Research In Motion (RIM) has announced plans to double the sales presence of its BlackBerry smartphones in India, as it looks to gain greater share of the country’s

According to a report from India’s Economic Times, RIM will increase its presence in the country to cover 160 different cities this year, that’s double the current number that it reaches through its availability in some 4,000 retail outlets nationwide.

This year, RIM is set to introduce a number of devices running its new BlackBerry 10 operating system, as new CEO Thorsten Heins forges on with his plans to keep the company among the world’s top three smartphone makers.

More than 15 million smartphones were sold in India during November alone as smartphone shipments to the country hit a record high in 2011. However, smartphones accounted for just 6 percent of the 160 million plus units shipped and they remain a growing niche there.

With 3G devices accounting for just 6 percent of 2011′s shipped units, it is clear that India’s mobile market has much potential for growth among its 1.2 billion population. India’s overall mobile market is close to saturation point, with mobile penetration growth lessening as more and more people own devices. The next step is likely to see an increase in mobile phone moving to upgrade their experience with a feature phone or smartphone.

Samsung has invested significantly in India and the Korea firm recently overtook rival Nokia at the top of the country’s smartphone market. The change of order had been strongly predicted, in spite of Nokia’s new Windows Phone 7 devices, but RIM will be hoping that it can rival the duo and build its presence in the market.

RIM has had a number of run-ins in India which have affected its efforts there. Last year it suffered significant service disruptions in a number of markets, including India, while it has lost key executives in India and been dogged by the government’s requests for a local server.

BlackBerry smartphones currently boast a strong foothold in Southeast Asia, however growing competition in the space may see its lead eroded in key markets this year.

Indian e-commerce site Flipkart is reported to have bought local rival LetsBuy, according to a report from Medianama. The deal is expected to be confirmed over the coming few days, with sources speculating that it could be worth $20-30 million.

Updated with confirmation of the deal from Flipkart, as below.

When asked by Medianama about the deal, Manish Vij, who was an early investors in LetsBuy, declined to confirm or deny the news, instead saying:

LetsBuy is the second largest player in the country, and is the strongest competitior to Flipkart. From a comscore standpoint, it has 2 million unique and over 5 million visitors every month, and is among the top 4 commerce sites in the country. The company has options on raising funds as well, but is considering its options as of now.

Indian tech blog Pluggdin speculates that the deal has been “forced by investors” arguing that LetsBuy saw its prime investor — Tiger Global — withdraw support for the site, while the high cost of customer acquisition in India forced its hand.

News of the deal comes just one week after Amazon opened its first dedicated Indian servie with the launch of Junglee. The Amazon service remains in beta, to that the point that it is yet to offer a buying mechanism, instead sending visitors to sellers’ own sites, but it has increased the heat on Flipkart in India.

It will be interesting to see how the deal progresses as there as distinct differences between the services. Suddenly, over the course of a week, India’s e-commerce markets appears to have moved from a local dominated market towards an industry that could pit Flipkart against Amazon.

Amazon failed with an attempt to purchase Flipkart last year, and since then Flipkart has grown considerably having recently predicted a ten fold increase in sales as the country’s online retail space grew significantly last year.

A survey from Juxt, released in August, concluded that 30 percent of India’s 65 million Internet users used online shopping services. That was followed by research from comScore that reported that coupon services had grown massively in 2011, with Amazon’s international service beating Flipkart with 2.8 million monthly visitors against its 2.7 million.

India’s Internet penetration is still below 10 percent, meaning that e-commerce and other online industries are set to continue to grow strongly as more of the public gain access to the Web.

Update: Flipkart has been in touch with us to confirm the deal, however no figure has been revealed.

Flipkart Acquires Letsbuy

Consolidates leadership in online Consumer Electronics space

Bangalore. February 9, 2012: Flipkart.com, India’s largest e-commerce player in physical products has acquired Letsbuy, the second largest retailer in electronics. With this move, Flipkart has firmly established itself as the leader in the consumer electronic space. This deal will also allow for a faster rate of expansion for both companies – giving the combined entity a much larger share in the consumer electronics market.

