BUSINESS
Sundar Pichai: JioPhone Next launch will have a lot of impact over the next 3-5 years
The JioPhone Next, one of the most anticipated 4G smartphones of 2021, is expected to launch in India next week on Diwali.
BUSINESS
India's paid gamer base to touch 235 million in 2025, driven by in-app purchases
India's mobile gaming market is set to more than triple in size to over $7 billion by 2025, from $1.8 billion in 2021
BUSINESS
Amazon Prime Music rolls out support for Hindi on Android
The move is part of a broader localisation push by Amazon to reach more consumers in the country.
BUSINESS
Facebook lines up $10 billion to build metaverse as next big computing platform
The social networking giant is also recasting its financial reporting structure to break out Facebook Reality Labs as a separate reporting segment in its earnings reports from Q4 2021.
BUSINESS
Dream11 cofounders approach Karnataka HC for quashing FIR over gaming ban
Karnataka Police filed a case against Dream11 and its cofounders for continuing operations on its platform after introduction of anti-gambling law on October 5
BUSINESS
The curious case of Dream11 suspending operations in Karnataka
Dream11 had mentioned at the time of suspension that Karnataka residents will not be allowed to participate in pay-to-play contests on the platform.
BUSINESS
No arrests to be made under new gambling law, says Karnataka High Court
The court also agreed to bunch together petitions challenging the law that outlaws all forms of online gaming where a transfer of money is involved
TECHNOLOGY
WhatsApp debuts in-app stickers for payments
WhatsApp, which operates its payment service on UPI platform, saw its transactions double in September, albeit on a small base.
BUSINESS
Google to reduce Play Store fee for all subscription services to 15% from Jan 1 2022
Ebooks and on-demand music streaming services, where content costs account for the majority of sales, will be eligible for a further decrease in its service fee, which "can be as low as 10%".
BUSINESS
Amazon looks to cash in on booming interest for K-dramas in India with an expanded slate
These titles are across various genres including romance, mystery, thriller and horror and will start streaming from October 21 going up to November 11.
BUSINESS
Ahead of T20 World Cup, Twitter brings Communities to India and rolls out live cricket scorecards
Twitter said between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021 more than 75 million conversations were just about cricket
BUSINESS
Over 207M Indian users watched live gaming videos on Facebook between July-Aug 2021
Gaming will play a key role in shaping the metaverse and play a key role in building the experiences around the platform, said Facebook India MD Ajit Mohan
BUSINESS
Junglee Games files petition in Karnataka HC against gambling ban
Junglee Games will be joining several real-money gaming firms MPL, Games24x7, A23(Ace2Three), and Gameskraft and skill gaming industry body All India Gaming Federation, all of whom have filed similar petitions against the Karnataka government
BUSINESS
Facebook looks to capitalise on India's gaming boom
Manish Chopra, director and head of partnerships at Facebook told Moneycontrol Facebook is “continuing to develop and grow” in the gaming space.
BUSINESS
InMobi acquires Appsumer to expand enterprise offerings for advertisers
As part of the deal, Appsumer team will join InMobi to further develop and support the analytics and automation offering under the firm's umbrella.
BUSINESS
Karnataka gambling ban: No significant impact on Delta Corp's online skill gaming business
Online skill gaming has been a key growth area for the company in recent quarters, as the company's core businesses like its casino and hospitality business was severely impacted by Covid-19 induced lockdowns.
STARTUP
Carl Pei's Nothing lands $50-million funding, announces Qualcomm partnership
Swedish House Mafia members Axel Christofer Hedfors and Sebastian Ingrosso are among the investors participating in the financing round.
BUSINESS
Video streaming platform MX Player crosses 1 billion downloads
The app had raised about $110 million financing in a round led by Tencent in October 2019 and had expanded to about 12 international markets including UAE, US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Srilanka, Maldives, and Bhutan in March 2020.
BUSINESS
ADIF moves CCI seeking interim relief from Google Play Store commission
Google Play Store commission of 30 percent in India will come into effect on March 31, 2022. Moneycontrol has learnt that the petition was filed in the CCI last week.
BUSINESS
Dream11 suspends operations in Karnataka
This move comes on heels of Dream11 cofounders Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth facing a FIR over the continued operations of its platform, the first such police case booked under the new law.
BUSINESS
MPL, Games24x7, AIGF approach Karnataka High Court against gambling ban
IPO
Truecaller opens with 15.4% pop on its Stockholm trading debut
Founded in 2009 by Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam, Truecaller claims to have 205.5 million monthly active users in India as of second quarter of 2021.
BUSINESS
We are now looking at larger deals as our scale is increasing: Nazara Technologies CEO
With the mobile gaming industry booming and set to more than triple in size to $6-7 billion by 2025, Nazara Technologies is looking to fuel growth through larger deals, says CEO Manish Agarwal.
BUSINESS
Expect more clarity in India's real-money gaming market in coming quarters: Nazara Tech CEO
South India is an important market for games like Rummy which has a good concentration in these states, although real money games like poker and fantasy games see equal distribution across the country.
