Monday, November 22, 2010
FarmVille No Longer Facebook’s Top Application
Clearly a testament to the power of user-generated content.
However, I dont think this is a sign of the waning of the social gaming phenomenon. While FarmVille is a game that’s been around for a while, part of its declining fortune is from the changes Facebook has made to the platform, no longer allowing Zynga and others to access the ‘viral’ user acquisition channels they once had. This has had an effect on the entire social games ecosystem on Facebook.
Zynga exploded over the past few years in the US, but growth now will be found in new markets — global and mobile and particularly the latter in emerging markets like India.
Oliver Chiang, Forbes
November 20, 2010
This is a historic moment for social games. “FarmVille,” the hit Facebook game among all hit Facebook games, is no longer the top app on the social network. For the first time since claiming the top spot more than a year ago in August 2009, FarmVille has fallen to second place in terms of monthly active users on Facebook, according to AppData.com. Coming in at no. 1 now is the app “Phrases.”
“Phrases” is a curious and inconspicuous sort of app that allows users some self-expression on their Facebook walls through images and phrases. It may be a testament to the power of user-generated content. I reached out to the creators of Phrases through several email addresses available on their Facebook page to learn more about them and their plans, but haven’t heard back from this mysterious outfit.
To be sure, FarmVille is still easily the top app in terms of daily active users, at more than 16 million compared to the second-highest app Windows Live Messenger at nearly 10 million. But its decrease in monthly active users is still a big step down, or more accurately, a steady decline for the game. Just last February, FarmVille hit its peak with more than 80 million monthly active users. Eight months later, that number has continued a downwards march, now down to just under 54 million users.
FarmVille has played a large part in helping social games company Zynga dominate and reach its unbelievable valuation of $5.51 billion in just four years, surpassing videogame giant Electronic Arts’ value. In the meantime, Zynga’s collective monthly active users numbers across all its games has also taken a dive, recently dipping below 200 million monthly active users for the first time since it passed that milestone one year ago. The company hasn’t been able to follow up with a hit of quite the same magnitude as FarmVille. FrontierVille, for instance, launched a few months earlier, initially took off, zooming past 30 million users. But just as quickly, growth cooled, and users have begun a slow trickle out of the game.
While FarmVille is a game that’s been around for a while, part of its declining fortune is from the changes Facebook has made to the platform, no longer allowing Zynga and others to access the ‘viral’ user acquisition channels they once had. This has had an effect on the entire social games ecosystem on Facebook.
“I think the gold rush is pretty much over now, the days of easy money are gone,” says Interpret games analyst Michael Cai. That’s good and bad news for Zynga. Good in that it already has a big — the biggest — network of users it can cross-promote its new games on. This helps ensure that each new game it delivers will attract lots of users. Zynga also has the money to spend outright and acquire new users through heavy marketing. A smaller social games company, on the other hand, has neither the money, the network, nor the viral acquisition channels to entice new users to its games.
But it’s bad news for Zynga too in that user growth in the US may have leveled off for good, says Cai. The percentage of people who spend money in a game may go up a little, as might the average revenue per user, but neither is likely to see a significant jump. “The growth from this point on is going to be more organic than explosive,” Cai says.
If the US has cooled to social games, Zynga and other developers would be wise to look to international markets for growth. That’s exactly why Zynga’s latest title “CityVille” was the company’s first international launch. The SimCity-like game is available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian and German. Social games developers now need to think international and invest in localization. They also need to focus on developing better and more interesting games. CityVille is perhaps Zynga’s most complex game to date in terms of graphics and game mechanics. And at a conference on Wednesday, Zynga chief Mark Pincus said that by the company would have 400 of its 1,300 employees focused on creating new intellectual property by the end of the quarter.
But the hits-driven games industry is fickle, and it’s difficult to predict what users’ tastes will swing towards next time. Zynga looks great right now, with a $5.51 billion valuation, more than half a billion dollars in total funding, a stable of top social games and a still-large network of users. FarmVille’s fall is symbolic of what’s to come, however, for Zynga and for the rest of the social games industry.
Zynga exploded over the past few years in the US, but growth now will be found in new markets — global and mobile — and it won’t come easy, either. The social games industry is maturing and transitioning into the next phase. A new dawn will greet the citizens of FarmVille tomorrow.