India’s minister of state for communications and technology has warned Facebook, Google and other Web firms that they must conform to India’s laws if they want to operate in the country.

Minister Sachin Pilot told IBN that there is simply no other option:

Be it a social media website or any other site on internet, they all have to operate within the laws of the country and they should be accountable and responsible for what they put up on their web pages.

Pilot went on to emphasise that the government is seeking to collaborate with online service providers rather than censor them. He backed up comments made by communications and IT minister Milind Deora, when he said:

Our concern is only with objectionable content. There is no place for things that would offend anyone or cause social disharmony. Laws have been made to protect the fundamental rights of the people and they are applicable to all.

Yesterday saw a breakthrough as Google and Facebook both revealed that they had removed the content at the centre of ongoing legal disputes against them and 19 other companies. Two separate suits, filed by Indian citizens, accuse them of failing to uphold national standards by not removing unsuitable content from the country’s Internet space.

Controversy around the issue first began in December when it was revealed that acting telecom minister Kapil Sibal had held a series of meeting with Internet companies in what was reported to be a bid for real-time censoring.

Sibal later denied that he’d sought real-time screening, claiming that he had been misquoted, however he did state his belief that India requires a new system to deal with objectionable content, beyond the filters and management that Google and others have in place.

The flames of controversy were further fanned when a local court ordered Facebook and Google to remove content, while a national court later claimed that authorities would not hestitate to introduce Chinese-style censorship if they failed to act.

Google and Facebook today told an Indian court that they have already removed the objectionable content that was the source of a civil suit against the duo and 19 other Internet companies, according to a report from NDTV.

The case is one of two pieces of legal action in India that has been taken out against the Internet companies accusing them of failing to remove content that mocks and criticises religious and cultural figures in the country.

Today’s hearing was for the suit filed by Mufti Aizaz Arshad Kazmi in December, and it is seperate to the other case which was submitted by journalist Vinay Rao. The second case remains ongoing as Facebook, Google, Yahoo and others protest that any expectation of real-time censorship of content is simply not feasible.

Controversy around the issue first began in December when it was revealed that acting telecom minister Kapil Sibal had held a series of meeting with the companies in what was reportedly a bid for real-time censoring.

Sibal later denied the claims of the real-time request, saying he had been misquoted, however he did state his belief that India requires a new system to deal with objectionable content, beyond the filters and management that Google and others have in place.

The flames of controversy were further fanned when a local court ordered Facebook and Google to remove content, while a national court later claimed that authorities would not hestitate to introduce Chinese-style censorship if they failed to act.

India’s minister for communications and IT has since denied that the government is looking to censor Web firms and, with the admission that the objectionable content has been removed, things may settle down for now.

However, the case raises longer term questions as Indian authorities are clearly unhappy that their view and standards for what constitutes censorable content is not shared by the firms. As Google and Facebook stand by their standards, the courtroom has become the only to challenge them.

With two cases in progress already, we may well see more legal action unless Google, Facebook and others can convince authorities that they are fighting for the same values.

Twitter has signalled its intention to grow its business and revenues in Asia after appointing the executive who headed up Google’s display advertising in the region as vice president of international operations, according to India’s Economic Times.

February 3 was Canadian-born Shailesh Rao‘s final day at Google, where he served as managing director of media and platforms across Asia Pacific and managing director of Google India. In his dual role, Rao managed the company’s display advertising business across the continent and headed up operations in India.

Twitter told Business Week that Rao will come on board later this year to work on the advertising side of its business, but it is unclear exactly what his day-to-day responsibilities and markets will be. The firm is moving to develop its presence and revenue outside of North America and key European markets, having most recently introduced a feature to help it comply with censorship, an introduction that was welcomed in parts of Asia last week.

