IRCTC launches mobile ticketing website to book rail tickets on your phone, plans to launch mobile apps soon
It looks like IRCTC is all set to revolutionize online railway ticket booking all over again in India. This time, they have launched a mobile optimized site which users can access on their smartphones to book railway tickets on the go.
The new site which is available at irctc.co.in/mobile can be used to:
- Book tickets
- Cancel tickets
- Check booking history
Unfortunately, the site is very basic in nature currently with no autocomplete for station names and no calendar popups for date entry. Also, the payment options are pretty limited at this time. However, all this should be improved in near future given that the site is currently in Beta. Also, things should be a lot better with the native mobile apps which they plan to launch in future.
[via MediaNama]
Indian cable operators planning to launch HD channels
As a result of the regulation requiring all the Multiple System Operators (MSOs) or otherwise called as “large” cable operators to go digital by 2014, major players from metropolitan cities like Hathaway and DEN are planning to launch HD channels on their platform. As per the new regulation, the cable systems in the metro cities are to go digital by March 2012 and rest of India by the end of 2014.
This could be the biggest competition to DTH operators in India which are currently the only platforms to offer HD services in India. However, owing to a steep entry cost (an HDTV and a HD STB) and high subscription prices of HD channels, the DTH operators have not been able to rope in many subscribers yet. A healthy competition in this field will help in bringing some of these prices down (at least those specific to the operator) and should result in more HD subscribers in the near future.
In addition to HD services, the digitization of the cable system in the country will mean that the MSOs will also be able to offer other value added services like high speed broadband, telephone and on demand video streaming. Digital cable usually has much more bandwidth than DTH platform which is limited by the transponder space in the satellites in space.
[via ET]
TataSky HD will add ESPN HD in time for Indian Formula 1 Grand Prix
With India’s first Formula 1 grand prix starting from 30-October-2011, subscribers of TataSky HD have been wondering if they would be able to watch the mega event in HD as TataSky does not carry ESPN HD – the official broadcaster of the HD feed of the event in India. Well, we have good news! TataSky’s official twitter account has confirmed to us in a tweet that they will, indeed be adding the ESPN HD channel on their platform on 30-October-2011:
They also announced the news in another tweet to all their followers. Awesome news for all the TataSky HD subscribers in India. No word on pricing yet, but we hope they include this as part of the HD Gold pack. Also, we are not sure if this means that they have increased their transponder capacity or not. We tried to ask them, but, apparently, they did not directly answer the question. They just said that ESPN HD is in addition to the existing 7 HD channels. Most likely, this means that they have somehow procured more transponder space, unless they are dropping some SD channels to accommodate ESPN HD. Nonetheless, awesome news!
Indian Railways to take measures to ensure a smoother ticket booking process during 8am – 9am
We all have faced issues while trying to book train tickets on irctc.co.in during 8am to 9am. Everyone knows this is because the Indian Railways opens its tatkal quota at that time and everyone logs into the site to get their hands on them. From travel agents to people traveling under urgent circumstances, everyone has faced the “Service Unavailable” error page.
IRCTC & Indian Railways are planning to put in the following measures to ensure a smoother ticket booking experience doing 8am to 9am IST:
Samsung ties up with BigFlix to offer streaming on demand movies on its Galaxy products
Samsung has partnered with BigFlix to offer on demand streaming movies to their Galaxy line of products. They have launched an app on the Samsung App Store called My Movies which users of their Galaxy devices can download to watch instant on demand movies from BigFlix.com. Currently BigFlix has about 1000 movies to offer and Samsung is offering the first 2000 hours of streaming to its customers for free, post which it will cost them a subscription fee.
Desitorrents offering free account activations through 12th October 2011
India’s popular torrent host desitorrents.com is offering free account registrations and activations through 12th October 2011. Usually, they charge for activating your account, however, they are running a promotion from 6th Oct 2011 to 12th Oct 2011 where anyone can get their accounts registered & activated for free.
Desitorrents is a great source of Indian content available over torrents. For the first 6 months, one has to maintain a good ratio & be active in forums, post which there will be no tab on activity and maintaining a good ratio will be enough to retain the account. This free offer also includes members who have a preview only account can also log in and activate their account in this period.
Visit desitorrents.com/forums to activate your free account!
Aaramshop offers your groceries online from your local kirana store
India is witnessing e-commerce revolution. And in order to succeed, startups are trying out all kinds of unique and innovative business ideas. One such startup called Aaramshop has tied up with your local kirana stores in your neighborhood and let you purchase your groceries online. They then send your order to the store which delivers it to you.
Shopping at aaramshop is a 3 step process:
- Add all your items to your cart
- Select your nearest aaramshop
- Get the items delivered at your doorstep at a time of your convenience (currently, only cash on delivery payment is supported)
RIP Steve Jobs
It is a sad day. Steve Jobs, the iCon of the technology industry and the creator of some of the most innovative products & companies has passed away. The news of Steve Jobs death was broken on the Apple’s homepage and a statement by Apple’s Board of Directors.
This is a huge loss for the whole world. Steve was a visionary and undoubtedly an amazing human being. Here is the official statement from Apple’s Board of Directors:
We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today.
Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.
His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.
Apple has put up a microsite in memory of Steve Jobs and have set up the email address rememberingsteve@apple.com for anyone who might want to share thoughts, memories and condolences.
TomTom Launches GPS Navigators in India
TomTom – the Amsterdam based navigator company has launched GPS navigators in India. The devices will compete directly with rival company MapMyIndia’s navigation products and will offer touch & voice controls, emergency assist and bluetooth compatibility in addition to standard GPS features like turn by turn navigation & lane assistance.
The three models Via 100, Via 125 and Via 120 will be available in 4.3 inch and 5 inch displays with a starting price tag of ? 15,000.
Airlines planning to introduce mobile boarding passes in India
Despite advancements in the telecommunication arena with the launch of 3G, India is still far behind other countries in terms of mobile enablement of services. We reported a few weeks back that Indian Railways is now allowing paperless tickets on trains (although, some of our readers were fined because they were not carrying a paper ticket). Now its airlines’ turn.
SITA – the company which builds IT solutions for airlines is in talks with India based airlines to provide them with the infrastructure to enable travelers check in online and get their boarding passes delivered to their smartphones.
