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|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Technology is changing at a very rapid pace and one invention that has played the role of catalyst is ‘The Mobile Phone’. Back in the 90’s [the Nokia 1100 era], mobiles used to be a device that only the rich & affluent could afford since consumers had to even pay for the incoming calls on their mobile 🙁 Fast forward now, the bulky, then unintelligent mobile phone has now become much more affordable, intelligent, smarter, and an inseparable part of  our lives. Apart from the on-going innovations in the mobile market, one aspect that has made a tremendous impact on the consumers and businesses alike is the ‘Introduction of applications/apps’.

Image Source – Mobile Phone

Era of Hyper-personalization

Whatever be the task, consumers now have an app that can get the work done for them. There are apps catering to every segment – travel, shopping, medical, banking, personal finance, etc. due to which consumers have access to a variety of services at their fingertips. As mentioned earlier, mobile technology has not only had a tremendous impact on the lives of consumers but has also resulted in a rapid shift in the manner in which products/services are marketed online. Gone are the days where marketers could apply a ‘one size fits all’ strategy for customer acquisition and customer retention since this is an era of Hyper-personalization.

With customers having so many options at their disposal, it becomes imperative for companies to offer consumers hyper-personalized experience, an experience tailor-made for them. Apart from the plethora of consumer-generated data, namely social media information, browsing history, purchasing history, user preferences, etc. that companies can utilize to provide a near-about ‘unique and personalized’ experience, ‘Location Services’ is what would make that experience ‘truly unique’!

Location – Personalization at your service

Majority of the smartphones [high-end, mid-range] as well as tablets now come equipped with Assisted GPS [AGPS] that consume significantly lesser power as compared to GPS, due to which geo-location [process of finding exact location of a mobile/tablet/etc.] has become more important for brands as well as developers. Food-tech companies [like Swiggy, Foodpanda, etc.], on-demand transport apps [like Uber, Ola, etc.], hyper-local startups, etc. use location for customer relationship management, targeted marketing, pushing relevant offers to customers but there are apps in other sectors apart from the ones mentioned above can take advantage of location.

There is no doubt that location-based services have gained much more prominence since people are mostly hooked on to their mobile phones during the day, due to which brands can reach them with relevant and timely information. Location-based services market is expected to reach $3.8 billion by 2018 [Source] and mobile marketers are leaving no stone unturned to make use of these services in order to provide a much better customer engagement and experience. Beacons and Geo-fencing are the two major options available for them, with each having its unique advantages and disadvantages.

Beacons or Geo-Fencing for location-based services

Beacons are small devices that detect when your mobile phone is in close proximity to it. Beacon than sends a signal to the server which in-turn sends a ‘relevant’ push notification to your device. The primary advantage of beacons is that they are highly accurate and can be used indoors. The downside is that they are hard to deploy since beacon is a separate hardware and they need to be placed at strategic locations inside a store in order to get the best output. Geo-fencing is a virtual fence drawn on a map. The size of the fence can vary from small [e.g. a small retail outlet] to huge [e.g. city]. Hence, geo-fencing is ideally suited for outdoor use-cases like measuring the throughput of a billboard advertisement/sending push notifications to customers at an airport lounge/etc. Also, geo-fencing does not require any additional hardware since it uses user’s phone GPS location. In a nutshell, mobile marketers have to make a conscious decision to select the right approach based on the budget, brand requirements, target audience, etc.

Radar – Location platform for mobile apps

Location is definitely the future of mobile and as mentioned earlier, a majority of the apps on Android as well as iOS platforms are not location-aware. Though there are many companies in the location space like FourSquare, Factual, etc., app developers required location platform for mobile apps. The main advantage of such a platform is that developers can build great location-aware product experiences, and collect and store location data in a privacy-sensitive way without spending too much time on this development. Radar, a US-based startup is solving this problem for developers by providing tools that help app developers add location tracking and context to their apps. Radar helps companies build better products and make better decisions with location data. For example, a travel app may change the in-app experience when someone is traveling and at an airport or a delivery app can help track all the delivery drivers. App developers can use Radar’s iOS and Android SDK to add these capabilities to their apps in just a few lines of code. Building these capabilities from scratch can take weeks or months, but integrating Radar takes only a few hours.

Radar currently caters to use-cases in the following segments

  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Entertainment
  • Social
  • On-demand

Radar has three products as mentioned below:

  • Geo-fencing: With Geo-fencing, Radar will tell you when a user enters custom regions that you draw on a map. Geo-fences can be circles or polygons, and they might represent stores, neighborhoods, or other regions depending on your use case.
  • Insights: With Insights, Radar will learn where a user lives and works, and tell you when a user is at home, at work, or traveling.
  • Places: With Places, Radar will tell you when a user is at a place, a chain [e.g., Starbucks], or a category [e.g., airport], even if you have not set up a geo-fence for that place.

