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New Delhi, Apr () Walmart-owned Flipkart on Thursday announced a pilot with retail chain store Spencers to introduce hyperlocal deliveries of groceries and essentials in Hyderabad. Under the pilot, consumers will be able to order groceries and essentials starting this month from Spencers store on the Flipkart app, a statement said. The orders will be collected from a set of chosen sample stores across Hyderabad by Flipkart executives and delivered to the customer's doorstep in a timely and hygienic manner, it added. "This partnership will leverage synergies between the companies to help enable deliveries of essential products to consumers and thereby, promote social distancing in the backdrop of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country," the statement said. Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said the company is committed to ensuring fulfilling customers' needs amidst the lockdown to promote 'social distancing'. "...we are initiating various steps in this regard. We are pleased to launch this pilot with Spencers Retail to collaborate and meet the needs of consumers who are contributing to the fight against COVID-19 by staying at home. "We've built a robust tech-backed platform to offer consumers real-time insights of essentials available in their area and will ensure timely doorstep deliveries," he added. After the government imposed a 21-day lockdown on March 24, many people have turned to e-commerce platforms to place orders for essential goods, including food and grocery, to stay away from crowds and to practice social distancing. Many large retail outlets have also been forced to allow less number of people to be present inside store premises to ensure there is adequate distance between them. "In such times, building an ecosystem of partnerships will transition us to truly become an omni-channel business in serving consumers," Spencers Retail MD and CEO Devendra Chawla said. "In this tough environment, Spencers' partnership with Flipkart provides another platform to a larger set of consumers to seamlessly access our range of essentials who may want to use other reputed platforms/marketplaces apart from our own Spencers App to buy during the lockdown," he added. In a separate statement, Flipkart said it has introduced medically-certified hand sanitizers and surgical masks under its private brand -- Flipkart SmartBuy's Health+ range. Utilising its existing infrastructure, the company aims to provide access to these locally manufactured essentials in light of the increasing demand by consumers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. "Flipkart SmartBuy Health+ hand sanitizer will be made available in line within the government pricing directive of Rs 250 for 500 ml. "These sanitizers adhere to FDA approved formulation with alcohol content as per the WHO recommendation," the statement said. It added that surgical masks (3 ply meltblown face masks) will also be available in different packs priced between Rs 240 to Rs 575. SR RVK

COVID-19: Flipkart partners Spencers for hyperlocal deliveries in Hyderabad

<ul><li>“Unapproved” health products and drugs won’t be allowed on <keyword id="2658149" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="PlayStore">PlayStore</keyword> </li><li>Part of an ongoing effort by the tech giant to control spam and otherwise illegal apps </li><li>Spamming apps that gather data illegally also recently removed</li></ul><keyword id="6355629" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword> is cracking down on Playstore apps that promote or sell “unapproved” health products and drugs including several herbal and homeopathic supplements. These range from fitness supplements and a range of slimming and weight loss products like Vitalex, fat burning hormones, Homeopathic HCG, weight loss coffee and herbal viagra, all of which aren’t approved by the US food and drug regulators. Some of products also <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/google-bans-dodgy-diet-pills-and-snake-oil-salesmen-from-the-play-store">contain </a>ephedra, which is linked to heart attacks and has proven to be harmful. According to a recent update in Google app developer policy, several restrictions have been introduced, as part of an ongoing effort by the tech giant to control spam and illegal apps, Android Police <a href="https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/01/22/google-bans-apps-that-promote-or-sell-unapproved-substances-on-the-play-store/">reported. </a> It is also reportedly added clarifications to what constitutes inappropriate content on its apps, including bullying and harassment, and seeking profit from a tragedy. It also <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/google-bans-apps-that-sell-herbal-viagra-and-other-unapproved-drugs-on-play-store-1437638-2019-01-23">recently</a> removed as many as 22 apps that were spamming or gathering data illegally, for fraudulent ads. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/in-india-amazons-fight-is-not-just-with-flipkart-but-with-paytm-google-pay-and-truecaller/articleshow/67456165.cms">In India, Amazon's fight is not just with Flipkart, but with PayTM, Google Pay and Truecaller</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-pay-wants-your-aadhaar-number/articleshow/67488694.cms">This is why Amazon wants your Aadhaar number</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/policy/amazon-flipkart-and-other-e-commerce-companies-could-face-a-massive-loss-of-46-billion-thanks-to-indias-new-e-commerce-policy/articleshow/67570947.cms">India’s curbs on e-commerce businesses could cost them $46 billion by 2022: Report</a>

Google bans apps promoting weight loss formulas, herbal viagra and harmful health products and tips

