For Google, India to become bigger market than US by next year: Pichai
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said he believes India will become a bigger market for the company than the United States sometime in the middle of 2016.
In an interaction with half a dozen journalists in New Delhi on Wednesday, Pichai said it was not just with regard to the use of Android-based phone devices that India would scale ahead of the US; there also were many areas of technological development where India will become its first market for experimentation and trial before launch in other markets of the world.
“We developed the offline version of YouTube in India, tried it here and are now taking that to other countries,” Pichai said in what was his first media address after taking over as Google CEO in August this year.
Pichai, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur who joined Google in April 2004 within days of the company launching Gmail said it was an emotional experience for him to come to India and launch these initiatives in this country.
Elaborating on the Google Loon project, which envisages the use of floating balloons to transmit data to devices using the internet, Pichai said the company was working with data carriers like phone service providers to roll out the new facility. Google believes in an ecosystems approach and will follow through the processes in India as well. Google Loon will essentially derive its advantage from these balloons, which will be like floating towers and naturally work more effectively in less densely populated areas in villages.
Read More News : Lifetime Achievement Award| Start-up of the year |Star MNC of the Year|Star SME of the Year | Star PSU of the Year |Public Institution of the Year |
In an interaction with half a dozen journalists in New Delhi on Wednesday, Pichai said it was not just with regard to the use of Android-based phone devices that India would scale ahead of the US; there also were many areas of technological development where India will become its first market for experimentation and trial before launch in other markets of the world.
“We developed the offline version of YouTube in India, tried it here and are now taking that to other countries,” Pichai said in what was his first media address after taking over as Google CEO in August this year.
Pichai, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur who joined Google in April 2004 within days of the company launching Gmail said it was an emotional experience for him to come to India and launch these initiatives in this country.
Elaborating on the Google Loon project, which envisages the use of floating balloons to transmit data to devices using the internet, Pichai said the company was working with data carriers like phone service providers to roll out the new facility. Google believes in an ecosystems approach and will follow through the processes in India as well. Google Loon will essentially derive its advantage from these balloons, which will be like floating towers and naturally work more effectively in less densely populated areas in villages.
Read More News : Lifetime Achievement Award| Start-up of the year |Star MNC of the Year|Star SME of the Year | Star PSU of the Year |Public Institution of the Year |
Pichai reiterated that innovation would continue to be the platform on which Google would work; making payments more effective now was a big focus area. He hoped that India too could exploit its potential as an innovation hub. For this he emphasised the need for an education system that encouraged creativity and taking of risks. Aadhaar, the biometrics-based identity system launched by former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, he said, was foundational.
On net-neutrality, Pichai said the principle was hugely critical for growth and innovation and Google endorsed it since it underlined the core internet principles of a free and open environment.
Without mincing words, Pichai said the values of diversity were universal and they applied to the United States as much as to India. Pichai said this in response to a question on what he felt about the intolerance debate in India in light of his recent comment criticising the anti-Muslim comments coming from some US leaders.
Earlier in the day, Pichai announced that Google will work with the Indian Railways to provide free WiFi in railway stations, launching the first such service at Mumbai Central station next month. Pichai also said his company was making Google products work better for Indians. The new initiatives will include the lighter version Search results on webpages, creation of a virtual keyboard making it easy to type in 11 Indian languages, launch of offline maps providing real-time navigation of roads and searches for locations without a data connection and adding the facility of panoramic imagery of 250 Indian monuments.
Pichai also announced that in the first quarter of 2016 Google will release a new feature called Tap to Translate that will allow instant translation of any text on the Android phone.
On net-neutrality, Pichai said the principle was hugely critical for growth and innovation and Google endorsed it since it underlined the core internet principles of a free and open environment.
Without mincing words, Pichai said the values of diversity were universal and they applied to the United States as much as to India. Pichai said this in response to a question on what he felt about the intolerance debate in India in light of his recent comment criticising the anti-Muslim comments coming from some US leaders.
Earlier in the day, Pichai announced that Google will work with the Indian Railways to provide free WiFi in railway stations, launching the first such service at Mumbai Central station next month. Pichai also said his company was making Google products work better for Indians. The new initiatives will include the lighter version Search results on webpages, creation of a virtual keyboard making it easy to type in 11 Indian languages, launch of offline maps providing real-time navigation of roads and searches for locations without a data connection and adding the facility of panoramic imagery of 250 Indian monuments.
Pichai also announced that in the first quarter of 2016 Google will release a new feature called Tap to Translate that will allow instant translation of any text on the Android phone.
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