Daily News Roundup: Facebook for Windows, e-Nagar, Doctree, Box TV

Facebook Messenger for Windows to be shutdown

Facebook has started displaying a message claiming that the Facebook Messenger for Windows users will be shut down on March 3. The following message appears on the application, “We’re sorry, but we can no longer support Facebook Messenger for Windows, and it will stop working on March 3, 2014. We really appreciate you using Messenger to reach your friends, and we want to make sure you know that you can keep chatting and view all your messages on http://www.facebook.com. Learn more.”

The Facebook Messenger for Windows installer is also not available on the official site. Though the app is available for Android and iOS, but not for Windows.The news comes less than three days after Microsoft announced Facebook Messenger for Windows Phone would arrive in just a few weeks. Facebook Messenger for Windows was released in March 2012, following a limited beta test in November 2011.

Modi launches e-Nagar project, 8 cities to get free wifi

Gujarat’s Chief Minister, Narendra Modi has announced plans to set up WiFi hotspots in eight localities of Ahmedabad as a part of the state’s ‘e-Nagar’ project. The first localities chosen are: Kankaria, Gandhi Ashram, Iskon Mall, Karnavati club, Science City, Civil hospital, Drive-In, Madhupura market. 53 towns in Gujarat will be covered under the project.

“Our dream is that of a Digital India and a Digital Gujarat is a beginning in this direction. And today is the first step- of making Ahmedabad a Wi-Fi city”, said Modi. This scheme is in association with Pan India 4G operator Reliance Jio.

The e-Nagar initiative will span Geo-Spatial mapping (resource mapping for developmental plans), city civic centres, m-Governance, intelligent transit system with GPS, citizen service portals, self-help kiosk, call centres and wi-fi hotspots. The key technology projects that will be implemented are the: e-nagar web portal, e-nagar mobile application, and BRTS bus arrival mapping. Other projects, such as “e-ward” (issuing digital signatures on birth certificates and paying taxes by mobile in Surat are said to be implemented soon.)

Doctree raises funding from S4 Holdings

Bangalore based, Doctree Healthcare Infoservice Pvt ltd which provides web-based services to patients has raised funding from two private investors, say reports. The company plans to expand its services to South India as well.

The company secured funding from S4 Holdings besides an Indian academic.According to the founders, the company will add more services like medical tourism and financial help for patients etc. The source of revenue for the company is the annual fee charged from doctors and hospitals registered on its network. The company aims to achieve a revenue target of Rs. 0.8 Crores for financial year 2014.

BoxTV introduces mobile-enabled payments for subscribers in UK‏

Times Internet has recently launched mobile-enabled payments for its video-streaming service, BoxTV . Now, customers of Virgin Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, 3 and O2 in the UK would be able to purchase BoxTV mobile packs online or through BoxTV’s Android application, with the help of its mobile billing partner Fortumo.

Pandurang Nayak, Business Head – BoxTV.com said, “With a large diaspora of Indians in the UK, BoxTV is glad to offer them an additional option to pay conveniently through their mobile phones for enjoying premium Bollywood and regional content.”

The UK is the second largest Western country for the Indian diaspora, and BoxTV has established itself as an Indian film discovery platform by offering popular content from Bollywood and Regional cinema . It has tied up with prestigious studios like  Disney, UTV, Shemaroo, Rajshree, Balaji motion pictures to stream more than 14000 hours of content that focuses on movies, TV shows, and documentaries. The service currently claims more than half a million registered users worldwide and Times Internet has plans to expand it “aggressively” in the coming months.