ITV

Category: iWorld

  • Halfticket.tv brings MyFrenchFilmFestival 2015 for its Indian viewers

    Halfticket.tv brings MyFrenchFilmFestival 2015 for its Indian viewers

    MUMBAI: HalfTicket.tv, a curated Video-on-Demand platform to limitless entertainment is bringing to India the 5th edition of world’s first online French Film Festival, MyFrenchFilmFestival 2015. The festival will be  exclusively available for free viewing in India on all connected devices on the web, mobiles and tablets potentially reaching out to over 300 million internet users in the world’s second largest internet market.

     

    Organized by UniFrance Films, this festival will be available to viewers in from January 16 through February 16, 2015. Indian users can also download the specialised app HALFTICKET TV from the Google Play stores for Android devices. Similarly, Apple device users can also get the app via iTunes from the date of the festival.

     

    MyFrenchFilmFestival is an innovative concept, bringing the best of French cinema to Indian cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers and cinema lovers. The goal is to showcase the young generation of French filmmakers and enable Internet users to share their love of French cinema.

     

    All the films selected for the 5th edition of the festival will be available with a free access online from 16 January to 16 February 2015.

     

    The selection includes ten French feature films and ten French shorts presented at the festival.

     

    Speaking on giving users from any country free access to the festival, Isabelle Giordano, General Director, Unifrance, said, “Between the 1st and 4th editions of the festival we have seen a fair amount of traffic on from Indian users accessing the festivals site, underlining the interest in French Films among Indian cinema lovers. This time, as we look forward to bringing another round of the best films from new French directors, we wanted to make the festival accessible to internet users across India, and hence tied up with HalfTicket.tv to stream the festival.”

     

    Commenting on streaming MyFrenchFilmFestival in India, Mr. Jagdish Rajpurohit, Founder, HalfTicket.tv said, “The new-age Indian cinema lover wants to experience movies from across the globe. This viewer would love to see new content from French cinema but so far the movies never came to India. With our tie-up to get MyFrenchFilmFestival to India free for Indian users, we aim to begin offering them international movies at their convenience”.

  • Broadband subscribers show growth of 4.5 per cent between Sept and Oct

    Broadband subscribers show growth of 4.5 per cent between Sept and Oct

    NEW DELHI: As in the past few months, the largest growth in broadband during October this year was among mobile devices users (phones and dongles), registering a growth of 5.75 per cent growth.

    The number of broadband subscribers between September and October has increased from 75.73 million to 79.21 million, thus registering an overall growth of 4.59 per cent.

     There was no change between September and October in fixed wireless subscribers (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-point radio and VSAT) with the figures remaining at 4,20,000.

     Wired subscriptions showed a minimal growth going up from 15.13 million to 15.15 million, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.16 per cent.

     The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which based the figures on reports from service providers said Wireless subscribers with less than 1MB data usage in a month have not been considered as internet/broadband subscribers by Reliance Communication Group and Idea Cellular.

     As on 31 October, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL (9.97 million), Bharti Airtel (1.40 million), MTNL (1.13 million), Beam Telecom (0.43 million) and YOU Broadband (0.41 million).

     The top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Bharti Airtel (15.91 million), Vodafone (14.15 million), Idea Cellular (11.47 million), BSNL (9.16 million) and Reliance Communications Group (6.48 million).

     

  • ‘Half Girlfriend’ is a work of fiction, says Chetan Bhagat

    ‘Half Girlfriend’ is a work of fiction, says Chetan Bhagat

    KOLKATA: Author Chetan Bhagat has described his book ‘Half Girlfriend’ as a work of fiction and has ridiculed allegations that its contents had insulted the former kingdom of Dumraon in Bihar.

     

    “‘Half Girlfriend’ is a work of fiction. It is a mere coincidence that a character Madhav Jha belongs to a royal family,” Bhagat said while addressing a gathering at Infocom 2014 in Kolkata.

     

    The author, who has penned popular books like ‘Five Point Someone’, ‘One Night at the Call Centre’ and ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’, said he did not require a controversy to become popular.

     

    “Madhav Jha does not exist. It appears some old kings of Dumraon are alleging I have insulted the kingdom. They wrote to me. I have replied politely. I said they have been instigated by someone. I also told them I have made Dumraon famous,” he signed off.

