All Posts by Himanshu Sheth

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India is one of the best places in the world to age gracefully, as the younger have always looked after the older here.  Yet, a lack of information and of professional support leaves families to deal with issues of senior care on their own.

“Not anymore!” says Vladimir (Vladi) Ruppo, the promoter of a Bangalore-based startup BeautifulYears

Vladimir (Vladi) Ruppo said

We are creating on-line communities of people taking care of ageing parents with conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Diabetes, etc.  Here you can ask any question on senior care, and get answers from our experts, as well as advice and support from people like you, in situations like yours.

Vladi, 51, is a seasoned software executive with almost 30 years of international experience. Born and brought up in St. Petersburg, Russia, he worked for 12 years in Jerusalem, Israel, and for the last 15 years he has been in Bangalore.

Vladi came here in 2000, to set up a branch office of a British MNC.  He has brought it up from zero to 2,200 people.  “At this stage in my life, I am looking into doing something of value and meaning.” says Vladi. “There is so much to be done to help people age better. And we are just starting!”

With a dozen people on board, BeautifulYears has got a solid start. It is not only a social platform; it is also an e-shop for life-improving senior care products as small as nail cutters with a magnifying lens, book holders, tablet cutters and crushers, motorized wheelchairs, patient hoists and much more.

In addition to locally manufactured products, BeautifulYears is going to import advanced high-tech products from overseas – from augmented reality glasses for Parkinson’s patients, allowing them to steady their walking, to special shoes for diabetic patients; apparel for bedridden patients and much more.

Those who buy senior care products probably need related services – and there are plenty of them. BeautifulYears lists providers of caregivers, physiotherapists, home diagnostics services, medical equipment suppliers, as well as senior living facilities. The BeautifulYears.com team verifies all services, talking to their owners and visiting some of them. Most importantly, these services can be reviewed by people who have availed these services.

Users are the true owners of the BeautifulYears platform, and indeed, they are endorsing it:

I am very impressed with the BeautifulYears! Community discussions are relevant and I have found valuable tips helping me to take care of my elders. I intend to purchase some of their products.  I have become a regular visitor to the site!

Srivibhavan Balaram (Vibhav), a technology and engineering leader from Bangalore.

BeautifulYears is now launching in Beta version, with an aim to improve lives of senior people and of those who take care of them, by:

  • Creating communities for mutual support
  • Bringing innovative products
  • Providing socially reviewed listings of senior care services and housing options.

“May all senior people and their families enjoy many beautiful years together!” wishes the BeautifulYears team.

Keeping Elders Happy: The Beautiful Years team with Vladi [center]

For more information, please log on to BeautifulYears

|In: Mobile|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Whether it’s the streets of New York or the shores of Goa, the first restaurant you tried Ramen at or the underground bar you were so desperately hunting for. TraveLibro is the first out-and-out travel social networking app that is sure to make you a seasoned pocket traveler! TraveLibro app caters to your every travel need, allowing you to share your experience with friends, family and fellow travelers, and cherish the most treasured moments of your travels for a lifetime.

For those of you who prefer to go off the beaten track and find something new with every destination, download the one stop app with its suggested must-do’s and list of hotels and restaurants. With the ‘On the Go’ tab, you can also track your travel experience with simple check-ins, picture uploads and status messages and [like the name suggests] while you are on the go. Furthermore, it allows friends travelling together to share experiences and post moments to the same timeline so that you can relive your travel moments over and over again!

Available for free download on Google Play and iOS platforms, the app eases the planning for travel while simultaneously making your sharing experience easier from take-off to touchdown!

Commenting on the launch, Monish Shah, Chairman & Managing Director, TraveLibro, said

My vision was to create a product which would enable travellers to plan, experience, share and cherish their travel memories all under roof. This has led to –TraveLibro, which has been designed to cater to each and every need of a traveler. It is a one stop app for all things travel related, and that isn’t the best part. It’s the first Travel Social Networking app which captures experiences of all people travelling together in an automated timeline! It also allows users to share and cherish their journeys.  We’re really excited about what TraveLibro has in store for all you globetrotters.  We believe that travelling leaves you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller, so download the app now!

