Applications
Nokia teams up with Malayalam Manorama to offer vernacular news on mobile phones
MUMBAI: Nokia announced the launch of ‘Vernacular news portal‘ with Malayalam Manorama, the south based publication group. With this offering, all Nokia GPRS enabled handset users in Kerala will be able to get national and international news in their native language across categories of news – sports, travel, music, astrology and movies amongst others. Speaking at the launch of this service, Nokia India director marketing Devinder Kishore said, “Ease-of-use is a key Nokia proposition. Currently the internet penetration is still very low, especially in smaller cities and rural areas. Services such as the mobile newspaper will ride on the larger penetration of mobile phones and bring the internet revolution to the masses. With the launch of this service, we are transcending the language barriers and extending the benefits of the Data services over mobiles to the people who are not conversant with English.” The service will be offered in 10 languages which include Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. This application also supports ‘Search‘ and ‘Mobile Advertising‘, while making the ‘internet‘ and the ‘Search‘ facility available to the non-English literates. Manorama Online COO Mariam Mathew said, “We are committed to provide our readers newer and innovative way to consume news and this will help us to further our bond with our consumers. True to the Manorama tradition, we will strive to reach out to all Malayalis, wherever they are – inside or outside India, on a desktop or on the move.” Users can download the Nokia Malayalam Manorma news portal icon by typing MM and sending an SMS to 5555. The user will then receive a URL on their handset and can download the icon by clicking on the URL and view the latest news updates instantly which will be refreshed every 30 minutes. The application can be activated on all Nokia GPRS handsets.
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.
