#ABPSearch - Missing in Uttarakhand

We have started an initiative on Social media to help trace friends and relatives who are lost in the hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Please share this on Social media and other platforms to help people trace their relatives. Don't forget to tag #Uttarakhand #U'khand #MissinginUkhand

R ur loved ones missing in #Uttarkhand, #Kedarnath? We have started an initiative to help trace them. https://t.co/iQiSOmifSR #abpsearch
— Ramakrishnan Laxman (@rklaxman) June 20, 2013

Visit the following link to upload uttarakhand.abpnews.in . The form is also embedded below


By Ramakrishnan Laxman

#AakhriTaar - Last Telegram

With the announcement last week of the impending demise of the 163 year old Telegram service in India (on July 15th), my digital team has come up with an initiative called #AakhriTaar emphasizing this moment in History and exhorting people to make use of this opportunity to send a telegram, probably their first and last before it is discontinued. A once in a lifetime experience never to be seen again.

You can find more about it on
www.abpnews.in/aakhritaar
FB - www.facebook.com/aakhritaar
Twitter -www.twitter.com/aakhritaar
also on Vine - https://vine.co/v/hBPOHAjKvYv

On Vine

RIP indian Telegram #AakhriTaar @aakhritaar https://t.co/S0DftOrkqK
— #AakhriTaar (@Aakhritaar) June 18, 2013

By Ramakrishnan Laxman

Indian Ecommerce Bubble- Will the Pin prick in 2013

Will the Ecommerce Bubble burst in 2013? The pin is getting closer and closer and I am not sure if the bubble will be able to withstand the pressure any longer. 

The online spending habit was first started in 2003 by the no frills airline Air Deccan in India which accepted bookings only through the internet and the Indian railways IRCTC. With the spice of VC money added to this pot boiler there has been a mad rush by startups to grow the market and attain the number one spot by killing competition. Aggressive discounting and selling below cost has whetted the consumer appetite but how many will end up surviving?

In my previous article I wrote about how Indiaplaza.com, India's oldest Ecommerce site seems to have shut down. Here I take stock of all the leading Internet sites presently in operation in India based on Alexa rank and how many are likely to survive. I have evaluated these sites purely on the basis of stability of traffic and not by profitability which should be the right metric. 

Sr.no	Site	Alexa Rank India	Status
1	Flipkart.com	14	Rising
2	Ebay.in	37	Slight dip
3	Snapdeal.com	44	Rising
4	Jabong.com	45	Slight dip
5	Myntra.com	48	Rising
6	Homeshop18.com	73	Falling
7	Shopclues.com	93	Steady
8	Yebhi.com	111	Falling
9	Infibeam.com	179	Steady
10	Fashionandyou.com	385	Crashing
11	Amazon.in	716	Rising fast
12	Caratlane.com	1517	Steady
13	Futurebazaar.com	1663	Falling
14	Indiaplaza.com	2900	Crashed
15	Indiangiftsportal.com	3126	Steady
16	Dealsandyou.com	3678	Crashing
17	Inkfruit.com	6304	Crashed

Of the 17 Ecommerce sites around, only the top 5 seem to be stable, Amazon has just come in and rising fast, a couple of niche sites are steady while the rest are in serious Danger of collapsing.

Indiaplaza.com - Is it the end of the road?

Indiaplaza.com one of the oldest Ecommerce sites started in 1999 seems to be winding down. On browsing the site many sections are empty or is littered with error pages or page not found messages.

I've personally have had a good experience with the site over the years. Indiatimes shopping and Indiaplaza were my favorite online shopping sites. The company was run by a good sound team and knew what they were doing. It's unfortunate to see sites with a robust business model flounder under the onslaught of VC funded companies intent on crushing competition by selling below cost.

I just hope Indiaplaza can rise from the ashes.

Alexa shows traffic on the site falling dramatically this year.

Screenshots below

Samsung also launches an Under water phone - Galaxy S4 Active

Underwater phones seem to be the flavor of the season. As if the whole world wants to go swimming with their phones. First Sony with their Xperia ZR, now Samsung. Yesterday they announced the launch of Samsung S4 Active, the perfect companion for Exploration, Activity and Adventure.

Key highlight
"The fully sealed design keeps dust particles out and protects against water damage for up to 30 minutes of submergence at a depth of one meter."

Leaked video of S4 Active

My first Vine post

Yesterday Vine launched an Android app. This is my first Vine post from an Android phone. Unfortunately, Vine doesn't work on my Android phone so I shot it on my colleague Rohan's phone.

First vine video: courtesy RK vine.co/v/b3QLWzhAtau
— Rohan Tyagi (@rohan_tyagi) June 5, 2013

By Ramakrishnan Laxman

Old Vine in new bottle (Android)

Vine for Android is finally here. Twitter announced this on their blog yesterday. Quote from their blog  "Android owners running 4.0+ can download Vine from Google Play. Keep an eye on @vineapp and our blog for updates, and please do share your feedback –– we’re reading it all." Vine for Android has a new Zoom feature which is not present in the IOS version Vine is a mobile app that enables its users to create and post video clips. Video clips created with Vine have a maximum length of 6 seconds and can be shared or embedded on social networking services such as Twitter—which acquired the app in October 2012 . Vine claims to have more than 13 million users on IOS platform. Check out my first Vine post.

Introducing Vine for Android. vine.co/v/b3v5h3Piwt7 — Vine (@vineapp) June 3, 2013

No Cats only Dogs allowed in Google

Google's code of conduct page has a very strange Dog policy .

Dog Policy

Google’s affection for our canine friends is an integral facet of our corporate culture. We like cats, but we’re a dog company, so as a general rule we feel cats visiting our offices would be fairly stressed out. For more on this, see our Dog Policy.

Google Glass and Star Trek's Scotty's Glass

While many in Google have admitted that Star Trek is an inspiration for them, how close is Google Glass to Star Trek Technology.

In the 2009 edition of Star Trek made by JJ Abrams, one can see Scotty wearing a Glass very similar to Google Glass which is actually plugged into his ear. Check the images below.