Bangalore based Ezetap raises funds from American Express

Bangalore-based payment device maker Ezetap Mobile Solutions has raised undisclosed amount of funding from American Express to expand its services across Asia and Africa. Ezetap said that the funding investment is minor.

Founded in 2011, Ezetap is mobile point-of-sale provider which is actually combination of a device that reads credit and debit cards and an smartphone app, the device can be mounted on audio jack of any smartphone with Android OS 2.2 or higher.

Till date Ezetap has raised some $12 million in funding. Just a month back, Ezetap received venture funding of $8 million i.e. around Rs 49.8 crore in a Series B funding from a consortium of investors led by venture fund Helion Venture Partners.

Ezetap has also managed to get some prominent ecommerce portal of India in its clientele for cash-on-delivery payments and the clients includes Myntra.com, BookmyShow, RedBus.in and BigBasket.com. Delivery agents pf these e-commerce companies are empowered with the Ezetap device and delivery application to accept and swipe the cards of customers on mobile phones.

Ezetap is certified secure by the leading banks in India and abroad and is authorized for visa, mastercard and American Express cards.

As per reports Ezetap has deployed 12,000 devices across South East Asia and Africa and will use the funds to increase growth in these markets. It aims to take the total number of devices over 100K by next year.

Ezetap is Mobile startup incubated at Bangalore-based AngelPrime and till date has received funding from PayPal's Peter Thiel and enterprise social network company Yammer cofounder David Sacks as well as billionaire Nicolas Berggruen's private equity fund Berggruen Holdings.

Videocon Telecom Launches 'M-Health' Ayurvedic Service

In partnership with Think Health Services, India's telecom operator Videocon Telecom has announced a specialized Ayurvedic mobile health service for its subscribers, which offers round the clock Ayurvedic consultation.

The IVR-based Value Added Service (VAS) is offered in collaboration with JIVA Ayurveda Group and the company claims to give access to 150 Ayurvedic doctors with which users can interact and discuss about their health issues and seek treatment advice accordingly.

The service can be exclusively availed by Videocon subscribers by calling the service number 535133, which comes with a premium price tag of Rs. 6 per minute.

Arvind Bali, director and chief executive officer, Videocon Telecom said, "We are pleased to roll out the M Health service for our subscribers. Ayurveda is not just a treatment but a way of life which helps maintain one's health from the outset. With the launch of this service, we seek to bring convenience and affordable healthcare services to our consumers. This new service shall enable our subscribers to get in touch directly with certified Ayurvedic doctors round the clock and discuss their health issues and seek treatment advice. Now with this service one can access health related help and consultation anywhere and anytime, and also can order medicines which are directly delivered onto their doorsteps."

Additionally, once the user has sought health advice, the medicines recommended by the doctor can also be ordered directly on the phone, which will be delivered to the user’s door step. The delivery service is spanned across 1300 cities in India on the basis of Cash-on-Deliver (COD) mode. However, we are not aware of how the company plans to make this service function.

It would’ve rather been great if Videocon had enabled face-to-face interaction over its network considering the company’s plans to launch 4G-LTE services over 1800MHz band which it secured in the November auction.

Videocon Telecom had over 22 lakh customers at the end of May this year out of which 57% were active.

Official IRCTC app on Windows devices Launched to Book train tickets

Now you can plan your travel, book train tickets and do much more on-the-go, using your Windows Phone, Windows 8 tablet or PC. IRCTC has embarked on an application (app) journey, with the launch of the official IRCTC app. The app has been made available exclusively for Windows devices. It will be available throughout the day excepting 0800-1200 hrs and 2330-0030 hrs. You can download the IRCTC app at Windows Store and Windows Phone store.

IRCTC already have an app on Android platform, now the app has been launched on Windows platform as well, the app perform all the tasks already available on the IRCTC web site. Moreover you can also get other features including visual maps of train routes, Windows Phone live tiles lighting up as train tickets and access to saved traveler profiles from multiple devices among many others.

Announcing the availability of the app, Mr. Rakesh Tandon, CMD, IRCTC said, "We feel the app is ideal for the modern consumer who is always on the move. Windows is the most trusted and widely used platform and offers the requisite security required while handling vast amounts of personal and financial user data."

With IRCTC Windows app you can:

• Make train enquiries


• Plan your travel


• Make railway reservations


• Check PNR status


• Check booking/cancellation history


• Check ticket availability

The app lights up inbuilt features of your Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices to bring you a delightful experience. Destination names show up quickly, planning your journey, making train choices and booking tickets is more seamless and immersive.