Location technology by Radar is used in many apps, including Warby Parker, Via, SeatGeek, Chick-fil-A, Raise, etc.

Further details can be found in the Radar Documentation If you are an app developer looking to integrate location intelligence into your app, do give Radar a spin! We would love to hear from you as to how location services will enable future apps and how these services can be used for the greater good of people and humanity, leave your response in the comments section…

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

If you use any type of app or online service that requires a password, you may be familiar with waiting for the code to be sent via SMS. This code is known as a OTP for short, and can only be used once to login. As we sit and wait for the OTP to appear in our inbox, the bigger hassle is when trying to copy the code. Well, Truecaller has solved that for Android users!

Simple Copy OTP

Most messages containing an OTP are filled with other text, however, all we are searching for is that number. At Truecaller, we have created a clean and clear copy button on the notification containing the OTP. This means Truecaller recognizes and highlights the number you need and provides a one-tap way to copy.

How to Enable OTP Messages

To get this feature, you will need to enable Truecaller SMS in your app. You can make Truecaller your default SMS app, and gain additional features of spam protection.Make Short Calls with an Improved Flash!

With flash messaging, you can avoid calling or writing a full text message! It’s a great tool when you need to ask a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, and avoid the small talk. In fact, most SMS responses take around 15 minutes. But with Flash, replies are received in around 30 seconds!

In the newest Android update [v. 8.69], TrueCaller has improved the functionality their users have asked for!

  • Call log history of ongoing Flash messages
  • Polished design for better usage

|In: Android|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

JetSynthesys’ Sachin Saga Cricket Champions announced a successful milestone of achieving 2 Million downloads within less than a month of its launch. The mobile game has now become one of the top-most downloaded cricket games on Google Play in the month following its launch and the fastest cricket game to reach this download milestone.

Launched last month by the Master Blaster himself, the game gives fans an opportunity to relive the legend’s career by stepping into his shoes. Sachin Saga is the only game to receive almost 1 million pre-registrations on Google Play and was also featured as #1 by Google on pre-registration amongst top global titles.

Going beyond the digital realm, JetSynthesys is all set to celebrate this milestone with the introduction of mobile eSports to cricket fans in India and the qualifier rounds began on 5th January, 2018. For the first time ever, the gaming company will host the mobile e-Sport finals at the India Gaming Show from 19th~21st January 2018 in the city of Bengaluru.

A one of a kind mobile game entertainment event, the platform will witness lakhs of mobile game players of Sachin Saga, competing virtually to qualify for the final rounds and participate in the real-life tournament to win prizes of INR 1 lakh and more at the finale!

Sachin Tendulkar tweeted this download milestone and flagged off the tournament qualifiers on his twitter handle

Talking about this remarkable milestone, Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, JetSynthesys said

The game has grown from strength to strength since its launch and we are absolutely thrilled that it has become so popular among cricket fans and mobile game lovers. Celebrating 2 Million downloads, we’re bringing mobile eSports to the country for the first time in cricket and aim to blur the line between physical and digital, and simultaneously engage gaming enthusiasts in a unique experience of sporting events.

Additional details are available here

|In: Guest Blogging|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

2017 has been a tremendous year for the technology industry. It has witnessed a multitude of disruptive technologies become potential game-changers and major topics of discussion for business leaders across the world. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, autonomous vehicles, robotics, etc. have taken shape in a way that they are increasingly becoming a part of our daily lives.

Image Source – Tech Trends

Some of the technology trends that will shape 2018 are below

Artificial Intelligence

Efficient NLP/NLU algorithms are going to power the AI systems and will allow humans to communicate with machines in – the language of their choice and seamlessly.

Intelligent Apps and Analytics

Access to large amounts of data and ever-improving processing power have enabled machine learning to take a huge leap forward. Apps can derive rich insights from the learnings, allowing them to make intelligent decisions, for providing great experience to the user. In addition, federated learning models are being built, that aim towards sharing and building collective intelligence, while ensuring user privacy.

Conversational Platforms

The world of technology, even with its initial apprehensions has embraced the chatbot technology, using it as an effective means to provide first level service to the end users. A world where language would become the new user interface and digital assistants would replace applications and browsers is not too far away.