     

  • The Ultimate Combat of Good Vs Evil

    The Ultimate Combat of Good Vs Evil

    MUMBAI: With Zee TV’s latest superhero series grabbing eye balls and all set to be a game-changer in the weekend primetime band, the channel has decided to go one step further to enhance your ‘Maharakshak Aryan’ experience – While you enjoy the show on air, you can now play it as a game on your mobile phones too! Creating an additional window for consumer engagement, the all-new interactive gaming app of Maharakshak Aryan offers you a chance to step into the young superhero’s shoes virtually. The app is available for download on Android device , is also hosted on http://www.zeetv.com/maharakshak-aryan/game/  and is coming soon on all iOs platforms.. The game is designed and developed by Bigtrunk Communications, a specialised full-service mobile advertising agency.

     

    With a blend of vibrant graphics that recreate the ethereal world of the show on your mobile phones, multiple levels of difficulty and variation, the game is aimed at providing young teenagers an engrossing gaming experience. It will be a multi-level game, where every level will have a new enemy from the show, like Kumbha, Vishkanya and Challa amongst others. Remember that each demon is unique in his evil powers and more formidable than the last. Each level is only unlocked once the villain is defeated by the user.

     

    Having only recently launched on Zee TV, the superhero series Maharakshak Aryan, has already found a distinct following with its slick production design, cutting-edge graphics, spectacular visual effects and above all, the relatable story of a reluctant, adolescent superhero stumbling upon his super powers at and rising to the responsibility of saving the world that he has now been entrusted with. The manner in which he combats a new villain each week and the triumph of good over evil has won over audiences of all ages, however, the show is especially popular amongst kids.

     

    Sorbojeet Chatterjee, Marketing Head – ZEE TV said, “ZEE TV has constantly been at the helm of digital innovation. Given its action-thriller genre, Maharakshak Aryan, our superhero series, that captures the battle of Good versus Evil, was launched aggressively in the digital space. The show lends itself beautifully to being extended into an exciting game. The idea is to offer an interesting avenue for followers of the show to step into the shoes of our superhero and experience his world.   So, we hope that they not only watch the show on air but enjoy it as a game too.”  

     

    Bharat Subramaniam, Founder – BigTrunk Communications said, “Our endeavour has been to create a user-friendly interface that seamlessly creates an additional layer of consumer engagement by connecting with consumers through elements of the show in an offline platform. While playing the game the consumer gets a chance to walk through the journey of a superhero and celebrate the triumph of Good vs. Evil.

     

     

    Zee TV has always been at the forefront of innovation in the digital space, be it the virtual temple app created for Ramayan that let netizens pray on the go, the e-book and mobile game created for Jodha Akbar that made history fascinating for even the younger demographics or the Dance India Dance apps that offered dance tutorials from the skippers and LIVE chats with the judges of India’s most sought after dance reality show. So, it’s now time for you to protect the MANI from the evil forces. To download the app SMS ‘Aryan’ to 57575 or simply search for ‘Maharakshak Aryan’ in the google playstore and use your catapult to save the world.

  • Firstcry.com hits 100 stores in India

    Firstcry.com hits 100 stores in India

    MUMBAI: Firstcry.com, Asia’s largest online baby products portal today announced that it has now got 100 franchisees on board. As part of the vision to create the ultimate parenting eco-system in India, Firstcry now has a presence across Tier I, II and III towns. The 100 stores expand the retailers presence to a staggering 82 cities.

     

    Consistently growing at more than 100% growth rate, Firstcry.com had announced this year to reach 100 stores by end of December 2014. Not only has Firstcry achieved this faster than planned, it has also become the largest e-commerce player with an omni channel business model with a focus on mobile, physical store and web.

