Indian Portal Rediff.com Branches Out To VoIP And Gaming

News.com: We had written about Rediff expanding to value added services like mobile applications. This story is an addition.
Rediff.com, based in Mumbai, is launching three new services aimed at expanding its local base of 35 million registered users and boosting its international audience.
The company, which is listed on the Nasdaq exchange, will offer voice over instant messenger geared for low bandwidth connections, a social networking site, and a news site with computer and human-generated listings.
The instant messenger over VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service, released this week, allows people to send text messages to mobile phones and offers calls of good quality with connections of 14.4 kilobits per second, Rediff.com CEO Ajit Balakrishnan said. VoIP IM helps people “speak to people in other parts of the world for free. It’s a utility tool, not just something that teenagers use,” he said.
A key focus is that it will work on low-tech systems. Broadband in India means 128kbps, and it remains fairly sparse. Eighty percent of computer users in India are still using Windows 98, Balakrishnan said, and roughly 60 percent of PC Internet access takes place through Internet cafes.
Rediff.com, which is in English, eventually will offer chat “avatars”–or personalized animations–that can be used on gaming platforms, Balakrishnan said. It is currently developing compatible games with Chinese developers. “Gaming is showing traction in cybercafe markets,” he said.
The company also has launched a beta of its new India Connexions social networking Web site, which already has 500,000 testers, Balakrishnan said.

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