It’s is just been over a year that the Indian e-commerce players have seen volumes soaring, but the top dollar offered by the leading players in the sector is luring sharp minds from technology majors where hikes have been meagre this year. People associated with the technology sector said several of the senior-level executives who moved to e-commerce start-ups have landed with a 60-80% jump on their current salaries along with stock options and lucrative perks.
The prospects of bigger responsibilities, faster growth and a sense of ownership are driving mid- to senior-level executives from top-tier companies in IT-ITeS, retail and telecom in the e-commerce space. While most sectors are trying to control wage costs, the e-commerce industry has been an exception, trying its very best to lure top talent from the IT sector, which has been laid low by consistently poor hikes in the last couple of years.
“The e-commerce companies offer crazy money, some even pay 100% hike on the current packages that employees are drawing,” says Amitabh Das, chief executive of recruitment firm Vati Consulting.
“In the last month alone, we have placed eight people in the mid to senior level who were getting salaries in the range of R15-24 lakh. They were offered packages in the range of R28-40 lakh by the e-commerce players, depending on the level and roles. We see this trend going up. In the last four months, we have placed about 25 people,” says Kamal Karanth, managing director, Kelly Services India.
Mukesh Bansal, founder and CEO of online fashion store Myntra.com, attributes this to the shortage of talent in the e-commerce space. “Currently in the e-commerce business a bit of talent war is going on, which has made most players pay generously. Overall, pay packages in the sector are pretty good,” he says. “We have about 60 engineers, most of them are IIT graduates and from leading product companies like Google, Yahoo and Amazon.”
According to staffing companies, at the CXO levels, the annual package ranges between R1 crore and R3 crore.
For instance, Hitesh Oberoi, CEO of Info Edge, an on-line classifieds company that runs platforms like naukri.com, jeevansathi.com, policybazaar.com, and zomato.com, earned a total remuneration of Rs 1.57 crore in FY12, of which his salary was Rs 88.11 lakh, according to the company’s annual report.
Among the recent big-ticket hirings in the sector, online retailer Flipkart.com recently roped in former vice-president (HR) of Yahoo India Aparna Ballakur as its chief people officer leading the HR function of the company. Prior to Yahoo, Ballakur was director, HR, at Adobe Systems. Headhunters estimate Ballakur’s annual package to be in the Rs 80-lakh category.
Qyuki, a social media company co-founded by film-maker Shekhar Kapur and music director AR Rehman, has also done some big-buck hiring at the CTO levels, says recruiters.
Experts point out that for people joining an e-commerce venture at a senior level, the major push is stock options. “The very clear upside for most top-level recruit is the stock options. They might be fine to join at a similar compensation or slightly higher, but the stock earning has to be highly significant. They are aware that in the next three years the stocks can earn them anywhere between Rs 6 crore and Rs 7 crore,” says Priya Chetty-Rajagopal, partner and vice-president, StantonChase International, an executive search company.
E-commerce start-ups are heavily funded by venture capitalists (VCs) who have a major say in top-level recruits. “VCs look at scale, without which they won’t see exits. Most of the hiring at the senior level is done through networking. VCs are extremely well networked and know the right candidates who can scale up the business,” notes Chetty-Rajagopal.
The meteoric rise of the e-commerce ventures in the last one year has also attracted the best talent from the country’s premier B-schools and engineering colleges. This year, of the total 423 offers at IIM-Bangalore, 4% came from the e-commerce firms. Myntra, which hired seven IIT graduates, five from ISB, and two from the IIMs this year, had earlier told FE that salaries for tech and management freshers have been in the range of Rs 12-15 lakh annually plus Esops and other benefits. For laterals, compensation was adjusted accordingly.
Flipkart, which hired 120 graduates from the IITs and 23 from the IIMs, and Snapdeal, which recruited over 40 from the IITs and about five from the IIMs this year, did not disclose their pay structure across levels.“While we can’t share specifics on salaries or salary range, we do have a pretty diverse need in terms of talent – right from top-notch technology professionals to management professionals for our retail team. We also look for customer support, warehousing and delivery team members,” says Ballakur.
Recruiters are of the opinion that in the long run the current salary structure in the e-commerce business is not a sustainable trend. “About 70-80% of the e-commerce ventures fail because of cost issues. Companies cannot afford such high wage costs over a long period as margins get hit severely,” says Das of Vati Consulting.
However, some feel that e-commerce businesses have to compete with larger players and they need to attract great talent. “We should not see e-commerce as a new kid on the block. In the last few years many have gained traction and currently are legitimate mid-sized players. In the current market, if you have to be a larger player you need to match up to the level of top companies in the industry. And for that you need to have the right talent pool. You can’t let go the best talent in the market just to save a few lakhs,” says Arun Sirdeshmukh, co-founder and CEO, Fashionara.com, who was formerly Reliance Trends CEO.

