ITV

Category: iWorld

  • 69% Indians feel SMS is an easier way to express than in person: Ipsos Study

    69% Indians feel SMS is an easier way to express than in person: Ipsos Study

    MUMBAI: Seven in ten (69 per cent) Indians admit they say things in that they would not say voice-to-voice or person-to-person; compared to 43 per cent globally, finds a new poll conducted by Ipsos OTX – the global innovation center for Ipsos.

     

    “Text or Email is comparatively an impersonal medium and people feel less hesitant to speak their mind. Perhaps that is the reason why majority of Indian would rather avoid saying things in person or over phone,” said Ipsos – head marketing communication Biswarup Banerjee.

     

    “For example people prefer to share sensitive comments like – “I love you.” “Our relationship is over.” “You are fired.” “I failed in exam.” in writing rather than saying over the phone or face-to-face to avoid embarrassment when they are physically involved,” added Banerjee.

     

    Demographically in India, age appears to be the most significant variable as those under the age of 35 (75 per cent) are considerably more likely than those aged 35-49 (67 per cent) and those 50-64 (52 per cent) to text/email things they won’t say out loud. Education is also a significant factor as seven in ten (69 per cent) of those with a high level of education say they do so compared with 100 per cent among those with low education. Both Indian women (70 per cent) and men (68 per cent) feel more comfortable texting or emailing sensitive subject rather than voicing it out.

     

    Strong majorities in China (90 per cent) and South Korea (80 per cent) say they text or email things they would not say over the phone or in person. Seven in ten of those in Indonesia (76 per cent), India (69 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (67 per cent) say so. Following next are Turkey (58 per cent), Brazil (48 per cent), Japan (46 per cent), South Africa (45 per cent), Argentina (42 per cent), Mexico (42 per cent) and Russia (39 per cent). Only three in ten or less in most of the countries surveyed say they reserve some communication for text or email: Canada (34 per cent), Australia (33 per cent), France (33 per cent), Great Britain (32 per cent), Poland (32 per cent), Belgium (31 per cent), Italy (31 per cent), United States (30 per cent), Germany (25 per cent), Hungary (24 per cent), Spain (24 per cent), Norway (22 per cent) and Sweden (22 per cent).

     

    Ipsos conducted this study among 18,502 adults in 25 countries in the month of August.

  • RahmanIshq music smartphones launched by Celkon Mobiles

    RahmanIshq music smartphones launched by Celkon Mobiles

    MUMBAI: Celkon Mobiles has unveiled its latest offering, ‘RahmanIshq’ series phone at the announcement launch in Kolkata. The highlight of the event comprised of the novel use of augmented technology with the very first of its kind 4D holographic launch of RahmanIshq smartphone-AR45. The event was graced by the Oscar winning music maestro, A.R. Rahman, Celkon Mobiles chairman and MD Y Guru and Celkon Mobiles ED Murali Retineni.

     

    Commenting on the launch and association with RahmanIshq Guru said, “We are committed to our promise of extending unparalleled services to millions of consumers across the country. Partnering with the ‘Mozart of Madras’ for RahmanIshq is a noteworthy achievement for the company. We are proud to share that our customers can also enjoy the special tune composed by the veteran himself for RahmanIshq that will be used extensively for the RahmanIshq smartphones. Affordable innovation is the genesis of RahmanIshq. We at Celkon Mobiles would continue to build on our promise to efficiently deliver to our consumers with novelties that directly cater to their needs.”

     

    Chief Guest of the event, A.R. Rahman said, “I always believe that technology is very important in the world of music. RahmanIshq stands testimony to this and is a concept dedicated to spreading awareness of how technology needs to blend seamlessly with music for optimum output.  It is wonderful to partner with such an innovative brand for my first road tour. Thank you for all the support extended.”

     

    Epitomising sleekness and simplicity with AR45 is one of the smartphones from the ‘RahmanIshq’ series from Celkon Mobiles. It supports 4.5 inch display with Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 OS and 1.2 GHz dual core A7 processor. AR45 comes with dual speakers with K-class amplifier to give its users a never before musical experience.

