RockeTalk: Play 'Reality' Through Mobile Date:   Monday , January 04, 2010 Thanks to RockeTalk, the reality show bug that bit the television sets across India has now spread its wings to the mobile handset. Imagine, being able to participate in a reality show through your cell phone using just a simple mobile app! This is exactly what several participants of a reality show on the lines of Channel V’s ‘Exhausted’ did. Using cell phones loaded with RockeTalk, contestants participated in a ‘Wake-a-thon.’ The participants stayed awake to answer 48 questions to answer through the night. They used the RockeTalk application on their phones to answer these questions in their voices and through video. RockeTalk, the brainchild of Rajiv Kumar, developed the concept of heightened user engagement with users, brands, television shows and radio. With ‘Wake-a-thon,’ it brought a new level of interaction between the audience and the television shows- proving that the mobile phones were aptly called the ‘third’ screen. Kumar, an IIT Mumbai alumnus, founded RockeTalk with an aim to take wireless communication to the next level. Following the success of his previous startup Widcomm, (acquired by Broadcom), Kumar wanted to take wireless communication beyond short range, beyond carriers and international boundaries, where people could talk to each other, share experiences, and learn from each other, creating a true sense of a global community. And today, 800,000 users are doing exactly that, and Kumar believes very soon over one million users will reap the benefits of RockeTalk. Well, this reality show is one of the several ‘engaging’ happenings on RockeTalk. Another form of interesting interaction on RockeTalk is the radio like communities experience where users can tune in to the community of their choice and listen to and participate in the general ‘open’ sessions or more structured ‘talk shows’ with hosts who introduce and guide the discussions on hot topics like ‘Down memory lane: Humara Bajaj’ or ‘Rakhi Sawant’s Swayambar: Real or Stunt.’ Then there are more serious ones like ‘AIDs: Multiple partners’ and topics on finance and automobiles. Using RockeTalk on their mobile phones, users enjoy and experience real time interactive shows. According to the company, people are also using this to connect with their family and friends around the globe and sharing pictures, videos through this application. Unlike other social networking applications, the hallmark of RockeTalk is the use of voice interaction where users can be more open and expressive using voice, pictures and video with each other or through thousands of live, buzzing communities. It also offers an Instant Messenger (IM) chat feature that is compatible with Yahoo, GoogleTalk, MSN, AIM and ICQ with which users can connect with their friends using a single login. Kumar claims that their “Indirect competitors,” who are startups in this space, only offer “Parts of what RockeTalk offers,” and hence, the company has a significant advantage over them. The company is betting hard on the future growth of mobile usage. Close to 400 million people in India now own mobile phones and around 15-20 percent of these mobiles are internet equipped and the number of Indians using their mobiles to go online has increased from 16 million in 2006 to about 40 million now. “There is rapid adoption of mobile internet happening in India especially in smaller cities, where there is less physical infrastructure and here many people use their phones to browse internet,” says Kumar. To widen its reach, the company has also tied up with handset manufacturers like Samsung and LG, who offer their customers with handsets that are pre-loaded with RockeTalk. The San Diego, California based company has a headcount of 37 with a branch office in New Delhi. The company, which has focused mainly on markets like India, Indonesia, Philippines, the Middle East and Pakistan has raised $8 million till date, and now plans to spread its presence to newer markets. “We will be entering the U.S.in the first week of January 2010 with a product for the iPhone and BlackBerry users,” says Kumar. With new applications and the markets to focus upon, RockeTalk is on its way to realizing the dream of being the best in the mobile social media.