icon, is one of the Mercury 13 women who underwent training in the 1960s to demonstrate that women are fit under NASA standards. With this trip, she will become the oldest person to reach space.
Another Dutch teenager, Oliver Daemen, will become the youngest astronaut to reach space. This 18-year-old physics student has taken the place of a $28 million auction winner who is now ‘too busy to make the trip. Oliver grabbed the seat for the flight as his dad was one of the runners up in the auction. It is still unclear how much he has paid for the ticket.
Oliver said, “I am super excited to go to space. I’ve been dreaming about this all my life and I will become the youngest astronaut ever. I am super excited to experience zero gravity. The flight to space will take only 10 minutes but these will be the most special 10 minutes of my life.”
Bezos’s brother Mark will also be travelling along with the crew. Talking about this in an Instagram post, Bezos wrote,
“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
The New Shepherd will lift off from Van Horn, a remote town in the western desert of Texas. The capsule will not enter into orbit around Earth but instead will reach the edge of space. It will travel at an altitude of around 65 miles, and the crew will get to spend a few minutes in the weightlessness of microgravity and witness the curvature of Earth.
Other companies such as SpaceX and Virgin Galactic crew heavily trained test pilots to stand ready if things go sideways. But Blue Origin decided to throw Bezos and other paying customers into the mission since the capsule is fully autonomous and requires no inputs from humans during the mission.
As the worldwide grip of Covid loosens, the citizens of Earth breathe a sigh of relief. However, the situation is yet to die down in India, where the cases are on an ever-rising curve. Even with all doctors running on full steam and state-of-the-art medical equipment, the sheer number of cases has become overwhelming.
Luckily, India has a bright silver lining behind this dark cloud. Global technology giants are coming together to do their bit for the recovery and stability of our motherland. Be it Google or Ethereum, these companies contribute massive amounts of money to help India get out of Covid’s web. Here are some of the feats that they have achieved so far.
Swiss computer accessory expert Logitech recently announced its contribution to India. In a press statement, the company confirmed that it was the largest one-time donation in its history, of two million dollars (roughly Rs 14 crores), supporting Oxygen for India. Oxygen for India is working with the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), United Airlines, Tech Mahindra, and others to provide oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators to help those in need.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has also stepped in to help India in its crisis. In a tweet, he announced Rs 135 crore in funding for medical supplies, organisations supporting high-risk communities, and grants to help spread critical information. Yet another American tech giant is Microsoft, whose CEO Satya Nadella also announced in a tweet that the company would support the country by using its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts and help purchase critical oxygen concentration devices.
Apple, too, has announced its support for India. Its CEO Tim Cook confirmed on Twitter that the American tech giant would be donating to support and relief efforts on the ground. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has also confirmed that the company is working with UNICEF to raise ten million dollars (roughly Rs 73 crores) towards India’s emergency response efforts. Samsung has pledged USD 5 million (INR 37 Crores) to contribute to India’s fight against the current surge of Covid-19, providing donations to central and state governments and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals as part of its citizenship initiatives. Samsung will donate USD 3 million to the Centre and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Samsung has pledged USD 5 million (INR 37 Crores) to contribute to India’s fight against the current surge of Covid-19, providing donations to central and state governments and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals as part of its citizenship initiatives.
Yet another smartphone giant, Oppo, has also stepped in. It has pledged to donate 1000 oxygenators and 500 breathing machines worth Rs 4.3 crore to the Indian Red Cross Society and the Government of Uttar Pradesh to help in the fight against Covid. They are also donating 5000 units of OPPO Band Style worth INR 1.5 Crore to front-line warriors of the Delhi Police and Greater Noida Authority to help them monitor their health as they serve others.
Another industry giant that is helping India as much as it can is Amazon US. Joining the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Task Force, Amazon US is working with NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). As part of this, critical life-saving equipment, including 82 anaesthesia ventilators, 1238 BiPAP machines and 60 ventilators, have already reached India. Amazon US will distribute medical equipment to its on-the-ground community partners such as the American India Foundation, ACT Grants and Swasth, who will distribute it to verified hospitals and nonprofit organisations across the country to ensure it reaches the communities it needs most.
