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SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard is shaking up a board criticized by many as dysfunctional , bringing in five new directors including former eBay chiefMeg Whitman, as new CEO Leo Apotheker remakes the company.

HP’s board had for years come under fire from shareholders and business leaders such as Oracle’sLarry Ellison, most recently after it forced out Mark Hurd as CEO in controversial fashion. The new directors will bring fresh thinking to the world’s largest technology company by revenue , including much-needed expertise in areas such as telecommunications and international experience, the company said.

In addition to Whitman, HP named as directors Shumeet Banerji, CEO of Booz & Co; Gary Reiner, former chief information officer of General Electric; Patricia Russo , former CEO of Alcatel-Lucent ; and Dominique Senequier, CEO of AXA Private Equity.

The technology giant said directors Joel Hyatt, John Joyce, Robert Ryan and Lucille Salhany will not stand for reelection by shareholders.

“This change was two things – the handling of the Mark Hurd situation, which was very controversial, and that with a new CEO it makes sense to have someone new,” said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu.

The four directors leaving are doing so voluntarily, HP said. Hyatt and Joyce have been directors since 2007, Ryan since 2004, and Salhany since 2002. The changes leave HP with 13 board members.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Salhany and Ryan pushed hard for Hurd’s ouster from the outset. Hyatt and Joyce were more supportive of Hurd at first but eventually went along with the unanimous decision to seek his resignation.
Whitman is arguably the best-known of HP’s new directors. At eBay, she oversaw a period of robust growth but was criticized for her acquisition of web telephone company Skype. “With Leo coming in as CEO, we both thought it was appropriate to look at the board,” HP chairman Ray Lane in an interview.

Lane said Russo will bring a strong track record in the telecommunications industry, called Reiner an “iconic CIO,” and lauded Banerji’s and Senequier’s international experience . Gleacher analyst Brian Marshall said investors should welcome the move.

“To shake it up a little bit and get some of the old-school guys out of there and get some new-school blood in there, highlighted by Meg Whitman, this is a positive development,” he said. Apotheker, the former CEO of SAP AG, took over as chief of HP in November and analysts are widely expecting to see more changes at the company.

NEW DELHI: The Indian digital camera market posted a 69 per cent increase in sales at 845,000 units during the quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 as against 501,000 units sold during the like period in the previous year, a study.

“The overall market touched an all-time high of 845,000 units for the first time in a quarter in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2010,” said research firm CyberMedia in its quarterly digital camera market review.

“The digital single lens reflex camera category witnessed a significantly higher uptake, registering a growth of 120 per cent year-on-year during this period,” it added.

In the point-and-shoot category, Sony was the market leader with a market share of 31 per cent in terms of unit sales during the quarter under review, followed by Nikon with 24 per cent, Kodak 13 percent and Canon 12 per cent.

“Multiple market forces have converged to drive the rise in sales of digital cameras in the Indiamarket in recent quarters,” said Anirban Banerjee, associate vice president, research and advisory services, CyberMedia Research.

“The most important ones are increase in availability and sharing of digital content, increase in real spending power and reduction in average selling values,” he added.

According to the study, the digital camera price segment of below Rs 10,000 contributed around 75 per cent of the total sales in the country.

The number of mobile handsets with cameras sold in India during the quarter under review stood at 304 lakh units, a 63 per cent of all phones, as compared to 138 lakh units or 42 per cent of all handset sales in the like period of the previous year.

NEW DELHI: Public sector telecom service provider MTNL launched its push mail services in the national capital in partnering with a mobile communication service Bharat Berry.

“MTNL has entered into an alliance with Bharat Berry Technologies to provide push email services for all its mobile subscribers in Delhi,” state-owned service provider said in a statement.

It will provide existing users to stay connected to their e-mails, calendar and contacts through the servers hosted in India. In addition company is providing over-the-air (OTA) synchronisation of calendar and contacts for multiple mail accounts.

Bharat Berry is a mobile communication service that works with most of the mobile phones and provides more advanced push mail with over the air backup of your contact, task, calendar and notes along with sync to your outlook.

For enabling access to all services including e-mails and Personal Information Manager (PIM) sync users will be charged Rs 80 per month for the combo pack, while the individual services will be available for Rs 50 each per month.

“All necessary steps have been taken for ensuring customer privacy and security,” Bharat Berry Director Ajay Data said.

The service will be available for both the pre-paid and post-paid Dolphin subscribers. The subscriber must have GPRS data plan enabled on its device before subscribing this service.

“This partnership will provide its customers with an easy to use, cost effective solution for their mobile push e-mail requirements. While the service is available for 2G also, user experience on 3G will make the service more pleasurable,” MTNL ED WS AK Bhargava said here.