KhojGuru - Another startup in the search domain

As we all know search is the number one activity online & it is also one of the most difficult businesses to step into because there are already established global leaders in this domain but Indian startups are trying to win over them by taking an advantage in local search in the country.With already some search startups like Burrp, Guruji, Asklaila etc now here is another search startup khojguru. It gives us information about movies, restaurants etc with the reviews of various places so that you can actually read from people who have already been to those places & then decide where to go. It also gives us sms discount coupons of restaurants & clothing shops and accessories. I think this sms discounts can really help them build their portal as they have some good brands like Ferns n Petals, Khajja Chowk etc discounts with them.

Along with all this stuff, it also has the social networking component in it using which you can interact & participate in their promotional offer of gathering points and redeeming them for some gifts.

Till now no company has been able to successfully make a mark in the local search scenario but with Khojguru here with some interesting features, this might be a strong competetitor in this market but that time will tell.

Laxmi Mittal loses more money per hour than people earn in a year

Due to world economic crisis happening these days, its leading to bankrupcys, selloffs etc & even big businesses have been losing a lot of money making the condition worse.
In this global crisis, Lakshmi Mittal who was reported to be the world's 4th richest person in the world is losing about 7 million pounds per hour which is more than a normal person earns in a year. Over the last four months he has been losing about 180 million pounds a day which makes it 7 million pounds in an hour.

The way things are going i think the world is leading to the same situation like the Great Depression of the 1930's because most of the people around are losing a lot of money with banks failing, real estate makets collapsing, Stock markets crashing etc etc etc and the list goes on. Whatever the economists say, i think the worst is yet to come....

BarCamp 5 in IIT DELHI: Biggest BarCamp in Delhi

This time BarCamp5 Delhi will be big, the biggest ever in Delhi in IIT Delhi for 2 days on October 11 & 12, 2008. Registrations have been open for quite some time but those who havent registered can register here..
For those who are new to BarCamp, it is an event which acts as a platform for early stage web application & other technology related companies to come showcase their products in front of technology enthusiasts comprising of owners of startup's, VC's, bloggers, techies etc.
A must visit for budding entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts.

Bizedia: B2B startup based in New Delhi

A New Delhi based startup Bizedia is a new entrant in the B2B domain trying to compete against Alibaba and Tradeindia which are the major B2B portals in the indian internet domain.

The search and the functionality of the website is somehwhat similar to local.google.co.in.  Currently Bizedia if offering free classifieds listings for business owners to promote their business in various categories and subcategories. The categories ranges from Exporters/ Manufacturers, Improters/Buyers, Real Estate, Reataurants, Transportation, Health & Medical etc.

Its main aim is to help businesses to get leads via their classified listings and act as a B2B search portal for any business like Tradeindia and Alibaba. There is not much innovation from the other portals except for the fact that they have a clean interface which proves to be user friendly & offering basic classifieds listing for free.

If you have an idea that can change the world then Google will change your world

As Google is turning ten, they want to make the world a better place. If you have an idea which can change the world then Google wants you to share the idea with them and if your idea clicks then you can get $10 million to make it a reality. (it will change your world, Right !)

"These ideas can be big or small, technology-driven or brilliantly simple -- but they need to have impact," Google said in a news release.

The ideas can be submitted in 25 languages by October 20th on http://www.project10tothe100.com/ and you dont need to make a detailed business plan or something, you just have to fill in your basic details & just give answers to six questions like "If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the most and how?".

The ideas can be related to issues like providing food and shelter, improving health, access to education, building communities, sustaining the global ecosystem and promoting clean energy.

This is how the selection procedure will work. Out of all the ideas, they will choose the best 100 ideas by January 27, 2009 & open it for people to vote online between January 27 & Feburary 2. The best 20 ideas will make it to the finals out of which upto five winners will be announced by mid-feburary.

