Now MSN Aims To Deliver World’s Popular Content In India

 Microsoft has unveiled a first look of the new MSN in India. Designed from the ground up for a mobile, cloud first world, the new MSN combines premium content from the world’s leading media outlets with personal productivity tools that help you do more.  Built around the insight that the knowledge and information that enriches your life should be accessible regardless of where you are or what device you are using, the new experience is available on the web and will soon be available across all major device platforms, including Windows, iOS and Android.

Starting today, Microsoft is inviting people to try out the new web experience at http://preview.msn.com/en-in. 

 The new MSN focuses on the primary digital daily habits in people’s lives, helping them complete tasks on the web and across all of their devices, roaming data and personalized settings to keep users in the know wherever they are.

 Most Popular and Complete Content

 MSN is partnering with some of the world’s best and most authoritative sources, including The New York Times in the U.S., Yomiuri Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun in Japan, The Guardian and the Telegraph in the U.K., Le Figaro and Le Monde in France, and Lance and Estadão in Brazil, and many more. 

 “Microsoft has re-written MSN from the ground up for a mobile-first, cloud first world. The new MSN brings together the world’s best media sources along with data and services to enable users to do more.” said Sanjay Trehan, Head, MSN India, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. “Microsoft has partnered with top local content partners from India for the new MSN, including Hindustan Times, NDTV, India Today, Indian Express and Network 18.”

Spanning multiple sections including sports, news, health & fitness, money, travel and video, the new MSN provides a global perspective from thousands of publishers across the world. Information ranges from the latest statistics on over 200 global sports leagues, reviews of over 1.5 million bottles of wine, to over 300,000 gorgeously photographed recipes and more. MSN’s expert editors are able to draw from the over 1,000 sources to hand-curate content for individual markets and cultures.

 “With an audience of nearly 425 million people coming to over 57 markets around the world available across the three major device platforms, the new MSN presents an enormous opportunity for publishers” said Adam Anger, General Manager for Asia Pacific, Microsoft Advertising “With over 50% of people accessing content on dedicated apps, this release is in lockstep with where usage is happening.”

 Know More, Do More

The new MSN brings actionable information and the opportunity to act directly at the point where people are actively engaging, from personal productivity tools like shopping lists, flight status and savings calculators, to integrated access to popular sites like Outlook.com, Facebook, Twitter, OneNote, OneDrive and Skype. At the top of the page, there is a personal stripe allowing you one click access to top services so you can stay on top of what’s happening in your life.  

These integrated tools cover eight categories letting you explore, plan, do, and track the activities you care about. You can set up topics to follow about the news you care about.  You can track “Game of Thrones spoilers” or “Wolves in Yellowstone” and MSN will stay on top of relevant articles.  When you’re searching for recipes and find one that you want to prepare, in one click you can convert the ingredients into a shopping list which will roam from the web to the mobile apps so you have it when you need it in the grocery store not on the printer at work.

Personalized and Available Across Devices

 A clean, fresh design makes it easy to find and enjoy content that interests you.  You can organize categories and interests making the layout your own. 

The new MSN makes it simple to personalize what you want to see regardless of which device you use.  In the coming months, we will release a suite of MSN apps across Windows Phone, iOS and Android. You only need to set your preferences once, and your favorite stuff will always be there. In the finance section for instance, when you setup your stock watch list (e.g. DIS) it will show up the same way on the corresponding apps and website. If you prefer to get your content from a specific source, you can set that as a preference (e.g. more stories from The New York Times.)  

 And it works the same way if you set it up on your phone – so no matter where you start, you don’t have to set it up all over again, changes and updates work the same way. So setup your favorite cities for weather or pick your favorite sports teams and those things will be with you at your PC at work, on your Windows 8.1 tablet in the living room, or on your iPhone when you are on the go.   

 New Opportunities for Brands

 For brands, MSN will continue to offer its loyal audience with a personalized web experience with the added benefit of the best-of-the-web publishers and the engagement of applications across all mobile operating systems. The new MSN is an ideal environment for seamless brand storytelling across devices. 

Though the face of MSN has transformed, the process of buying ads is simple. Brands can still enjoy ease of purchasing through similar IAB standard units available on previous versions of MSN. 

 “With premium content and productivity tools, we’re thrilled to offer a new experience to both advertisers and consumers that help people do more,” said Ken Chang, Commercial Director for Asia Pacific, Microsoft Advertising. “Our daily lives have become increasingly busy and with that comes more screens to interact with to make our days make sense. MSN streamlines this experience to the benefit of all people and allows advertisers to be in more moments and to capture consumers at the right mindset during the day.”  