New iOS & Android App for Passport Services Make India First in the World

The Ministry of External Affairs, , Government of India (MEAIndia) has launched yesterday Apple iOS and Android apps for all Passport Services in India with the help of this app  now you can track your passport application and in the next couple of months you can even apply for passport through this app and that's too absolutely free, this is called 'Mobile 2.0' and it has started in government department as well so much so that India became first country in the world to do so.

With MEAIndia iOS App and MEAIndia Android app India became first country in the world, where its Foreign Ministry has digitized its presence and process through mobile app and out all info into people's hand. Apart from passport services the mobile app acts as single window source of all information related to Ministry's citizen centric services and outreach activities such as - Visa/Counsellor services, Haj Yatra, Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, public diplomacy services, updates of all 124 Indian missions in the world and Passport services of-course.

The users can join in for discussion on issues & post comments and if on your foreign trip, you need emergency consular assistance, this MEAIndia app will come handy for sure by finding nearest Indian Mission/ Post and establish contact. You can even locate nearest passport centre, download forms and calculate fees.

Meanwhile, in less than 24 hours after its launch,  the MEAIndia app has topped the charts of free category of the Apple app store. The mobile application is completely user oriented, intuitive and interactive with smart visuals/graphics.

With MEAIndia  app you can also get information on Haj and Kailash Manasarovar Yatra by providing you the latest Haj News and providing details of your flight, accommodation and tour operator. The app also helps you apply for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and track your selection status. Users will be able to download and watch pictures and documentaries on India, share and contribute their own pictures and suggestions or even follow the prime minister on his visits/missions abroad.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is the first government ministry department to have a mobile app for smartphone users. Besides providing vast information on India’s foreign policies and activities, the app users can also take part in quiz and win Rs. 1,000 e-vouchers for buying books online.

 

India’s first SMS based Bus-ticket reservation Launched by MakeMyTrip

India’s first SMS-based bus-ticket booking service has been announced by Gurgaon based MakeMyTrip.com, a leading online travel company in India. Via this latest feature anyone with any sort of phone right from very simple mobile to smartphone can just send simple SMS to get their bus-tickets booked.

Five simple steps for SMS based Bus bookings:

1. Select Route & Date


2. Select Operator


3. Provide  Passenger Details


4. Provide Payment Details


5. SUCCESS!

To book a ticket via SMS one should send SMS as -  @mbus <From-City> <To-City> <Date-of-Travel> <No.of Passengers> to 9664896648, MakeMyTrip will then respond with choices for different operators on that day route.

Users will be required to select the operator of choice. MakeMyTrip will respond with template to provide the details and names of Travellers along with a template to make payments using IMPS. Customers then have to provide the IMPS Transaction Details (IMPS - Instant Mobile Money Transfer service).

On successful payment processing a success SMS will be sent along with an email. For several operators, the SMS itself can work as e-ticket.

IMPS Funds Transfer facility is mobile service which you can opt from you bank, you will need a 7 digit MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) number to transfer funds via IMPS. Example - for ICICI bank see here

MakemyTrip's SMS bus-ticket booking platform has been developed by txtWeb, an open platform for SMS applications, launched in India in 2011. It allows anyone with a simple mobile phone to discover and consume services on the Internet via SMS and is one of the fastest platforms to make content and services available to billions.

MakeMyTrip was also the first to develop mobile travel app for the iOS/ iPhone followed by an Android app.

Mr. Amit Somani, Chief Products Officer, MakeMyTrip said - "We targeted bus-ticket reservation for this platform since the ticket-value is lower for most first-time users to confidently experiment with the channel. Once they experience the convenience first-hand, we are confident they will continue to transact via mobile. We strongly believe that the future of e-Commerce and travel buying experience is on the ‘mobile’ and we will continue to build products with a mobile-first approach."

The MakeMyTrip website offers Bus tickets for 1300+ operators over 12,000 + routes across India including the inventory for Punbus/Punjab Roadways , GSRTC, Goa and Bihar Road Transport Corporation and Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.

F.A.Q

How can I make a bus booking using SMS?

