Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Games24x7.com - 3 Lakh in Cash Prizes, 15K LIVE Tournaments, 1 Lakh Seats

Games24x7.com, India's 1st Online Tournaments Portal 
has hosted over 15,000 LIVE Tournaments with over 1,00,000 Seats for players and given out over Rs. 3 Lakh in Cash prizes!

Online Games industry is so hot amidst recession and job lay-offs that daily over 1 Lakh online users visit Indian online games portals like Games24x7.com, Zapak.com, Games2win.com, Kreeda.com, Ace2three.com and more. On the online games front, recently India has seen various companies running championships and tournaments, however, only Games24x7.com has India's 1st and the most unique knock out tournament format where they host LIVE tournaments everyday and give out daily cash prizes.

In the recent past thousands of players across India have joined Games24x7.com and players have started playing their favourite games of online chess and online rummy non-stop. It's so exciting to play on Games24x7.com because there are limited seats and real cash prizes as give aways. The best part is the knock out tournaments format which gives the feeling of playing next to each other, like people play social community games.

The uniqueness lies of Games24x7.com lies in the knockout tournament format which is identical to the skill-based competitions like Wimbledon, T-20 Cricket and French open tennis tournaments. Winners in one round move to the next round and so on till a final winner emerges. This allows players to match wits at multiple skill levels in fast paced competitions where winners earn actual cash prizes. Games focus less on manual dexterity and more on mental challenge, while at the same time requiring quick reaction and decision making.  

I recently came across this article where Zapak Corporate Gaming Championship was held and over 4500 corporates and 50 organizations participated. The final participants included executives from Mindshare, Convergys, Hotel Le Meridian, Hotel Grand Hyatt, ICICI Prudential, NIIT, WNS Global Services, Group M, Aricent Technologies, Indigene Lifesystems, Cambridge Solutions, Mindtree, Hotel Royal Orchid Orchidaceae , Sparsh, Taj Wellingdon and Mindshare, across cities. It was full of fun and excitement and people took a deserving break from the mundance work routine and this also strengthened the social fiber of corporate bonding amongst employees.

The only dampner was was that people won some Holiday packages, Shirts, Flash Drives, Game CDs and Game Packs...un-fortunately no one still knows what to do with those packages and prizes. Also, why should you be given some gift and all if you can get real cash prizes and decide what you want to do with that cash. May be you want to Travel and you got a stupid flash drive, what on earth are you going to do with it? Another thing to look at is, you spent so much of your valuable time and what did it result in, some coupons and vouchers??? 

India's 1st Online Tournaments Portal, Games24x7.com offers real cash prizes for daily online tournaments in fast paced games like Online Chess Tournaments and Online Rummy Tournaments with monthly Cash prizes over Rs. 1 Lakh! I was super impressed by the way they have been hosting daily tournaments and the tournaments are joined by people all across India. They have done a fantastic job in reviving the social fibre of community games in a multiplayer knock out tournament format.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Win Real-Cash Prizes up to Rs. 1 Lakh only at India's 1st Online Tournaments portal

The online games space is set to see more fun and excitement with www.Games24x7.com announcing the New Trump Tournaments in rummy and chess. These tournaments will have real cash prizes up to Rs. 1 Lakh. This is happening for the 1st time in India!

Expanding its tournament offerings, www.Games24x7.com today announced the all NEW Trump Tournaments series 24x7. Games24x7.com offers fast paced competitive games like Online Chess and 13 Card Online Rummy.

“Keeping in mind the company’s philosophy to offer online tournaments 24x7, we have launched the New Trump Tournaments. Now players can log on to Games24x7.com at any time and play their favourite game of Chess or Rummy in a fast paced tournament format. There is up to Rs.1,00,000 to be won in cash prizes every month at Games24x7.com. As an introductory time offer all players can Play Free Online Games and win cash prizes on Games24x7.com.” said Mr. Sachin Uppal, the Marketing Director of Games24x7.com.

“Looking at the success of our existing Jhatpat Tournaments, we will continue to run them and they will be our key customer building strategy. This success has also given us the confidence to expand our tournament offerings for existing players and to provide them a platform 24x7 where they can enjoy their games whenever they want.” continued Mr. Sachin Uppal.

“I am very excited with the expansion of our real-cash prize tournaments. The launch of New Trump Tournaments is going to help us provide our customers with their favourite online games of rummy and chess 24x7. This will help us enhance relations with our existing customers, while building new relations.” said Mr. Bhavin Pandya, MD, Games24x7.com.

