Have you ever wanted to send a message to your orkut friends but could not because he had no computer nearby?It is precisely for times like this, you only have one phone in their hands, we launched orkut SMS , a feature that allows you to post new messages in orkut, anytime and anywhere, directly from your phone - even if he did not have internet access.
Even better, this service is completely free !Neither orkut or your carrier will charge for any text message (SMS) you send or receive SMS through orkut.So you can use orkut SMS at will.
Just send an SMS to 67588 (the keys that represent the letters "ORKUT" on your phone), and what you write will be posted on this message to your orkut profile.You will receive a confirmation SMS, also free, and your friends will see your message in the "friend updates" them.
For now, this launch phase, the orkut SMS works only with the operator TIM in Brazil.We are working to include more operators, so bear this blog to stay inside.
How to use orkut SMS:
To start using this free service, you only need to add and confirm your mobile number into the settings window orkut.
Then simply send text messages (SMS) for free to the number 67588 (the keys "ORKUT" on your phone) and telling their friends what you want.See more details visit www.orkut.com / sms
Have fun sending messages from anywhere, and be sure to tell us what you think of this release.Remember that for now, orkut SMS will only work on TIM's network.
A major reason behind the popularity of Facebook is the galore of apps and games available to users. A major share of these games have features which can only be unlocked by buying them as virtual goods. Until now, users were able to purchase these virtual goods directly from the developers, but a January announcement from Facebook mentioned that all transaction on its platform have to be made using Facebook Credits from July 1, 2011.
The US social gaming revenue is expected to reach $1 billion in 2011, 60 percent of which comes from virtual goods. So, it is not surprising that Facbook wants to tap this revenue source. Facebook earns 30 percent of every credit spent on Facebook. With the recent initiative of Warner Bros. to release its 2008 thriller, The Dark Knight on Facebook, which can be watched against 30 Facebook Credits and Sony’s interest to follow this as well, there is now even greater appeal for people to trade in Facebook Credits.
Mobile-commerce company, Beam, is setting out to make life easier for the 6 million Facebook users from India. The company is in talks with both Facebook and the Reserve Bank of India, to make Facebook Credits available in the country. Facebook Credits is available in fifteen currencies and if INR is approved then it will be the 16th. Beam Chairman and Managing Director Anand Shrivastav said that the company’s user base corresponds to that of Facebook with 60 percent of them being below 25, which is a major reason behind pushing the approval of Facebook Credits.
Earlier, in July 2010, Facebook had partnered with MOL AccessPortal Berhad to bring Facebook Credits to be sold at retail shops across Asia. Needless to say, this deal did not gain much traction in India. Recently, Zynga has also partnered with MOL to bring similar cards. To which WATBlog Editor Rajiv Dingra had written, “Our guess is the uptake of these cards will be low in India as consumers are unlikely to buy to play the game by further buying virtual items.” And I second that.
Santosh Desai, managing director and CEO of Future Brands thinks differently though. According to Desai, “The idea depends on the robustness of the platform. In that sense, Facebook is on a firm ground, and a certain section of people is likely to engage deeply in virtual economy on that platform.” He does mention that this is not going to become a phenomenon in India as it has been in the US, but feels that, “If there’s any environment that may make the virtual economy work, it’s got to be Facebook.”
Will you buy virtual goods to play games on Facebook?
The war of the browsers is heating up further. Even before the dust could settle after the storm, IE9, which was released a week ageo, Mozilla has unleashed its wonder child, Firefox 4. If IE9 shows you the “beauty of the web” Firefox 4 is the “Web O’ Wonder.” The new browser saw 1 million downloads within 3 hours of launch and in 24 hours Firefox 4 was downloaded over 5 million times. Compared to this, IE9 was downloaded nearly 2.5 million times in the same period, but Firefox 3.6 was downloaded 8 million times.
