ITV

Category: Software

  • Lookup joins hands with Roadrunnr for deliveries across three metros

    Lookup joins hands with Roadrunnr for deliveries across three metros

    MUMBAI: Hyperlocal mobile messaging app Lookup has joined hands with Bangalore based startup Roadrunnr to introduce deliveries across Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. 

     

    With this association, any store keeper who wishes to provide deliveries can now do so when they get an order through Lookup.

     

    Lookup CEO Deepak Ravindran said, “Logistics has time criticality and optimum routing challenges and this can be solved only through an approach augmented with excellent operational skills. By partnering with Roadrunnr, we can enhance our technology platform, expand nationally and build a dense delivery network that will benefit all our retailers and customers with quick access to everything.”

     

    “We see Lookup as a serious player in the hyperlocal e-commerce space. Lookup’s customer experience coupled with Roadrunnr’s p2p logistics is a game changer,” added Roadrunnr co-founder and CEO Mohit Kumar. 

     

    The company now plans to take this model across India and develop the largest fleet of on demand hyperlocal delivery carriers in the country.

     

    Users can order anything from their local stores ranging from food, groceries, medicines, electronics amongst others and there is no minimum order.

  • Hoppr & Tiny Mogul integrated under Hike Messenger

    Hoppr & Tiny Mogul integrated under Hike Messenger

    NEW DELHI: Hoppr & Tiny Mogul Games (TMG) have been integrated under the Internet company Hike Messenger.

     

    In the last year itself, Tiny Mogul Games amassed five million downloads including hit games like Shiva: The Time Bender, the first Indian game to be featured by Google Play globally.

     

    With the integration, Hike will bring quality gaming to the platform, with the aim of building it into a service that goes beyond simple messaging.

     

    In addition to games, the integration will bring coupons from a host of 200 brands to Hike.

     

    Hike Messenger founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal said, “We’re excited to take a big leap forward in our mission to bring India online as we bring everything under the Hike brand. From Day 1, we’ve believed that messaging will be a gateway to the internet for the masses in India and this move reflects just that.”

     

    He added, “By the end of the year we’ll truly see Hike, India’s first messaging application emerge as the platform that will bring India online in a big way. We’re just getting started.”

     

    According to the Ericsson Mobility and Quettra report, Hike is the biggest made in India app by active usage. The messenger is India’s first and only home grown messaging app and is extremely localized to the needs of the Indian market with over 35 million users sending 10 billion messages per month.

     

    Hoppr was launched in 2012 as a location based check-in service that works across all mobile devices, with the aim to build the hyper local commerce ecosystem in India, wherein consumers get to explore rewards and offers available with brands and merchants in their vicinity.

     

    On the other hand, Tiny Mogul Games was set up in 2013 and has been operational for over two years and launched more than twelve games for Android.

  • News Republic – Cricbuzz partner to bring cricket scores on mobile

    News Republic – Cricbuzz partner to bring cricket scores on mobile

    NEW DELHI: Global mobile media group News Republic has entered into a strategic partnership with Cricbuzz, which will allow its app users to access the latest cricket news and scores of all matches. 

     

    News Republic India country director Radhika Shukla said, “We want to ensure that our users have access to the news from all genres. Bringing the excitement of sports news to our readers is something we are delighted to do.”

     

    Cricbuzz.com CEO Pankaj Chhaparwal added, “Being a part of digital media, we understand the importance of expanding our user base continuously and with News Republic coming to India, we are excited to get on board and offer cricket updates to its growing audience.”

     

    News Republic app users can now read the Cricbuzz content that is, “news” and “latest scores” side by side with one easy tap, share it and save it to view later while travelling even when they are offline. They can also receive notifications every time there is a new article from Cricbuzz.

     

    The app provides a variety of content to its readers across all genres ranging from politics, business, sports, entertainment, technology etc.

