Indiatimes.com

Times Internet Limited top Indian network in Indian online space

2010-09-29T04:42:00.001-07:00

Times Internet Ltd. (TIL) has once again proved itself as the leading player in the Indian online space. As per the latest comScore data, released for August 2010 for India, Times Internet Limited is the leading Indian internet network, in India. Times Internet limited is ahead of other internet networks like Rediff and Web 18, and comes overall seventh in India, behind networks like Google and Facebook.

Amongst the general English newspaper portals, timesofindia.com tops the chart with significant margin. timesofindia.com had 4.92 million unique visitors, while expressindia.com was at 0.95 million, followed by hindustantimes.com at 0.8 million. The 4.92 million unique visitors make 18 million visits to the site in a month, resulting in 127 million pageviews. These page views and visits numbers, are larger than any single news portal in India. Amongst the financial newspaper portals, economictimes.com remains the leader with 1.13 million unique visitors in India. In the segment of key auto portals, zigwheel.com, has emerged with maximum unique visitors in India with 1.02 million unique visitors, ahead of carwale.com at 0.85 million and gaadi.com at 0.64 million, as per comScore Aug’10 India data.

As per comScore world wide release for August, 2010, TIL stands at 15.8 million unique visitors, with timesofindia.com at 8.3 million, economictimes.com at 1.67 million and zigwheels at 1.1 milion unique visitors.

Commenting on the results Mr. Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited said, “We are very happy with the results. It shows that our continuous efforts to bring innovation and better value proposition are well accepted by the internet audience.”

About Times Internet Limited
Times Internet Limited is a subsidiary of The Times of India Group, the largest media company in India. Driven by its flagship brand Times of India, it has established dominant presences in Print, TV, Radio, Magazines, and Out-of-Home. Times Internet operates the Indiatimes Network, which is the leading online portal for Indians globally. For more information, visit www.indiatimes.com

Instamedia closes $4 Million Series A investment from The Times of India Group

2010-09-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Shimla, India (8th September, 2010) – Instamedia Network, the web's leading content network and creator of Software as a Service (SaaS) based content platform, Instapress, announced today that it has secured $4 Million in Series A funding from Times Internet Limited, a subsidiary of The Times of India Group. It comes after a year of considerable growth in audience, technology, and revenue. The proceeds of the strategic investment will help grow the company's network of writers and accelerate its technology platform development. The company also plans to launch local sites, targeting the European and US audiences, which already today drive over 60% of their traffic.

Instamedia has been at the forefront of the new media revolution by constantly evolving to match today’s substantial shift in content creation. The network runs some of the fastest growing Internet sites in verticals like lifestyle, green living and technology. In addition, its popular citizen journalism platform Instablogs has over 4 million monthly unique visitors. Together, these fifteen sites drive an affluent and passionate community and offer advertisers a great way to connect with their audience.

The in-house proprietary platform Instapress, which drives accountable and measured return on its content without compromising quality, has been one of the key drivers of its growth. Instapress implements efficient workflows to streamline collaboration between various content contributors, with objective measurement tools to track effectiveness.

The company is also launching its fully hosted content solution, called Instapress Content Server (ICS), which will allow other media networks to use the technology to drive greater ROI and performance from existing content production teams. Instapress currently powers a few popular sites of one of the India’s top media & entertainment companies.

“We are excited at the opportunity to help new, emerging media companies develop their businesses and grow the space. The entire Instamedia team has amazed us with their drive, creativity, and clarity, and we are confident that they will continue to create a large presence in the digital content ecosystem globally,” said Satyan Gajwani, Director of Business Development, Times of India Group.

“The Times Group will be a great long-term, strategic partner. They understand this space very well and bring a lot of experience and expertise to the table. We are also honored to have Satyan Gajwani join our Board of Directors. It will be a challenge for us to meet his energy and passion,” said Ankit Maheshwari, CEO and co-founder of Instamedia network.

Instamedia has recently opened its second office in Noida, a suburb of New Delhi, as they scale up operations.

About Instamedia
Instamedia is a leading content network publishing over fifteen sites in niche verticals. It is also an end-to-end provider of online media production and distribution solution for media houses through its SaaS based cloud service, Instapress. For more information, visit www.instamedia.com

About Times Internet Limited
Times Internet Limited is a subsidiary of The Times of India Group, the largest media company in India. Driven by its flagship brand Times of India, it has established dominant presences in Print, TV, Radio, Magazines, and Out-of-Home. Times Internet operates the Indiatimes Network, which is the leading online portal for Indians globally. For more information, visit www.indiatimes.com

TAN adds the TV Today Group, Star News, Star Ananda and Star Majha to Live.Indiatimes.com

2010-06-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

Times Audience Network (TAN), the digital video arm of the Times Group, re-launched the new design of Live.Indiatimes.com on Friday on-stage with Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft and Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited.
Live has now added Aaj Tak, Star News, Headlines Today, Star Ananda and Star Majha to its existing reportoire of channels live-streamed on the web.
The new design, which incorporates related on-demand videos, a full EPG and social media integration with Facebook and Twitter, crafts an un-paralleled viewing experience. Users can now watch India's premium TV channels in a single window, getting access to the best of Hindi and regional language entertainment besides news in English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali & Business news.
Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited, said: "This is by far the best entertainment product released in the Indian web space. We have and will continue to innovate on product to make this the foremost destination for Indians and the diaspora to consume premium video content on web and mobile."
Ramakrishnan Laxman, Head - Digital, MCCS said: "Very rarely does a product blend the best of technology, content, distribution and scale. TAN provides a great turnkey solution for distributing and monetizing our live videos by combining genre leaders like Star News in front of relevant audiences like those on NavbharatTimes.com."
Like in it's previous avtaar, Indiatimes has teamed with Microsoft to re-tool the video player using the Silverlight 4.0. Sanjay Sinha, Enterprise Evangelism Director, Microsoft said "Silverlight is a powerful platform for creating engaging, interactive user experiences for Web, desktop, and mobile applications when online or offline. We are thrilled to be working with an innovative partner like Indiatimes to bring LIVE broadcast of TV channels to the Indian internet Audience using Silverlight.”
To watch Times Now, Star News, Aaj Tak, India TV, Headlines Today, ET Now, Zoom, Star Ananda and Star Majha, log on to Live.Indiatimes.com.

Indiatimes (58888) Acquires Aananda Audio Video Digital Music Rights

2010-05-19T06:09:00.000-07:00

Close on the heels of Indiatimes’ recent strides in the Mobile music arena comes a significant content acquisition alliance with Aananda Audio Video (AAV), the largest music label in Karnataka. With this move, Indiatimes (58888), a division of Times Internet Limited (TIL), has increased its market share to more than 60% of the Kannada mobile music downloads. Karnataka is the largest regional market in mobile music monetization. This marks a significant step towards TIL's evolution into a major digital music rights manager.

