MAM
Pocket Aces’ Loco upgrades its product offerings
National, 1st April, 2020: Pocket Aces, India’s leading digital media entertainment company, announces a major product update for its gaming app, Loco. Dedicated to democratizing gaming entertainment, Loco will now allow its users to stream on the app, with a specific focus on gaming. This will make Loco one of the earliest entrants in the game streaming space in India.
The games that streamers on the platform are streaming include the likes of PUBG, FreeFire, Call of Duty etc. The platform will continue to offer its hypercasual gaming and interactive trivia, where it has hosted over 2,000 quizzes with multiple branded games.
Commenting on the new version of Loco, Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, Founders, Pocket Aces said, "In 2018, we launched Loco with two daily quiz shows and within a year, we expanded our services to include hyper-casual gaming. Today, users spend over 30 minutes per day on the app. As the next step in fulfilling our commitment towards building a long lasting gaming and esports ecosystem in India, we are now adding game streaming to our platform. This major update empowers gamers to entertain India and display their skills in different popular games, right from the comfort of their homes. In the coming months, we will roll-out an exciting array of new features and original gaming content.”
Loco, in association with Fnatic will exclusively live stream #GamingForGood, a PUBG Mobile charity tournament that will take place from 3rd to 5th April’20 between 3pm-9pm. This is an initiative taken to raise funds and help some of those affected due to the currently ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Top 20 teams from the South Asian PUBG MOBILE circuit will compete for prizes totalling to INR 3.5 lakh, which will be donated to charities that teams pick.
According to FICCI and Ernst & Young's report titled, 'The era of consumer A.R.T', India's online gaming segment grew 40% in 2019 to reach INR 65 billion and is expected to reach INR 187 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 43. There has been a significant increase in the number of online gamers, from 183 million in 2017 to 365 million in 2019.
Since inception, the platform has seen more than 22 million gaming hours spent by users, 3 million cash prize winners and has successfully rolled out more than 2,000 quizzes. Loco is currently available on Android and iOS platforms, and it has a highly engaged community of 2.2 lakh on Facebook, 1.9 lakh on Instagram and 60k on Twitter.
Brands
Uidai partners with Google to help users locate Aadhaar centres
Verified Aadhaar centres to appear on Maps with services and access info
MUMBAI: Finding an Aadhaar centre may soon be as easy as finding your favourite café. In a move aimed at making public services more accessible, the Unique Identification Authority of India has partnered with Google to display authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. The feature, expected to roll out in the coming months, will allow residents to locate verified centres quickly and confidently.
More than 60,000 Aadhaar centres, including state of the art Aadhaar Seva Kendras, will be mapped. When users search on Google Maps, they will be directed to authorised facilities rather than unverified listings, helping curb misinformation and confusion.
The listings will do more than drop a pin. Users will be able to see the nature of services offered at each centre, whether it is adult enrolment, child enrolment, or limited to address and mobile number updates. Details such as operating hours, parking availability and divyang friendly infrastructure will also be shown wherever applicable.
Uidai CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, said the collaboration is part of the authority’s continued effort to improve ease of living for Aadhaar holders by making authorised centres simpler and faster to navigate.
The partnership will deepen in its next phase, with Uidai using Google Business Profile to manage information and respond directly to public feedback. Looking ahead, the two organisations are also exploring the option of enabling appointment bookings through the Google Maps interface, potentially allowing residents to plan their visits with greater efficiency.
Google India country head, strategic partnerships Roli Agarwal, said integrating verified Aadhaar centres would help millions access trusted services with confidence, bringing essential government infrastructure closer to the people who need it most.
If all goes to plan, a routine Aadhaar update may soon begin not with a queue, but with a search bar.