FarmVille can be seen dropping to no. 2 for the first time in more than a year
Schmidt: Gingerbread Sooner, Chrome OS Later
I guess the next logical move would be to marry Android & Chrome and make them available cross platform (phones, computers & STBs/TVs) rather than have two different platforms with multiple variants.
Devin Coldewey, TechCrunch
November 15, 2010
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, talking at the Web 2.0 conference today, made a couple announcements regarding devices that you, reader, may be interested in hearing. After all, with Android poised to become the most populous mobile OS in the world, any major update is worth discussing.
Gingerbread, as they are calling Android version 2.3 (apparently not 3.0, said to be Honeycomb), was shown off on what appeared to be a Nexus S, which would make sense as the first phone to roll out with the update. New features include near-field communication and potentially face recognition, in addition to the resolution compatibility improvements and other under-the-hood changes.
Schmidt outed Gingerbread and the Nexus S as being forthcoming within the next few weeks, which suggests we’ll have a solid date soon. I’m guessing a joint press conference with Samsung, who will trumpet, as usual, the super AMOLED and impressive specs of the Galaxy series of handsets. If nothing else, the Nexus S will likely be rid of Samsung’s troublesome Android skin, which will alone put it ahead of its carrier-branded brethren.
As for Chrome OS, well, it’s not the news we wanted to hear. November was supposed to be the big debut, but that’s looking mighty unlikely, as Schmidt put the release at sometime in “the next few months.” No holiday release then, I suppose.
He also noted that the OS was orientated towards netbooks rather than devices that “involve touch.” That’s a big disappointment for me, since I don’t particularly enjoy Android as a tablet platform, and have been looking forward to Chrome OS as a replacement for some time. That said, Google products have a habit of metamorphosing after release, usually for the better and broader, so I’ll hold onto my hopes for now.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Microsoft Signs Android Patent Deal With HTC
This is complicated and I would avoid comments on professional proprietary grounds
Below is an extract from MG Siegler (TechCrunch)'s post on October 3, 2010 on the interview with Steve Ballmer where OS pricing and licensing fee were discussed -
“It’s not like Android’s free,” Ballmer told WSJ in an interview this weekend about Windows Phone 7. “Android has a patent fee,” he said. “You do have to license patents,” he continued.
So Ballmer’s stance is that while Google may not charge a licensing fee for Android, there is a hidden fee — one compliments of none other than Microsoft.
Ballmer noted that HTC recently signed an agreement with his company to grant them rights to patents for things they wish to do with Android. A few days ago, Microsoft sued Motorola, clearly attempting to get them to sign a similar deal.
It’s interesting that Microsoft has yet to sue Google for Android, and instead they are focusing on the OEM partners. It’s also interesting that HTC is also making Windows Phone 7 phones right out of the gate, while Motorola has said they won’t be working with Microsoft on phones until next year at the earliest. Instead, they’re focusing on Android. So this lawsuit is purely coincidental, I’m sure.
India's Internet Promise
Ive blogged enough about the India internet and mobile services opportunity and promise ! We have all the elements coming together be it enablers like data (3G, BWA), ecosystem focus (operators, OEMs, infra providers, policy makers, service providers) or content & applications ! While this might sound cliche, its likely that first and predominant source of internet access for many will be via the mobile phone.
I think the time is NOW !! The wave is just starting to catching the tail currents...get ready for the ride !!!
I think the time is NOW !! The wave is just starting to catching the tail currents...get ready for the ride !!!
By Harsh Joshi, WSJ
october 4, 2010
India's demographics provide ample reason to get excited about the Internet market's potential for stellar growth there. But if New Delhi doesn't address basic infrastructure snags, this new frontier won't fulfill its high promise.
Consider the opportunity: About 70% of India's people live in villages, and a staggering 84% of them aren't yet aware of the Internet, according to a study by Internet and Mobile Association of India, an industry body.
India's economic growth rate is one of the fastest among the world's largest economies, but only 52 million people—just 5% of the total population—were using the Internet in 2009. Still, this is more than double the total three years ago, showing the potential in rapid urbanization and a predominantly young society.
The economic payoff could be great. A World Bank study shows every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration leads to a 1.38 percentage point increase in per-capita gross domestic product growth in developing economies.