According to TIL CEO Rishi Khiani, “With this recent alliance with AAV, we are expanding our footprint in the mobile music segment, and we will continue to do so going forward. This is a core element of our strategy to grow in the digital entertainment segment. You can expect more to come from 58888,” he added.

“Changing trends in the mobile music business gives us fillip to join hands with an experienced and India’s largest media conglomerate - the Times Group. We are entering into a pact, with an objective of providing quality mobile music and leveraging our partner’s experience in monetization and massive marketing strength,” says Mr. Mohan Chabria, Managing Director of Aananda Audio Video..

About Times Internet Limited:

Times Internet Limited (TIL) is the Internet and Mobile venture of India’s largest media house – the Times Group. Times Internet Network generates over 400mn pageviews per month through their flagship portal Indiatimes.com. In the mobile space, Indiatimes 58888 is the largest direct-to-consumer SMS and IVR shortcode, accessed by over 50mn consumers across all telecom operators in India. 58888 offers VAS services such as news, bollywood gossip, cricket scores, astro information, and a host of other fun, easy-to-use mobile applications.

About Aananda Audio Video (AAV)

AAV, the brainchild of Mr. Mohan Hariram Chabria, has been in the trade since 1999. Currently, AAV boasts of 4000 Kannada film songs, devotional songs and popular music. Besides acquiring audio rights for music, AAV has also produced films, TV soaps and serials and helped corporate and MNCs build their ad campaigns. AAV’s 300-strong dealer networks across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Bombay include leading retail chains like Big Bazaar, Landmark, Music World, Temptation M and Planet M.

Groove to your favourite Bollywood tracks at the tip of your fingers with ZoOm Box

2010-05-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

ZoOm India’s hottest destination for Bollywood content has taken a step further in reaching out to its audience with the launch of its latest initiative- ZoOm Box. This video jukebox is an interactive music show wherein viewers can choose their favorite song simply by sendin an SMS to the number provided i.e. 58888 powered by indiatimes. The viewers can also comment on the songs and even dedicate a song through the channel

In the show, ZoOmbox, which will be aired every monday to sunday 11am to 12 noon, audience can vote for their favourite movie songs and the song that receives the maximum votes will be played on ZoOm. There will be contests in which the person who sends the maximum votes in an hour gets the ‘gift of the day’ courtesy ZoOm and to add to the excitement, the name of the winner will be displayed on the screen.

Commenting on the channel’s latest initiative, Bala Iyengar, Business Head, Zoom said, “We are quite excited to announce the launch of ZoOm Box. This latest show from ZoOm is all set to cater to audiences who are constantly looking out for instant entertainment. This show format is created keeping in mind the need to interact more with the viewers and provide them with their favourite Bollywood content.”

“The launch of ZoOm Box is focused at serving the growing consumption of video entertainment via tele devices amongst the youth in India. This service will enable users to listen and comment on their favourite songs of Tinsel Town and enjoy Bollywood even while on the go” added Rishi Khiani, Chief Executive Officer, Times Internet Limited.

WIFW runway shows to hit a new high with online live streaming!

2010-03-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

WIFW to partner with Indiatimes.com for the online simulcast, the first of its kind in India

Asia's largest fashion trade event, the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (Autumn/Winter 2010 edition), today announced their partnership with the Times Audience Network, the digital video division of Indiatimes.com as the official web and live streaming partner for Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week shows.

WIFW is hosted by the India's apex fashion body, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). For the very first time this season, users would be able to watch this very exclusive event live on wifw.indiatimes.com. The live event will be hosted from March 24 - 28, 2010 at the NSIC Exhibition Complex, Okhla, New Delhi.

Users will be able to watch exclusive event coverage from the current and past shows, including on-demand videos on http://wifw.indiatimes.com. The show will also be streamed live on http://wifw.indiatimes.com, India’s premier destination for live video content.

Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited said, “We are pleased to partner with WIFW to bring India’s leading fashion shows live on the internet. TAN has made great strides innovating in the digital video space and this further solidifies Indiatimes.com as the premier destination for entertainment content.”

Mr. Sunil Sethi, President FDCI said, "Today WIFW has made a mark in the fashion show industry: since it’s a by invitation event only, we felt the need to give an opportunity to the public to watch the streaming of shows live from the comfort of their homes.

He further added, “Taking WIFW a step further, this innovative technology will help our designers to come closer with the end consumer. We are very excited that FDCI is involved in its initiation of this online engagement for the very first time in Indian fashion industry.”

Atul Chand, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC’s Lifestyle Retailing, said, “We are delighted that WIFW will be streamed live as this will allow the global audience to witness the collections. This is a significant step in developing the digital platform for Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.”

About Fashion Design Council of India – over a decade in the ‘Business of Fashion’
In the last 11 years FDCI has taken the Indian Fashion industry global and secured national pride for the business of fashion. It has been instrumental in promoting the business of fashion and creating new opportunities for all stakeholders. Over the years FDCI has used various marketing platforms, seminars and workshops to promote fashion. FDCI, a not for profit organization, is the apex industry body in the field of fashion in India. Its primary objective is to provide a cohesive platform for Indian designers and act as the mouthpiece of the industry at all relevant platforms, in a bid to promote Indian fashion - at home and abroad. FDCI is actively involved in promoting the 'business of fashion' and working towards corporatisation of fashion labels in India. FDCI is instrumental in facilitating designer-corporate tie-ups, aimed at expanding the fashion market in the country. To mark its 10th anniversary FDCI introduced India’s first couture week in September 2008 and in its 11th year the India Mens Week. For details visit http://www.fdci.org/

About Times Internet Limited:Times Internet Limited, (TIL), is the Internet venture of India’s largest media house - the Times Group. TIL made a foray into the Internet with a mission to create world-class Web products and services. Within a short span of time, the company has emerged as India’s foremost Web entity, running diverse portals and niche websites. Over the years, TIL has led the internet revolution in India, seamlessly integrating content, community and commerce. TIL websites are among the fastest growing web-based networks worldwide. Indiatimes.com is TIL’s flagship brand. India’s largest internet portal encompasses telecom, e-commerce, online advertisement solutions, events and expert seminars. Touted the youngest ever "Business Superbrand", Indiatimes.com is undoubtedly India’s preferred online destination for millions of surfers looking for a rich and diverse online experience. Indiatimes.com, the multi-faceted portal, commands more than 400 Million page views per month.