Mumbai, May 7 () Tata Consumer Products (TCPL) on Thursday said it has partnered with food delivery platforms like Domino's Pizza and Zomato to strengthen its direct distribution model and ensure steady supply of its essential products. "Through these partnerships, we intend to safeguard people's health by giving them alternate channels to buy our food and beverage offerings," TCPL Managing Director and CEO Sunil D'Souza said in a statement. The partnerships leverage complementary strengths to ensure essential products reach the doorsteps of consumers who need them, he said. These channel partnerships have been done in a phased manner, with Flipkart being the first e-commerce platform to enable the availability of its essential products in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi. On Domino's Pizza app, this service will be available under "Domino's Essentials" for consumers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Zomato is currently operational in over 60 cities pan-India enabling Tata Consumer's products to reach consumers across the country. In an alternate distribution model, Tata Consumer Products' distributors will list as marketplace sellers on Flipkart, Domino's Pizza, Zomato and other platforms. Additionally, Tata Consumer Products has also started the delivery of its food products through its own nutrition and e-commerce platform, Tata NutriKorner, in two phases. Certain pin-codes in Delhi have already been activated as part of phase one, later phases will cover the whole of Delhi in a couple of weeks, the company said. SM ANSANSANS

Tata Consumer Products ties up with Domino's Pizza, Zomato to deliver essential goods

New Delhi, Apr 1 () Flipkart-owned PhonePe on Wednesday said it has launched a coronavirus hospitalisation insurance policy called 'Corona Care' in partnership with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. The policy is priced at Rs 156 with an insurance cover of Rs 50,000 for a person aged under 55 years, and the cover is applicable at any hospital offering coronavirus treatment, a statement said. It also covers 30 days of expenses related to pre-hospitalisation costs and post-care medical treatment, it added. Users can purchase the policy from the PhonePe app, and the customer is issued policy documents within the app, it said. "The Indian government has taken very bold steps towards containing the outbreak in India. However, many Indians don't have health insurance covers, so they will be faced with an added financial burden in case someone in their family needs to get hospitalisation treatment for COVID-19," PhonePe founder and CEO Sameer Nigam said. He added that PhonePe has decided to forego its commission, thus enabling an affordable product with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. SR RVK

PhonePe partners Bajaj Allianz for hospitalisation insurance policy for COVID-19

London, <keyword id="28168" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Smartphone">Smartphone</keyword> <keyword id="66720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="users">users</keyword> are unaware of <keyword id="6355135" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Privacy">privacy</keyword> implications of some permissions they grant to <keyword id="6354741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Apps">apps</keyword> and services and researchers have been able to identify which kind of <keyword id="74417" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="personal-information">personal information</keyword> the apps extract with <keyword id="1600628" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="location-tracking">location tracking</keyword> on. This is the first extensive study shedding light on the range of personal information that can be inferred from location-tracking <keyword id="6355729" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="data">data</keyword>. C Consequently, the study by two researchers from University of Bologna, Italy and Benjamin Baron from <keyword id="174869" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="University-College-London">University College London</keyword>, the UK also shows how collecting such information can represent a violation of the users' privacy. To this end, the researchers developed a mobile application -- TrackingAdvisor -- that continuously collects user location. From the location data, the <keyword id="235499" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="APP">app</keyword> can extract personal information and asks users to give feedback on the correctness of such information as well as to rate its relevance in terms of privacy sensitivity. "Users are largely unaware of the privacy implications of some permissions they grant to apps and services, in particular when it comes to location-tracking information", said Mirco Musolesi from University of Bologna. Thanks to machine learning techniques, these data provide sensitive information such as the place where users live, their habits, interests, demographics, and information about users' personalities. Through the TrackingAdvisor app employed in the study - published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies -- researchers were able to identify which kind of personal information the app extracted and its privacy sensitivity according to users. For the study, 69 users used TrackAdvisor for at least two weeks. TrackAdvisor tracked more than 200,000 locations, identifying approximately 2,500 places and collecting almost 5,000 pieces of personal information concerning both demographics and personality. Among the data gathered, the users find that the most sensitive pieces of information were the ones about health, socio-economic situation, ethnicity, and religion. "We think it is important to show users the amount and quality of information that apps can collect through location tracking", Musolesi added. "Equally important for us is to understand whether users think that sharing information with app managers or marketing firms is acceptable or deem it a violation of their privacy". According to the researchers, analyses like this pave the way to designing targeted advertising systems that help users protect their privacy, especially with the data they deem more sensitive. "Thanks to such systems, users interested -- for example - in protecting information about their own health could receive a notification each time they go to a health clinic or hospital", said Musolesi. But there is more. This could also lead to the development of systems that can automatically block the collection of sensitive data from third parties thanks to previously defined privacy settings, the authors noted. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/pewdiepies-lyrics-targeting-cocomelon-and-jk-rowling-that-may-have-gotten-youtube-angry-enough-to-pull-the-video-down/articleshow/81102941.cms">PewDiePie's lyrics targeting CocoMelon and JK Rowling may have gotten YouTube angry enough to pull the video down</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-gets-leaner-with-a-300-million-jabong-write-off-as-ceo-kalyan-krishnamurthy-lists-out-the-priorities-for-2021/articleshow/81105083.cms">Flipkart gets leaner with a $300 million Jabong write-off as CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy lists out the priorities for 2021</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/happiest-minds-is-leveraging-its-partnerships-with-big-players-like-google-microsoft-aws-salesforce/articleshow/81105035.cms">Happiest Minds is a smaller company that does the same thing as MindTree and L&amp;T Infotech — but clearly it is doing it a lot better</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-may-require-twitter-facebook-and-others-to-remove-unlawful-content-within-36-hours/articleshow/81104740.cms">India may require Twitter, Facebook and others to remove unlawful content within 36 hours</a>