     

    Equipped with a 5MP rear camera with a smile detector, AR455 promises the users an outstanding shooting experience. Another innovative feature is Shake & Transfer, which enables the users to experience the data transfer with just a shake in no time, could be the most fastest and smartest ever data transfer App enabled on a smartphone.

     

    Apart from 3G, video calling and 4GB ROM, AR45 supports the interactive gaming, in which two people can play games like Soccer or ice-hockey with each other. It also has a customised music player to give the user an enhanced musical experience with multiple preset equaliser option. Celkon Mobiles for the first time in India has leveraged on the customisation of Android O.S and built a new user interface to get a different look and feel to the way contacts, messages and call log are viewed and also many more features like power-saver, data meter and security center are added as a bonus feature. A variety of themes are enabled in the handset while unlimited themes are also available for download by the user.

     

    AR45 would be available October onwards for Rs 7,999 at all leading retail outlets.

    Elaborating on the product Retineni said, “With the launch of RahmanIshq series, we are raising the bar for affordable innovation especially for the music lovers. AR45 has a full display touch screen and a 5MP rear camera with a novel feature of smile detector. RahmanIshq smartphones are power packed with pre-installed A.R. Rahman’s chartbusters.”

     

    The series launch was to mark the commencement of the global tour of the music legend, A.R. Rahman, a unique road tour where music meets technology that the world icon will embark upon after 20 years.

  • IT sector granted Authorising Nation status under the CCRA

    IT sector granted Authorising Nation status under the CCRA

    NEW DELHI: India has been recognised as the ‘Authorising Nation’ under the international Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) to test and certify Electronics and IT products with respect to cyber security. Thus, India has become the 17th nation to earn such recognition. This international arrangement has 26 member countries. USA, UK, Germany, South Korea, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Malaysia etc. are the other countries who have this recognition.

     

    So far India was having the status of ‘Consuming Nation’ with respect to certification of electronics and IT products. The status of ‘Authorising Nation’ will enable India to test IT and electronics products and issue Certificates which will be acceptable internationally. The recognition would also remove the bottleneck which as of now had prevented international companies from submitting their products for testing and certification in India.

     

    The recognition would also enable investment in setting up infrastructure and labs in public and private sectors in India for testing electronics and IT products.

     

    Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has been operating Common Criteria Certification (CC Certification) scheme in India for the last five-six years. Under it STQC undertakes certification of electronics and IT products after evaluation of the products at its lab in Kolkata. The Certificates issued by STQC Directorate shall now be acceptable internationally by all CCRA member countries.

  • Twitter Conference on Mahatma shows increasing use of social media by government

    Twitter Conference on Mahatma shows increasing use of social media by government

    NEW DELHI: With increasing dependence on online social media by the government, a Twitter conference to discuss the life and message of Mahatma Gandhi is to be held to mark the 144th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of the Mahatma.

    National Innovation Council chairman and the adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure to Improve Governance & Public Services Sam Pitroda will lead it from his Twitter handle @pitrodasam.

    The Twitter Conference to be held between 7.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. (Indian standard time) tomorrow is open to everyone. The hash tag for the conference is #Gandhi. The Twitter Conference is expected to be joined by Sabarmati Ashram Trustee Kartikeya Sarabhai, other Gandhians and several other people from across the globe.

    Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently launched a Gandhi Heritage Portal and it is now available at www.gandhiheritageportal.org. The Portal developed by the Sabarmati Ashram under the aegis of the Culture Ministry hosts Gandhi’s Autobiography in 22 languages. It also has placed the ‘Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi’ in three languages: English 100 volumes, Hindi 97 volumes and Gujarati 82 volumes. In all, the Portal presents more than five lakh pages, 21 films, 72 audio speeches of Gandhi and over a 1,000 photographs.

  • Arkadin becomes an official provider of Tata Comms jamvee video service

    Arkadin becomes an official provider of Tata Comms jamvee video service

    MUMBAI: Tata Communications has announced an agreement with Arkadin, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing collaboration service providers. Arkadin becomes an official APAC provider of Tata Communications’ recently launched jamvee conferencing – an on-demand unified communication service which enables, anyone, anywhere, to instantly access a business video meeting on any device – be it desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, Telepresence or video conferencing rooms.