About Wills Lifestyle:
ITC’s Wills Lifestyle has been established as a vibrant fashion brand for the premium consumer. Wills Lifestyle offers a complete lifestyle wardrobe for the premium consumer, incorporating the latest fashion trends for both men and women. A nationwide chain of 50 exclusive specialty stores in 30 cities provides the Indian consumer a truly 'International Shopping Experience'. For details visit http://www.willslifestyle.com/

Indiatimes 58888 ties up with V Rock Mobile to offer mobile contents for IPL 2010

2010-03-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

Catch Live the excitement, glamour and analysis of the third season of the world’s largest cricket extravaganza, DLF IPL 2010, with Indiatimes 58888 from Saturday onwards. India’s most popular and single destination mobile value-added services (VAS), Indiatimes 58888, has announced a tie up with V Rock Mobile to offer IPL content to its users.
The tie-up will enable Indiatimes users across India not only to enjoy live IPL action, including live mobile commentary, SMS alerts and interactive voice response, they will also get a chance to participate in contests and win attractive prizes.
The users can subscribe to latest IPL news, take note of match statistics and enjoy cricket gossips . Moreover, there are images, rich MMS multimedia of most exciting moments of the match.
Commenting on the tie-up, Rishi Khiani, CEO,Times Internet Limited, said: "We are proud and excited to be associated with the biggest sporting extravaganza that India has ever seen. The tie-up with v Rock will provide IPL related information and entertainment content to millions of 58888 users. I am sure mobile customers will find it interesting to view, know and enjoy the best moments of matches and their cricketing stars. Moreover, 58888 being India’s only single SMS and IVR shortcode, cricket patrons have only one destination and don’t have to remember multiple numbers circulating today in the market”.
Jatin Ahluwalia, CEO V Rock Mobile, said, “We are very excited to partner with Indiatimes to provide official programming and contents of DLF IPL to millions of cricket loving peoples through 58888. This tie-up will go a long way in extending a complete mobile experience of DLF IPL excitement to 58888 subscribers, commented Ahluwalia. ”
vRock Mobile recently acquired exclusive worldwide rights for mobile contents covering SMS/MMS and IVR of IPL for a period of five years.
Vijay Srinivasan, Director, GCV, said, “The agreement announced today between vRock Mobile and India Times is another example of GCV and its partners commitment to delivering the IPL experience to cricket fans around the world through the use of mobile delivery platforms. This partnership will lead to a wide range of exciting and innovative services becoming accessible to millions of cricket fans through 58888.

So, enjoy the most happening sporting event in India live on Indiatimes 58888.

Madison and Indiatimes create Magic for Airtel at Indian Digital Media Awards 2010

2010-03-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

The creative team at Times Internet Limited has done it again, and with aplomb! Laurels for the team came as a pleasant surprise as the creatives for Airtel Digital TV launch on Indiatimes and ET won the award for “Best Use of Online Banner Advertising in Rich Media” at the Indian Digital Media Awards 2010 organized by www.exchnage4media.com. The flash-based shoshkele ad that marked the launch of Airtel Digital TV ran simultaneously on www.indiatimes.com as well as www.economictimes.com, India’s leading infotainment portal and business news website respectively, in August 2009. The winning ad was conceptualized by Madison Advertising and was pitched by them as the participating entry on behalf of Times Internet Limited.
The prestigious Indian Digital Media Awards 2010, organized by Exchange4media and judged by an independent jury, are designed “to recognise, celebrate and encourage the work being done in the ever-growing digital space... specifically, internet, mobile, gaming and social media.” The awards are decidedly the most coveted in the nascent digital media space in India. The Indian Digital Media Awards 2010 “recognise excellence by organisations and individuals for their work in India’s growing digital media sector.” The awards cover various categories including web advertising, microsites, corporate websites and debutante websites besides gaming, mobile VAS, virals, blogs and social media.
The independent jury that gave its verdict on the various entries was headed by Mahendra Swarup of Smile Interactive Technologies Group and comprised industry stalwarts Ms Lynn de Souza of Lintas Media Group, Max Hegerman of Tribal DDB India, Alex Kuruvilla of Conde Nast India, Mahesh Murthy of Pinstorm and Rajesh Sawhney of Reliance Entertainment, among others.
We are delighted to have won this award and this came through as a result of great collaborative work with Indiatimes. We will continue to strive to work with our digital partners to create good digital work which powers our clients’ business. Praveen Sharma , COO , Madison Media Plus

Facebook ties up with ET to offer live budget feeds

2010-02-23T05:40:00.000-08:00

The Economic Times, India's largest and most popular business news paper, ET Now – the newly launched business news TV channel and economictimes.com have joined hands with the leading social networking site, Facebook, to let users share their thoughts with the FM regarding the Union Budget for the financial year 2010-11. The new initiative, “ET-Facebook: Talk to FM”, will give users a unique opportunity to post their views/suggestions on the Budget by logging on to www.economictimes.com. ET will then present the same to the FM and take the voice of the nation to the FM.

“ET-Facebook: Talk to FM” initiative, will give users the unique opportunity to not only post their expectations with the budget but also their views/suggestions after the presentation of the Budget by logging on to www.economictimes.com. The users could now reach out to the Finance Minister, expressing what he could do for various sections of the society, including salaried individuals, households, businesses and for the development of Infrastructure. Views expressed by the readers would be displayed on economictimes.com and also show on the user's Facebook Page. All opinions received through this initiative would be summarized and submitting the Finance Minister.

Here's a chance for people from all walks of life - students, working women, salaried people, businessmen and householders – to influence India's policy makers. Experience virtual power while logging on to economictimes.com and posting Budget suggestions to make Budget 2010 work for everyone!

Speaking about the strategic alliance, Rishi Khiani, CEO of Times Internet Limited, said, "We are happy to associate with Facebook – it's a unique win-win association between the most popular social networking site and India's leading business news portal. We are pioneering popular participation in the preparation of the Budget while providing realtime feedback to the Finance Minister from the vox populi. It's democracy at work! We're quite upbeat - it's a great beginning, allowing millions of Indians to participate and provide feedback, in almost real time to the policy makers on the financial decisions regarding the country"

"All over the world, people use Facebook to start and engage in discussions about things that are important to them. By powering this program with Facebook Connect, the Economic Times is helping provide people in India an easy way to take part in and express their views on the National Budget discussions." said Chamath Palihapitiya, VP of Growth, Mobile and International

Shop for valentines at Indiatimes

2010-02-05T01:13:00.000-08:00

Roses, choclates, jewellery, teddy...it's that time of the year when love is in the air and you feel like painting the town in red. With Valentine's Day round the corner, are you still searching for a perfect gift for your valentine which will bowl her/him over?

