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There are 6 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India" Interview With Mr. Pratapa Bernard From OnMobile On Their Developer NetworkOnMobile, India’s leading Mobile Value Added Services(VAS) player recently announced launching of their own Developer Network. Everyone agrees its great news for entrepreneurs / content creators, as it will give them an opportunity to reach out to ONMobile’s market easily. WATBlog decided to approach OnMobile and get complete details about their Developer Network. Mr. Pratapa Bernard, Head of Marketing & Products, OnMobile Global Ltd spoke to WATBlog. Here is the interview :- WATBlog :What is OnMobile developer network all about?Value Added Services in India and other Emerging Markets include SMS, WAP and Speech-enabled services. Speech enabled services are hugely popular as its very easy to use, services can be offered in the local language and available on all mobiles (users only need to make a call). Whereas SMS and WAP services are relatively simple to develop, Speech applications can be quite complex and require specialized skills. OnMobile has been very successful in rolling out Speech services on its Multi Modal Platform, MMP2500. This platform has also been deployed across all mobile operators in India as well as in several networks internationally. The latest (and current) version of this platform, called Ozone, provides an industry standards based environment for developing and deploying Speech services. Amongst others, Ozone supports VoiceXML and GrXML. The standards approach ensures that any developer who has sufficient XML skill sets will be able to develop Speech applications with a little bit of training, thus enabling a larger development community to address the Indian and emerging markets mobile population. To further simplify the development process, OnMobile has also introduced a Speech applications Development Kit (SDK). With this SDK, developers will be able to quickly create Speech enabled applications on a standalone system, validate the application performance and then deploy it on an Operator environment. With the SDK, the technology barrier to developing Speech services has been dramatically lowered. When developers register and become a part of the OnMobile Developer Network program, they get full access to this SDK. The SDK comes bundled with the Indian language model, enabling them to build speech services for the fast growing Indian market. Additionally, developers can also avail of associated services like UI design, Studio resources, Audio Engineering expertise, VoiceXML training and many other specialized capabilities from OnMobile. WATBlog : How do users benefit from it?The rapid growth in the Indian mobile industry provides immense opportunity. However, the diversity of the market in terms of language, local culture, tradition, lifestyle, etc., makes it very fragmented and thereby limits scale economies. While it becomes difficult for large players to cater to every local need, these requirements can be served by local developer organizations. However, the complexity of developing speech applications had been a barrier in the past. The creation of the OnMobile Developer Network program, will enable a large community of developers in the local market to offer targeted and specialized speech applications. Thereby, both the consumer and businesses benefit from the Developer Network program. WATBlog : How do developers benefit from this?Developing Speech services was (and still is) a specialized skill and required significant investment in terms of people and technology resources. Diversity of language and Voice UI complexity meant that knowledge base was always in short supply. Deployment of Speech applications in the Operator network was an even more challenging affair, with complex network integration and large investments in system infrastructure. With the OnMobile SDK, Developers could now create Speech applications using standards based technology and skill set required are more readily available. Further, developers can now use the Ozone platform deployed by OnMobile in the Operator networks to make their applications available to the end consumer, thereby eliminating one of the biggest barriers to taking their services to market. WATBlog:What is the revenue model for developers, if any?When the applications are rolled out in the Operator network and used by the mobile consumer, Developers get a share of the revenue earned by the Operator. The quantum of revenue share is directly negotiated between the Developer and the Operator WATBlog: How does OnMobile benefit from this?The idea and intent behind the OnMobile Developer Network is to enable a wider community of developers to create and deploy Speech enabled services and cater to diverse needs of the Indian mobile consumer. In doing so, the popularity, relevance and richness of Speech applications will grow in the market. With more players offering speech enabled mobile services, consumers will be the ultimate beneficiary and get to avail of services that they desire. Developers also have the option to deploy their services on OnMobile's Ozone platform that is deployed in the Operator's network. This will increase the traffic serviced by the platform. That concludes the interview with Pratapa Bernard. We thank him for such a detailed response for our queries and wish OnMobile all the success for this project. Do check out more such interesting interviews here. Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Should We Get ready to Bid Adeiu to the Beloved Mouse, this 9/11?
