T3 India

News

Skoda Auto enters the realm of NFTs with Skodaverse India

by

Skoda Auto India has steered into the global Web 3.0 initiative with Skodaverse India. Part of the global Skodaverse initiative, Skodaverse India starts with a platform that enables users to explore, buy and trade NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) online.

Mr. Christian Cahn von Seelen, Executive Director, Sales, Marketing and Digital, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India said, “Skodaverse India signifies the brands leap into uncharted digital territory. It’s not just about creating extraordinary digital assets, it’s about forging deep connections with a community that shares an unwavering passion for the brand and its initiatives in India. It also showcases our commitment to sustainability and innovation, through leveraging carbon neutral blockchain technology that enables secure, transparent, and decentralized transactions.”

An NFT is a digital certificate of ownership that acts as a unique identifier which cannot be copied, substituted or subdivided. They are recorded on a blockchain and used as certificates of authenticity as well as ownership. An NFT can be an image, video, sound or any other creative digital form as well as tickets and membership pass.

The Skodaverse India NFT platform will enable purchase of NFTs through crypto currencies as well as through INR, USD, Euro and other fiat currencies. The first collection of NFTs will be minted on the NEAR Protocol, a carbon neutral project as certified by South Pole. The platform is bulit on a sharded, proof-of-stake, layer-one blockchain designed for usability.

Costa Introduces New India Cruises

by

 Costa Cruises will offer a new cruise programme exclusively dedicated to India. The announcement was made in the presence of Mr Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Government of India; Mr Roberto Alberti, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Costa Cruises; Mr Francesco Raffa, Director Asia Region & Growth Markets, Costa Cruises; Mr Alessandro De Masi, Consul General of Italy in Mumbai, and other senior officials.

The ship chosen by the Italian company for India is the Costa Serena, which, after itineraries from Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan, will further extend its deployment in Asia. There are a total of 23 new sailings in India from 4 November 2023 to 1 January 2024, designed in collaboration with Costa’s General Sales Agent in India, Lotus Aero Enterprises. They will exclusively visit domestic destinations, giving Indian guests the opportunity to discover some of their country’s most beautiful locations from a unique point of view. The itineraries, lasting between two, three and five days, will call at Mumbai, Cochin, Goa and, for the first time ever, the Lakshadweep, a beautiful tropical archipelago with white beaches and a magnificent coral reef.

Mr Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Government of India said, “India’s waterways are a treasure trove waiting to be explored by tourists; our country is filled with scenic locales and beautiful destinations. I am happy to know about the new cruise programme exclusively dedicated to India by Costa Cruises. This programme also aligns with Shri Narendra Modi ji’s vision of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ – an initiative that was launched as an appeal by the honourable Prime Minister to Indians to prefer domestic tourism”.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Roberto Alberti, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Costa Cruises, said, we have a strong and lasting bond with this wonderful Country: we have already sailed our ships in India in the past, and many of our onboard colleagues are from India. We select and recruit them through dedicated training schools based right in the Country. We are strongly committed in offering our Indian guests a unique holiday experience onboard Costa Serena and we are truly looking forward to starting our operations in November. Costa Serena will be the largest cruise ship to operate domestic itineraries in India”.

Ms Nalini Gupta, Managing Director Lotus Aero Enterprises, GSA Costa Cruise India, said, “We are excited to launch this programme for Indian travelers. This will also help unlock our country’s true tourism potential and help travelers explore hidden gems and get to know our own country in a new light. We are particularly excited about taking travelers to Lakshadweep for the first time ever helping explore its magnificent coral reefs”.

IceWarp Announces Major Upgrade to User Workflows with Epos

by

IceWarp, announced the upcoming version Epos, a major upgrade to their suite of business email and collaboration services, focused on a streamlined user experience with the slogan “Meet IceWarp Epos– the office buddy for your daily agenda”. The new version was launched amongst top CIOs of India at an event in Mumbai which included Kersi Tavadia, CIO – BSE, Sunil Mehta, CIO & Partner – BDO India, Sanjeev Jain, CIO – Integreon, Ajit Singh Nawale, IT Head – Mahindra CIE Automotive LTD, Ashok Jade, Global CIO – Kirloskar Brothers Limited, Parna Ghosh, President and Group CIO – UNO Minda and many more.

The new IceWarp app unifies the Conference’s virtual meetings with audio & video sharing capability with the full TeamChat experience including threaded conversations, just like in the full desktop interface. As a first, collaborative document editing is now supported so that users can continue editing the document where they left off and seamlessly switch between full-fledged and mobile editors.

The app allows users to separate their work life from their personal apps or accounts and remain compliant with BYOD policies through a single vetted app. Like the rest of the suite, it sports the new Epos design and overcomes the integration shortfalls of previously separate apps. Instead, the new app is based on the familiar all-in-one concept, allowing users to access all their data on the go, in a single interface.

Speaking about the launch, Adam Paclt, Global CEO, IceWarp said, “India is a very important market for us after Covid-19 Pandemic. We are excited to announce the upcoming release of Epos. For us, this version marks the next chapter of IceWarp evolution and allows us to jump light years ahead of similar tools in our segment. We are confident that our customers will love the new streamlined experience that we built for them.”

Samsung Announced Top 30 Teams of Solve for Tomorrow 2023

by

Samsung today announced the top 30 teams in its flagship youth education and innovation competition ‘Solve for Tomorrow’. The competition invited ideas from 16-22-year-olds to solve problems around four themes – Education & Learning, Health & Wellness, Environment & Sustainability and Diversity & Inclusion. 