Indiatimes Shoppping, with its exquisite collection of Valentine’s Day Gifts, makes your job of buying gifts easy. With an astounding variety of gift ideas and products, Indiatimes Shoppping gives you such a wide variety of choice that your beloved will just fall in love with you once again. So, don't hold yourself back. Log in and buy a Valentine Gift @ Indiatimes Shopping & lavish your affection & let your emotions flow towards your sweetheart, friends & family.

ET launches online stock market game

2010-01-05T03:33:00.000-08:00

EconomicTimes.com, India’s No.1 Business News and Markets website has launched an online virtual stock market game—Sharebaazi (www.sharebaazi.com) - where investors and traders can play the BSE listed companies without risking their money!And what’s more, one can also get a chance to win weekly and monthly prizes such as laptops, home theatres, portable MP3 players and many more for trading in the virtual stock exchange!

Each participant on Sharebaazi.com gets Rs 10 lakh of virtual money to play the game. The virtual game provides real-time trading environment, so that participants can easily understand the dynamics of the stock market and invest in it without any fear of losing their real money. The game is an initiative from economictimes.com to enable its readers to learn the ropes of the stock market without losing their shirt in the bargain.

A virtual stock-exchange not only helps the beginners to get over the apprehension of investing in shares, it also makes the entire process an exciting and fun-filled experience. It helps them understand market lingo and the nuances of building a winning portfolio of stocks in an interactive manner. For the experts, it’s perfect place to test their skills and show their investment wisdom to everyone by earning maximum profits and wining exciting prizes.

Says Indiatimes CEO,Rishi Khiani,”Stock markets have always been a place where informed choices have made people earn fortunes. In order to make it more democratic so that more people get a chance to invest in India growth story, we have launched a virtual game that makes people learn the nuances of the stock market in a thrilling manner. It also gives players of Sharebaazi a chance to encash their knowledge by winning maximum points and prizes.”

"The Indian Fantasy League is delighted to partner with ET on this stocks & shares game. This is a welcome (and slightly different) addition to our existing portfolio of games on cricket, football, tennis & golf and we hope our players will now enjoy a larger play canvas", says Tarun Chaudhry, marketing head of IFL.

So beginners, get over all fears of losing hard-earned money in stock market. And experts, flaunt your investment expertise to the world. Come and play at sharebaazi - a perfect platform to play virtual stock market game.

Plan a New Year party with Times City

2009-12-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

The countdown to the New Year has begun. Are you ready for the party? How do you want to sign off 2009? Are you still planning which happening place to visit? Or are you among those who are confused with too many offers and are yet to zero in on your kind of place? If that's the case, relax.

Indiatimes is launching an online party guide for New Year's parties and events across the cities. The New Year Eve (NYE) Ticketing website makes your job easier in finding the right kind place for you by providing you access to tickets/passes to the most happening parties in the city.

The site not only gives you a comprehensive list of the best parties, it also provides you details about various types of cuisine, bars and exciting offers by various parties.

Says Indiatimes spokesperson: "We are delighted to announce the launch of a site which will help GenX rock to the beat of foot-tapping numbers and welcome New Year with open arms. In order to address the need of the youngsters for a one-place site for getting tickets/passes to the most happening New Year celebration of the city, we have launched New Year Eve (NYE) Ticketing website. We have always endeavoured to make life easy, simple and fun for youngsters.The launch of this site is an effort in that direction."

So, what are you waiting for? Just log on newyear.indiatimes.com and buy tickets/passes to the most happening parties in the city and start celebrating New Year
from today.

TOI unveils sleeker, faster website

2009-12-24T03:00:00.001-08:00

The Times of India Online, the world's No. 1 English newspaper website in terms of page views (ComScore, May 2009 figures), has unveiled its new design, which is more youthful, vibrant and contemporary. A notable feature of new-look TOI website is that pages load much faster than before.

The guiding principle behind the new design has been usefulness for the reader. The new design gives better display to content that is of greater relevance and importance to readers.

To give the reader a quick overview of what is happening in India and around the world, the top block on the homepage now offers more headlines, photos and videos. For ease of reading, the text size for both headlines and stories has been increased.

Instead of a single picture, the top block on the homepage now has a slideshow, which can also have one or more videos. On the homepage itself, you can now get the top headlines from any of the 29 cities TOI covers extensively.

Navigation has been made easier by reducing the number of tabs in the top navigation bar and, in some cases, rearranging the categories so that readers can easily find what they are looking for.

In the new design, readers will be able to save the RSS feeds of a particular section by clicking the orange RSS button next to the "You are here" line below the navigation bar. The RSS link on top of the page takes you to the RSS page of timesofindia.com, where you can find all the RSS feeds TOI offers.

In the coming days, TOI Online will have some more pleasant surprises for readers.

Our advertisers have been asking for a standard ad banner size of 300 pixels x 250 pixels in line with the prevalent global practice.

They would be happy to learn that in our new design the 240 pixels x 400 pixels banner slots have been replaced with 300 pixels x 250 pixels slots.

Readers can email to toionlineeditor@indiatimes.co.in design mockups preferably in JPEG format, with "design mockup" written in the subject line of the email. Readers' suggestions may be incorporated in TOI's ever-evolving design.

Rakhi – Celebrate the Eternal Bond of Love

2009-12-24T02:59:00.000-08:00

Once again Indiatimes Shopping, one of the largest online shopping brands, is ready to delight its customers with its great Rakhi offers. Not only is there an outstanding range of Rakhis and Gifting options but also the promise of an Assured Gift with every purchase- a dazzling Pearl Pendant! Coupled with 50% cash back scheme running across the site , customers will be delighted shopping for Rakhi. Indiatimes Rakhi collection offers its customers widest range of Rakhi options to choose from with unbelievable offers

There are classic Rakhi ideas like Rakhi thali’s Mithai hampers, dry fruits and Rakhi Packs. Then there are designer Rakhi’s like Pearl Rakhi’s, Zardozi Rakhi’s, Gold Rakhi’s, Silver Rakhi’s. Not to forget the cute range of cartoon Rakhi’s for kids. All these Hampers with Rakhi can be delivered within India as well as abroad. There are separate categories for “Send Rakhis to USA” & “ Send Rakhi’s Worldwide”.Rakhis start at a very attractive prices of Rs 65 and prices of Hampers for instance Mithai hampers start at Rs.99/-, dry fruits at Rs.101, Designer Rakhi’s start at just Rs.89/-

And if you are interested in giving gifts then Indiatimes Shopping won’t let you down. There is a huge variety of Gifts to choose from across categories - electronics, apparels and accessories, jewellery and lots more.

There is an amazing collection of electronic products ranging from MP3 players / ipods, mobile phones, Branded digital camera’s, camcorders, home décor, assortment of home appliances, LCD’s, laptops etc all offering upto 75% discount.