Twitter’s advertising is predicted to triple over the next two years to hit $540 million by 2014, according to research from eMarketer. Bringing in a seasoned Asia veteran like Rao, who has experience growing ad revenues in the region, is clearly a key move to boost its presence and increase revenue in new and potentially lucrative markets.

The move is also likely to see Twitter tap into Rao’s experience in India. With the service blocked in China, with little sign of anything changing soon, India’s 1.17 billion population makes it the next biggest country in Asia and a logical target for Twitter.

A Google spokesperson confirmed the departure of Rao in a statement that was released on Friday:

We thank Shailesh for his fantastic contributions to Google, and Google India in particular, and wish him the best in his future endeavours.

Recently voted ’Internet professional of the year’ by the Internet Mobile Association Of India (IAMAI), Rao first joined Google in March 2005 as director of local search based out of its its Mountain View office.

During his time with the company, his projects included launching Google Maps and Google Earth in a number of emerging markets, before he moved to head up operations in India in 2007.

Online retail giant Amazon has taken its first step into India’s e-commerce market with the launch of its Junglee shopping service which went live in the country today.

India’s online retail space is dominated by home grown firms, including Flipkart and travel specialist Makemytrip, but now Amazon is set to rival them with a local offering. Junglee will offer more than 12 million products from over 14,000 domestic and international brands, according to the company.

The service starts in beta and it has a distinctly Amazon look and feel to it. The goods on offer include items from Amazon.com in additional to local brands and products.

Amazon is yet to launch its famed international store in the country but the opening of Junglee, which Pluggd reminds us was bought from two Indian entrepreneurs ten years ago, is a first step to more as it develops its logistics in, and understanding of,ope the country.

Amazon has a number of development centres in India but rumours of a dedicated Indian operation have been rife for some time. Though reports in June and July last year correctly earmarked the first quarter of 2012 for the launch, Amazon was widely anticipated to launch its Indian brand rather than Junglee.

The company failed with an attempt to purchase Flipkart last year, and it has since watched as the Indian firm predicted a ten fold increase in sales as the country’s online retail space grew significantly last year.

A survey from Juxt, released in August, concluded that 30 percent of India’s 65 million Internet users used online shopping services. That was followed by research from comScore that reported that coupon services had grown massively in 2011, with Amazon’s international service beating Flipkart with 2.8 million monthly visitors against its 2.7 million.

India’s Internet penetration is still below 10 percent, meaning that e-commerce and other online industries are set to continue to grow strongly as more of the public gain access to the Web.

The Indian Army is reported to be introducing a total ban on social networking amongst its servicemen and women as it is fears that sites like Facebook could lead to crucial information leaking into the wrong hands.

The ban, which was reported by Ad Age and is yet to be confirmed by authorities, is said to require the force’s 36,000 officers and 1.3 million other personnel to immediately cease using and delete their social networks profiles. New recruits will be informed that they are not permitted to even join, let alone use, social networks at any point while they service in the army.

The increase in photos of officers in uniform, with weapons or amongst their units posted to the Web has led to concerns that important information may be at risk through sites like Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and others.

While authorities aren’t fearful of officers revealing data themselves, they are concerned that those who are clearly identified as army personnel could be targeted by stings or honey-traps. Such tactics are commonly used in the business world, where fake accounts are set up with the intention of friending insiders to gain their trust and extract crucial information through conversations on social networks.

A source revealed that “if any officer or soldier is found violating [the order], strict action will be taken”, although no specific details of punishments was given.

The increase in modern communication is posing new and difficult demands for armed forces and other organisations that deal with confidential information. In Singapore, for example, Apple has begun selling its iPhone devices without a camera as authorities look to mitigate the data risk associated with modern smartphones.

The move hasn’t come out of the blue and, as Pluggdin explains, four naval officers were investigated this week after leaving confidential information through social networks, while a similar incident took place in 2009.