It is not just the download numbers which shows that Firefox 4 has been better accepted than IE9, a report from StatCounter states, that Firefox has taken 1.95 percent of the worldwide internet browser market while IE9 0.87 percent of the worldwide market. The report also states that, when all versions of the browsers are considered, the IE family currently standing at 45 percent, lost 10 percent market-share since Feb 2010. But, the Chrome family gained 10 percent market share during the same time. There has not been much change in Firefox’s standings.
You can check out the present number of downloads from the real-time counter set up by Mozilla. JESS3 has created an video introducing Firefox 4, highlighting its various features.
The first beta of Firefox 4 landed in July 2010, which was followed by 9 other betas and a release candidate, which came earlier this month. Over this long period of development, Mozilla has built a browser that is not only faster but also more streamlined. This iteration of Firefox has some major changes which will bring it back into the race. Some worth mentioning features include:
1. Repositioning of the tabs: The new Firefox resembles the design of Opera and Chrome by placing the tabs above the taskbar. The design of Opera and Chrome made the web users more aware of their visual satisfaction. Gone are the days of the browser being cramped with multiple toolbars. Now, people want more window space and are dependent on extensions and plugins to improve their browsing experience.
2. Inclusion of App Tabs: In Firefox 4 you can turn the frequently visited websites into “App Tabs” which stay in the upper left-hand corner of the browser while you browse other sites. This allows you to return to your favourite sites instantly without getting lost. When there is a new notification in any of the taps, it starts glowing.
3. Ability to switch tabs via taskbar: When you type in the name of websites that are already open, the browser will prompt you to shift to the open tab, instead of opening a new one.
4. Firefox Sync integrated: Firefox Sync allows you to sync your bookmarks, history, passwords, form fill data, open tabs across different computers. Until now this feature was only available and a plugin, but comes integrated with Firefox 4.
5. Panorama: Panorama allows you to organise your tabs into groups using a drag and drop interface. The usability is simple but the functionality makes it one of the best features that Mozilla has come out with.
Firefox 4 also supports HTML5 along with other modern web apps. You can check the demos of new Firefox’s abilities at the Web O’ Wonder page which stores 360-degree videos, animations, in-browser games and other graphic apps.
So, do we have a winner? Although initial figures show that Firefox has overtaken IE9, the browser from Microsoft does have the potential to bounce back as the entire chunk of IE8 users are yet to migrate to its successor.
Both these browsers have features that make it a fight worth witnessing, but it is doubtful if either of them will win. There is a force called Chrome that still exists in this market which has much greater potential than the two biggies. Soon after the release of Firefox 4, Google released the beta version of Chrome 11. Google is hurting Microsoft and Mozilla with its fast paced launch schedule. Google launches a new version of Chrome every six weeks, where as Microsoft and Mozilla take years.
It is not just a new icon that Chrome brings with it, there is lots more than what meets the eye. Now you can talk to your Chrome. Yes, you read it right. Chrome 11 beta supports the HTML5 speech input API. You can try out this demo on your new Chrome browser, to see what’s in store for us. The better part is, its not just Google who can use this. Any developer can use this API to build extensions for Chrome that has the ability to respond to voice inputs. As a matter of fact, we already have the first voice enabled extension — Speechify — from Dugley Labs. The extension allows you to speak your search and actually does work. Although this is not new for mobile technology, such a feature for the web is definitely new.
The new release also packs in previews of the GPU-accelerated 3D CSS. Now developers will also be able to create websites with 3D effects using CSS which will run on Chrome. We soon expect Chrome 11 to come as a stable release and even more features. With such nifty features, Chrome is going to make it even tougher for IE9 and Firefox 4 to gain lost ground.
Although, Firefox has not lost much marketshare to Chrome, what needs to be considered is that, it hasn’t grown either. The once, mighty browser has browser has been cut down to size by a young yet bold competitor. If Firefox doesn’t do something now, it won’t be long before Chrome catches up and crosses it as well, considering, the difference between them is only 13 percent.
Do you think Mcrosoft will be able to turn its fortune with IE9? Or, will Mozilla be able to regain momentum with Firefox 4? What’s your take on the war of the browsers?
Google has launched a new feature(which is not acopy of it’s competitor) on their social networking website Orkut by which you can directly upload photos to your Orkut profile and albums right from Picasa – Google’s desktop based photo editing and management tool. Social networks like Orkut are the best place to put up your photos and show them to your friends and get comments on the photos. But at times, the photos we take aren’t quite ready for sharing and need some editing which involves transfering them to a computer for editing and then logging on to orkut to upload them to an album. Such a lengthy process!
But now with the help of a cool extension, you can directly upload photos to Orkut from Picasa. All you need to do is just install an orkut button on your Picasa program by downloading the free‘Share photos on orkut’ plugin. This plugin (for Windows or Mac) makes sharing your photos with your friends as easy as clicking a button. Detailed instructions on downloading, setting up the plugin and configuring your Orkut account to be accessed by Picasa can be found on this officialblog post from Google.
All this is so good and infact it really reduces the lengthy process of editing photo and then opening orkut to upload them. But wait, won’t this hamper the growth of Orkut in terms of pageviews? Definitely, earlier users had to log into their orkut accounts via a browser to upload photos, but now it is available right from a desktop client (Picasa in this case). Also, there is a possibility in the future that Orkut might make Album photos viewable right from Picasa itself and may be with the comments too. Orkut should really buck up as Facebook has already overtaken Orkut in India. Although this is a good move from users’ point of view but we feel, Orkut is killing itself to some extent… but only time will tell whether we are taking a wrong side of this story or Orkut!
If you start a hashtag called privacy on Twitter, I am sure It will become a trend in no time. Come on, everyone in the world is talking about privacy, as an infant gets excited about a new toy. Latest to join the bandwagon is the almost forgotten but trying hard to get back social networking site, a product of the internet giant Google, our very own Orkut. It started with Facebook facing backlash over privacy and the subsequent changes in control. The average user these days is aghast about privacy as he discovers that his personal information is being used against his wishes. He fumes in rage and starts raising voices against these social networking sites. The result – the sites come out with new features to pacify the wrath to an extent.
One feature of Orkut that set it apart from Facebook was the scrap feature. In fact, this was one of the reasons for the downfall of Orkut. Random people started spamming and users felt the need to ascend to another platform and in came Facebook with the Wall feature where only friends could post. When many people migrated to Facebook, Orkut received a makeover which people have dubbed as copying Facebook. Now, in the latest addition, Orkut has introduced some new features to its scrap.
Firstly, scraps will now be shown on the profile for easier access to recent updates. Public scraps will be shown on both the people’s profiles and when others comment on it, the entire conversation will be shown on the third person’s profile too. I don’t know about you, but this has an uncanny resemblance to wall posts on Facebook!
The second feature caters to privacy. This new feature is called private scraps. No longer do you have to send a testimonial to engage in a private conversation. To start a private conversation, just send them a scrap and select the option so that only that person can see it. The recipient can also reply back, creating a private conversation. Also, Orkut has introduced new and easier privacy options in the settings tab.
No one doubts that these features are indeed going to better the user experience. The question remains whether such new features will attract users to start using Orkut again. Orkut, with numerous users, is still a platform worth taking seriously. What do you think? Will new features like these revive Orkut? Or are these desperate attempts of a sinking ship?
It’s been well known across the web, that no matter how popular Facebook is, there are two countries where Orkut still dominates – India and Brazil. Around a year back, WATBlog had posted an article on how Facebook was coming close to overtaking Orkut. Over the last one year, the migration from Orkut to Facebook has been steady.
If Alexa’s stats are anything to go by, the time spent on Orkut has steadily been decreasing – down by 10% in the last three months.
There are a few reasons I believe Facebook will trounce Orkut.
The popularity of a social networking site is not just based on how many people it has, but how frequently they engage with others on it. Over the last 2 months, my Facebook feed had around 300 annoying updates every day. Compared to today, when I finally checked my Orkut account (after over 3-4 months) and there were 2 updates.