Others waiting to benefit include companies offering Indians everything from online travel bookings, recruitment and matrimonial portals. The country's Internet retailing market will reach $2 billion by 2014, with consumer electronics, toys and games growing the fastest, forecasts by Euromonitor show. The travel segment sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 38% in five years from 2009, and total $5.7 billion in 2014, according to Euromonitor.
But New Delhi needs to help. Inadequate internet infrastructure in the country's rural areas is a big deterrent. More crucially, more than half of India's population doesn't have access to electricity.
Lack of awareness is another hurdle. The government needs to boost the use of computers and online content in schools. Surprisingly, even in cities, only 32% of the population is computer-literate.
The perennial issue of affordability also shows up everywhere. Only 4% of Indians owned personal computers in 2009, compared with about 20% in China.
The government is tackling some of these issues, with programs like one to provide wire and wireless connections at the provincial level, but progress remains slow.
For India, the promise of the Internet might have to be measured in kilobytes rather than in megabytes.
Google’s new Android phone aims to replace credit cards
Not sure why this is being touted as being revolutionary. NFC has been around for a while now with extensive field trials/pilots by multiple stakeholders in the value chain. Also its use cases extend well beyond payments e.g. info dissemination & content transfer/access via coupons
The challenge has largely remained/remains around creating the ecosystem around NFC and in particular the retail network of readers. Its a chicken and egg situation - the phones with NFC chips will come when the retail ecosystem is broad enough and the latter will come when the handsets with the chips are in place. The question now remains as to who will do the grunt work and establish the ecosystem
16 Nov 2010
Google's Eric Schmidt has announced a new Android mobile phone that will power mobile payments
“This could replace your credit card,” Schmidt said. “The reason this NFC chip is so interesting is because the credit card industry thinks the loss rate is going to be much better, they’re just more secure.”
Users will need both a phone with an NFC chip and Android’s Gingerbread operating system in order to activate the technology. The near field communication technology allows people to tap their phones on a symbol or an item in the real world to make an action happen, such as a payment. Schmidt said it will it will allow people to “tap and pay”.
Schmidt stressed that Google had no alliances with any retailers and those relationships would be put in place by the credit card companies and retailers independent of the search giant. Instead Google will partner with third party payment processors.
He also said that Google would not retain any personal data obtained through credit card transactions via the phone.
However, despite saying that he could envision this type of mobile technology replacing the credit card, Schmidt would not put a time frame on this migration. Instead he said: “ Who knows? [how long it will take]. I anticipate my credit cards will be around for some time.”
Schmidt was keen to emphasise that NFC technology provides a brand new platform for people to start thinking about new apps, which can use the same “bump for everything” technology, as it was described on stage.
An Apple Integrated SIM: What It Could Mean
I would say it relates to mobile payments in general and probably NFC or akin in particular
Earlier this week, I reported on rumors that Apple and Gemalto were developing a SIM that Apple could integrate into its iPhone motherboard. In the emails, comments and phone calls that have poured in since then, I’ve received confirmation of the rumors, (although still no word from Apple or Gemalto) and gotten a lot more context about what this move might mean.
While the idea of Apple cutting out mobile operators by selling the device with a SIM already inside — and the ability to choose your carrier via an App Store download — is the most obvious option being discussed, there are plenty of other options that might also be on the table, from a mobile payment scheme to Apple launching its own bid to become a cell-phone company that uses other carrier networks. Let’s break it down.
The Payment Game
The idea here is that Apple would use the integrated SIM not only as the keys to the carrier kingdom, but also as the keys to the banking kingdom. After all, Gemalto has a big business in secure payments, and Apple has already filed some interesting patents when it comes to hardware that could offer payments on a cell phone. The mobile payments market is potentially huge, and Apple has the experience to get it right, and a significant interest in doing so. With iTunes, it already has the credit card information from 160 million consumers, which has enabled a frictionless app-buying experience from its handsets.
Apple clearly has an interest in expanding its payments efforts beyond digital goods and into the real world, where it could not only capture additional revenue from processing fees, but also change the device game by turning the iPhone into a mobile wallet. Integrating such a feature into the handset as opposed to the clunky dongles in use today would appeal to the Apple design aesthetic. I’m pretty sure Steve Jobs doesn’t have a few dongles dangling from his key chain so he can swipe and go at his local gas station.
Apple Becomes a Carrier (sort of)
For those who are focused on the carrier side of the equation, it seems I didn’t go far enough in my initial analysis. Several folks pointed out that the SIM card move could allow Apple to create a network of operators that provide service, and thus turn itself into a mobile virtual network operator or MVNO. MVNOs are popular in other parts of the world, where companies resell access on mobile broadband networks to certain populations. Several companies attempted that in the U.S. around demographics like sports or teens, but generally failed. Prepaid is one area where it has been successful, which could be an interesting option as a way of getting Apple’s iPads onto a network, for example.
There’s Room for Debate
The biggest debate in the comments of the original story centered around whether people would pay full price for a handset, since under such a model, consumers wouldn’t sign a data contract with a carrier. I think some people would, and some wouldn’t, but I do think there are still ways to offer a subsidy, even if Apple could offer folks access to a network directly. Carriers could still offer subsidies if users sign a contract, and even Apple could offer some kind of discount.
I don’t think those are very likely scenarios, but if Apple succeeds in changing the relationship between device sales and the mobile network, rest assured handset vendors and companies like Dell or Samsung that see huge opportunities in the mobile device space would hop on the bandwagon faster than you could swap out a SIM card. Those companies aren’t known for producing high-margin hardware as Apple is, so their devices may be less of a squeeze on consumers’ wallets, and those companies might also work out some kind of subsidy of their own.
The other big topic of discussion was around the loss of freedom that comes from having a SIM now embedded into the device as opposed to swappable by the consumer. What if only certain carriers were compatible with the iPhone (which is almost certain to be the case, given the different cellular network technologies deployed around the world and the spectrum bands used in various countries) and Apple somehow kept consumer-friendly options out of the loop? It is a company known for exerting high levels of control.
I’m not as concerned about this, possibly because there are products from other device manufacturers, and I don’t really have a problem with a gadget-maker like Apple controlling access to a network, mostly because if it wants to sell the most gadgets, it has an incentive to ensure the devices work on as many networks as possible. Meanwhile, the operators have a huge incentive to offer solid devices and contracts as a means to lure consumers onto their network for as long as possible, regardless of the network quality or customer service.
China beats Western Europe in apps demand
China and India in my opinion are going to lead the app surge with the same being driven across the spectre of smart and feature phones. Favourable demographics, lack of alternate sources of entertainment, accessible mobile data, focus on the segment by operators and OEMs and data enabled and more capable phones are all fueling this trend.
Mobile App Briefing
September 21, 2010
China is a huge growth driver of mobile app and game downloads, with over half of the country’s mobile user base engaged in such activity, according to new research from Canalys. The analyst firm claims that 51 percent of Chinese end users download apps or games on their mobile phones – 29 percent more than their Western European counterparts.
“The high frequency and popularity of application downloading in China stems from wide availability,” commented Canalys’ senior analyst T Y Lau. “There is a broad selection of Java content on portals, such as Sina, Sohu and QQ (Tencent), as well as a good range of dedicated phone apps available from mobile operators and phone vendors, such as Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Yulong, which already operate their own application stores in China.”
Books ranked as the top application category in China to download to mobile phones, with 68 percent of respondents who downloaded apps stating that they read books on their phones. There were distinct differences in behaviour depending on the age of respondents, with 76 percent of younger respondents (aged 16 to 25) downloading books to their phones, compared with 55 percent of older respondents (aged 36 to 55).
The research noted that a wide variety of free and paid-for e-book content, including Chinese classics, novels and popular comics, is available via China Mobile’s Mobile Market Store, and publishers and vendors such as ChineseAll, Hanwang/Hanvon and Shanda. Productivity-boosting reference apps, such as translation apps and dictionaries, also ranked highly among Chinese respondents.
Weather, news, navigation and mapping apps also featured highly. Although the huge takeup of social networking apps in Europe did not feature as prominently in China, the survey found that two-thirds of social networking users in China were willing to pay for access to their favourite social networking sites. More than half of these respondents were open to paying at least CNY10 (US$1.47) each month for the privilege. Local social networking site Qzone led the Chinese market (with over 80 percent of respondents registered for the services), followed by Kaixin001 and Renren. Of the worldwide social networking brands, MySpace held the top spot in China (ahead of Facebook), with 23 percent of respondents signed up to the service.