The alternative to an all-out ban, which is not likely to be well received by army personnel, would be a scheme to educate servicemen and women of the dangers of online communication and the Internet. However, the risk of officers being trapped appears to be sufficient enough for the army to take no risks and roll out a blanket ban.

Image credit: Flickr user soldiersmediacentre

India’s smartphone market is showing significant potential, according to data from CyberMedia Research, which concludes that 2011 saw record shipments and sales in the country.

During the first eleven months of last year, smartphone shipments passed the 10 million mark for the first time, to account for 6 percent of the near 166 million shipments made. It isn’t just the increase in anticipated demand that is on the rise, as smartphone sales topped one million per month for three consecutive months, September through October, which is another first in the country.

However, with more than 15 million devices sold during November, smartphones remain a niche part of India’s mobile market. It is Samsung that is best placed to take advantage of the space’s potential, as it reportedly scooped 34.1 percent of November’s smartphones sales, ahead of Nokia (22.4 percent) and RIM (18.6 percent).

The data does not take into account sales of Nokia’s Windows Phone 7-based Lumia devices, though, as they were launched in India towards the end of November. It remains to be seen whether the devices, which were designed with India in mind, can claw Nokia back ahead of Samsung in India.

CyberMedia sees that the growth of smartphone sales will provide a boost for Indian operator revenues:

Increased installed base of smartphones and greater operator focus on arresting declining ARPUs set stage for rise in share of revenues from data services in 2012 and beyond.

Equally 3G devices, which accounted for 8.9 percent of measured shipments, are set for a big part in the future of mobile in India, although lead analyst Naveen Mishra admits that “the user experience on 3G networks [is currently] constrained due to network quality issues”.

One final notable point from the data is the popularity of multi-SIM handsets, which accounted for 54 percent of total mobile shipments. Nokia leads this segment too, as its seven models hold a 19 percent shipment share.

Image via arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com

India’s Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has joined Twitter to boost his communication with the country and young people in particular.

The account — @PMOIndia — will communicate key announcements and news from the Prime Minister’s office, rather than Singh himself, in the same style that the US has @whitehouse and the UK has @Number10gov, although Singh’s team has refused to rule out the possibility that he may one day have his own personal account.

The Prime Minster’s communications staff further outlined the motivation behind the adopting of Twitter, telling the BBC:

A lot of work gets done in the prime minister’s office. Mr Singh makes 30-45 trips in a year. All this is not reflected properly and is not going out to the people. The Twitter account will help in disseminating this information. It will also help him to reach out to younger people.

Singh is well know for keeping a low profile and being inaccessible to media, unlike other world leaders, although this foray into social media will begin to address that.

The account is being handled by Singh’s team, rather than the Prime Minister himself. It has already accumulated more than 9,000 followers, having begin tweeting less than 24 hours ago with this message:

“You make all of us proud”– PM tells young bravehearts at Bravery Award function. pmindia.gov.in/getdoc.php?id=…

— Dr Manmohan Singh (@PMOIndia) January 23, 2012

Singh has some way to go if he is to scale the heights of India’s most popular Twitteratti. Veteran cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar become the first Indian to reach one million followers last year, he now has 1.8 million, while his national team captain MS Doni recently reached seven figures.

Though it made a slow start, last year saw the microblogging service win over some sceptics and grown into a hit in the country, particularly among cricket players, Bollywood entertainers and other celebrities.

[Image courtesy of Image Maker / Shutterstock.com]

Dave McClure certainly has a way with words, and his presentations can’t be missed. His signature presentation “How to pitch a VC” is a crowd favorite with entrepreneurs, and if you haven’t seen it yet, now is the time.

During his recent trip to India, VC and leader of 500 Startups, McClure unleashed his infamous, and quite insightful, presentation.

While India is becoming a hot place to start a new tech company, I’m pretty sure that the country has never seen anything like McClure. Enjoy “How to pitch a VC” from Startup Weekend Delhi, the crowd reactions are priceless: