Executive Dossier
‘Wireless data bandwidth one of the incredible challenges faced by any technology firm’
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As the mobile continues growing as a source of entertainment, companies are looking at ways in which they can enhance the value that this medium provides. One such firm is the Singapore based Sydus which specialises in creating music-to-mobile lifestyle expressions. Founded in 2002, Sydus has attracted technology experts interested in advancing the distribution of digital entertainment to consumers. Last year the company, in partnership with Virgin Radio, introduced MobileRadio, claimed to be the world’s first 3G radio.Indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin Pinto caught up with Sydus president Saumil Nanavati to find out more. Excerpts: |
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How do you create music-to-mobile lifestyle expressions? – MobileRadio – This we believe is setting the trend radio broadcast for global mobile services with the universal language of music. MobileRadio breaks geographical limitations and, eliminates restrains of the home and office environment, crossing boundaries only imaginable before  On the advertising front MobileRadio presents radio advertisers a global reach. It also gives telecom service providers the chance to monetise their infrastructure investments through increased use of data services. It also empowers brands to communicate to their consumers no matter where they maybe through branded radio services – OnDemand – This is the only streaming service in the world that packages a consumer’s favourite audio content on their mobile phones. It allows consumers to instantly stream from more than unlimited songs. It delivers audio in near CD-quality and gives consumers the flexibility to tap into an extensive catalogue from any place that is connected via mobile phones. The Phone Jockey feature customises recommendations and mobile music channels for the consumer Live – This offers operators and sponsors an option. It breaks the challenges of venue capacity and geographic reach, bringing sponsors a global audience and revenues. Sponsors get borderless reach. Live creates more intimacy between fans and their favourite artistes. |
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What were the challenges faced by Sydus in developing audio streaming technology for the mobile? The second challenge is making the technology easy-to-use. Using any service or application on an incredibly tiny mobile screen is/always will be a challenge for all. Sydus’ challenge was to make the user interface very innovative, attractive and yet very simple to use. |
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Could you give me an idea of the way in which the mobile is evolving as a source for listening to music and consuming media in Asia? According to a recent study, The Future of Mobile Music, which studies the growth of the mobile music market in 28 countries the mobile music market is the most valuable mobile content market globally, generating gross revenues of $4.4 billion in 2005, rising to nearly $6 billion in 2006. Mobile, it is said, now accounts for nearly 15 per cent of the entire music market globally. The Asia Pacific region will be no different from the rest of the world. For one, there is tremendous growth in mobile adoption in the region. Data from Wireless World Forum’s Indian Mobile Market 2006 statistical handbook, for instance, reveals that mobile ownership in India will pass 100 million in 2007. This will only encourage the rapid growth and demand of mobile content, with mobile music being one of the key requirements. Also, with the growth in demand of mobile music, the popularity for mobile radio services that reach global audiences – like those by Sydus – will also increase. With Virgin Radio UK, for instance, we have noted that there is a large demand for free content made available in mobile phones. In Asia, Thailand, India and Turkey are the three major markets for Virgin Radio’s MobileRadio service. This might also influence the adaptation rates of 3G technology. A report by TelecomView projects that 3G will have more than 300 million subscribers and generate more than $200 billion in revenue in 2009. |
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Which are the top three countries that use your services the most? |
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You earlier mentioned the deal with Virgin Radio. What does a mobile phone need to have for the user to enjoy this service? With a Sydus-compatible handset, users have to simply download the application for their mobile phones from Sydus’ WAP site. |
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| Which are the other radio stations Sydus is talking to regarding tie-ups? There are number of content publishers, which include radio stations and lifestyle brands that Sydus is talking to with regards to partnerships. At this stage, however, we are unable to disclose any details. |
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In what way does this enable the advertiser to better engage with the user compared to traditional radio? |
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How does the revenue sharing arrangement with Virgin mobile and the advertisers work? Content publishers benefit as they have access global audience with minimal costs. They can Refresh campaigns/promotions (on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis) to keep the brand active. |
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| Do you also have deals with music companies regarding customised playlists? Customised playlists are one of the options that music companies can consider while addressing the lifestyles of the consumer on the go. Sydus is currently talking to music companies regarding customised playlists. |