Talk about Social Networking online and it’s Facebook. By cleverly eliminating Orkut from the global scenario and restricting it to a few countries, Facebook clearly dominates. In India, we may not blindly follow the West when it comes to tech, but we definitely take strong hints. If the past is anything to go by, what is trending in the West eventually becomes popular in India too (number of Twitter users in India – anybody?)
Development – Where’s the development on Orkut. A look at the Facebook blog and Facebook seems to be tweaking something every month. A new notes feature, the new Facebook Questions (not launched for everybody), new privacy features (mild fiasco that), Geolocation. The point is, Facebook seems to be working on their product, while Google seems to be attempting to create a dent in the social networking sphere with a variety of tools – Buzz,Wave, Orkut. I think Buzz is pretty good, despite all the lashing it’s got. With Orkut and Wave, the less said the better.
Google Me – a new supposed competitor to Facebook – which is a good indication of the fact that Google no longer hopes for the second coming of Orkut.
Facebook recently offered free access via mobile on a few providers in India. Again, from personal observation, the percentage of “Posted from Facebook Mobile” seems to be increasing. There have been advertisements from network providers like Aircel on Airtel on TV and on the radio touting the same.
A comscore study in April showed that Orkut was still leading.
A few more stats :
India has the second largest user base for Orkut with 20 million
Facebook attracted 18 mn unique visitors in India in May
Orkut had 19.7 mn unique users in May
Facebook grew 177 per cent last year
Orkut grew 35 per cent last year
However, all of the above is moot if there’s no user engagement and retention. That’s the reason the new Google tie-up with Zynga will focus on social gaming. Farmville which became famous on Facebook is now moving out to other mediums. But people spend hours on Facebook playing Farmville and other social games.
Take a look at any new brand promotion on TV or the radio. Check out any new movie and how they promote it online – chances are there’s a Facebook page, quizzes, and some even venture out into social gaming.
My news feed on Facebook is liked to my Twitter Feed (which in turn is linked to my Google Reader shared items). I end up getting a lot of content through my Facebook feed. Reports (from February) show that Facebook drives 44% of social sharing. The now ubiquitous Facebook Like button is a simple click away. Content is also essential from a financial perspective. Good content on a site leads to more retention –> more benefits for advertising.
Any one seen a “Share on Orkut” button?
Though a recent news article in the Business Standard reports how Orkut will continue to innovate in India, and introduce a mobile platform for Orkut, I doubt it will make an impact.
The above may seem a hot-potch mashup of opinion, and I apologize for being unably to summarize my views more succintly. Here’s a small summary:
Why Facebook will Dominate Orkut in India eventually:
Content
More user Activity
Lack of Innovation on Orkut’s part
Mobile – early mover advantage + tie ups
Google’s new product implies less focus on Orkut
India is not China, a close knit social network will not work here.
Facebook’s new features (Questions, Locations, Facebook Credits) will generate new interest leading to more buzz about the product.
Facebook has been in the news for a lot of reasons off late. On the up-side for the social networking website, there have been upgrades like bulk tagging, high-resolution pictures, and a couple of new security features. On the down-side, as usual, Facebook has been hit by security concerns. This time, Facebook applications were found to leak out user IDs to companies. with these new allegations, Facebook had to block LOLapps temporarily, while a law suit was filed against Zynga, one of Facebook’s leading application developers. These security concerns hardly seemed to have ruffled Mark Zuckerberg & Co.’s feathers as Facebook now lets you update your contact list from Gmail and Orkut.
[photo facebook-gmail]
Integrating Gmail And Orkut with Facebook
So just like every other day, I was on Facebook the nth time since morning when something interesting caught my eye. Just above my news feed, there was a Friend Finder notification which told me that the application now worked with Gmail and Orkut (see pic above). This definitely raised my curiosity. If I am not mistaken, Google is supposed to be working on the biggest competition for Facebook in Google Me. So then how could this be happening?
Google warnings
I decided to look into this just like any other inquisitive person and took the bait and clicked on Find Friends. On doing so, I found the above warning (see pic above). Google warned me that Facebook was trying to access my Google Contacts and Orkut. I wanted to learn more on what was happening for sure so I hit learn more and the following screen came up.