How smartphone apps extract your data via location tracking

<ul><li>Cult.fit fitness center which is run by the startup Cure.fit, will now open five spaces in <keyword id="23412" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jammu-Kashmir">Jammu &amp; Kashmir</keyword>. </li><li>The Indian government recently scrapped Article 370, separating Jammu &amp; Kashmir and Ladakh and turning them into union territories.</li><li><keyword id="3465872" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="curefit">Curefit</keyword> was founded in 2016 by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and former Flipkart Chief Business Officer Ankit Nagori. </li></ul>Indian fitness startup Cure.fit which runs fitness chain Cult.fit, is now all set to open five centres in the newly formed of union territory of Jammu &amp; Kashmir. This comes in days after the Indian government brought the valley under its rule, and divided the state into two union territories. It also scrapped Article 370 and Article 35A which were holding back investments as it forbid anyone who isn’t a Kashmiri, from owning land in the valley. Now, that situation has changed. “We are happy to announce our foray into the newly created union territory of Jammu &amp; Kashmir through cult.fit fitness centres. The recent announcement from the Government of India potentially opens up opportunities for our business growth and also create job opportunities. We intend to foray with five cult.fit fitness centres and keep on working to expand our offerings,” said Ankit Nagori, co-founder, cure.fit. Curefit was founded in 2016 by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and former Flipkart Chief Business Officer Ankit Nagori. It has fitness centers under the <keyword id="6825388" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cultfit">Cultfit</keyword> brand and a health app called Curefit. It also has diagnostic centers called Carefit and yoga and meditation centers called mindfit. In three years, the startup registered 4 lakh users for curefit, with 180 centers across Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Hyderabad. All these provide an annual revenue of $100 million. The company now plans to grow to 800 centers by 2020. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-government-is-recruiting-1300-engineers-and-architects-for-jammu-and-kashmirs-metro-project/articleshow/70582043.cms">Indian government to ‘reorganise’ Jammu and Kashmir — plans to hire 1,300 engineers for its first Metro project</a>

Cult.fit will now open 5 centers in the newly formed union territory of Jammu & Kashmir

