Blogmint, Asia’s leading Influencer Marketing Platform recently surveyed 500+ influencers on the state of influencer marketing in India. The data brought out interesting insights like Instagram followed by Live Video will be the upcoming channels for effective engagement.
It’s an opportunity not to be missed! Techstars, a US-based mentorship-driven startup accelerator, will be scouting for emerging innovative startups in the Internet of Things arena at the Internet of Things India 2017 expo to be held from 8~10 February 2017 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
The IoT India 2017 expo is co-located with South Asia’s largest ICT event-25th Convergence India 2017 expo. Techstars’ Internet of Things programme in partnership with PwC, Siemens, GE, Bosch, Verizon, and SAP sources tech companies from countries like Mexico, Germany, London to unlock their potential and accelerate their growth.
Techstars’ global ecosystem for entrepreneurs helps bring new technologies to the market across the world. It is also a venture capital fund with $265M AUM and over 750 accelerator companies to date. Selected companies will have the opportunity to participate in a three month long world class mentorship programme from the Techstars networks, the chance to pursue and fast-track partnerships within their partners, and up to $120k in funding.
Christopher Badaoui, who runs the programme with Managing Director and IoT Investor Jenny Fielding in New York City, will hold a workshop on IoT at the expo. He will talk about what it takes to get into the programme and what the future of IoT holds. He will also be meeting with ten of the most promising startups confronting some of the industry’s most challenging verticals such as manufacturing, warehousing and industrial.
Christopher Badaoui, Founder at NY Frontier Tech said
The opportunities in IoT are limitless when technologies are sold to large corporations. Cost savings, data collection and analytics are the tools that will help us reshape the way the world works. I look forward to coming to India once again.
Showcasing some of the best technologies including video analytics, telecommunications, smart lighting, security, systems integration, M2M solutions, data science, cloud services, applications development and more under one roof, the IoT India 2017 expo will bring together leaders in the industry.
Badaoui, who is of British and Lebanese descent, has been in the industrial scene from the age of 16. Coming from a paint manufacturing background, and with a passion for tech, he has seen first hand how innovation is key for creating a more powerful infrastructure for the future.
Previously, he was responsible for business development at Forge, an on-demand platform for hourly labor. He has a background in growth and facilitating business development for startups and Fortune 500 companies.
He believes investing in IoT brings incredible opportunity, as well as incredible responsibility to all stakeholders. As consumers’ devices, homes, cars, cities, organisations, and lives become more and more connected, the safe use of their personal data is paramount.
To register for the program visit here, to view the Conference Program please visit here. The complete speaker list can be accessed here
About Internet of Things 2017 expo
The expo will showcase today’s disruptive technologies, and the evolutionary world of IoT. The range of products and solutions on display include wearables, video analytics, telecommunications, smart lighting, security, systems integration, M2M solutions, data science, cloud services and applications development, etc. This event includes the future of IoT in India, supporting the Smart Cities mission and implementation of the Digital India programme. For addition information please visit IOTIndiaExpo
These days, young adults in the country have a higher disposable income, and therefore there has been a marked change in the expenditure profile. Products considered as luxuries earlier have now become necessities.
Consequently, demand for consumer appliances is witnessing unprecedented growth. Historically, you had to save for months in order to purchase a high-end refrigerator or a mobile handset. However, this is not the case today as several financial institutions like Capital First offer different financial products, such as personal loans, consumer durable finance, and two-wheeler loans.
A consumer durable loan is available for purchasing products, such as television, music system, mobile phones, laptops, air conditioners, and several other items. In India, almost 11% of such purchases are funded through consumer durable loans. These are 0% interest loans generally available for amounts between INR 8,000 and INR 5 lakh. However, when you apply for a consumer durable loan, you might have to pay a processing fee.
Here are the benefits of consumer durable loans.
Faster processing
If you want to buy any consumer durable product, such as a TV on loan, a consumer durable loan is an excellent option. You may have to pay a small down payment at the time of purchase. The balance amount is divided into Equated Monthly Installments [EMIs]. The repayment can be easily made through EMI’s without the need for a credit card. Additionally, since most lenders like Capital First offer online loan approvals, the entire process is completed quickly.
Affordability
The processing fee for consumer durable loans is nominal. Furthermore, if you receive unexpected funds like a bonus, you may prepay the loan amount since consumer durable loans do not entail prepayment penalties.
