India Business

Times Mobile Limited has partnered with Techfront, an mVAS provider, to launch a mobile app Follow On to provide users with additional content on their mobile during a live match on May 21 and 22, 2013 at Kotla. The application is available for download on Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone. Features: We tried the app on our Android phone and the app provides content such as team stats, individual player stats, teams head to head stats, points table stats, live score, video highlights, weather information, augmented reality feature and the ability to upload photos taken at the stadium. The photos taken at the event through the app can be shared at www.followon.in, however, the site notes that the photos will be uploaded after the event day. The video section offers clips like match highlights, fours and sixes, and wicket dismissals among others. The app also provides navigation to the stadium stands, allowing users to reach the stadium stand from their location with the help of Google Maps. As for the AR function, one can scan the Pepsi logo present at the stadium to get some prizes.    The app notes that it displays live information during the games only if one uses the Follow On WiFi network at the venue. The WiFi provided at the stadium will be apparently free to use. It’s not clear if the user can make use of this WiFi connection to browse other apps at the stadium. One annoying bit about the app was that, it asked me to participate in a poll which seems impossible to bypass. Our view It’s not clear why Times Mobile launched this initiative for only for two days, since they could have continued this through out the remaining IPL matches for this season. Besides this, it appears that the app is a good way to interact with users online for an offline event. The app provides users with information that might interest them – as sometimes at the stadium, no one really understands what’s happening. As for the brands, it gives a chance for them to interact with the user, collect data, and analyse it later. What’s particularly interesting is that while traditional advertising didn’t allow brands to realize their ROI, new mobile technology based engagement tools achieves two things – advertise and get engagement and thus ROI.

Gold moved ahead in northward territory by adding Rs 286 to Rs 26,396 per ten grams in futures trade Wednesday as market players expanded their exposures, moving in tandem with a positive global trend.

Technopark-based SunTec Business Solutions Wednesday launched its next generation product suite - Xelerate.

Bangalore-based shoe exporter Sara Soule Pvt Ltd plans to expand its Ruosh men's footwear retail chain by March next year and sign up with a couple of multi-brand outlets and online retailers, a senior company official said here Wednesday.

It’s been almost a week since Google announced their own streaming music service to compete with established services like Spotify and Pandora — Google Play Music All Access — and now that I’ve had a chance to play around with the app; I thought about sharing my experience with the app in a blog post. Google Play Music All Access app (yeah, the name totally sucks) was launched just about a week back at the Google I/O 2013 as Google’s aim to enter into the music streaming service business, and is already being compared with Spotify, Pandora, etc. The service offers unlimited music streaming at $9.99 per month. To sweeten the deal, Google tossed in a limited-time discounted price of $7.99 per month for customers who sign up before June 30. Users who wish to try out the service before jumping on to it can also do so, with Google offering a 30-day trial for the app. The service can stream upto 320kbps on mobile devices. All Access integrates into the same-old Google Play Music that’s been available for some time. You can still upload your music into an online locker as before, and create playlists and organise your music, but the paid All Access adds functionality similar to Spotify. It gives you the option to search 2 million cloud-based tracks, add them to playlists and share them with friends over Google+. The All Access App is currently available only for Android and Web (though the Web service hasn’t rolled out in some territories) and there’s no news about an iOS version of now. The app has excellent user interface. The search function beats that of Spotify’s hands-down. As expected, there’ Instant Search available in the app. Additionally, All Access has a Radio feature made up of “My Stations”. Google will automatically recommend stations based on your past listening, and you can also create your own by typing in an artist, song or album. The Radio isn’t much different from Pandora or Spotify – you’ll be given tracks similar to the type of music you selected. Interestingly, you can skip around the radio with All Access. You’re not restricted to one track at a time, which I have to say is pretty nice. Google creates an endless scrolling list of tunes. Most music streaming services have Facebook and Twitter integration, but Google has opted out of this practice and has gone in for Google+ integration. Another well-expected thing, yes. If you’d rather share a YouTube video, Google has conveniently made a “Share YouTube Video” feature available, which is actually pretty great. Of course, anyone will be able to listen. CONCLUSION At this juncture, I’d like to point out a few drawbacks and positives of the service. The drawbacks are that the app is a battery hog on Android, and there’s no iOS version or even a Desktop client. Internet channels practically run out of music after playing the service for an hour or so. Plus, there’s no free ad-supported version of Google Play Music All Access. The service could also use a little more social integration. The positives seem to outweigh the negatives to some extent. In my testing, I found almost every song I searched for. The set-up is dead simple and the interfaces are quite simple and easy-to-use. the 20,000 song digital locker is an added-bonus. Google recently also took other steps into the music and video industry. It launched Google Play Movies and Books as well. So should you go for it? I wouldn’t say yes at the moment. I’m expecting thousands of users have already spent a lot of time creating their playlists and collections on various other streaming services, so Google needs to offer something revolutionary if it hopes for users to migrate. Though I’d say there’s no harm in trying out the 30-day trial. Who knows you might actually love the service? Have you tried the Google Music All Access service? Please share your experience with us

A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets was trading 0.29 percent up in the pre-afternoon trade Wednesday.

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer said Tuesday it reached a deal to sell 40 E175 passenger jets to US airline SkyWest for nearly $1.7 billion.

Mexican telecommunications giant America Movil says it has agreed to buy US mobile operator Start Wireless Group for an undisclosed amount.

Apple has easily outsmarted its rival Google to become world’s most valuable brand. The iPhone,  iPad and iPod  maker is valued at $185 billion,  as per the annual BrandZ study of the world’s top 100 brand. Although Apple topped the list once again, its brand value only increased 1% to $185 billion, which is not as impressive as the 19% increase (from $153 billion in 2011 to $183 billion in 2012) it received last year. Google jumped back up to the second spot with a brand value of $137 billion (a 5% increase) and Samsung clocked in a 51% increase and a $21.4 billion brand value at the 30th spot. “Despite a more competitive marketplace and other challengers nipping at its heels, Apple’s ability to maintain its No.1 position demonstrates the value that having a strong brand brings to business. People still love the brand regardless of its stock price”, Nick Cooper, managing director of Millward Brown Optimor, said in a statement.  Apple has been topping the list ever since 2011 and it has seen its value increase by a whopping 1,045 % in the last eight years.  IBM, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola rounded out the top five. Microsoft, AT&T, and China Mobile also made the top 10 brands. The big blue social network Facebook  entered the top 100 at number 35 with a brand valued at $19.1 billion, while Chinese search engine Baidu rose to number 29 from 46.  The total value of the top 100 brands rose by 17 percent to $2.4 trillion, as the global economy shifted to growth, according to Millward Brown Optimor. Fortunately, if current rumors are right, Apple will be introducing a few new products to excite everyone. This could be just the thing to reignite a lot of interest in the brand. Check out the infographic below: Source | venturebeat Image Courtesy|  bgr Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

India needs to take sector-specific action and develop a mechanism to track the achievements in each area to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions, says a study conducted by WWF-India. The Indian government aims to reduce carbon emissions by 20-25 percent from the 2005 levels by 2020.