Talking about apparels and accessories, there is an extensive line of apparels/clothes, lingerie and apparel accessories that includes men's apparel, ladies apparel, shirts, t-shirts, trousers, bottoms, skirts, traditional Indian clothes, sarees, salwar Kameez/ Salwar suits, Indian ethnic wear and many more. On branded apparel discount is up to 60% off.

In Jewellery there is a wide collection ranging from Pearls, diamond, semi-precious stones, sterling silver and gold starting from Rs. 149/- onwards. There is also an extensive range of Bracelets starting @ Rs.100 and Chains starting @ Rs.99, Earrings, rings , pendants and many more

Dishtv and Indiatimes 58888 enter Strategic tie up to offer VAS services Launch Mobile VAS to set new grounds, redefines the mobile internet experienc

2009-12-24T02:58:00.001-08:00

, Indiatimes.com, the internet venture of India’s largest media house – the Times Group and Dishtv – India’s No. 1 direct-to-home company and part of the largest media conglomerate – Zee Group, have entered into a strategic tie up to offer the customers a host of Mobile Value added services on TV.

Dishtv has partnered with Indiatimes.com to offer mobile interactive services “Mobile Active”. Viewers can now preview the mobile services on TV and download their favorite mobile content onto their mobile handsets. The content spans across ringtones, wallpapers, text alerts and contests.

Evolution of cellular technologies and increasing number of mobile subscribers in India has driven telecommunication industry to become one of the fastest growing industries in India today. Mobile Active service is aimed to meet this demand. Salil Kapoor, COO, Dishtv said, “Mobile Active is our latest initiative to drive convergence in the entertainment and communication space. In our endeavor to take TV beyond entertainment, we have recently launched internet powered interactive Life services, wherein Dishtv customers can search for jobs, seek their life partner and plan their dream vacation by a click on TV remote. Through our latest offering Mobile Active, our main focus is on empowering our young customers and giving them an easy user interface to download mobile VAS products. Gone are the days when TV was called an idiot box, we are in the process of creating a whole new user experience of TV viewing by offering a plethora of services including information, connectivity with internet services along with entertainment. We are pleased to join hands with Indiatimes.com, India’s leading portal to bring yet another novel service “Mobile Active” to our 5.7 million subscribers.” Salil Kapoor added.

Speaking about the tie-up, Times Internet Limited CEO Rishi Khiani said: “Our mobile VAS division has witnessed rapid expansion since past one year with the launch of new services like 58888 IVR portal, Active Deals, etc. With this tie up we at Indiatimes 58888, will be able to enhance our customer touch points and maximize revenue opportunities. As a news and media conglomerate, our primary asset and USP is quality content and with this strategic tie-up, our content would become more accessible via DTH platforms enabling 360-degree convergent delivery, and ensuring wider reach. Our partners, Dishtv too, would be able to offer its subscribers this value-add as part of an enhanced bouquet of services.”

About Dishtv India

Dishtv is India’s No. 1 direct-to-home company and part of the biggest media conglomerate – Zee group. Dishtv has on its platform 240 channels & services including 21 audio channels with over 5.7 million subscribers, which is growing. Dishtv has a vast distribution network of about 700 distributors & 48,000 dealers that spans around 6600 towns across the country. Dishtv has 24* 7 call centre with 1600 seats in 11 different languages to take care of subscriber requirements at any point of time. For more information on Dishtv, visit www.dishtv.in

Now, register your domains with Times Internet Limited

2009-12-24T02:57:00.000-08:00

Domain business in India is growing @ 35% yearly and the internet business by 30%. SME’s will play a major role in this growth as they would reap the benefits of the current trend. While most technology vendors are witnessing a sharp decline in their revenue because of the cascading effect of the recent recession, domain businesses are scaling up.

Times Internet Limited is now a domain registrar. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned names and Numbers) has appointed TIL as an accredited domain registrar for the following domains - .com, .net, .info and .org. More information is available on www.domains.indiatimes.com

With this new offering, TIL graduates from being a prominent domain reseller to joining a handful of Indian organizations that have attained the prestigious status of being full fledged registrars. TIL has been in the business of enabling SME & SOHO’s in their online business since many years. By taking this step TIL reiterates its commitment to this ever growing requirement for SME to go online. Globally domain registrations have shown a growth of more than 45% every year.

Booking a Domain is the first step in taking one’s business online and is the first and the most crucial step. Domains name should be descriptive of your products, services or and the name of your organizations and ideally should be short & memorable. It also establishes your online identity and opens many opportunities to increase your customer base if you can create a website on this domain name.

“Our new tool also suggests other related domains which are available and enables you to register . We have attractive schemes and offers which are intended to increase repeat visitors and build patronage amongst are customers. We also offer services which are natural extension of domains like business emails and websites- both customized and standard, this places us uniquely as a one stop destination for our customers. This guarantees quality assurance for consumers, emulating from a strong technology platform & made available at highly competitive prices.” says, Rishi Khiani CEO, Times Internet Limited.

TIL also provides end solutions like business email ids, website hosting solutions, design template and custom made websites, as well as search engine optimization services for customers and is a one stop web solutions company.

TIL is poised to enable SME’s to take their business online and has made considerable investments in this regard. More information is available on www.business.indiatimes.com

Snapfish Clicks Deal With Indiatimes

2009-12-24T02:56:00.000-08:00

Snapfish, (www.snapfish.in) - world’s leading consumer online photo service by HP has joined hands with Indiatimes.com,is the Internet venture of India’s largest media house - The Times Group to announce an innovative web collaboration. The partnership facilitates the launch of a co-branded Photo Center, enabling over 11.1million users(please add information) to print, share and store unlimited number of photographs. With Snapfish Photo Center, Indiatimes users can choose from a wide array of products ranging from photo greeting cards, t-shirts, mugs, sporty drinking bottles, money boxes, calendars, stickers and much more, to create and order fully customized photo gifts online.

At the announcement, Times Internet Limited CEO, Rishi Khiani said, “At Indiatimes, we continuously work towards introducing innovative mechanisms and platforms to enhance the user experience on our website. With the Snapfish co-branded photo center, we aim to provide a fantastic platform to Indiatimes users to create personalized products as well as store and share unlimited number of personal pictures effortlessly online.”

“Being the global leader in the online photo finishing space, Snapfish enjoys a discerning understanding of today’s eConsumer shopping needs as well as preferences,” stated Bala Parthasarathy, Managing Director, Europe and Asia Pacific, Snapfish, Hewlett Packard at the announcement. He also added, “We always look for avenues to diversify our consumer base. Web-alliances with premier websites like Indiatimes, allow us to extend our product and service offerings to wider audiences.”

