TechGazing

We are not surprised at all, but must admit that the figure is imposing - social networking site Facebook has topped 500 million users. And to mark the occasion, the site has come up with an initiative called Facebook stories, which will feature entries by different users on how Facebook has changed their lives. To quote the release: “Stories submitted to the application can be browsed by theme, such as “Family” and “Sports”, or sorted by geography. The Application will also surface “Most Popular” stories based on the number of “Likes” a story receives.” Fascinating, huh?

Well, two Indian celebrities have already told their Facebook tales - Deepika Padukone and AR Rahman. We are sure others will join in. If you wish to chip in too, just head to http://stories.facebook.com/ and log in.

Microsoft is definitely in redo and revamp mode as far as its apps go this year. We have had new Windows Live apps, a new look Hotmail and a new MS Office, and now a whole new MSN homepage. While the entire design of the page has been given a thorough once-over, what has caught attention has been the integration of social networks like Twitter and Facebook on the homepage.

From now onwards, when you log in to MSN (http://in.msn.com), you will not only be told how many new mails are there in your Hotmail account, but you can also check out the latest updates in your Facebook and Twitter accounts on the right hand side of the page. All you need to do is provide your username and the next time you log in to the MSN homepage, you will be able to see the latest updates from both accounts. Even better, you will be able to do basic tasks like replying, commenting and tweeting from the MSN homepage itself without having to open any additional app or website. Now, that’s handy.

Honestly speaking, we are not too sold on the look and feel of the newly designed MSN page, but the social networking integration has us grinning from ear to ear. Here’s hoping for more networks being included and users being given the option to see their network updates right on top of the MSN page instead of having to look at a panel on the right!

Vaseline has decided to cash in on the Indian psyche’s fascination for  gori chamdi (”white skin”). The company has come out with an application for social networking site Facebook, which lets users change their skin tone and preview their pics.The idea is clear: to promote the concept of fairness. Now, is that fair? We would rather not say (hey, we are just a tech blog, fellas), but yes, the app is definitely worth a dekko, even if you in your skin-altered condition are not.

After seemingly having stood and stared while the likes of the Samsung Star and Corby and the LG Cookie series grabbed the lower mid-segment share of the Indian cellphone market, Nokia now finally seems to be hitting back with some terrific devices in the high volume sub-Rs 10k segment. We were very impressed with the 5233 and now we have the C5, which packs in a whole stack of features at a price that seems way too good to be true. Continue reading »

All right, we think this is definitely a case of Christmas coming early. Airtel has announced that all its subscribers can access the mobile website of Facebook on their handsets free of cost until August 31. In simple English, that means that all Airtel users can “post status updates, comment and write on walls, message others, and also be able to view or upload photos - all without any data charges” (yes, we got that from the press release, so now you know it is official). As if that were not enough, there is also the fact that in the coming days, Facebook mobile will also be accessible in five different Indian languages (Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam) apart from English and Hindi. Now, that is what we call a terrific deal, with no strings attached (and we looked!). Continue reading »

The iPhone 4 might be attracting a lot of controversy over its signal reception, but it already has a fan in one of the biggest names in Bollywood - Amitabh Bachchan. The Big B made no secret of how much he likes the device when he recommended it to yet another Bollywood superstar, Shah Rukh Khan.

It all happened over Twitter with Shah Rukh tweeting: “iPad…iMac…nokia…kindle…so much wifi around me feel like a holographic 3d image of myself in space.Marconi we’ve come a long way baby.” Bachchan promptly responded: “shahrukh ! May I add to your wifi world of confusion - get the iphone4 .. It is just incredible ! Ha ha” Of course, we do wonder where Shah Rukh got a Kindle with WiFi (none officially exists), but even then, we doubt the iPhone 4 - or any tech device - has ever had a bigger endorsement. We do hope this will make Apple bring the device to India sooner than expected!

The past few days have seen a lot of noise about the security - or lack of it - on Facebook, and the consequences. Well, there are many ways of making sure that your Facebook data is reasonably secure, but if you are the type that likes a simple solution (heck, most of us do), then all you need to do is go to www.ReclaimPrivacy.org. One the page you will see an option to drag a button titled “Scan for Privacy” to your browser’s bookmarks bar. Drag it to your browser’s bar and the next time you are visiting your Facebook account, just click on the button and hey, presto, you will be given a quick breakdown of how secure your data on the site is and how you can improve it, if needed.

