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Micromax launches new tablet, will spend 15% of total marketing budget on promotions
NEW DELHI: Micromax has today launched its ‘Funbook tablet‘, which will cost Rs 6,499, along with a Tata Photon stick.
The 10 mm thin tablet will be marketed extensively in the coming weeks.
Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma, while refusing to give actual marketing figures, told indiantelevision.com that around 15 per cent of the company‘s annual budget will be spend on promoting the tablet.
He said, at present the total attention of the advertising would be on the tablet with a 360 degree marketing over all forms of media including television commercials, print, digital and out of home advertising.
The Funbook, which has been made with totally indigenous technology, will not only have the facility of educational programmes for all classes according to the course curricula on 3-D technology, but the availability of around 48 television channels, apart from games, and other facilities.
Micromax has partnered with Pearson, Everonn, and Vriti to bring best of digital Education. Bigflix, Indiagames and Zenga will offer entertainment on the device, and the tie-up with Tata Photon + is to bundle EVDO data card with 1 GB of additional download for two months.
Funbook will also be retailed at Tata stores.
Sharma said that consumers can obtain the tablet through snapdeal.com and can pay directly, in three equal installments, or pay Rs 500 and the rest on delivery.
He said that Micromax expected an increase of 25 to 30 per cent in the domestic market over the next year with the introduction of the tablet.
The tablet being manufactured at a plant near Haridwar would be available within a few days. A total of 100,000 tablets could be manufactured per month at present.
Earlier in a press meet, Micromax CEO Deepak Mehrotra announced a roll out in more than 50 cities across India, with plans to step beyond its own network of 100,000 stores, targets MBOs / organised trade and e-commerce portals to sell the device.
The device runs on Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The device is targeted at 67 per cent (close to 20 million) of the total urban youth population in India who aspire to own a computing device for learning and fun.
Mehrotra said, “Fun and education are two important elements of a youth‘s life; they always try to balance between what they “have to do” and what they “want to do”. With the launch of Funbook, we are offering a smart solution to solve this dilemma, and we believe that Funbook will help create a balance between the two.”
Funbook comes with 17.78 cm capacitive screen, runs on 1.2 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM and is 1 cm in thickness. The device can be customised as a mini library by storing contents up to 4GB in its internal memory that is expandable up to 32GB. The Funbook integrates a 0.3 MP VGA Front Facing Camera to capture images to relive all your favorite memories. With HD Video playback at 1080p, users can enjoy watching videos, movies and clips in HD mode. The HDMI port lets you connect with any other multimedia device such as TV or projector and enjoy the content in the desired way. With its big screen, watching movies, pictures and games is always a joy, reading books and surfing the net becomes much easier and convenient.
Powered by BIGflix, the users can choose from over 1000 movies in 9 languages from Hindi, English, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Punjabi, across different genres like Action and Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Thriller, Drama, Animation, Musical and Horror with free access for first 30 days.
Funbook allows users to watch shows on channels like MTV, Colors, UTV Bindass, UTV Movies, NDTV and many more – live. Powered by Zenga, the Micromax Funbook leaves no stone unturned to bring entertainment in your palms.
Micromax Funbook is available in two variants; Suave Silver and Brilliant Black.
Available across all leading outlets in India, buyers can also choose to order the device through Micromax website through their newly launched section e-store, powered by Ncarry.
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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.