Micromax Launches Canvas Nitro – Now Everyone Can!

In its pursuit of democratizing technology by offering innovative solutions, Micromax Informatics Limited, India’s leading handset player, today announced the launch of Canvas Nitro A310 in India. The new smartphone offers the perfect blend of sleek looks, powerful performance and innovative user interface with a host of inbuilt apps to offer a superior mobile experience

Commenting on the launch Vineet Taneja, Chief Executive Officer, Micromax said, “It has been our constant endeavor to listen to Indian consumers for better understanding of their ever evolving needs. Inspired by specific needs of consumers, Canvas Nitro is yet another product from the Micromax stable to democratize technology with amalgamation of superior technology, great design and seamless usability. Our partnership with Snapdeal further simplifies the process for millions of new-age Indian consumers who prefer to shop online to get Canvas Nitro with just a few clicks.” 

 He further added, “Micromax has always been the first to identify and address the gaps through its innovative offerings that provide best experience at an affordable cost. We will continue to simplify and enhance the consumer experience by introducing innovative products and services, taking the best smartphone experience to the last mile.”

 Delivering a combination of great aesthetics and superior features, the Canvas Nitro is power packed with a 1.7GHz Tru octa-core processor promising seamless multi-tasking and an improved application performance. Equipped with a 5-inch HD IPS display, the phone offers a dynamic contrast and color vibrancy with an immersive graphic quality. Running on latest Android 4.4 KitKat, users get access to a number of features including voice search, Google Drive, Hangouts for video calls, smart contact prioritization etc. Available in Mystic Blue and Pristine White colors with a premium leather finish back, Canvas Nitro comes with innovative software features like QuickLook, Smart Alerts, All-in-one camera widget and customized gestures.

Speaking about this, Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder & CEO, Snapdeal.com said, “We are excited to be partnering with Micromax to launch their latest product – the Canvas Nitro. The new product has most superior technology and we are sure that this will be well-received by our 25 million members. At Snapdeal.com, Mobile and Tablets is one of our fastest growing categories and this partnership is a strategic decision to add onto our offerings.”

Bengal Student Duo Win DuPont The Power of Shunya

DuPont has  announced that Vivek Pandey from IIT, Kharagpur and Rahul Sharma from IIFT, Kolkata have won the first prize in the national university competition, DuPont: The Power of Shunya: Challenge for Zero Season 2. Their winning innovation, Micro Cold Storage, is a farm-level solar cold storage system can address the issue of food wastage. The Runners up prize was given to Zeta Nano Purifier, a new water-purifying product developed by contestants Devlina Das and Pushkin Kasat from VIT, Vellore & Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay.

Speaking on the announcement, Balvinder Singh Kalsi, President, South Asia & ASEAN, DuPont said, “DuPont has identified three specific global challenges that have emerged with a growing population: feeding the world, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and protecting people and the environment. These winning innovations focused on ‘zero food waste’ and ‘zero water-borne diseases’ reflect our belief that science powered solutions can play a vital role in addressing these challenges. We feel that adoption of such innovations can help India become one of the world’s leading and sustainable economies.”

 The winning innovation beat 15 other path-breaking innovations from India’s premier science & technology institutes and B-schools. The winner has received a grand prize of Rs 1,000,000 (Rupees Ten Lakhs only) and a paid experience to the global DuPont headquarters and the Experimental Station at Wilmington, Delaware, USA. The winners were announced at the grand finale of the show that aired last weekend on ET Now and the prize money was given away by Balvinder Singh Kalsi, President – South Asia & Asean, DuPont. The nine part series showcased 16 effective and relevant innovations for India, shortlisted from 500 entries.

Every year India loses 30% of the food production due to food wastage and contamination*. The winning idea, Micro Cold Storage can help increase shelf life of agricultural produce using solar powered cold storage. It uses a uniquely designed thermal storage methodology that will control compartment cooling in tandem with regular cooling. The Zeta Nano Purifier is a zinc oxide nano particle that has been modified by amine. This new purifying technique is designed to treat large water masses plagued with a wide array of pollutants, including various types of metals, dyes and pesticides.

Jury member, Dr. Homi Bhedwar said, “I was delighted to witness the ‘power of science’ and the passion of young students in technology and business to achieve India’s pursuit of Shunya. The students developed innovative approaches to address malnutrition, pain, energy deficiency, disability and a host of other challenges facing the country today. The innovations are compelling and as a jury member seeing them close-up, I can say confidently that the future of India is in good hands.”

 The series, DuPont The Power of Shunya: Challenge for Zero Season 2 was aired on ET NOW. 