It is incredibly simple, and costs nothing. We are already using it, and think that you should, too.

Facebook users on some networks will be able to access the social networking site totally free of cost, thanks to the launch of a new website called Zero Facebook. The site can be accessed at http://0.facebook.com on most handsets and works at the rate of knots as it focuses on displaying text, pushing video and images to the background, although users can access them through links if they wish (viewing pics will incur data costs, though). In essence, the site lets you do everything you can on the regular mobile Facebook site (http://m.facebook.com) like updating their status, viewing their News Feed, commenting on posts, sending and replying to messages, etc., without your having to pay even data charges.

The catch, of course, is that not all mobile service providers in India support the site yet - at present, only subscribers of Videocon and Reliance can access Zero Facebook. Facebook, however, has assured us that it is looking to tie up with other operators too, so it might not be too long before one can access Facebook on one’s handset without incurring a penny of data costs.

Yes, you read that right. There’s a new mobile e-mail app in town and it claims it can deliver get e-mail to your handset, without your even needing a mobile Internet or GPRS connection.  Called BlacMail, it is an offering from Bangalore-based Fifth C Solutions, and while we have not tried it out as yet, seems incredibly promising.

Evidently, all you need to get BlacMail working on your handset is to download the software from www.blacmail.in - you can download it directly to your phone (if you have a GPRS connection) or to your PC and then transfer it to your handset. That’s all there is to it. The app claims to support not only popular mail services like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, but also corporate mails. Round that off with the fact that it can also let you access social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, and you will see why we are so impressed.  It does not come free, though. Rates for the service begin at Rs 49, although details  are sketchy at the moment. However, it runs on most handsets and by all accounts, works a charm.

Very, very promising, we think. We intend giving it a once-over in the coming days, and would advise you to do the same if you are the type that likes to get their mail on the move.

The past couple of years have seen most of us get addicted to GoogleTalk and its simplicity and convenience (hey, it lets us chat while we mess around with our mails),so addicted that many of us have forgotten the existence of other instant messengers (IMs). Well, the folks at Microsoft seem to wish to shake us right out of our cumulative inertias. They gave us a sneak preview of the forthcoming edition of Windows Live Messenger, and while we are not sure it will drive us away from Google yet, we must admit to being very impressed.

The presentation saw us being carpet bombed by stacks of features. While it would not be possible for us to mention all of them, six in particular did catch our attention Continue reading »

We have just received news that Facebook has pulled the curtains on the lite version of its website. The site, which had been launched about seven months ago as a “faster, simpler, Facebook”, was a very stripped down version of Facebook, without the apps and games, and was designed to give users access to the basic functions of the site even in areas with poor connectivity.Facebook users could write on their walls, post photos and videos, view events and browse other people’s profiles, but do little else besides. On the flip side, the site did not feature too many advertisements or “monetisable content,” as some tech pundits tended to call it. Many users in India used the Lite version of the site simply because it loaded fast and did not have too many ads.

Facebook has given no reason for the closing down of Facebook Lite, although the rumour market is buzzing that it feared that the lite site was actually pulling traffic away from the main one, and the relative absence of advertising on the Lite page was also hurting revenues. The official statement from the company reads: “Thanks to everyone who tried out Facebook Lite. We’re no longer supporting it, but learned a lot from the test of a slimmed-down site. If you used Lite, you’ll now be taken to the main Facebook.com site.”

We are certainly going to miss Facebook Lite and are hoping that the folks will have a rethink on this. Broadband is still nowhere on the horizon in India and sites that load fast are a Godsend.

The term “social networking phone” has been a tad overused of late, with everyone from Micromax to LG claiming that their devices are designed for social networking. However, we must admit that on the surface, none of the recently released worthies can hold a candle to the pair of social networking phones launched by INQ Mobile and Aircel.

The INQ Chat 3G and the INQ Mini 3G boast decent specs. The Chat comes with a complete QWERTY keypad and a 3.2 megapixel shooter while the Mini has an alphanumeric keypad and a 2.0-megapixel camera. But what really marks them out is the fact that they have integrated social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook right into the core of the phones.So your contact list includes your contacts from social networking sites and when you open messaging, you get options to not just send a text, but also to post on Facebook, post a Tweet and so on. You keep getting updates from your social networking websites as and when they happen - push style (like BlackBerry’s push mail!). And of course, you can use the camera to post pictures directly on to your Facebook page.

