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Facebook fights for free Internet in India, global test-case

1Jan By No Comments

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Facebook fights for free Internet in India, global test-case

Reuters: India has become a battleground over the right to unrestricted Internet access, with local tech start-ups joining the front line against Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg and his plan to roll out free Internet to the country's masses. The Indian government has ordered Facebook's Free Basics plan to be put on hold while it decides what to do. The program, launched in around three dozen developing countries, offers pared-down web services on mobile phones, along with access to Facebook's own social network and messaging services, without charge. But critics say the program, launched 10 months ago in India in collaboration with operator Reliance Communications, violates principles of net neutrality, the concept that all websites on the internet are treated equally. It wou...

Facebook’s Free Basics service suspended in Egypt

31Dec By No Comments

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Facebook’s Free Basics service suspended in Egypt

Reuters: A Facebook-sponsored service that offers limited free Internet access was suspended in Egypt on Wednesday after a permit required from the government was not renewed, an official from the Telecommunications Ministry told Reuters. Facebook's Free Basics service, which aims to provide free access to Facebook and some partner websites in developing countries, was launched in Egypt two months ago by the mobile carrier Etisalat ETEL.AD. The official, who declined to be named, said Etisalat had only been granted a permit to offer the service for two months and that, when it expired on Wednesday, the service was suspended. The suspension was not related to security concerns, the official said. Etisalat said only that it would release a statement on Thursday. Social media w...

How Internet transformed Yao Yunfei's traditional garment company in China

29Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

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How Internet transformed Yao Yunfei's traditional garment company in China

Yao Yunfei, a son of a traditional Chinese tailor and second successive found of Jiaxing Getelan Garments Co Ltd, shared his view on how the Intnet has transformed the traditional garments industry of a China’s historic town. Yao’s company is located at Wuzhen, a South China’s wat town, a pmanent home for World Intnet Confence event. Back in 1970, the company’s predecessor was a local State-owned factory that produced shirts and blouses. Yao’s fath worked with hundreds of works in the factory. Yao filled his fath’s shoes and began to upgrade the factory in the beginning of er 1980s. “We started to use Intnet to raise funds, develop distribution channels and even crowdfund our designs since last year,” said Yao Yunfei, found of Jiaxing Get...

Snapdeal to invest in logistics to speed up delivery

29Dec By AdityaNo Comments

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Snapdeal to invest in logistics to speed up delivery

Reuters: Online marketplace Snapdeal, backed by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and others, will spend more on logistics and technology to better compete with Flipkart and Amazon's Indian unit, its co-founder said on Monday. Shopping online is becoming more popular in India due to the rising use of cheaper smartphones and e-commerce firms are struggling to cope with the growing demand and make faster deliveries in different parts of the country. The e-commerce market in India is expected to grow to $220 billion in the value of goods sold by 2025, up from an expected $11 billion this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a recent report. Flush with $500 million from a funding round in August, led by China's Alibaba, SoftBank and Foxconn, Snapdeal is now looking to expand its serv...

Zuckerberg makes renewed pitch for Free Basics service

28Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

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Zuckerberg makes renewed pitch for Free Basics service

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Monday made renewed pitch for its controversial Free Basics Internet service in yet another marketing blitz saying it protects net neutrality. Facebook's proposed Free Basics plan allows customers to avail of services like education, health care and employment listings through apps specially designed for this platform on their phones without a data plan but does not allow access to many services such as YouTube, Gmail, Google or Twitter. Zuckerberg appeared on a video to personally promote Free Basics and also wrote a personal appeal in one of the leading newspapers. While Free Basics allows users to access a small number of Web services without charge, it has been criticised by some for alleged violation of the principle of net neutrality, a co...

This Coca-Cola Ad Can Only Be Read by the Color Blind

28Dec By No Comments

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This Coca-Cola Ad Can Only Be Read by the Color Blind

It’s a Danish ad for Coca-Cola Life. Companies often engage in targeted advertising campaigns, but one of the world’s largest beverage makers recently put out an ad with a message that can only be deciphered by less than 5% of the global population. The Coca-Cola Company recently deployed the advertising campaign in Denmark and it features an image that looks to most people like one large circle comprised of smaller, green and brown-ish colored circles arranged in a unique pattern. Apparently, though, as Adweek notes, the image’s pattern reveals the word “Life,” but only people who are color blind are able to pick up the message. The ad, created by Danish ad agency Essencius, promotes Coke’s reduced-calorie Coca-Cola Life, which uses the sugar substitute Stevia. Essencius’ Facebook ...

