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Tag: Techzone

  • Ajit Sawant joins KnightsAD as MD

    Ajit Sawant joins KnightsAD as MD

    MUMBAI: Indian performance-based AD network & global affiliate partners KnightsAD Digital Media Associates has roped in Ajit Sawant as the co-founder and managing director. Sawant will be based out of Mumbai and his role will involve ensuring delivery of business prospects and meeting advertisers’ targets. In addition, he will look after the company’s financial aspects and management of publishers.

    With nearly a decade’s experience in the value added services (VAS) industry, Ajit joins KnightsAD from Techzone – an Eros International company, where he was responsible for business development as well as employee and client relation management.

    KnightsAD CEO Malik Gilani said, “Ajit’s insights will bring a new dimension to the way we view our consumers. With his level of business intellect and work ethics, we are sure KnightsAD will achieve greater heights.”

    Sawant said, “My formative years in the VAS industry and in-depth study about this field, have helped me develop strong fundamentals in this space. Mobile advertisers are providing targeted and personalized ads to cater to different market segments.”

    Prior to his role at Techzone, Sawant has worked with digital distribution and new media company, Shotformats Digital Productions.

    KnightsAd recently announced its expansion into Sri Lanka and the middle eastern regions of the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. The company has partnered with the leading telecoms and content companies in the new regions. Their partners include Oreedoo in Kuwait and Qatar, DU in UAE and dialog in Sri Lanka.

  • Ajit Sawant joins KnightsAD as MD

    Ajit Sawant joins KnightsAD as MD

    MUMBAI: Indian performance-based AD network & global affiliate partners KnightsAD Digital Media Associates has roped in Ajit Sawant as the co-founder and managing director. Sawant will be based out of Mumbai and his role will involve ensuring delivery of business prospects and meeting advertisers’ targets. In addition, he will look after the company’s financial aspects and management of publishers.

    With nearly a decade’s experience in the value added services (VAS) industry, Ajit joins KnightsAD from Techzone – an Eros International company, where he was responsible for business development as well as employee and client relation management.

    KnightsAD CEO Malik Gilani said, “Ajit’s insights will bring a new dimension to the way we view our consumers. With his level of business intellect and work ethics, we are sure KnightsAD will achieve greater heights.”

    Sawant said, “My formative years in the VAS industry and in-depth study about this field, have helped me develop strong fundamentals in this space. Mobile advertisers are providing targeted and personalized ads to cater to different market segments.”

    Prior to his role at Techzone, Sawant has worked with digital distribution and new media company, Shotformats Digital Productions.

    KnightsAd recently announced its expansion into Sri Lanka and the middle eastern regions of the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. The company has partnered with the leading telecoms and content companies in the new regions. Their partners include Oreedoo in Kuwait and Qatar, DU in UAE and dialog in Sri Lanka.

  • ErosNow launches its official account on WeChat

    ErosNow launches its official account on WeChat

    MUMBAI:  Entertainment consumption on mobile screens is increasing by the day. As more and more users turn to their mobile screens for viewing movies, listening music and watching videos, media and entertainment brands all over are vying to capture consumer’s attention through small screens.

     

    Owing to this growing trend, ErosNow, the dedicated online entertainment service of Eros International has announced its official account on WeChat. Through this official account, WeChat users would be able to enjoy unlimited music, movies and get sneak-peek into all the action and buzz on Bollywood. Eros is one of the first Indian film studio to take such a step on one of the most popular messaging apps amongst youth of the country.

     

    “At WeChat, we have constantly endeavored to bring to our users, content and associations which add value to their overall WeChat experience. Through WeChat’s official accounts, we have consistently evolved and innovated the kind of partnerships and associations we bring forth to our users. ErosNow is another step towards bringing engaging content and entertainment offerings for our users,” said WeChat India VP – marketing and business development Nilay Arora.

     

    WeChat users will also be able to share their favorite stuff from ErosNow official account on WeChat to friends through chats or Moments.

     

    “ErosNow’s partnership with WeChat’s innovative technology and strong youth base will further enhance the user experience and help meet the demands of today’s mobile generation,” added ErosNow COO Karan Bedi. Techzone is the platform partner for ErosNow’s channel on WeChat.