In US, it is estimated that online printing market will touch $1 billion by 2011 (Currently, at $500 million). However, in India online photo printing market is still at a nascent stage.

With an ever-increasing internet penetration, Indiatimes is poised to corner lion's share of the Indian market with the tie-up with Snapfish.

TAN goes live with Microsoft, launches live streaming for Times Now, India TV and Zoom

2009-12-24T02:53:00.002-08:00

TAN, the digital video arm of the Times Group, today announced the launch of the live stream for Times Now, India TV and Zoom. Starting today, web users can watch the television feed of India's leading English, Hindi and Entertainment news channels on Live.Indiatimes.com.

In phase 1 of the launch, users will be able to watch the webcast with their facebook friends while getting real-time updates on the latest headlines from the TimesofIndia and EconomicTimes. The live-stream will be powered using Microsoft Silverlight 3.0.

Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Limited said "TAN is today the only video platform that allows for best-of-breed cross platform syndication and monetization. With this partnership between TAN and Microsoft, we continue to be at the bleeding edge of digital video. This offering opens up more innovative ad-formats for advertisers, with on-demand, mobile and now live video.""

Moorthy Uppaluri, General Manager-DPE, Microsoft India, said “We are delighted that Microsoft’s technology will now bring users the access to live video steaming and webcasts of television feeds for their leading news channel on real-time basis. With Silverlight 3.0 Microsoft is enabling easy development of rich internet applications for the web. Powered by Silverlight 3.0, http://live.indiatimes.com will also be able to provide picture-in-picture overlays for ad support and provide interactive tools for web customers. We believe that the consumers will be excited by features such as deep zoom, animation, 3D effects, smooth streaming and vector graphics on the web.”

The webcast of the news feeds will be ad-supported, with in-video formats such as pre-rolls, rich media companion banner ads, overlays and player skin branding.

Users can watch Times Now, India TV and Zoom at http://live.indiatimes.com starting today.

OUR USP: ET Portfolio Wizard – The wizard of Money Management

2009-12-24T02:53:00.001-08:00

Economictimes.com, the online edition of world’s 2^nd largest financial Daily, now brings to you the Wizard of Money Management. Here comes ET Portfolio Wizard– the real-life wizard that would transform the way online investment tracking works – and that too with a single sleight-of-hand.

It’s automatic and so easy to use that even tax/investment consultant swears by it. No more tedious filling-out of numerous online forms in sequence – you’d only need to copy-paste your data just once and for all to activate, manage, update and continue with your account. Here’s the lowdown:

Try our new Portfolio’s Upload Wizard feature, which handles bulk transactions in a couple of clicks. Or perhaps ET Portfolio’s special IPO section that tracks down even your ESOPs. Also try our upcoming IPOs that might attract you, or the Alerts & Watchlists section which offers a bouquet of brand new features. But more on that later.

Don’t believe how easy it is? 50,000 tax payers bet on our Tax Wizard last year for calculating and filing their returns without the help of a Tax professional – its sheer wizardry!

And all of this comes with 128-bit encryption security arrangement of course, so that you’re sure that your data is completely safe.

Upload Wizard

The ET Portfolio’s unique Upload Wizard makes transaction entering simple. The Wizard has been pre-configured to import data directly from over XX brokers (LIST – ICICI Direct, Sharekhan, Reliance Money, Religare, Motilal Oswal, IDBI, Man Financial, etc) More will be added as we move along. There are other options as well. Like uploading bulk transaction history into an Excel file. Upload Wizard will automatically read your data, validate it and upload the same into your portfolio. Get a hold on your investments, the easy way.

Tracking More Asset Classes

ET Portfolio not only tracks Stocks, MFs, Deposits and Real Estate, but is the only service that even keeps track of your ESOPs (Employee Stock Option Scheme). A special IPO section also keeps a watch on upcoming IPOs and also tracks investments from the time you file the IPO application.

Security

The only integrated portfolio tool that keeps your data secure using 128-bit encryption, the kind if security used by Banks and brokers for their online ebusinesses. The security of your financial data is very important to us.

Integrated Tax Tool

The only portfolio tool to provide an integrated tax calculation and filing engine. Last summer, 50,000 tax payers used our tool. See what they had to say about us before you try it. Now with the integrated Portfolio and Tax engine, your short-term/long-term taxes and the dividend, interest components will be automatically exported to your tax returns.

Family View

Now maintain the portfolio of the whole family at one place. Get an integrated view or individual view of each portfolio. What’s more, family members can get independent access to monitor their individual portfolios.

Alerts and Watchlists

Alerts for updates on transactions or important triggers. You can even set up multiple watchlists to keep track of stocks and MFs you are interested in.

Wealth Manager and Tax Consultant View

Select parts of the ET Portfolio and Tax Wizard can be enabled for your Wealth Manager or Financial Advisor/Tax Consultant to access, thus creating a seamless single source of information for all your financial advisory requirements.

ET Portfolio Wizard has lot more to offer, such as, double entry book-keeping, auto update of SIPs/SWPs; Alerts and automatic adjustments of dividends, bonus, stock splits, interests, redemption etc. Come take a look, you will be the richer for it.

The Zero Fuss Wizard

2009-12-24T02:52:00.001-08:00

Three days left, and you haven’t filed your returns. Try the ET tax wizard, it’s so easy to use and it just takes 5 minutes to fill the form. Don’t believe us; listen to some of the testimonials that grateful netizens from all over the country have been inundating us with.

Omar Sharif, Domain Consultant with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. in Mumbai, wrote to us that the interface “very user friendly…indeed it made my life simpler”.

Geetanjali P., an Analyst with a major computer manufacturing MNC in Bangalore says it “greatly simplified the tax filing process for professionals like me”.

Nipun K, a fellow Analyst in an MNC IT firm in the Graden City the Tax Wizard was “a great and easy-to-use tool by Economic Times”.

But for the final word we’ll go to 79-year-old Sunder Thadani in Mumbai. He’s been trying his hand at e-filling for the past three years, but found it “very difficult to use”. This is when he came to www.tax.economictimes.com and discovered the ET Tax Wizard. In his own words, “I was surprised to find compiling the returns on the screen so simple, and quick. I completed my returns within 15 minutes…it was so efficient and fast that even an old man like me could complete the returns.” Mr Thadani went on to add he “was saved so much tension and time which is wasted in filing the returns”.

But its not just a Tax Return tool, ET Tax Wizard is a pert of the ET Portfolio Wizard, the wealth management software that allows investors and savers to keep a track of their investements like shares, mutual funds, fixed deposits, NSC (National Savings Certificates) KVP (Kisan Vikas Patra), PPF (Public Provident Fund), RBI and Corporate Bonds and many more financial instruments. If a user maintains his investment portfolio on the ET Portfolio Wizard, then the calculation of capital gains on shares and mutual funds is automatically taken care-off.