Facebook Bans 175-Year-Old Pub Over 'Offensive' Name: Report

28Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

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Facebook Bans 175-Year-Old Pub Over 'Offensive' Name: Report

The owners say they’ve never had a problem with its name. Until now. Facebook has suspended a U.K.-based pub’s social-media account over “racist or offensive language,” a report claims. In Nov., Lee Garrett, the manager of the 175-year-old Blackcock Inn, received a message from Facebook, saying that his account had been suspended for “racist or offensive language,” he told The Independent in an interview. Garrett has since been unable to log into the account and all of its posts have been removed, he says. The pub is located in a small village named Llanfihangel Talyllyn. According to Garrett, whose family took over the pub a dozen years ago, in the 175 years the company has been in business, there had been no complaints about its name until now. He added that the name is derived fr...

Indian Startups get $8.4 bn funding in 2015; Nearly 1k deals inked

26Dec By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

FUNDING, News

Indian Startups get $8.4 bn funding in 2015; Nearly 1k deals inked

Making it a year of startups, Indian and foreign investors have pumped in a whopping USD 8.4 billion in new Indian startup ventures, including e-commerce platforms in 2015 through close to 1,000 deals, even as questions have begun to be asked about their hefty valuations. Those opening the purse for Indian start-up s included industry titans like Ratan Tata and N R Narayana Murthy as also marquee global investors like Alibaba and Softbank. According to data compiled by domestic technology and startup blog, as many as 936 deals worth over USD 8.4 billion have been inked this year -- up from 304 deals worth USD 5 billion that took place in 2014. The industry is looking at a promising 2016, though experts and even the investors anticipate correction on the valuation side. The sectors...

26Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

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How Mark Zuckerberg made meetings better at Facebook

Whether you work at a startup or startup-turned-massive-corporation like Facebook, poorly run meetings can crush productivity and yield little to no results. In a recent Quora post, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says that CEO Mark Zuckerberg "has done a really good job improving the efficiency of meetings at Facebook this year" with two simple but transformative changes: 1. Send relevant materials in advance to those who will be attending. If team managers want to discuss data that doesn't need to be confined to a conference room, then it's in their favor to not dedicate a portion of the meeting for employees to catch up at their own pace. 2. Set a goal at the start of the meeting. Meetings that stretch on for too long typically lack a purpose or agenda. Zuckerberg got managers to an...

Google’s new YouTube video shows you more stuff as you move your phone around

26Dec By No Comments

News, Tech

Google’s new YouTube video shows you more stuff as you move your phone around

Google "Special Delivery" 3D, virtual reality video is now on YouTube Google has released an interactive video called "Special Delivery" that shows you more of the film as you move your phone around.It's the first of Google's new "Spotlight Stories" which showcases new kinds of interactive 3D videos. While anyone can view the short YouTube cartoon on any PC or device, this video comes to life by viewing it on the YouTube app on a smartphone or tablet. That's because it's full of "Easter Eggs," i.e. special hidden things you can only see on the YouTube app, as you move the phone. It's particularly designed to work with Google Cardboard, the cardboard box that turns a smartphone into a 3D virtual reality device. But you don't need the Cardboard to see the film in 3D mode...

Indian Government Funding 5G Network Research

25Dec By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA, News

Indian Government Funding 5G Network Research

The government is funding a research project on 5G technology being undertaken by Country's premier academic institutions with an outlay of Rs. 36.51 crores, Indian Parliament was informed today. "The Department of Electronics and IT is funding a collaborative research project on 5G being undertaken by premier academic institutions across the country", Communications and IT Minister of India Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.Communications and IT Minister of India Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. He further said the project was approved in September 2015 with an outlay of Rs 36.51 crore over a period of three years to be jointly implemented by IISc-Bangalore, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Hyderabad, IIT-Madras and Centre of Excellence in wireless...

JustRide in Google Launchpad list, to get equity-free seed funding

25Dec By AnkitaNo Comments

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JustRide in Google Launchpad list, to get equity-free seed funding

Self-drive car rental aggregator JustRide will get up to $50,000 (around Rs 3.3 million) in equity-free seed funding from Google as part of being selected for the internet giant’s startup accelerator programme, Google Launchpad. Google Launchpad is specifically for mobile startups in India, Brazil and Indonesia. The Launchpad accelerator provides a two-week mentorship programme, up to $50,000 in equity-free seed funding and a further $250,000 of assistance including access to Google’s products such as Maps and Adwords and financial assistance for office space. The accelerator programme kicks off on January 18 in Silicon Valley with its first batch of companies. JustRide is currently in the process of raising Series A round of funding which it plans to use to scale services to o...