     

    To follow ErosNow official account (onAndroid/iOS), WeChat users need to search for ‘ErosNow’ in the search bar or scan the QR code below. Then follow the instructions in the welcome message to get started.

  • Eros International to acquire controlling stake in Techzone

    Eros International to acquire controlling stake in Techzone

    MUMBAI:  Eros International Media (Eros) has announced that it has signed a term sheet to acquire a controlling stake in Universal Power Systems, trading by the name Techzone, a mobile value added services (MVAS) provider for telecom operators based in India for an undisclosed sum. 

     

    Established in 1999 by Naveen Bhandari, Techzone is an aggregator, developer and distributor of entertainment content via mobile platforms in India.  Techzone is particularly focused on the Bollywood films and music markets and has significant region-specific content in Tamil and Telugu.  The company has relationships and billing integration with major telecom networks in India to distribute its content and also has its own ‘Mobile Shortcode’ 56060. Techzone makes its content available to end-users via various methods such as caller ring-back tones (CRBT), mobile radio, short message service (SMS), wireless application protocol (WAP) and interactive voice response (IVR). 

     

    Techzone has done an average of 25 million SMS, WAP or IVR transactions per month over the past three years across 12 major telecom operators in India for which it bills the customers directly through its billing platform. This excludes CRBT transactions which are also marketed and distributed by Techzone but billed by the telecom operators directly. In a given month, a single customer may engage in multiple transactions.

     

    “Techzone will be a strong addition to our ErosNow strategy where content meets technology and distribution,” said Eros CEO Jyoti Deshpande.  “With Techzone’s billing integration and distribution in place across major telecom operators and average transaction traffic of over 25 million monthly over the past three years, we expect this deal to complement our existing ErosNow service. With 870 million mobile subscribers (including over 60 million internet enabled smart phones) in India as of year-end 2013, this is an exciting space for us.”

     

    Techzone CEO & managing director Naveen Bhandari said, “This is indeed a proud moment for Techzone to align with a market leader such as Eros. The consumption of content through mobile platforms is on the increase and the timing of this alliance could not have been better.”

     

    The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and execution of definitive agreements. 

     

  • Pioneer Channel Factory to set up live concert music channel

    Pioneer Channel Factory to set up live concert music channel

    NEW DELHI: A new premium quality international live concert channel is being launched early next year by Pioneer Channel Factory Limited which has been running the Bollywood music channel, MTunes HD for over two years.

     

    MTunes earlier tied up with Techzone to provide its digital platform for the channel’s content through SMS and CRBT services.

  • Techzone and Aircel launch Re 1 store

    Techzone and Aircel launch Re 1 store

    MUMBAI: After Techzone’s alliance with Aircel for Re 1 video store four months back, the encouraging response has prompted the launch of another promising platform – Aircel’s Re 1 store!  Powered by Techzone as their technology and platform partner, Aircel has enhanced its offerings for their users by opening the exciting Re 1 store that includes downloading videos, full tracks, images and games just for Re 1.

     

    Techzone not only offers its vast library of more than 10,000 pieces of content across multiple categories in more than 12 languages to this store but has also powered the VAS platform for Aircel. Consumers can access this latest value added service on mobile via WAP or GPRS/2G/3G and download the same on mobile handset at just Re1 per content. The social media savvy youth can also share their content preference on Facebook and Twitter along with referring the same to their friends.

     

    The content at store for Re 1 covers over 12 languages including English, Hindu, Marathi, Gujarati, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam amongst others. This new VAS would let the consumers download the videos across 8 genres including bollywood, Hollywood, reality shows, lifestyle, music, regional, comedy and more from a vast collection of 10,000+ videos. Along with the latest music, Techzone also offers their aficionados retro music too.

     

    To engage more customers, the Re 1 store will have ‘Goodies Section’ and Premium section where the customers can collect points on every download and later redeem those points for recharge, movie tickets and much more and Premium section will offer high on value combo offers wherein a user can avail packs for Rs 10 or for Rs 25 and enjoy different services. Users can also book mark by downloading the icon on the handset where the icon would direct them to the WAP page directly, thus making the process simpler. This service is aimed at introducing more Aircel customers to the mobile internet experience. The charges for browsing the portal is as per the data plans opted by the users.

