Shaadi.com, a matrimonial service website, has been developed as an application in collaboration with BlackBerry.

The Shaadi.com BlackBerry Application enables the consumers to search and express interest in profiles, view accepted members and interests received, view latest matches.

Users also get real time notifications on receiving interests or accepts, upload pictures to profile and add accepted profiles with a BlackBerry PIN to BlackBerry Messenger.

An added feature for users of Blackerry operating system version 5.0 and above is the ‘Members Near Me’ search which without revealing the actual location of the Shaadi.com members, supports search for other members in the vicinity who fit the search criteria.

Registered Shaadi.com members can directly use the application after downloading it on their smartphone. Unregistered users can browse through profiles via the application, prior to registering on the matrimonial website.

Going by the statement of Shaadi.com’s business head,Gourav Rakshit, the company will also launch similar applications for other platforms like Android and Symbian.

Rakshit said in a statement, “Since 1996, Shaadi.com has been redefining the way people meet for marriage. At Shaadi.com, we will continue to deliver a superior matchmaking experience by expanding the opportunities and channels available to meet potential life partners.”

99acres.com, a real estate portal, has launched property search on mobile. It is the mobile version of the website through which users can browse and search for properties, new projects, dealers and directly connect with advertisers via mobile.

This Mobile WAP Site has been optimized to work with all popular Smart and Basic phones. The website already has an App which can be downloaded on all Java and other phones. The WAP site seems to be basically targeted at basic phones which do not have download capability or for users who are not comfortable downloading stuff.

Users can access the WAP Site by opening www.99acres.com from their Mobile’s Browsers.
Commenting on the launch Vineet Singh, business head 99acres.com said, “We understand that time is of critical value today and responding real time is imperative. Our users are on the move all the time, which makes it difficult for them to be connected to their PC or laptop. We want to be sure that users can connect to 99acres anywhere anytime as an endeavour to make property search effortless and time efficient.”

Users can type in the locality, city and can check for properties, new projects which are available on sale/rent. One can also search for property dealers and contact them directly through a call or SMS.

Bubbles is Nokia’s latest experiment and aims to simplify common smartphone operations. It has been developed by Nokia’s Beta Labs – a type of research center at Nokia.

With the use of this App on a Nokia’s touch screen smartphone running on Symbian ^3 platform ( Nokia C7, Nokia N8), options of different shortcuts to unlock the phone or change its profile; access messages, missed calls or the music player etc. appear in pop up bubbles.
The user just has to hold a bubble and drag it to an available drop point to initiate the related action. Drop points only appear when the user holds an action bubble. For instance, if a user has a missed call, a bubble will appear on the screen and if it is dragged and dropped at a drop point, the user will be LED to the missed call sub menu. Before Bubbles came along, one had to go through various menus and screens to do this.

Currently, Bubbles is in beta so users need to activate it by hitting the power or menu button. If it is liked by many people, Bubbles might be integrated into a Symbian operating system upgrade. The app is available free at Nokia’s Beta Labs.

GoPayment is an App created by Intuit that makes spending money easy. Now, you can pay for things you buy using the shopkeeper’s smartphone.

The app is available free at Android, BlackBerry and Apple App store. Shopkeepers who need to make transactions amounting to less than $1000 (approximately Rs 45,000) per month do not need to pay for using the app, whereas those with higher transaction requirements have to pay $12.95 (about Rs 600) per month. Intuit also provides a free credit card reader phone to users, subject to the product’s availability which can be used in addition to the app.

Currently, GoPayment is for Android mobiles though a tablet version might be launched soon. The service accepts payments from major credit cards.

From the security perspective this app is safe to use because even after keying in credit card details, the shopkeeper cannot proceed with the transaction unless the customer okays it with a touchscreen signature.

Apps similar to GoPayment that are currently available include E-Junkie storefront widget from PayPal and Shopit, which provide payment related solutions to smartphone and tablet users.

Angry Birds fans using Android phones have a new reason to rejoice. A big update, v1.5.1, is out and it introduces 30 more levels, as well as support for lower end devices.