<ul><li>This year, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> is going all out to attract consumers to its Big Billion Days sale, with a high-decibel campaign featuring actors like <keyword id="6354486" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword>, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhat, <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword>, Sudeep Kiccha and Mahesh Babu. </li><li>It is also making sure that it has content that people will connect with, for better engagements and <keyword id="1974006" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Consumer-experience">consumer experience</keyword>.</li><li><keyword id="6361106" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="vikas-gupta">Vikas Gupta</keyword> - Head of Customer, Marketing and Digital Businesses at Flipkart tells us about the platform's marketing strategies during the TBBD sale to make sure all stakeholders are able to make the most out of the exercise.</li></ul>With the <keyword id="36208" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-season">festive season</keyword> just round the corner, ecommerce platforms have launched their festive sales. Owing to the fact that this year has been challenging, most platforms are going all out to woo consumers with different offers, discounts, coming up with high decibel campaigns, and making the overall experience more engaging and interactive. And there is reason for all the noise. A recent report by consultancy firm RedSeer suggested that there will be a huge jump in the number of online shoppers during the festive months. If RedSeer’s data is to be believed, it is expected that the number will jump to around 50 million from 28 million in 2019.It is also expected that sales from Bharat will drive the growth. Therefore, its not surprising that ecommerce platforms have a strong plan in place to make the most out of these few months. We recently caught up with Vikas Gupta - Head of Customer, Marketing and Digital Businesses at Flipkart to understand how the platform plans to woo consumers, given its competitors will also be going live with the sales. Making communication around TBBD relevant for the new world order The last few months have led to a huge shift in our country’s socio-economic situation. To get over the pandemic-induced environment, Flipkart says its been working relentlessly with its ecosystem partners to bring resilience back into the community and expects the upcoming festive season to accelerate growth across its business ecosystem. “We pride ourselves in being close to customers and intimately understanding their needs and expectations. The role of engagement and communication has never been more important, especially in today digital-first world. Our goal for this year’s TBBD is to instill a feeling of togetherness among our customers. With the central theme of celebrating TBBD as a cultural event, our campaign this year highlights the ways in which the annual occasion is celebrated by the entire country,” shares Gupta. This year, due to the pandemic, Flipkart’s marketing approach has hinged on rebuilding the confidence of customers, wishmasters, and sellers. “We have done that through transparent communication that let the authenticity of the brand and our deep care for customer needs and well-being shine through across all touch points. The strategy behind this year’s marketing efforts is to encourage participation from the customers and our media mix has been designed keeping in mind these crucial aspects,” he adds. The lockdown led to people spending more time indoors which also led to them spending more time on various social media platforms. “This gives us the opportunity to engage the audience meaningfully on a platform that they are seeking to spend time on, daily. In partnership with Facebook, we are not only engaging the metro audiences but are customising campaigns in vernacular languages to reach consumers in Tier II regions and beyond. All this is driven through very personalized communication at scale, which drives efficiency from an engagement perspective. For us, the role of marketing is to deepen our relationship with customers through hyper-personalized experience across various touch points in the customer journey. This is enabled through deep technology integrations and a bias towards innovation,” explains Gupta. Expectations from the festive season and TBBD this year A lot of hopes rest on this year’s festive season. While consumer sentiments have slowly been improving, there are many who are still cautious about spending a lot in the year. However, Gupta expects the festive season to be a good one this year. “We expect that the upcoming festive season will usher in economic revival. An increasing number of brands, customers and sellers are embracing e-commerce for new opportunities as well as <keyword id="2410018" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-continuity">business continuity</keyword>. Our ecosystem collaborations and upcoming special festive launches will help various businesses make a strong comeback through e-commerce. Another important factor that we believe will add to the consumer excitement is <keyword id="3705309" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Big-Billion-Days">The Big Billion Days</keyword> Specials which was launched first in 2019 to create curated special collections, that are thematic or have industry-first innovations, to make the consumer shopping experience a memorable one, while meeting their growing aspirations. This year, we have 100 Big Billion Days Specials brands with 200+ customised products, across categories such as fashion, electronics, mobile phones, large appliances, personal care, handicrafts, and others”, shares Gupta. Since the lockdown restrictions were lifted in June, Flipkart has also been working on expanding its offerings across categories to make sure its consumers are equipped with not just essentials but even the non-essentials. “Besides essentials, the demand during the past few months has been driven by the growing need of kitchen, home improvement, work-from-home requirements and health and safety equipment. Moreover, by swiftly modifying our approach in terms of scaling up the supply chain, taking precautionary measures to ensure safe delivery and providing various affordability constructs, we were able to meet our consumers’ evolving demands,” he shares. About whether consumers are ready to splurge this festive season, Gupta says, “The consumer sentiment towards festive is positive. This includes a good mix of all categories including mobiles, large appliances, fashion, furniture, home improvement products and you name it. And our teams have worked very closely with sellers and brand partners to bring the selection and offerings as per consumer demand. Industry reports suggest that this year as we kick off the festive season, 40-50 million new users will come onboard the ecommerce platform, and majority of these will be from emerging Tier III and IV towns. The constructs that Flipkart has worked on or we can say differentiates us have been built over years as we are totally committed to bring forward India-first innovations that keep these users in the centre stage.” So how is Flipkart working on ensuring they break the clutter during the sales days this year? “Over the years, TBBD has transformed from a calendar to a cultural event that is celebrated across the country. From forging strategic partnerships, to the externalisation of the Big Billion Days, to curating Big Billion Days Specials, enabling easy pre-ordering and convenient wishlisting - we are focusing on exciting and novel offerings in partnership with the best brands and sellers in the country,” he shares. Going all out with this year's TBBD campaign This year, Flipkart has collaborated with McCann and the campaigns would see numerous celebrities and influencers in a unique double role, sharing endearing human stories about TBBD. The aim was to make sure the audience was able to connect with these stories. This year’s campaign theme is designed to showcase how TBBD brings together families and friends and will feature Virat Kohli, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhat, Amitabh Bachchan, Sudeep Kiccha and Mahesh Babu. The platform has also partnered with 20 influencers across categories including tech, fashion, beauty and entertainment as a part of its Big Billion Days Muqabala celebrations on both YouTube and its platform where they will be competing against each other to win exciting deals and offers. Speaking about what this year’s high-decibel campaign would entail, Gupta shares, “This year’s campaign comprises a series of TVCs showcasing India’s most-loved celebrities in unique ‘double avatars’. They are bringing to life engaging personas that the entire Indian audience can relate to, especially during a much-awaited shopping festival. The campaign leverages the underlying element of friendly competition and light-hearted rivalry between near and dear ones, to get the best deals and outdo one another,” he elaborates. Engaging with consumers through gamification Over the past few years, more and more platforms have been experimenting with gamification to ensure they build a deeper connect with an engaged audience while also adding a fun element to the entire experience. This year too, Flipkart has launched a gaming show, ‘BBD Muqabala’ which is hosted on the Being Indian channel on YouTube. The show has a two-pronged approach where selected influencers will be participating in a quiz to answer questions and earn interesting deals during The Big Billion Days. The same quiz show will also be available to our customers on the Flipkart app. By answering questions, consumers will be able to earn SuperCoin and use them to avail benefits on their purchases. Throwing light on some of its other plans for the year, Gupta says, “Flipkart Video and Games is going to be a part of the Big Billion Days experience in a bigger way this year, giving consumers access to enjoy video content and play new games with great rewards, while providing an elevated shopping experience. For the upcoming festive season, we have an array of interactive shows and games lined up. By participating in these on-app offerings, users stand a chance to win rewards that can be redeemed by shopping on the Flipkart app itself. This way, we are giving them the best of entertainment, rewards and shopping, all on a single app.” Besides gamification, Gupta shares that tech innovations has played is the backbone of the platform and it has worked hard to make sure that first-time users are at ease while shopping on Flipkart. “We launched two new technology features to handhold first-time users through the purchase journey – a search and voice assistant, and regional-language interfaces. These features were launched on the back of intensive research and data-driven insights on aspects such as e-literacy, consumer behaviour, and consumption patterns,” he adds. Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale has gone live on October 16 and will end on October 21.

Our goal for this year’s The Big Billion Days is to instill a feeling of togetherness among our customers: Vikas Gupta, Flipkart

Cupertino, June 16 (IANS) Apple App Store facilitated $519 billion in commerce and sales globally in 2019 and more than 85 per cent of the $519 billion total accrues solely to third-party developers and businesses of all sizes, a new study by Apple has revealed. The new study, conducted by independent economists at Analysis Group, found that the highest value categories were mobile commerce (m-commerce) apps, digital goods and services apps, and in-app advertising. "The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life, and users can find safe and trusted tools to make their lives better," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement late Monday. "In a challenging and unsettled time, the App Store provides enduring opportunities for entrepreneurship, health and well-being, education, and job creation, helping people adapt quickly to a changing world," he added. Of the $519 billion, the study found that sales from physical goods and services accounted for the largest share, at $413 billion. Within that category, m-commerce apps generated the vast majority of sales, and of those, retail was the largest, at $268 billion. "Retail apps include those that digitally represent brick-and-mortar stores such as Target and Best Buy, as well as virtual marketplaces that sell physical goods, such as Flipkart, Lenskart and Myntra but do not include grocery delivery, which is its own category," the findings showed. Travel apps, including Ixigo, Cleartrip and Makemytrip, accounted for $57 billion. Ride-hailing apps, including Ola Cabs, comprised $40 billion in sales, and food delivery apps, including Zomato, Swiggy and Freshmenu, made up $31 billion. Billings and sales from digital goods and services comprised $61 billion, and this category included apps for music and video streaming, fitness, education, ebooks and audiobooks, news and magazines, and dating services, among others. Games, the type of app most downloaded in 2019, was the largest generator of billings and sales within this category. In-app advertising sales accounted for $45 billion, and of that, 44 per cent was derived from games. Non-gaming apps that generate substantial in-app advertising sales are often free to download and use, such as Twitter and Pinterest, though others also offer in-app purchases to access content, such as The New York Times. Launched in 2008, App Store is currently home to almost 2 million apps and visited by half a billion people each week across 175 countries. "We're committed to doing even more to support and nurture the global App Store community  from one-developer shops in nearly every country to businesses that employ thousands of workers  as it continues to foster innovation, create jobs, and propel economic growth for the future," said Cook. According to the study, the direct payments made to developers from Apple are only a fraction of the vast total when sales from other sources, such as physical goods and services, are calculated. Apple only receives a commission from the billings associated with digital goods and services. --IANS na/

Apple App Store drives $519bn in sales in 2019, mobile commerce leads

The <keyword id="62528" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Department-of-Telecom">Department of Telecom</keyword>’s report on '<keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">Net Neutrality</keyword>' has advised the government not to allow the controversial zero rating plans of the telecom companies while proposing that throttling and any sort of prioritization of Internet traffic should be banned. 

	A senior government official privy to the report told ET: "There should be no paid prioritization which creates discrimination and no degradation of traffic on the internet on the basis of applications, content, services or even the end user." 
 

	The six-member committee's report along with the telecom regulator's recommendations will form the final basis of the government's policy on net neutrality, a principle that guarantees consumers equal and non-discriminatory access to all data, apps and services on Internet, with no discrimination on the basis of tariffs or speed. 
 

	It was reported in May that the six-member government committee concurred that zero-rating plans which involve commercial arrangements at the back-end violate the idea of net neutrality. 
 

	The official added that the government could make an exemption for delivery of essential government services such as education and health which might be delivered on priority. 
 

	The report has further indicated that the policy on Net Neutrality must promote competition and encourage startup culture in the country, another official told the financial daily. 
 

	It has also stated that ISPs, including telecom operators, should be disallowed from using 'traffic management' as a technique to slow down certain content. 
 The <keyword id="161280" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="DoT-committee">DoT committee</keyword> was set up in January 2015. The committee members met more than 45 organisations including Facebook, Google, Flipkart, Amazon, Paytm, Viber and <keyword id="6377887" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Skype">Skype</keyword> and telecom service providers as well as various public interest groups before submitting its report. The report comes even as the <keyword id="30356" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Telecom-Regulatory-Authority-of-India">Telecom Regulatory Authority of India</keyword>, after finishing a consultation process, is preparing its own report. The consultation, and launch of <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword>'s <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> Zero plan — under which certain apps can be accessed by users free of charge, with the app makers paying telco for users' access — caused a furore, especially on social media. 

	According to the first official, the report has suggested that any policy on Net Neutrality should ensure interconnection between ISPs, cellular providers and app makers as needed and as per rules, and the government should intervene only when needed. 
	 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Net Neutrality: DoT not in the favour of telcos’ zero rating plans

<ul><li>Indian health startup cure.fit has raised $120 million in a series D round. </li><li>In May, Business Insider reported that cure.fit had raised $75 million in the first tranche of the round. </li><li>Cure.fit now plans to take up its centres from 180 to 800 in India and Dubai.</li></ul>Indian health and fitness startup cure.fit has raised $120 million in a Series D round of funding. In May 2019, a paper.vc <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/curefit-raises-75-million-from-anand-piramal-accel-partners-and-others/articleshow/69215063.cms">report </a>said that the startup raised $75 million in the first tranche of the series D round. <keyword id="3465872" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="curefit">Curefit</keyword> was founded in 2016 by Myntra co-founder <keyword id="705865" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Bansal">Mukesh Bansal</keyword> and former Flipkart Chief Business Officer Ankit Nagori. It has fitness centres under the Cultfit brand and a health app called Curefit. It also has diagnostic centres called Carefit and yoga and meditation centres called mindfit. "Leveraging deep tech and strong on-ground network, we aspire to service over 100 million consumers over the next 10 years," said Bansal. In three years, the startup registered 4 lakh users for curefit, with 180 centres across Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Hyderabad. All these provide an annual revenue of $100 million. The company now plans to grow to 800 centres by 2020. The startup has also expanded its operations to Dubai. This recent round was led by Chiratae Ventures, Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital &amp; Oaktree Capital, while new investors like Epiq Capital, Unilever Ventures, Innoven Capital and Kotak Mahindra Bank too chipped in. Curefit’s <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/curefit-raises-75-million-valuation-crosses-500-million-1557206291458.html">reported</a> valuation is pegged at $500 million, after the latest fundraising. Earlier, the startup also raised funding from Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, who is also the brand ambassador since 2017. Roshan had <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/hrithik-roshan-pours-in-878-2k-in-fitness-startup-cure-fit/">reportedly </a>invested $14.63 million into the startup. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/curefit-raises-75-million-from-anand-piramal-accel-partners-and-others/articleshow/69215063.cms">Three-year old Curefit clocks in $100 mn in revenue and over $245 mn in total funding</a>

