iMedia Connection India

LinkedIn Shares Interesting Aspects Of Its 2nd Largest User-Base: India

Thu, 16 May 2013 06:07:39

The Professional Networking site LinkedIn just announced it had amassed more than 20 Million users from India. With such a high amount of traction from a single country LinkedIn has taken the trouble of compiling a few important snippets of information that offer some interesting insight in the Professional Social Networking ecosystem from an Indian perspective. Second-largest user base: Apart from USA with 74 Million users, India is the second largest contributor to LinkedIn’s overall subscriber count. As per latest count LinkedIn has marginally more than 225 Million users worldwide & India constitutes roughly 9% of it. Incidentally, the Asia Pacific Region manages to add about 40 Million users only. Hence India has a pretty impressive contributory factor. What are Indians doing on LinkedIn: Apart from furthering one’s career prospects Indians have been pretty explicit in letting their preferences about Companies, Locations & Skills. Unsurprisingly, IT...

Why Are Indian e-Commerce Players Shedding Their Workforce?

Thu, 16 May 2013 05:56:14

Popular e-Commerce portals, functioning in India, have been shedding employees up to 10% of their entire workforce. In an apparent bid to cut costs & reign in Operational Efficiency, sites like Flipkart & Jabong have let go of 250 employees each. In terms of downsizing, the impact is quite heavy for Jabong as it had less than 1000 to begin with. Interestingly Flipkart, said it wasn’t a tough decision to give pink-slips to 10% of its workforce as they were non-performers and were let off as part of the annual appraisal process. The alarming phenomenon is not limited to these strong players alone. Other players who have let go of their employees include Zovi & Inkfruit too. Why are the companies firing people so abruptly? Evidently Inkfruit had to sack employees owing to its core merger with Zovi. But for others, the reason seems primarily driven by financial reasoning. The Indian e-Commerce segment hasn’t been doing well. Despite the numerous news updates...

How Maharashtra's Buses Will Trump Even Railways In Offering Free WiFi

Thu, 16 May 2013 05:50:27

The Indian Railways had recently one-upped the Airlines in offering free Wireless Internet (WiFi) throughout a few special trains like the Rajdhani Express; with plans to extend the same to a select few additional locomotives like the Shatabdi & Duronto. However, the humble Bus Service operated by the State Government of Maharashtra has trumpeted this offering, by introducing Free WiFi Access for its passengers aboard moving buses. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), has tied-up with an as yet unknown Service Provider & will offer free WiFi Connectivity on-board 100 ‘Shivneri Class’ AC Volvo buses connecting Mumbai to Pune. Why the need to have WiFi Access on Buses? The Bus Corporation recently conducted a survey & realized that about 50% of the passengers aboard these buses that ply between Mumbai & satellite-city Pune are mostly BPO and Software Professionals. These passengers have been using 3G Dongles to stay connected & work...

Can India's WorldFloat Take On Social Media Giants Like Facebook & Twitter?

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:56:58

In might be interesting to note that against the backdrop of multiple strong Social Media Sites originating elsewhere, there are few regional Indian companies as well, who have dared to challenge them. Similarly a new Social Media Network with its origin in India is attempting to take on the likes of Facebook & Twitter, with its unique appeal & offering. Called ‘WorldFloat’, the Social Media portal has been conceptualized, designed, founded & deployed by 37 year old Pushkar Mahatta, a psychology + philosophy student. What’s unique about WorldFloat? The founder says WorldFloat has been born out of the inherent & oft unfulfilled need to travel the world and interact with people. The site frees users from trying to figure out what to say or fit your thoughts within 140 characters; neither does it mandate uploading of Pictures or routinely updating one’s Status. All the site offers is a virtual floatation device that actually starts hovering around...

Study: The Race Between Social Networks Heats Up As Users Adopt Them Actively

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:09:13

Not all Social Media Networks are created equal. However, each of them has something special to offer. Such are the findings of a latest research conducted by GlobalWebIndex. The study titled ‘Stream Social: Quarterly Social Platforms Update’ clearly puts Facebook in the leadership position, far ahead of its nearest equivalent. Interestingly, after Facebook’s 2X lead, there are multiple contenders that seem to be strongly vying for the second position. As evident from the image, from crowded field of second-place contenders, Google+ surprisingly comes out at front with 26% of internet users. We had just tried to analyze if Google+ risked being shuttered due to inactivity, but turns out its subscriber count will help it face the stagnant times with user engagement on sister products like Gmail, YouTube & Android. In other words, Google+ is growingly steadily even if Brands have been somewhat negligent about it. What is interesting to note, is that Google+...