“International vendors with ambitions in China must keep abreast of these cultural preferences and work with local publishers to expand and localise their content offerings,” added Lau. “Consumers in China already show an increasing affinity for application downloads that go beyond smartphones. As new devices are brought to market, such as e-book readers and pads, vendors must be ready to rejuvenate existing content and engage their developer communities to support the leap to larger screen sizes.”
The survey also found that in China, mobile downloads extend well beyond smartphone-only users. Almost half of Nokia’s non-smartphone customers surveyed use their phones to download applications and games.
Canalys’ upbeat statements conflict with a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that noted that while the Chinese market is not short of developers, in terms of app stores it is hugely fragmented, with many customers using smaller, independent stores and electronics retailers to get mobile apps. The WSJ report also highlighted the prevalence of piracy in the country and its impact on sales. In addition it said that revenue share-terms in China are often less generous than for international markets – although in some cases this is offset by the size of the customer base.
Indeed, while China Mobile’s app store is widely seen as being among the most successful service in the country, many developers have still not embraced it fully. Last month the world’s largest operator said its Mobile Market store had attracted 50,000 registered developers, with 20,000 applications available and over 25 million downloads, by the end of June 2010. However, it did not reveal how many of its 550 million customers were using the store.
Tablets ahoy !
Tablets ahoy ! The Dell streak lands on Indian shores shortly after the Samsung Galaxy tab. Will it gain share from the fledging laptop/netbook segment. My view - Not yet in India.
44 mn students to enter higher education in next 10 years in India
Reiterates the huge e&m-learning opportunity in India !
RASHANT K . N ANDA, Mint
November 20, 2010
India's higher education enrolment will move up to 44 million from the current 14 million in a decade, the Central government said on Fri- day, underlining that private players, distance education and foreign education provid- ers will play key roles in ensur- ing this growth.
Human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that the Central government looks to add 30 million more stu- dents at this level by 2020. “Industry does not create (human) wealth, it translates ideas into wealth. Higher educa- tion will create this human wealth.“
He said, when “we speak of adding 30 million more to the higher education, it means 1,000 more universities. Government cannot do everything.
We need the private sector, foreign education providers, expansion of distance learning and enlarging the online for- mat of learning“.
The Central government believes that while 44 million will pursue higher education, 150 million more will need quality vocational education.
“We are bringing a national vocational qualification frame- work. The Central Board of Secondary Education will provide an array of courses ranging from automobile to para- medics,“ Sibal said, forecast- ing that education is vital as India will provide huge jobs to the world by 2050.
Chas Edelstein, co-chief ex- ecutive of Apollo Group, a leading for-profit education conglomerate in the US, said: “India's knowledge century is a global opportunity.“ He also expressed his desire to enter the Indian education space.
Dipak Jain, dean emeritus, Kellogg School of Manage- ment, said the quality was there in India and “we need to scale up“, referring to skill training. “India needs more Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) than IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology),“ he said.
“I think the future of competition is collaboration,“ he added.
RASHANT K . N ANDA, Mint
November 20, 2010
India's higher education enrolment will move up to 44 million from the current 14 million in a decade, the Central government said on Fri- day, underlining that private players, distance education and foreign education provid- ers will play key roles in ensur- ing this growth.
Human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that the Central government looks to add 30 million more stu- dents at this level by 2020. “Industry does not create (human) wealth, it translates ideas into wealth. Higher educa- tion will create this human wealth.“
He said, when “we speak of adding 30 million more to the higher education, it means 1,000 more universities. Government cannot do everything.
We need the private sector, foreign education providers, expansion of distance learning and enlarging the online for- mat of learning“.
The Central government believes that while 44 million will pursue higher education, 150 million more will need quality vocational education.
“We are bringing a national vocational qualification frame- work. The Central Board of Secondary Education will provide an array of courses ranging from automobile to para- medics,“ Sibal said, forecast- ing that education is vital as India will provide huge jobs to the world by 2050.
Chas Edelstein, co-chief ex- ecutive of Apollo Group, a leading for-profit education conglomerate in the US, said: “India's knowledge century is a global opportunity.“ He also expressed his desire to enter the Indian education space.
Dipak Jain, dean emeritus, Kellogg School of Manage- ment, said the quality was there in India and “we need to scale up“, referring to skill training. “India needs more Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) than IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology),“ he said.