The 0% interest scheme is available through tie-ups between the retailers or manufacturers and the financial institutions. In most cases, the manufacturing companies bear the interest costs to encourage higher purchases. This helps you upgrade your lifestyle by purchasing any product on EMI without the burden of interest payment.
Taking skilled craftsmanship beyond the geographical boundaries of India, Handikart – an online handicraft’s store that offers assorted range of genuine handicraft products from India today announced its global selling program. The brand offers a much needed platform to Indian artisans thus giving impetus to the fragmented industry with unimaginable potential.
The brand offers a much needed platform to Indian artisans thus giving impetus to the fragmented industry with unimaginable potential.
Under its global selling program, Handikart will be delivering products worldwide, including the United States, UK, Middle East & Latin America. Handikart’s foray into international market aims to bestow the global citizens an opportunity to experience the splendid craftsmanship of Indian artisans by bringing the vast variety of exquisite handmade products under one cover.
Expressing his delight while announcing the global selling program, Priyank Vashney, Founder of Handikart, said
We are mighty pleased to see our diligent efforts taking shape finally. Exquisite demonstrations of India’s skilled craftsmanship have created a distinct identity to win accolades in India and worldwide. In less than six months we expanded pan India and now globally.
Handikart is in alignment with the Indian government’s Skill India campaign and going forward we shall add more categories to our splendid handmade collection and keep promoting artisans of India on the global stage.
Handcrafted products across 30 categories are available on the website from traditional local artisans. The products showcase the undying spirit of the artisans’ creativity, living in far remote areas in various parts of India.
From Gorara Stone fine carvings to Black Pottery of Nizamabad; from hand-made bone jewellery to eco-friendly bamboo and cane products from Assam; from Orissa’s Palm Pattachitra to Shikauli baskets of Uttar Pradesh, from Kashmir’s paper mache to traditional Blue Pottery of Jaipur, Handikart is a place where Indian essence comes alive.
Handikart is a team of handicraft lovers and deal in those products that are part of Indian Handicraft history for a very long time. For more information, please visit Handikart
Swipe is set to launch its new ELITE Power smartphone on January 31st, 2017 exclusively on Flipkart. ELITE Power comes with a massive 4000 mAh battery which is the key highlight. Swipe says that the 4000 mAh battery in ELITE Power provides 240 hours of standby time or 15 hours of 3G talk time or 13 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing. It is a dual-SIM smartphone, supports 4G LTE & has a number of other compelling features that make it a must-buy, especially for the millennial with heavy smartphone usage.
Announcing the launch of ELITE Power, Shripal Gandhi, Founder & CEO of Swipe Technologies said
Considering the appetite of users to consume content having increased exponentially, the battery capacity has become the driver of smartphone developments. Keeping in mind the consumer feedback in favour of a smartphone that can go without recharging for a long time, we have developed ELITE Power that helps us stay true to our ethos. We are excited to offer an extremely cost-effective high-end luxury product.
Commenting on the development, Ajay Yadav, VP-Mobiles at Flipkart, said
With the digitization rising at a furious clip in India, customers are increasingly looking for latest smartphones that support data and applications on the go. Our exclusive association with Swipe brings the latest ELITE Power to our customers at an extremely affordable price.
With the leading position in the smartphones market, Flipkart is focusing on widening the portfolio from premium to budget smartphones, thereby catering to a wide spectrum of customers.
ELITE Power’s sleek 5.5 inch screen offers life-like clarity to its users. Equipped with a HD IPS 
display, every picture, every color and every detail comes alive to give a great visual experience. Powered by 2GB RAM, ELITE Power is a powerhouse of performance, making multi-tasking a way of life while helping gamers to play graphic-heavy games without any lag. ELITE Power comes with an internal memory of 16GB, which is expandable up to 32GB for users to store all the pictures, videos, music and more.
ELITE Power incorporates enhanced security features. Users of ELITE Power get unprecedented control with integrated fingerprint sensor. For the users to enjoy superior Android experience, the ELITE Power comes with the latest Android Marshmallow 6.0. With a powerful blend of speed and accuracy to capture split-second moments with ease, ELITE Power helps users snap photos that burst with life. Faster than a blink of an eye, ELITE Power’s 8MP rear camera is capable of taking great-quality pictures. The Selfie-enthusiasts can rejoice by taking incredible Selfies instantly and effortlessly with its 5MP Front Camera. ELITE Power consistently delivers high-quality images-quicker, clearer and crisper-wherever they are clicked.