“Games24x7.com looks forward to change the way Online Games are played in India and we are proud to be the 1st Indian Online tournaments portal.” concluded Mr. Bhavin Pandya.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Reliance, TATA, Airtel Retarding Broadband Internet growth in India?

Are the three BIGGEST Telecom giants in India who are blinded by their short term company revenues are the real perpetrators of retarding the Growth of Broadband Internet in India?


Premise: Reliance Communication, Bharti Airtel and Tata Indicom all three are offering their wireless datacards for laptops and PCs. These datacards offer various connectivity speeds. However, it's very apparent that the bad wireless infrastructures, poor dataspeeds and over all un-satisfactory customer service is retarding and shooing away the customers from Internet. People get a very poor user experience and the overall confidence in the online media as the main stream media gets distorted completely. Day-by-day poor online experiences just adds to the frustation of new and existing users and end up making people anti-online. What could become as one of the biggest strength of India in uniting and bringing education and more jobs to the country may just go down the drain if appropriate steps are not taken.

A country like India where people plan months ago to buy their next gadget and save money meticulously and buy their dream gadget get fooled by buying such stupid datacards for better Internet connectivity.

The Proof: The Internet by its own nature of bringing the Voice of each customer to one common platform shows the PROOF of pathetic service, speed and connectivity issues which came along with these Wireless Data Cards from Reliance, Airtel and Tata Indicom.

Mouthshut.com an Online user generated content company which provides a platform to Indian users to post their personal experiences in terms of product reviews is just filled with BAD reviews about all these three service providers.

Reviews on Reliance Wireless Data Cards
Reviews on TATA Indicom Wireless Data Cards and USB Modems
Reviews on Bharti Airtel Wireless Data Cards and USB Modems

If this isin't proof enough, do a simple google search and over 50,000 review related search results will show up...mostly people crying out loud at the bad service or drivers or connectivity and bad user experiences.

Strategic Flaw or The Time is not right?
Well a lot of top honchos sitting in those top management plush seats would want to argue that this is not a strategic fault and they do offer Broadband Internet services but people are not ready to take those services up. Well obviously if you produce those stupid Datacards in BULK and push them through a marketing plan, people are bound to get driven. However, it's a SHORT term retarding growth strategy for overall Internet Adoption Strategy for the country. In a way the Datacards and USB modems etc are detrimental to the growth of the Internet adoption and widespread in India. And the best part is both Broadband and datacards are coming from the same Telecom company (Irony Simplified)!

When over 4 Millions users have adopted broadband internet (refer to TRAI report, July-08) there are very few reasons why others wouldn't want to adopt it. The reason (primarily) is high bandwidth cost and lesser education and awareness. Well if you have to shell out Rs 999 per month to get a decent broadband connectivity per month, obviously you are discouraging people from adopting Internet. When Mobile recharges come in small pre-paid values, why don't we allow the users to have low cost flexibility for a LONG Term Internet penetration and growth in country.

Conclusion: The short term revenues of organizations which are blinding them for providing poor infrastructure and bad connectivity should be overcome quickly. The Broadband Internet services should be provided at cheaper rates fueling the Internet demand in India. Improvement of Wireless Broadband, Cost reduction and better infastructure can really contribute to the fast paced growth. Public Private Partnership based Awareness and Education sessions to masses about the benefits of internet should be conducted to help promote the Internet growth in India.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Online Games Are Recession Proof

Here is an interesting article from Christopher Cummings of Dailygame.net

All year long, journalists, bloggers and various analystsYes! No! Maybe! have wondered, "Are games recession-proof?" The consensus seems to be:

DFC analyst David Cole puts it best, noting that the fizzling economy doesn't appear to be affecting game software sales. "Consumer spending on software is at record levels," he says, "and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession, because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment."

If you go back to the Depression, obviously times were tough -- even tougher than they are today -- but people still needed to be entertained. They needed to escape their everyday lives and forget their problems. So what did they do? They went to the movies, read books, listened to the radio, played card and board games. They did everything we do today, and they had to do it cheaply, because money was in short supply.

Know something that's not in short supply? Computers. I know, I know, you probably don't even consider the PC a viable game platform since everyone knows the PC as a gaming platform is dead. Except, it's really not -- and that could be gaming's great salvation during these tough economic times.

