Firechat was sparking interest in India, even before it became a mainstay of the Hong Kong protests

Firechat, an app that allows people to communicate without an internet connection, is firing up the pro-democracy street protests in Hong Kong. The app has been downloaded by more than 100,000 users in Hong Kong in the last 24 hours, according to Open Garden, the company that created it.

When there is no cellular or wifi connection to the broader internet, Firechat lets users send text and images to each other using bluetooth or peer-to-peer wifi. And if one person in the group, known as a mesh network, has an internet connection, it can be shared with everyone else.

That makes Firechat perfect for a situation like the Hong Kong protests, where a large number of people are gathered in a small area and cellular networks are congested—or, though this hasn’t happened to date, authorities might shut down internet access altogether. That’s why Joshua Wong, the intrepid teenager who is one of the protest leaders, recommended it to his fellow demonstrators.

But even before the Hong Kong protests, Firechat has become a hit in India—not because of its potential as a political organizing tool, but because the app also shines in places where internet connectivity is scarce. Until this week, India was the second-most popular country for Firechat, after the United States, and the fastest growing. More than 10% of Firechat users are in India.

“Firechat is uniquely designed to work in areas without cell reception,” said Ram Shriram, a Google board member who invested in Firechat’s angel investment round. “It is ideal for India since the last mile is frequently unreliable, so with Firechat the unconnected masses can be now be connected.”

India has 918 million mobile subscribers. About 117 million use smartphones, VC firm KPCB has estimated. About 14% of all mobile users use data, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

According to Open Garden, users in India have created 500,000 chat rooms. At an average of seven sessions per week, they spend 2.14 minutes per session.

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It’s the popularity of Firechat in India, not just in Hong Kong, that speaks to its potential to transform the way that people connect to the internet.

“Once you build a mesh network … now you have a network that is resilient, self-healing, cannot be controlled by any central organization, cannot be shut down and is always working,” an Open Garden executive told NPR in April. “I think that solves many other drawbacks or challenges of the mobile broadband Internet today.”

Firechat’s developers always believed that it would do well in countries like India. At the GMIC conference in Bangalore last week, Open Garden co-founder Micha Benoliel said the app has thrived at such various events as Burning Man and recent protests such as in Iraq, Taiwan and now Hong Kong.

“We are thrilled that it is helping people in Hong Kong that we love,” Benoliel told Quartz from Hong Kong. “FireChat was created as an entertainment platform that could help to connect more people in situation when there is no Internet or internet infrastructure is lacking. We knew it could help in situations like concerts, festivals, large conferences and we knew after the sunflower movement in Taiwan that it could be used for social uses.”

Firechat, despite its virtues, has some drawbacks for politically-charged situations like the Hong Kong protests. It doesn’t use any kind of encryption, and all messages on the network are very public. Benoliel advises users in Hong Kong to avoid using their real names, and said Open Garden is working on rolling out private messaging.

Firechat is still an early iteration of a promising technology. The open architecture can feel unusual and when this reporter tested it in Bangalore, the traffic between Android devices and iPhones wasn’t seamless. Benoliel acknowledges this. “It is still a bit rough, but we are working on it and once we roll out private messaging, it will seem more intuitive.”

This article is a part of Quartz India. For more, follow this link.

Firechat was sparking interest in India, even before it became a mainstay of the Hong Kong protests

Japanese giant Sumitomo buys car lease division of Carzonrent India

Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service Co. Ltd, a wing of Japan’s biggest car leasing business group Sumitomo Corporation, has acquired the car leasing business of Carzonrent India. With this, Carzonrent will transfer the car leasing rights of its fleet to Sumitomo’s Indian arm. The deal was done for INR200 crores (US$32.3 million), The Times of India reported.

Founded by Rajiv Vij in 2000, Carzonrent has a fleet of about 6,500 cars across India. It claims to have 18 percent market share in the organized car rental sector. Currently, Carzonrent offers chauffeur-driven cabs under the Easy Cabs brand and the self-drive car rentals under MYLES brand. Carzonrent India offers car rentals in 39 Indian cities.

According to a statement from Sumitomo, the company wants to get a foothold in the Indian taxi market, which is seeing a dramatic surge in the last one year. “India’s auto leasing market consists of about 40,000 vehicles at the moment, but the market is expected to more than double to 100,000 vehicles within a few years, driven in part by higher demand from corporate clients. SMAS is seeking to establish an early foothold,” the statement read.

