Ovi Store - Nokia

Ovi Store clicks for Nokia:

Barely a year old, Nokia Ovi Store has six Indian developers clocking more than a million downloads

Who says Apple’s App store is the only platform to make money from mobile apps — that’s a question application developers have begun to ask. Apps (short for applications) are programmes like games or utility tools that can be run on smartphones.

Six Indian developers have reportedly clocked over one million downloads on the Nokia Ovi Store and India is already among the top three countries, in terms of download.

“Purely by volumes, Ovi store is a lucrative store to be part of. For example, most of our downloads have come from Nokia 5800 XpressMusic device users, which is a sub-10k device,” said Vishal Gondal, CEO of Indiagames. The company is one of the six Indian developers that tracked one million downloads.

Indiagames has seen over 10 million app downloads on Ovi store of which a “major chunk” is from India. “Mobile users in India have begun to buy apps (free and paid) over mobile phones and with 3G coming I am confident of smartphone users increasing their app downloads,” said Gondal.

Most of the app developers in India work with several applications stores, including, Apple, Blackberry and Android App stores. But what probably is working for Nokia is its market share and the volume it has, especially in markets like India.

Since the Ovi Store was launched as part of Nokia’s broader Ovi services last year, 92 developers, globally, have seen more than one million downloads for the apps and more than 400,000 developers have signed up to contribute to the store.

To add to the momentum, the Finnish mobile vendor launched Qt Software Development Toolkit (SDK), that is used by developers to create Ovi apps. The toolkit was downloaded 1.5 million times as developers could improve the speed and efficiency of creating apps for mobile devices, including smartphones such as the new Nokia N8 and Nokia C7 (on its way to India), and the recently announced Nokia E7.

“We also announced unified application development around the Qt framework to simplify creating apps for Symbian-based devices and products that will be powered by the new MeeGo operating system,” said Tero Ojanperä, executive vice-president (Services), Nokia.

According to data released by Nokia, the Ovi Store software is downloaded three million times every day, up from two million in September. That projects to one billion downloads per year. To provide a perspective, 1.3 billion people worldwide use Nokia devices, though not all can run Ovi Store, which is limited to Nokia phones introduced over the last few years (such as Nokia S40 and S60 devices).

So what does Nokia get out of this? Most app stores typically share 70 per cent of app revenue with the developer, while the rest goes to the store. Apple’s iPhone App store is the longest-standing in the market, having opened in July 2008. It was followed by the Android app store and BlackBerry App World store, which opened in February and April 2009 respectively. Without breaking up the downloads numbers, Nokia claims that countries like China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UK and Vietnam have shown active downloads from its Ovi store where games take top place in paid downloads.

“The rapid growth on Ovi Store to pass the one billion annualised download mark demonstrates that Nokia is a competitor in both scale and size when it comes to its services. With Nokia’s stronger focus on the Qt platform and improved developer ecosystem, Nokia should continue to see its developer numbers increase as developers see profit from new revenue shares, operator billings and the ever-growing user base around the world.” said Scott Ellison, vice president of mobile and consumer connected platforms at IDC.

However, competition is catching up. Google’s Android Market that witnessed more than one billion downloads and hosts more than 160,000 apps. Apple’s ubiquitous app store has delivered over 8.5 million apps every day and not to forget Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 that is expected to make its presence felt globally. But Nokia maintains its bullish outlook. “We see Ovi store is on a strong growth path fuelled by new apps and games. We have more than 250,000 new consumers signing up for Ovi every day from across the globe,” claimed Ojanperä.

Chennai-based PR Rajendran, CEO, Nextwave Multimedia – one of the six developers who have seen more than a million downloads for its apps – agreed. “Our games and comics on Ovi crossed one million downloads in less than a year and is growing fast.” Rajendran said Nokia has been actively courting developers for its app store.

Mobile apps and competing storefronts are shackled to the smartphone market. Developers said Nokia’s edge lies in its volumes. “Ovi Store is available on 20 different handsets that include both connected smartphones and cellular feature phones. Nokia still controls about 35 per cent of the world mobile phone market, thanks to the continued popularity of its low-cost feature phones,” said iSuppli analysts who believe that consumer interest in apps is likely to grow faster than the smartphone market in China, India, and Eastern Europe, and that should give Nokia a chance to continue building the Ovi Store.

Finally Toyota

Finally Toyota:


the car that Toyota has engineered specifically for us — the Etios.





It’s been four years in the making. It has made the second-largest automotive manufacturer in the world go back to the drawing board again and again. It has made them do things they have never done before. At the end of it, Toyota has this to show, the Etios sedan (the hatchback follows next year). This is the car they have pinned their hopes on, to get the volumes in a country where car sales have been shooting through the roof.


While Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata, Ford and even General Motors have accelerated their activities in the country, Toyota has been slow and late in bringing in a mass-market model. But try telling them that and they say that they cannot be hurried. They set their own pace. Well, that comes out of some sort of confidence, I would say. It’s the same sort of confidence they had when they introduced the Qualis in the country — all of us knew it was a dated vehicle, but that did not stop us from buying it, right? Even though it was a dinosaur in automotive terms, it was the best machine in its category. So: is the Etios worth the wait? Let’s find out what the Toyota for India is all about.

