Bangalore, India - February 15, 2011:
Wipro Infotech, the India, Middle East and Africa, IT Business of Wipro Ltd, and a leading provider of IT and business transformation services announced today, the launch of its new Rupee-Ready keyboard which is standards compliant. This includes an end-to-end, standards-based solution for incorporation of the Rupee sign in the ICT environment.
The announcement follows the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) notification on Jan 31st, on the national standard for incorporating the new Rupee symbol in the en-In QWERTY and INSCRIPT keyboard layout.
Wipro has made two changes to its keyboard to make it Rupee-Ready as per BIS norms. The new Rupee symbol appears along with the numeral key 4 and the dollar sign. The Alt key to the right of the spacebar has been renamed Alt Gr to differentiate it from the left Alt key. With the appropriate driver installed, the new Rupee symbol can be input by simultaneously pressing Alt Gr and 4 key. Wipro’s keyboard also sports the Rupee-Ready signage to clearly denote that the keyboard supports the Rupee sign as per DIT and BIS norms.
The company is not only Rupee Ready in terms of hardware but also in terms of software. Wipro has developed a software driver based on its own research to input the Rupee symbol using the newly labelled keys. With this innovation, all enterprise customers of Wipro using Wipro desktops/laptops (running on Microsoft Windows Platform) can immediately start using the new Rupee symbol. The company said appropriate font updates may be necessary.
Dr Sudarshan Murthy, General Manager, Applied Research, Wipro (and a member of the Department of Information Technology (DIT) committee on the Rupee symbol) said, "It gives us great pride to rollout our standards compliant Rupee-Ready keyboards. The software driver being provided by us is the outcome of six weeks of research and is intended to hasten the speed of Rupee symbol adoption in India. Our extensive research on this subject is publicly available and we hope other ICT vendors will make use of this research to quickly enable the adoption of the Indian Rupee symbol in the ICT environment."
Speaking on the occasion, Ashok Tripathy, General Manager and Business Head, Wipro Systems and Technologies said, "It is a matter of pride that the Rupee symbol has finally found a position alongside the dollar on the ubiquitous keyboard. We are excited to lead this transition in the Indian market and have already started shipping limited numbers of the new keyboard to our customers in India. For our existing enterprise users, we will make our software driver available so that they can start using the Rupee symbol immediately."
About Wipro Infotech
Wipro Infotech, a division of the US $6 billion Wipro Limited, provides enterprise customers with high value Information Technology Products, Software Services, Solutions and Consulting Services in India and the Middle East. Headquartered at Bangalore, Wipro Infotech serves customers in India through a network of 22 offices and 170 service locations across the country. It also has regional offices across the Middle East serving the region.
About Wipro Ltd
Wipro Limited provides comprehensive IT solutions and services, including systems integration, information systems outsourcing, IT enabled services, package implementation, software application development and maintenance, and research and development services to corporations globally. Wipro Limited is the first PCMM Level 5 and SEI CMM Level 5 certified IT Services Company globally. In the Indian market, Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services for the corporate segment in India offering system integration, network integration, software solutions and IT services. In the Asia Pacific and Middle East markets, Wipro provides IT solutions and services for global corporations. Wipro also has profitable presence in niche market segments of consumer products and lighting. Wipro's ADSs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its equity shares are listed in India on the Stock Exchange - Mumbai, and the National Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit our websites at wwww.wipro.com, ww.wiprocorporate.com.
Media Contacts:
Wipro Infotech
Sandhya Shama Rao
+91 9741100879
sandhya.shama@wipro.com
Gutenberg Communications
Purvika Anand
+91 99011 34441
purvika@gutenbergpr.com
Wipro's Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects and our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions are forward looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding our ability to integrate and manage acquired IT professionals, our ability to integrate acquired assets in a cost effective and timely manner, fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Wipro has made strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Wipro may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. Wipro does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company.