Cure.fit raises $120 million in a series D round of funding

<ul><li>The <keyword id="10521756" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="oneplus-band">OnePlus Band</keyword> has been priced at ₹2,499 and comes in Black, Navy and Tangerine Gray color options.</li><li>OnePlus has marked its debut in the wearables segment with the launch of the OnePlus Band.</li><li>The OnePlus Band offers heart rate monitoring, SpO2 monitoring, sleep tracking, and more.</li></ul>OnePlus has finally launched its fitness band, dubbed as the OnePlus Band in India, making its global debut in the wearables segment. The company is reportedly also working on a smartwatch and is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/gadgets/news/oneplus-watch-will-be-launched-early-next-year-says-pete-lau/articleshow/79914759.cms">expected</a> to launch it in the coming months. OnePlus has also released an app, OnePlus Health, that will allow you to connect your band to your phone and monitor your activities, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation and sleep levels. The app is currently available for Android and will soon be made available for iOS users as well. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="OnePlus Band pricing and availability" comment="subhead" text="OnePlus Band pricing and availability">OnePlus Band pricing and availability</cmsannotation> <div type="image" title="OnePlus Band" msid="80209571" hostid="261"></div> The OnePlus Band has been priced at ₹2,499 and will be available from Amazon India, Flipkart, OnePlus online store and OnePlus retail stores across the country from January 13. The fitness band will be available with a Black color strap and users can purchase the Navy and Tangerine Gray color straps for ₹399. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="OnePlus Band specifications" comment="subhead" text="OnePlus Band specifications">OnePlus Band specifications</cmsannotation> The OnePlus Band features a 1.1-inch AMOLED colour touch display with a resolution of 294 x 196 pixels. The watch faces can be customized using the OnePlus Health app. The OnePlus Band features an optical heart rate sensor and a blood oxygen monitor. While the heart rate sensor monitor offers 24-hours heart rate tracking, the blood oxygen sensor helps monitor your blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels. The OnePlus Band also supports sleep monitoring, allowing you to view your sleep score, total time slept, sleep stages, and offers you insights about your sleep. It provides 13 exercise modes such as cricket, badminton, swimming, yoga and more. It uses Bluetooth 5.0 to connect to the smartphone and view notifications for messages, incoming calls and app notifications. It can also be used to control music playback and capture photos from the phone. The OnePlus Band comes with IP68 and 5ATM ratings, allowing you to wear it while exercising or swimming. It is powered by a 100mAh battery and offers a battery life of up to 14 days on a single charge. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/comparison-between-xiaomi-mi-10i-vs-oneplus-nord-mobile-phones/articleshow/80114501.cms">Xiaomi Mi 10i vs OnePlus Nord — which is the best mid-range device for you?</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-has-confirmed-the-launch-of-the-galaxy-s21-series-mobile-phones-on-january-14/articleshow/80092297.cms">Samsung Galaxy S21 series to be launched on January 14 - specs, price and everything we know so far</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/oppo-watch-review-the-best-wear-os-smartwatch-you-can-buy-right-now/articleshow/78031248.cms">Oppo Watch review – the best Wear OS smartwatch you can buy right now</a>

OnePlus Band with 24-hour heart rate monitoring, 14-day battery life launched in India

<ul><li><keyword id="3465872" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="curefit">Curefit</keyword> has raised $75 million in the first tranche of series D round of <keyword id="6357455" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword>. </li><li>Its range of investors now include <keyword id="192487" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anand-Piramal">Anand Piramal</keyword> Trust, Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures among others. </li><li>This takes the startup’s reported valuation to $500 million. </li></ul>Health and fitness startup Curefit has raised $75 million in a series D round. According to the filing sourced by Paper.vc, the investment was raised from Accel Partners, Anand Piramal, Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures India and Pratithi Investment Trust. While the investment is a first tranche of a series D round, Curefit’s <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/curefit-raises-75-million-valuation-crosses-500-million-1557206291458.html">reported</a> valuation with the recent fundraise goes up to $500 million. Curefit has not released an official statement regarding the fundraise. Curefit, founded in 2016 by Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal and former Flipkart Chief Business Officer Ankit Nagori, has gained popularity in India through its fitness centres - <keyword id="6825388" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cultfit">Cultfit</keyword>, health app - Curefit, diagnostic centres - Carefit and yoga and meditation centres - mindfit. The duo’s success with their previous businesses seems to have rubbed off on their current venture too. In just three years, the startup has registered 4 lakh users for curefit, with 160 centres across Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Hyderabad – all adding up to an annual revenue of $100 million. Curefit had last raised funding of $120 million in July 2018. Earlier, it had also raised funding from Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, who had been signed as the brand ambassador for the fitness startup in 2017. Roshan had <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/hrithik-roshan-pours-in-878-2k-in-fitness-startup-cure-fit/">reportedly </a>invested $14.63 million in the startup. Since its inception, Curefit has acquired 5 <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> in the <keyword id="245935" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Health-and-Wellness">health and wellness</keyword> space, and has been fast growing its business. The Bengaluru-based startup has also been <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/cure-fit-plans-to-enter-dubai-as-local-business-achieves-critical-mass/67579215">looking</a> at opportunities to go global with Dubai and Southeast Asian countries. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/healthifyme-indias-top-rated-healthapp-on-playstore-is-set-to-turn-profitable-this-year/articleshow/68900244.cms">This startup helping 9 million Indians lose weight may soon turn profitable</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/world-health-day-india-needs-laws-to-protect-online-medical-data/articleshow/68771225.cms">India has millions of medical records online but no law to keep the data safe</a>

