MAM
China’s Madhouse comes to India
MUMBAI: China’s mobile marketing company, Madhouse, announced the launch of its India operations on 14 February to capitalise on the demand for customised mobile marketing solutions.
Madhouse currently works closely with over 120 clients like HP, Intel, Coke, KFC, Unilever, VW and agency groups such as GroupM, Aegis, OMG, Vivaki and their associated agencies in China.
Madhouse India aims to leverage the opportunity of using mobile as a mass media device given that there are more than 850 million mobile connections in the country. Current barriers to mobile marketing are dearth of scaled solutions in data, voice and text, harmonizing the different operating systems with multiple stakeholders across mobile inventory and lack of established tools and systems which makes it difficult to answer the question of how this medium can be leveraged by advertisers to reach out to their consumers.
Madhouse India hopes to address this through unique and innovative services. Clients can look forward to mobile solutions across the spectrum of paid, owned and earned media on feature phones, smart phones and tablets.
Madhouse provides service across all operating systems with precise targeting by geography, user demographics and psychographics to ensure minimal media wastage.
Madhouse India chief operating officer Vinod Thadani said at the launch, “Mobile advertising is beginning to transform the way brands communicate with their consumers. Madhouse will offer mobile marketing solutions created and carried out for advertisers by a team of experienced media professionals that understand this medium. On a technical level, mobile advertising can now achieve accurate intelligent targeting and can provide real-time reporting – a very convincing proposition for advertisers. The need of the hour is to unlock the potential and we are determined to change the face of the Indian Digital Media Landscape and grow the mobile media market from 125 to 1000 crores within the next three years.”
Madhouse sees tremendous growth potential in India. Said Madhouse founder and CEO Joshua Maa, “We are fully committed to investing in this market. With the right local partners, we believe that our technology and operational expertise can be leveraged to serve the unique mobile marketing needs of clients. In China, we have been working with partners such as Rovio, EA, China Unicom’s app store, and ad agencies to grow our leadership position. Similarly in India we value our association with WPP to help develop and take leadership in this market as well.”
WPP country manager Ranjan Kapur explained, “Digital Media is evolving and innovating at a very fast pace in India where especially Mobile and handheld devices are poised to play a larger role in marketing communications. Madhouse India will help us build a unique value for our clients where in-depth domain and brand understanding is coupled with the strength of Madhouse technologies. A synergy is also established as our local market expertise and talent pool is well equipped in the Indian marketplace which is similar in complexity to China.”
One of the companies in business with Madhouse is Rovio Entertainment, the makers of the game Angry Birds.
Apple rarely announces minor updates with much fanfare, and iOS 26.4 is no exception. No dramatic redesigns, no flashy keynote moments. What it delivers instead is a focused set of improvements that sharpen the experience you already have. If that sounds underwhelming, spend a week with it. You will change your mind.
Apple Music Learns to Listen Better
The biggest shift in this update lives inside Apple Music. Apple has brought AI-powered playlist generation to the app, and it works on mood rather than genre. Type something like “rainy evening at home” or “running late on a Monday,” and it builds a playlist that actually fits. This is not algorithmic guesswork dressed up in new clothing. It genuinely reads the intent behind vague descriptions and responds well.
Alongside this, a new concerts feature scans your listening history and surfaces live events happening near you. It is a smart bridge between your digital music habits and real-world experiences. Apple is quietly making the case that a music app should do more than just play songs.
Shazam also gets a meaningful upgrade. It can now identify songs without an internet connection. This might sound like a minor convenience, but anyone who has tried to Shazam something at a crowded venue with patchy signal will tell you it is anything but minor. The feature works locally on-device, which also means it is faster.
CarPlay Gets Smarter Controls
CarPlay has been updated with deeper integration for intelligent voice assistants. The goal is to reduce how often drivers need to look at a screen or tap anything at all. You speak, things happen. It is a clear step toward making the driving experience safer without stripping away functionality. The integration feels natural rather than bolted on, which is a harder thing to achieve than it sounds.
The Fixes You Feel Every Day
This is where iOS 26.4 earns its keep. Keyboard responsiveness has been improved, and the difference is noticeable immediately. Typing feels more accurate and less combative. Accessibility features have been refined across the board, with better contrast options and adjusted spacing that makes the interface easier to read without forcing you into larger text sizes.
The Health app has also been updated. It now surfaces more actionable insights from your daily data rather than just displaying numbers. If your sleep patterns have shifted or your activity levels have changed, the app now contextualises that clearly instead of leaving you to interpret raw figures on your own.
These are the kinds of changes that do not photograph well for a press release. They also happen to be the ones that make your phone feel genuinely better to use.
A Few Other Additions
New emojis have been added in this update. They will find their way into your conversations faster than you expect. Family Sharing has also been updated, with more granular control over shared payments and subscriptions. If you share an Apple account with family members, this puts clearer limits on who can spend what, which has been a long-requested fix.
What This Update Actually Represents
iOS 26.4 is Apple doing what it does best when it is not trying to make headlines. Every addition here serves a clear purpose. The AI music features are genuinely useful. The CarPlay improvements address a real safety concern. The small UI fixes accumulate into a noticeably smoother daily experience.
There is no bloat. Nothing feels experimental or half-finished. That discipline is harder to maintain than it looks, especially as operating systems grow more complex with each passing year.
If you have been holding off on updating, this is the one worth installing.