     

    All Firstcry.com stores are standardised and display more than 500 brands across 20 categories. The carpet area of stores range anywhere from 1000 sq ft to 2000 sq ft. There has been a franchisee investment of about Rs. 3,000 per square ft in store all across the cities. Continuing to keep the novelty aspect intact, ‘Kiosk innovation’ at Firstcry stores, is a unique concept which acts like a catalogue allowing customers to look through the 70,000 and above products on a 32 inch touch screen in stores, order online on spot, and find the product available at the store in 2-3 days. The Kiosks have enabled to increase conversions by 10% and now by default part of all new upcoming store format across the country.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Supam Maheshwari, Founder and CEO, Firstcry.com said “Owing to the outstanding success of our offline stores, we have extensively increased our offline presence. With 100 stores, we have crossed a milestone but we have considerable distance yet to travel.  At Firstcry, we believe in creating a seamless experience, offering purchasing flexibility for parents through the mobile, web and offline store formats. With the omni channel strategy, we are best placed to build the best relationship with the mother and bring her the largest and most appropriate range of products.”

     

    By making a strong offline presence in baby product market, Firstcry is consistently fine-tuning processes by studying purchasing patterns and demands of parents across all tiers. People in India and around the world display balanced buying behaviour in terms of online and offline. There is a huge opportunity in integrating the two, what is termed as O2O – online to offline or omni channel strategy – and is seen as a trillion dollar opportunity globally.

     

    Thus, holding a clear vision of reaching 400 stores by December, 2017 Firstcry.com aims to be the only one stop solution in this market of baby & kids products.

     

  • Festive season propels Indian smartphone market

    Festive season propels Indian smartphone market

    KOLKATA: The festive season has pushed the Indian smartphone market with a quarter-on-quarter growth of 27 per cent in Q3 of the current calendar year 2014 to propel it as the largest growing smartphone market in the APAC region.

     

    The overall mobile market stood at 72.5 million units in Q3 2014, registering a 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth and a 9 per cent year-on-year growth, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

     

    “With 44 million units shipped in CY 2013 and the current market scenario hinting at 80 million plus shipments in CY 2014, we have a big chunk of end-user market which is awaiting refresh. To add to this, new initiatives on the 4G front are expected to be rolled out, which should spark up demand in the smartphone market in CY 2015,” said IDC India senior market analyst Karan Thakkar.

     

    However, phablets are hitting a stagnancy which has been one of the key reasons for consumers opting for smartphones, the IDC said.

     

    “With 6 per cent of the overall smartphone market, phablets are observed to be hitting a plateau. Smartphones are seen as the sweet spot for consumer preference. However, consumers need larger screen sizes to enjoy media content and with the 4G rollout expected in CY 2015, we expect the phablets segment to pick up again,” said IDC India research manager, client devices Kiran Kumar.

     

    Interestingly, Micromax is fast crawling up to challenge Samsung, the market leader. Market share for Micromax stood at 20 per cent in Q3, up by two per cent from the previous quarter while Samsung’s market share is 24 per cent.

     

    The Q3 results reveal the second consecutive quarter of over 80 per cent year-on-year shipment growth for smartphones, reflecting robust end-user demand for the category in the devices market in India.

     

    The share of smartphones in the overall mobile phone market stood at 32 per cent in Q3 2014, which is a considerable increase over 19 per cent in the same period a year ago.

     

    According to the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 23.3 million smartphones in Q3 2014 compared to 12.8 million units in the same period of CY 2013.

  • Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes free-to-air TV will be extinct by 2030

    Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes free-to-air TV will be extinct by 2030

    NEW DELHI: At a time when Prasar Bharati CEO has said Doordarshan’s future lies in Freedish, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said that “the age of broadcast TV will probably last until 2030.”

     

    Speaking at a Netflix event in Mexico City, Hastings compared broadcast television to the horse and cart and said it will simply be a ‘casualty of evolution’. “It’s kind of like the horse, you know, the horse was good until we had the car,” he commented. Hastings has expressed his thoughts on the death of linear TV before, predicting in April 2013 that it would be replaced by online TV.

     

    The current model of TV programming distribution will be broken and non-existent within the next decade and a half, he further said.

     

    Hastings told reporters that he thinks the current system where television channels are grouped into free-to-air network television and premium cable channels is becoming obsolete.

     

    Recent data suggests Netflix makes up more than a third of all internet traffic in North America during peak periods. That’s far more than any other source, and an indication of the type of heft that the once upstart company now has in the content game.

     

    Netflix no longer breaks out its Canadian subscriber numbers separately, but boasts more than 34 million households in the United States— comparable to the reach of many television networks.