Oh, before we start, I would like to say that I didn’t get a chance to drive the car much. Toyota had organised the hatchback and the sedan to drive at a section of the Fuji Speedway in Japan and the time allotted for each journalist was the bare minimum. Plus, the controlled conditions on that rainy day meant it was just a brief feel of the car that we got. And apologies for the lousy pictures too. So you’ll have to wait for a proper road test in India to get a better idea of the Etios.

If you are working for Maruti Suzuki, you should be reading this whole report very carefully. That’s because both the Etios hatch and the sedan are aimed squarely at the Swift and Dzire. So what, you may say, considering the Nissan Micra, Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo are all targeting the best-sellers? What’s another competitor to the formidable Swift and Dzire, right? Yes, but this is Toyota and despite the multi-billion car recalls, Indians are unaffected and attach a premium image to the brand. And when it comes to product specifics, the Etios sedan has quite a few things the Dzire does not have. So are you paying attention? (Let’s stick to the sedan now, as I cannot tell you about the hatch because there’s an embargo on it).

Many people who have seen the car at the Auto Expo have commented that it looks like the Mahindra-Renault Logan. And they are not entirely wrong — it has that feel about it, especially when seen from the rear three-quarters... those triangular tail-lamps are to blame. Plus the straightforward waistline and headlamps also contribute a bit to it. But the Toyota looks a wee bit more flamboyant than the under-designed French car. The front grille is more elaborate and seems to be designed to evoke the face of the best-selling Innova and a large chrome strip running at the top of the bare bootlid will be a hit with us Indians (cue the Maruti Suzuki Dzire). Yeah, but don’t expect the Etios to win any beauty contests — it looks sober and is designed to be inoffensive rather than cause strong reactions. Unlike the Dzire which looks like the Swift with a boot (which it is), the Etios looks more complete as a three-box car and looks bigger too.

And that’s the feeling you get when you sit inside the car and that's one of the points it gets against the Dzire. Scooped out headliners and the tall seating give you that sense of space, while leg room as well as shoulder room at the rear are pretty decent too. The drive tunnel has been flattened out, so it does not cause discomfort to the passenger at the middle of the rear seat. The entire dash layout is adventurous for Toyota, with the central instrument console placement. In the day, it looks all right, but in the night, when you put on the headlamps, it is vastly improved and cheerful. The controls are all analogue, which is a bit surprising — I would expect a digital climate control in the top end version at least.

The quality of plastics is something that’s a bit of a disappointment, mainly because this is a Toyota product. It would be acceptable in a Suzuki, but not in a Toyota — even if it is a model that competes with a Suzuki. The glovebox is large, there are plenty of bottle holders and then some more, it has additional and very prominent AC vents that can cool the glove box as well, the steering wheel is large though a bit plasticy and there is only a single wiper. Yes, long after the W124 Merc and the Uno have become history, the Etios has only a single wiper. Though it has been designed for maximum coverage of the windscreen, it still leaves an unclean gap near the driver’s side of the A-pillar (the one benefit of it being a rainy day in Japan!) and I wonder whether it can handle our monsoons. Net net, the Etios looks as if it’s been built to a cost. It’s perhaps the cheapest car that Toyota has built, still our expectations from Toyota are sky-high!

Powering the front wheels of the Etios sedan is a 1500cc four-cylinder 16-valve DOHC petrol engine that develops 88.8 bhp at 5600 rpm and 13.5 kgm at 3000 rpm, which is mated to a five-speed manual transmission. Yes, it is marginally more powerful than the Dzire petrol and torquey as well. The extra cubes means the engine is not stressed. Driving the car on the track, the benefits of the diesel-like torque come through — it is responsive at low revs and takes up the slack well, something which will make it driveable on our roads. The transmission is slick enough, but I didn’t have the chance to do some enthusiastic shifting, while gearing is yet to be seen. The engine noise and road surface noise are a bit intrusive, and I hope Toyota does something about insulating the Etios. The electric power steering setup is easy and offers adequate feedback. Because the surface was smooth, I have no idea how well the Etios can soak up the bumps, but knowing Toyota, they would have engineered that aspect into it very well. We slalomed at moderate speeds at the track and the handling came through as quite sorted and the 185/60 15-inch rubber offered decent grip. Still, I would wait for a proper road test in India to understand how good the ride and handling qualities of the Etios are.

Putting together the EFC platform, as Toyota calls it, which stands for ‘Emerging markets Frontier Concept,’ has been a learning process for them. They have cut down on non-essential parts and made it as simple and low-cost as possible. Still, they cannot compromise to the extent that they’d have to leave the Toyota badge off the car. So the Etios is a well-engineered and relevant product for our country. It will offer decent value, despite possibly being pricier than the Rs 5 to 6.5 lakh range of the Dzire petrol - as we go to press, the car is yet to be launched. So was it worth the wait?

Considering it’s been a virtual monopoly of the Swift and the Dzire in their respective segments, I would say about time too.

