comScore, Inc. has released its first study of Internet usage in India, which reports that more than 28 million people in India age 15 and older accessed the Internet from home and work locations in May. This represents a 27-percent increase versus year ago, making India one of the fastest-growing Internet populations among the 37 individually-reported countries in the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. Additionally, the fact that Internet users in India represent approximately only 3 percent of the population indicates significant potential for continued strong growth.

Google Sites ranked as the top property in India with nearly 20 million visitors in May, a 35-percent increase versus year ago. The property grew on the strength of several Google-owned entities, including Google Search (up 38 percent to 17.1 million visitors), social networking site Orkut (up 39 percent to 9.3 million visitors), blog platform Blogger.com (up 102 percent to 7.3 million visitors), and video site YouTube (up 131 percent to 6.3 million visitors).

Some findings from the study include:

• The average Indian Internet user visited the Internet 25 times during the month and was online for 28 minutes per visit.

• Those between the ages of 15-24 were the heaviest Internet users among all age segments, spending nearly 12 hours online per month on average.

• Some of the fastest growing Web site categories during the past year included Maps (up 64 percent), Sports (up 60 percent), Entertainment/Movies (up 55 percent), and Finance/News/Research (up 52 percent).

Originally posted on July 22, 2008 @ 4:54 pm

Mozilla announced that it has set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours. The record-setting 8,002,530 downloads coincided with the launch of Firefox 3, Mozilla’s major update to its browser.

“As the arbiter and recorder of the world’s amazing facts, Guinness World Records is pleased to add Mozilla’s achievement to our archives,” said Gareth Deaves, Records Manager for Guinness World Records. “Mobilizing over 8 million internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication.”

The global Mozilla community has been celebrating the historic goal of establishing a Guinness World Record with parties in more than 25 countries, including a 24-hour long download fest celebration called Camp Firefox at Mozilla’s Mountain View headquarters.

Originally posted on July 2, 2008 @ 9:28 pm

Mozilla announced the release of Firefox 3, a major update to popular and open source web browser. Firefox 3 is the culmination of three years of efforts from thousands of developers, security experts, localization and support communities, and testers from around the globe.

Firefox 3 is two to three times faster than its predecessor and offers more than 15,000 improvements, including the revolutionary smart location bar, malware protection, and extensive under the hood work to improve the speed and performance of the browser.

The release today of Firefox 3 kicks off Download Day, the Mozilla community’s grassroots campaign to set a brand new Guinness World Record for the greatest number of software downloads in 24 hours.

Originally posted on June 17, 2008 @ 3:20 pm

eBay Motors has unveiled its eBay Motors Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Showroom. Designed to house franchise dealer inventory, this hub is exclusively sponsored by Lexus and provides eBay Motors’ 12 million monthly unique visitors with even more selection.

Lexus, General Motors and Chrysler are the first brands to be featured in the new eBay Motors CPO Showroom. GM Certified Used Vehicles announced its commitment to list its entire national inventory on eBay Motors at no cost to dealers in February.

The CPO Showroom enables consumers to view certified pre-owned inventory from dealers within their local area via a classified listings format. Participating dealers automatically upload their CPO inventory using OEM-customized templates. Consumers, in turn, can communicate with dealers directly via email or a toll-free number and through the eBay Motors platform.

With the current economic situation, it as become a clear option for buyers to go for certified used vehicles. CPOs usually carry with it a good range of warranty and mileage.

Originally posted on June 12, 2008 @ 2:08 pm