DIPP officials cite regulatory issues, problems in checking inter-state transactions in e-commerce activities
The new rules that allow foreign retail chains to pick up to 51% stake in Indian supermarkets will not apply to e-commerce companies in the business-to-consumer (B2C) space. This means while the US-based retail firm Walmart can pick up a 51% stake in Bharti Retail, the JV firm cannot sell its products online through that entity. Similarly, domestic online retailer like Flipkart cannot have foreign direct investment in its B2C entity and US-based online retail firm Amazon cannot set shop in India.
However, if Amazon wants to set shop in the country it would have to change its format and do it in the brick and mortar form or be a part of some multi-layering corporate structure.
"E-commerce activities refer to the activity of buying and selling by a company through the e-commerce platform. Such companies would engage only in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and not in retail trading, inter-alia implying that existing restrictions on FDI in domestic trading would be applicable to e-commerce as well,” the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) clarified in a statement.
Explaining the reason for not allowing FDI in B2C e-commerce, DIPP officials said that it is due to problems in regulation as well as restrictions in the policy such as the states where it can be applicable. “The multi-brand retail norms require that 50% of the investments be made in the back-end infrastructure. It would be difficult to monitor their investment break-up. Further, since the option to allow FDI in retail would lie with the state governments, it would be difficult to check inter-state transactions in e-commerce activities,” a DIPP official said. Even the mandatory 30% local sourcing by the firms having FDI would be difficult for pure-play e-commerce firms, the official added.
However, analysts said that e-commerce firms can still find a way to have their operations in the country by creating a multi-tier corporate structure. For instance, if a foreign and an Indian retailer have a 51:49 JV, then the firm would be categorised as Indian-owned and managed.
If this firm creates another firm which sells products online then it would be permissible.
The matter gained significance after the government notified its September 14 decision, allowing up to 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail and up to 51% FDI in multi-brand retail with a rider that "retail trading, in any form, by means of e-commerce, would not be permissible, for companies with FDI, engaged in the activity of single or multi-brand retail trading”.
According to Pinakiranjan Mishra of Ernst & Young, the current business model for both home-grown or foreign e-Commerce retailers can continue. "The notified policy is not blocking that at all. Therefore, it is only the question of how such firms structure their business entities in India," said Mishra.
Even DIPP echoes this point. "100% FDI is allowed in warehousing and technical support (back-end) and this is where the e-commerce firms can invest in,” a DIPP official said. Explaining the reasons for blocking retail trading via e-commerce through the notification, DIPP official said: "We can't apply the FDI norms to e-commerce firms because it is difficult to enforce them on these virtual stores."
Certain home-grown e-commerce ventures though expect more clarity on this matter in the near future. According to Abhishek Goyal, CEO of Fashionandyou.com: "FDI would have given us a good opportunity by bringing in funds and expertise, but now we just have to wait for it. Right now we have a cushion and are a well financed company. But eventually we would expect the government to make the policy more flexible and open the markets for e-commerce. Especially if more states start adopting FDI."