You need to follow below steps to make a bus booking using SMS:

1. SMS ‘@mbus’ along with details such as Origin City, Destination City, Date of Travel and Number of Passengers to 9664896648. < E.g. @mbus delhi Jaipur 01/07/2013 1 >


2. Once you send the above search details, you would receive an SMS showing top options for Bus Operators on the searched Route along with the fare details. You would need to reply with the selected Bus Operator option. < E.g. H A >


3. Once you send the selected Bus Operator option, you would be asked to confirm the booking and give the passenger name and email id. <E.g. J Rajnikant info@rajnikant.com>


4. Once you send the passenger name, you would be asked for the IMPS payment details such as Seven digit MMID number, Six digit OTP generated from Mobile Application and Mobile number registered with the Bank. <E.g. K 9453454 848529 9582495933>. You will receive a booking confirmation on your email id.

 

How do I make the payment?

Payment would be made using Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) powered by National Payment Commission of India (NPCI).

 

What is IMPS?

IMPS or Immediate Payment Service allows mobile banking users to make instant, 24 x 7, inter-bank payments to merchants using a mobile phone. IMPS enables registered users to access their bank accounts, make payments and get confirmation instantly.

 

How do I get started with IMPS?

Customer needs to be a mobile banking user of their respective bank. Following are the steps required to complete registration:

1. Register mobile number with the bank account in the respective bank. To get the list of participating banks please visit: http://www.npci.org.in/impsmerpay10.aspx

2. Get MMID: MMID or Mobile Money Identifier is 7-digit number provided by Bank to the customer. This number can uniquely identify customer’s Bank. The combination of mobile number and MMID is linked to the customer’s bank account. In case a user has multiple accounts with a bank, he can link the same mobile number with the multiple accounts and receive separate MMID for each of the accounts.

3. Get OTP: OTP or One Time Password is required for completing the transaction. This OTP can be generated from Mobile banking application provided by the Bank or through SMS/ IVR channel provided by your bank. For more details please visit: http://www.npci.org.in/impsmerpayotp.aspx

 

How can I cancel a bus booking made using SMS?

As of now, booking cancelation is available only via www.makemytrip.com.

 

Can I select the seat allotted to me?

At present, the system auto-allocates seats basis availability.

Dial2Verify - A Free Cloud Based Missed Call Verification System

A Mumbai based startup - Dial2Verify has been launched as a very useful service for all those online service provider which requires a valid user database especially e-commerce or paid online products which need to verify the authenticity of a user. I believe this is first time in India when a "Clean & Free" platform are being provided for this segment of - 'in-cloud' mobile services.

Dial2Verify provides an easy to integrate platform for building missed call based commercial solutions and has ability to notify missed call alerts in real-time and in cloud and moreover with no extra software or hardware need and never charge for customer verification needed  to build a loyal and verified customer base.



For using the Dial2verify service one has to be little  familiar with coding and requires a very simple process -  Generate API Key of your own, which can later be used while integrating API in your applications. You can even generate API key by giving miss call to 0-4466-9494-99 and can also track API usage in developer login dashboard.

Further, to initiate a user authentication process user need to give a missed call to the telephone number generated by Dial2Verify API Call which will than received by Dial2Verify servers and it would than dispatch a confirmation message to the user for successful verification of his/her mobile device and send confirmation status to your application as well.

Dial2verify which is self funded Mumbai startup and run its development labs from Bangalore, India claims to handle 100k requests per minute and capable of dispatching 1 million SMS a day. Some of the use cases of Dial2very are:

1. sign-up Verification: for building a clean user base by validating user's telephone numbers with just a missed call.


2. Lead Generation: for Optimizing sales profits by maintaining accurate telephone data.


3. Transaction Authorization: For building an alternative to OTP (One time password) based transaction authorization system.


4. E-commerce Cash On Delivery: for validating user identity before dispatching cash on delivery shipments.

 

Access Web on Your Mobile & Landline without GPRS or Internet Access

Earlier we have covered articles on how to send/receive emails without GPRS on your mobile along with another Indian startup Jamun.in providing similar services for low end mobile phones. Now elaborating the same concept further to not just email, HP Labs India has introduced a new patent-pending technology to provide a custom packaged based web access to mobiles and even landlines having no internet access or GPRS.



SiteOnMobile, is the online service by HP Labs India, though it is in invitation only and alpha mode and works in a defines way, as - Select your most accessed content on web -> SiteOnMobile package them as widgets - > Your web content is now accessible on mobiles and landline. On mobile its works through SMS and voice channel and on landline phones it works through voice channel.