And all this for prices that are astonishingly low - the Chat 3G comes for a mere Rs 7,599, while the Mini 3G comes for Rs 5,399. Combine that with Aircel’s amazing Rs 98 per month unlimited Internet use packages and you can see why we are considering this to be the best mobile social networking experience that an Indian rupee can buy. At least on paper. We will be reviewing the devices as and when we get them and will let you know if they live up to their promise!

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled Windows Phone 7 at the Mobile World Congress 2010 at Barcelona some hours ago. While we are not likely to see any devices running the new OS until much later in the year, our brief look at the presentation told us quite a few things about the new phone OS. These were the seven we thought were the most notable:

Continue reading »

It is literally the biggest Buzz in tech town. And seems to be in no mood to die down. We are referring to Google Buzz, the new service from Google that adds a vast element of sharing to the already pretty power-packed Gmail. We have been tinkering around with Buzz for the past day or so and to be honest we can frankly say that we are very impressed indeed. Yes, we are not saying it is perfect, and no, we are not sure whether it will wipe out Facebook as some pundits are saying, but all in all, it might just redefine e-mail very much in the way Gmail did a few years ago.  There are seven reasons why we love Google Buzz: Continue reading »

This one took me by surprise: A senior Yahoo employee decides to quit (nothing unusual)… And then tweets to ask for suitable opportunities. No discretion here: ask it right upfront.

Who am I talking about? Farhan Lalji. Find him @farhanlalji. And what does his tweet read as? It’s official, I’m leaving Y! Need to find a replacement, job spec: http://bit.ly/4ErPr9 DM if you’re interested, pls RT. Did he get any leads? Go ahead, ask him.

Are you on multiple social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Orkut and more? Are you bothered about having a profile on each of these to be individually created and updated? I took feedback from some thought leaders and this is what they see happening - or at least that’s their wish:

Deane Barker, Content Management Practice Director at Blend Interactive:
“The biggest thing I want to see is the ability to have a centrally-located profile, and have all the social networking apps I’m involved with pull that data to populate my profile on that particular app.

There should be an XML spec or something that all networks share that describes a person. I can either publish this from my own site, or I can pick my favorite social networking app (LinkedIn?) that I want to be “authoritative” for me. Then I point all others to that, and they populate my profile with that information and keep it updated by pinging the profile every once in a while (or, when I update by authoritative profile, it can ping the other services to come get updates). Continue reading »

LinkedIn has decided to make its Groups feature more useful and relevant for its users. Starting August 29, 2008 the following features will have been added:

• Discussion forums: Simple discussion spaces for group managers and its members. (One can turn discussions off in their management control panel if they like.)
• Enhanced roster: Searchable list of group members.
• Digest emails: Daily or weekly digests of new discussion topics which members may choose to receive. (LinkedIn will be turning digests on for all current group members soon, and prompting them to set to their own preference.)
• Group home page: A private space for a group’s members on LinkedIn.

A LinkedIn release says, “We’re confident that these new features will spur communication, promote collaboration, and make your group more valuable to you and your members. We hope you can come by LinkedIn on Friday morning to check out the new functionality and get a group discussion going by posting a welcome message.”

LinkedIn.com has emerged as the hottest professional networking site on the internet, with over 17 million members at last count and revenues in excess of $100 million annually. Interestingly, India boasts the third highest user base globally after the US and UK.

The LinkedIn community is now being tapped by users for accessing faraway markets, landing dream jobs, raising capital, attracting the best of talent, building corporate brands and more. In fact, it has emerged as the single most important introduction for its members, who use this site to boost their personal brand. Their profile on the site serves as a virtual business card, and a dynamic CV too.

