All Posts in Mobile

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

With the festive season all set to begin, Intex Technologies, in its continued efforts to provide consumers additional features and convenience, has partnered with Times Internet Limited [TIL] for Databack offers. Adding to its varied range of Digital Services, Intex with this tie-up further strengthens its portfolio to enhance user experience.

With Intex Databack services, one can save 2G, 3G and 4G mobile data that is spent using apps and is given back to users, which allows them to save up to 500 MB mobile data every month.

Other additional features that the partnership offers are Spin & Win 3G/4G where users can win up to 50 MB of data as a daily bonus from Spin the wheel. Along with this, Data Monitor provides users a way to tap which app uses the maximum data and track their usage of each app on a real-time basis. This enables users to assess their data requirements more aptly. Additionally, another feature, namely Data Saver saves up to 20% of mobile data every day for users and ensures that they never run of data.

Databack service is available offline as well and users don’t need to have internet connection to monitor data consumption. All saved data can be redeemed as data recharge by users. As a promotional offer, users can also avail 50 MB mobile data for every contact who joins on their invitation.

Commenting on the partnership, Nitin Goel, Head of Digital Services, Intex Technologies said

Intex and Times Internet have been partners for some time and this latest tie-up on Databack Services has further strengthened our combined efforts towards digital services. For the tech savvy youth, Databack services will prove to be an accelerator in enjoying data services in addition to the already available Value Added Services to consumers. We have always been committed to focusing on enhancing consumer experience for smart phones through constantly working on strengthening our digital services ecosystem.

Commenting on the partnership, Sahil Deswal, Head of Growth & Marketing, TOI [Digital] said

We are pleased to further strengthen our partnership with Intex. Indians today browse, share, like and love to live online. We at Times Internet are leading this digital wave and are the ones who inform [news that matters by NewsPoint], entertain [streaming music from Gaana] and enable [getting stuff done and saving with Haptik & Databack] young India to do more with their smartphones. Our products are where India signs in every day.

Kumar Apurva – Founder, Databack said

Databack is the leading app to ‘track, monitor and save mobile data.’ The Intex and Times Internet partnership will now allow Intex users to track their data usage live – a feature that no other phone has, and enable Intex users to get data refunds when they use mobile internet on their phones through Databack, to make their data packs last longer.

Intex’s association with Times Internet covers a wide variety of services that cater to various consumer needs on content, entertainment, utility and it is due to this synergy that the two giants in their respective fields have come together for collaboration on wide range of services like:

NewsPoint – It is the preferred news app for over 1 crore Indians. With 15 language options to choose from and hundreds of trusted content sources, it covers the length and breadth of the nation across national, regional and local news, entertainment, sports etc.

Haptik – It is integrating its chat commerce services into the Intex LFTY platform. Intex users will now be able to book flights, cabs, pay bills and a lot straighter from the minus-1 screen without downloading any other app.

Gaana – India’s No. 1 music streaming service with more than 35 million monthly active users and offers a repertoire of more than 30 million songs across 21 languages including Hindi, English and regional languages.

|In: Mobile|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Truecaller announced that the company has reached a new milestone as a mobile in-app publisher, achieving a record 200 million impressions in a single day.

The daily impression rate on Truecaller’s in-app advertising platform has grown by over 300% in the past year. The monumental traction is a product of Truecaller’s innovation as a one-stop solution for communication, payments, and now, brand engagement. Real estate on Truecaller has appreciated to the extent that over 70% of existing advertisers have decided to continue to invest in Truecaller’s mobile advertising inventory. Truecaller’s direct-to-consumer connect has attracted new interest of brands across the spectrum of FMCG, consumer electronics, and automobiles from brands like Mondel?z, Samsung, Himalaya and Maruti among many more.

Commenting on the milestone achievement, Tejinder Gill, VP Sales & Head of India Operations at Truecaller, said

This is a fantastic milestone for Truecaller, and this shows that the mobile ad eco-system has an incredible potential in India. At Truecaller, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to add value to the lives of not only our customers, but our partners’ as well. With Patanjali, we saw a cult favorite brand that has witnessed unprecedented growth by offering a differentiated product –  much like ourselves, so the partnership has worked brilliantly. As we approach the all-year high of customer engagement with the festive season in India, we foresee many more upcoming collaborations with brands across categories.

Patanjali, India’s homegrown leader in Ayurveda, leveraged Truecaller in a one-day app inventory takeover, resulting in a new benchmark for both Patanjali and Truecaller.

Commenting on this milestone, Santosh Kumar, Co-founder & CEO MangoData, Patanjali’s digital agency, said

What began as crafting an innovative campaign for Patanjali has surpassed our expectations in terms of both impressions delivered, which were upwards of 200 million and click-based engagement of over 430,000 in a single day. Leveraging the strong association customers have with Truecaller and supported by a 100% share of voice on the platform, has helped us target the right customer with the right offering and narrative from our portfolio.

