The big screen has been long been imbibed and inculcated as a part of life by the people, where its just not a medium of entertainment or a world of dreams, but also a break from harsh reality. While watching one of your favorite movies, there would have been a time when you wished that you were the protagonist of the movie and would have lived out the thrill of doing the action scenes in it. Well, we see why not. I always wanted to be Leonardo Di Caprio from Blood Diamond, with a little change of scenes of course.

Well for people like you and me, who actually do cry when the hero does eventually die, no need to worry, I say. Because Indiagames.com newest launches let you run like Charlie from Kaminey even if you have a sign of wealth (read belly) and you don’t need a license to test your driving and bike riding skills through the chaotic streets of Mumbai plus at the same time you get to be a cop. And how can one not want to be a cowboy, after all that’s attached to the mighty cowboy myth!

Indiagames.com gives you a golden opportunity to be a silver screen sensation with their games on movies and its action packed scenarios. They have announced the launch of three mind boggling games based on the recently released films – Kaminey, Quick Gun Murugun and Aagey Se Right – to be played on your mobile phone.

A quick glance at how you can be all of them-
For all those who like to run virtually, there’s the thrilling Kaminey with its scenarios of chases, fighting cops, taking risks and hitting the rival gangs. The game replicates the role donned by Charlie, the protagonist of the movie.
For the ones who like to play it really ‘rancho’, you have Quick Gun Murugun- A cool game based on the film Quick Gun Murugun, the central cowboy of the game! The game tests the player’s shooting speed and reaction time. The player, who is a cowboy, has to swiftly shoot the enemies appearing in the area using a desert eagle pistol, before they try to shoot him. Now that’s what we call an Indianized cowboy HEEEHAAA!!!
And for those who have never tipped a cop, you have Aagey Se Right- An action-packed nonstop bike racing/pursuit game based on Aagey Se Right the movie. The game-play tests the player’s driving skills, speed and reaction time while he rides his bike through the chaotic streets of Mumbai city. The player dons the role of the cop, which is the central character of the film.
Movies in India have always had a huge fan following and by offering such exciting games to the rapidly growing base of mobile gamers will provide an excellent opportunity to extend the movie experience to an user’s mobile screen. And since many more “bolly-flicks” are to follow in order to promote and drive downloads as well as make alternative revenues for their movies, it seems that many movie buffs will be able to relive their favorite movie experience on their mobile screens! Clever. Very clever, I say.
These 3 games can be downloaded from the content portals of all telecom providers in India.

Is it still a puzzle? Well, to add to that a little more, it’s actually not that hard to take off 15 minutes for your own farm, which requires a daily religious to visit in order to survive. But of course, your heart will always be where your wealth is!! How can you work under a roof when you don’t know, if your maize is sown or the strawberries are harvested on time, or that the livestock is in good shape. After all you wouldn’t want to waste a land that’s so fertile that you can grow dates, strawberries, avocado, oranges, rice, wheat and cotton in the same farm irrespective of the geographical conditions and climate! See, it’s difficult to find such a farm, but not impossible.

If you have always dreamt to be a farmer, own a piece of land, sow seeds, harvest crops and yet had to bow to your talent and become something else, I got news for you. Wishing that you could have the best of both worlds, here’s something that’ll make you forget what compromise is all about.

For all those, farmers at heart out there, Facebook puts forth a mobile farm which gives you the option of working on your crops as well as your files sitting right at your desk, home or wherever you wish.

Farmville was launched on Facebook and other popular social networking sites on June 19 and it has already brought out the rural instincts of some 35 million internet users around the world, including hundreds in India. The game developed by a San Francisco-based gaming firm Zynga became an instant hit among a nostalgic urban crowd that can now enjoy the sheer pleasure of seeing chickens hatch, get the pleasure of petting sheeps, harvest their favorite fruits and vegetables and also plant trees.

