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Hewlett Packard announces HP Toyrama contest
MUMBAI:Hewlett Packard has announced the HP Toyrama contest, which seeks its inspiration from the HP xw9400 Workstation. This contest puts across a challenge for the digital content creators to develop a rich multimedia stop-motion animation starring five toy characters – Sancho, Farm Girl, Ranger, Jogger and Green from Monsterism Island – designed by the freelance illustrator and cult toy designer, Pete Fowler. All entries will be judged by Fowler, stated an official release. All the interested animator needs to do is craft the most entertaining animation submissions at the HP Toyrama website and four lucky winners stand a chance win an Autodesk Maya software and an opportunity to tour the DreamWorks facility at Los Angeles, USA.The lucky animators also get a chance to display their work on an online Gallery. The HP Toyrama contest has two main categories – the open segment and the professional segment. While the open segments is especially for animation lovers, amateurs and students in the field; the professional segment, as the name suggests is for the more trained lot. Interested digital animators can log on to www.hptoyrama.com and create animated movies keeping in mind the scenarios and backgrounds provided on the website. Completed animated movies can be uploaded for submission on the website. The HP xw9400 Business Workstation includes an AMD Opteron processor, dual-core, dual-processor horsepower for advanced graphics abilities. In addition, the workstation also features an easy-to-maintain tool-less access design and a highly expandable dual-socket chassis. The HP Toyrama contest is open to digital content creators in select India and other select Asia Pacific nations till 9 November 2007.
HP India personal system group commercial products director Nitin Chaudhary stated, “HP workstations technology has been inspiring animators globally for high-quality animated entertainment by providing them with increased capabilities to design and develop digital content. HP Toyrama contest is a first-of-its-kind initiative in partnership with Dreamworks which aims at providing creative professionals the opportunity to bring their imagination to life with workstation computing technology,”
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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.