     

    Connecting via video across multiple devices and platforms will be made easier. Delivered through the world’s only fibre optic cable ring around the globe, jamvee is a global video conferencing tool for enterprises that makes video conferencing – both within and between companies – as easy as making an audio conferencing call.

     

    Arkadin Asia Pacific MD & EVP Serge Genetet said: “With demand for video conferencing exploding, we’re confident jamvee will be popular with enterprises that need a simple on-demand service with business-grade quality that also offers the flexibility to use existing video equipment. We’re thrilled to partner with Tata Communications and certain the alliance will help strengthen our value proposition for providing customers with advanced collaboration and unified communications solutions.”

     

    The jamvee software application is compatible with Windows, OSX software-based devices, iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Users of Lync and other video conferencing software, as well as those with access to standard video conferencing systems such as Telepresence, can also meet using jamvee. Up to 46 participants can join each conference at the touch of a button, bringing globally-dispersed teams in fast-moving businesses closer together than ever before as the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) culture continues to gather pace.

     

    Tata Communications unified communications & collaboration senior VP Anthony Bartolo said, “Our mission is to create the world’s richest open video ecosystem. The partnership with Arkadin enforces this strategy which will enable true unified communication for enterprises operating in today’s mobile, always-on and global environment. Using jamvee is as easy as making an audio conferencing call and together with Arkadin’s expertise in delivering collaboration services with dedicated local-language teams; we will enable more businesses to experience the benefit that true video collaboration brings.”

     

    The partnership agreement with Arkadin will first roll-out in Australia and New Zealand followed by the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

     

    Frost & Sullivan APAC ICT Research VP Andrew Milroy said, “Frost & Sullivan attributes Tata Communications’ Managed Video Collaboration Service Provider of the Year award win to the depth of its managed video service portfolio, particularly the most recent launch of the video collaboration service – jamvee, its customer centric approach and continued execution of its video strategy. Tata Communications has built strong branding around its video strengths and is well recognised across multiple industries for its success in video collaboration. It is widely perceived to be an expert in the Asia Pacific video collaboration service market.”

  • China to lift ban on Facebook, but only within Shanghai free-trade zone

    China to lift ban on Facebook, but only within Shanghai free-trade zone

    MUMBAI: Beijing has made the landmark decision to lift a ban on internet access within the Shanghai Free-trade Zone to foreign websites considered politically sensitive by the Chinese government, including Facebook, Twitter and newspaper website The New York Times.

    There are rumors afloat that they would also welcome bids from foreign telecommunications companies for licences to provide internet services within the new special economic zone.

    Now the mainland’s three biggest telecommunications companies China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom – which are all state-owned enterprises – will need to be wary of the competition from foreign companies to compete with them for business in the free-trade zone in Shanghai.

    However Beijing’s decision to open up internet access only applies to the free-trade zone and not anywhere else in the country. In late August the State Council, China’s cabinet, approved the launch of the free-trade zone in Shanghai, which will span 28.78 square kilometres in the city’s Pudong New Area, including the Waigaoqiao duty-free zone, Yangshan deepwater port, and the international airport area.

    Facebook and Twitter – banned on the mainland since 2009 – have played important roles in political movements in the Middle East in recent years, and Beijing is concerned about the impact of new media on social stability.

    Although China’s economy is now already the world’s second largest, just behind the United States, Beijing keeps tight control over the media. It blocks access to several internet websites through the Great Firewall of China, the colloquial name for the Golden Shield project which is operated by the Ministry of Public Security.

    Foreign visitors and many foreigners who reside on the mainland for work and study have complained about difficulties in accessing those news sites. Occasionally even the world’s No 1 search engine Google and its email service Gmail are unavailable.

    Bosses at social media networks and major media companies whose websites are banned on the mainland have lobbied Beijing for years to lift these bans. More recently, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg met Cai Mingzhao, the head of the State Council Information Office in Beijing, and an official photograph of the meeting was published on the Chinese government’s website, though Facebook said Sandberg’s visit to China was mainly to promote her new book.

  • Trendspotters.tv’s $2mn online gamble with OG content

    If you think you are the stylish, fashion-forward type, then this may well be the destination for you.