     

    To keep up with that growth and pay for exclusive content like Orange Is the New Black, the company recently announced a price increase of between $1 and $2 a month for new customers.

     

    The company showed off its disruptive influence in the industry in the summer in a testy exchange between a Netflix executive and the CRTC, which was demanding that the company hand over reams of subscriber data — something the company says it has no legal obligation to do.

     

    That exchange came as the regulator was looking into changing the rules on “bundling” cable whereby customers are forced to pay for packages of channels — as opposed to picking and choosing the ones they want.

     

    Although Netflix is the giant of the streaming space, others exist. Earlier this year Rogers and Shaw launched Shomi, a streaming service that’s meant to rival Netflix.

     

    Ratings company, Nielsen, is going to start tracking Netflix viewing in its ratings numbers, something it hasn’t done before.

     

    Although Netflix likes to boast about the popularity of its shows, Hastings downplayed the significance of Nielsen’s move because, by the company’s own admission, it will not include mobile usage.

     

    “It’s not very relevant,” Hastings said and added, “There’s so much viewing that happens on a mobile phone or an iPad that (the new ratings]) won’t capture.”

  • Mobile commerce: The key to impulse shoppers

    Mobile commerce: The key to impulse shoppers

    E-commerce industry’s success stories and reliability are the key factors determining its popularity. Customers have gained a new edge of convenience with products and services available at a click. Apparently, a new wave of innovation in the name of mobile commerce is gaining prevalence by driving new avenues for the e-commerce industry in India.

     

    Accessing an e-commerce portal on desktops and laptops has never been a hindrance; however, accessing the same website on phones have bulged various problems because they were primarily designed for big screens. Considering the mounting usage of mobile phones over big screen computers, mobile commerce has emerged as a key to impulse shoppers.

     

    Mobile commerce offers dual benefit – ease of navigation tools and the flexibility to shop; therefore, attracting a large number of customers. Nowadays, more and more e-commerce websites have become mobile friendly, which has accelerated the footfall on such websites by a huge number. The trend is gradually catching up in India like our European counterparts.

     

    According to a study conducted by global financial group ING, Europeans are now shopping frequently via mobile phone, British being the most impulsive shoppers. India has adapted to this innovation extensively and is observing its acceptance from customers on a large scale. Currently, a major chunk of our tech savvy population is inclined towards mobile commerce. Various studies have shown that mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are leading to an increase in impulse buying among consumers. There is also a lot of scope for growth in this segment as only 40 per cent users make purchases using their mobile devices.

     

    Impulse shopping is triggered among consumers due to the availability of simple and easy to use technology that is used widely in m-commerce platforms. Its usage is rapidly increasing with evolution of mobile technologies. This innovative transformation is creating seamless opportunities for prospective businesses. While adding greater convenience to customers by providing more personalised services, mobile commerce equally benefits the retailers by reducing their cost of production.

     

    According to an independent study conducted by Manusis Technologies, 42 per cent purchases made on mobile devices are based on impulsive decisions. The attractive offers and discount coupons offered by mobile apps create a sense of urgency among buyers. Often, they make hurried purchases fearing an impending stock-out situation or rising prices of the commodity. Eventually, it positively impacts the store owners’ sale and revenues.

     

    M-commerce is a great opportunity for these retailers and e-commerce owners to tap impulse purchases from customers. Snapdeal, one of India’s biggest e-commerce stores, has witnessed an increase in sales via mobile purchases in the past year. Many of these purchases might have been made at the spur of the moment.

     

    (These are purely personal views of StoreHippo.com CEO and founder Rajiv Kumar and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)

  • Online shopper base in India to reach 100 million by 2016

    Online shopper base in India to reach 100 million by 2016

    MUMBAI: Convenience and variety is what today’s shoppers look for. And the platform giving them these both is e-commerce.

     

    As per Google in its annual online shopping growth trends report, consumer confidence to shop online will only continue to rise and India will have 100 million online shoppers by 2016.

     

    The report compiled by combining an extensive research conducted by Forrester Consulting and Google search trends revealed that India’s e-tailing market is at an inflection point and will see rapid growth to become a $15 billion market by 2016.