Three-year old Curefit clocks in $100 mn in revenue and over $245 mn in total funding

Senior managers, working at startups like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart%2C+Snapdeal+and+Amazon">Flipkart, Snapdeal</a> and Ola, are no more interested in these top consumer Internet companies in India. They are heading for the exit door, with many citing a mixture of low job satisfaction and poor work-life balance. 
 
This change is seen at a time when <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+startups">Indian startups</a>, boosted by soaring valuations, are on an aggressive spree to hire new talents. So are these mangers hungry to start their own companies? Lets’ read and know! 
 <keyword id="3019928" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Swaminathan-Seetharaman">Swaminathan Seetharaman</keyword>, who earlier worked as the vice-president for engineering at taxi app firm <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ola+">Ola</a> and quit after about a year at the company, said: "There are multiple levels of decision-making as an organisation grows and individual contributions to make impact get diluted." 
 The 41-year-old Seetharaman, who led the development of consumer mobile interfaces while at Ola, teamed up with former colleagues <keyword id="2047443" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ganesh-Subramanian">Ganesh Subramanian</keyword> and <keyword id="576027" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nitin-Agarwal">Nitin Agarwal</keyword> to launch an on-demand services marketplace Pianta. 
 
Termed unicorns — or companies valued upwards of a billion dollars — Flipkart, Snapdeal and Ola have all witnessed exits of senior managers in recent months. 
 The latest exit was of <keyword id="843670" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ravi-Vora">Ravi Vora</keyword>, the head of strategic initiatives at Flipkart, who quit this week. Others to have quit the country's largest <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=online+retailer+">online retailer</a> include engineering head <keyword id="6518849" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sameer-Nigam">Sameer Nigam</keyword>, who left in July. 
 Chief Technology Officer <keyword id="1937803" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amod-Malviya">Amod Malviya</keyword> transited to an advisory role in July. In February, Delhi-based Snapdeal saw its then CTO <keyword id="2049459" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amitabh-Misra">Amitabh Misra</keyword> leave to start his own firm. 
 
Restaurant listing guide <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Zomato+">Zomato</a> has seen the exits of marketing heads <keyword id="499896" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Alok-Jain">Alok Jain</keyword>, and subsequently <keyword id="584823" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rameet-Arora">Rameet Arora</keyword>, who quit within 10 months. Jain has started an ondemand food venture Yumist. 
 The Gurgaon-based company's chief product officer <keyword id="3019927" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Namita-Arora">Namita Arora</keyword> left within a year of joining the firm. 
 
Let’s know the reasons behind leaving the billion dollars companies. 
 
Seniors being relegated: Experts tasked with finding fresh talent for these high-growth startups say several exits stem from seniors being relegated when hierarchies alter. "Shrinking interactions with the founders coupled with decreased influence on impactful decisions are two most frequently cited reasons for individuals to move out of startups," Harish Kumar, founder of headhunting firm Wenger &amp; Watson, told ET. 
 
Volatile work environment, long working hours, and high levels of stress are also wearing out several senior executives at startups. "The culture of having beds for technology teams in offices can backfire and hurt emotional health," said a senior technology executive who quit a Delhi-based startup. 
 
Bid to lock in talent: Dissatisfaction with compensation is also leading to exits in several cases. Startups typically offer employee stock options aimed at locking in talent from a year to four years. Often, employees can cash in about a quarter of their holding after a year. "After that, shares can be redeemed on a pro rata basis every month or quarter, depending on the contract," said Seetharaman. 
 
However, this is only at an ideal startup. At several others, founders allow only a tenth of promised stock to be sold at the end of a year, with vesting periods rising incrementally to 40% at the end of four years. "There can be additional harsh lock-ins, which make the packages unfair," said the Delhi-based founder of an executive search firm who works with companies such as Flipkart, Zomato and Snapdeal. 
 
Senior employees are realising that they too have a chance of making big returns from India's unprecedented startup boom where the top Internet companies have between themselves soaked up some $6 bn of funding so far. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

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