“I think the future of competition is collaboration,“ he added.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
TataDoCoMo 3G Video Call Tariffs
Keenly watching the uptake and usage of video calling services.
Power your mobile with our 3G services to enjoy video calls at these rates.
| Home Circle | Onnet |
| Local OnNet Call | 5p/sec |
| National Long Distance OnNet Call | 5p/sec |
| National Roaming | Onnet |
| Local OnNet Call | 5p/sec |
| National Long Distance OnNet Call | 5p/sec |
| Incoming Video Call - OnNet roaming | 5p/sec |
 | |
- Core talk time can be used to make a video call.
- Home Circle means calls to any Tata Docomo number within the Tata DOCOMO 3G Circle your number belongs to.
- On-Net includes all calls made to Tata DOCOMO Network.
- National means call to any Tata DOCOMO 3G Circle within India.
Blyk launches in India
Blyk launches in India with Aircel. Well technically they are no more a MVNO after their high visibility UK flameout. Blyk now partners with mobile operators offering a hosted mobile advertising solution to bolster the operators’ own mobile advertising initiatives. In essence this means Blyk will co-develop go-to-market plans with MNOs, manage the launch, handle ad sales and provide audience management encompassing a variety of campaign types.
The Blyk model is interesting and particularly for a market like India where not only are the demographics very favourable but due to the cost sensitivities we are also much more amenable to receive advertising in return for benefits such as operator subsidised/fee services as proposed by Blyk.
No differential in tariff on the Blyk offering from Aircelbut a whole load of free SMS, VAS &; local updates in return for agreeing to receive promotional SMS/MMS.
Press Release
Aircel Introduces Blyk In India
India’s first Interactive, Youth focused Mobile Service Anytime Anywhere
New Delhi, London and Helsinki, November 19, 2010: Aircel, a leading telecom player with Pan-India operations and a subscriber base of over 48 million, along with Blyk, a UK based organization and pioneers of interactive and multi-media mobile messaging and brand engagements for the youth, today launched “Blyk on Aircel” in India.
This brings a new youth media to India, the largest youth market in the world, with over half of the population comprising of young people. It offers vast growth potential as India is also one of the world’s fastest growing consumer and advertising markets.
Gurdeep Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Aircel said, “We at Aircel have always engaged with the youth in innovative ways offering to them a variety of products and services, be it the Aircel Pocket Internet, the Aircel Pocket Apps, INQ - the first social mobile in the country, Aircel Unlimited Dialer Tunes etc. Today the youth comprises over 51% of the total population in India and a large percentage of the youth are using the mobile which then becomes a very powerful medium to interact, engage, entertain and connect with the youth lending them our ears to voice their areas of interest, preferences and views. “Blyk on Aircel” brings for the youth a truly exciting and interactive experience and even great brand engagement. It gives them the best deals i.e. Blyk on Aircel Lifetime membership along with irresistible offers by Aircel such as unlimited dialer tunes up to a period, Aircel Pocket Internet, Music connect and much more. This therefore, becomes a movement among the youth and opens to them a world of possibilities.”
Antti Őhrling, co-founder of Blyk and chairman of Blyk Media India adds: "Aircel is the perfect partner for Blyk in India, unpretentious, fresh, modern and easy to do business with. They've got an entirely new approach to capturing the consumer market and a strategy for fast growth through innovative consumer offerings. Together we intend to develop “Blyk on Aircel” to become a game-changing engagement media in the Indian market. Additionally, in a much cluttered Indian market youth brands are warmly welcoming a high engagement communication channel like Blyk. We are very confident that both the global and great Indian brands will make use of Blyk on Aircel to connect and engage with the youth audience", continues Antti Öhrling.
“Blyk on Aircel” target audience are the 16-29 year old young people. Users will be sent content by way of messages, both SMS and MMS, across categories i.e. entertainment, sports, lifestyle comprising travel, fashion, wellness, gadgets etc. and other activities such as city specific events, dating & relationships tips, comics and careers advice. As users respond to the content and indicate their preferences, after a period of 6-8 weeks, they are then sent content from their areas of interest and finally that is tailored to their individual preferences which further helps in relevant interaction with the youth and active brand engagements.
The Blyk product will be available in all retail outlets and exclusive Aircel stores which are state- of -the art experiential zones where the consumers get a first-hand experience on products and applications. It will also be available on the web at, www.aircel.com/blyk
There are over 20 initial launch brands, both local and global.