     

    The research conducted by Forrester Consulting by interviewing 6859 respondents covering both online buyers and non-buyers in 50 cities/towns, found out that online shoppers base will grow three times by 2016, and over 50 million new buyers will come from tier I and II cities.  The confidence to shop online was on the rise as 71 per cent non-buyers from tier I and II cities said they plan to shop online in next 12 months. The findings also revealed that women buyers in tier I cities were more engaged in online shopping, and outspend men by double. Women were also responsible for driving growth in categories like apparels, beauty & skincare, home furnishing, baby products and jewellery.

     

    Over 60 per cent respondents also felt that buying online was directly correlated with social status. Mobile phones emerged as an important access device for online shoppers with one out of three online buyers transacting on their mobile phones in tier I and II cities. In tier III cities, one in two buyers said they use mobile phones to purchase products online. This was also reflected in Google search trends with mobile phones queries growing three times in last three years. Today, over 50 per cent of shopping queries were coming from mobile phones; this share was as low as 24 per cent just two years back.

     

    Google India local and classified ecommerce industry director Nitin Bawankule said, “The consumer confidence to shop online has grown significantly in  last year and a half, and our objective was to understand the factors that are driving this growth and arrive at indicators that will help propel the Industry forward. As the report indicates, behavior of Indian online buyer is fast mirroring buyers in more developed markets as more subjective product categories have started to see significant growth. The e-tailing Industry needs to act now to cater to this strong user growth trend. Improved customer experience across all touch points, easy to use mobile apps can create a strong pull for non-buyers to shop online in tier I and II cities. Women buyers are set to become the most significant contributor to the growth of online shopping and there is a huge opportunity waiting to be unlocked in this user segment.”

     

    Amongst the challenges, 62 per cent buyers said they were not satisfied with their online shopping experience. 67 per cent buyers also highlighted that the current return process was too complicated and expensive. Trust was a major issue with non buyers, 55 per cent non buyers did not trust the quality of products sold online, 63 per cent said they were concerned about the safety of transacting online and 65 per cent said, they don’t feel comfortable sharing personally identifiable information online. 66 per cent of total respondents said that poor connectivity was also a major barrier for them to shop online.

     

  • Turtle launches social campaign #idroppedmyclothes

    Turtle launches social campaign #idroppedmyclothes

    MUMBAI: Turtle, a lifestyle brand has made swift strides in becoming a popular menswear brand in India.  And in the process, the corporate has continuously strived to match the attributes of a turtle which has a tough outlook but soft and sensitive inside; lives long; never forgets its roots; can survive on land and in water and highly depends on its natural surroundings and its ecological system.

     
    Hence apart from making the finest apparel, it has relentlessly endeavored to explore avenues to conserve nature and serve its surrounding in a collective effort.  Taking this a step ahead, Turtle today initiated a social movement – #IDroppedMyClothes – a nationwide movement for the betterment of underprivileged community.

     
    The campaign makes an appeal to all individual’s in association with Goonj to be socially responsible by donating their clothes at any of the Turtle stores across the country.  Also, they can help this initiative become a nationwide movement by posting their donation with a picture or video on the social media with (hashtag) #idroppedmyclothes and nominating their friends/family to do the same.

     
    According to Turtle director Shitanshu Jhunjhunwalla “The format of this campaign is such that the noble cause of donating clothes to underprivileged can also be a fun activity for people. I would request everyone to be a part of this. Every person who donates will be eligible for free points added to their membership card which can be redeemed on their purchase.”

     
    At the end of the campaign all the collected clothes will be donated to underprivileged across the country through Goonj which is a non-governmental organization working in 21 states across India in disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development.

     
    Turtle has been engaging in various efforts to support similar social causes through their CSR campaigns. They are actively involved in the conservation of endangered species of turtles across India for many years and recently entered into a partnership with TSA to support the conservation of freshwater turtles around the world to help shape a better, more sustainable community under its CSR philosophy. Turtle’s strong belief in ‘Earth’ and the preservation of the environment has fuelled many such initiatives, one of which is promoting the hand-spun and hand-woven, eco-friendly Khadi fabric with its premium and Limited Edition Khadi collection that would benefit the weavers and their families.