Cloud to the Edge

Bringing intelligence to the source where the data originates from carries huge benefits. The on device AI engine in the keyboard paves way for enhanced user privacy and enables faster responsiveness in making intelligent choices. Additionally, the feature also covers the network connectivity issues that are prevalent in mobile networks.

About the Author

Nutan ChokkaReddy is the CEO of KeyPoint Technologies, a leading pioneer in input technology and User Interface for Mobile Apps globally supports 121 languages.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

ACT Fibernet, Indias largest fiber broadband ISP have announced its partnership with Chennai Super Kings [CSK], one of the most celebrated IPL teams, as its official connectivity and internet partner.

ACT Fibernet, with its extensive fiber broadband connectivity in Chennai aims to ensure seamless internet broadband connectivity for the ardent followers of the CSK team during the IPL matches. The company will be providing WiFi coverage to the entire Chennai stadium taking the in-stadium experience to a whole new level. Over 40,000 fans seated in the stadium will be able to enjoy HD quality speeds on WiFi simultaneously, access internet in the stadium, catch up on live videos, watch match replays, and indulge in social media activities.

Additionally, a whole range of fan engagement activities and contests have been planned by CSK-ACT Fibernet together to significantly enhance the in-stadium experience.

Speaking on the partnership, Sandeep Gupta, COO, ACT Fibernet said

We take immense pride in announcing that we are the chosen connectivity partner of the CSK team. CSK is not just a team but an emotion and passion amongst millions, and through this partnership we are going to significantly enhance this spirit by enabling the CSK teams and its supporters stay connected.

Commenting on the partnership, George John, Whole Time Director, CSK said

Chennai Super Kings is known for its solid performances and consistency, ACT Fibernet complements all of this and therefore is our chosen partner. Our aim has always been to enhance the experience of our fans and supporters. With this association with ACT Fibernet we are certain that we will be able to significantly enliven the in-stadium experience. This is the first amongst the many initiatives we have planned for the CSK fans in partnership with ACT Fibernet.

About ACT Fibernet

ACT Fibernet is India’s largest Fiber broadband ISP Headquartered in Bangalore, ACT Fibernet has operations in 12 Indian cities with 1.2 million customers. For more information, please visit ACT Fibernet

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

JetSynthesys, a leading digital entertainment and gaming company launched Where’s my Kitty Cat? a mobile game for iOS users who are cat lovers and puzzle enthusiasts. This exciting and quirky game promises to fulfill the player’s fun quotient as he/she tries to find KITTY, the naughtiest cat ever!

Kitty could be anywhere, hiding under cars, over the dining table, in the bath tub, on the neighbour’s porch, in the fish market; the world is her playground. The player needs to use the hints given and logic to solve the different puzzles and find Kitty.

Some features of the game include:

  • 160+ levels
  • Explore unique locations
  • Enjoy unpredictable moments

On the occasion of this launch Roopak Nair, Vice-President, Product and Marketing, JetSynthesys said

After the successful run of our sports and Bollywood games, we now tap into a more casual gaming audience with the launch of our newest game, ‘Where’s my Kitty Cat?’. We are confident that this new game will resonate with avid gamers looking for a fun experience, inspiring us to continue experimenting and developing vibrant and exciting games for everyone.

In ‘Where’s my Kitty Cat?’, the player will have his/her own cat who needs to be found through various adventures and collect toys for her to play with along the way. This intellectually challenging yet fun game is now available on iOS. This sweet little cat has the power to steal everybody’s heart and she will definitely become the player’s favourite friend.

Additional updates on the game and download link available here

About JetSynthesys

JetSynthesys is a fast-paced digital entertainment company with a portfolio of world class products, platforms and services, touching the lives of more than 100 million consumers in India and around the world. Through its diversified business divisions across gaming, music, digital & social entertainment, celebrity video blogging, AI & machine learning technologies, the company aims to digitally connect celebrities, brands and consumers and drive user engagement and monetization through personalization. In addition, Jet Ventures the strategic early stage funding entity and JetLabs the accelerator program, partners with passionate founders to build sustainable global consumer products.

In India, the company has innovated and pioneered celebrity gaming successfully with a catalogue of over 300 exciting games across HTML, Java, Android and iOS platforms featuring eminent stars like Salman Khan, Sachin Tendulkar and others. For more information, please visit JetSynthesys

|In: AppReview|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The popularity of platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. has not only affected the manner in which people interact, shop but also how they socialize. Social Media coupled with Digital Marketing is a powerful tool that businesses use for marketing their products. With the rising internet penetration, growing popularity of affordable 4G phones and increasing number of Indians consuming local content, etc. users are always connected and hence they are able to access Social Media accounts when on the move!