     

    Explaining the expansion of their VAS offering, Techzone MD Naveen Bhandari said, “Increased usage of smart phones and internet penetration in the Tier II & Tier III cities, has led the VAS industry to grow leaps and bounds resulting us to provide innovative services to the customers. With approximately more than a billion subscribers in India there is a strong potential market for expansion in terms of services. Sticking to our pull based strategy our content team is constantly making an effort to add plethora of new services and features so as to reach out to those billion consumers. The VAS market, though currently facing turbulence for a short term, is likely to see an upward surge and grow by 15-20 per cent by the end of 2013. This growth is majorly due to cheaper handsets and growing digital space and we are expecting positive response for our services.”

  • Techzone enters into strategic alliance with PTC Punjabi

    Techzone enters into strategic alliance with PTC Punjabi

    MUMBAI: The Punjabi entertainment industry has been in great demand and hence has been producing content that is widely consumed not only amongst the Punjabi community, but also amongst the large Hindi speaking masses.

    Keeping in mind the demand, Techzone, an aggregator, developer, publisher and distributor of entertainment content in the world, has entered into a strategic alliance with a Punjabi entertainment channel, PTC Punjabi. The alliance will provide a platform for direct interaction with audience for the channel by offering Techzone’s short code 56060.

    With this alliance, PTC Punjabi aims to engage its vast and much spread out audience across various parts of the country and interact with them via SMS services, program related activities (MYSMS, PTT), contests like opinion polls/Voting and subscription based services (News, Astrology, Jokes etc.).

    Speaking about the alliance, PTC Network CEO & director Rajiee M Shinde said, “Interactive Marketing enhances Viewer Engagement with the channel and SMS & other VAS services offered by Techzone help us to that aspect. We are looking at more such Interactive Services and this strengthening our relationship with our ardent viewers who seek us out, platform irrespective.”

    The response of the SMS services has been overwhelming already with 1.5 lakhs SMS subscription between Oct. 2012 and Mar. 2013. The highest gainers till now are PTC Music awards with 28, 500 sms hits, PTC Film awards with 14, 000 sms hits and the Miss PTC Punjabi Beatuty & Talent Pageant with 16, 000 sms hits.

    PTC Network president & director Rabindra Narayan said, “Significant SMS responses on our key properties have been extremely encouraging. Viewer Response & reaction important in shaping further content strategy. Our viewers are extremely loyal and almost consider it their right to convey their feedback back to the channel. We are always striving to better our content basis their feedback, rather than only relying on Industry Viewership figures.”

    On the same, Techzone MD Naveen Bhandari said, “PTC Punjabi is the No. 1 Punjabi entertainment channel in India, Australia, UK, USA & Canada and the reason for this is the unique content they offer to their consumers. We are glad to become a part of such an authentic brand where our robust technology will engage the user directly with the channel and also give Techzone a large platform for creating better visibility for ourselves. PTC Punjabi has a strong international appeal, thus, we are expecting to reinforce our global customer base through this alliance. This alliance in future will also prove to be another bench mark in our many efforts to strengthen our regional content portfolio in India and becoming the preferred VAS provider across the world.”

    In future, Techzone plans to extend its VAS services like CRBT, IVR, WAP and apps etc for PTC Punjabi to make the channel’s content available on mobile platform and ensure more effective content monetization for the channel.

    Commenting on the ongoing adoption of VAS services amongst the known media channels, Bhandari added, “Over the years we have witnessed a paradigm shift in the content monetization space. VAS has opened new doors for the non VAS related content providers to reach out and opine with their audience even without having to associate themselves with telecom operators. Techzone wishes to spear head this change with the advanced technology and reach, and its unique content monetization strategies. ”

  • Techzone gets exclusive mobile rights for Honey Singh’s ‘Bring me back’

    Techzone gets exclusive mobile rights for Honey Singh’s ‘Bring me back’

    MUMBAI: Continuing its efforts to bring authentic mobile music and entertainment content to its consumers, aggregators, developers, publishers and distributors of entertainment Techzone has clinched the exclusive rights for the song-track ‘Bring Me Back’ by Honey Singh.