So like Mr Thadani and thousands of others, why not give the ET Tax Wizard a try? We guarantee that this year there’ll be little worry and zero fuss, at least on the tax front. Even if you have filed your returns logon to ET portfolio wizard and create start tracking your investments there, so that next year your return filing is further simplified.

http://www.tax.economictimes.com

ET Now and Times Now to present live Budget09 on Times Audience Network

2009-12-24T02:51:00.000-08:00

Times Audience Network, the online video arm of the Times Group, will be simulcasting the live budget feed for ET Now and Times Now on July 6.

It will be a never-done-before event in the Indian electronic medium’s history with TAN coming together with Microsoft, Facebook, Akamai and the television properties of the Times Group. Users will get live coverage of both ET Now and Times Now as well as on-demand videos, live news feeds, special updates and will also be able to interact with Facebook friends–all from a single show window. And with Facebook Connect and Live Stream Box, they will be able to take part in real-time conversations with their favourite TV anchors. The event will be hosted at

http://budgetlive.economictimes.com “We’re pleased to collaborate with the Times Group on their coverage of the national budget,” said Meenal Balar, International Marketing Manager at Facebook. “As discussions in New Delhi get under way, we hope Indians will share their comments and opinions with their friends on Facebook.”

Sanjay Sinha, Director – Enterprise Evangelism, Microsoft India says, “Users will experience unique features such as on-demand videos, picture-in-picture feature to watch highlights while watching the live stream, powered by Silverlight.”

The event will be powered by Akamai, the global leader in live and on-demand streaming delivery. Sanjay Singh, MD, Akamai India, says they can “guarantee that viewers will get a flawless, high quality, live streaming experience.”

Sunil Rajshekhar, TIMES INTERNET LIMITED, President and COO, says, with the Live Budget show, we’ll be bringing together the strengths of industry leaders in the content and technology space.The event is a continuation of our leadership and innovation in the online video space. It also marks the entry of ETNow onto TAN and will help expand our efforts in proliferating rich media consumption.”

For NRIs, it’s perfect future with Astrotalk

2009-12-24T02:50:00.001-08:00

Want to know what the New Year has in store for you? Hunting for bride for your NRI son with little success? Want to know whether you would get one in India this time? Finding hard to figure out whether it’s right time to invest in India? Has the impending year-end increment in office got you worried and has robbed you off your night sleep?

Don’t worry, Indiatimes Astrospeak has got an answer to all your queries and a perfect solution for all your worries.

Indiatimes Astrospeak has started Live Astrology service for all NRI users where they not only get a chance to find the right astrologers in India but also speak to them over the phone instantly.

All that you have to do is to log on to www.astrospeak.com and buy talktime, and speak to the astrologer simply by dialling +91-124-4704813. The talktime packages are available at minimal cost ranging from USD 10 for15 minutes to USD 30 for 1 hour. The questions are answered both in Hindi as well as English and the service is available 24×7

So, just log on to www.astrospeak.com, buy talktime and then call +91-124-4704813 now! And cast away blues with our renowned astrologers handling your Rahus and Ketus.

About Astrospeak

Astrospeak.com is one of the first astrology sites with more than a million registered users. Not only it has the best of astrologers such as Bejan Daruwalla, Ritu Shukla, Uma Shankar Shukla, Ajai Bhambi, Kewal Anand Joshi, Pankaj Khanna and many more in the panel, there are also products and services across all genres of astrology.

Need an answer to all your questions? Now personal astrology is just a call away!

2009-12-24T02:47:00.000-08:00

Are you wondering whether your boss would be happy with your performance in your current project? Would you like to know whether you would lose weight this year? Are you anxious to know whether you would join that premier collage? Do you want to know whether that new composition of yours is going to be super hit? Do you wonder when would success and happiness become your companion? Are you keen to test your luck, but are afraid of onsequences? Do you want to know your future?

If you need answers to all such questions, just call 58888999! 58888 Voice proudly introduces Live Astrology service to Airtel mobile subscribers. Be it love, marriage, compatibility, wealth, employment security, profit in business, education, job change,lucky colour for an upcoming interview, auspicious dates and times or simply chances of travelling abroad, just call 58888999 and get all your questions answered from our panel of renowned astrologers.

Said service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is available in Hindi and English and is priced at Rs. 7 per minute.

Small soldiers reign supreme at the 2009 ET-ZigWheels Awards!

2009-12-24T02:46:00.000-08:00

India’s indigenous people’s car, the Tata Nano, is the 2009 Economic Times ZigWheels Car of the Year. Facing competition from other spanking new and larger cars (including the Mahindra Xylo, the Fiat Grande Punto, the Toyota Fortuner and the Mercedes-Benz E-class to name but a handful), the Tata Nano came out on tops not only for its revolutionary rethinking of design, but more so for its relevance to an India waking up to the romance of the automobile, and the space that the car has managed to create for itself not just in its country of origin but also internationally.

The recently launched Bajaj Pulsar 135LS has been adjudged the 2009 ET-ZigWheels Bike of the Year. In a lukewarm year for new motorcycle launches, the Pulsar scored massively thanks to its marriage of practicality, ease of use and the new sport-light class it attempts to establish by offering all the fun that motorcycles stand for.

The judging took place at the ZigWheels editorial headquarters in Pune after two days of rigorous testing involving the all-new cars and bikes launched between December 15, 2008 and December 15, 2009. A total of 37 cars and 12 bikes were driven, ridden and evaluated by the jury, headed by ZigWheels Editor-in-chief Adil Jal Darukhanawala.

The judging took place in two rounds, the first of which had vehicles from their respective categories go up against one another. This was to ensure that vehicles from the now widely available strata ranging from ultra-low cost cars to the ultra-luxurious ones did not face off at the first instant, but instead battled on the common grounds of their own category. Cars and bikes in each category were looked at for their overall design and packaging, their advances in creature comforts and occupant well-being and safety, the mechanicals and associated performance, the dynamic ability of the vehicle. The price point of the vehicle and its relevance to that particular category were also looked with a keen eye. The first round threw up some interesting in-class results, and the category awards were decided not only on the basis of the how well the cars and bikes delivered vis-à-vis the expectations from that particular category, but also the impact they promised to have on their peers and the market in general.

In the second round, respective winners from their categories were thrown into the ring to decide the single outstanding car and bike of 2009. Members of the jury were asked to distribute the 25 points allotted to them between the eight cars and five motorcycles that had topped their classes. The wide disparity between the category winners made this quite a task for the jury, but the final verdict was decided based on not just the quality and relevance of the machines, but more importantly by considering how much further that particular car or bike will take the cause of the Indian automotive industry and the consumer base it caters to.

