Facebook, the largest social network in existence, is used by over 800 million people around the world. It encompasses people from all walks of society and all age groups. In India too, Facebook has caught on and overtaken Orkut, the previous champion. Today we have Facebook being used for a very different use case: by farmers ! Here is a scenario that played out recently, in which Facebook was instrumental in achieving their aims: In one of the district of Maharashtra State, the local turmeric market was in a mess. An excess of supplies had left prices at an all time low. Bigger players had flooded the market and causes prices to fall to Rs. 4 per kg. Since selling turmeric was the livelihood of thousands of individual farmers across districts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, this threatened their very livelihood. The excess turmeric was being auctioned in the market on a set date, to the small farmers. A few local farmers decided they should boycott the market for a few days, so that the prices rise back to normal. However, by coordinating over Facebook, they managed to plan it within just 10 days.  The boycott was successful and the prices doubled from Rs. 4/kg to Rs. 8/kg, indicating the boycott was a success. Says Raghunath Ramachandra Patil,” Facebook farmers played a crucial role in stopping the auction and solving the problem .” Adds Asheesh Raina, analyst, Gartner India,” Community concept has always been prevalent in villages. Earlier, a village sarpanch would sit under a tree and discuss certain issues with villagers before taking a final call. Facebook and Twitter are an extension of this concept .” We think that India is finally reaping the fruit of improved rural connectivity in ways like this. As the trend continues, a lot of middlemen can be eliminated and this further helps Rural Empowerment. What do you think? Do let us know in the comments below. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency

[via WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

Twitter has announced that it will be partnering with two major satellite providers so that users around the world can get access to the micro-blogging platform. Tweeting via your Satellite connection is possible using Twitter’s SMS service. Twitter was built to be a SMS service but it slowly took over the world wide web to become a phenomenon. They have partnered with Iridium and Thuraya , two of the world’s largest satellite communication providers. This is to make access to Twitter as easy as possible. Up until now, Twitter could be accessed from smart phones and web but in a country like ours, not everyone has access to smart phones and the web in some cases. How then do they access Twitter? Twitter via SMS is one possibility but it depends on mobile carriers and not all carriers support this. Still you can tweet from your mobile phone using these long codes . So far, these long codes have only been set up for UK, Germany and Finland. Satellite services are universal and this might help more and more people access Twitter. Twitter’s rationale behind this move is to make unbroken accessibility to the service possible in war-torn countries and distant places with very less connectivity. Twitter SMS: Now available for satellite providers blog.twitter.com/2012/02/twitte… — Twitter (@twitter) February 9, 2012 Another important aspect of Twitter is increasing the accessibility of the service from the real-time news perspective. Emergencies and other happenings can easily be tweeted and followed now by many more people. We earlier wrote about how Twitter has changed its policies recently to allow more freedom of speech. What do you think of this new feature? Will it help reaching out to more people or result in an information overload? Share your thoughts with us. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency

[via WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

Bangalore based e-commerce start-up Myntra has raised its third round of funding led by the venture capital firm Tiger Global. This Series C funding amount is being reported as $20 million . This makes the total cash inflow received by Myntra from Tiger Global around $39 million . Myntra had raised $14 million in its previous funding round from Tiger Global, IDG Ventures and IndoUS Venture Partners. This influx of capital will be earmarked for scaling up the company’s technologies, logistic services and other expansion plans. Myntra.com primarily deals in footwear but have expanded to other categories like clothes and accessories.  Chief Executive Officer of Myntra Mukesh Bansal said, “ In total, Myntra has secured $38 million from funding led by Tiger Global. About 55 per cent of its revenue comes from footwear. Thirty five per cent of its revenue comes from clothing and the other 10 per cent comes from accessories .” With e-commerce experiencing some exciting developments like the Flipkart-LetsBuy affair and Amazon’s entry into India with Junglee.com , this successful round of funding for Myntra is good news. The question remains: Will e-commerce survive or is it a bubble? Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency

[via WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

The new Mahindra Duro DZ is the revamped version of the Mahindra Duro scooter . Mahindra Duro DZ scooter features : Powerful 125cc engine Longer wheel base Spacious under-seat storage Stylish and trendy graphics design Advanced telescopic suspension Dual-curve digital ignition system – Good Mileage Mahindra Duro DZ scooter specifications : Engine : 4 stroke, 124.6 CC

[via Technology News India - Latest trends in Technology]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

Samsung is one of the best mobile manufacturing Company in India. Lots of mobiles are lunached by the  company.  The Samsung mobiles are receiving good response from Indian customer. The company has launched three tablet phones in India that are Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 with white color version, Galaxy Tab 730 and Galaxy Tab 620. The Samsung mobile company has tagged the Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 price in India is Rs. 31,790. As per Samsung mobiles released Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 pictures, the mobile comes with touch screen display. The TFT capacitive touch screen display is available with a screen resolution of 1280×800 pixels along with 10.1 inches display size. In this mobile touch sensitive controls and multi touch input method display features are available. MP3 and WAV ringtones are available in this mobile with vibration. An internal memory of 16/32/64 GB is available in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 with 1GB RAM. The model supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, GPRS, EDGE and 3G local data base connectivity features. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 features 3.0 mega pixels rear camera which comes with autofocus, LED flash and Geo-tagging camera features with a camera resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. The tablet phone also comes with 2.0MP front camera.  The Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 works on with Android v3.0 Honeycomb OS with NVIDIA 1GHz Tegra 2 Dual Core Processor. The touch phone is packed with MP3 and MP4 players along with stereo FM radio with RDS for an entertainment facility. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 has 256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6 mm of dimension and 565 gm of weight. The 7000 mAh standard battery is available in this mobile. Messaging service like SMS, MMS, Email and Push Email messaging services are available for better messaging service. 

[via Tech News India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

Here are some of the pictures taken at our WAT Summit 2012 . Check out more pictures on our website . Again, a big THANK YOU to everyone for making the Summit such an inspiring and amazing event! And for all those who missed all the action, a image speaks a thousand words! Day 1 Day 2 Stay tuned for more pictures of WAT Awards 2012 – Dawn Of The Digital Age . Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency

[via WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

Microsoft has announced that it will release a test/beta version of its upcoming Desktop operating system, Windows 8 . The operating system was revealed some time back and promises to be the next big upgrade to Microsoft’s Windows. Windows Vista was generally considered a failure but its successor Windows 7 got its act right. Windows 8 will be the Redmond giant’s answer to modern operating systems offerings from Apple and Google. Windows 8 marks the entry of Microsoft’s entry into the tablet segment with its UI and features which are specially tailored to tablets. The operating system sports a new and refreshing UI called Metro. This Metro UI syncs in well with their Tile UI in Windows Phone 7 . Windows Phone has still not gained mainstream popularity as compared to Android and iOS but with a solid combination of a hardware and developer support, Windows may finally support a full fledged computing ecosystem just like Apple has done. Microsoft will also unveil their version of an App Store which fill feature starter apps which will let people see what the Operating System has in store in terms of Apps. Microsoft had already started building relations with developers for their desktop and phone products. Will Windows 8 be a better tablet operating system than iOS and Android? Let us know your thoughts. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency

[via WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

Right on the heels of ApnaCircle launching a BlackBerry Application, MonsterIndia has gone ahead & released a similar application with focus on finding jobs. Taking a cure from Naukri.com, MonsterIndia.com has launched a free application for BlackBerry smartphones, available in appworld . Christened MonsterJobs, the application has all the functions & also allow users to apply for jobs. Monster had earlier tried to woo the Social crowd with BeKnown App . This application supports the Universal Search function, this function allows you to simply start typing & the phone tries to recognize the content & location. Hence, one can simply type “Software Engineer, Mumbai” & direct your BB to do a search through the MonsterJobs application! Further, the application neatly integrates job-alerts with the users’ BlackBerry phone & can instantly deliver matching jobs directly to their Inbox. Users can also manage their Monster.com account & profile while on the move. Not just for job-seekers, even Employers can post updates, modify & edit content through the “Employer-Login” feature. The app also allows them to search and shortlist relevant resumes. Thus, with tight integration to the famous Push-Mail alerts, we assume job seekers now have an ultimate tool to apply for jobs as soon as they are posted! The app is also BBM-Connected. Meaning, users can share the Monster application and search results with their BBM friends. BlackBerry, though recovering from major setbacks about service failure ,  product delays & top-order reshuffling , is still holding on to its place at being a preferred business phone. Are you using this application on your BBM? Tell us your review. Looking For A Social Media Agency?? – Contact WATConsult – India’s Leading Social Media Agency

[via WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

Now we will have an automatic diesel SUV in the Indian car market if the reports coming from the Tata Motors are true. Just when Mahindra and Mahindra are clocking high sales number with its latest XUV 500, Tata Motors came up with their answer to this model, Tata Aria Automatic. Experts are stating that this strategic move by Tata Motors of coming up with Tata Aria AT is going to definitely appeal to the potential customers who are looking for an Automatic diesel car in the market. Even this time around they have corrected the pricing for the model so now instead of the high cost of Aria which earlier posed to be the major hurdle the price of the model is fixed at Rs 9.99 lakh. For those who are mistaken to take the Tata Aria, as a luxurious car due to the modifications made to model may be surprised.  Tata Aria under the hood is powered by the DICOR motor with 2.2 litres capacity that can pull up an SUV like performance with power and torque figures of 156 PS and 400Nm respectively. Tata Aria Automatic model not only has a automatic transmission but it also sports a new design of the Aria with new roof top unifying the swept back makeup of the cabin. The rear end of the model also bears a different look with the redone spoiler, on the front side we have embedded headlights which are as magnificent as the tail lights. Besides the roof even the internal design has been considerably redone to give a royal feel to this automatic vehicle. The upholstery done in Sandstone Beige and Rosewood Red along with a wooden dashboard looks impressive. The stylish premium quality leather seats with excellent stitching designs further add to the luxury and comfort of the car.

[via Tech News India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat

The HTC mobiles are now going to top up point of selling graph. The HTC mobiles are mostly very demanding. The mobile company has lots of smartphone series mobiles in India and now the company has planned to launch many other devices. The HTC Sensation XE is popular smartphone which gets Android ICS OS update by the end of March. The HTC Sensation XE price in India is tagged at Rs. 30,999. The HTC Sensation XE pictures are showing that the device comes with touchscreen display. The HTC Sensation XE features an S-LCD capacitive touchscreen display which is delivering 16M colors pictures. The display has 4.3 inches display and HTC sense UI, multi touch input method and touch sensitive display features. In this device 2GB internal memory and up to 32GB expandable external memory via microSD card is available for more data storage. The HTC Sensation XE has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and DLNA, WLAN connectivity, Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and 3G wireless connectivity features for best wireless service to connect other device. The handset is enabled with 8.0 mega pixels camera with Dual LED flash, Geo-tagging and face detection features and VGA camera for video calling service. The HTC Sensation XE runs with Android v2.3.4 Gingerbread which will soon be coming with update at v4.0 ICS OS. The device has 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, Adreno 220 GPU and Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon. In this Smartphone FM radio and multimedia system service is available which are offering best entertainment with 3.5mm audio jack and loud speakers. Messaging activity of the HTC Sensation XE is offering best text messaging service, multimedia messaging service and Email messaging service. The Li-Ion 1730 mAh battery of the device is offering talk time up to 9.16 hours for 2G and 7.20 hours for 3G.

[via Tech News India]

Follow us @technologyheat – lists / @sectorheat