Despite being packed with so many incredible features, ELITE Power is surprisingly thinner and fits comfortably in hands. At a tag of Rs. 6,999, Swipe ELITE Power is India’s most-affordable smartphone with comparable features. The sensor in the phone include Fingerprint, Accelerator, Proximity, Gyro, and Ambient light sensor. It will be available in Space Grey & Champagne Gold color variant.
Swipe ELITE Power will be available online exclusively on Flipkart from 31st January,2017. For more details, please visit the Product Page
Intex Technologies announced their in-house digital e-payment App-Intex MyWallet going live on Google Play Store for all Android users outside Intex as well. This is the brand’s step towards facilitating day-to-day payments for all mobile users in seamless manner and contributing to government’s vision of making India a cashless economy. Built and designed on a highly safe and secure encrypted platform, the app is free to download with full proof security.
Intex technologies partnered with Tata mRupee last year to foray into the digital payment ecosystem with both B2C & Retail assisted models with vision of making consumers’ daily transactional needs quicker and convenient. Intex MyWallet is equipped with a wide range of payment options across segments ranging from recharging the phone to paying utility bills like postpaid, gas, electricity, DTH, landline, data card etc. is just a single click. The wallet also allows users to book Railway tickets through IRCTC and other entertainment bookings through various gift voucher & coupons. The app allows users to send and receive money at ease as well.
The app is powered by Tata mRupee with a secure backend technology and its main features include:
To further build the digital ecosystem, Intex is also planning to implement Intex retailer portal wherein the Intex retailers will find additional opportunities to get higher share of customers’ wallet by offering retail assisted services. The retailer portal will help the unbanked consumer to carry out various transactions including the domestic money transfers.
Shortly Intex My Wallet will also be deeply integrated and pre-loaded with Intex smartphones for users to carry out transactions and also earn loyalty points for various digital purchases like videos, games and other content. Intex is working closely with its Partner Tata mRupee to expand the utility and entertainment merchant base with getting merchants across various segments (online & offline) on board.
Commenting on the expansion, Vineet Singh, Head-VAS, Intex Technologies said
At Intex, we are constantly innovating our products and services. Digital Ecosystem has been at the forefront and we have now created a one stop solution experience for users looking for both utility and entertainment needs. Our mobile payment ecosystem is one of our core digital drivers and with this expansion our m-wallet services are now available to all android users on Google PlayStore, making day-to-day transactional needs easy. We will continue to innovate and keep integrating various digital services into our devices and commit to enhancing Intex mobile user experience at competitive pricing in future as well.
Users will be rewarded for accessing content and other utilities which will help them earn loyalty bonus point which could be further redeemed for various utility payments or could be converted to cash depending on needs. These loyalty rewards will ensure upward movement in consumer value chain.
The BETA version of Intex MyWallet can be downloaded from the Play Store from here
Google launched its Pixel phone in October 2016 shortly after the iPhone 7 and the Pixel smart phone is within the same range as the latest iPhone.
Comparing the two smart phones to know which one to purchase is beneficial. Here are five similarities and differences between the two latest smart phones.
Design
Both phones are available in premium designs with fingerprint sensor feature. The iPhone 7 is smaller than the Google Pixel. The Apple phone is also lighter and waterproof. The iPhone is made from aluminum with finger sensor on the front home button.
However, the Pixel comes with the USB Type-C and headphone jack. On the other hand, the Pixel is designed with aluminum and glass with the sensor on the rear side.
Display
The Pixel phone offers a five-inch display with 1,920 X 1,080 pixel resolution and pixel density of 441ppi. Furthermore, it includes the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and uses the AMOLED technology to provide vibrant and rich colors.
The display size of the iPhone 7 is 4.7 inches with 1,334 * 750 pixel resolution providing a pixel density of 326ppi. Moreover, this phone has a 3D touch, which is the company’s pressure sensitive display.
Camera
On buying the Google Pixel, users can expect superior picture quality, with its 12.3 megapixels (MP) rear camera and 8 MP front camera. It also includes video stabilization, laser detection autofocus, dual-LED flash, and phase detection autofocus.