“The smallest car took the biggest award on the Indian automotive scene thanks to a great idea which was uniquely attempted and well executed,” said Adil Jal Darukhanawala, Editor-in-chief of ET-ZigWheels. “From being resilient enough not to respond to wayward criticism during the concept stage and right through to its production unveiling, the boffins and the management at Tata Motors have quite clearly exhibited pioneering skills which surely make the Tata Nano the right car for the masses in the 21^st century. Simple yet effective, the Nano represents the more from less mantra is the way forward for a people’s car in the 21^st century.”

Delivering his rationale behind the Bajaj Pulsar 135LS taking top honours in the two-wheeler category, Darukhanawala said: “This bike represents yet another step up to improving the present breed of Indian motorcycles. A small displacement stylish commuter with performance akin to bikes of a class higher is an irresistible cocktail concocted by an all Indian team. We are all sure that the ideas factory which the Pulsar range has rolled out will be the spearhead for Indian motorcycling to come in the next decade.”

What was a very important aspect which played out in a most telling manner was also the fact that this year Indian designed and built vehicles from Indian OEMs took the overall honours. The Nano and the Pulsar 135LS were joined by the Mahindra Xylo which took the MPV of the Year Award and this augurs well as our OEMs get up to speed with trying to offer as many cost effective, robust and reliable automobiles built to the unique needs of our consumers.

The ET-ZigWheels Car Maker of the Year Award 2009 went to Tata Motors which displayed uncanny resilience, steely nerves and unimpeachable dedication to not just getting the Tata Nano project shifted and underway at a makeshift facility but the firm also kept plugging away with a host of initiatives. These resulted not just in the Indigo Manza, the new Xenon lifestyle pick-up and the Sumo Grande Mk II but also the Tata World Truck and of course Jaguar Land-Rover. Other car makers may have had larger sales and production volumes, even more profits but in a turbulent year faced by Indian industry, Tata Motors displayed a rare silent approach which saw their efforts speak the loudest.

Hero Honda was adjudged the ET-ZigWheels Bike Maker of the Year 2009 even though it had just one new launch to its name in the year under review. For a company setting the pace in absolute numbers produced and sold, it could be very easy to take the eye off the big ball but Hero Honda remained on song to delivering manna for the masses at the base of the pyramid.

ZigWheels also made use of the wide variety of media under the Times Group to ensure that opinions regarding the awards came from and reached the largest possible audience base. The ZigWheels.com Viewers Choice opinion poll garnered massive response, and the reader-surfers adjudged the Tata Nano as their favourite car. The Viewers Choice Bike of the Year award went to the handsome Royal Enfield Bullet Classic.

CAR CATEGORY SEGMENT WINNERS

Entry level Mini-Car of the Year

Tata Nano – WINNER

Premium Hatchback of the Year

Fiat Grande Punto (Petrol & Diesel) WINNER

Honda Jazz 1.2

Hyundai i20 (1.2 & 1.4 petrol and 1.4 diesel)

Suzuki Ritz (petrol and diesel)

Entry level Sedan of the Year

Tata Indigo Manza WINNER

Fiat Linea

Mid-size sedan of the year

Chevrolet Cruze WINNER

Executive Sedan of the Year

Skoda Superb (petrol and diesel) WINNER

Luxury Prestige Sedan of the Year

Mercedes-Benz E-class WINNER

MPV of the Year

Mahindra Xylo WINNER

SUV of the Year

Toyota Fortuner WINNER

Tata Xenon

Premier Rio

CBU Import of the Year

Audi Q5

Audi R8

BMW 6-series

BMW X6

BMW Z4 WINNER

Jaguar XF & XF-R

Jaguar XK and XK-R

Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV

Land Rover Discovery

Land Rover Freelander 2

Range Rover Sport

Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG

Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG

Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG

Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG

Porsche Panamera

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Toyota Land Cruiser V8

BIKE CATEGORY SEGMENT WINNERS

Scooter of the Year

Honda Activa 110 WINNER

Mahindra Duro

100cc Bike of the Year

Bajaj Discover 100 DTS-Si WINNER

150cc Bike of the Year

Bajaj XCD135 DTS-Si

Bajaj Pulsar 135 DTSi WINNER

TVS Flame SR125

250cc Bike of the Year

Bajaj Kawasaki Ninja 250 WINNER

Hero Honda Karizma ZMR

Bike of the Year above 251cc

Royal Enfield Bullet 500 Classic WINNER

CBU Superbike of the Year

Honda CB1000R Hornet

Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

Yamaha VMAX WINNER

Special Awards in the CAR segment

Design of the Year – TATA NANO

Best Fun-to-Drive Car of the Year – SKODA SUPERB

Most Value-for-Money Car of the Year – TATA NANO

Automotive Idea of the Year – CARNATION AUTO

Special Awards in the BIKE segment

Technology of the Year –BAJAJ PULSAR 135LS 4-VALVE CYLINDER HEAD

Most Value-for-Money Bike of the Year – BAJAJ DISCOVER 100 DTS-Si

Zigwheels Viewers Choice Awards 2009

2009-12-24T02:45:00.000-08:00

Fallen in love with your Hyundai i20 but envy your neighbour’s Karizma? Or want to take your girlfriend on a long ride in Honda Jazz, but had a fight with her as she prefers Pulsar!

It’s again that time of the year when we put you in the driver’s seat. ZigWheels.com, India’s leading automotive website from The Times of India group, is inviting you to poll your choice of the car and bike of 2009 from all those that got launched this year.

Your verdict will decide a winner each in the car and bike category. Trophies and citations will be awarded to the manufacturer whose car/bike cought the imagination of the nation’s heart

The other awards category is for the Jury’s choice of car and bike of the year, which will be adjudged by a jury spearheaded by Adil Jal Darukhanawala, the editor in chief of ZigWheels. The jury will take into account a host of parameters including performance, design, comfort, safety, value etc . The awards in this category will be announced across segments of cars and two-wheelers including ‘Entry level mini car’, ‘Premium hatchback’, ‘ Premium SUV’, ‘Mid Size sedan’, ‘Scooter of the year’, ‘100cc bike of the year’ and many more.

The polling for the consumers awards is on till Monday, 21st December 2009, and the results will be declared in the ZigWheels print edition with Economic Times paper and the site on 24th December 2009.

So, if you strongly think about a bike or a car or want to see your favourite bike/car as a winner, log on to awards.zigwheels.com and cast your vote. Remember, every vote counts. It’s you and only you who is going to decide the winner. So, log on and take control of the polling wheel.