Carzonrent aims to invest INR2,000 crores (US$370 million) in next four years to expand in the domestic market as well as foray outside. This investment from Sumitomo will also be used to boost its fleet to 30,000 cars, including premium and luxury vehicles. Earlier this year, Carzonrent placed a large order with Mercedes-Benz for 120 C-Class luxury sedans.

Sumitomo is also looking at other emerging markets in the Asia-Oceania region and elsewhere to further expand their overseas operations and auto leasing business.

See:Ola Prime debuts in 6 Indian cities to take on Uber

(Top Image: EasyCabs Facebook)

Japanese giant Sumitomo buys car lease division of Carzonrent India

Code4HK: A visual guide to Hong Kong’s online hub for the Umbrella Revolution

Many observers of the ongoing demonstrations in Hong Kong have noted how the protests remain extremely well-organized despite lacking centralized leadership. Supplies are well-distributed, rest areas are abundant, and protestors have even coordinated recycling initiatives.

The movement’s efficient logistics are in no small part due to its leaders’ use of internet-enabled technology. But protestors are going beyond Facebook groups, WhatsApp conversations, and Twitter feeds in their efforts.

Code4HK’s today.code4.hk is one of several online hubs where activists aggregate and disseminate information to the Hong Kong public. Inspired by Code for America, Code4HK originated as a group dedicated to solve civic issues. In a blog post from December 2013, Vincent Lau wrote described the organization’s mission as follows:

Technology is one of the few things that stands a chance to fight against monopoly and bureaucracy. Egypt succeed in evolution with the help of social media technology. Startups grow rapidly in Chile or Vietnam changing the landscape. After empty words of “Cyberport” and the dot.com bubble years ago, we need to ask why we didn’t have [a technology revolt in] our lovely Hong Kong. We need to show the possibilities. We need to engage [developers] and every citizen to participate in saving our city. More importantly we need to TRY.

Today.code4.HK Code4HK’s property dedicated solely to the Occupy Central demonstrations. It draws inspiration from g0v, the Hackpad page which activists in Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement used to inform each other and the public about its occupation of the Legislative Yuan (heavy traffic from Taiwan even brought Hackpad down at one point).

See: Mobile messaging app FireChat flares up in Hong Kong amid Occupy Central protests

The homepage for today.code4.HK contains links to the four most basic resources for demonstrators and the Hong Kong public – a livestream from four TV channels covering the events, a map of local rest stops and supply centers, a Google Doc that’s updated with relevant news (events, police presence, headcount estimates), and a Google Doc that tracks and organizes supply distribution.

Toggling the sidebar lets one access even more livestreams and additional spreadsheets:

A Google Map lists the numerous supply centers and clinics spread throughout the city:

 

The Google Document charting supply distribution is startlingly thorough. The page pictured below lays out supply needs for specific districts around the city. Those who update the page are encouraged to indicate the degree of urgency (there’s also a section where users can report an excess of supplies). Below, you’ll see that Admiralty was at one point in dire need of water, sports drinks, and dry foods. There’s even a page that lists all of the public restrooms near the site of the demonstrations.

 

Another section lists out a set of apps that demonstrators might find useful, including Twitter, FireChat, and Telegram.

There’s also a very, very cool interactive timeline powered by TimeMapper that tracks the demonstrations, with links to news articles and Facebook.

We’re in touch with Code4HK and look forward to speaking more with them. In the mean time, go browse through today.code4.hk to get a sense of how online savvy is powering offline mobilization.

Code4HK: A visual guide to Hong Kong’s online hub for the Umbrella Revolution

This startup dominates preschool SaaS in Singapore. Next up: global expansion

SaaS for kindergartens? Why not? That was an idea LittleLives founder Sun Ho (no, not that Sun Ho) toyed with.

From 2007 and 2010, the startup developed and sold a social network for primary school kids. But adoption was tepid because schools in Singapore were too academic-focused to allow students to explore other interests.

By the time she registered LittleLives as a company in 2011, it had gone through four versions of its web app. But Ho hit the jackpot before version three. It secured a customer in PCF, probably the most well-known kindergarten chain in Singapore.

The product evolved with this major deal, and the company took off. She added features like attendance taking, a dashboard for higher management, a portfolio to track the progress of kids, and a platform for third-party education apps.

It acquired competitor Illume Technology in 2013, and now serves 400 out of 1,500 kindergartens and childcare centers in Singapore.

After planting its flag in the local market, LittleLives now has global ambitions. It has its toes in the rest of Southeast Asia, serving three schools in Malaysia, two in Cambodia, and two in Vietnam. The company is now focusing on building tools to enhance the productivity of preschool administrators, and it wants to turn LittleLives into a social platform eventually.