The PC Gaming Alliance estimates there are 263 million online PC gamers. And according to DFC's new Online Game Market Forecasts report, PC online game revenue alone passed $7 billion in 2007, not including retail sales. Total PC game revenue is expected to reach $19 billion by 2013. Those are impressive figures for a "dead" gaming platform, and they add an exciting wrinkle to the question of games being recession-proof.

As times toughen economically, will consumers continue to shell out $30 to $60 for a console game? Will they back off the higher-priced games in favor of budget-oriented Wii titles? Or will they fire up the PC to play free casual games online?

Of course, there's a very real danger that shrinking consumer spending will affect advertising buys, which will negatively impact the free casual games market, which is largely ad-supported. However, while ad spending may slide in TV and the offline world, analysts predict inexpensive media types, such as the Internet, will weather this economic downturn relatively well. So maybe free online games aren't such a bad place to be, for consumers or for game developers/publishers.

My money, as always, is on online bingo. If you have a few minutes to kill, why wouldn't you go online, play a free game that you know with people you like, and try to win a few bucks? As gas prices rocket up and down, and the stock market sits and spins, family night with Dickie the Bingo Caller looks better and better.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Games24x7.com launches New Jhatpat Online Tournaments for Real Cash prizes!

Exciting new Indian online games group www.games24x7.com has announced the launch of its New Jhatpat Tournaments in Online Rummy and Online Chess. Though fairly innovative online gaming models have made their way into the Indian market in recent times, there is none yet to match the latest entrant www.games24x7.com.

www.games24x7.com offers exciting fun filled skill based competitive gaming. They have added two very unique dimensions to the space of competitive gaming. First, all their games are played in a knock-out tournament format adding a level of excitement to online games not yet seen in the Indian space. Even more significantly, they are the first and only online games site to offer and payout real cash prizes to their tournament winners.

Recently they launched an online real cash tournament campaign called Jhatpat Tournaments. These tournaments were launched with a Jhatpat Tournament funny teaser Video, 1 the day before and received an over whelming response.

Details about JHATPAT Tournaments – With these tournaments, www.games24x7.com have launched what can only be summarized as a “cash prizes to all” campaign. Jhatpat tournaments are fun and fast-paced competitions with real cash prizes paid out and No Entry Fee! Tournaments are offered on a daily basis at pre-fixed times with registration for these tournaments often closing in seconds. There are over 100 Jhatpat Tournaments a month with up to Rs. 30000 in cash prizes offered every week.

At www.games24x7.com, in addition to cash prizes in the daily free online rummy tournaments and free online chess tournaments, top players qualify for the weekend MEGA Tournament with Rs 10000/- in cash prizes. In sum, over Rs. 1.5 Lakhs is being given out in cash prizes in the Jhatpat tournaments and the best part is there are no entry fees! Keep on competing! Keep on Winning real cash prizes!1 m

- End -

Games24x7.com is an Indian online games start-up, founded by a group of entrepreneurs from IIT and IIM backgrounds, who have seen both eastern and western cultures are bringing the competitive spirit to win cash prizes in local Indian games to the masses. Games24x7.com is India’s first and only online games company to run daily skill based competitive tournaments with real cash prizes in online rummy and online chess.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Why India is stiill a Developing Nation?

Modern twist to an old tale

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Indian Version:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
-Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
-Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
-Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
-Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
-The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .
-Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
-CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
-Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
-Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
-Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.
Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.
CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '
Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley, 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.
AND.... As a result of losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,
India is still a developing country!!!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

List of Winners for ICA Chess Championship 2008

List of Winners for ICA Chess Championship 2008 organized by www.games24x7.com and Innovator's Chess Academy.



ICA Open Chess Championship Winners

1st Place Rahul Shandilya (5.5 pts)

2nd Place K.V.Sripad (5.5 pts)

3rd Place R.Nagesh (5 pts)

4th Place Prachura P.P (5 pts)

5th Place Vinod V (5.5 pts)

ICA Under 7 Chess Championship (Boys) Winners

1st Place: Vasishta (7 pts)

2nd Place: Avinash Raj (6 pts)

3rd Place: J Ashwin (5.5 pts)

4th Place: Prajwal Shet (5 pts)

ICA Under 7 Chess Championship (Girls) Winners

1st Place: Ojasi Gopikrishna (4 pts)

2nd Place: Sai Bhavana (3 pts)

3rd Place: Tanisha Dighe (2 pts)

4th Place: Smrithi Suresh (2 pts)

5th Place: Pritha Jaipal (2 pts)

ICA Under 9 Chess Championship (Boys) Winners

1st Place: L.S.Prabhanjan (6 pts)