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How long do you feel it will be before the phenomenon of listening to FM radio on the mobile comes to India? |
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Are you in talks with mobile operators in India regarding incorporating the FM radio service as part of their offerings? |
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Apart from music, which are the other areas where your audio technology comes in handy? Sydus’ technology can also come in handy in times of natural disasters or national emergencies, when specific emergency-related messages need to be communicated over large geographies and when people are not bound to a geographical area. |
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Could you talk about the ways in which Indian television channels and radio stations can benefit from Sydus’ technology? Advertisers, on the other hand, will have access to a larger audience base. They can choose to advertise with a radio station using Sydus’ technology, and send out key messages to many more people at one particular time. Sydus’ technology can enable Indian television channels to extend the experience beyond the particular channel. Television shows, likeIndian Idol, for instance, can now link up with Sydus and produce content that is accessible from anywhere in the world. Television channels can benefit from advertisers that would like to associate themselves with certain shows to reach out to their target audiences, all around the world. |
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What has research conducted by Sydus thrown up about the way in which mobile users consume music? Also with service data, our team has personally spent time watching youth and young people at popular places like Starbucks at various locations in the world, to see how they communicate and use their phones. This allowed us to understand that there is a need for free mobile content. |
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| The next step is consuming television on the mobile. What plans does Sydus have in this regard? We are constantly looking for ways to deliver lifestyle content on the handset, and will continue to watch and plan as the industry evolves. |
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| Could you talk about the new technologies emerging that are allowing a smooth flow of visual data? According to a recent report by Northern Sky Research (NSR), it is believed that new technologies such as the Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Standard (MBMS) and High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) will be critical to the growth and projected rollout of mobile TV over 3G networks. MBMS is an IP-based technology designed to more efficiently deliver multimedia (video, audio and text) content over 3G radio and network resources. It offers a way for 3G network operators to offer multimedia content over their GPRS/Edge or WCDMA 3G networks without unnecessarily consuming capacity for voice communications. HSDA is a packet-based data service in WCDMA downlink with data transmission up to 8-10 Mbps over a 5MHz bandwidth in WCDMA downlink. In 3G partnership project standards, Release 5 specifications focus on HSDPA to provide data rates up to approximately 10 Mbps to support packet-based multimedia services. |
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When computers got more sophisticated the virus threat grew. Is the mobile going to face a similar threat in terms of security? However, just like how computers are now installed with anti-virus solutions, mobile phones will have mobile security standards to curb security threats. For example, BlackBerry phones are equipped the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution, which uses Data Encryption Standard (Triple-DES) or Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption methods to encrypt data in transit. Most recently, Nokia announced in Europe that F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus will be available through Nokia to the users of four recently announced devices based on S60 3rd Edition – Nokia N71, Nokia E60, Nokia E61 and Nokia E70. This proves that handset manufacturers are increasingly developing new solutions to keep mobile phones secure, as they are, after all, the most personal devices. |
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Is movies being streamed for mobile something that will grow in popularity given the small size of the mobile screen? It is also estimated, as per this report, that it will take time for broadcast networks to be deployed and handsets made available, therefore many 3G carriers are now searching for ways to make their existing networks more efficient for carrying video. In view of this, we believe that it has yet to be seen whether mobile TV will grow in popularity. However, we believe that content that is created especially for the small screen format i.e. music and that keeps the consumers’ attention for a few minutes, is the best option. |
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Now there is talk about the advent of 5G. What do you think that will bring in terms of offering a multimedia experience for mobile users? However, we will have to wait and see how the industry evolves. Sydus will, nevertheless, take advantage of new technologies available and continue to develop innovative technologies in line with the user’s demands to do what they want, on the move. |
MUMBAI: Game faces on, pressure high India’s gaming ambitions are levelling up. Good Game, billed as the world’s first as-live global gaming reality show, has officially launched in India with a bold mission: to crown the country’s first Global Gaming Superstar.
