Media

In a bid to attract more SME signups, it looks like Google India has reduced Google Apps pricing in India by 45%. As per the new pricing, businesses can now avail Google Apps plan for as low as Rs 150 per user per month or Rs 1,500 per user per year. Previously, Google Apps in India was priced at Rs 2,700 per user per year or Rs 270 per user per month. Features: Google Apps offers businesses with web mail, calendars, cloud storage, and video meetings through Google’s consumer products, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Hangouts. Google has integrated these solutions to work together seamlessly and one can access their data or services from mobile platforms including Android, iOS, or BlackBerry. Besides this, it offers 25GB of inbox size, 5GB drive storage, custom email address, unlimited users, business control, and 24*7 customer support. Why low pricing? Note that Google has updated the Google Apps pricing only in India, where as it continues to offer the same for $5 per user per month elsewhere. This reduction in price is bit surprising considering that Google had ended its free Google Apps offering last year in December. The fact that Google has now reduced the pricing in India indicates that not enough businesses are signing up and that Google wants to focus on Indian SMBs. In December 2012, as a part of its India Get Your Business Online initiative, Google had claimed to have created 2,500 websites for businesses in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk marketplace as of December 2012, and had also set-up a dedicating directory listing page for them at Chandnichowknowonline.in. Google had announced the ‘India Get Your Business Online‘ initiative, last year. Google intends to build 500,000 websites for Small and Medium businesses by 2014 together with HostGator through its nationwide initiative. It claims to have enabled 150,000 businesses with Web presence across 7,850 cities in India in a span of 13 months. Other players: Google Apps directly competes with Microsoft Office 365 suite. In August 2012, Microsoft partnered with Airtel to offer Microsoft Office 365 to small businesses. The service is targeted at freelancers, small businesses and even home office owners. It is also worth noting that Microsoft along with Google and Verisign is sponsoring the NASSCOM 10,000 start-up program. Microsoft’s Azure accelerator program also provides start-ups with free cloud services and software development tools. More recently, The All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE) has made Microsoft Office 365 mandatory in all its associated educational institutions, free of charge. As part of the partnership with Microsoft, Malhaar iMarketing Advantage(IMA) will co-ordinate this adoption process, which has to be completed by June 30, 2013. Zoho also competes with Google Apps. Its services start at $2.5 per user per month or $24 per user per year for a 10GB standard package. It also offer free plan with 5 users.

Specs Who Anna Kendrick Age 27 Accomplishments Starring in Rapture-Palooza (in theaters June 7) and Drinking Buddies (Aug. 23); played a cappella prodigy Beca Mitchell in last year’s Pitch Perfect Base Los Angeles What’s the first information you consume in the morning? I still haven’t bought a clock radio, so I look at my phone to check the time. And then I’ll see that I’ve got texts and emails. So then I’m just up because I’m afraid that somebody’s died in the middle of the night. How do you get your news? I’m addicted to Reddit. I spend a lot of time there, probably more than I should, but it’s definitely one of the first things that I check in the morning. That’s how I found out about the theater shooting in Aurora because someone who worked there had posted about it. It’s amazing—that site gets information faster than anybody. Are you a fan of any particular subreddits? Sometimes I’ll go to the “Get Motivated” subreddit just to get me off Reddit … There was one this morning that literally said, “Whatever you’re supposed to be doing right now, go fucking do it,” and I was like, “Aye aye, Reddit!” What occupies you in the car? I like to listen to This American Life in the car. There is something really soothing about it. They present stories in a way that’s not overwhelming, even if it’s really intense. How do you listen to music? I just got into Spotify. It’s a game-changer. Weirdly, I’m in this rut where I haven’t been listening to a lot of new music, so I’m actively looking for recommendations. I’ve been listening to comedy albums, like Paul Tompkins and Maria Bamford and Eugene Mirman, which is actually really fun when you’re getting ready in the morning. It totally gets me pumped for the day. Are you a TV junkie? Not really. I didn’t own a TV for years, so I almost forget that it’s available sometimes. But there are certain shows that I’ll obsess over. I finally just watched all of Girls straight through. And I’m a big Game of Thrones fan. How do you wind down at bedtime? I’ve been reading this book, Sex at Dawn, which is fascinating but dense. It’s about sexual anthropology, and it was recommended by Dan Savage, who I adore. Give us the skinny on your favorite app. You know what somebody just got me into? Snapchat! It’s totally for teenagers to send each other dirty pictures, but I use it to send my friends ugly faces throughout the day. I spend so much time trying to look nice and smile and never take an unflattering photo that there’s something deeply satisfying about making the ugliest face I can make, and knowing that somebody is going to see it for five seconds. What’s your biggest digital indulgence? I got my house done so that I can control everything from my phone, which is kind of dorky but really fun. And probably a lot more money than I should have spent for stuff that I could do with wall switches. With such a bloated media universe, how do you cut out the fat? I’ll let you know when I figure it out.

President Obama asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to scrutinize Justice Department investigations and said he was “troubled” that such inquiries could hinder reporters.

A new product, Twitter Amplify, will help brands match advertisements with Twitter commentary by viewers.

Content marketing is expected to be a big growth area for the ad industry and Robert J. Murray, global president of iProspect, a leading digital agency, is signing up.

Since launching in January 2012, Viggle has been making a splash as the go-to second screen app for brands and advertisers alike. We’ve recently written about Viggle’s partnership with the NBA for the 2013 NBA Playoffs and about their partnership for with Dan Marino for their MyGuy app activation surrounding the NFL Playoffs. continued… New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Thursday's Trivia Question : In last night's season finale of Modern Family, what was Phil Dunphy's Mom's name?

Twitter took the stage at Internet Week New York Thursday to introduce a new advertising product for media and consumer brands. Dubbed "Twitter Amplify," the product allows media brands and their advertising partners to promote television clips...

MPA, the Association of Magazine Media, has finally released a game plan to implement its guidelines for standardizing digital magazine metrics, which it hopes will encourage advertisers to commit to the growing number of tablet editions. Last...

Lego has unveiled a life-size Star Wars X-Wing fighter jet made entirely of Legos in Times Square. It promotes an upcoming Cartoon Network show called The Yoda Chronicles. You can also see a life-size Lego Chewy, Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO and Boba Fett in the promo for the show. But the X-Wing has the distinction of being the largest Lego structure built to date. At 11 feet tall, 43 feet long, 44 feet wide and almost 46,000 pounds, it's made of 5,335,200 individual Lego bricks. It took 32 people four months just to put it together. And you can climb into the cockpit for a photo. Which means all you Star Wars and Lego fans must make a pilgrimage to this, the largest and most awesome Lego thing ever made, and get a picture of your child sitting in the cockpit shouting "Pew! Pew!" See lots more photos at Gizmodo.