Why Are Browser Companies Making A Beeline For Indian Mobile Ecosystem?

Wed, 15 May 2013 05:34:28

The Mobile Ecosystem in India has been growing at an unprecedented rate. With almost a Billion Mobile Connections, India’s Mobile Segment is bound to offer some of the best avenues for revenue generation. But this doesn’t explain why Mobile Browser Companies are trying hard to gain a strong foothold here. A while ago UCWeb openly announced that it considered & treated India as its parallel Headquarters away from its main one in China. This browser has over 400 Million Users worldwide. Interestingly it has an impressive 25% market share in India. The very same company has declared a corpus fund of US$ 170 Million that it will spend in tying-up with Indian Telecom, Service Providers as well as Handset Makers to ensure the Browser by the same name, enhances its traction even more. But UCWeb is certainly not the only foreign company that is trying such tactics. One of the pioneers of Web Browser, the Opera Foundation, had recently announced a similar intention to gain...

Social Media Review: Facebook Activity of Vodafone Zoozoos

Tue, 14 May 2013 05:51:06

Zoozoo, arguably one of the most loved ad mascot of India of all time, has not only become a strong narrative device which Vodafone uses to convey the brand message in a funny and interesting way, but it has also proved to be a source of entertainment for people, regardless of their mobile usage, so much so that different telecom brands have started to create campaigns with thematic semblance to Zoozoos. It was during IPL2 that Vodafone came up with this egg-headed character with inflated balloon-like bodies, and since then the company has used it to drive unprecedented engagement for a telecom company. Let’s see how they are faring on Facebook. Zoozoos on Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/zoozoo The popularity of Zoozoo can be gauged by the number of fans it has on Facebook. It enjoys patronage of more than 1 crore and 15 lakhs people on the social networking site with 91.7% fans being from India (see the image below), of which more than 6 lakhs and 51 thousand...

How Vserv Is Preempting Technological Advances In Mobile OS Ecosystem

Tue, 14 May 2013 05:50:20

Vserv.mobi, a strong player within Mobile Advertising segment has reinforced its HTML5 compatible Rich Media Solution with multiple Social Media interactive features along with A/B Testing Facilities. Why is Vserv beefing up HTML5 ecosystem? The HTML5 is essentially a web-standard that offers near-native application functionality on portable electronic devices which are capable of accessing internet. Without needing to install separate apps for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry or others, HTML5 works flawlessly across all smartphone OSes & even on basic / feature phones who do not support third party app installation. However, such flexibility is just a subset of the upcoming standard. Newer smartphones, especially those which run the Firefox OS (Sailfish) are actually based on HTML5. The OS, being layered atop HTML5, is very frugal on resources & is capable of running on ultra-low hardware specifications too. In all, more than a Billion HTML5 based browsers are...

Report: Social Media Immensely Helpful In Scouring & Serving Customers

Tue, 14 May 2013 05:14:35

Social Media as a platform, has been gaining prominence in garnering attention & creating a significant amount of organic traction. But these very portals have been not only proving to be a highly potential lead-generation field, but a very active technique to serve & service the existing customers as well reveals a new research. Regrettably, even new-age companies seem to be highly reluctant in exploring the multi-facet benefits of the portals. Titled ‘Social Media Marketing - India Trends Study 2013’ conducted by research firm Ernst and Young (E&Y) highlighted how a lot many important Pre & Post Sales Marketing functions are possible via Social Media Sites like Facebook, Twitter & even YouTube. With about 150 Million internet users, Indian companies now have a very vast lead-pool that can be professionally dissected, segregated & approached in a systematic manner based on traits & characteristics displayed by users frequenting on these...

Is Google+ Heading The Buzz & Wave Way Of Oblivion, As Brands Start Neglecting Profile Pages?

Tue, 14 May 2013 05:01:02

Google had attempted to rival Facebook when it launched Google+ (Google Plus) exactly 2 years ago. However, the Social Media Portal has started to get unloved by Brands in favor of Facebook. As exhibited by the huge gap between Domino’s Pizza, MacDonald’s & a couple of other Brand Pages, Profile Pages on Facebook & Google+, it is quite apparent that Brands, who had once jumped at the opportunity to highlight their brand & merchandise on a Social Media Portal launched by Google, have slowly begun to show lethargy & their respective Profile Pages on Google+ seem to be suffering from a clear case of sheer neglect. Where did Google+ fall behind? Launched with a lot of fanfare Google+ was supposed to be an extension of the services already in existence from the Search Giant. It was meant to offer a holistic ecosystem which began with E-mail (Gmail), Continued with a Smartphone Operating System (Android) and Video (YouTube) before engulfing the online dwelling of...