There is one more slightly surprising element for downloading Angry Birds, which is SMS permission. This means the update cannot be installed automatically on your device, and that users end up wondering why Rovio ( developer of the game) wants to access the text message facility in the phone.

In its blog, Rovio revealed the real reason behind SMS permission. The company is building its own in-app payment system named Bad Piggy Bank through which it will sell new game levels. No credit card details will be required for payment as the amount will be added to users’ mobile bills.

There is a new graphics toggle option in version 1.5.1 of Angry Birds, which allows users to remove some background elements so the game runs smoothly on phones that do not have advanced processors.

Words with Friends is like Scrabble, and will soon be launched for Android by developer Zynga. The game was earlier exclusive to iOS devices and was hugely popular. It has more than 10 million users around the world. Words with Friends will now soon be available on Android phones. The experience, however, is likely to be similar to that on iOS devices.

The App is free and is supported by advertisements though the company plans to release a paid version of the game soon.

Users can play this online game with friends or against random opponents, and can play up to 20 games at the same time — all while chatting with other players within the game itself.

More importantly, Android device users can compete with iOS gamers in real time. Zynga, with its social mobile games, targets people who are discovering the internet on their mobile phones, a market that is set to increase as mobiles penetrate further.

Moneycontrol.com’s M3 application which enables Blackberry and iPhone users to view real time stock quotes from Indian and Global market indices, track personal investment portfolio, watch live TV and stock market news on their smartphone, is now available on Mobango, an independent application store.

The live TV function is only available with high speed networks like 3G or CDMA services and will only stream CNBC, the business channel of Network 18 group.

The application can be downloaded free of charge from m.mobango.com or from moneycontrol.com’s own website. Network18, which is the parent company of moneycontrol.com is also planning to come out of more mobile applications in the near future which it will host on Mobango.

Speaking on this initiative Joyson Thomas, COO Moneycontrol says “We are excited to partner with Mobango, one of the largest appstores in the world to bring M3 App to millions of mobile users in India and globally. Network 18 group have a few more apps on the way and we will have Mobango distribute them for us.”

Badri Sanjeevi, COO Mobango says, “Mobango is excited to host the Moneycontrol M3 app on its appstore and drive thousands of downloads for this application in India and globally.
Mobango drives over 1m downloads a day of which 20-25% are from India. This is part of Mobango’s initiative to bring apps that are highly relevant to the Indian consumers of Mobango app site.”

Mobango is subsidiary of Mauj Mobile and part of People Group that owns Shaadi.com and Makaan.com.

Loop Mobile, a mobile service provider in Mumbai, has launched two new services, a push mail service that doesn’t require any internet access and a video service that doesn’t require subscription charges.

The new SMS service, called Loop Mobile Mail, enables subscribers to send and receive emails on their mobile in the form of SMS without the need to have GPRS or a special handset.

Loop mobile Mail, push e-mail solution has been launched for all prepaid and postpaid subscribers. The service works on SMS and delivers e-mails in the inbox.

The service enables users to compose, reply and forward e-mails from the handset using the SMS option.

The service best suits those who do not have email ids and with those who do not have internet connection on mobile. A subscriber’s mobile number by default becomes an email id. For eg:9821XXXXXX@loopmail.in. User can also setup his existing personal mail to forward a copy to all mails to the loopmail id users can also configure his loop mail to use existing email id while sending a mail.

To activate this mail service, a subscriber needs to send a message LMAIL to 50303. Loop Mail works on all handsets. The service is FREE for one year.

The service is similar to BSNLs Blackmail service which the PSU operator launched about a year ago.

Loop mobile has also launched Loop mobile video service which enables users to download multiple genre videos. The genre includes entertainment to current affairs and from sports to technology.
The service is available for both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. Users will not be charged any rental. Video content is free, however download will charged at 10p/video. Subscribers need to send an SMS as VIDEOS to 50800 toll free or visit WAP URL https://atcafe.loopmobile.in.

Commenting on the product launch, Surya Mahadevan, chief operating officer (COO), Loop Mobile said that, “We like to innovate and offer services that actually bring value to a customer’s life using the mobile phone. The launch of Loop mail and videos reflect cost effective, innovative and convenient VAS products for our more than 3 million subscribers across Mumbai.”