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Microsoft launches ‘Project Shutter’ for photographers
MUMBAI: Microsoft MSN India users can now judge winning entries for the ‘Love My City‘ photo contest. The photos inspired from Asia are submitted by photographers across Asia and available at www.projectshutter.com. The number of user votes tabulated by the number of e-cards of each photo sent will help decide which contestants will win prizes sponsored by HP and Microsoft. The voting period begins today and ends on 29 July. ‘Project shutter‘ aims to be an online platform for photo enthusiasts to share and showcase their creative talents online. To enter the competition, participants were required to capture and submit up to three unique photos that best depict the spirit of their home city in any of the three categories: food, culture and architecture. The entries can be viewed at www.projectshutter.com. A community for Project Shutter Community has also been created on Windows Live Spaces (projectshutter.spaces.live.com). The forum is meant to enable users to connect with photographers from across the region, show the world their recent work or simply express their views and opinions of the photos uploaded to the community. Winners of the contest will receive an HP Pavilion Notebook PC with Windows Vista Ultimate or an HP Photosmart Printer.
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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.
