Applications
Intvo to offer an immersive mobile environment
MUMBAI: With the cricket World Cup scheduled to kick off in less than week‘s time new media interactive firm Intvo is looking to change the way people use their mobiles as far as the game is concerned. The firm has launched its three applications – CricCast, Cric Playalong and Sports Guru. All the applications will have score posting features and the users can create their own cricket leagues (country leagues, city leagues, college leagues, company leagues, etc.). Cric Playalong allows users to play along as a match is progressing. One can play along with a live match or a recorded match. Points are given depending on how one is doing vi-a-vis the actual player. The game is in a simulated animation form. One can chose the match and then the team one wants to play for. So if a user scores four runs in a ball while the player in the actual match gets out or scores less then one gets points. One can also be a bowler and choose where to pitch a delivery and the kind of ball to be bowled. |
Cric Playalong allows users to play along as a match is progressing. One can play along with a live match or a recorded match. Points are given depending on how one is doing vi-a-vis the actual player. The game is in a simulated animation form. One can chose the match and then the team one wants to play for. So if a user scores four runs in a ball while the player in the actual match gets out or scores less then one gets points. One can also be a bowler and choose where to pitch a delivery and the kind of ball to be bowled. Intvo has tied up with the service providers Airtel, Idea Cellular, Yahoo, IndiaTimes to make this service available for mobile users in animated form. Intvo will make the interactive applications available in Europe and USA too, through various carrier and media partners.The services will be available from 12 March 2007. The CricCast application allows one to view a live match or highlights in animation form. This the firm says is particularly useful for people on the go. Mobile users in India can download the CricCast application from Wap portals of Airtellive, Idea, India Times and Yahoo Mobile. They can also download from the web portals of Ideafresh, Yahoo and India times. Cric Playalong can be downloaded from Airtellive, Ideaftesh and India Times. |
Intvo is also launching their blogging application, Mojo Blog. This enables the users to blog on matches and other events from their mobile phones or from their computers. This application is currently available firom Intvo‘s Wap site and website for free. Intvo Founder and CEO Kishan Bulusu said, ” We are expecting 20-30,000 users to avail of this product in India. The cost depends on the service provider. Airtel for instnace is charging Rs. 50 for the World Cup. The animation settings are on an average 90 per cent accurate compared to the real game. Our aim is to create. a new interactive entertainment experience for the consumer that will let them interact with the sports and other entertainment they like in ways which have not been possible until now. “We have developed the interactive, patent pending Interactering platform and technologies to provide the interactive experience to the users and is working towards providing. Currently our interactive applications are available for GPRS users and we are extending the experience to SMS. We are planning to extend the same experience to the web and other platforms down the road”.
In the past lntvo piloted Soccercast, Soccer Playalong and Soccer Prediction applications in the Chinese market, localised for Chinese language, with China Mobile for last year‘s Soccer World. Plans are.under way to introduce soccer in China, Europe and the US. |
Applications
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.
