Opera Software, the makers of Opera Mini browser, and Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, a value added services player in the country, have joined hands to provide mobile content to Opera Mini users in a convenient way.

Starting this month, every new user who downloads Opera Mini in India will have the Hungama.com icon on his Speed Dial homepage. This icon will take him to m.hungama.com, from which he can download music tracks, videos, wallpapers, images, and ringtones onto his mobile device.

This content crosses popular genres such as Bollywood, regional, devotional, animation and more. It is available through all Hungama.com subscription plans and a-la-carte rates (one time payment for access to all content). Existing Hungama.com users will also be prompted to get Opera Mini for easier, faster downloads.

Hungama.com offers four download plans. Of these, two plans cost Rs 99. One offers unlimited content download for one month; and the second offers 99 items of content, but without any limit on duration.

Smaller plans are priced at Rs 10 for single item and Rs 20 for four items. There is no limitation on the type of content that you can download through these plans.

“As mobile phones become the most preferred device for the consumer’s entertainment needs, Hungama.com offers the very best content across genres anytime, anywhere,” said Siddhartha Roy, chief operating officer, Hungama.com.

“With a hot key on the Opera Mini browser, access to this content is just one click away. We aim to serve the consumer the best-quality entertainment in a manner that is easy to consume, at a price point that is competitive and piracy free,” he added.

Talking about the launch, Lars Boilesen, chief operating officer, Opera Software said, “According to Opera’s State of Mobile Web reports, we have seen that in addition to search, email and social networking, Indians are increasingly logging on to download portals. It was logical for us to seek a partnership with Hungama.com, which has an impressive collection of content.

“We hope Opera Mini users take full advantage of the Hungama.com Speed Dial. After all, a happy stomach is our way to the hearts of our users,” he added.

Opera Mini is available for free on more than 3,000 different mobile phone models, in all markets.

Download it from m.opera.com.

BT Conferencing, a provider of audio, video and web collaboration services, has launched a video conference application for the Android and iOS based smartphones and tablet.

The new app, BT Engage Meeting Mobile, is a schedule and automation tool that makes video conference calling easier than ever before. It allows the host to control their video conference equipment, quickly launch a meeting, end a meeting and extend a meeting time using a mobile device.

It is compatible with all the major video conferencing manufacturers including Cisco, LifeSize, Polycom and Tandberg.

The App works together with BT Engage Meeting Manager, a web-based tool that comes with an intuitive conference wizard, meeting templates, custom directories, B2B scheduling, iCal integration and an extensive suite of online reporting tools.

The most powerful feature of the app is its ability to put conference control into the hands of the meeting host for in-room conference control, as well as access on the go.

Jeff Prestel, chief executive officer, BT Conferencing, said: “This mobile app is the first of its kind and provides our customers with scheduling and call control options, even when they are away from their desk.”

To access the application, search for BT Engage within iTunes or via the app store on a chosen device. The app is free to download and is available now.

This new app follows the successful launch of BT MeetMe Mobile Controller for audio conferencing, which has been available since September 2010.

CNN has launched an international news application for Nokia E7 smartphones, available on the Ovi Store.

The CNN App for Nokia also will be available for free in the coming weeks for the Nokia N8, Nokia C7 and Nokia C6-01, with wider availability to be announced later.

“As the world’s largest mobile handset manufacturer, Nokia has extensive reach and scale across international markets,” said Louis Gump, vice president of CNN Mobile. “Nokia users share broad interest in events around the world, and it is exciting to have the opportunity to put the power of CNN at their fingertips, and likewise, provide the chance for them to participate in the news with us through iReport.”

The CNN App for Nokia provides users with one-click access to a dynamic news experience with integrated sharing functionality, delivered through sophisticated technology.

The CNN App includes user-generated content upload functionality through iReport, which lets users to register, sign-in to their account or sign on as a guest to instantly upload photos and videos.

The app also showcases important global news through text, video and photos; and also enables users to watch live breaking news video.

The CNN App is available for free from the Ovi Store on the Nokia E7 or at store.ovi.com. For more information about the CNN App, go to www.cnn.com/nokia.

Bringing back the memories of the school times alive, Zipdial mobile solution, in conjunction with Kingfisher, launched an innovative yet fun ‘Book Cricket’ game for all the mobile users across India.