     

    With 1,500 licensed news feeds worldwide, News Republic shares 50,000 unique articles every day from news organisations like Reuters, BBC, AFP, Bloomberg, Guardian, HuffingtonPost and Mashable amongst others.

     

    In India, News Republic has partnered with Hindustan Times, India Today, Aaj Tak, Business Today, Cricbuzz, New Indian Express, Oneindia, BBC, India.com and others. The apps also incorporate RSS feeds to cover specialized reader interests.

  • Cricbuzz hops on as title sponsor for 2015 Sri Lanka Vs India Test series

    Cricbuzz hops on as title sponsor for 2015 Sri Lanka Vs India Test series

    MUMBAI: Times Internet’s mobile cricket news and information venture Cricbuzz has hopped on board as the title sponsor for the Sri Lanka vs India 2015 Test Series.

     

    This sponsorship marks a major investment by the cricket information platform as it looks to build its association with the sport through the test series, which will take place between 12 August – 1 September, 2015.

     

    The 20-day tour includes three Test matches. The English feed will be shown live on Sony Six and Sony Six HD, while Sony Kix will be relaying the Hindi feed.

     

    Cricbuzz CEO Pankaj Chhaparwal said, “We are thrilled with the association, which represents a great opportunity towards scaling up our user base and operations. Cricket is the defining sport in capturing consumer interest and through this engagement, we will look to exponentially increase our global visibility and footprint. Through the years, we have built a sizeable, strong and loyal user base, and with Cricbuzz being the top cricket app in the world, we will look to consolidate our position as the preferred destination for cricket.”

  • Pulp Strategy Communications launches Hindu calendar app

    Pulp Strategy Communications launches Hindu calendar app

    MUMBAI: Pulp Strategy Communications has launched a utility lifestyle app called Hindu Calender. With this, the company has digitized all the information one needs pertaining to Hindu festive and religious dates, auspicious occasions and even astrology.

     

    The app gives ready access to the traditional Hindu calendar with a new digital UI. Based on the Hindu panchang, it marks out tithis, fasting days such as Sankashti, Ekadashi, Shivrathri as well as the Vedic Ritu, Paksha, Nakshatra, Mithuna (Sunsign), Dhanu (Moonsign), Yoga, sun rise and sun set time and Rahu Kalam. It highlights daily and pooja muhurat along with details on all the prominent Hindu festivals, legends, rituals, pooja vidhi and even customary recipes of traditional Indian delicacies.

     

    Keeping in mind how people are usually very keen on basing crucial decisions based on their astrological impact, the app provides information about important dates, daily Muhurats, important festivals and rituals.

     

    Pulp Strategy Communications spokesperson said, “Indians today reside across the world, in small nuclear families, many times the elders are away and there is no one to check for small rituals that possibly grandma or mom used to keep a track of, the app has those stories, popular folk lore, historical information as well as the complex religious rituals for those of our generation who want to follow traditions of their ancestors but may not have the information available on the how and when.” 

  • Former Microsoft India MD Srini Koppolu launches Veooz app

    Former Microsoft India MD Srini Koppolu launches Veooz app

    MUMBAI: In order to provide easy access to relevant news, former Microsoft India MD Srini Koppolu has launched a news app. Christened Veooz, the app will bring easy access to breaking news and important stories, selected from thousands of sources using patented algorithms.

     

    Those involved along with Koppolu are IIIT-Hyderabad dean R&D professor Vasudeva Varma and search, machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) expert Dr. Prasad Pingali. Veooz is the one stop solution for news with support for multiple languages, countries, cities, topics and personalization.

     

    “With a vision to provide easy access to relevant news to the widest audience across the world, we are making the Veooz app available in 10 languages in India along with the English versions for 40 countries,” said Veooz founder and CEO Koppolu. “Majority of the people from India can use the app in their language and stay current with important stories,” he added.