Walmart hits wall in NY

Local unions disapprove of the retailer’s business model

New York: Mighty Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has been thwarted once again in its efforts to open a big-box store in the Big Apple in the face of opposition from local unions much like protestors in India. However, unlike India where opposition to letting in big retailers like Walmart stems from a professed fear that they may kill small stores, it is largely the business model that the company follows that has kept it away from the big cities. In the US alone it has more than 4,000 stores, but only a handful in the big cities. There is none so far in New York or within the city limits of Washington DC, but there are dozens of sprawling Walmarts within 40km in the surrounding suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. But of late Walmart has been looking for small locations, around 20,000 square feet, just a fraction of its typical 150,000 to 195,000 square feet stores in the suburbs, in urban areas including New York City, San Francisco and Washington. The first of the six Walmart stores in the national capital are set to open by year-end much to the delight of Washingtonians who don’t mind driving out 30-40 km to “Save Money. Live better”, as the 50-year old chain known for its rock bottom prices advertises. However, in New York, Walmart last week withdrew from a project, known as Gateway II, being developed by Related Companies in Brooklyn after local unions, some members of the City Council and community groups raised an alarm at the idea of the retailer’s gaining a foothold in the city, according to the New York Times. “Walmart’s withdrawal from Gateway II shows that when New Yorkers join arms, even the world’s richest retailer is no match for them,” Stephanie Yazgi, a spokesperson for Walmart Free NYC, was quoted as saying. But Walmart, in a statement, made it clear that it was still interested in opening a store in the city: “Two things remain constant: most New Yorkers want us here, and we remain interested in providing more convenient access to Walmart for local residents.” Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported from Hong Kong that Walmart expects to open its first retail stores in India in the next two years after New Delhi’s decision to allow foreign multi-brand retailers to expand their footprint. “We will commit to retail in India,” Scott Price, chief executive of Walmart Asia, told the Journal in an interview. “The idea that there’s going to be a flood (of investment) is overwrought.” Price said he did not believe infrastructure in India “is an obstacle to modern retail.”

When surfing the Internet, it is virtually impossible to ignore the ads of ecommerce sites that show up on almost all parts of your screen. You'll find one as you wait for your video to load or even a webpage to open and you will find them on Facebook (though you can get rid of these) – they're everywhere, tempting you with fancy products and the mind-boggling promise of discounts and irresistible deals.

While I won’t term myself as a serial e-shopper, I do quite regularly shop online for books. Apart from that, I have shopped for cosmetics, an MP3 player and my biggest online purchase has been a digital camera. I can’t say that it has all been a trouble free experience though. When there are hundreds of ecommerce sites to choose from, each of them practically selling the same stuff, which one do you shop at? The things that count apart from wide choice of products include factors like a good UI, good customer service support, prompt delivery and glitch free payment gateway. The site that tops my list of favourites delivers on all these counts. In fact, I must admit that it has spoilt me and I expect the same from the rest of the ecommerce sites as well. I mean if this site can do it, why can’t the others?

Unfortunately, that is not the case. I have never shopped for clothes online or even shoes, despite the assurances of immediate replacement if it’s not the right fit. It’s not just the fit that am worried about, it’s also the fabric and, of course, the inability to try it to see how it looks. But just recently, I was tempted when I came across an ecommerce site that was offering great discount on top fashion brands. A particular pair of jeans caught my attention; not only was it the colour I was looking for, but the price was simply irresistible. Six hundred rupees for something that would have set me back by couple of thousand rupees. Even though it was a site I hadn’t heard of before, I decided to go head and place an order. I added the said item in my cart and proceeded to make the payment. At first I had to create my account, which required my address and mobile number. This done, I clicked on payment options. To my surprise, a window popped-up saying that my shopping cart was empty! I went back to the product page and voila, the product was out of stock…it simply vanished! Needless to say, I felt cheated and not to mention robbed of good pair of jeans.


Discussing the misfortune with friends brought out tales of horror each of them experienced while shopping online. One reason why these problems exist is due to the business model that these sites follow. While some of them prefer to stock products in warehouse, many of them procure it form the vendors after receiving the order from the customer. So if they have a stock of products in their warehouse, they know their inventory and are thus in better control. However, maintaining a warehouse not only adds to the cost for them, but they also have to deal with the unsold products. On the other hand, procuring it from the vendor after getting an order form customer might be cost effective, but the site has little control over the inventory. And thus, while you may see the product in stock online, the reality could be otherwise. However, it’s hardly a problem that cannot be solved.

I don’t want to get into the commerce of the business or the cut-throat competition amongst the sites jostling for customers, which forces them to come up with offers and discounts at the risk of running into losses. I'm just concerned about us – the customers. While each of them is focusing on putting out great deal and offering the best discount to attract customers, unfortunately, most of them overlook crucial aspects like customer satisfaction. Instead of spending large sums of money on advertising about their sites, what they should do is focus on getting their back-end right. After all, no amount of crazy deals and discounts are going to help if the customer satisfaction is missing. If you ensure that you deliver what you promise, and without any hassles, then as a customer I wouldn’t mind paying a little bit more than than what I pay on a rival site,  as I am assured of service.  