Anil Ambani Files Rs. 10,000 crore suit again big brother

Now a new twist to the feud of Ambani brothers as Anil has filed a defamation suit for a whopping Rs 10,000 crore against his big brother Mukesh Ambani for a statement to have been made by him in an interview with the New York Times some weeks ago.

The suit has been filed in the Bombay High Court about a month ago with no details available publicly.

"What most distinguishes Reliance from its rivals is what Ambanis friends and associates describe as his 'intelligence agency' a network of lobbyists and spies in New Delhi who they say collect data about the vulnerabilities of the powerful, about the minutiae of bureaucrats' schedules, about the activities of their competitors," the New York Times had said.

The two brothers have been in a battle since they succeeded the Reliance Empire in 2004 and they finally reached a settlement in 2005. However this settlement has not brought peace between the two as their battle continues on various issues like the gas suply deal or the statement given to the press.

Live Traffic Details in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune

These days there is a major problem in our lives when we get out of our houses & that is traffic. Government is builiding Roads, flyovers etc but still there has not been much improvement atleast in the capital, where i live. Now we have a service to check online or on mobile the live traffic details of Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune using maps.

Mapunity is an Indian based mobile based technology company which provides real time traffic density in the form of maps in the above four cities. This is a major development step in Mapping services as compared to RouteGuru and MapmyIndia as they only show ways & direction using maps, with no other details or services.

The website says:

Mapunity is also building a free mobile-based navigation system that will help people access data from its traffic information systems on their phones. A few other related applications have also been developed. These include a carpool partner-matching program for regular commutes and a vehicle tracking application for taxi and bus operators. Mapunity is also building administration platforms for transport management authorities in different functions.

So a lot of new development can be expected from the company in the future.

With the mapping services they also have the networking component as people can contact each other via email or sms for carpool. If we come to think of it this website can be so useful as it can save time, fuel, money, energy, save environment(less pollution), inconvinience etc for the common people. So all the people who don't have the Nokia Navigation Services then this is the best service available.

Shoppers Stop enters online retail: Set's up an online store

Shoppers Stop now has opened an e-store & has ventured into online commerce. After the entrance of the ecommerce portals like indiaplaza and futurebazaar, shoppersstop does'nt want to be left behind.

According to Vivek Mathur, customer care associate and vice-president, corporate planning and e-commerce, they are opening their online store because they believe that the customers are these days 'time poor' rather than 'money poor'. They are not looking at their portal as a seperate business like futurebazaar, it is an extension of their brand and want to create an online experience for their customers so they are focussing on their existing customers.

Regarding the marketing of the portal they have planned to send an email campaign targetting their First Citizens & then will start an internet campaign of display and search adds.

[ Source: afags]

Google with the Indian Police Dept. teaches smart online behaviour to students

With the increasing rate of CyberCrimes in India, Google has teamed up with the Indian Police Dept. and the Internet and Mobile association of India & started off the campaign of educating school students about cybercrimes and how to avoid it.
This campaign started off in Mumbai and now being run in metros including Chennai and Kolkata.
The campaign includes general "how to" and "what not to do" instructions and students were instructed not to divulge any kind of personal information to an unknown person online, to disclose passwords, date of birth and other sensitive information over the net.
I think this is a nice and innovative effort to teach the youngsters about the harms of the internet because of the increasing use of social networking sites which is a matter of great concern.

Apple launches new iPods and iTunes 8

Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday (10th Sep.) introduced a new line of iPod's in San Francisco which includes two sleek new nano models. Steve Jobs said that they have sold about 160 million since their introduction in 2001.

The new Nano is now sleeker and bigger than ever and the price of the 8GB ($149) and 16GB ($199) models and will be available in 9 delectable colored variations to choose from.

On the software front iTunes 8 was launched and some of the new features added are: Genius sidebar, album art grid display option, and faster back-up and sync time.

Apple has always been the market leader for portable music players and the new iPod's show Apple's increasing appetite for market share. Now i guess what Apple has to look forward is to distinguish its iPod's from the iPhone which can be a hard task.