“For example, western educators could share their play-based pedagogy with schools in Asia. Third World countries can take advantage of these resources. That’s something we dream of: being a company that empowers every child to get equal, quality education,” says Ho in an email interview.

LittleLives secured external funding to fuel its ambition. It raised US$100,000 from 8Capita last year, then received another six-figures from angel investor Lee Han Shih this year. While the company can’t reveal actual revenue figures, Ho says it’s making enough to hire a 20-strong team.

The startup is working on a new version of LittleLives which will better serve preschools in other countries. It will also break down the service into many apps, allowing educations to choose only the tools they need.

“In addition, there will be a host of parent-focused apps like Little Once for parents to plan playdates and activities for their children,” Ho adds.

Along with engineering firm Hope Technik, LittleLives epitomizes a shift in Singapore’s entrepreneurial landscape.

Starting out as modest enterprises making comfortable income, these startups are now eying a bigger prize beyond Singapore’s tiny landmass.

See more: Startup funding in Southeast Asia has broken the sound barrier. And that’s for starters

This startup dominates preschool SaaS in Singapore. Next up: global expansion

Hong Kong democracy activists are offering their umbrellas to rain-soaked police

HONG KONG—Relations between Hong Kong’s police force and the tens of thousands of pro-democracy protestors holding parts of the city hostage are getting a little better. Two demonstrators were photographed last night using their umbrellas to shelter officers from the rain, a stark contrast to images of police firing tear gas at demonstrators a few nights before.

On Facebook, one user wrote, “There’s no need to brand all police officers as cold blooded murderous animals. We should be fair and calm. Many police have consciences.”

Public anger at authorities for firing tear gas at unarmed protesters, many of them secondary students, helped escalate the so-called “umbrella revolution” that is now in its fourth day. Now, police and protesters alike are treating each other a bit more kindly.

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Protesters tied green ribbons along fences Causeway Bay, in Hong Kong, to symbolize police and protesters coming together.Quartz

Activists have started tying green ribbons around the city to symbolize the coming together of blue (the police), and yellow (the demonstrators). In yesterday’s midday heat, protesters in central Hong Kong were seen offering police cooling gel pads. Local residents have also posted photos of police and protesters chatting civilly.

Another photo has circulated showing a policeman helping a protester wash his eyes out after being pepper sprayed. Since Sunday, police have kept their distance from the demonstrators, staying only on the outskirts of the roads the protesters have occupied.

It may be that some police privately agree with the protesters’ cause. Earlier this week, a police officer stepped out of a police van to speak to demonstrators in central Hong Kong. “We are also Hong Kong people. We also have family…and things we wish to say but can’t. But we have responsibilities as police. We hope we can mutually respect each other,” he told them.  The protesters yelled and clapped approvingly.

Hong Kong democracy activists are offering their umbrellas to rain-soaked police

Alcohol, chocolate or sex: what Indians would give up for internet

How much exactly do Indians love the Internet? Dearly.

An international survey by Indian phone network Tata Communications show that Indians end up spending more time on the Internet than most of their global counterparts. The survey had a total of 9,417 respondents from six countries: India, US, UK, Singapore, Germany and France.

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Around 14% of  Indians spent more than 12 hours a day on the Internet—that is double the global rate.

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Only 44% of Indian users said they could live without Internet access for 12 hours—lowest among the countries surveyed.

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Fifty three percent of Indians miss the Internet while 18% of them feel anxious when they don’t have access to it. Such dependance on Internet is not seen in the other countries surveyed.

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Indians are least willing to give up sex for internet access. They would give up television without blinking an eye. The survey shows that 43% of Indians are wiling to give up watching television in exchange for Internet access. But only 19% are willing to give up alcohol and 4% are willing to turn celibate—lowest among all the countries surveyed.

This abiding passion for the Internet is good news for the companies such as Google and Facebook which are trying to tap into India’s growing Internet user base. Rajan Anandan, Google India’s managing director, expects Internet users in India to go past the US by the end of 2014.

Google recently launched its Android One—a Nexus-like program for inexpensive smartphones—hoping to get millions of Indians on the Internet for the first time. There are still 1 billion people in India who don’t have access to the Internet, according to Google’s Sundar Pichai, vice president of Android, Chrome and Google Apps.

But such obsession with Internet might be getting a bit out of hand already.

A research by National Institute of Mental Health  and Neurosciences found that 73% of teenagers in Bangalore are affected by psychiatric distress with Internet addiction as one of the main reasons behind it.

