Reliance ADAG Launches BigFlicks

Reliance ADAG's BigFlicks.com today launched its on-demand movie download service. BigFlicks aims to offer the biggest range of quality Indian entertainment panning across languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Kannada, available either as 'download-to-own' or for 'free streaming'.

The company will also offer 'download-to-rent' and 'subscription' services as part of its portfolio of operations. Besides, BigFlicks is introducing innovative entertainment solutions to make Indian cinema, television, and music accessible to overseas Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and Indian cinema lovers both in India and abroad.

The movie rental services via online home delivery and retail network will be rolled out beginning next month. BigFlicks hopes to be the world's largest Indian entertainment content library, with plans to acquire more than 2,000 titles in one year.

"BigFlicks is a big step in the evolution of the Indian movie industry," said Rajesh Sawhney, president of Reliance Entertainment. "The online movie download service will work well for the nearly 25 million NRIs -- students and working professionals living overseas, who follow Indian entertainment on a regular basis, connecting with their homeland primarily through Indian movies and music," said Kamal Gianchandani, chief operating officer of Bigflicks.com.

Nokia Opens Doors to the Internet

In a paradigm shift, Nokia today introduced 'Ovi', its new Internet services brand name. 'Ovi' means 'door' in Finnish, and promises to enable consumers easily access their existing social networks, communities, and content.

As part of 'Ovi', Nokia has announced the Nokia Music Store, N-Gage, and Nokia Maps. As such, 'Ovi' at http://www.ovi.com will act as the gateway to all of these Internet services.

It will be an open door to Web communities, enabling people access their content, communities, and contacts from a single place, either directly from a compatible Nokia device, or from a PC.

The first version of Ovi.com is slated to go live in English during Q4 2007, with additional features and languages expected to go live during the first half of 2008.

Part of 'Ovi', the Nokia Music Store at http://music.nokia.com will offer millions of tracks from major artists, and independent labels, as well as local artists, available only through Nokia. The store can be accessed via a desktop computer, or directly from a compatible Nokia device such as the Nokia N81 or Nokia N95 8GB multimedia computer.

Consumers will be able to browse for new music, buy what they want, or add a song to their wish-list to download later. They will also be able to transfer purchased songs to their mobile devices. With the built-in music player, they will be able to create playlists on the go and manage their music collection.

The store will open across key European markets this fall, with additional stores in Europe and Asia opening over the coming months. In Europe, individual tracks will cost 1 euro and albums will be upwards of 10 euros, with a monthly subscription for PC streaming of 10 euros.

Also part of 'Ovi', N-Gage will offer an easy way to find, try, and buy great quality games directly from compatible Nokia devices. By selecting the N-Gage application on compatible Nokia devices, users will be able to preview available games, connect with friends, read reviews, or download free demos. Games can be bought either with a credit card, or by charging to the user's monthly phone bill.

Electronic Arts, Gameloft, etc, are making some of their big brands available through N-Gage. The application is expected to be available for download at http://www.n-gage.com in November 2007.

Meanwhile, Nokia Maps, as the name suggests, will offer maps, city guides, and more -- directly to compatible mobile devices. Commenting on Nokia's shift from mobile to Internet services, Olli Pekka Kallasvuo, president and chief executive officer of Nokia, said that the industry is converging towards an Internet-driven experience, and that 'Ovi' represents Nokia's vision in combining the Internet with mobility.

Call Card Free Service for Asians - VSNL

Starting August 21st, VSNL, part of the Tata Group, will reportedly offer a new facility christened "Trueroots International Calling Service" to people of South Asian origin (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) residing in the US that will allow them securely and economically connect with their near and dear ones back home.

VSNL claims the new service will offer superior voice quality and error-free connectivity sans a physical calling card or hidden/extra charges.

The calls will be conducted on VSNL's extensive global fibre optic network. While the rates are not yet revealed, VSNL officials said these would be competitive to the South Asian countries concerned.

For the South Asian community residing in USA, they can purchase "Trueroots" online through a Web portal www.trueroots.us else call VSNL customer service directly.


The service is on 24x7, 365 days of the year, according to the company. "Trueroots" offers advanced features such as a prepaid recharge option that allows recharging a calling account through a credit card.

