News Broadcasting
Tegic launches ‘XT9’ mobile platform in India
MUMBAI: Tegic Communications, a unit of AOL’s wireless division, has launched its XT9 Mobile interface in India. The XT9 Mobile interface integrates popular T9 software for the phone keypad, as well as hard and soft QWERTY keyboard, with handwriting recognition capabilities using a stylus.
By making it simpler to type words and phrases, XT9 makes it easier to enjoy popular content and wireless services such as mobile web browsing, search and messaging, states an official release.
“With mobile and SMS usage growing at such a rapid pace in India, we feel this is the perfect time to add XT9 to our list of available products in such an important market,” says Tegic SVP emerging markets Ray Tsuchiyama.
“By offering XT9 in India, we are furthering our goal of making text input on mobile phones simple and fast, regardless of whether a user is typing text on a keypad or using a stylus to enter words.”
SXT9 Mobile Interface Features Include:
Next Word Prediction: XT9 recognizes words often used in a defined sequence and can suggest the next word the moment a user keys the first word.
Support for Any Input Method: XT9 works for any key layout, including hard and soft keys, and even handwriting. Each of these input modes are able to work together to compose emails, text messages, and more.
Regional Error Correction: XT9 helps ensure a better messaging experience by compensating for users tapping incorrect keys. For example, if a user inadvertently types or writes “m-o-o-b,” XT9 will present “moon” since the “b” is just one key away from the “n,” and the word “moon” is a more likely choice.
Word Order Preference: XT9 is able to predict multiple words of the same key sequence, such as good, home and gone, any of which can be selected by pressing the “next” key. However, if a user texts “home” more often than “good”, XT9 learns quickly and will show “home” as the first option, making it faster for the user to get to the word they are most likely typing. This functionality works for all input modes.
Smart Punctuation and Auto-Accenting: XT9 offers smart punctuation for words such as I’ll or we’ll. In order to use punctuation, a user simply has to press “1” and the XT9 software will know where and how to use punctuation. Additionally, XT9 will predict which words require accents and will automatically add them. For instance, if the user inputs “espanol,” XT9 will present “español”.
User Database: The XT9 user database gives mobile phone users the freedom to add any word to their phone’s language database from any input mode.
Availability:
The XT9 Mobile Interface is now available for manufacturers of mobile and electronic devices to license and integrate into upcoming models. For more information about the XT9 Mobile Interface, visit www.tegic.com.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