In comparison, the iPhone 7 is available with a 12 MP rear camera with a wider aperture than that of the Pixel. The latest Apple smart phone also includes a quad-LED flash with optical image stabilization and phase detection autofocus. The front camera on the iPhone 7 handset is 7 MP with a retina flash.
Hardware
Both the phones are available with a quad-core processor. The Pixel operates on Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 and offers 4GB RAM. It is available with storage of 32 GB and 128 GB. Moreover, the Pixel has a long-lasting 2,770 mAh battery.
The iPhone 7 features the company’s A10 Fusion Chip with an embedded M10 motion co-processor with 3GB RAM. Users may choose between 32GB, 128GB, and 256 GB options. On the other hand, iPhone 7’s battery capacity is 1.960 mAh, which is comparatively lesser than that of Google Pixel.
Software
The Google phone uses Android 7.1 Nougat and an inbuilt Google Assistant feature. The company focuses on delivering a seamless user experience and does not include additional and unnecessary software features.
The iPhone 7 uses iOS 10 providing all the latest features offered by Apple. Users receive Siri, accessible by long-pressing the Home button for their personal assistance.
With the Pixel phone launch, users have been offered another choice that is comparable to the iPhone 7. Both these smart phones are priced in the same range and are available with similar specifications and features. The decision will primarily depend on the personal choice of the users and their preferences. Apply for a Consumer Durable Loan and own either of these phones, today.
Aeries Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a fin-tech company promoted by serial entrepreneur and private equity investor Mr. V. Raman Kumar made two announcements.
CASHe, India’s fastest loan giving app for young salaried professionals has entered into a strategic sales partnership with India’s largest financial distributor, Andromeda. With this sales collaboration, the customers registered with Andromeda will now have easy access to instant short-term credit facility from CASHe through its multiple loan options ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,00,000 payable over 15, 30 & 90 days.
CASHe has also partnered with India’s largest mobile payments and commerce firm, Paytm to allow its users to deposit cash transfers from CASHe to their Paytm wallets. With this integration, users of CASHe now have an option to transfer their loan amounts into their Paytm Wallets in part or in full and credit the rest of the amount into their bank accounts. This is an industry-first innovation from CASHe.
Speaking about the Paytm partnership, Mr. V. Raman Kumar, Chairman, Aeries Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd said
The mobile wallet usage has grown exponentially over the last few years. We are excited with our partnership with Paytm, the leader in digital payments in India. Both CASHe and Paytm stand to gain with this integration. Our easy-to-use mobile application platform will now offer an option for our users to directly credit their loan amounts into their Paytm accounts in parts and the rest can be directly credited in to the bank accounts. With their wallets now funded, our customers can use Paytm to pay for various transactions. The integration with Paytm is in line with our product expansion strategy to continuously innovate and offer benefits to our customers.
Speaking about the Andromeda partnership, Mr. V. Raman Kumar, Chairman, Aeries Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd said
We are excited to partner with Andromeda, India’s largest financial distributors. Andromeda’s large customer base can now avail loans within minutes on a smartphone. We believe access to quick and easy credit without any collateral and documentation is an exciting proposition for the young salaried professionals. With our partnership with Andromeda, we hope to increase our customer base exponentially.
CASHe provides hassle-free loans with its app enabled documentation & loan disbursal process. Powered by its industry-first algorithm driven credit scoring platform, The Social Loan Quotient [SLQ], CASHe quickly determines a user’s credit worthiness by using multiple unique data points to arrive at a distinct credit profile of the customer. SLQ is transforming the traditional credit rating measurements thereby providing immediate loans to the under-served young professionals who are kept out by traditional credit rating and banking systems. CASHe is completely automated and requires no personal intervention and no physical documentation. The average time taken for a loan to be disbursed is about 8 minutes, subject to proper submission of all documents.
About CASHe
CASHe, a fin-tech product of TSLC PTE. LTD., promoted by Aeries Financial Technologies is as unique as the young professionals it serves. In a smart digital world, CASHe offers millennials quick and easy personal loans through processes that are transparent, innovative and tuned to the times. CASHe utilises sophisticated algorithms and machine learning capabilities to deliver an amazing and improved lending experience to our customers, thereby helping young professionals achieve their financial goals effortlessly. CASHe offers instant transfer of funds for approved applicants. CASHe is currently available on Android and iOS platforms. Click here to know more on CASHe. Download app from Google Play and iOS app store