Other features include: instant recognition of calling line ID for PIN-less dialling from up to 5 registered phone numbers, the ability to make up to 3 follow-on calls without having to redial the access number, speed dial capabilities for up to 5 frequently dialled numbers, and last number redial.


VSNL says as part of Trueroots, account holders will soon have access to exclusive voice services, special offers, and incentive discounts through the Web site. One of these services to be launched soon will offer entry to a leading entertainment hub that will allow customers gain access to premium content such as full length movies including Bollywood, TV series, sports coverage, video games, music downloads, karaoke, and so on.

Google Intros India Labs, Services

Google India has reportedly announced India specific services, including Google Local Search and Google Local Business Centre. The company has also launched an innovation platform for India named Google India Labs.

Google Local Search is meant for Indian users to search for locally relevant information on the Web. With this tool, they can find information on local restaurants, shops, malls, hotels, other businesses by searching on http://local.google.co.in.

Whereas with Google Local Business Centre, even small businesses can add their information to Google Local for free.

The two products are meant to be mutually useful to consumers and businesses; providing one the information, and the latter the required visibility on the Web.

Meanwhile, Google describes it's Google India Labs, launched under the sub-domain labs.google.co.in, as a 'technology playground' for products in the process of development needing market feedback for improvement.

The innovations showcased will be specifically for the Indian market though they might come from any of the Google offices across the globe, the company said. Google says globally, it has 7 such labs panning across the US, China, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and now India.

For starters, Google India Labs will showcase 2 India-centric products.
The one, the Indic On-Screen Keyboard iGoogle Gadget offering users the ability to type search queries in 14 Indic languages.

All they need do is choose letters from an on-screen keyboard by using a mouse. They would be able to add the gadget of their chosen language to their personalized iGoogle home page, and use it to search for content in their language.

The other product, Google Indic Transliteration (http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic/), will allow users type in Hindi by using phonetically equivalent English text entered through an English keyboard. With this product, users can create Hindi content and use it in applications of their choice including mails, documents, and so on.

Windows Live SkyDrive Beta Release

Reportedly, Microsoft has recently released an online storage service called Windows Live SkyDrive, as well as the beta of home.live.com, a centralized new Web site for consumers to access Windows Live services all in one place.

Windows Live SkyDrive (http://skydrive.live.com/) provides customers anytime, anywhere access to their files and information on the Web.

The service also gives users options for sharing their information with others. Windows Live SkyDrive has three areas demarcated for peoples' information: personal, shared, and public. The information placed in the personal and shared areas is secured with user names and passwords - both users' own and those belonging to people they want to share their information with. The public area is open to everyone on the Web.

The initial beta of Windows Live SkyDrive offers 500MB of free storage. As of now, the beta is available in India, the US, and UK.

Following the need to provide a centralized home for Windows Live customers, Microsoft has also released the beta of home.live.com.

The Web site home.live.com allows customers access Windows Live services all in one place with easy navigation between services.

Reliance ADAG launches bigadda

BigAdda, part of Reliance ADAG, launched bigadda.com, calling it the first Indian Youth Networking Web site.

Refuting charges of being yet another social networking Web site, Rajesh Sawhney, president of Reliance Entertainment, said, "bigadda.com is the first unified platform where different media sharing activities will converge. Besides, most of the existing social networking Web sites are meant for a global audience. Unlike these, bigadda.com caters to a purely Indian audience.

Why should it always be that we look towards the West for a pioneering technology or idea or concept. Why cannot it be the other way round? Our new Web site is testimony to this feeling."

"The product/Web site is like any other product in it's class -- feature driven, but it is the ecosystem that is the differentiator. Our content is local and relevant to the youngsters of today. Importantly, it is meant for Indian sensibilities," added Siddhartha Roy, chief operating officer of BigAdda.

With a punch line that reads: 'Let's catch up', bigadda.com claims to be more than just a networking site -- it intends to help today's youth fulfil a very important need, that of 'self expression'.

Some of the salient features of bigadda.com include: media sharing including creating, uploading, and sharing of videos and photos; addas or communities; blogs and scribbles; forums; bookmarks and tags; and reviews and ratings.