    The company has entered exclusive right agreement with MTV for providing the song content on mobile and desktop internet. Through this right, Techzone will provide music tracks downloads, videos, ringtones, caller ring back tones and other digital entertainment formats for the song.

    ‘Bring me back’ is the controversial rapper’s latest single hit. Unlike Honey Singh’s other famous party song tracks which have a fun theme to their lyrics, ‘Bring me back’ touches the soul with a hard hitting message, the premise of MTV Spoken Word.

    Techzone MD Naveen Bhandari said, “Yo-Yo Honey Singh is an extremely famous Indian artist and his songs have a mass appeal. Acquiring the exclusive songs for Honey Singh’s ‘Bring me back’ is a very exciting moment for Techzone. The song has already gauged a record of mobile downloads on the first day of the availability which is phenomenal.”

    MTV, India’s leading music channel has a great youth appeal and is followed by youngsters across the country. ‘Bring me back’ was launched by Honey Singh at MTV‘s brand new music show, MTV Spoken Word.

    MTV EVP and business head Aditya Swamy said, “Bring Me Back is a very special collaboration between Honey Singh and MTV and is the opening track on our latest music project MTV Spoken Word. We have always been successful at leveraging platforms beyond television and this partnership with Techzone will ensure the track is available across every single mobile VAS vertical.”

  • ‘Rise of the Zombie’ ties up with Techzone for mobile, WAP-based content

    ‘Rise of the Zombie’ ties up with Techzone for mobile, WAP-based content

    MUMBAI: TechZone, aggregators, developers, publishers and distributors of entertainment content, has entered into a strategic alliance with the movie ‘Rise of the Zombie’ for providing its Value added services.

    ‘Rise of the Zombie’ is the first ever zombie film. The consumers can download its songs like ‘Dil Pukaare’ and ‘All Alone’ and set them as their CRBT.

    Additionally, they can also get an access to the exclusive videos of making of the movie, its best scenes, dialogues, wallpapers by just SMSing “ROTZ” to 56060.

    Techzone MD and CEO Naveen Bhandari said,” We are very excited about this collaboration. ROTZ is an interesting movie and has a differential concept. Needless to say, its music is also experimental.The WAP and CRBT service of ROTZ is being very well received. I am extremely glad of this association and am proud that Techzone is a part of this next-gen Indian cinema.”

    Lead actor and co-director Luke Kenny added, “ROTZ is a one of its kind movie with exceptional music rendered by the biggest names in the Indian independent music scene. It being a horror-drama makes music an essential part of the movie. This successful differentiation is clearly visible from the positive feedback of the audience. We want ROTZ’s movie to be available all over across all platforms and our alliance with Techzone is one of our endeavours for the same. Our teams have worked closely to bring out various exciting and innovative ways of promoting the content across all platforms. We are very positive about our association.”

    Rise of the Zombie is India’s First Zombie Origin Film releasing on 5 April. The story follows the transformation of Neil Parker, a wildlife photographer, as he is clenched into the darkness to only rise again as a monster.

  • India TV gets TechZone as technology partner

    India TV gets TechZone as technology partner

    MUMBAI: TechZone, a leading aggregator, developer, publisher and distributor of entertainment content, has partnered Hindi news channel India TV as their technology partner to engage audience outside television by providing value-added services (VAS).

    Under the tie-up, India TV gets to use Techzone‘s short code 56060 for on air polls, contest and various other audience interactive activities. The channel will also offer an exclusive WAP portal to its audience which will be a rich catalogue of branded content from India TV.

    TechZone Director Naveen Bhandari says, “With this tie-up, TechZone will be able to provide them the best technology platform online, and enhance their direct viewer interaction. The channel has been using TechZone‘s short code services very aggressively and has received overwhelming response from the audience in a short span of time. This also helps TechZone get great visibility. We have already done a similar tie-up with the popular radio station Radio City, and will soon be announcing more with various other market leaders from the lifestyle and entertainment categories.”

    India TV Interactive Media VP-Digital Media Prashant Sharda says, “With this partnership, we intend to penetrate deeper and make ourselves easily accessible to our strong and loyal audience, through various Mobile technology channels such as SMS, WAP, Mobile Site etc. We have a strong connect with our audience and we want to extend the reach to our viewers by connecting with them through the digital domain as well.”