Chairperson : Nasrul Hadi – Knight Fellow, International Centre for Journalists, Hindustan Times

Co-Chair : Manu Joseph – Author and columnist, New York Times/Hindustan Times
Panellist : Ashish Gupta – Deputy Editor, Fortune India
Jury Expert : Nikhil Pahwa – Founder, MediaNama
Moderator : Kunal Dua – Editorial Head, NDTV Gadgets

‘Mobile for Media & Entertainment’ was the third parallel session conducted during the mBillionth Award Gala held on 23rd July, 2015. The session was graced by the presence of eminent personalities from media and corporate world, as well as technology aficionados excited to explore innovations in mobile apps. After the formal introduction of the guests, Session Moderator, Mr. Kunal Dua explained in brief the rules of the session.

The very first presentation was for Mogu Reader Mobile app from Sri Lanka, delivered by Vimukhti Liyanage, CEO and Founder of Mogu Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Being one of the most popular Smartphone news apps in Sri Lanka, Mogo Reader essentially collects Asian news content which is not available in popular international apps. The app is currently available in Sinhala language. However, plans are underway for Hindi, English and other Indian regional language versions as well. Real time readers in that area are monitored so as to identify the most interesting and attention grabbing news being followed in that area.
The second presentation was made by Mr Stanislaus G, founder CEO, Squarely, who showcased ‘NOVV’ – a collective storytelling platform for everyday people. This app works for acknowledging issues at local or regional level that are often overlooked by mainstream media. The idea of the NOVV app is to give people their voice, provide them with an open platform to discuss and debate, besides encouraging exchange of multiple perspectives.

Next was the ‘Flipbeats’ app, presented by Mr Pradeep Agarwal, COO of hSenid Software International. This unique app offers enhanced music experience, smooth search and easy sharing of music on popular social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. This multilingual app also comes with a ‘Black Edition’ which saves 75% of your phone’s power.‘Superior Music Experience’ – is what Mr Agarwal said when asked what makes the app different from its competitors.

This was followed by a presentation made by Mr Roop Kumar Reddy, who shared with the audience the idea behind ‘Yupp TV’ – an innovative concept to bring Live TV on smart phones. Originally designed to cater to Indian expats, the app today boasts of subscribers in more than 50 countries. Yupp TV ensures that the user would never waste time on Live TV browsing channels to find the most popular programmes. The mobile app comes with the features of ‘Pause’ and ‘Rewind’ Live TV. The app has already achieved over 5 million subscribers. Many smart TVs these days come preinstalled with the Yupp TV app.

Next presentation was for the ‘Bangla Boipoka’ mobile app – an e-book reader exclusively created for Banlga readers. As a repertoire of books by great Bangla Authors, this app makes Bangla books easily accessible to people within Bangladesh and the ones living abroad.From taking notes and highlighting or underlining text, to sharing it on social media; readers can do it all, giving them a great book reading experience. The books are bought directly from the authors under a legal agreement before uploading. The makers of the app are planning to approach the government to convince them to convert text books too, in Boipoka format.
Kshitij and Shweta from Hindustan Unilever Ltd. showcased the catchy ‘KanKhajura Tesan’, also known as the KKT, an innovative mobile radio station that serves media dark communities of India. The station or ‘Tesan’, as one may say, offers rural masses with music, jokes, Bollywood news and other popular content all interwoven with advertisements and announcements of HUL products. The makers of this app have also created a special dashboard where one can carry out real time monitoring of the callers and understand consumer insights.

Concluding the presentation session, Mr Nasrul Hadi addressed the participants by appreciating their innovations, but at the same time advising them to acquire copyright licenses and respecting legal constraints before distributing content. The session ended with handing over of mementoes to the panellists along with distribution of certificates of appreciation to the participating finalists.