 

|In: Mobile|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Strengthening its endeavour to foster a one-stop communication platform, Truecaller announced the introduction of the Request Money feature as a part of Truecaller Pay.

The new feature, rolled out last week, saves users from awkward situations of asking for money from someone.  With this feature, users can send a direct payment request to a fellow Truecaller user, via Android notifications. The receiver of the request can just click the notification and make payments after entering their registered MPIN in the app when prompted.

Truecaller users can also create shareable payment links which can be sent via SMS, email, instant messaging platforms or can even post it on a website to receive payments. When clicked, the link would directly open the Truecaller app where the receiver can complete the payment. This makes it extremely useful for small businesses to make transactions and payments simple, secure and direct to bank using just a mobile phone and the Truecaller app.

Truecaller Pay, which was launched earlier this year, lets users create their unique Virtual Payment Address [VPA] in the Truecaller app, and can instantly send or receive money direct to bank account using any Unified Payments Interface [UPI] supported bank. With the addition of these features to its ever-expanding portfolio, Truecaller aims to deliver seamless communication experience to it users.

Have you tried out Truecaller Pay, please leave your experience in the comments section…

|In: Mobile|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Expanding its feature set, Truecaller has announced its integration with Google Duo, allowing users to make video calls directly through the Truecaller app on Android and iOS platforms.

The new feature will now make high quality video calling available to its 250 million plus users globally. This update enables users to launch a Duo video call with a single tap within the Truecaller app, and switches between WiFi and cellular data for uninterrupted conversation on-the-go. Truecaller integration with Google Duo is available for Android and iOS users as a permission-based service, by which users will be able to opt in and out at any time. Google Duo has also been rated as the highest quality video calling app recently by an NDTV Gadgets 360 study.

Elaborating upon Truecaller’s end-to-end communication platform, the integration of Google Duo offers yet another way for users to connect. Following the launch of Flash Messaging in April, the Google Duo-Truecaller integration will now enable video-first users with the communication mode of their choice.

Commenting on the launch, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, VP of Product, Truecaller, said

Sometimes voice & text just aren’t enough and nothing beats the experience of communicating face to face. We’re very excited to announce the next step in delivering a one-stop communication platform for Truecaller users globally. By having a fantastic partner like Google, we can provide a high-quality video experience to millions of users using Google Duo.

Amit Fulay, Head of Duo at Google said

Video calling should work for everybody, regardless of what platform they are on. Our aim is to make video calling simple, fast, and available to everyone. With this Truecaller integration, we’re able to bring a better video calling experience to millions of new users.

 

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Google India reaffirmed its commitment to help developers find success by building high quality products for India by India. In its first ever App Excellence Summit in Bengaluru, Google brought together over 700 Indian app and games developers, where the company shared tips and tools to help developers create the best quality Android apps that are locally relevant.

In addition to this, at the summit, Google also announced its ‘Made in India’ initiative. Starting now, Indian developers can apply for a chance to have apps that are specifically optimized for the Indian market showcased on the Google Play store in India in a special section. All they have to do is apply here

Addressing the summit, Purnima Kochikar, Director, Business Development, Games & Applications, Google Play said

At Google Play, we are committed to helping Indian developers of all sizes seize this opportunity and build successful, locally relevant businesses.  A lot of what we do at Google Play is support developers’ imaginations and make Android consumers aware of the amazing new experiences our developers are creating.

The majority of Indian internet users are going online primarily via their smartphones and this number is growing at a phenomenal rate. There are now more people using Android devices in India than in the US. People in India also install more than a billion apps every month from Google Play. These numbers might seem staggering already, but the number of apps installed in India has grown by 150 per cent each year. Indian consumer spend on apps and games is accelerating at a rapid pace as well, tripling in just the past year alone.

James Sanders-Regional Director, Google Play APAC
Rajan Anandan-VP SEA & India

The summit showcased Google Play success stories from local developers-many developers including Healthifyme, UrbanClap, RailYatri, and Dailyhunt are already building popular, locally relevant solutions through the resources, tools and support on Google Play. Attendees also got a chance to attend skill-building consultation sessions with Googlers, and visit demo booths to learn more about the latest features and products that Google has to offer the developer community. For those who were unable to attend the summit in person, but are keen to learn more, they can view the entire event at the livestream here and witness all the exciting India-specific content and announcements.

Prior to the announcements, in 2016 Google announced Build for Billions guidelines to help developers overcome challenges such as varying network connectivity, device specifications and high data costs. The build for billions playbook is a step-by-step guide for developers to learn about the features, tools, and best practices to get apps ready to meet the needs of billions of Android users in India as well as globally.

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

VoxWeb, the social networking app developed around ‘speaking-pics’ or voice-augmented photos have unveiled new designs and features on its Android and IOS Apps. The most significant of the new features – introduced after heavy user demand – is the ‘Embed Voxie’ option which allows users to embed a voice-augmented photo to their blogs and other websites/webpages. In addition to this, users can now store the newly created voice-augmented pic to their device without the compulsion of sharing or sending. Users can also create a private Voxie collection by leveraging this feature.