If you’re looking to plan your holidays better log in to the portal and ‘Pre-Plan your Next Holiday’ in three simple steps. Additionally use our ‘Travel Diaries’ feature to upload your past travels and create a bucket list to see your map turn orange and blue!

So whether you’re looking for a romantic getaway, an adventure trip, luxurious holiday or a beach vacation, the app has it all! Download TraveLibro on your smartphones today and have a fulfilling travel experience!

About TraveLibro

Founded in 2014, TraveLibro strives to cater to a travellers’ past, present and future travel experiences. The world-class platform not only helps travelers to connect with friends, fellow travelers& travel agents but also provides niche itineraries along with well researched information on must do’s, hotels and restaurants for about 1200 destinations. This information is integrated with a ‘Pre-Plan your Next Holiday’ feature which allows users to plan their next dream holiday in a few simple steps.  The USP of the app is the ‘On The Go’ feature which automatically tracks the user’s journey and allows friends travelling together to post moments in a shared timeline. The ‘Travel Diary’ consists of a Personal Travel Map, an interactive Travel Tracker, a Bucket List and a Timeline of past vacations. The portal currently has 1200 destinations, over 10,000 hotels, more than 35,000 restaurants and over 3000 itineraries listed. For more information, please refer TraveLibro

[Image Credit* – wtmlondon]

|In: General|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

YuppTV, the world’s largest Over-The-Top [OTT] provider for Indian content, has launched YuppTV Bazaar, a marketplace for high-quality video content. With the launch of YuppTV Bazaar, YuppTV will now host curated premium video content across various genres such as Education, Short Films, Web Series and Trailers etc.

The move will be music to the ears of independent video content creators, who often find it tough to monetise and market their premium content through traditional video-sharing portals, satellite and DTH platforms. Through assured quality supervision and a large native user base, YuppTV bazaar will allow these entrepreneurs to showcase their high-quality videos on a trusted platform and reach out to an audience ranging in millions across the world through devices such as Smart TVs, smartphones, tablets & PCs.

Speaking on the launch, Uday Reddy, Founder & CEO, YuppTV, commented

With the proliferation of unregulated video content on the digital platform, content monetization and visibility is a prime concern for premium video content creators who often find their content being lost in a deluge of casual user-generated content. YuppTV Bazaar is being launched as a solution that will overcome the traditional roadblocks associated with free-for-all video sharing platforms. We are confident that this development will be a major success and will empower content developers with the perfect medium to share and monetize their offerings.

Shri Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra added

In today’s digital age, with technology having changed the way many industries operate today, YuppTV’s launch of its premium video content platform YuppTV Bazaar comes as a very welcome move. By providing a medium to independent creative content creators for showcasing their works, YuppTV has taken the spirit of entrepreneurship to a new level. I support the initiative wholeheartedly and wish YuppTV and YuppTV Bazaar all success.

Abhishek Bachchan, who was also present at the launch, added

India, at the moment, is brimming with talent looking for an outlet for their creativity. The launch of YuppTV Bazaar from YuppTV is a welcome move that will provide the indie movie-makers with a trusted and curated platform for showcasing their talent.

Since its India launch in October 2015, YuppTV has been creating ripples across the digital entertainment industry owing to its unique approach and extensive network. Today, YuppTV is the world’s largest internet TV and Video On Demand [VOD] streaming provider with more than 5 million mobile app downloads & an audience base reaching 400+ million households through Smart TVs.

It is also the 2nd most popular app in Google Play Store and the most popular TV app on LG and Samsung Smart TVs in India.

About YuppTV

YuppTV is one of the world’s leading Over-the-top [OTT] content providers for South Asian Content. YuppTV was founded in 2006, with headquarters in Atlanta, GA and has branch offices in the USA and India. YuppTV started with two channels and has grown to deliver more than 200+ TV Channels today.  YuppTV is accessible on more than 25 internet enabled – Connected TVs, Internet STBs, Smart Blu-ray players, PCs, Smart Phones and Tablets.