Blending esports with mainstream entertainment, the show brings together competitive gaming, creativity and on-camera performance in a format that tests more than just joystick skills. Contestants will be judged on gameplay, screen presence and their ability to perform under pressure, reflecting how gaming has evolved from pastime to profession and pop culture currency.
Fronting the show are three high-profile ambassadors: actor and entrepreneur Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Indian cricket star Rishabh Pant, and gaming creator Ujjwal Chaurasia. The winner will take home Rs 1 crore ($100,000) among the largest prize pools for any Indian reality show along with the chance to represent India on a global stage.
Backed by a planned annual investment of up to Rs 100 crore, Good Game is also courting brand partners, promising a minimum reach of 500 million among India’s core youth audience. The creators position the show as a bridge between entertainment and interactive culture, offering long-format content, community engagement and commercial scale.
Auditions are now open to Indian citizens aged 18 and above, inviting amateur and professional gamers, creators and performers alike. Shortlisted candidates will be called for in-person auditions in Mumbai on 14 and 15 February, and in Delhi on 28 February and 1 March 2026.
With big money, big names and even bigger ambition, Good Game signals a shift in how India views gaming not just as play, but as performance, profession and prime-time spectacle.
INDIA: SpotDraft has strengthened its senior ranks as it gears up for faster global expansion, naming Alon Waks as chief marketing officer and Amit Sharma as chief financial officer. The appointments follow the firm’s $54 million Series B round earlier this year and mark a push to scale across the Americas, EMEA and India.
The AI-powered contract-lifecycle-management platform has posted 100 per cent year-on-year growth in customer acquisition, counting Apollo.io, IPSY, Mixpanel, Oyster and Panasonic among its global clients. The firm processes more than one million contracts annually, with volumes up 173 per cent and nearly 50,000 monthly active users.
Waks, a veteran of Kustomer, Bizzabo, CreatorIQ, LivePerson and ZoomInfo, will steer global marketing and category positioning as legal teams adopt AI-driven tools. Sharma, who has led finance across scaling tech firms since 2016, will guide financial strategy, investor relations and market expansion.
Both hires aim to sharpen SpotDraft’s bid for a larger slice of the fast-growing legal-tech market, expected to exceed $63 billion by 2032. Co-founder and chief executive Shashank Bijapur said the company is focused on scaling go-to-market operations in the Americas, deepening leadership in EMEA, and accelerating AI capabilities for general counsels and legal-operations leaders.
Clients report shorter deal cycles and better alignment between legal and business teams. “What used to take weeks now happens in days,” said Abnormal Security senior legal operations manager Susan Koenig. DeepL head of legal operations André Barrow, said SpotDraft has helped reframe legal “from a cost centre to a generator of revenue”.
MUMBAI: Out-of-home ads were once the wallflowers of marketing seen by everyone, noticed by few. But in an age where attention has become the world’s most fought-over currency, even billboards are getting a brain upgrade. Enter LOC8, OSMO’s AI-powered attention engine, quietly reshaping the old OOH playbook by measuring not just who could have looked at an ad, but who actually did. The shift is subtle but seismic: impressions are out, impact is in and data, not gut instinct, is calling the shots.
In a landscape where marketers question every rupee spent outdoors, LOC8 is turning lampposts, flyovers and traffic islands into precision-mapped attention laboratories. By crunching dwell time, visibility zones, perceptual size and real-world obstructions, the platform is dragging OOH into a future where creativity meets computer vision and where the best ideas aren’t just eye-catching, but eye-measured. From automotive facelifts to FMCG novelty and real estate trust-building, the message is clear, outdoor has stopped shouting and started listening. Indian Television Dot Com explores more about it in an Interview interview with OSMO co-founder Nipun Arora.
On how OSMO is shifting outdoor advertising from a visibility-led medium to an attention-led one through LOC8.
Traditional OOH has long been measured by visibility and impressions i.e how many people could see an ad. OSMO, through its proprietary AI platform LOC8, is shifting that narrative more towards likelihood of being noticed. Using computer vision and machine learning, LOC8 analyzes real-world video data to measure visibility zones, obstructions, dwell time and perceptual size; bringing precision to how attention is quantified outdoors. It moves the focus from mere impressions to quality of impressions, making OOH a data-verified, attention-led medium comparable to digital in accountability.