And on a happy note, a person I know ended-up with two pair of shoes when she paid for just one, thanks to some goof-up at the merchants end. As they say, some people have all the luck. So did she return the free pair? Well, your guess is as good as mine.

Amazon launched quietly in the beginning of this month in India in the form of junglee.com, the startup that Amazon bought way back during the dot-com bubble. Amazon is a world leader in online retail backed by the genius, Jeff Bezos who has made it a force to reckon with. The site has a wide range of products and services, which include the Kindle range of e-book readers, the one-click payment method, along with the buying of companies, like Zappos. Amazon is now in such a dominant position that it has caused an upheaval in the market and has reported a regular increase in its e-book sales, which has now overtaken the sales of its physical books.

Entering into the Indian market seems a natural step in the process of its retail monopoly. Yet, it seems that Amazon couldn't have chosen a worse time for entering the Indian market. For starters, everything seems to be against it. Beginning from the name itself, junglee.com. Many people on learning that Amazon has entered the retail market in India pointed their browsers to amazonindia.com or amazon.in, among a host of other possible combinations in the hope of landing on the Indian page of the Amazon retail store. But, they were met with page unavailable or Amazon’s non retail page. They couldn’t understand the relation between Amazon launching as Junglee.com. Here Amazon is seriously at a risk of brand dilution.

Secondly, Amazon is not selling anything in the real sense. It’s just a price comparison and an advertisement site. As of now, it’s free to list your product on junglee.com. Amazon is seriously hoping that it is enticing enough that people visiting the website would actually buy products from the listed retailers. In a sense, these retailers would be so dependent on the clicks and sales that junglee.com provides them that they would be willing to pay them for this service. This is simply because Indian rules don’t allow FDI to have more than 51 percent stake in a multi-brand store. Though it has listed a number of different vendors, the big ones, like Flipkart and Infibeam are missing. And with Flipkart, gearing up the competition by buying Letsbuy.com, Amazon seems to be in serious trouble.

Thirdly, Amazon seems to be rather relaxed about selling Kindle in India. India has traditionally been a price conscious market and this could have been a golden opportunity for Amazon to sell its Kindle here. Yet, it offers no real choice by just offering only two variants. The cheaper one costs upward of Rs. 5,600 and shipping and taxes need to be adjusted. And even if somebody buys it, there are no e-books one can buy in Indian rupees. You end up paying in dollars, which is still very expensive.

Flipkart started by former Amazon employees is doing some serious disruptions in the Indian market. It seems to be Amazon’s only real competition. Flipkart’s impeccable delivery system, along with the option of cash-on-delivery has led to large Flipkart loyalists. Flipkart seems to be taking a cue out of Zappos’ “Delivering Happiness” mantra and it always leaves customers happy and yearning for more. Flipkart understands the Indian market better than Amazon and thus it enjoys the confidence of the consumers.

It’s the buying of Letsbuy.com, which shows that Flipkart is serious about the competition that it is facing and is aware of the repercussions of a company like Amazon, entering the Indian market. Flipkart is ready to innovate to challenge any competition that it faces. And we seriously hope that this retail competition only leads to competitive prices and services for the end consumer and whichever company is Junglee enough for the Indian market rules the consumers.

Makers of the nation’s low-cost computing dream, Datawind, have rolled out a new line of low-cost tablets in the Ubislate range -- Ubislate 7Ri, Ubislate 7R+, Ubislate 7C and Ubislate 7C+.  “The new range of Ubislate Tablets is packed with anytime anywhere low-cost Internet connectivity, UbiSurfer browser based on 18 international patents that can deliver internet access on traditional GPRS networks and a powerful combination of content and applications raising the bar in terms of meeting customers’ mobility needs. These tablets are of the gold standard when it comes to low - cost tablet cum Smart phone space being offered at an exciting price to our customers,” said Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind Pvt. Ltd.

The brand new Ubislate range, according to a company statement, comes with a sleek look and enhanced hardware specifications. The lightweight tablets support smartphone communication, Internet access, tablet computing and multimedia entertainment.