As a result, several Internet de-addiction centres are sprouting in India. The concept—popular in the US—is relatively new in India but is getting traction.

Youngsters, who are taken to such centres, spend long hours browsing the web, often get agitated when they don’t have access to it and even steal money to go out to cyber cafes. India’s first such centre was opened in Bangalore which was followed by Delhi and, most recently, in Punjab.

This article is a part of Quartz India. For more, follow this link.

Alcohol, chocolate or sex: what Indians would give up for internet

Quartz Daily Brief—Europe edition—Ebola reaches US, Hong Kong protests swell, UK bombs IS, Tetris: The Movie

What to watch for today

The Hong Kong protests swell. After a rain-soaked night, the China National Day holiday begins, allowing more people to join the so-called umbrella revolution. Demonstrators booed the Chinese flag and jeered chief executive C.Y. Leung—but their demands for his resignation are unlikely to succeed.

Oil prices could start slipping. The US Energy Information Administration will publish a report on how much crude oil the US is stockpiling. Investors say reserves have increased by 1.5 million barrels in just one week, potentially driving the price of oil to below $90 a barrel.

Shanghai’s polluters face astronomical fines. China’s largest city will start enforcing what it claims is the “strictest air protection law” in the country. Maximum fines will reach 500,000 yuan ($81,450)—five times the current level, and some businesses could be shut down until they comply.

Try the new Windows. Microsoft will make available a “technical preview” of Windows 10, which it announced on Tuesday, skipping Windows 9. The final release will be in mid-to-late 2015. The highlight feature is the return of the familiar start menu that, to many users’ annoyance, disappeared in Windows 8.

While you were sleeping

Ebola reached the United States… An unnamed man was diagnosed with the Ebola virus in Dallas, Texas, after coming to the US from Liberia. The head of the US Centers for Disease Control said he has “no doubt we will stop this in its tracks,” and indeed it is almost impossible for the disease to spread in the United States—but shares of drug firms spiked anyway.

…As Nigeria got its outbreak under control. All known Ebola patients in the country are now being treated and no new cases have been reported for a month. Senegal has also not had any new cases for a month, and its only patient has recovered.

The UK joined the battle against the Islamic State. The Royal Air Force said its jets destroyed an armored truck and a “heavy weapon position” in Iraq. Kurdish forces said the attacks helped them win control of an area near the Iraq-Syria border.

China and Japan factory activity was steady. China’s official purchasing managers’ index was 51.1 in September, the same as in August. Japan’s Markit/JMMA PMI ticked down slightly to 51.7 from 52.2 the previous month.

Reddit tapped celebrities and Silicon Valley for funding. The social media site raised $50 million from rapper Snoop Dogg and actor Jared Leto along with venture capitalists  Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, valuing it at a reported $500 million. Investors will also give 10% of their shares to Reddit users, who monitor the site and perform crucial maintenance tasks.

Quartz obsession interlude

Lily Kuo on how Hong Kong’s protest has spread beyond students. “What started as a pro-democracy movement mainly among the city youth—sparked by student activists as well as another pro-democracy group, Occupy Hong Kong—is starting to capture a broad cross-section of the city’s population of seven million. … Teachers in at least 31 secondary schools are boycotting classes … one of the city’s most influential trade groups, the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, has called on workers to strike and demonstrate at protest sites.” Read more here.

Matters of debate

The rich are so rich they’re invisible. And that’s why normal people don’t care about the wealth gap (paywall).

Putin can be stopped… Boost NATO spending and force the EU to adopt a cohesive energy policy.

…So can the Islamic State. Offer a disenfranchised youth alternatives to radicalization.

There’s one surefire way to ensure uncorrupt officials. Make them post their finances online, like this official in China.

Unemployment is undermining marriage. Young Americans are unlikely to wed someone who doesn’t have a steady paycheck.

Surprising discoveries

Climate change can alter gender birth ratios. Male fetus deaths spike in months with extreme weather.

An eight-decker ice cream cone is on sale in Japan. It’s a precarious bargain at 390 yen ($3.60).

Sweden’s sewage is under surveillance. Sensors in Stockholm detect bomb-making chemicals.

The game of Tetris has a plot. At least Hollywood thinks it does.

Paper or paper? Single-use plastic bags are now banned in California.

Click here for more surprising discoveries on Quartz.

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Quartz Daily Brief—Europe edition—Ebola reaches US, Hong Kong protests swell, UK bombs IS, Tetris: The Movie