According to the company’s website, FarmVille has attracted more than one million new daily active users a week on average. Funny as it may sound, online gaming addiction has been quite an issue worldwide- China has restricted online gaming to 3 hours for children below the age of 18 (they are prompted to stop) as they believe that physical activity is important as well as dealing with the issue of obesity. On the other hand the US blames online gaming addiction for the increase in the number of college dropouts. Not only is online addiction creating a problem when it comes to youth it is also hampering the productivity in the corporate sector as more and more employees are getting hooked to the concept of online gaming all over.

But regardless of the fact, executives in multinational companies or in the corporate sector, happen to be busier than ever. Because they are now farming. Literally and  virtually. And these warnings are unlikely to stop the urban farmers promising to make FarmVille the most popular ever on Facebook; the game’s popularity has been boosted by a growing trend among urbanites who love the concept of going away from the concrete.

AllFacebook, a website which tracks the popularity of applications, has estimated that there are over 72 million farmers on Facebook across a number of farming games. Although Farmville is free to play, Zynga draws revenue from online advertising and from some users who are prepared to pay for virtual goods.

Well, the reign of farming doesn’t need with FarmVille, Zynga also has another farming game, Farm Town, which happens to be Facebook’s second most popular application, incase you thought you knew all about virtual farming.

Well, we will support the green cause of course. As long as the farming goes good we won’t complain about the rest. Right on ya’ Mate!

Dear SpotM User,
SpotM was a communications product that we were experimenting within India. As of September 1st, 2009, we will be closing the site and it will no longer be accessible. We sincerely thank you for your participation and your valuable feedback. -The SpotM Team
That’s what the mortuary sign on yahoo’s social networking site SpotM spells out.  SpotM was always in a spot of bother since its experimental launch in India in the year 2008. I wonder why Yahoo has time and again mentioned “experimental”, it was most definitely an experiment with the social networking site in India as there was no official launch.

And although the site was expected to gain success due to popularity of social networks in India, SpotM wasn’t able to keep up the pace with already established social networks like Orkut and Facebook. In short, an experiment gone wrong, this went on for 11 months until now, which they finally decided to put to rest.

Like all social networking sites have a USP to pull in crowd, Spot M too had an array of features which allowed users to make friends with other users and make them private in case they do not want to disclose their relationship and also allow them to correspond through SMS without revealing their phone numbers.

Though SpotM was open to the public in these 11 months (you could sign in with your Yahoo ID), the team handing the site had been dismantled quite a while ago. And quite a contrary that it is, Yahoo has claimed that they want to make a buy in the social networking space! Infact, Yahoo has shut down at least three networking sites since the past year- to name, Yahoo360, Yahoo Mash and SpotM which all fell pray to the already established social networks in India. Okay, they have a reason. And it is that they believe in cutting down non-core or non performing products from their artillery.

None the less this leaves a mark on the credibility of Yahoo, whether they would be able to penetrate into the social networking world with their products. Though Yahoo! India has not given up on with the social networking concept and will now replace SpotM with Guru, however no information has been disclosed. Drawing from the experiences of Facebook, Yahoo might look to make a common theme in its social networking sites with minor adjustments. This leaves us with nothing but to wish Farewell to SpotM which will never be spotted on the social network category again.

After Miniclip.com, Zapak is considered to be the largest online casual gaming website in India. It’s host to more than 600 games, and also believes in a policy of adding a new game everyday. Therefore there is a never ending count on the addition of games. According to Indian gaming statistics, India is home to 2.8 million gamers. 72% of the gamers are from the higher strata and 80% belong to the 8 top metros. Zapak apparently is a highly visited site, which at present has over 6 million registered users and more then 60 million visitors, with an estimated potential of 20 million registered users by 2010.

Through advergaming and advertising Zapak has been able to pull in revenue as well. The gaming site has created advergames for Titan fast track, Ponds, LIC, Mc Donalds, Cadbury and Jhonny Players in the past. News site NDTV has launched a subsite which is a gaming portal (NDTVgames.Zapak.com) and which is again powered by Reliance Big Entertainment gaming company Zapak.com. The other gaming subsites which are powered by Zapak belong to Glamsham and Cricbuzz. NDTVgames.Zapak.com’s appearance is very similar to Zapak.com and there are five categories of games to be engaged in, namely action, strategy, puzzles, racing and sports.