Also, in a major policy shift, VoxWeb disabled the likes and comments count on other users’ content [content creator will continue to have the like and comment counts along with the like list] to remove the ‘performance anxiety’ friction and thus encouraging users to post frequent updates without worrying about the number of likes they get on the post publicly.

Other new features introduced in the VoxWeb app include doodle drawings and sticker pasting options on pics, pin post to the top of profile page and two simple and effective privacy settings options. These features will provide users with an elevated photo sharing and social media experience while using the platform.

Speaking about the new app versions, VoxWeb representative said

These new features in VoxWeb social media platform adds another dimension to a user’s social media experience. We are continuously working to provide our users a unique and rich experience while revolutionizing the digital image-sharing and social media space. VoxWeb is excited to present these refreshing visual designs and new features to internet users.

The latest features and designs available are:

  1. Embed voxie option: Now users can embed a voice-augmented photo to their blogs or websites
  2. Private voxie collection: Users can transform their album or other photos to voice-augmented photos and  save them on the device, without the need to  post or send those photos. This creates a private rich collection of voice-augmented photos
  3. Doodle: Users can also add stickers and draw doodles on the ‘speaking-pic’ or a voxie created
  4. Pin-to-top: There is an option to pin a social media post at the top of their social media page
  5. Innovative approach to privacy settings: With a combination of merely 2 options, users can effectively enable the desired level of privacy and everything remains in sync with the fundamental nature of a ‘follower-following’ network
  6. Following list: VoxWeb has disabled the option to see a user’s ‘Following’ list to encourage following within the network
  7. Changes to update  likes and comments on the app: The platform will not display the number of likes and comments anymore [though comments to any post will always remain visible]. This ensures that sure users don’t have any ‘performance anxiety’ while creating a post that is a big friction on various one-to-many communication platforms.

Link to try out the new features on the VoxWeb app.

About Voxweb

VoxWeb is a consumer internet company which designs and develops online communication and networking products. Incepted in Jan 2015, the company is based in Mumbai, India. The flagship product of the company, is the ‘speaking pictures’ [voice-augmented photos] social network VoxWeb. The platform is perfect for capturing and sharing moments through pictures which can be captioned using vocal sounds. A must-have camera and communication app for concerts, parties, sports and tourism, additionally, the app also facilitates creating selfies that can speak upon touching and the VoxWeb Team has christened these ‘speaking selfies’ as ‘Voxies’.

VoxWeb, aims to create a global consumer internet product from India and the app has already got more than half a million users from 97 different countries. Brain child of Yash Mishra, an IIT Kanpur graduate, VoxWeb was founded in 2015, to become the new age social media app for internet- users.

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Truecaller have rolled out its newest update for Android 8.21 with interface changes for easier access to spam inbox. The new design will allow users to experience a  cleaner inbox and pay attention to the SMS that matter most with a spam tab segregating the unwanted messages.

Truecaller recently revealed through their Truecaller Insights Special Report, that India receives an overwhelming majority of spam calls. In its strive towards protecting its users from unwanted calls and potential fraud, Truecaller with its new interface is continuing its endeavour to ensure that users are better protected and more aware of incoming spam messages.

Themes in TrueCaller
Look of the SPAM Inbox

In this update, Truecaller has also included new app themes to match every user’s unique identity. This includes new colour combinations, which include colours like royal, coffee, grey, dark, and pitch black.

Other upgrades in version 8.21 include reoccurring pro subscriptions, flash messaging themes, mark all as read in block view and the ability to save MMS. The new update also gives the users an option to block & view profile on incoming flash.

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 42 million members in India have announced the launch of the LinkedIn Lite Android app, a faster and lighter version of its flagship app. With mobile fast becoming the first screen in India, the Lite app offers a seamless and intuitive experience of LinkedIn to users on Android’s operating system, that accounts for 97% of India’s smartphone market [Source].

Developed by LinkedIn’s R&D team in Bengaluru, LinkedIn Lite app is first being rolled out to members in India. The Lite app was inspired by the success of the lightweight mobile website, which was launched in September 2016. LinkedIn plans to roll out the mobile web version and the Android app in over 60+ countries shortly.


To help overcome the challenges of unpredictable internet connectivity, LinkedIn designed Lite to make the platform more easily accessible to the growing population of mobile internet users. Built to run smoothly and offer faster access even on lower end smartphones, the app loads extremely fast – in under five seconds, even on 2G network. The app size is only 1MB and reduces data usage by 80 percent. It also offers all key features like news feed, jobs, profile, network, messaging, notifications, and search.

Commenting on the launch, Akshay Kothari, LinkedIn’s Country Manager for India said

Besides providing a fast, data-light solution for professionals in slow network areas, we hope the LinkedIn Lite app will democratize access to economic opportunity. Regardless of their device or location, we hope to level the playing field for all LinkedIn members so they can get closer to their dream jobs, grow their networks and become more successful.

The LinkedIn Lite app is available on Play Store for all Android users in India.