2nd Place: Dushyanth Raju (5 pts)

3rd Place: Sanjeev (5 pts)

4th Place: T.Vikas (5 pts)

5th Place: Sachin Jajoo (5 pts)

ICA Under 9 Chess Championship (Girls) Winners

1st Place: Prannita (6 pts)

2nd Place: Sharanya (5 pts)

3rd Place: Hanan Rouf (5 pts)

4th Place: H.K.Aditi (4.5 pts)

5th Place: Srishti Moorthy (4 pts)

ICA Under 11 Chess Championship (Boys) Winners

1st Place: Arjun Govind (6 pts)

2nd Place: L Manas (5.5 pts)

3rd Place: Vijeth T.A.(5 pts)

4th Place: Chirag Ramesh (5 pts)

5th Place: R Parthasarathy (5 pts)

ICA Under 11 Chess Championship (Girls) Winners

1st Place: T C Meghana (4 pts)

2nd Place: V Srilakshmi (3 pts)

3rd Place: Priyanka Bharadwaj (3 pts)

4th Place: Namratha G.M. (3 pts)

5th Place: Amrita Narayan (2.5 pts)

ICA Under 13 Chess Championship Winners

1st Place: Sudhanshu Nath Mishra (5.5 pts)

2nd Place: Goutham S (5 pts)

3rd Place: Srikanth S (5 pts)

4th Place: V Uttej (5 pts)

5th Place: Sindhu Shekar (4.5 pts), Girls 1st Place

ICA Under 15 Chess Championship Winners

1st Place: Augustine (4 pts)

2nd Place: K.S.Harikrishna (3 pts)

3rd Place: B S Swarnesh Rao (3 pts)

4th Place: Pallavi Bharadwaj (3 pts), Girls 1st Place

5th Place: Amrita Suresh (2.5 pts), Girls 2nd Place

ICA and Games24x7.com successfully host 4th Annual Chess Championship 2008 in Bangalore

2nd October 2008, Bangalore: Mr. Sushruta Reddy, National Arbiter and Secretary, Innovators Chess Academy (ICA) in association with Games24x7.com hosted the 4th Annual ICA Rapid Chess Championship 2008 and the 3rd Innovators Chess Academy Inter-School Chess Championship on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti in Bangalore.

The ICA Championship 2008 saw a massive response with nearly 350 players participating from the south of India including Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore and neighbouring cities. There was an active participation from young, up-coming champions of chess and their parents in various age categories. The open chess tournament saw a very strong response with the veterans and cream of the top talent participating.

Mr. Sushruta Reddy who is the ex. Jt. Secretary of United Karnataka Chess Association and a chess coach and founder of the Innovators Chess Academy has been a very active arbiter and a strong proponent of promoting the skill based game of chess and taking it to the masses. In recent times, people have shown active interest in participating in a completely new online blitz chess tournament model where people can play online tournaments for cash prizes and the game of chess is now spreading to the masses.

www.games24x7.com was the official sponsor for the ICA Championship 2008 where Mr. Reddy himself is an active player. Mr. Bhavin Pandya, co-founder and managing director of Games24x7.com said, “We have an active association with Mr. Sushruta Reddy right from the starting days of Games24x7.com and he has been an active player and a strong contributor to the development of the chess game on our website. We offer online chess and rummy tournaments catering to the local needs of Indian gaming enthusiast. When Mr. Reddy approached us with the opportunity for being part of ICA Championship, we were very enthusiastic and immediately confirmed our support in his noble initiative to expand chess tournaments in the southern part of India."

Rahul Shandilya won the ICA Open Chess Championship 2008 when he defeated R Nagesh in the final round. Although Rahul tied with K.V.Sripad for the first place with 5.5 points apiece, the former finished ahead due to a higher tie breaker score.

The detailed list of winners of the ICA chess championships 2008 can be seen here.

About Games24x7.com – Games24x7.com is an Indian online games start-up founded by a group of entrepreneurs from IIT and IIM who have seen both eastern and western cultures and wish to bring the spirit of local Indian games to the masses. Games24x7.com is India’s first online games company to run skill based competitive daily tournaments with real cash prizes in rummy and chess.

About Innovator’s Chess Academy – Innovator’s Chess Academy (ICA) is one of the premier and most Active Chess Organizations in Bangalore. The Academy has organized nearly 50 Chess Tournaments since early 2005 besides providing Coaching to children in various parts of the City. The Academy also enjoys strong support from the United Karnataka Chess Association (UKCA). ICA founded by Mr. Sushruta Reddy, and supported by Vice Presidents, Mr. Durgesh and Mr. Karthik Shetty has now branched to Muscat and Oman.

