Number of deal hunters growing

Nearly 65 per cent of Indian internet users compare prices on at least three travel sites before booking flights online, and 18 per cent of users check five or more travel sites before completing a transaction, according to a recent study by iXiGO.com, a travel search engine.

The online travel survey, which includes responses from over 2,500 travellers in India, suggests they have no clear preference for either airline sites or online travel agency (OTA) sites for completing their transactions. Over 61 per cent of respondents book “where the best deals are”, 23 per cent prefer to book on airline official sites and 16 per cent stick to booking on OTA sites.

Cash in your mobile inbox
Cyber Café Association of India (CCAOI), along with ZipCash, has launched an SMS-based payment platform for utility bills, online shopping and retail shopping. A user is required to open a ZipCash account and top up the account by cash cards, cheques, net banking, credit cards, etc. Through the collaboration with CCAOI, ZipCash hopes to reach out to millions of Indians who access internet through cyber cafés. Vivek Saxena, co-founder and CEO, ZipCash, claimed cyber café users could safely buy tickets, goods, services and pay their bills, as the service did not require a user to disclose his credit card or bank account details.

Win 7 RC to shut down
Users who have installed the Release Candidate of the Windows 7 operating system, which was launched in May 2009, will begin to see bi-hourly shutdowns beginning March 1. Although the software won’t totally expire until June 1, users will start getting reminders from the company to switch to the full version of Win 7. On Microsoft’s official Win 7 blog, a company spokesperson wrote: “To avoid any data loss, I suggest making plans to move to a released version of Windows 7 before the automatic shutdowns start. During these shutdowns, your work will not be saved.”

After June 1, the OS will be marked “non-genuine” and the message ‘This copy of Windows is not genuine’ will be displayed on the user’s PC. “From this point, your PC will no longer be able to download optional updates or those that require genuine Windows validation.”