Important question: do you trust Facebook?
In the first and the second Google links that popped up, one sentence that caught my eye was, “Grant access only if you trust the website”. This made me think. I do have pictures of myself on Facebook that my family wouldn’t be proud of, but apart from pictures the trust in the social networking website has gone down thanks to the recent allegations. Facebook going through my Google Contacts, or Orkut (though I don’t use it any more), was not something I was comfortable with and I denied Facebook access.
What about you? Do you want Facebook nosing around your Google Contacts or Orkut?
Social Networking has seen a sudden boom in India during 2010. A lot of this is due to the use of social networking services through smartphones. Analysis Mason has revealed that the number of users in India who use social networking services on mobile web would reach 72 million by 2014. The major factors behind this are the receding cost of smartphones and data charges.
Smartphones running on Android are being manufactured by Indian companies also, which is allowing the price of smartphones to go down in the country. Micromax, Intex and Olive Telecom are the companies worth mentioning here. Google’s Android has revolutionised mobile communication, according to former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
To ride this growing trend, social networking companies are launching apps to make it easier for users to use their services on smartphones. LinkedIn India country manager, Hari Krishnan, said, “A new application for the Android platform from LinkedIn will provide users of this fast-growing operating system to connect with professionals on their tablets and handhelds.” Apps to access Facebook and Twitter on smartphones are galore.
But, it is not just social networking which is a major trend amongst mobile users. Mobile searching was used mostly during 2010. Informate Mobile Intelligence, a specialised telecom research agency, revealed that Indian mobile users used their smartphones more for searching than for social networking. Opera, had also revealed similar stats which showed that Google was the most used service on it’s mobile browser, Opera Mini, over Facebook.
But, social networking still had more page views than search. Social networking accounts for a third of all page views through mobile web. Informate president, Kedar Sohoni said, “More people used the search tool on the mobile but more pages were viewed on social networking sites. In volume terms, social networking ruled 2010 among mobile Internet users in India.”
In August comScore had revealed that Facebook has become the top social network in India overtaking Orkut. Similar sentiments were reflected in Informate’s report — Facebook has around 45 percent penetration amongst Indian mobile users, while Orkut has around 20 percent. Same time last year, Facebook had just over half the number of users Orkut had.
Sohoni explains, “Over the last six months or so, Facebook has really caught up with mobile users in the country. Facebook has managed to maintain the consistency of user experience across PCs and mobile devices. People don’t want to lead different lives on the mobile phone or the PC. People are attached to brands not devices. Google has set its focus on more on brands that add to its search product. The key thrust for Google this year has been on Android to push its search market where with the tablet or even mass market devices such as the Micromax handset.”
Surprisingly, Twitter had only 5 percent penetration and stood below Mygamma and Mobiluck.
Will the advent of tablets in India change the mobile web usage trend? Sohoni says, “The tablet needs to find a niche. It will be clear in a few quarters as to how the device will be used and if it is used for browsing, whether it will be for search or social networking.” Krishnan explains, “As interfaces on handheld devices evolve to enhance user experience, communication in social and professional contexts is bound to increase over the next decade.”
How will the 3G service help the evolution of mobile web? Initially, 3G service would limited to metros and tier-I cities only. It might not be before 2012, that a considerable number of cities will be availing 3G service. Moreover, 3G data plans need to be cheap and simple to attract users. The effect of 3G on mobile browsing would definitely be there but it will be dominant only after couple of users.
Will mobile web usage change in 2011? Beerud Sheth, CEO SMSGupShup, has an answer to this, “Within social media, the most heavily used services on mobile phones will be messaging and photos. Besides social media, we will also see increased usage of other web-based services such as content, travel, commerce, education etc.”
But, Informate’s results are only for 3000 users. So, this is just a trend and not a fact. Mobile web usage in India is young but growing fast. But, Krishnan wonders, “Educating customers on web usage is a particularly unique hurdle in India — if users don’t know the benefits of using the web, how can we expect them to use the mobile web?”