This game can be played by anyone who has a valid mobile number and a cellphone. This game works independent of platforms and is available totally free of cost.

All the user needs to do is call Zipdial on 08030050021, which will be disconnected automatically after one ring. Thereafter the cell phone, from which the call has been made, will be automatically registered for the game.

After that, another number will be sent to the user’s cellphone through SMS, containing a number on which the user needs to give a miss call in order to start playing the game.

How to play

In the game, a player has to achieve a target within an over. To play each ball, the user needs to call the number and score runs which get accumulated against the target score given.

The game follows the pattern of the traditional “book cricket” game where players flip the pages of a book in order to score or play. The only difference here is that the book is being replaced with a telephone based system.

Kingfisher has sponsored the prizes that will be given out to the user in the form of cricket merchandise and some lucky player will also get to will free IPL tickets.

Players can also link their phone number with the Zipdial application on Facebook to share their scores instantly with friends.

In a welcome relief for thousands of mobile game enthusiasts, Gameloft has changed its policy to allow customers to redownload the games they have purchased, in case they change their Android handsets for some reason.

This was not allowed earlier and in some cases people had to go through customer service to get it done.

In another announcement, Gameloft said it has started releasing games on Android Market. Since Android Market allows users to redownload games if they change their handsets, the adjustment in Gameloft’s DRM (Digital Rights Management) policy was expected. All that users have to do to get their Gameloft games on their new handsets is to visit the Gameloft website.

Gameloft is already a big name in mobile gaming and has several successful titles to its credit such as Asphalt HD, Dungeon Hunter and Nova.

Of course, some of Gameloft’s games seem to be inspired by console titles, but they still do well commercially and perform well on the smaller screens of mobiles.

Users earlier had to go to the Gameloft site to get games, and then to customer service if they changed their handsets.

Google Docs, a cloud based document storage and editing service, has been updated for Android based smartphones. With the addition of newer features, the Google Docs application allows the user to get the work done in a faster and better way.

Apart from the visual upgrades, the application also has new functionalities that will go a long way in helping the Android users.

The Google docs allows the users to create and modify documents such as word files, excel files, and presentations while keeping them secure on the cloud, which allows the user to access them anywhere.

To begin with, the application can search the content across the Google account and users can directly shift to document editing at the touch of a button with the online document editors.

The Google Docs App also allows the user to upload content from the smartphone and can open documents directly from Gmail. You can also add a widget to your home screen for easy access to three core tasks: jumping to your starred documents, taking a photo to upload, or creating a new document with one tap.

Also, by using the application and the phone’s camera, users can turn photos with text into editable Google documents with the optical character recognition (OCR).

To create a new document using OCR, select ‘Document from Photo’ or the camera icon from the widget, and the converted document appears in your documents list shortly after taking the picture. You can also convert photos, already stored on your phone, by sharing them with the Google Docs app.

The Google Docs app is currently available in English and works on Android 2.1 and above phones only. Users can get download using the marketplace application on the device or can click here as well.

Plants Vs Zombies, a popular mobile game of PopCap, is all set to hit Android and Windows Phone 7 platforms. The game is already a big hit on iPhone, and is available on gaming consoles as well.

Android users can download the application of the game starting May 31 from Amazon Appstore, which has the exclusive right to distribute it. The game will be free for download for the first 24 hours but will cost nearly $3 (about Rs 135) after that.

Giordano Bruno Contestabile, PopCap’s senior director of global product and business strategy for mobile, noted, “By making these titles available on the Android platform, we’ll significantly extend the reach of our top franchises to legions of new mobile customers and gaming fans alike.”

The deal between PopCap and Amazon AppStore seems to be similar to the one that existed between Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, and Amazon.

There is a lot of humour in Plants Vs Zombies, along with strategy based gameplay.

Aaron Rubenson, category leader at Amazon, says, “PopCap is a brand synonymous with great mobile games, and we’re thrilled to offer our customers Chuzzle and Plants Vs Zombies for Android exclusively through the Amazon Appstore.”

The other game coming to Amazon AppStore for Android handset owners is Chuzzle, which is an older PopCap title. The exclusivity deal appears to be a great win for Amazon, but the free download window of 24 hours is a win for users as well.