How Jabong Is Managing The Pitfalls Of Running An Online Marketplace

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:08:36

Online e-Commerce web-portals have been steadily switching over to the ‘Marketplace Model’ of conducting business rather than staying with the inventory based one. The latest to join the growing list which includes Flipkart, Yebhi & many others, now includes online fashion & accessories portal Jabong.com. Ever since Government of India prohibited Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in inventory led e-commerce companies, the move to create a marketplace model, where the company acts as an intermediary between buyers and seller and not as sellers themselves, has made it easier for Foreign Investors to justify their investment. But, this move has raised many issues pertaining to basic requirements on which the e-Commerce companies have been trumpeting the offline sales agencies. The rapidly shrinking inventory based e-Commerce model, ensured every piece of inventory had an assurance rating of being within the complete control of the web-portal before it was shipped out....

Despite Surging In Internet Usage, Why is India Still Bypassed By Tech Giants?

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:03:37

Internet Usage & Proliferation within India has witnessed a sizeable surge in the past couple of years. Fuelled by Social Media & other ancillary activities like Professional Networking, Online Shopping, Matrimony, Logistics & even Education, Indians have been aggressively taking to the internet & multitude of services too have sprung up. Despite the reassuring statistics, Foreign Companies have been extra cautious in avoiding setting up a base in India. More than 150 Million Indians now have access to internet & with it, the tools it offers. Indians have been known to spend a high amount of time, networking on Facebook, frequently ‘Tweeting’ & watching videos on YouTube. But companies who own & operate these online services haven’t even actively considered opening one of the most important infrastructural requirements, i.e. Back-end Data Centers. These Data Centers are of vital importance in cutting down the time it takes for the content...

Are Large Companies Seeking Help Of Emerging Startups To Overcome Their Shortcomings?

Mon, 13 May 2013 05:59:39

Large Multinationals are usually well equipped to augment their own products with Tech Support from within. However, a new emerging trend shows how these bulky corporations are seeking help from lean startups to quickly & swiftly address their concerns & issues. With Digitization & Globalization, the markets have become extremely competitive & pace of innovation has become critical to the very existence & sustenance of a company. Under such dynamic & fast-paced environment, big companies often find it difficult to realign resources & rapidly come up with solutions explained S Sadagopan, Founder, Director, International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, “Legacy is their biggest problem. Large companies are reaching out to young ventures because their own processes are so cumbersome that it is difficult for them to innovate quickly” Such instances are quite common now-a-days & can be seen across a number of areas. Tech Mahindra is...

Why Yahoo Is Adamant About Owning A Video Site Despite Losing Bid For DailyMotion

Mon, 13 May 2013 05:59:20

After being denied the opportunity to acquire Video Streaming site DailyMotion, Yahoo Inc. seems to have simply shrugged off the minor setback & has begun talks to acquire another company Hulu, a similar venture. News & Entertainment portal Yahoo Inc. had been trying intently to acquire Video Streaming site DailyMotion for quite some time. Yahoo did not intend to purchase the company whole. Rather, it was looking to secure a controlling stake. But the French Government did not let the deal materialize. Is Hulu a good alternative choice? At the onset, Yahoo seemed strongly inclined towards securing stakes of Dailymotion. As covered in our earlier analysis, Dailymotion is a big entity. Though not as big as Google owned YouTube, it is by far one of the strongest competitors to YouTube in terms of revenue as well as user engagement. Hulu on the other made US$ 700 Million last year & has around 4 Million subscribers to its premium video service. Hulu, is a Joint...

Companies Reversing Their Strict Stand Against The BYOD Trend Could Benefit Tech Industry

Fri, 10 May 2013 05:52:55

The Corporate Management has been taking a rather stern perceptive about employees using their own devices to carryout business functions. However, the outlook is increasingly growing positive & within a short span of 3-4 years, this same upper-management is going to proactively urge their employees to ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) to work. BYOD as a phenomenon has started not too long ago, when employees realized their needs & expectations were far higher than the current hardware being offered from the company. Since corporate decisions pertaining to technology adoption are known to crawl substantially as it involves heavy capital expenditure, employees decided to invest their own resources & procure gadgets which were mainstream & up-to-date, but yet did not feature in the company’s ‘Approved List of Hardware’. Gartner’s research has shown a declining trend of Companies handing out devices to their employees. Almost 40% of the...