The tablets sport a 7-inch screen and run the latest Android v4.0.3 operating system. The tablets are powered by a Cortex A8, 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM. The company adds further that these devices will deliver high speed surfing experience to its users. The embedded HD video co-processor delivers high quality video content making it a perfect multimedia device.

“With the upwardly mobile workforce, hands-free communication has become extremely important. Our tablets are the most durable offerings under the Ubislate umbrella. Features like HD video, great sound quality, touch screen, high speed processor, USB port, camera, G-Sensor with a long battery life are a complete value for money option for our customers,” stated Tuli.

Here’s a quick look at the specifications of the Ubislate 7Ri:

• 7-inch resistive touchscreen with a 800 x 480 pixel resolution
• Wi-Fi
• Front-facing VGA camera
• 4GB memory, expandable up to 32GB via microSD

Specifications of the Ubislate 7R+:

• 7-inch resistive touchscreen with a 800x480 pixel resolution
• GPRS, Wi-Fi
• front-facing VGA camera
• 4GB memory, expandable up to 32GB via microSD

While those of the Ubislate 7Ci are:

• 7-inch display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth with A2DP
• VGA front facing camera
• 4GB memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD

Tech specs of the Ubislate 7C+:

• 7-inch display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution
• GPRS, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth with A2DP
• VGA front facing camera
• 4GB memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD

The Ubislate 7Ri, Ubislate 7R+, Ubislate 7Ci, UbiSlate 7C+ models will be all available at an MRP ranging from Rs 2,999 to Rs 4,499.

As per the other official statement, the tablets have the web browser: Ubisurfer with Compression/ acceleration and IE8 rendering.

Some applications available on Ubislate range of tablets, include:

• The users of Ubislate can access content available on the Sakshat portal and other educational websites.
• Yahoo! India for its portal, Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Cricket to deliver all the information regarding India’s national passion.
• The Indian Express Group to bring its users the latest news and analysis on the go.
• Reverie Language Technologies Pvt. Ltd. to provide over a dozen Indian languages including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi/ Gurmukhi and many others.
• Mango learning solutions for game based educational modules, interactive smart books and the full CBSE curriculum.
• TestBag, the most comprehensive solution for testing and e-assessment.
• Intelligaia finger tracing apps to teach alphabet letter writing for toddlers.

A NOVEL IDEA

Every week, we pick the newest apps on mobiles and tablets for you to download

Behind every sultry fictional character is a wildly innovative creator. Ian Livingstone, the man who brought us Tomb Raider, tells Labonita Ghosh why gaming will never go out of fashion
How much of a gaming freak were you?
As a child I used to play lots of board games like Monopoly. I enjoyed the social interaction more than anything else. As I got older, I looked for other kinds — and more challenging — games, and found they didn’t exist. So Steve Jackson [Livingstone’s longtime partner-in-gaming] and I started tinkering with mechanics and designing games for ourselves, since they weren’t good enough ones around. In our early 20s, we wrote a newsletter on our favourite games to communicate with other gamers and create a network, since there was no internet then. It was through this newsletter that we discovered Dungeons and Dragons, when [founder] Gary Gygax sent us a copy. We were instantly obsessed, and set up a games workshop to distribute games by mail order. We were manic game players who decided to design and publish games as well.
Are you a manic player even today?
I don’t have as much time for games as I’d like, but I do carry a Nintendo DS, which is a great device for people on the move and has challenging games like Brain Age, Animal Crossing, Diner Dash. I play a lot of PC games online, like Luxor or Bejeweled. If I played as much Warcraft as I’d like to, it would be the end of me. At times I go whole weekends playing. I also run a “games night” club with five or six friends for about 20 years now, playing games at my house. I have a collection of over 1,000 board games. We keep track of points and give out a “Pagoda cup” to the winner at the end of the year. Steve Jackson, Peter Molyneux, who designed Black & White and Fable, are also members.
Is the gaming world changing? Is the gap growing between gamers and their parents?
There’s a lot of ignorance among parents about gaming. They talk about violence, but don’t realise violent games are only 5-10 per cent of all games made, and are played by older consumers. The average age of a PlayStation user is not eight, it’s 28. Those who don’t play themselves, think all games are bad. They don’t see the advantages in problem solving, management, better communications and social networking. The older generation that grew up gaming certainly gets it. They play with their kids, like I do with my 10-year-old. In 20 years, the prime minister of every country will probably be a gamer.
With kids in China and Korea checking into rehab, are we feeling the first aftershocks of gaming?
They’ve probably got addictive personalities. An addiction is something you can’t walk away from. But you can always walk away from games if you’re hungry or bored. If you’re having fun, why stop? You don’t criticise someone who sails around the world for 90 days; that’s an addiction too. There should be parental responsibility. Most games come with an age rating and guidelines.There’s no data in the world to link gaming with violent activity outside. If you judge the games industry on the back of Grand Theft Auto, it’s like judging the film industry on the back of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There is something for everybody: whether it’s Tetris for puzzle lovers or Bingo Online for grannies.
How does a game creator/marketer read the market and know what will work?
I rely on instinct, but it has to be backed up with empirical data through focus testing. We put gamers together and get feedback about their experiences, the high and low points of a game, whether or not they like the characters etc. There’s even an eye-tracking device that records if they’re wandering off, or what bits of the game they’re focusing on.
How real will games become in the near future?
Games are the only entertainment medium where the experience gets better over time. From Pong, which was one pixel moving across the screen 20 years ago, we now have artificial intelligence. Technology will drive it to a point where you’ll be able to export your image into the games and have a virtual ‘mini me’ meeting friends online and going on real-world adventures.
Will we have a gaming upheaval with another blockbuster?
The real blockbusters, with ground-breaking new features, only come along every few years or so. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was the first game with a 3D character and a female lead. Tetris was a totally original puzzle-solver. Grand Theft Auto — like it or not — was the first open world game where people could decide where they want to go.
Livingstone is creative director at leading British game company Eidos.

