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HCL Infosystems forays into gaming
MUMBAI: HCL Infosystems, the hardware, services and ICT systems integration and distribution company, is entering into the gaming market.
The company is launching HCL ME handheld gaming devices ranging between Rs 799 to Rs 4990.
With this, the company is aiming to reach out to the children of the age-group of 4 to 15 years with special gaming content, rich with unique brain-train features.
HCL said that the interactive gaming experience has been designed to enable affordable mass gaming, backed with interactive content to sharpen the analytical skills and intelligence quotient.
HCL Infosystems executive VP George Paul said, “We are committed to introduce innovative models for interactive content delivery and we believe gaming is one such way to bring the days of Crosswords and Sudoku back on a gadget that is appealing to especially children in the period of education foundation. With gaming gaining popularity amongst the children and teenagers, we think affordable gaming devices backed by rich educative content can be the answer to engage them with games that tests and challenges their analytical abilities.”
HCL ME Gaming will look to offer ‘an absolute value for money’ gaming devices, even converged with multimedia options like imaging, recording along with various education and entertainment features. The gaming consoles will be available at various game retailers and HCL ME Exclusive stores.
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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.