This new technology by HP Labs however comes with few constraints as you cannot access all web content as it has to be optimized first though SiteOnMobile service and than after being optimized as packaged web content it can be viewed. The service is free of cost excluding the SMS charges of respective  telecom operators service charges where it is being used. Although, website owners can make their websites optimized for this service without any cost.



Tagged as alpha release, the full fledged service is yet to be start soon, as apparent SiteOnMobile is not currently open for end-users to use on mobile & landlines and service is currently seems to be for website owners to be optimized for same for free. Nevertheless, the service by HP Labs India is yet another nice effort coming out of India comfortably tagged as 'products/ technologies for masses' for countries like India where broadband or even internet is limited to few percentage of population.

Video below demonstrate 'Tasklets', which is what drives this patent-pending technology - to convert web content into widgets for use on devices without internet access.

BlacMail makes Ordinary Phones Smarter for Emails (without GPRS)

BlacMail is a new push email mobile application launched by Bangalore based mobile applications startup Fifth C , the mobile app is a push email mobile application enables low-end ordinary phones to send and receive mails and that's too without having GPRS as one would normally need to get connected with internet. The app provides low-end mobile users to have email send-receive feature similar to that of smart phones or PDAs such as BlackBerry or Nokia E63.

BlacMail allows users to access their mails through any GSM network on their cell phones anywhere in India be it Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or even your company/ corporate emails.



Difference that this mobile app making is - Unlike to other 'pull email' based applications available in the market, BlacMail is based over 'push email' application that pushes mails to the user's phone as soon as they land in the user's email inbox. Therefore, BlacMail only alerts your phone and you when an unread email from your internet account is pushed to it. While other services of the similar kind pull an email to your phone by frequently checking your internet mail accounts for unread mails unnecessarily draining your phone battery life.

Available for free trial download BlacMail is at present available only in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and also at all UniverCell outlets. However the company is negotiating with a top operator in India for release of BlacMail across India soon.

The paid version of this mobile email app is subcription service based on credit system that needs to be purchased for mobile service providers (UniverCell outlet as of now).

Coming to the features the on demand option allows users to get mails only when they want it, and the mail download size option enables them to control the size of mails, thereby saving the user’s credits. Another feature that empowers users to control their credits is the white-list option. It white-lists domains,sites or email addresses that user wants to receive mails from, and filters out all other unwanted domains, thus reducing spam and keeping the user’s inbox clean.

Airtel App Store recorded 2.5 Million Downloads in a Month

Airtel App store which is India’s first mobile application store launched in February 2010  better known as 'Airtel App Central' having total of 1500 apps available for download has recorded 2.5 million downloads in 30 days and making it to have more than 1 app download per second in last 30 days.

The press release by Bharti Airtel also emphasize that the India's mobile apps model is pretty much different from the global model especially US, European counterparts as here in this case the app downloads are leaded by feature phones and NOT smart phones, a similar consumer behaviour pattern has been noticed for Bolt - a Mobile browser which have largest user base from India and downloads lead by non-smart phones.

In Airtel app store 25% of the apps are free to download and rest are subscription based, however, unlike to the beliefs the Indian mobile consumers are willing to pay for mobile apps as top 5 mobile apps downloaded are subscription based and not free, moreover top 5 cities that lead the download location are small cities ather than metros, these are - Surat, Pune, Udaipur, Mangalore and Thiruvanathapuram.The most popular apps downloaded are falling in social networking and utility categories.

Airtel is leading mobile service provider in India with ustomer base of over 118 million and Airtel app store have 1500 apps available for download among which 25% of the apps are free to download and app available for across 550+ devices.

No Google Nexus Phone, No 3G, No WiMAX...India Shinning

Google has just unveiled a Android based Super phone called - Nexus One phone and India being one among unsupported countries. however people residing in India may psychologically satisfy themselves watching the Inetractive demo , 3D Tour or videos of Nexus One phone until it arrives in India as there is not any mention via Google of how, why and when it will arrive in India. The Google super phone will be available only in US, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Noticeably unlike to Apple iPhone Google Nexus is "Unlocked" GSM phone sold and shipped by Google only.

Moreover, unavailability of 3G Mobile technology in India could be strong reason for Nexus phone unavailability, as at present its with BSNL only. Ironically, countries like UK had already made trials of next generation 4G mobile broadband technology.

Question - Why Google didn't approach BSNL? as its also 3G and GSM phone operator in India.

However, India has its own Jugaad of getting Google Nexus by - shipping it to India (US$529 + $60 shipping + import duty = 32k INR approx.) or can also get it from ebay once people people start to resale it.