For any further information please contact:
Sachin Uppal, Marketing Director,
Play Games24x7 Pvt.Ltd.
Mumbai, Maharashtra


Sushruta Reddy
National Arbiter and Secretary,
Innovators Chess Academy
Bangalore, Karnataka

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Shafqat Amanat Ali Debuts with Album TABEER in India

Tabeer Launch Party - Tabeer, Shafqat Amanat Ali’s Debut Album in India

ITC Grand Central, Ball Room, Mumbai, India 20th September 2008 evening 7.30 PM – 11.00 PM

Shafqat Amanat Ali, the former lead vocalist of a Pakistani pop band known as "Fuzon" today released his first solo album TABEER with a big bang and huge media presence in India. Strongly supported by Mr. Mahesh Bhatt and under the flagship of Music Today (part of India Today Group) launched this album. The launch party was a fun-fan-fair at the Grand ball Room of the ITC Grand Central in Parel, Mumbai.

The room was jam packed with fans standing all around the ball room mesmerized by the scintillating performance by Shafqat. In a very friendly approach Shafqat interacted with audience well and kept moving all around the room and involved the audience by asking them to sing with him and even to the extent that he brought couple of people on stage to sing.

JK Tyres, India Today, Antiquity, Rajshri.com were some of the key sponsors of the event. Interestingly the rajshri.com which was the digital partner is also promoting this event heavily through Tabeer contests on their website and facebook campaigns. Much credit goes to Roli Chaturvedi the Marketing and PR head for Rajshri.com.

Shafqat belongs to the Patiala gharana of classical music. The gharana is famous for its concentration on intricate taan-patterns and sargams. With his family, he has been part of the Pakistani classical musical tradition for eight generations.

Shafqat Amanat Ali – the Rockstar Ustad (A term coined by Bollywood music director Salim Merchant who couldn't be present at the launch function) promises to be the biggest singing sensation to hit the subcontinent in recent times. He is highly respected among music circles due to his classically trained voice and his command over modern music as well. While he is one of the best current singers in Pakistan, Shafqat is also highly respected in India after performing the vocals for the song Mitwa from the Indian film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. Interestingly this song was performed live in front of the audience on a special request by a female fan from the audience and the entire crowd just swayed on the tunes of their favourite song. The songs were well received by the audience as well as the critics. He was also the voice behind the critically acclaimed song Yeh Honsla from the Indian film Dor. The songs - "Mora Saiyan" and "Tere Bina" are also featured in Nagesh Kukunoor's Hyderabad Blues 2.


The music is a beautiful mix of classical vocals with music that fuses classical influences with modern instrumentation. yes there's electric guitar riffs, but there are also layers of classical percussions and winds.


You can DOWNLOAD Shafqat Ammanat Ali’s Tabeer the entire album here from a torrent file or you can listen to the entire album online below:-

01. Khairheyan De Naal – Play Now
02. Naina
03. Dum Ali Ali Dum
04. Rang Le
05. Bulleh Shah
06. Pagalpan
07. Rohi
08. Kartar (Darbari)
09. Manqabat (Ya Ali)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Play Online Rummy or Chess - JHATPAT Tournaments - Day 1

32 Seats gone in 2 Seconds

The magic of Jhatpat Tournaments has just started and the day one saw a blazing response with just 2 seconds to fill up all the 32 seats!

Indian online gaming space has never been the same. With www.games24x7.com launching the JHATPAT Tournaments which are the real cash tournaments to Play Online Rummy and Online Chess in a skill based competitive gaming setup people have started rushing to grab a seat in the tournaments. WATCH VIDEO...

With people getting excited about the tournaments and where they want to compete and win cash prizes there is a lot of buzz all around now!

Every one is asking me these days.... What are the Jhatpat Tournaments?

Well JHATPAT tournaments are the real cash fast paced tournaments where people play skill based games like Speed Chess and Rummy and Real Cash prizes.

Below is the detailed tournament scheduler and prize money to be won in a week!


