Xiaomi couldn’t have wished for better timing of two reports that claim it has toppled Samsung to become India’s top-selling smartphone company. The Chinese firm, which is reportedly on a roadshow ahead of an IPO that could value it as high as $100 billion, is said to have beaten Samsung’s sales efforts in India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market behind… Read More
Category: india
KFC wings now come in a DIY drone box because 2018
The time has come for boring boxes that hold scrumptious chicken wings to transform into drones.
In the latest marketing ploy to appear hip and tech savvy, India’s Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) announced it’s introducing Limited Edition DIY drone boxe…
Global app downloads topped 175 billion in 2017, revenue surpassed $86 billion
Global app downloads topped 175 billion and consumer spending exceeded $86 billion in 2017, thanks to growth in emerging markets including China, India, Brazil and Russia, according to a new report from App Annie out this morning. Notably, India …
View More Global app downloads topped 175 billion in 2017, revenue surpassed $86 billionHike unbundles its messaging app to reach India’s next wave of smartphone users
How do you compete with the world’s largest chat app in its strongest market? Hike, the Indian messaging app valued at more than $1 billion, is taking a unique approach to battling WhatsApp which involves dismantling its service, layering it on budget Android phones and offering free connectivity. The company, which is backed by the likes of Tencent and Foxconn, today unveiled… Read More
AngelList launches Syndicates in India
AngelList has expanded its syndicates program to India in the latest overseas move for the US crowdfunding platform. The launch comes some 18 months after we reported that AngelList had hired Utsav Somani to launch the service and develop its business generally in India, where it also offers its hiring product. Syndicates was launched in the US in 2013 with the purpose of giving… Read More
India’s only openly gay prince is building an LGBTQ center at his palace
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Every once in a while, design (and humanitarian) miracles do happen. In India this week, for example, the country’s only openly gay prince, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, announced that he would be opening an LGBTQ center on the grounds of his ancestral palace.
“People still face a lot of pressure from their families when they come out, being forced to marry, or thrown out of their homes. They often have nowhere to go, no means to support themselves,” Mohil told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “I am not going to have children, so I thought, why not use this space for a good purpose?” Read more…
More about Watercooler, India, Culture, Social Good, and Lgbtq Rights
View More India’s only openly gay prince is building an LGBTQ center at his palaceNiYO raises $13.2M to digitize payroll and employee benefits in India
Fintech startup NiYO helps salaried employees access company benefits and other financial services, and now it has raised $13.2 million to offer its services to more of the country. Founded in 2015, NiYO partners with companies (employers) and ba…
View More NiYO raises $13.2M to digitize payroll and employee benefits in IndiaIndia’s national ID database is reportedly accessible for less than $10
The nightmare is a reality in India. Reports from the country suggest that the government’s national ID system — Aadhaar, which holds personal data belonging to more than one billion people — was compromised. On the slight positive side, the breach wasn’t down to hackers — at least on this occasion. The access hole was publicized after Indian newspaper The… Read More
Alibaba Cloud is opening its first data center in India
Alibaba is bringing its cloud computing business into India as it continues to expand its first-growing business unit.
The Chinese firm said today that its first data center on Indian soil will come online in January and be based out of Mumbai. The business already has clients in India, but a local presence will allow it to better service customers in the country, it added.
Beyond offering… Read More
Uber rival Ola buys Foodpanda India to get into food deliveries
Ola, the Uber rival in India, is entering the food delivery space after it announced a deal to acquire Foodpanda’s India business from its parent company DeliveryHero. The deal will see Ola scoop up the Foodpanda India business with DeliveryHero taking an undisclosed amount of Ola stock in exchange. Undisclosed all-stock deals are usually indicative of a willingness to sell, and we… Read More
WheelStreet is bringing dock-less motorbikes to India’s cities
By now the world is familiar with the rise of on-demand bicycle services, which started out with Mobike and Ofo in China, but one startup is twisting the concept slightly to bring dock-less motorbikes to the streets of India. WheelStreet, a company that recently graduated the Y Combinator program in the U.S. earlier this year, is pioneering the scooter push in India through a pilot service… Read More
Google is using light beam tech to connect rural India to the internet
Google is preparing to use light beams to bring rural areas of the planet online after it announced to a planned rollout in India.
The firm is working with a telecom operator in Indian state Andhra Pradesh, home to over 50 million people, to use Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC), a technology that uses beams of light to deliver high-speed, high-capacity connectivity over long… Read More