Now coming to think of it, such partnerships not only increase the reach of Zapak games but the advertisements that flash before the game help create brand identity and brand image. Now, that’s what we call good gaming!

And recently, it seems that Zapak has developed a knack of letting hearts play as well! With its new subsite for teenagers in partnership with dating site Fropper, Zapak is all ready to hit the score.

About Fropper: Fropper is owned by the People Interactive group, which also runs Shaadi.com and Makaan.com. Needles saying, Fropper’s gaming section also happens to be powered by Zapak.

So, where else has Zapak been gaming?
Social networking site Desimartini.com by HT Media’s digital media subsidiary Firefly Ventures appears to be the latest portal to partner with Reliance ADAG Company Zapak to power its gaming section. Facebook also has an application which mentions about Zapak. On Orkut, it has four open social applications – Royal Challenge Quick Cricket, Zapak Multiplayer, Photo Battles and a dart game called Friendzy. They have also been able to lap up Hollywood films such as Transformers for a multiplayer racing game called Crazy Kart and Wanted. Quite a chess Zapak’s playing!

Last but not the least, Zapak has also recently tied up with Vayersoft, a Ukraine based , developers of a multiplayer game for children – Chobots which Zapak plans to host in India. It has been launched last month and is available at Zapak Kids. Targeted at families, Zapak Kids apparently contributes 25% of the traffic on Zapak.com.

No wonder, Zapak has been able to capture the limelight in a very short time, and have left no stone unturned to make their presence felt, from 8 to 35, including the corporate sector.

Too much success as it may seem, all one can wonder about is what is Zapak’s own gaming strategy!

Naming them: The Tata service of broadband plus is known as Tata Photon Plus while that of Reliance is called Reliance netconnect broadband plus.

This new technology is undoubtedly a step towards Mobile Broadband Service which is equipped with the next generation technology offering an enormous mobile internet connectivity solution. The Tata Photon+ and Reliance netconnect broadband plus provides a USB inbuilt Modem device that enables one to experience this service over country wide where the respective networks are available. With Tata coming providing only one model of the modem which shall cost you in and about Rs.3600, reliance lays out 3 models of the modem costing around Rs.3500.
Allowing the user to access internet service at super fast speeds using the new USB modem, photon + and netconnect is a simple method to be connected while you’re on the go.

Both Tata Photon plus and Reliance netconnect Broadband plus claim that the service is 20 times faster then other services provided, with a speed upto 3.1Mbps and that with it internet can be accessed all over India.

But then where is the war? Patience, o’ mighty ones! The war’s here. When it comes to coverage, reliance takes the cake providing a service that even extends to 35 odd cities covering the highways as well as the railways! Tata on the other hand is limited to certain cities and also isn’t able to do justice with the service they say they provide. Also, reliance has three options, while Tata has just one.

While in one hand you have the Tata reliability, on the other hand you have the reliance allure. Inspite of having an almost similar price range, it seems Reliance will ultimately overpower the kingdom of photon plus. No, we just said, it seems! Hope both of them are able to cash in on the opportunity (as they are the only ones providing the service at this point of time), before the competition increases.

Airtel’s association with mChek started off at the beginning of the year with MMT or Mobile Money Transfer which was restricted to only payments of mobile bill (both pre-paid as well as post-paid). Moving a step forward with their collaboration with mChek, Airtel have now launched M-commerce IVR which will allow customers to pay mobile bills, recharge prepaid cards, handle Airtel’s DTH DigitalTV accounts, pay premiums dealing with insurance and buy gifts, tickets and et cetera with much ease.

To keep itself all armed, mChek has also tied up with giant online merchants which include Indiatimes Shopping, Redbus (a bus ticketing service), HomeShop18, FutureBazaar and travel portal Yatra. And fact reveals that before starting up with this venture they did a pilot test across the country where they were able to register 67,000 customers dealing with Postpaid bills with quite a few running into crores. Also they were able to cash in on the movie scenario as 17000 movie tickets were bought through this service. Seems like they stepped into their lucky shoes quite early!