Solve for Tomorrow 2023 has seen teams from across the country respond and submit ideas to help tackle problems that India faces. The competition got over 70,000 registrations from youth across 500 cities, towns and villages, symbolic of the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of Bharat.

For the second year of the CSR program, Samsung India has partnered with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s (MeitY’s) Startup Hub and Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi.

Youth from the top 30 teams have submitted ideas to solve real-world problems around converting sea water into potable water, drinking and driving, skilling of youth, improving efficiency of solar panels and finding missing children. Their ideas also focus on early detection of many diseases in women using menstrual blood samples, mental health, food wastage, identifying diseases in crops, safeguarding teenagers against inappropriate content, and addressing gender bias in STEM fields, among others.

“At Samsung, we believe in harnessing the power of our youth which resides in their skills and abilities to drive positive social changes. Our flagship CSR program Samsung Solve for Tomorrow taps into the spirit of innovation in the minds of the country’s youth. We are excited about the 70,000 plus registrations we have received. The top 30 teams we have selected will move to the next phase of the competition and we are keen to see how their ideas shape up going forward, contributing to Powering Digital India,” said Mr. Hyun Kim, Corporate Vice President, Samsung Southwest Asia.

“We are happy to associate with the Solve for Tomorrow program. The selected young teams from all over the country will provide innovative solutions to problems that India and the world face. Initiatives like this will help transform and strengthen India’s innovation ecosystem. We are excited to train and support these budding innovators,” said Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi.

“The top 30 teams and their ideas really have the potential to transform the lives of people. It is exciting to see youths from non-metro cities come up with such innovative ideas. With Samsung and the Solve for Tomorrow program, we are positive that we will be able to give them proper guidance and skills to make their ideas a reality and build a new India,” said Mr. Jeet Vijay, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub.

These top 30 teams will receive online training on design thinking and innovation and will be mentored by Samsung and its partners – Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi and MeitY Startup Hub at a residential bootcamp at IIT Delhi, helping participants enhance their ideas.

The top 30 teams will also get INR 20,000 each to create initial prototypes and then pitch their ideas to a jury of young Samsung employees under the guidance of experts from FITT, IIT Delhi and MeitY Startup Hub. This jury will select the top 10 teams for the finale.

These top 30 teams will also get the opportunity to visit Samsung India offices, its R&D centres, design centre and Samsung Opera House in Bengaluru where they will interact with Samsung employees and researchers. Each member of the top 30 teams will get a prize comprising a Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 laptop and Galaxy Buds2 Pro alongside a certificate for attending the bootcamp,

The annual program will end with the grand announcement of three winners who stand a chance to win INR 1.5 crore in prize money and exciting Samsung products.

Samsung’s Largest Premium Experience Store Opens in Telangana

by

Samsung India has inaugurated its largest Premium Experience Store in Telangana at the Inorbit Mall in Hyderabad, and announced attractive offers on select Galaxy devices. The new store highlights Samsung’s entire product ecosystem through exciting zones around Samsung’s connected ecosystem SmartThings, smartphones, laptops, audio, gaming, and lifestyle televisions. The store also has a Bespoke DIY Customisation Zone where consumers can personalise their smartphones, tabs and covers with accessories, including ones with local Hyderabad flavour.

The store is located in the new premium wing of the popular Inorbit Mall in the Cyberabad area of Hyderabad, which has emerged as a hub of Gen Z and millennials in recent years.

At the store, Samsung will host a variety of Galaxy workshops under ‘Learn @ Samsung’ for tech savvy consumers, especially Gen Z and millennials. This will include workshops around consumer passion points such as digital art, doodling, photography, videography, fitness, cooking, coding, music as well as events around the culture and ethos of the city. Spread across 3,500 sq ft of space, the store will also host a variety of entertainment activities with special focus on local culture, music, and art, offering a Samsung experience customised to the city of Hyderabad.

Consumers coming into the store will get assured gifts, 2X loyalty points on purchase of select Samsung products and Galaxy Buds2 at INR 2,999 with select Galaxy devices in the first week after launch. In addition, consumers can also avail always-on special benefits such as student discounts of up to 10 percent on smartphones, tabs, laptops and smartwatches, up to 22.5 percent cashback and INR 22,000 in additional benefits.

“We are excited to bring the next-gen Premium Experience Store to our consumers in Hyderabad. Our aim is to connect the diverse local community with the best of Samsung technology. We have tailored unique experiences through zones such as Samsung SmartThings, Gaming and Bespoke DIY Customisation, designed especially for Gen Z consumers,” said Sumit Walia, Senior Director, Samsung India.

“Moreover, to engage our young consumers through their passion points, we will also host ‘Learn @ Samsung’ workshops. These workshops will focus on varied consumer interests such as digital art, doodling, photography, videography, fitness, cooking, coding and music, among others,” he added.

The newly launched store offers a next-generation larger-than-life experience of Samsung products alongside a one-of-a-kind experience to young gaming enthusiasts with a dedicated gaming zone that showcases premium range of smart monitors – Odyssey Ark.

Samsung aims to provide a ‘phygital’ experience for consumers visiting the new store through Samsung’s Store+ endless aisle platform. With Store+, consumers will be able to browse Samsung products with over 1,200 options across its portfolio, whether available online or in store, using a digital Kiosk. Consumers can also order online from the store and have the products delivered home directly.

They can also access Samsung’s digital lending platform Samsung Finance+ and Samsung’s device care plan Samsung Care+ for Galaxy smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, in addition to hassle-free after-sales service for their smartphones and book service calls for their consumer electronics products at home.