Twitter India reminded its users of many features such as Twitter Advanced Search, Twitter Near You and the Latest Tweet to direct people’s searches towards Covid related information in India. LinkedIn has partnered with GiveIndia to raise funds for critical medical supplies.
Among the leading global financial services, Mastercard announced ten million dollars to cover all vaccine-related costs for its India-based employees and immediate family members. It also confirmed that it would allocate funds for additional shipments of 1,000 oxygen generators as part of its CSR effort.
Pledging its support towards India’s fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Canon India has provided essential food and sanitation items across the villages. Canon employees PAN India are enthusiastically coming together and contributing to the PM CARES Fund as well. As part of the support, Canon India is providing 3000 food packets in its adopted villages. In addition to this, to provide sanitation support to children of SOS Children’s Villages of Faridabad, Hyderabad, Canon India has distributed essential items such as sanitisers, liquid soap, cotton masks, etc. other home cleaning products.
Pledging its support towards India’s fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Canon India has provided essential food and sanitation items across the villages.
Mi India has also pledged to donate over Rs 3 crore to procure thousands of oxygen concentrators. They also confirmed they have partnered with GiveIndia to raise Rs 1 crore to support frontline Covid fighters across the country. Amazon India has also collaborated with multiple organisations to import more than eight thousand oxygen concentrators and five hundred bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) machines from Singapore.
OnePlus is also doing its bit to help the country. In a recent blog post, its CEO Pete Lau confirmed that the smartphone giant would donate 400 oxygenators to India to help meet the immediate need for oxygen in several parts. The company also promised to add up to Rs 1 crore to public donations towards the Covid battle.
India’s tech giant and one of the worldwide leaders, Infosys, installed Covid-19 care centres in Pune and Bengaluru for its employees and their families. It will also educate children, expand bed capacity in hospitals, and assist the government in spreading awareness. Tech Mahindra has also announced its Covid-19 vaccination drive for its associates and dependent family members. It confirmed that it would cover all the incurred expenses. Similarly, TCS also announced that it would provide the Covid-19 vaccine to all its employees and family members, starting from May 1, 2021.
IBM India called out to its employees to come together in this crisis. Its chairman and CEO, Arvind Krishna, wrote to his employees to support the cause. This resulted in the donation of funds for 2500 oxygen cylinders and is continuing to grow.
Paytm, a popular digital payment platform, successfully raised Rs 1 crore through public donations and added the same amount from its end, which doubled the donations to source oxygen concentrators. Now, the company aims to raise Rs 10 crore! CRED founder Kunal Shah tweeted about the company’s plans to raise funds for procuring one billion litres of oxygen. It also encourages CRED users to donate the CRED coins that are present in their accounts.
Zomato’s founder Deepinder Goyal confirmed that the company’s not-for-profit organisation, Zomato Feeding India, has kickstarted the “Help Save My India” project in collaboration with Delhivery. It aims to raise Rs 50 crore to source oxygen concentrators and related supplies to help hospitals and families in India.
Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin also confirmed via Twitter his donation of Rs 4.5 crore. Naturally, he donated 100 ETH and 100 MKR, whose proof he shared on Twitter. The co-founder of Sun Microsystem, Vinod Khosla, also announced his wish to fund hospitals in India for importing oxygen and other supplies in India. Following that, he received many requests from non-profit organisations, non-government organisations, and private initiatives such as Manjinder Singh Sirsa (President of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee), the Cancer Aid Society, and Hemkunt Foundation to fund hospitals needing medical supplies to fight Covid, which he gladly received.
Apart from the significant organisations and global tech leaders, there are also many Indian companies working hard to save the country. Among such is Oxicare, which aims to help as many blue collared technicians as possible. The company hires technicians who can repair oxygen concentrators. The efforts were further emphasised on LinkedIn by Rajesh Bansal, who stated that they were on a mission to train 1000 technicians across India.
These companies have proven that despite being divided by the market, they are united by a single cause; the cause of saving lives!
