I almost feel like a cricket blogger since the last few days! The run up to the world cup and after the match started yesterday every piece of new from the online and technology world in india seems to be talking about cricket! Dont believe me? Here is an update on what all has been launched for the love of cricket..

MSN launches cricket wap portal -  Msn has launched a cricket centric portal that can be accessed both from pc’s and from mobiles. The website www.msncricket.com will feature exclusive content to cricket fans across the country. Cricketers including Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming, Graeme Smith and Mahela Jayawardene will share their comments and experiences about the serieson this portal.

Commenting on the initiative, Krishna Prasad, Executive Producer, MSN India said, “The World Cup is the Holy Grail of cricket and we are more than excited to be able to provide the followers of the game a holistic experience with our extended coverage. We are also giving our users all the action of the World Cup on their fingertips with a World Cup Cricket WAP portal!”

Contest2win and Mobile2win launch cricket centric games - Contest2Win has announced the launch of a user-generated content game titled ‘Cricket Face Off’. The game involves the users to pose questions and answers surrounding the on and off activities of the game. Meanwhile, Mobile2Win has announced the launch of games like ‘Classic Table-Top’ and ‘Bookie Cricket Game’ among others, that can be played on mobile phones.

Rajiv Hiranandani, Co-Founder and Country Head, Mobile2win.com, said, “The user-friendly games will keep all cricket fans glued to their mobile phones and will take them to the fascinating world of cricket. Whether it is ‘Toy Cricket’ or ‘Ticket Cricket’, our games will surely enhance the user experience on a mobile platform.”

Raj Menon, COO, Contests2win.com, said, “Every Indian is an armchair expert on cricket, making it most amenable for UGC. This format encourages users to ‘broadcast’ their opinions among like-minded peers.” The portal also plans to reward the users for creating content and points are being given for approved polls.

Rediff Launches Predict and Win site - This is just launched. A cricket prediction gam by rediff where on registering one gets 10000 points and one can predict the outcome of games by betting on a team. The odds are also given and hence you gain lesser points if you bet of a favourite team. Its like betting on the game online for prizes :). The site can be accessed at http://predict.rediff.com. There is also a jackpot prediction where you can predict which team will go on to win the world cup. The predict and win site also has player and team profiles for gamers.

Webaroo launches world cup webpacks - Webaroo launched two new webpacks - World Cup Cricket and Cricket News. The two free web packs are readily available for download on www.webaroo.com.

"Cricket is a religion in this country and realizing the importance of the game, Webaroo has launched this exclusive webpack which includes the history around the World cup as well as the latest updates on scores and ratings for cricket fans who are on the move." said Webaroo VP - India Operations, Chirag Jain.

Webaroo provides mobile web technology and its free software service allows users to download web content onto their mobile phones, PDAs and laptops.

Phew! look at the beeline the online and mobile world is making to catch a piece of the world cup pie!

But this has its negative repurcussions as well. As this article points out that cyber crime could increase substantially with the world cup around the corner. “Cyber criminals are always looking at events like the World Cup 2007 to lure unsuspecting surfers into fraudulent websites which host phishing attacks and malicious codes. With cricket fever poised to peak, we believe phishing attacks are also bound to rise,” said Surendra Singh, head South East Asia and India, Websense (a web security solutions provider).

So if you get a mail asking for personal or financial information promising that you will watch the final or you might meet sachin tendulkar don’t click on it and give your details! But still dont forget to enjoy the world cup main!

Source - Exchange4media & Indiantelevision

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