     

    Veooz enables users to experience stories in multiple ways. They can skim through the headlines, read a short summary, or the full story. Using 360 feature, they can get in-depth coverage on a story with related stories, pictures, videos, and live buzz. The app has the unique capability to pull ‘the buzz’ related to a story, filter out noise and show posts which are meaningful and from influential people.

     

    With more than 100,000 topics to choose from, users can follow general topics such as technology, business, sports, entertainment, fashion, travel or follow specific celebrities, companies, products, cities, hashtags and more. Veooz personalization engine will generate custom designed My Veooz news feed with the right mix of stories, so that user never misses any important story on their interests.

     

    “Veooz is powered by a highly scalable platform that continuously discovers and analyzes stories from thousands of news, magazine, blog sources and millions of posts, pictures, videos from all major social networks, and selects relevant stories using heuristics based on news and social media signals. Using patented algorithms, auto-curated feeds are generated in real time for 40 countries, 2000 cities, thousands of topics,” added Veooz founder, CTO Prasad Pingali.

     

    It is a free app that can be installed on Android and iOS devices.

  • Local manufacturers of electronic goods to benefit from new CBEC directive

    Local manufacturers of electronic goods to benefit from new CBEC directive

    NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has said manufacturers of goods in India can enjoy a concessional two per cent duty regime without availing of tax credit on inputs.

    In an aim to boost the Make in India initiative, the CBEC said importers will have to pay 12.5 per cent countervailing duty.

    Manufacturers of electronic items like domestic mobile phones, laptops and tablets manufacturers are expected to reap the benefit of this.

    Earlier, this advantage to local manufacturers was taken away by the Supreme Court judgment. In a case related to SRF Ltd, the top court had directed that importers could avail of lower duty regime if they did not take tax credits.

    According to a report in a financial daily, India shipped in almost $37 billion worth of telecom instruments, computer hardware and peripherals, electronic instruments and components, and consumer electronics goods in FY15, a 14 per cent rise over the previous year.

  • India’s IPR Policy to fully protect patents, GIs and copyrights: Nirmala Sitharaman

    India’s IPR Policy to fully protect patents, GIs and copyrights: Nirmala Sitharaman

    NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, today said that the final draft of the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy has been arrived at through a transparent process with inputs from all stakeholders and has been circulated for inter-ministerial consultation before being posed to the Union Cabinet for approval.

     

    She also sought to allay apprehensions in the minds of foreign investors about the strength of the Indian IPR regime.

     

    Sitharaman was speaking here while inaugurating a seminar on ‘Protecting Brands Abroad with the Madrid System’ organized by FICCI in association with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and DIPP.

     

    The draft policy, she said, focuses on stronger enforcement of IPR by increasing the manpower strength in IP offices and reducing the pendency of IPR filings. Most of the offices have done away with manual interface as all applications, queries and decisions are made online. 

     

    Speaking on the Madrid Protocol on registering and managing Trade Marks worldwide, the Minister said that the system allows an applicant to file one application, in one language and pay one set of fees to protect the Trademark in all WIPO member countries.

     

    For SMEs and start-ups, the Madrid Protocol is a cost-effective and time-saving way of having rights protected worldwide, she said, adding that the system would go a long way in reducing processes and provide ease of doing business.

     

    Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion secretary Amitabh Kant said that the government’s thrust is on creating a world-class IPR regime along with bringing down the pendency of IPR filings to global levels, he said and added that there is an imperative need to build Indian brands that can effectively penetrate the global markets.

     

    The remarks were made during a seminar on Protecting Brands Abroad with the Madrid System whereby experts from World Intellectual Property Organization, Indian IP Office and industry discussed the advantages and incentives to business from international trademark registration.

     

  • Eros Now to launch three original shows; ties up with Anil Kapoor Film Company

    Eros Now to launch three original shows; ties up with Anil Kapoor Film Company

    MUMBAI: As India’s digital landscape is poised to undergo a renaissance, Eros International’s over-the-top (OTT) platform Eros Now is gearing up to  produce multiple in-house flagship original programmes. Additionally, the platform will also showcase premieres of recently released Bollywood films. 