Spice & Flipkart Join To Launch Flagship Products

Spice Retail Limited, India’s leading mobile internet company, has joined hands with Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce marketplace, wherein select Flagship smartphones from Spice will be made exclusively available on the e-commerce major’s portal for launch. Some of the Flagship products will be available starting mid-September and Flipkart is looking forward to selling 100,000 smartphones in the initial few days.

Spice has identified key products that it intends to launch through Flipkart and is looking at an exclusive online store on Flipkart’s portal. This will include a dedicated store on flipkart for Spice products that will allow its customers to choose from a variety of offerings.

Spice aims to capture 10% market share of the overall online sales for smartphones. Flipkart has established itself as the leading e-commerce platform in the Indian market and enjoys major share of Mobile Category sales amongst all e-commerce portals and treats Spice as an invaluable global player & partner.

Both, Spice and Flipkart, through this association hope to give the customers a varied choice of products with best in class experience and after sales service.

Eye Institute Set Up Computer Training For Visually Impaired

L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) and Microsoft India Development Center (MSIDC) of Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt Ltd today announced the launch of a Computer Training Centre for the visually challenged at LVPEI’s GMR Varalakshmi Campus, Hanumanthawaka Junction here. This is the third joint initiative completely funded by monetary contributions received through the Employee Giving Campaign at Microsoft India Development Center, the first two being the Mobility & Sensory Stimulation Park LVPEI Kode Venkatadri Chowdary Campus in Vijayawada and a Helpline for Visually Impaired launched last September.

The Computer Training Center, launched by Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder & Chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute, and Mr Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India Development Center (MSIDC), is open to any visually impaired student who wants to learn computer skills for educational and employment purposes.  The three-month program uses assistive technology in the form of screen reading software such as JAWS, MAGic and Window-Eyes, and teaches Microsoft Office such as Word, Excel, Power Point, Internet Explorer, accounting packages such as Tally and software languages such as C,C++, Java, HTML and SQL. Combined with soft skills and communication training, the course helps build confidence and increase the employability of the visually impaired students. The center aims to train a total of 128 students including blind (n=32) and low vision (n=96) in the next 12 months.

Explaining the potential of the initiative, Dr. Rao said: “LVPEI is one of the very few organizations in India running a dedicated hands-on training program for the visually challenged with the support of assistive software. We have always been committed to providing world class facilities to prevent blindness and provide vision rehabilitation. While we have made considerable progress in bringing the best of eye care services, we felt a need to establish a computer training center for the visually impaired. The center will help them acquire the required skill set to compete in a technologically advanced society and become financially independent. We would like to thank Microsoft India Development Center for its continued support of our initiatives.”

 There are several screen reading software developed for use by visually impaired, but most of these are extremely expensive, limiting their usage to a very small percentage of the needy.  However, Microsoft’s Window-Eyes screen reader is offered as a free download to all licensed users of Office 2010 and 2013, a great benefit for the visually impaired. Recounting his experience, Mohan, a computer training instructor at the Vishakhapatnam center, said: “I felt the impact of my vision loss doubling when I lost the privilege of using computers.  Thanks to LVPEI’s rehabilitation team, I learnt how to access computers with assistive software, and could connect back to the world again. Now I have the privilege of teaching the skills that I learnt as I have been given an opportunity to work as an IT instructor for the center.”

Elaborating on MSIDC’s contribution, Anil Bhansali said: “Every year, Microsoft runs a dedicated global program encouraging employees to give back to the community. Since the year 2000, MSIDC employees have been supporting various social causes they are passionate about. Many of our initiatives align to Microsoft’s long history of commitment to accessibility where the company builds accessibility features into several products and services and partners with others to discover new ways of using technology to transform people’s lives and have a long term impact. In 2012, to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of our Giving Campaign, we decided to take up eye health and support for the visually challenged as a special initiative, given the long term adverse consequences visual impairment has on a person’s education, employment, mobility, socialization and mental health.”

 “We chose to partner with LVPEI and Sankara Eye Care Institutions, given their commendable achievement in this field. We have achieved quite a bit. Thanks to LVPEI efforts, more than 4000 sighted and visually impaired individuals visited the Mobility and Sensory Stimulation Park while the helpline successfully answered 1500 enquiries regarding medical intervention, assistive devices, employment opportunities, mobile applications, audio books, educational courses, etc. The numbers are growing month on month. Our contributions helped Sankara achieve quite a bit since November 2013—they conducted vision screening for more than 71,000 school going children, 300 pediatric cataract surgeries, delivered spectacles to 1100 plus kids with refractive error and successfully treated nine cases of retinoblastoma. I am thankful to our employees for their generous donations towards such a noble cause,” Bhansali said.