Image Source – Social Media

With the e-commerce trend catching up big time in India, online shoppers are always on the lookout for some lucrative deals while they are shopping online. The deal could be in the form of a huge discount while shopping online or in the form a cashback from the e-commerce site or discount by applying ‘relevant’ coupon from a couponing website. It goes without saying that even while shopping online, we discuss with our family & friends before making a final ‘Buy’ decision!

People spend a considerable amount of time on Social Media, but since there are a number of social networking apps, many of them spend time in hopping from one app to the other. Also, none of the apps incentivize their users for spending their precious time on social media. There is not a single platform where an avid internet user can perform all the above-mentioned activities. This is the problem that a Delhi based startup is trying to solve with their app Sagoon,  a multi-app platform. Today we review the Sagoon app on Android, so let’s get started…

Sagoon – Connect, Share and Learn

As mentioned earlier, our mobile device has so many apps and every mobile user would be spending a good amount of time in hopping from one app to another. This is where an app like Sagoon can turn out to be very useful since it is a multi-application platform and wants its users to build a rewarding life by following the innovative social path: Connect, Share and Earn.

Swati Dayal, co-founder of Sagoon came up with the idea of the app when she along with her other co-founders realized that there is a dearth of a good social e-commerce platform.  Sagoon intends to tap the market worth $300 billion by offering the users the best of social media and social gifting at one place.

In a nutshell, Sagoon enables you to share secret messages, strengthen your relations with family & friends and express your emotional state clearly. Following the social path Connect, Share & Earn, it intends to transform negative experiences on social media into positive ones [Source]

Sagoon – Detailed Review

Sagoon aims at untangling your life and wants you to be Smart, Productive and Connected. Currently, the app is only available for Android users however, users can log in to Sagoon on mobile using their mobile website until the time the app is not live on iOS.

On Android, the app is ~45 MB in size which is definitely not a deal-breaker for the target segment which is very active on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. Most of these apps occupy much more real-estate on the mobile!

Sagoon aims to be a one-stop shop for all your needs, be it setting reminders, sharing content, planning & scheduling, chatting and much more. Each product has unique features and a different customer presentation strategy; the purpose of each application is to strengthen true connections and be productive. This is evident from the feature set that Sagoon promises for its users.

My Day:  A few years back, if we had to set reminders than we used to pen the schedule in a diary and at the end of the day check how many of the planned tasks are completed. However, with the advent of mobile, scheduling & planning has got a new avatar since apps are now used for the same. My Day feature in the Sagoon app can be used for creating schedules, setting reminders, etc. It can be used as a smart organizer for your personal as well as official purpose.

My Day has the following features

  • Multi-Location Clock
  • Weather
  • Schedule
  • Reminders
  • Sharing of Calendar
  • To-Do List

The UI is simplistic and you can share your schedule with others as well. Though there are many To-Do List apps, we liked the sharing feature in Sagoon that makes ‘collaborative planning and tracking’ to a micro-level.

Story Sharing/Secret: Each one of us gets different thoughts that are dependent on our mood, surrounding environment & many other factors and you want a platform to express your feelings. Secret in Sagoon can be used to share your thoughts, learnings, experience with others, in anonymous & non-anonymous mode.

It also helps you e-meet and learn from like-minded users on the platform. Since users can post anonymously, Secret can also be used as a scratch-pad by many to just express their emotions online. You are allowed to use 220 characters and up to three images to post a story. As a user, you can post your story [photos and video] under the ‘Open’ category, allowing all of your contacts to view, like, dislike or comment on it. While posting you can also choose to hide your identity. You can also send one-on-one story messages which will vanish after they are read.

It also supports tracking/analytics so that you can check the post insights – likes, dislikes, shares, comments. Thus, the Open Secret feature helps in creating a transparent society and transforms users into change-agents.

Secret has the following features

  • Create Secrets
  • Set Privacy
  • Track Secrets
  • Attach Multi Images
  • Like, Dislike, Share or Comment
  • Hot/Trending Secrets

MoodTalk: It is very commonly said ‘Let your mood do the talking‘ but it is next to impossible to express different emotions – happiness, sadness, sickness, etc. online since you never know the treatment your mood talk would receive at the recipient side.

MoodTalk on PC

With MoodTalk from Sagoon, you can break those shackles of fear & anxiety and express freely as per your emotional state. MoodTalk is a simple chatting tool which lets your mood do the talking. If you are sick and set your mood to ‘Sick’, your near & dear ones would be notified about the same via an SMS and they can then re-connect with you and re-build long lost relations. Since our mood is dependent on many factors and is never permanent, hence in MoodTalk your chats also vanish automatically after 24 hours.