    Welcome to Trendspotters.tv, India’s first online digital channel engaged in spotting trends across genres. Launched on 23 August by Smartube Entertainment, Trendspotters promises to guide you about what’s hot and what’s not on a screen near you – be it a tablet, laptop or cell phone.

    We will be aggressively investing more on creating independent video platforms and creating a lot of content for the internet audience, says Kunal Kishore Sinha

    About the venture, Trendspotters.tv founder Kunal Kishore Sinha says: “We are glad to launch India’s first digital TV, which promises to be an exciting platform for next generation consumers whose lives are driven by upcoming trends- be it fashion, music, sports or entertainment. It is a medium for bringing the next generation trends and talents to light, especially for an upwardly mobile audience. It brings out a cluster of micro trends every day for the new age audience, which takes inspiration from out-of-the-ordinary discoveries.”

    So where and how did it all start? Sinha explains that the team went through the paces; from research to coming up with a suitable name to setting up the platform. “The idea started some six months back when I realised that maximum consumption over a smart phone is on YouTube. It is more than Facebook, Twitter or any other social media platform. There are audiences that are right now looking out for comprehensible video content on the Internet and consuming it. With those facts, we started working on the platform,” he elaborates.

    Starting from the word go

    The first challenge was to get the right resources across categories including fashion and lifestyle, music, and entertainment and sub-categories such as trendsetters, discoveries, trend spotting and seasonal buzz.

    A senior content person from CNN-IBN was roped in for each category and he/she came on board as content director/head based on qualifications and relevant experience. For example, a lady who’d completed her fashion graduation from London and was working with Adidas in Dubai was hired for the fashion category. Ditto for music, where six to seven senior people were brought in, not to mention an RJ who would be associated with them.
    The offical website creates content specifically for the web audience; which is not be of long duration

    Next, was what should they name the initiative.  “From the very beginning, we wanted to have content which is more futuristic, also keeping in mind what is outdated and what is in. We started off saying we wanted to have something around the word ‘trend’. After brainstorming, we came up with multiple options. Somebody suggested it should be trendstocker, trendstop, but when we decided on Trendspotter, it felt apt, considering we are into the business of spotting trends across verticals,” explains Sinha.

    But what’s in it for consumers? In every category, there’s a section ‘Discoveries’, which focuses on new talent, points out Sinha, giving the example of a boy called Rameshwar, who has a small shop in Nizamuddin, Delhi, and though he isn’t very popular, still has clients like Gulzar. “Not many mainstream media would cover or discover somebody like that. Eventually, what will happen is our ‘Discovery’ section will get further populated,” says Sinha.

    Is that the broad plan, we ask, and Sinha provides: “We are spotting new trends and creating more content which can be interesting for the audience. So, the idea is to get them what is not available right now in the mainstream, maybe TV is not giving them that.”

    Wouldn’t audiences find a likeness with say YouTube? “We will be creating content specifically for the web audience; which will not be of long duration. The idea behind such content is it will cater to the web audience looking for a quick break from work,” shoots back Sinha.
    The website has various categories that spots new trends and creates more content which can be interesting for the audience

    And has the response been worth mentioning? Sinha feels it’s very positive considering the entertainment industry is waking up to the potential of internet media. “When you start a new media company, what happens is getting across to the right people, getting them to come on your platform takes a lot of effort. That challenge we have not faced yet, because we have shot with designers like Troy Costa,” he says.

    Coming to the most critical question – how does the team spot trends across genres on a day-to-day basis? Sinha says presently, content creation is happening in house. The plan is to get into crowd-sourcing, where creators from across the world would be contributing. Yet, the overall control of the content would lie with the company itself.
    Sinha gives the example of how somebody sitting in Chandigarh would become a trendspotter. Also, contests on social media and on-ground to identify trend spotters across the country are on the schedule, and these in turn would help the channel identify trends there. Additionally, an internal research team would help everyone figure out what is new and interesting and worth talking about.