Coming to TTL (Tata Telecom services Limited), they too must have sensed the beauty of profit and have recently collaborated with mChek  to offer payment of mobile bills via SMS to Indicom subscribers; needless telling, Tata Indicom already have a tie up with Obopay and paymate.

Regardless, keeping aside for sometime ‘the who did what and why’, let’s see the brighter side that follows with mChek, which is  heading into the already existing mass infrastructure of mobile operators and banks, and promises to usher in a powerful convergence of both these businesses through the mobile phone. After all, easy paying of bills online not only just saves time but also saves one from the hassles of queues, cheques and cash.

Hence, in a nutshell, mChek is all set to be that Platform that would enable customers to make tedious transactions through mobiles phones in a snap, there by making life simpler and broaden and hone the horizon when it comes to provide banking services! Boon of technology as we might put it!

Tata Docomo is a service which is debuting on the GSM circuit and claims to bill you per seconds! Such an alliance symbolizes both companies’ dedication and their commitment to the development of India’s ever growing mobile phone market. During the starting stage their plan is to capture the market in Southern India and then head nationwide.

The GSM market is filled to the brim with well established telecom giants which command a good amount of market share (  Bharti (35.4) BSNL (25.4) Hutch-Essar (25.3) Idea (13.6) ), its very clear that they are heading into a David and Goliath kind of altercation. It definitely seems like a tough task ahead, but knowing Tata as a reliable company they just might be able to penetrate the market and leave its mark.

Referring to the CDMA technology, Tata was a late entrant in this section as well with their brand Tata Indicom. It has made its mark in the CDMA market and is also one of the fastest-growing pan-India operators. Tata Teleservices have managed to acquire a pan-India license to operate GSM telecom services, under the brand TATA DOCOMO and they have been allotted spectrum in 18 telecom Circles. Will this venture stand the tides of the telecom giants? Well only time can tell.

The Industry average revenue per user for Public sector companies reflects that the companies have attracted price-sensitive, low-minutes usage for its subscribers and hence, the subscriber base would find no use for 3G services as 3G pros being services which include wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and wireless data, all in a mobile environment. 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a better service while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. And like the popular saying goes, good is always followed by bad which forces us to stumble across the pros as well as the cons.

And the Cons include-

•    Differences in licensing terms between states
•    Lack of state support for financially troubled operators
•    Cost of 3G phones
•    Lack of coverage in some areas
•    High prices for 3G in some countries
•    Battery life of 3G phones

Almost forgetting to mention the fact that there was a bidding involved for technology, when all the cash flows away in buying the technology, we wonder where would the public sector companies gather financial support from. In the six months of its 3G launch, BSNL has roped in just 10,733 subscribers and the figure for MTNL stands at a dismal 902, an average of just 150 per month across Mumbai and Delhi, considered the two most lucrative circles for 3G in India.

However both the public sector companies deny the fact that buying the technology has created any sort of financial issue for both, infact they are in a position to venture newer applications. Having private sector giants gauging on the limelight, will public sector companies be able to leave a mark? Well let’s leave them with some serious thinking.

To start with, they have the Mobile store under their wing which is in collaboration with Virgin mobiles (Mobile store being India’s 3rd largest mobile retailer and the first of its kind), a 33% stake in Vodafone, one of the largest network providers in India, and also, a stake in Loop mobile which was previously called BPL mobile. And that’s not it, as their positive attitude is actually taking over countries! Having put one foot down firmly on home soil in the communications sector they intend to step out and make a mark for themselves on the international circuit.

Already successful in leaving an imprint on Mauritius, Essar seems to head towards the continent of Africa. Essar Telecom Kenya has recently launched Kenya’s fourth mobile cellular network under the brand “yu” and they are spending time and money in Africa in collaboration with Dhabi group. Meanwhile, the Group has diversified business interests with a focus on emerging market opportunities in financial services, telecommunications and real estate.

With its portfolio expanded in 2005 to include telecommunication services in Asia and Africa, the Group aims to strengthen its reach and diversify its portfolio through a series of strategic partnerships that will help optimize its potential in the emerging markets.

Looks like positivity is finally and literally working; At least for Essar.