Sawhney explained that bigadda.com aims at evolving a youth community, inclusive and aspirational, and at creating a youth culture that is cool.

In keeping with this objective, the Web site has roped-in five celebrities -- each famous in his/her own right -- who will establish connect with youngsters and lead them.

source: in.msn.com

Bangalore Goes Hi-tech to Tackle Traffic

Electronic billboards, SMSs and handheld devices are among the new technologies that will now be used to check traffic jams on the narrow and potholed roads of India's IT capital, Bangalore.

The traffic police are also attempting to discipline Bangalore's unruly three-wheeler autorickshaws and make them passenger-friendly.Calling their campaign the "B-TRAC 2010", the traffic police Friday formally launched BTIS - Bangalore Transport Information System - for real time traffic monitoring.Cell phone signals will be used to keep an eye on traffic movement.

The B-TRAC is being implemented at an estimated cost of Rs.400 million, a senior city police official said.Information gathered through this system will be made available to vehicle users via SMS, the web, electronic billboards and helplines to enable commuters to avoid congested locations.

The information will help police tell commuters the estimated time required to reach a destination.A website, www.btis.in, has also been launched so that one can become familiarise with the system.Apart from traffic snarls, a major problem is violation of traffic rules and regulations.

To haul up the guilty, a large number of policemen are being provided with Blackberry handsets.The device will help police book cases on the spot and serve notice through wireless pocket printers. It will also enable police to keep track of past violations. Repeated violations will mean cancellation of the driving license.

Bangalore has nearly 100,000 three-wheeler autorickshaws and not a day passes without arguments breaking out between passengers and drivers on issues like overcharging, refusal to go to certain areas and rash driving.At important places such as the main city bus stand, the railway station and the airport there are pre-paid auto counters manned by police. Here too passengers face problems once the auto leaves the place

.To get over such problems, the 'easyauto' service is being launched. All that one has to do is SMS or call a particular number to get an auto. One can book these autos through the net by logging on to www.easyauto.in.co.

source: tech2.com

Kakle Vying for 'Search' Space

Amidst major search giants like Google, Yahoo!, MSN, comes a new player called "Kakle.com" trying to make its mark! Although a much lesser known brand, Kakle promises an interactive user experience with all the interesting features that a paradigmatic search engine may offer.

However one feature that possibly even beats Google is the free 5GB email account that Kakle offers. Meanwhile, Google's Gmail offers just 2GB of storage.

Apart from this, Kakle features instant messenger (IM), chat, games, forums, blogs, social networking communities, and unlimited audio, video, and picture uploads. The voice and video IM is interoperable with other major messenger services, something similar to Meebo.

In addition, users can also create their own Web portals and import RSS.
"The one thing that makes Kakle stand out from other search engines is the meta result," said Riko Chung, president and owner of Kakle. "We aggregate the results from major search engines, and rank the search engines on the basis of the results.

If the user clicks on the name of the search company, the page where the site is displayed comes up." Kakle.com has been in beta for the past six months, and is seeking feedback from users for further development.

"Various features are being modified, and once launched, it will look completely different from what it looks today," Chung added.

source: techtree.com

Spice Unveils Dual Mode Phone

Spice Mobile has newly launched a dual-mode handset wherein both GSM- and CDMA- based mobile connections can be activated. The dual-mode phone is meant for Tier II and Tier III cities, the company said.

During the launch, Kunal Ahooja, chief executive officer of Spice Mobile, said the new phone is targeted at all those who have two cell numbers but want the convenience of carrying just one phone. Ahooja said an estimated 8 percent of the total number of mobile phone subscribers already own two numbers.

source: techtree.com
Ahooja also hinted at the possibility of the company launching a 'people's phone' to cost less than Rs 1,000. He said Spice would likely start manufacturing these low-cost handsets in 2008.

Meanwhile the dual-mode phone has been launched in two variants: the D-88, which supports both GSM and CDMA active connections at the same time; and the D-80, which supports two GSM active connections, and is useful for travellers operating in the local area. The D-80 carries a price tag of Rs 9,849 while the D-88 is yet to hit the market.