    Does Trendspotters trend on social media? Well, at the time of penning this article, Trendspotters.tv had managed to garner over 30,000 likes on Facebook. Whereas, the channel’s Twitter presence is being worked upon. Says Sinha: “We were thinking that we would invest just in building up the channel and once it was ready, we would then look for revenue. But what happened is we realised that brands are already ready to partner and invest in the content we are creating. As we speak, we have already started getting revenue by having brands integrated into our shows. Our revenue-stream has already started.”

    Roadmap for future

    For an endeavor so novel, what does the future entail? Plans are afoot to expand the channel’s reach into areas of general interest like automobiles, consumer technology and so on. A section called Club Review is on the anvil, where the channel would be doing video reviews of clubs across the country. The focus is on parameters like music, ambiance, crowd and drinks served etc. Sinha claims they already have sponsors for this section in an international liquor company named Premium and a music equipment company.
    In a month‘s time, the official Facebook page has achieved applaudable 30,000 likes

    That said, where does Sinha see Trendspotters.tv in the general scheme of things? “We know that even brands are realising they have to go beyond platforms like Facebook and Twitter to engage with consumers. And I think that is where we are filling in the gap by creating a new platform that will give brands a new way of connecting with their consumers,” replies Sinha.

    Is it looking good hereon? “We are getting good traction from both the brand side and the consumer side. We are happy with the way things are going and going forward, we will be aggressively investing more on creating independent video platforms and creating a lot of content for the internet audience. We would ensure that in the next one year, we actually become a household name,” Sinha rounds off.

    Sinha has drawn up a warchest of $ 2million to fund his dream project. That should suffice to fund his growth needs for the next two years, he says. Basically, he has a two year window to drive trendspotters.tv into a profitable business model. 

  • Merger and Acquisition Policy for Telecom by mid-October: Sibal

    Merger and Acquisition Policy for Telecom by mid-October: Sibal

    NEW DELHI: The government hopes to announce its merger and acquisition policy for telecom companies by mid-October.

    Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said he had wanted them to in place by the middle of September but this had not been possible.

    Speaking at the Indian Women’s Press Corps, he said the Department of Telecom has plans to meet industry representatives before releasing the final guidelines.

    Meanwhile, Sibal said his top priority was to get Post Banks started in rural area. “Something that is very close to my heart is to get post bank in place for rural India. All post offices should also function as banks. I think we will be able to serve the rural economy and rural folk much better,” Sibal said.

    The Department of Posts has applied for a banking licence. The approval of banking licence by the Reserve bank of India is expected to triple bank branches in the country.

    The Minister wants to ensure that the “next auction is not just successful but phenomenally successful”.

    For the financial year 2013-14, government expects revenue of Rs 40,847.05 crore from other communication services, which include receipt from spectrum sale and one-time spectrum fee levied on old players for holding airwaves frequencies in addition to quantum they were allocated with licences.

    Sibal said that his ministry is working on a policy framework for Optical Fibre Network under which 250,000 village panchayats in the country will get connected by 2014. He wants to move the fibre optics policy framework as quickly as possible so that 600 universities and 3,500 colleges can also be connected with dedicated national knowledge network.

  • Iranians access Facebook, Twitter accounts for a day – albeit by error

    Iranians access Facebook, Twitter accounts for a day – albeit by error

    NEW DELHI: Facebook and Twitter, which are taboo in Iran, accidentally became available to users on 16 September – only to be shut off the next day with the government blaming a technical glitch for this sudden freedom.

    The two social sites had been shut off in Iran in the summer of 2009 after riots erupted following a disputed win of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    A number of Facebook and Twitter users said on Monday that that they could access the social networking sites without bypassing the firewall which Iranian government had imposed for monitoring the social media.

    Correspondents of almost every western newspaper tweeted that they were able to access their accounts using regular internet services.

    Reuters reported that not only Facebook and Twitter was being accessed, but other blocked sites were also opening.

    But then Secretary of a State Committee Abdolsamad Khoramabadi said it was a technical glitch by a few internet service providers and there were no plans yet to lift the ban. An inquiry has been ordered.

    However, media sources said that the Iranian government may be testing the intensity of response if the ban is lifted. This is borne out by the fact that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javed Zarid created his Facebook and Twitter accounts during this period.

    Newly-elected President Hassan Rouhani is believed to be more liberal and has already hinted earlier that he would tackle the social media differently.