Always recognized for its high focus on Customer Care and service, Aircel has specialized Customer Care Centres with the latest technology and multilingual Customer care handling capability. This will help its subscribers to connect better and get the best service.
- Ends -
About Aircel
Aircel, a part of Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, is India’s fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 48 million and is the fastest growing mobile operator in the country. It is the market leader in Tamil Nadu, Assam, North-East and Chennai. . Aircel is now present in 23 Telecom Circles (Mumbai, Pune, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Assam, Bihar, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, North-East , Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, MP & Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat & Rajasthan) and with spectrum secured for all the remaining circles (a total of 23 circles in India), the company is on track to become a leading Pan-India Operator. For more information, please log on to www.aircel.com
Aircel, a part of Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, is India’s fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 48 million and is the fastest growing mobile operator in the country. It is the market leader in Tamil Nadu, Assam, North-East and Chennai. . Aircel is now present in 23 Telecom Circles (Mumbai, Pune, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Assam, Bihar, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, North-East , Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, MP & Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat & Rajasthan) and with spectrum secured for all the remaining circles (a total of 23 circles in India), the company is on track to become a leading Pan-India Operator. For more information, please log on to www.aircel.com
About Blyk
Blyk is a mobile messaging media that works with operators to link young people with brands and other stuff they like. Blyk launched its innovative mobile service in the UK in September 2007 and quickly became known as a leader in mobile advertising, audience engagement, and for its ability to drive unprecedented response rates and return on investment for advertisers. Blyk pioneered the use of interactive text and multi-media messaging as an advertising format, leveraging the most predominant, everyday behaviour of young people (sending and receiving messages on their phones) and enabling young people to communicate with brands in the same way they do with everyone else. Blyk has offices in, Helsinki, London, Amsterdam, Singapore and New Delhi.
Blyk is a mobile messaging media that works with operators to link young people with brands and other stuff they like. Blyk launched its innovative mobile service in the UK in September 2007 and quickly became known as a leader in mobile advertising, audience engagement, and for its ability to drive unprecedented response rates and return on investment for advertisers. Blyk pioneered the use of interactive text and multi-media messaging as an advertising format, leveraging the most predominant, everyday behaviour of young people (sending and receiving messages on their phones) and enabling young people to communicate with brands in the same way they do with everyone else. Blyk has offices in, Helsinki, London, Amsterdam, Singapore and New Delhi.
Blyk on Aircel Tariffs
Blyk on Aircel is a youth mobile service that connects you with your favourite brands, offers and updates.
If you’re an existing Aircel customer or a new subscriber, simply pick up a Blyk Membership Coupon and you’ll get these benefits:
Benefits on Aircel: Talktime of Rs.20, calls @ 1p/sec, PocketInternet (for 7 days), MusicConnect (20 minutes), Unlimited DialerTunes (for 7 days), free wallpapers and games (for 30 days).Get exciting MMS and SMS messages, update, trivia, events and more about your favourite brands.
Blyk on Aircel Starter pack
Blyk Card MRP | INR 74 |
Talk Time | INR 20 |
Service Tax | INR 6.91 |
One time processing fee | INR 47.09 |
Validity | Lifetime |
Charges
Call Charges | Local | All | INR 0.01/sec |
STD | All | INR 0.01/sec | |
ISD | As per base class | As per base class | |
SMS | Local | INR 0.6 | |
STD | INR 1.2 | ||
ISD | INR 5.0 |
VAS Benefits
MusicConnect | 20 minutes |
Unlimited DT | 7 days |
Content URL | 30 days |
PocketInternet | 7 days |
Karnataka/Kerala exception – 1st SMS charged at actual rates; post that 150 Local/National SMSes free for the day.
If you’re an existing Blyk member, you can pick up a top-up (Power) recharge to continue enjoying this cool mobile service.
Blyk Power Recharge
MRP (INR) | Talk Time (INR) | Service Tax (INR) | Processing Fee (INR) | Free Local/ National SMS | Validity of SMS (Days) |
76 | 66.9 | 7.1 | 2 | 500 | 10 |
101 | 89.57 | 9.43 | 2 | 1000 | 20 |
201 | 180.23 | 1877 | 2 | 1500 | 30 |
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