For more information, please visit YuppTV

|In: General|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Money View, India’s leading money management app, is entering this new year with a remarkable achievement of 3 million users for their Android Application.

The overwhelming response to the app is a testimony of how Money View has been helping Indians to wake up to financial fitness. The app which is specially designed for India, helps users ‘stay on top of their money, anywhere, anytime’.

In its continuous effort to make India financially fit, Money View has launched its New Year Resolution Campaign #NazariyaBadlo and is urging Indians to change their outlook towards money and manage it in a simple, smart and secure way. The campaign is aimed at driving a behavioral shift amongst a large segment of people who find it difficult to manage their funds or are still stuck with some old-school ways of money management that don’t really seem to help them.

The campaign, that kick-starts on 24th December 2015 & continues till the 10th of January 2016, wants people to resolve to be financially fit this new year and pledge to manage their money better. And Money View will help them change for good – where they spend wisely and save smart.

Speaking on the achievement, Puneet Agarwal, Co-Founder of Money View said

This is a significant milestone for us. But more importantly, we are happy that Indians are waking up to the possibilities of structured and contiguous money management as traditionally Indians rank very low in financial planning and management. In line with our core objective of helping people become financially fit, this campaign aims to make people think about managing their money better in 2016.

As a part of the #NazariyaBadlo initiative, every individual can make their dream of ‘financial fitness’ come true this new year by downloading Money View and make their loved ones pledge for it too, by referring them. Money View is not only urging masses to adopt financial fitness but also appealing to its existing users to spread the message among their family and friends by referring the Money View App.

The best part of the campaign is that Money View will not just help users get financially fit, but also fulfill a lucky user’s new year dream by supporting their financial plans with a large sum of Rs. 1 Lakh. The company will choose 10 finalists from amongst the large pool of its users, both existing and the new ones who sign up and refer within the campaign period, and the finalists will then be made to contest the final leg to win the prize.

For more details on the campaign visit the following link. The MoneyView app for Android can be downloaded from here

About Money View

Money View is an app that acts like a personal money manager on your smartphone, giving users an overview of their financial status which can enable them to take prudent and judicious financial decisions. Using advanced technology, the app automatically tracks expenses, manages budgets and keeps a tab on bill cycles and payments. For more information, please visit Money View

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Hike messenger, India’s first home-grown and fastest growing messaging platform, will pave the way to get India online with the launch of its app in eight vernacular languages namely Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu.

This launch means that people and communities across India can now be in touch with their family, friends and contacts in their own native languages, defying the English language barrier, erstwhile felt in messaging apps. This launch, available immediately on Android phones with the following features:

Multi-lingual interface From the moment you open the app, you can choose the language of your app. Thus your full app experience is in your native language!

Multi-lingual keyboard It allows you to type in up to 9 languages [including English]. It also offers glide functionality at the bottom of the chat panel that lets you swap between the languages with ease, thus upping the fun in chatting. For a bi-lingual or multi-lingual chat experience, this is a wonderful addition.

  • The keyboard comes packed with predictive text technology that works on artificial intelligence and gives you a wide array of relevant words in your native language as you type, thus helping you save time and express better.
  • One expresses one’s emotions best in one’s native language. Hike’s immensely addictive stickers are also available in all these languages and help you express yourself in your native language.

Commenting on the launch, Kavin Bharti Mittal, CEO & Founder, Hike messenger said

We’re excited to launch hike in 8 local languages. For the first time ever millions of Indians will be able to seamlessly chat in their local languages only on hike. Every single hiker will now be able to choose a local language and also with it, see a special keyboard that they can use built specifically for that language. One cannot build for India without understanding the enormous diversity in the country. This is another big step towards catering to that diversity to bring India online.

