BG Mahesh | Mahesh | mahesh.com

Is 2012 the year for recognition of Indian languages on the internet?

bgmahesh — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:45:23 +0000

The year 2012 seems to have begun well for the Indic space – print and online media in India have been writing about Indian language space on the internet. Economic Times on Jan 24, 2012 (Republic Day) carried an article titled “Internet’s Next Growth Story to be Scripted in Vernacular Languages” (epaper, scanned version) and “Start-ups Eyeing Non-English Space ” (epaper, scanned version). The author of the article had called me few weeks ago but I wasn’t sure when this article was going to be published. Oneindia.in has been mentioned in the article as we are a major player in the Indian language space.

Airtel promotes a parked domain for GPRS service

bgmahesh — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:49:14 +0000

Soon after I changed my mobile handset yesterday I got the following SMS from my mobile provider Airtel,

Your handset does not support gprs settings, please add airtelgprs.com as Access Name and leave the username and password blank in the browser settings menu. For further help, call 12118

What will Starbucks look like in India?

bgmahesh — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:11:32 +0000

Starbucks in Center World, Bangkok

Coffee giant Starbucks from Seattle (home of Microsoft) finally enters India through a joint venture with Tata. Teenagers (including those who have never been to Starbucks before) in India were looking forward for Starbucks .

Will India see an Internet inflection point by 2014?

bgmahesh — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:30:13 +0000

Can his plans make Internet Entrepreneurs smile in India? YES, he can!

For internet entrepreneurs in India a very important topic of interest is – when will India see the big growth of internet users in India? When will India truly witness the internet inflection point? Today India has approximately 100 million PC internet and 75+ million mobile internet users. This is expected to grow to 350 million users by 2015, but if mobile/tablets take off in a big way the number could be bigger.

Online censorship: What is SOPA, PIPA? Should we in India be concerned?

bgmahesh — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:53:54 +0000

Two proposed bills in the US have ruffled the feathers of most internet users in the US – SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (PROTECT IP Act). There are innumerable articles on this controversial topic, I will list just few points from various articles. I have referred only to SOPA in this posting.

Mobile internet: Usage pattern of smartphone users

bgmahesh — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:30:38 +0000

Mobile advertising, they say is big in India (I haven’t fully experienced it yet!). I do see few banners from Indian sites on various mobile sites. When you click on it, they go directly to the PC/web version of the site. I have never understood why a company hesitates to spend a “little” money on developing a mobile friendly version of their site, after all they have showed they are thinking about the future by spending on mobile advertising. There are several tools out there which allow you to convert your website to mobile friendly site (I came across mobiSiteGalore today).

How big is the mobile app industry in India?

bgmahesh — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:32:07 +0000

With India having over 800+ million mobile connections and 50-150m mobile internet users it is obvious mobile apps are becoming very popular. Entrepreneurs are focusing a lot on mobile apps which are internet rather than SMS based (thanks to the recent TRAI ban).

Android tablets have a mere 6% market share in US

bgmahesh — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:21:40 +0000

When it comes to tablets iPad is the clear winner. Google’s upcoming 7-inch tablet is expected to shake up this tablet pie. Guess iPad is to tablets what Google is to search engines.

New Years party at resorts – how not to get misled

bgmahesh — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:30:30 +0000

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year and a prosperous 2012. For the past few years a close group of friends, with families, spend some quality time together away from home for New Years. It is one evening I look forward to as I do enjoy the company of my friends – the special ones.

Ecommerce in India: 2011 was great, will 2012 be sceptical?

bgmahesh — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:14:06 +0000

The calendar year 2011 is ending in few days and the report cards for various sectors of internet space are being released. In India we should expect report cards twice a year – calendar year (ending December) and financial year (ending March)!