The writer was on a media invite from Toyota to drive the new Etios in Japan.

Today's media!!!

This game's for real:

More controversies, higher TRPs. Small wonder many believe that reality shows are scripted

Rakhi Sawant has nothing to say, she’s on a “no media bytes” mode, or at least that’s what we were told when we tried to get in touch with the reality show veteran. Sawant was part of the inaugural season of Bigg Boss ), chose her beau (and then threw him out) over a few episodes on Rakhi Ka Swayamvar on Imagine (then called NDTV Imagine) and also participated in Pati Patni Aur Woh, a reality show on bringing up kids. But recently, when a participant committed suicide after being humiliated on her show, Rakhi Ka Insaaf (aired on Imagine), the actor decided not to speak her mind.

Imagine has since pushed the show to the 11 pm slot following a directive from the Union information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry — a first for the ministry — to TV channels asking them to change the time slots of shows found to have content unsuitable for a general audience.

Laxman, 25, participated in Rakhi ka Insaaf and spoke problems with his wife Anita. Sawant, as she is wont to do, humiliated him and even called him names in the episode aired on October 23. According to media reports, Laxman could not cope with the trauma, stopped eating and died on November 10. The hungama did wonders to Rakhi’s show. Notching average TVRs (television ratings points, represent one per cent of viewers in the surveyed area in a given minute.) of 2.5, the show had TVRs of around 4 when the controversy broke

Audiences seem to love such controversies, which explains why TRPs, and advertiser money, goes up with each such fracas. And this year, 2010, has shown just how far reality shows can go, if given a free-hand — they’ve made participants cry, and embarrassed and humiliated them. Controversies are, of course, not new to reality shows.

But not everyone supports the I&B directive. Bollywood director Farah Khan tweeted against the ruling, saying it was hypocritical and that parents should take responsibility for what their children watch.

Reality shows like Bigg Boss have always been in news for their choice of participants. Bigg Boss (season 3) winner Vindhu Dara Singh reasons, “Contestants are chosen based on their personalities and the show’s producers make sure that 14 different characters enter the house. How else will the show generate any content for the audience if everybody pretends to be goody-goody?” He believes that contestants like Kamaal Rashid Khan, Sambhavna Seth, Rakhi Sawant and Dolly Bindra were picked in each season of Bigg Boss as they had a reputation for “calling a spade a spade”.

Reality show contestants maintain that they are not given a script to follow, but the choice of participants is often such that it stirs mischief. After all, it doesn’t take too much to imagine the effect a scantily-clad Pamela Anderson would have on the TVRs of Bigg Boss 4.

UTV Bindass scored big with its reality show Emotional Atyachaar that takes on undercover assignments to expose unfaithful partners. Rolly Kapoor was the first to invite the channel to spy on her husband. “My husband works as a cabin crew in an airline and is surrounded by good looking air-hostesses. Wouldn’t that make a married woman insecure?,” she asks. While her husband, Dharam, came out clean, Rolly asserts that she wasn’t acting on a director’s cue. The couple has since sorted out their differences.

Emotional Atyachaar worked wonders for UTV Bindass, says Nikhil Gandhi, the channel’s business head who refuses to be drawn into a debate about controversies over reality shows being “planned and scripted”.

Pravesh Rana, who participated in Bigg Boss 3 rubbishes all suggestions that reality shows are scripted. “I am hosting Emotional Atyachaar, have hosted Chak Dhoom Dhoom and participated in Bigg Boss 3. I have been on both sides and I know there’s no script to follow.”

Even Dolly Bindra, who was eliminated from Bigg Boss 4 for her abusive language, insists that she wasn’t sent by producers to create a ruckus or scheme her controversial exit. “If I lost my temper on the show then it was because of variety of reasons including the fact that the inmates felt threatened by me.”

Rahul Bhatt, a participant on Bigg Boss 4 who has now been voted out, openly expressed his doubts on the authenticity of Sara Khan and Ali Merchant’s wedding on Bigg Boss recently. Whichever way, in its 42nd week, the show peaked with TVRs of about 9.2 (on weekdays Bigg Boss 4 averages TVRs of about 4.1, source TAM data).

While executives from leading GECs pleaded that their their names be kept out, one said, “The tried and tested TVR-raker is how badly a participant behaves with other contestants. It inevitably stirs viewer interest.” An executive of a GEC that has been in the news for the risque content of its reality shows says channels do not go looking for sleaze but some amount of manipulation is needed at the editing table to present a programme that has elements to retain viewer. “So if a tumultuous host, an aggressive participant or contestants on the rampage draw viewers and retain them, then every channel will cash in.” This explains why the contribution of reality shows to total programming hours on most channels has grown from a mere six per cent in 2007-08 to about 15 per cent this year.

It’s not hard to see why viewers are glued to reality shows — since in every episode emotions are played up through situations created by the producers. Ex-Bigg Boss contestant Vindhu says, “Every task on the show is such that it brings out the true colours of contestants. And of course, it has to be entertaining since viewers are required to spend their money to vote for contestants on a reality show. The content should thus motivate them to do so.”