     

    The Eros Now mobile app for Android and iOS platforms, which will be free for download as of now, has also tied up with Anil Kapoor Film Company to co-produce the Indian adaptation of a popular international sitcom, the name of which will be revealed at a later date.

     

    Eros’ OTT platform will roll out its original content strategy with three ad-free shows namely Khel, The Client and Ponniyin Selvan. These shows will have film-like production values targeted at young Indians, which is the largest demographic of the Indian population. 

     

    Khel is a wicked dark drama featuring an insider’s perspective on the twisted characters that populate the world of cricket and the Indian Premier League. It is directed by Karan Anshuman. On the other hand, Rohan Sippy will helm The Client, which is a thriller based show starring Bipasha Basu as the main character. Ponniyin Selvan is an epic period drama based on a popular Tamil historical novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, which is an in-house production by Eros South. 

     

    Moreover, in a bid to create hype for internet users, Eros Now will also be premiering the latest Bollywood movie Tanu Weds Manu Returns on 19 July even prior to its television release. The other Bollywood movies that are scheduled to stream on the platform are Badlapur, NH10, Shamitabhand Happy Ending amongst others.

     

    Eros Now COO Karan Bedi said, “Eros Now is a premier online application for Android and IOS users, which will feature different genre of movies, TV serials, music albums and releases, that too free of cost. Eros Now’s library has over 1.5 lakh movies, which will be showcased only for the online app users. The app will also feature TV shows of different channels like Colors, Sab, Sony and Pakistani TV channel Hum TV.

     

    While the Eros Now app will be free for now, the company will be building an in-app payment mechanism, wherein users will have to pay for some content that they want to watch exclusively in the near future. These may be movies sans ads or movies in HD quality. The price point will range from Rs 50 – 150, which might include daily, weekly or monthly chargers.

     

    Eros International Plc Group CEO and managing director Jyoti Deshpande said, “Eros Now app has over 19 million users across the country in its pre-launch phase and Eros has done their market survey in which there are 500 million internet users out of which 382 million people are active smart phone users, so as consumption patterns has change globally, Internet entertainment networks have begun to rapidly replace traditional, linear television. It’s our turn now. And I believe that Eros will have the first mover advantage in this space with the strength of its vast content library and dominant market share to further consolidate its leadership position as it reinvents itself from a film studio to a more consumer facing content and digital company in the next phase of growth.”

     

    It may be recalled that recently Asian OTT player HOOQ entered the Indian market and also has plans to introduce original content. On the other hand, Indian broadcasters like Star India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Entertainment Television are also upping their digital strategy by putting their might behind their OTT platforms namely Hotstar, Ditto TV and Sony Liv respectively. With more and more players entering the digital fray, premium content and competitive price points will play a major role in acquiring subscribers as well as raking in the moolah.

  • Guvera brings data saving to India

    Guvera brings data saving to India

    MUMBAI: Australian-owned music streaming service Guvera will expand its data saving function to India along with all 20 markets it operates in globally, allowing users to significantly reduce their data usage while streaming music.

     

    Starting 14 July, when users listen to a track through Guvera, they will have access to advanced audio buffering technology, thus significantly reducing the data impact of playing the song again in the future.

     

    Guvera CEO Darren Herft said that this decision has been made to ensure customers have unlimited access to Guvera’s music library and curated playlists, without being restricted by excessive data consumption.

     

    “Guvera is focused on providing customers with the music they love, on their terms. Data is an increasingly important commodity and our data saving function ensures we are meeting the needs of music lovers,” Herft said.

     

    In terms of functionality, as users navigate through Guvera, they will see a green arrow next to songs after they have been streamed once. This arrow indicates that when streamed in the future, data will not be used.

     

    “For customers who stream hours of music every month, the ability to save data could have a huge impact on their monthly (phone) bill and help them keep more money in their pocket,” Herft added.