There have been speculations all around about Apple launching a new design for the much touted iPod and might also launch a widescreen version, this fall.
Apple had been moving with full force towards a touch-enabled Leopard even a few months ago and might even succeed in building up a gesture based controller for the operating system. If that happens, the mouse just might become a part of the history book, one of these days.
Not to be outdone by Apple’s popularity, Microsoft too plans to flex its muscles this September 9th. The Microsoft Hardware homepage showcases a flash animation hinting us to “Say GoodBye to Laser”. It seems that Microsoft Hardware is going to steer away from the now traditional implementations of laser technology in its peripherals and introduce a new approach. The most obvious items that could be affected are mice. Whether Microsoft Hardware is ready to scrap the infrared laser diode from its mice remains to be seen, as the integration of laser-based technology is not limited to this type of products.
If you are aware of the UnMousepad Prototype, Redmond had previously launched multi-touch and gesture recognition technology embedded within a mouse pad that shows great potential for commercialization. With Windows 7 coming up, this paper-thin and flexible multi-touch device can be used for a wide variety of interactivity applications such as games, 3D sculpting, 6DOF object manipulation and many more. Indeed, the time seems to have finally come, to say good bye to the beloved and faithful mouse that served the human kind for so many years!
Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Eros International & Rajshi Media Join Hands to Share Content
Rajshri Media, the web, mobile studio and digital entertainment arm of Rajshri Group, has signed multi-film content licensing deal with Eros International , the leading integrated studio within the Indian media & entertainment sector. They have joined forces on ondemand.erosentertainment.com where a selection of catalogue films from Eros’ strong content library of over 1900 titles will be showcased along with streaming content like song clippings, promos and movie scenes and the likes, from Rajshri.com. Pranab Kapadia, President - Distribution, Eros International, said,
STAR is a leading media and entertainment company in Asia and broadcasts over 60 television services in ten languages to more than 300 million viewers across 53 Asian countries. Such a huge amount of content and the leverage of the Rajshri brand should help making the partnership a very fruitful one. What makes me wonder, though, is the fact that with so much of TV content gradually shifting online, emergence of WiMAX in the country and also IPTV making its foray, slowly but surely, how long more till we have two different viewing devices at home, one for television content and another for computing pleasures?
Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Twittad Helps Advertising On Twitter!Endless discussions about Twitter's business model have surfaced the internet. It's being called the Facebook of microblogging and most people feel it's about time that Twitter got a revenue model. We have blogged about earlier as well on the possible revenue models for twitter.
But just because Twitter doesn't have a revenue model doesn't hasn't stopped others from monetizing from Twitter. Welcome TwittAd! It was launched on the 26th of August this year and has already started seeing progress. If you thinking that, this service will simply mash up those boring Google ads and your twitter template into something obnoxious and stale, then this is where you're wrong. According to their website: "Our goal is to not fill Twitter with ugly & obnoxious advertisements. We give advertisers templates and ideas to help keep the integrity of Twitter background images"
It uses your paypal account for transactions. You get paid on an hourly basis for your ad. A Virtual Account balance is calculated and once the advertiser's ad expires the money is released into your Real Account balance. As for their commission they charge a 5% service fee on the total purchase price; the minimum price being .99 cents.
And the numbers speak for themselves As of yesterday they had 474 Twitter users who signed up with 297 profiles currently available. They have a total of 37 advertisers on board with several purchases happening in the last few days.
And the newer services keep on rolling, for example, they announce (on their blog) that they will also help advertisers to make ads, charging about 5USD as a fee for the design for the ad.
Also advertisers get to see how frequently the twittad users tweet so that they can gauge their activity status.
With the Indian online community slowly but steadily getting hooked onto twitter, this could prove an interesting way for advertisers and brands to connect with the early adopter community.