Microsoft Xbox 720: What we know so far

Microsoft managed to get a year’s headstart on Sony when it launched the Xbox 360 in late 2005 and it seems the company has similar plans for its successor as well. Dubbed the Xbox 720, Microsoft’s next-gen gaming console is already in the works and there have been enough rumours and leaks to support the fact that developers have already begun coding games for the new hardware. Here’s a little round-up of what we know about the Xbox 720 so far.
AMD CPU, GPU under the hood
If the new console has to last its 10-year life cycle, then it had better pack some serious firepower under the hood. The Xbox 720 is said to feature AMD’s latest 7000 series graphics card, which is based on their new GCN architecture. There is also a possibility that the console will pack two of these cards running in parallel. This will allow it to handle more complex rendering without putting too much strain on the CPU. The new cards also bring full DX11 and Tessellation features to consoles for the very first time, something that’s increasingly being used in games. As far as CPU goes, the console is rumoured to have a 16-core CPU or two AMD 8-core CPUs running in parallel. This should give the 720 enough of processing power for years to come.
Blu-ray support?
With games getting increasingly complex every day, stuffing everything into a dual-layer DVD just won’t cut it anymore. Even today, Xbox games run into multiple DVDs, which just doesn’t spell ‘next-gen’ for the 720. With no other storage format in sight, Microsoft will have to bundle a Blu-ray drive in their next console. A dual-layer Blu-ray can hold 50GB of data, which is enough for games of the future. Whether or not Microsoft will actually make this move is yet to be seen; but for now, we don’t think they have much of a choice.
Xbox 720 games in the works
Development of next-gen titles from all major studios has begun. Recently, Eurogamer.cz reported that Mafia 3 is currently in development for next-gen consoles. We can expect the new games to take full advantage of the DX11 features present in the AMD GPUs. Expect to see a lot more realistic ragdoll physics, heavy use of Tessellation, volumetric lighting, real-time shadows and lots more
Kinect 2.0 and a new controller
Along with the new console, Microsoft is working on the next version of Kinect, which is supposed to fix the motion lag and be a lot more accurate in detecting more intricate gestures. The Xbox 720 is said to have an even tighter integration with Kinect, but how this works out is yet to be seen. The current Xbox controller is wildly popular not only in the console space but for PC gaming as well. We doubt Microsoft will change the design too much, but we hope they use a built-in rechargeable battery this time, as default.
The Xbox 720 is said to be slated for a Christmas 2013 launch, but we should expect an announcement a lot sooner. The new console is expected to be smaller, lighter and hopefully more reliable than the current one.

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