On how marketers can use LOC8’s dwell-time, visibility and perception insights to craft more effective, emotionally resonant OOH campaigns.
LOC8 helps brands understand how people truly experience outdoor media how long they look, from what distance, and under what conditions. By quantifying dwell time, visibility duration, and perceptual size; marketers can plan campaigns that align with real human viewing behavior. This empowers creative and strategy teams to design emotionally resonant storytelling where messaging, visual hierarchy and placement are optimized for how people actually notice and process OOH creatives.
About what LOC8 has revealed through campaigns like Renault Triber and Namaste India on how categories such as auto, FMCG and real estate use attention metrics to drive outcomes.
Each category uses attention data differently but all share one common goal: to convert outdoor visibility into measurable engagement.
• Automotive | Renault Triber
For the new Renault Triber facelift, bold creative met data-led planning through LOC8. By analyzing on-ground video data, LOC8 measured real audience attention across placements factoring in visibility zones, obstructions, traffic speed and perceptual size. This enabled Renault to identify corridors that delivered maximum reach, saliency and engagement, optimizing media efficiency and ROI.
• FMCG | Namaste India
In OOH, innovation is the hook and assets are the bait. But bait often hides the hook. With Loc8’s attention metrics, we ensured the bait wasn’t a hurdle, rather it became the perfect stage for innovation to deliver its full impact! The insight proved that creative novelty, when validated by attention data, drives deeper engagement and measurable brand lift.
• Real Estate
For luxury and real estate campaigns targeting HNI/UHNI audiences, attention patterns differ especially between front and rear passengers, who are often the core audience segment for premium sites. LOC8’s ability to distinguish rear vs. front visibility plays a critical role here. It helps identify sites that offer longer viewing windows and stronger perceptual dominance from the rear seat where decision-makers are most likely seated making it a key differentiator for premium and trust-led categories. Together, these insights prove that auto optimizes for impact, FMCG for recall, and real estate for trust visibility showing how attention metrics adapt to category goals while ensuring measurable outcomes.
On how attention analytics will shape the future of brand storytelling and media planning as OOH becomes more digitised and data-driven.
As outdoor digitizes, attention analytics will inform not just where to advertise but how stories are told in public spaces. This evolution transforms OOH from a static broadcast channel into a dynamic attention ecosystem, where creativity is optimized through evidence-based insight.
On how LOC8’s data-led framework helps marketers quantify OOH impact and make outdoor a more accountable, ROI-driven medium.
LOC8 bridges the gap between intuition and evidence. By quantifying metrics like visibility duration, attention opportunity index, and visual saliency rank, it allows brands to benchmark site performance and justify investment. This data-led approach brings transparency, comparability and ROI measurement to a medium historically driven by perception.
On how OSMO ensures AI and computer vision enhance creativity rather than reduce it to numbers.
OSMO believes that technology should enhance creativity, not overshadow it. LOC8’s attention models reveal what naturally draws the human eye helping creative teams refine design cues, contrast, and visual hierarchy for greater impact. By merging art and science, LOC8 empowers creativity with intelligence.
About the creative best practices and design cues LOC8 has uncovered regarding what truly captures consumer attention outdoors.
LOC8’s visual cognition analysis has surfaced clear patterns across campaigns:
• High contrast and minimal messaging outperform cluttered designs.
• Motion cues draw significantly longer dwell times.
• The first two seconds are critical, creatives must establish focus instantly.
• Contextual alignment between the creative and its environment increases attention by over 30%.
These learnings offer a scientific foundation for creative effectiveness helping brands design OOH that’s visually magnetic and emotionally memorable.
On how attention metrics will integrate into omnichannel planning where OOH, digital and social work together for unified brand impact.
Attention can become the unifying KPI across OOH, digital and social to creates seamless storytelling continuity, where outdoor triggers digital engagement. The future of omnichannel planning lies in attention-led integration ensuring that campaigns don’t just reach audiences everywhere but truly capture and hold their focus.
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