Most Commented PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Funding Updates: Vanu & Pressmart Secure 32M$ and 6M$ respectivelyWell siting here writing this blog post and the rains come down lashing the Mumbai streets with thundering added to effect. Ironic isn’t it? When its raining money as well for startups as well. Two companies have recently raised funding and here are the updates on the invetsments. Vanu raises 32 Million $ in venture funding
Vanu, Inc is a provider of software radio infrastructure solutions for cellular operators which has raised $32 million venture capital investment from VC firms like Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), Charles River Ventures and Tata Capital. This funding will help Vanu in business development and also in the process of significantly expanding its presence in India through increased staffing and the signing of strategic partnerships. With this funding Bruce Sachs of Charles River Ventures and Promod Haque, managing partner of Norwest Venture Partners join the Vanu Board of Directors. According to Promod Haque this is much needed technology in India, He says "Nowhere is this needed more than in India. The combination of explosive market growth and low ARPU requires new and innovative infrastructure solutions. We are extremely impressed with the Vanu executive team and the company's traction to date. We believe Vanu is well positioned to capture the leadership position in this rapidly growing global market." Pressmart raises 6 Million $.. To go global!
Pressmart Media Limited a print-to-digital delivery service, has secured funding of 6 Million $ from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and NEA IndoUS Ventures. This funding will allow pressmart to focus on expanding its global sales, marketing, and customer-support presence across 35 countries where it currently serves over 350 print media customers. With this funding Sateesh Andra, Venture Partner of Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Vinod Dham, Founding Managing Director of NEA-IndoUS Ventures would be inducted as board members on the pressmart board. According Sateesh Andra, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, there is tremendous growth opportunity for Pressmart digitization services globally, He says "Publications around the Globe are currently under tremendous pressure to increase their presence on the web and leverage new media/social media for content distribution. Pressmart’s Platform offers publishers a strong ROI and additional means of revenue.” Related PostsAlso check out Our Jobsite: WATJob Our Video Show: WATShow Our Gaming Blog: WATGame Our Consulting: WATConsult Startup Review : Diditz.com - “I Am What I Do”
At one point in time, there was an influx of travel portals in India. So, hundreds of crores (yes!) went into funding of different travel portals. Some survived, others did not. The latest fad seems to be the “Log Your Life” kind of websites. The tagline of Twitter explains it better - What Are You Doing? So, these websites encourage you to log each activity that you did as you move ahead in life. Not just writing blogs - having coffee, reading a book, going for a movie, your impression of the movie, the pictures you click at the last trip to Goa, anything goes. Twitter, kind of, made this hugely popular. Then, there have been Indian editions like LifeinLines.com. Sometime back, I received an invitation from Diditz.com, another of such sites. The site is in its alpha stage right now. Here is what I thought of it. Well, the concept does look good for a while but three minutes into it and you know where it is all getting to. The similarity to the familiar services are immediately established. The sign up form doesn’t even have a confirm password field. Bad! Although the sign up was pretty simple, their age verification is messed up a bit. Harshal tried to sign up and he was listed as a 39-year old. (He is 17, I think). See the screenshots.
A lot needs to be done on the interface. It was hard to find the buttons for common tasks like Edit Profile, Settings etc. The look of the website on the whole was cluttered too and not very pleasing on the eye. The search option didn’t work that great as well and the “invite others” section was sitting in the nook and corner of the website. There are some good points, though. The hot-around section was quite satisfactory. It delivers you stories in Diditz.com, that match your preferences. Kind of 'feeds’.
If it needs to stand up among other sites in the domain, it needs to have some real compelling value, which, we failed to see at this point. The posts are termed as Experiences, which simply put, are blog-posts. Ok, may be mini blog posts. Lifeinlines.com is still better than Diditz.com. After playing for a while, you lose interest in the site. However, it would be good to test it out once. The site is still in alpha stage (pre-beta) . The founders have promised free demo accounts to the WATBlog readers. To receive an invite, readers can send a mail with the subject (Inviteme) to : webmaster@diditz.com. Tell us how did you like the product!
PS: Thanks to Harshal for doing the review. Thanks to Sohit Karol , Co-founder, Diditz.com for providing the lead.
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Apple has been known to launch new products from their lineage, especially iPods, every September 9th, and this year should prove no aberration. As reported by 
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