0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Tournament Scheduler

Chess

Day

Registration Start Time

Start Time

Players

Tournament Type

Prize Money

Tuesday

8:00 PM

8:30PM

8

Qualifier

800

Tuesday

9:00 PM

9:30PM

8

Qualifier

800







Rummy

Day

Registration Start Time

Start Time

Players

Tournament Type

Prize Money

Tuesday

8:30 PM

9:00PM

8

Qualifier

800

Tuesday

9:30 PM

10:00PM

8

Qualifier

800


MEGA Tournaments

Day

Registration Start Time

Start Time

Players

Tournament Type

Prize Money

Sunday

12:00 Noon

1:00PM

16

Mega

10,000

Sunday

3:00 PM

4:00PM

16

Mega

10,000



Log on now ... www.games24x7.com

Games24x7.com launches free Jhatpat Tournaments – Play Online Rummy and Online Chess Tournaments for cash prizes!

Games24x7.com launches free Jhatpat Tournaments – Play Online Rummy and Online Chess Tournaments for real cash prizes

Exciting new Indian online games group www.games24x7.com has announced the launch of its Jhatpat Tournaments (15th September – 15th October) in Online Rummy and Online Chess. The burgeoning popularity of the online gaming market in India is being reflected by the intense activity in the start-up space and the latest entrant is www.games24x7.com.

www.games24x7.com presents a unique skill based competitive gaming model. They have added two very unique dimensions to the space of competitive gaming. First, all their games are played in a knock-out tournament format adding a level of excitement to online games not yet seen in the Indian space. Even more significantly, they are the first and only online games site to offer and payout real cash prizes to their tournament winners.

Recently they launched an online real cash tournament campaign called Jhatpat Tournaments. These tournaments were launched with a JhatPat Tournament funny teaser Video 1 the day before and received over 10,000 hits the same day.

Details about JHATPAT Tournaments – With these tournaments, www.games24x7.com have launched what can only be summarized as a “cash prizes to all” campaign. Jhatpat tournaments are fun and fast-paced competitions with real cash prizes paid out and No Entry Fee! Tournaments are offered on a daily basis at pre-fixed times with registration for these tournaments often closing in seconds. There are over 100 Jhatpat Tournaments a month with Rs. 40000 in cash prizes offered every week.

At www.games24x7.com, in addition to cash prizes in the daily free online rummy tournaments and free online chess tournaments, top players qualify for the weekend MEGA Tournament with Rs 20000/- in cash prizes.

In sum, over Rs. 1.5 Lakhs is being given out in cash prizes in the 1 month long Jhatpat tournaments and the best part is there are no entry fees! So players can have fun, compete, and make real money every day by just playing online rummy tournaments and online chess tournaments, and the winners receive their prizes in cash!

Keep Winning!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Update 1 - Is Google angry with Facebook?

Facebook Applications crash on Google Chrome. Is this just a Google Chrome Beta nuance or a dirty tactic of google? Well many Facebook applications are apparently not working on Google chrome and facebook users who would wish to try and use chorome are getting annoyed. 

This has left me wondering if Google Chrome left these issues unhandled in the BETA launch deliberately? Some time back Facebook with it's popularity and a strong product as well as a high performing team attracted  many people from Google. Even though no one could do anything about it but does that mean google played dirty this time?

After the BETA launch yesterday over 100,000 users have downloaded the Google chrome and people have started testing various website compatibilty on Google Chrome. However, many websites are facing issues with Applet loading, pages being skewed, security settings not customizable etc.

Well few simple examples: 
Auto cleanup of the browsing data feature when the window is closed is not there.
Popup enable feature is not there.
Favourtites folder is not there. 

Yes may be Dynamic Bookmarks is the next level of browsing but can we customize our browser or do we have to go by Google's Verdict?

Well, Google Chrome is here to WOW the users and I am sure they are listening....

WOW Google Chrome - Why don't Google Make Operating System?

WOW Google Chrome - Wonderful | Ossum | Wooing

When Google gets down to making Internet Experience better there is nothing which compares to their expertise in making MOST user friendly applications. One of the biggest steps after capturing the majority search engine space, yesterday Google launched it's WOW browser - Google Chrome. The way their marketing team built an entire Google Chrome storybook of How the entire Google Chrome browser came into existence is Ossum. The FRESH Technological approach adopted in Google Chrome has brought out some Wonderful features.

Google's official blog reported on 1st September about the launch of the Google Chrome story book and other details about the browser and now Google Chrome is available for download.

Right now in it's BETA stage, tweaking features is mostly restricted. Very few tweaks are available to users till now. Also, auto clear-up of private data once you exit from browser is not available. There is an interesting feature of Incognito Browsing which ensures that webpages that you open and files you downloaded won't be logged in your browsing and download histories; all new cookies are deleted after you close the incognito window.

