Trends predict M-reading to propel educational & socio-economic benefits associated with increased reading & knowledge transfer
New Delhi, January 8, 2015: Rockstand, the leading free mobile App for eBooks, eMagazines & ePapers, available across Android, IOS & Windows platforms has over the past 18 months made rapid strides to establish itself as a preferred virtual knowledge sharing platform to enhance the digital reading experience. Aligned with more than 1000+ publishers to rapidly digitize content, Rockstand currently has a vast & industry dominating library of over 150,000+ titles across genres. A unique blend of 300+ mainstream eNewspapers from 20+ states gives users a comprehensive and diverse experience of the latest and fastest news coverage.
Rockstand delivers locally flavoured content to its customers in 13 regional and 8 foreign languages across genres such as fiction, non-fiction, academics, test prep, leisure, lifestyle and entertainment. Additionally it has tied up with leading publishers from South India and Maharashtra to further strengthen its local content. Furthermore Rockstand also has a bouquet of leading magazines to offer users such as Outlook, Business World, GQ, Femina, Vogue, Manorama and Grihshobha to name a few including several international magazines. Content available on the platform is protected with a 128 bit encryption making it secure and piracy proof.
Sharing his outlook for 2015, Mr. Praveen Rajpal, CEO, Rockstand, said, “The m-reading industry is currently at an exciting juncture. With the rapid adoption of digital content and shifting consumption patterns, Rockstand is in a strategic position to lead the mobile content marketplace for readers. Additionally m-reading will open up new pathways to literacy for the rural segment, particularly women & girls and by extension, the educational, social and economic benefits associated with increased reading”
Variables such as mobile network penetration rise in sales of smartphones & tablets will play a critical role in boosting the digital reading adoption rate in India. Currently the knowledge based sector is skewed towards physical ownership, with the numbers reflecting the same- ebooks account for approximately 2% of the overall $ 2 billion book market annually[1]. However a market intelligence study predicts that the Indian ebook market will grow by 20 to 25 percent in the next two to three years, reflecting the growth potential of the industry.
According to a report by GSMA, India had 111-million smartphone connections in the second quarter of 2014, trailing leader China, US and Brazil[2]. In rural parts of India, 70% of the population accesses the Internet from mobile phones, often in regional languages[3].Also 70% of the daily mobile internet users fall under the age group of 20-34 years, making the youth one of the largest consumers of mobile content. 2015 is going to be a dynamic year for all stakeholders in the digital industry, with growing consumerism & rapid strides in technology drivingthe quest for ever more knowledge.
Rockstand’s unique differentiators-
- Availability: Offers more than 30,000 titles free of cost in addition to providing 300+ leading mainstream eNewspapers from over 20 states absolutely free. Also has the largest collection of regional e-books in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam etc. Rockstand also has exam preparation materials from 40+ coaching institutes covering top entrance exams such as IITJEE, AIPMT, IES,CAT, XAT,MAT,GMAT/GRE GATE, CTET,CDS NDA,CA-CPT,CS, UPSC, BANK PO and others.
- Accessibility: The application provides customers with 2TB of cloud equivalent space i.e. purchased content can be even accessed after deletion by visiting purchase history on the application. Additionally a customer can access his account on three individual devices, ensuring flexibility and hedges against the loss of content. The ePapers go live on Rockstand from 12 am onwards making the fastest news delivery possible for end users.
- Affordability: Rockstand empower its users with an Operator Billing Facility (pay via sim card balance) and competitive pricing.
- Intuitive:Day/night mode, auto-bookmarking, reading in offline mode, annotations, online/offline dictionary, page flipping motion, DRM, PDF & zoom among many other make a user’s experience on Rockstand seamless.