Me Page, Unique ID and more: Sagoon also provides a ‘Me Page’ which can have a mix of personal and professional information. You can customize your profile with a photo, description, interests, etc. since the Page is a reflection of your identity. It can also be used to meet like-minded people. Its functionality is somewhat similar to the offering by about.me

In order to ensure that the app is secure enough, Sagoon uses a combination of email-id and phone number to sync into one, instead of using a customary user-id and PIN. Along with security, the secondary intent of following this approach is to ensure that Sagoon user gets his/her revenue share when they introduce the Social Smart Card option in a couple of months.

Sagoon has a very sleek interface and the same philosophy is also carried forward on its offering for Desktop and Mobile Web. The experience was good on all the platforms, be it Android, Mobile Web or Desktop!

Sagoon – Earn Money by Shopping and Socialising

The Social Smart Card will enable the users to buy things online, send gifts and also buy from physical retail outlets. Every Sagoon user would get the card for free when they create their profile.

Sagoon Social Smart Card

Since social commerce is an integral component in the Sagoon app, each user will get 5 percent cut for the transaction they perform on the platform. This is loosely similar to affiliate marketing but this feature can definitely be a huge game changer! Along with that, Sagoon user would also be incentivized for the time they spend socializing on it.

We are sure that you also found Sagoon interesting as well as useful 🙂 Why to wait, you can download the Sagoon app for Android from here

Sagoon – Conclusion

Sagoon is a promising app, both for social media users as well as social media influencers. With promising features like MoodTalk and Story Sharing, it brings ‘human touch’ that was so far missing in social media. Social Smart Card is a very innovative manner to give back some revenue to the ever-growing lot of social media addicts and we hope that it is released at the earliest 🙂

If you are Sagoon user, please leave your feedback or suggestions in the comments section

|In: Guest Blogging|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The transformation in the world of technology is happening at pace which we have not experienced in the past. Implementation of new cutting-edge technology is moving out from a drawing board stage to being practiced by organizations across the world. As more and more organizations undertake the process of digital transformation to offer tech enabled products or services, IT roles and skills is undergoing radical shifts, something which we are already observing. This will affect the tech job scenario as we move into 2018 and beyond.

Image Source – Job Trends

In-demand IT roles have started to shift towards including positions focused on advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence [AI], Augmented and Virtual Reality [AR and VR], and the Internet of Things [IoT] along with exciting positions within cyber-security, cloud computing & network technology.

Through these observations we have identified the following as some of the key job roles companies require as they transform their businesses and processes for the future:

Cyber-security Analyst – This individual will manage risk for organizations through use of relevant tools and techniques to gather vital end-point and network host data with the goal of identifying vulnerabilities.

Network Engineer – This role will encompass coordinating between cloud and traditional networking resources to make a business’s communicate efficiently. They will need to know how to map technical network elements [e.g. router, an edge device, a micro-datacenter] to a company’s business needs.

Vulnerability Assessment Manager – The role of a penetration tester has matured.  Today’s pen tester does more than hack a server or use fancy security tools. Today’s pen tester takes a responsible approach and conducts strong, comprehensive tests to identify – and correct – unacceptable risks.

Technical Support Specialist – Gone are the days when the help desk professional fixed PCs.The world needs more tech support specialists than ever before: today’s tech support engineer helps manage increasingly complex issues involving data management, authentication and network troubleshooting.

Machine learning engineer – Machine learning use sophisticated programming such as R and Python to develop AI machines and systems that can learn and apply knowledge to perform tasks. These professionals will also work with complex datasets and algorithms to convert machines to intelligent machines.

Network Analysts – Businesses are investing more heavily in their networks as IoT is fast becoming critical to manufacture tech enabled products. A growing number of ‘things’ need to be connected in an efficient way, and that’s going to be a major driver of demand there. Network analysts in the coming years will combine their technical skill set with an understanding of how to apply it to provide real-time trending information on network traffic, and what those insights means for the business.

Cloud engineer – Almost all businesses are mobbing their on-premises systems to cloud and are choosing a hybrid approach, with multiple vendors. In the coming years, cloud engineers will need to create solutions which are mix of multiple technologies. Gone are the days when an Amazon engineer only worked on AWS or Microsoft engineers only knowing Azure.

About the Author

Pradipto Chakrabarty is the Regional Director, CompTIA, the voice of the world’s information technology industry. CompTIA is dedicated to advancing industry growth through its educational programs, professional certifications and public policy advocacy. You can view his profile here