Search while you type URLs - Google brought it's search prowess to google chrome by providing you the feature of showing popular site results and other historical data from your search tracks while you type a url.

Application Shortcuts, Dynamic Tabs, Favourite web pages in quick launch, Crash Control and Safe Browsing are some additional features added and surely they will WOO the new and existing users of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.

Technically one of the biggest advancements is Handling each Tab as an individual process/thread which helps you in case one of the process is non responsive. Sandboxing and Crash control really ensures smooth working of the browser application. 

One thing which I monitored was that the CPU usage and Physical memory usage was a little higher than firefox / IE while running multiple tabs in Chorme as the number of Application is ONE but the number of processes were equal to the number of tabs so more load on the processor and memory.

Let's see if the full version of Google Chrome really WOWs the audience or not....And well this also makes me Wondering, WHY Don't GOOGLE make an Operating System?

Friday, August 29, 2008

I have moved on...

I know, it's been long since I wrote and there are lot of things which have happened in the last month. Its been over an year I joined naseba in 2007. I joined naseba as the marketing manager and kept growing. I Became the Sr. marketing manager in a months time (much credit to my ex-colleague Zafar Siddiqui who left naseba quickly and now works with Honeywell in Dubai) and moved on to become the marketing director within 4 months of joining. While at naseba I showed some good results (oh BTW marketing metrics is BS @ naseba)... I am talking about revenue here...And now I have moved on from naseba.

At naseba, my job was to setup a marketing department. Setting up a marketing department can be a daunting task, especially when you are in a company which survives and earns its bread and butter only through sales (sales people who are hard-wired to sell to a the CXO level audience), it's a strenuous job. Phew! Your a$$ is on fire most of the time but then it makes you a seasoned salesman and I guess you can crack any sales interview or negotiation anywhere across the globe (or this is what everyone thinks). And yes, I was supposed to set up a marketing machine which generates quality leads for the sales guys to close and generate continuous revenue.


Well this brings me to a point on - How to sell to CXO level audience? Which I will discuss sometime else but now coming back to the topic, I have moved on....

In the last yr, I believe I have learnt a lot...
  • How to establish a Marketing Machine
  • Getting to work with Multiple Cultures
  • Getting Management Buy-in
  • How to influence people and get things done (making it happen)
  • Email and Online media - the new marketing mix
  • How to manage people (especially when they are older than you)
  • How to build relationships and how to break them
  • Grass is NOT greener on the other side
  • Consistency is a choice

Well, the one thing in my life which is constant is my Passion and Consistent Love for marketing. Many people are of the opinion that my passion for marketing is insane but I feel that's the depth of my passion which keeps me awake and kicking day and night.

I was your regular guy out of the school who thought he is one day going to be a big time engineer in some power plant as this is what was told to him at that point in his life. You can blame the Indian education system and partly the protective nature of parents in India for drilling these engineering/medical dreams in children. Till the time the children reach their graduate school, they have not made any choice of what they want to become in their life. It's all driven by someone else's wish. This simple guy who passed out of college after doing his graduation in Engineering, realized during the course of 4 year's that he is made for something else. Off-course, realizing what you want to achieve is one thing and realizing what you can achieve with what you are good at is completely another ball game.

But the self realization of your skills is something which takes you a long way. Not only do you get a clear focus in life but, you aslo get to learn and work towards your goal faster and in a more focussed way. It brings a purpose to life and helps you strive harder to achieve success. Who would have thought a small time software engineer from Wipro Technologies would aim to become a techno-marketing guru and would actually keep getting closer to it in this much time.

Now, I have moved on from naseba and joined a small start-up in the suburbs of Mumbai. It's called www.games24x7.com . Yes, as the name suggests it's a online gaming company. It's a humble start-up with a simple goal - of providing a platform to play online, Games like Chess, Rummy etc.

A new start, a new effort, a new business! Wish me luck.

Monday, August 04, 2008

SEC on Blogging - It's a Open Blogger's World - CEOs Blog More!


According to BNET, the new SC regulations on Blogging clears it all up for corporate bloggers. Let’s say you’re the CEO of a company. A competitor or disgruntled ex-employee posts nasty and inaccurate information on a blog that your company website operates. Are you under any regulatory obligation to correct it?

No, you are not. At least that’s what the staff of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission said it is recommending today in a draft of new rules designed to encourage more corporate use of websites to disclose required information.

