MUMBAI: This week Techtree brings you a run down on Google‘s all-new operating system-Android that will recently be launched on HTC‘s handset. The phone will run all of Google‘s internet and productivity suites and shall also feature Google‘s operating system- Chrome.

Further on, Techtree brings you the latest business phone from Sony Ericsson- the G900. The G900, with its Wi-Fi support and a 5 megapixel auto focus camera looks set to cause high-tech high-end excitement.

Moving forward, we show you how to secure your home wi-fi connection and how to get more out of your mailboxes with Xobni and Xoopit - plug-ins that let you organize your Outlook and Gmail inboxes.

So, to get your technology fix for the week, tune into the Techtree show this Thursday, 25th September at 10:30 pm only on UTVi!

MUMBAI: CNBC AWAAZ, India‘s No 1 Business channel announced the CNBC AWAAZ Consumer Awards 2007. Leading research organisation ‘The Nielsen Company‘ conducted the research spanning 17 product and service categories across the country in 21 cities and 84 rural centres (with a population of 3000 and above), with about 10,000 respondents covering all strata of society - voicing their opinion about their most preferred brands.

The widespread locations adequately represent the heterogeneous nature of India in terms of geography (zones) and population size (town classes: metros, mini-metros and class I towns).

Consumers today are well - informed of the choices available to them in the market hence brand building has become much more vital and competitive. Brands are evolving everyday and trying different avenues to cater to the changing preference of today‘s consumer. Keeping in mind the current Indian scenario, CNBC AWAAZ has taken the onus to arrive at a list of the "Most preferred Brands" (as perceived by the end-consumer) for each of the product categories covered in this study. Banks, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Telecom, Automobiles are amongst the 17 services and product categories that the research will cover.

Branding is emerging as the new age mantra and a lot of marketers are trying to grab the attention of smaller cities with special offerings. With the objective of providing the marketers a better understanding of the smaller cities, CNBC AWAAZ is focusing on rural areas as marketers have realised the importance of this particular segment.

The objective of the study was:

- To arrive at a list of the "Most Preferred Brands" as perceived by the end- consumer for each of the product categories covered in this study.
- Identifying the chief commodity/ service within each category that is largely used by consumers.
- Identify the drivers that influence the selection for a particular brand in each category
- Determine the performance of the preferred brands on the selected drivers.

The CNBC AWAAZ Consumer Awards 2008 will include an interactive session with the general audience on the consumer perspective pertaining to ‘Brand India‘ to be hosted by the dynamic duo of Anuradha Sen Gupta - editor-anchor of CNBC TV18‘s flagship feature show "Storyboard" & Prasoon Joshi - Guru in the advertising world.

Attending the ceremony would be luminaries such as: Sharad Pawar - Hon. Minister of Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution, Praful Patel - Hon. Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mr. Vaidyanathan - Executive Director,ICICI Bank, Akshay Kumar - Actor, Mr. Kensaku Konishi - President and CEO Canon India, Mr. Lalit Modi - Chairman and Commissioner of Indian Premier League.

Commenting on the fourth edition of the CNBC AWAAZ Consumer Awards 2008, Mr. Neel Chowdhury, Vice President, Marketing CNBC-TV18 and CNBC AWAAZ said: "This time around CNBC AWAAZ is going to the rural areas as we see a huge potential in this sector, and we shouldn‘t be surprised if we see new players topping the list. Over the years, the awards have certainly come a long way in lending credibility and much needed support to the real estate market, and we are indeed proud to say that we are ‘The Voice of the Indian Consumer‘.

The Indian market is becoming a buyer‘s market where a multitude of brands give the customer the power to choose. Through this study, India‘s No 1 business channel CNBC AWAAZ stands by its proposition of being the ‘Voice of the Indian Consumer‘. This year by getting the rural centres to be a part of the awards, CNBC AWAAZ has brought a new perspective to this award.

To arrive at the results, male and female adults in the age group of 18-45 years, belonging to SEC A, B and C households in the urban areas and SEC R1 and R2 in the rural areas were interviewed through the large-scale quantitative research technique. This has helped us in getting a large enough sample size representing people from almost all walks of life throughout the country.

The CNBC AWAAZ Consumer Awards 2008 ceremony will take place at ITC, Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai, on September 26, 2008.

MUMBAI: The 1st pre-finale episode of of Zara Nachke Dikha promises to be a thriller! The ‘Boys Special‘ includes the Tashan round, the Hum Tum round, the Jhoom Barabar Jhoom round and the return of the Zara Hatke round. The Tez Talwaars perform with all their might, while the Meethi Churi‘s sit back & relax, before they take on the stage on Tuesday. Catch the boys in their race to the finish line, on Monday, September 22 at 9.30 pm, exclusively on Star One.

First up is the smallest talwaar, Amey Pandya who floors everyone with his act on "Hum to hain aandhi" and is flooded with flying kisses from the judges & the girls! The Zara Hatke round has Gaurav Chopra & Amit Tandon perform on ‘Dhanadan Daud‘ in slow motion!

The act of the day comes in the form of the Hum Tum round, where an injured Manish Goyal comes back to perform in a duet on ‘Jai Jai Shiv Shankar‘ with Delnaaz Paul. He gets nothing less than what he deserves - A standing ovation from the judges and the audience. 4 Tez Talwaars, Bakhtyaar, Ali, Chaitanya and Amey groove to ‘Dil Haara‘ in the last & final Joom Barabar Jhoom round.
The points are doubled, the stakes are high? Who will get closer to the Zara Nachke Dikha trophy?

Watch out for all the action as the Tez Talwaars burn the dance floor? Tune-in to Star One for all the masti and entertainment, every Monday & Tuesday @ 9.30 and join in the war on Zara Nachke Dikha!

Each week promises to be a fun filled fiesta as both the teams put their dancing skills to test and outdo each other on the dance floor! The Performance Episode of ‘Zara Nachke Dikha‘ will air every Monday at 9:30 p.m., showcasing the exciting competition between both the teams. The Challenge Episodes, which will air every Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., will provide an opportunity for weaker teams to bounce back. With no eliminations and no public voting, the show will be based on the jury‘s final verdict. These performances will be judged hugely talented and versatile Chunky Pandey and elegant Malaika Arora Khan and will be hosted by charismatic Karan Singh Grover and ravishing Shweta Gulati.