Interpol’s cyber crime conference kicks off in Delhi
Interpol’s 7th international conference on cyber crime kicked off in Delhi from today. Union Home minister, Shivraj Patil, inaugurated the conference, organized by the CBI.
I guess the timing couldnt have been better.
After the recent news about Bank of India getting hacked, there was also the incident of the email id’s of Indian ambassadors and DRDO officials being posted online.
Go local using SadakMap
SadakMap is a new, local listings + Google Maps mashup site. Here’s how it works - Once you sign up for the service, you can place markers for any local businesses, restaurants, places of interest etc. on the map. You can also view markers made by other users. Users can also add reviews to any listing and rate a listing. All along this, every interaction occurs on the map of the city. This makes the approach very intuitive and refreshing. Think of it as a map with social features — or rather a collaborative map. So, any registered user can add a marker on the map and rest of the community can participate in reviewing / rating the listing.
As per Unmesh, the founder, the long term goal is to form a social networking sort of community going around the users as the site adoption increases. Once the site gets enough traction, Unmesh plans to introduce SMS based targeted offers to users from local businesses.
The site currently uses Google Maps API to leverage Google Maps as part of the collaborative interaction. I havent messed around with Google Maps API and so wasnt sure about who would own the data in such a scenario. As per Unmesh, SadakMap owns and stores all the data (listings, markers, reviews, messages etc.). Google Maps can very easily be replaced by other alternatives and mashed up with the data SadakMap has collected.
I like the mashup idea and as far as I know, such a mashup doesnt exist for India (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). In the current form, the one thing I felt lacking in the site was the ability to locate listings by categories. However, it seems that this feature is in the works.
PS: Loading the initial page takes a little longer than normal and Unmesh is working on resolving the issue.
Bye Bye Privacy. Say hello to key loggers
Just when you think that the Indian Government is making the right moves to embrace technology, it does something worthy of a WTF exclamation. Mumbai Police’s decision to install key loggers at all Mumbai cybercafes to capture key strokes is simply put preposterous. All your personal details - your email, credit card accounts, banking accounts — all will be logged right there for the cops to look at. Way to go — this is definitely going to give a great boost to Internet adoption.
Personally, I would put this a notch higher in terms of absurdity than the other incidents — Mayawati ordering her fake profile removed, Pratibha Patil wanting the anti-Pratibha-Patil communities removed, cops arresting a Bangalore dude for writing blasphemous stuff about Shivaji. Only one earlier such incident comes close –banning the access of all Blogspot hosted blogs some time back.
When you read about these incidents, it makes you wonder — is our country really taking a step forward or backwards when it comes to technology adoption ?
I mean, for f*** sake, Pratibha Patil is more bothered about her Orkut hate communities ?
Do you think our government is doing enough when it comes to Internet enablement ? Should they be more informed, more aggressive towards technology adoption ? Should they be educated on Web 2.0 (read social networks, blogs etc.) ?
Reliance ADAG in talks to buy out Seventymm ?
Matrix Partners backed Seventymm announced in June that they had acquired 100% stake in another online DVD rental player, Madhouse.
Now, LiveMint reports that Seventymm may very well be on way to be acquired by an even bigger fish - Reliance Entertainment Ltd., a part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). As per the story, two senior execs at R-ADAG and Seventymm said that negotiations were at an advanced stage. With 25,000 customers and 15,000 titles, a Seventymm acquisition gives R-ADAG a direct entry into the DVD rental business.
R-ADAG also recently launched their own entertainment portal, BigFlicks. I guess Seventymm assets would complement the online, entertainment on-demand portal ?
Online digital photo printing gets some serious competition
Online digital photo printing and shipping to anywhere in India was a category that did not exist a few years back. While Picsquare, iTasveer and others shaped up this domain, the existing players are in for some serious competition from newcomer and yet-in-stealth startup, ZoomIn.
ZoomIn hopes to become the single destination for storing, sharing and printing of digital photos for NRI’s as well as the fast emerging market in India. A quick test-drive of the site and I came away impressed. The site has the regular set of features one would expect from the photo sharing and printing website. Photos can be uploaded using the regular process or using a Java applet for bulk upload. Users can optionally also import their photos from Picasa and Flickr. You can tag photos, do some simple editing (rotate, editing caption and titles) on the photos, set access control and link to photos directly from your website/blog. A touch of AJAX greatly enhances the ordering prints process. Prices are fairly competitive and in-line with other competitors. The UI is very clean, intuitive and simple to use.
One of the ways ZoomIn separates itself is that alongwith shipping to India, users also have the option to order prints and have them shipped to their homes in the US. The company also has a strong, experienced management team at the helm. CEO and co-founder, Sunny Balijepalli, had previously founded Half.com, which was sold to eBay for $350 million in 2000. They feel that such a strong management team gives them an edge to attain the leadership position in this market.
Their strategic plan includes:
1) forming alliances with social networks to provide photo printing services to their members
2) Mobile phone upload and order features
3) Expand to other emerging markets in the future
ZoomIn definitely seems to have a great,experienced team at the helm. I can see them being a credible threat to the other startups.
They are currently in stealth and will be publicly launching on September 12th.
Swedish incubator IQube plans India entry
Excited by the growth of Indian economy, Swedish business incubator IQube is looking for a partner to start its Indian operations.