What’s more, the new rules could do much to clear up confusion over meeting the Full Disclosure (FD) rules of the SEC regarding Internet use.

At an SEC meeting today where the rules won a 4-0 vote to go to the next level, new measures were explained that could allow companies to use their websites and blogs to meet requirements under the FD rules. Under certain conditions, such electronic media can be the sole means of disclosure.

A few other measures in the proposal:

* The information on the blog or company Web page does not have to be in “a format comparable to paper-based information” unless the SEC explicitly requires it.
* Hyperlinks to other sites can be used provided that the company explain their relevance.
* Information disclosed on the Web is not generally subject to under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (of course, the company must still follow SOX for other forms of financial disclosure and attestation.).
* Companies are responsible for what they put out on their Web pages or blogs but are under no obligation to correct inaccurate or misleading information that outsiders post.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox says he sees the new Web-based rules as a way to make for more efficient and more creative ways to inform potential investors about a firm. Cox argues that using the Web can cut disclosure costs for companies while improving their communication with shareholders.

Indeed, some tech-oriented CEOs, such as Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems, have complained that they want to communicate with investors and customers on blogs but feel they have to undergo tedious consultations with their lawyers because SEC guidance is so unclear.

Maybe this new round of rules will clear up those concerns. For more info, check a story by IrWebreport and an SEC statement. Full issuance of the rules may occur in about six months.

Categories: Technology, Regulation

Tags: Web, SEC, Blog, Rule, Blogging, Channel Management, Internet, Marketing, Peter Galuszka

Friday, August 01, 2008

Chetan Bhagat - Spark Keep it Shining Speech! - What about the ACTION?

Summary: I liked the speech given by Chetan and they way he showed the 4 thunderstorms of disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation trying to thwart you. What I couldn't notice in his speech was the Umbrella or the Rain Coat to save yourself from these thunderstroms: THE ACTION

"Sincere ACTION is the Umbrella that can help you brave the thunderstrom!"

-Sachin Uppal, 1st August 2008

I was reading Chetan Bhagat's speech at the inaugural function of Symbiosis College in Pune, India. He spoke about a simple concept that keeps people kicking and striving to reach higher success. He likes calling it Spark, and urges to keep that Spark Shining. It is nothing but your will power and your passion to achieve something more in life and your continuous drive to reach it. 

Download the complete Speech in a PDF format along with comments here.

In my life I have learnt that this spark comes to you if you are passionate about something and that passion is driven from your goals. If you set your goals (short term and long term) you always have a direction and you can measure and strive harder to achieve the same. Some time back I wrote about Goal Setting and how it's important to achieve and bring a direction to your life.

When I look around I see a lot of talented people and see a lot of them with new ideas but what I fail to see is people taking action to fulfill their dreams. Having a long term and short term goal helps you get focused in your life and you can actually achieve what you have set out to achieve in your dream.

I liked the speech given by Chetan and they way he showed the 4 thunderstorms of disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation trying to thwart you. However, while saying that don't take life too seriously, instead sincerely, what he missed out was a BIG point: ACTION

What differentiates people from being Great and not good, is ACTION. Having dreams, living life sincerely and keeping yourself focused towards your goals need ACTION. Not taking life seriously shouldn't make you complacent and shouldn't make you lack in Action. Action comes to you from your passion. There are thousands of people out there who like to talk about doing something great, but how many take action to achieve it? These days with the competition increasing at such a fast pace, you are going to face one or more of these 4 thunderstorms.

Have you ever thought what's going to differentiate you? 

To SUM it up in a sentence:

"Sincere ACTION is the Umbrella that can help you brave the thunderstroms!"

For many people reading this the obvious question would be - How do you do that?

- Set up your goals.
- Be realistic or upgrade your self.
- Believe in yourself.
- Follow some dicipline.
- Breakdown your goals in small milestones.
- Congratulate yourself on achieving milestones. (get yourself a pair of new shoes, a tie, a watch, a perfume or whatever you think you like)
- Bring your passion to everything that you DO.
- Let your passion Permeate  amongst the people around you.
- Show the world that you are not just about the Talk, but you prove it with your small Actions.
- Small steps go a long way to achieve a goal.
- Influence people in believing your goals.
- Ask for help (don't feel ashamed).
- Give help - It's a 2-way road.
- Follow- Ethics and Integrity.
- LIVE your dream and don't give up. Even at a failure learn and stand up again and give your "passionate best shot".

Enough of talking. Let's DO!

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