Check Hike Localization in action below:

Hike’s Growth Story

  • Dec 2012 – Global launch
  • Feb 2013 – Messaging traffic grows 10X week on week
  • April 2013 – Hit the first 5M user milestone in just 4 months of its launch | Raised $7M from BSB
  • Feb 2014 – Hit the 15M user mark
  • April 2014 – Received $14M fresh funding from BSB
  • June 2014 – Crossed 20M user mark, launched first TVC
  • July 2014 – Hit #1 rank on App stores
  • August 2014 – Crossed 35M user mark, receives $65M fresh funding led by Tiger Global & BSB
  • November 2014 – Launches regional stickers on hike
  • January 2015 – Launched free Hike Calls
  • February 2015 – Launched Cricket Scores on hike
  • Aug 2015: Hike announces 20 billion messages per month and launched Hike News
  • Sep 2015: Launched Group Calling with upto 100 people

Additional information

You can download the app at – http://get.hike.in For more information, please visit the Hike Blog

[Image Credit* – Wikimedia]

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Yahoo have announced the 2015 Year in Review (YIR) for India. The YIR is a look at the year’s top trends, happenings and events, which caught the imagination of Internet users in India. In its eighth year now, this review is based on users’ daily search habits & an editorial selection of what they read, recommended and shared most on Yahoo.

Politics remained an all-consuming passion through the year in 2015. With high-profile elections in Bihar and New Delhi, Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal were among the Top News-makers of the Year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his run from 2014 and remained one of the top newsmakers this year too.

In an unexpected twist, the humble ‘Cow’ emerged as ‘Personality of the Year,’ trumping other high-profile contenders for the top spot. It started with the Maharashtra government announcing a ban on sale of beef in the state – a move, which led to massive debates online and offline, spiralling into the ‘beef controversy’.

Fuelled further by the mob lynching at Dadri, the ‘cow’ became the icon of discussions on ‘intolerance’, sparking the ‘award wapsi’ campaign, and even stalling the Parliament proceedings at one point.

The rise of ISIS, 2015 World Cup, APJ Abdul Kalam’s demise, the Sheena Bora Murder investigation and the Vyapam Scandal all made headlines in 2015 and featured on the list of Most Searched News/Events in 2015.

Prime Minister Modi remained the Most Searched Politician this year. The list also featured HRD Minister Smriti Irani, who was in the news often for her vocal stand on issues and controversies involving her. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also makes it to the list for news surrounding Sunanda Pushkar’s death and his comments on ‘intolerance’ in India. US President Obama’s India visit, AAP’s landslide victory in the Delhi elections, ‘Lalitgate’ and ‘Mahagatbandhan’ winning the Bihar elections, were all among the Top 10 Political Moments of the Year.

Sunny Leone retained the top position as the Most Searched Female Celebrity for the fourth year in a row. Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone took the second and third slots to round off the Top 3.

Among the male celebrities, Salman Khan claimed the No. 1 spot, while singer-rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh came in at No. 2, amidst drug addiction rumours and his noticeable absence from the Bollywood music scene. Other actors to feature in the list include Shahid Kapoor, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.

Moving past the regular Bollywood blockbusters, bilingual epic Baahubali, which broke box-office records while also being the most expensive movie to be ever made in India,  went on to claim the top spot as ‘Most Searched Movie of the Year’.

Like previous years, India’s Most Searched Sports person’s list was once again dominated by cricketers, with M.S. Dhoni coming in at No. 1. Sania Mirza was the only non-cricketing sportsperson to feature in the list. Her winning streak with Swiss champion Martina Hingis securing her a spot among the other cricketing heavy weights.

Apple dominated technology news and searches this year, with the iPhone 6 taking the top spot in the list of Most-Searched Gadgets.

Other themes which dominated the daily habits of online users in India included international sports, scams and controversies, epic selfie moments, most shocking photos and top fashion trends.

See Year in Review: 2015 for the complete low-down on 2015’s biggest moments for online India.

About the Yahoo India 2015 Year in Review Methodology

To develop the Yahoo Year in Review, their editors analyse user’s interest patterns on what they searched for, read, recommended and shared. It takes into account a number of factors including absolute volume and growth from previous periods to see which themes and trends bubble to the surface. Individuals and their preferences always remain anonymous.

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Bid & Hammer, India’s pioneer multi-category auction house announces the pre-Christmas and New Year launch of its E-Retailing venture: ‘B&H Shop’, an Online Antiques Show & Sale platform for art, jewellery, prints, furniture, home decor and other exciting gifts & collectibles.