I met the site’s founder and chairman REID HOFFMAN in the latter’s office in the Bay Area in San Francisco, USA recently for an interview. Mr. Hoffman is rated as one of the most influential players in the Silicon Valley, for his record of investing in and setting up companies. A prolific Angel investor, he has invested in over 60 companies including Facebook, Digg, Technorati, Friendster, Ning, Tagged, Flixster and Flickr. When, and if, LinkedIn is sold, it could well be one of the biggest stories of the year with some estimates already valuing it far in excess of a billion dollars. Continue to read the interview

Weather forecasting ceased to be the riskiest job in town a few years ago; it was replaced with reading the palm lines of the Internet. And yet there are enough people willing to wager their professional reputations with predictions of what the connected world holds in the future.

No one, however, predicted the emergence of new media where content, and by implication power, got democratized giving liberty and freedom of speech extended definitions. Blogs, user generated content, YouTube style videos, wikis, podcasts, social media and Internet radio and television have allowed individuals and start-ups to sidestep the Rupert Murdoch model of how media is owned and managed. The last half decade has seen consumers of news and entertainment getting a chance to play publisher, editor, journalist, entertainer and broadcaster themselves; some managed to find audiences of a size leaving the bigger corporations would give their left arm for.

For all the excitement so far, it is only the beginning; we have all tasted blood, it is time to go for the main course. The future is knocking on the doors; at the risk of playing soothsayer, here are some market, business and technology trends to watch out for. Continue reading »

Blogs, wikis and in-house social networks are the new ways companies are communicating internally. Interactivity and collaboration being the key to these forms of open conversations, the quarterly newsletter may just be passé.

Want to win five hundred rupees? Predict the television rating of the next test match between India and Australia. The qualifier: You need to be on the media planning team at Lintas to have access to the internal blog this contest is run on.

This is just one example of what you may call ‘Internal Communications 2.0’ – the tools of new media are now being employed by companies to enable its people to converse openly and freely. These work for start-ups and big companies alike and in situations where the workforce is under one roof or spread across many locations.

There are many platforms one can do these on, four of them being most commonplace for their respective advantages. Continue reading »

The following post is a column I wrote for the Hindustan Times, a leading daily in India. You can access its web version by clicking here. It has a strong Indian context to it though.

Rohini Sharma wanted to go on a family holiday over the Easter weekend to Lansdowne, a hill station in Uttarakhand. The family was all set to go with accommodation tentatively booked at the Retreat Anand at this charming, colonial hill station, when the plan was changed to stay instead at the Bird House in Dehradun. Why? Because reviews and images posted on the Internet by other travellers did not paint a pretty picture of Lansdowne.

Instances like these are becoming more a norm than an exception as travel planning enters the Web 2.0 era. The Internet is full of reviews and opinions posted by travellers, and many people are using these as a key reference source when planning any trips. Such User Generated Content (UGC) is being seen as mostly credible and trustworthy, with the ‘authoritative’ voice of a professional writer no longer the last word when it comes to deciding one’s holiday. Continue reading this trend story

EmPower Research is conducting a consumer survey about Social Media in India. They are trying to find out people’s understanding, attitudes, and usage with regard to current Social Media in India and their thoughts about the future. Should you be interested in participating in the same, click here.

Completed responses would qualify to possibly win an Apple iPod.

Martin Bossman, who runs a very useful and interesting podcast show at Inquire Online, interviewed Ajay Jain on his recent book, Let’s Connect: Using LinkedIn to get ahead at work. If you want to listen to it, click here.

To know more about the book and to order, click here.

For a change, this is news about me and not companies I report on.

I have written a book, Let’s Connect: Using LinkedIn to get ahead at work and it came out just a few days ago. Going by the initial response, I feel it has the potential to make a difference for the readers.

LinkedIn is currently the hottest professional networking site going around, and millions are benefiting from using it around the world. In this book, I talk of how you too can get this site to work for you as a professional. Full of interviews and testimonials to support my analyses and opinion, this book could well be a must-read for all kinds of professionals.

For more information, sample chapters and how to order, click here. You can also order on Amazon directly.

Forums like Yahoo! Answers and LinkedIn Answers see hundreds of answers being posted in response to questions asked by users of these sites. And the amazing part is this interaction takes place between people who are mostly stranger to one another. Why do they do this? What motivates people to spend their time and effort responding?

When I asked these questions around, the most interesting reasons came from an employee of Yahoo Singapore: he does so because he LOVES HIS COUNTRY and wants to answer any questions related to Singapore. On another note, he added that he does so to come out top ranked on Yahoo Answers and because he generally wants to help around. Read on to know what others have to say