IQube will focus on helping early-stage companies and entrepreneurs to grow and achieve their commercial breakthrough.
Thus far, it has invested in 71 companies in Sweden. Here’s how the process works — IQube takes a 10.1% equity in these firms and offers them start-up capital and free office space. It also has an option to increase its stake later to 15%. The firm’s fiscal support to the start-up lasts for 12-18 months, after which the start-up company is free to explore other financing options.
via LiveMint
Some startup events and more
Vijay, one of the key Proto organizers, just sent out the following information about some upcoming events:
NASSCOM’s Innovation Awards 2007 - Call for Nominations
Introduced in 2004 for the first time, the NASSCOM Innovation Awards have grown into a prestigious platform.
The awards recognize organizations that have made innovation a part of their DNA and developed extraordinary and pioneering products and services. Over the past years, the awards have been presented to the winners at the prestigious NASSCOM India Leadership summit held in Mumbai, by none other than former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.
If you are an emerging company that has chosen to do things differently and thought “out-of-the-box,” to differentiate yourself in the market, this is the platform for you.
URL: http://www.nasscom.in/innovation
The Chennai Fund - Call for Applications
The Chennai Chapter of TiE has members who have put together a fund, which is aimed at very early stage seed investments. The investment size per company could vary all the way from 20 Lakhs and above upto a crore or such (depending on the need of the company). They are calling in for business plans and for those who are looking to raise capital.
For more information, contact George Samson [gs[AT]tiechennai.org], or Raghu Raghagopal [raghu.rajagopal[AT]energeate.com ]
PS: Finalists are expected to be TiE Chennai Members.
GreyLock Partners India - Startup Advice : Advisory Day a Month
Greylock Partners India has started a ‘Advisory Day a Month’ program, wherein qualified entrepreneurs are invited to pose questions and interact with them in non-investment-pitch mode. Greylock is planning to do this on the 3rd or final Friday/Saturday of every month (starting Friday, September 21st). Each company will have a 25 minute slot (with 5 minute buffer time). Meetings can be in person in Bangalore/Mumbai or over the phone. Do get in touch with Ganesh at [ ganesh[AT]greylock.com] for more information and to book your timing.
Out of the Box Conference
If you have ever seen the TED videos, or had the fortune of being there in person, you would easily grasp what OOB is about. It is about bringing in high-calibre dynamic people who can paint a bigger vision, and share their insights on various topics. From the list of speakers, the theme seems to be circling around Entrepreneurship this time.
The conference is planned to happen in Bangalore, on the dates of 14th and 15th of September. There is a registration process and fee, so do check out the website for more information.
URL: http://www.oobconference.com
Mobile is 20 years old. What lies ahead ?
Mobile technology recently celebrated its 20th birthday. It was on September 7, 1987 that 15 telco firms signed an agreement to build mobile networks based on GSM. And voila - the mobile was born.
Fast forward 20 years and India is now the hottest and fastest growing mobile market in the world. With a subscriber base of 165.1 million and 15.5 million subscribers added in the first quarter this year, Gartner estimates that revenue from mobile services will increase by more than 18% each year for the next five years.
However, point to note is that this revenue growth is going to come from an expanded subscriber base. Average Revenue per User (ARPU) in the Indian mobile market is amongst the lowest in the world. With the ARPUs projected to dip even further, this revenue growth is projected from targeting the rural areas, where the mobile penetration is still about 2%.
While increasing the subscriber base will definitely be the higher priority, I feel that there needs to be some serious innovation in the mobile market. SMS, ringtones and wallpapers are now old school. Even callback ring tones are now passe. There is need to come up with the next killer app for the mobile industry. Data is touted as the bigger revenue generator - but where are the breakthrough apps to go with it ? What about GPRS statistics ? I’m yet to see any official reports / figures related to the number of GPRS users in India. A lot is expected to happen when 3G goes live. What about the innovation till 3G goes mainstream ?
Your thoughts ?
How to find the right VC ?
With so many VC’s investing in the consumer Internet space, should you be selective while choosing the right VC to partner with ? That’s exactly what this article in LiveMint tries to address - How to zero in on the right VC ? The article has been produced based on responses elicited from several Indian entrepreneurs and is definitely worth a read.
If you still have doubts about why partnering with the right VC is crucial, read this and this.
IIMA to create $2 million cleantech fund
The Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad is planning to create a $2 million seed fund to exclusively fund clean technologies. The fund will be created under the Cleantech Venture Programme. Entries will be invited from universities and research institutes and evaluated by a panel of experts. Shortlisted entries will be showcased at the first CleanTech conference to be organized in 2008.
The programme would cover energy technologies like solar PV, fuel cells, wind and bio-fuels as well as energy storage technologies like batteries, thin firms and flywheels.
Energy efficiency technologies like conservation systems, intelligent metering etc would be included. Entries on water recycling, purification, desalination, conservation-related technologies and waste management are some of the areas that the CIIE is looking at.
via BS
This has definitely got me wondering — as a developing country with an ever-burgeoning population, a super-hot economy and limited resources, should we be giving much more importance to clean technology ? Cleantech has just caught the fancy of Silicon Valley and there is still room for a lot of innovation. Unlike the utilitarian value provided by consumer Internet services, clean tech has the ability to seriously impact our society, environment and the way we live. Not to mention the monetary gains that can be made (Tulsi Tanti anyone ?)
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