The unique feature of this store is that No Bids – No Premium – No Registration is required as mandated at auctions. Clients pay just One Flat Rate without losing the advantage of buying through Bid & Hammer.

The works on offer will be carefully selected and comprise an eclectic mix of vintage and contemporary designs, in original untouched condition, at affordable prices. Any item purchased on bnhshop.com can be shipped worldwide.Making decorative art, curios, gents’ cuff-links, silver jewellery, vintage photos and ephemera available at the click of a button wherein price points are not a deterrent is what is going to be the USP of this endeavour along with a direct to home delivery service no matter which part of the world one is in.

BAndH

Ankush Dadha, Director, Bid & Hammer and Head – Operations said

An exciting new feature is that people can also buy straight from the Facebook page without having to visit the website. In between auctions we now wish to continue engaging our patrons and at the same time cater to a new collector base by the introduction of a home-decor and collectible accessories segment that does not involve the formalities of an auction.

The current collection focuses on Christmas gifts and novelties with attractive offers as well as New Year offerings and can be viewed online at B&H Shop

|In: General|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Letv the celebrated internet company will be conducting its first ever fans meet-up in multiple cities in India. Le Meetup is open for all Letv fans, who call themselves ‘Superfans’, as well as bloggers , keen tech enthusiasts and influencers in India.

A large number of responses across the country and registrations are said to have been received. According to Letv’s official forum-LeMe Community, the Le Meetups are planned in Bengaluru [26/12/2015], New Delhi [30/12/2015 & 09/01/2016] and Hyderabad [to be announced on the forum soon]

Letv had conducted a poll on its forum a while ago asking fans to cite  their city preferences for the Le Meetups. There was an overwhelming response from the fans and bloggers community about the meetup.

Letv, before the official announcement of its launch in India, had already touched a milestone million number of likes for its Facebook page in a record time of just 60 days. It is the fastest growing phone brand page in India as per Social Baker. To celebrate this milestone number, Le Meetup is being organized by the company to meet with its #SuperFans & Bloggers community up close and give them a hands on experience with the brand’s Le #SuperProducts.

Le Meetups will be the apt platform for its fans and bloggers to experience Letv’s super products before it even goes on sale in India. An opportunity to meet and chat with fellow #SuperFans, bloggers, Letv staff and take away Letv super products and much more.

So, if you are a SuperFan or wish to enroll as one, you need to get going Now, procedure for registration is below:

#SuperFans

Become a registered user of LeMe

Event Registration Links

Bangalore [26/12/2015] : https://event.gg/2068-get-your-hands-on-lefuture-bengaluru-12-26

Delhi [30/12/2015] : https://event.gg/2075-get-your-hands-on-lefuture-new-delhi-12-30

Delhi [09/01/2016] : https://event.gg/2076-get-your-hands-on-lefuture-new-delhi-1-9

Key Opinion Leaders [Established bloggers, Youtubers etc]

Bangalore [26/12/2015] : https://event.gg/2097-get-your-hands-on-lefuture-bengaluru-12-26

Delhi [30/12/2015] : https://event.gg/2099-get-your-hands-on-lefuture-new-delhi-12-30

Delhi [09/01/2016] : https://event.gg/2098-get-your-hands-on-lefuture-new-delhi-1-9

Check out our social media channels and LeMe community for more details

Founded in 2004 by Jia Yueting and Liu Hong, Letv employs more than 10,000 people and is the world’s first video company to go public with a market capitalization of more than $12 billion USD. Letv is committed to creating the ‘Letv Ecosystem’, a next-generation Internet engine that is vertically-integrated to offer an online platform completed with content, devices and applications.

Letv is engaged in myriad businesses, spanning from Internet TV, video production and distribution, smart gadgets and large-screen applications to e-commerce, eco-agriculture and Internet-linked super-electric cars. Letv plans to expand its operation in APAC and forays into India market. Entering into India Letv will focus on initial device and content offerings while continuing to build India ecosystem. Letv plans to bring its complete ecosystem to India.