Applications
Nokia launches mobile Antakshari with RockeTalk & Maxus India
MUMBAI: Mobile handset manufacturer Nokia has partnered with RockeTalk, a mobile social networking application, and Maxus India to launch an audio game show – Nokia mobile Antakshari.
Nokia Antakshari show comes from the near life-like Antakshari experience where people can sing and answer musical questions from all over the country. Additionally, the mobile users would be playing for daily prizes, for a chance to be one of the shortlisted players to play and perform in the Gala round to an audience of more than 8.6 million users, the company said.
Nokia India director- marketing Viral Oza said, “Nokia has been synonymous with digital music in this country. We have pioneered many initiatives in this space starting with pre-installed music, launch of music albums on mobile phones, Nokia Music Unlimited and now Mix Radio for our Lumia smartphones. Mobile Antakshari is an interesting concept and provided us with the perfect fit to connect consumers with Nokia Asha smart phones. Nokia Mobile Antakshari will enable millions of music lovers across the country to engage with their favorite game.”
RockeTalk chief marketing officer Sameer Agarwal added, “These days when most social platforms are offering nothing significantly more than banners, likes and posts, RockeTalk differentiates itself by creating customised engagement solutions, branded social programming and multimedia activities. The Nokia Mobile Antakshari is just one such example – albeit something we believe will be a trendsetter. We are proving that for brands, now is the time to measure social engagement with new matrices.”
The application is supported on most phones that are GPRS enabled – both Nokia feature phones and Nokia smart phones included.
Maxus India national director – digital Unny Radhakrishnan said, “At a time when digital marketing is growing more aggressive on ‘social‘ presence of brands, this signals an interesting shift towards ‘social media engagement‘, where Maxus India, Nokia and RockeTalk are breaking new grounds with Nokia Mobile Antakshari.”
The Nokia-Maxus initiative is in line with the new drifts in the digital space. The RockeTalk app not only hosts the show but allows multiple promotional tools from its advertising repertoire to draw in the user, ranging from audio-enabled banners to multimedia broadcasts and free program subscriptions.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
