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Category: eNews

  • Mobile broadcast app Bigo Live increases focus on India market

    MUMBAI: In a bid to capture India’s fast-increasing mobile Internet user base, Bigo Live, a mobile broadcasting app, organized its first-ever broadcasters meet-up in India recently. Bigo Live, through real-time interaction and video streaming, allows users to live broadcast their talent and connect with their fans and other talented broadcasters as well as follow interesting broadcasters. The company also announced the introduction of VLOG, a Video recording feature on its app at the India meet-up in Delhi. Bigo Live boasts of over 100 mn registered users globally.

    Bigo allows users to watch live broadcasting anytime, anywhere and engage with the audience via live sessions. The platform gives a chance to live stream the performances, broadcast what you are good at and let people enjoy based on the core values of integrity, innovation, proactiveness and openness. The company plans to build a stage for dreamers to pursue their dreams, for people to make friends at home and abroad; and to build a platform where hobbies are aligned with careers, to record and share interesting moments with friends.

    Talking on his maiden visit to India, Eric Liu, Senior Director, BIGO Technology Pte Ltd said, “We aim to build a Bigo community in the world by providing a platform for the young & fashion conscious to come together and share their interests. BIGO LIVE has attracted millions of social media-savvy millennials across the globe since its launch in March 2016. We already have strong presence in countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, Middle East, Malaysia, America and we aspire to reach out to more countries in future. We are confident that our app will be able to capture the imagination of the young and trendy in India as well.”

    India’s Famous and most awarded Radio Jockey Khurafati Nitin was also present at the event as the Guest of Honor for the evening. In his speech Khurafati Nitin said, “There is a lot of potential in the Bigo Live app and I foresee it to be one of the prominent emerging social networking and internet platforms in the future.” “BIGO Live is fun, entertaining and keeps me hooked. I already have few favorites on the app and am myself planning to start going live soon on Bigo Live,” he added.

    The very first meetup of Bigo Live got 100+ Broadcasters, Internet sensation and new age media’s presence at the venue. Some BIGO broadcasters travelled 10 hours to participate in the very first Bigollywood Night. Opening his heart out one of the broadcaster Mr. Vibhu, a lawyer by profession stated“Bigo Live has provided me with a platform to showcase my talent to the world and I enjoy broadcasting for more than three hours every day on Bigo Live.”

    Another broadcaster duo of siblings Gaurav and Twinkle shared, “We have been addicted to the Bigo Live app and enjoy showcasing our singing talent on this wonderful platform. Despite being from a small town in Himachal we are now able to connect and showcase our talent to the entire world.”

    Broadcasters can earn virtual gifts and bonus points that can be exchanged for rewards on the app. Bigo Live enables you to engage in Real-time Interaction via Mobile streaming with your audience and chat with your favorite broadcasters while you are watching Live broadcastings anytime and anywhere.

  • Serial entrepreneur Srikant Sastri to mentor digital news venture Nyoooz.com

    NEW DELHI: In an age when most established news organisations, including the new-kid-on-the-block Republic TV, have digital news portals to augment reach, one of the first few to get into this space, news media veteran Alok Verma and his Nyoooz.com have roped in serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Singapore-based big data company Crayon Data Srikant Sastri as a mentor.

    Sastri, who has also joined the board of Newzstreet Media Private Limited, parent of Nyoooz.com, will help the company sharpen its focus on micro-revenue opportunities and a methodology to deliver value to its clients.

    Apart from Sastri, Raja Shukla has joined Nyoooz.com as the national sales head. Raja, an accomplished media sales professional, will drive the digital sales and content-led sales both at the national and city levels. His earlier stints had been in organisations like Gram Vani, Zee Media, The Indian Express group and The Times of India group.

    Commenting on the new leadership team, Nyoooz.com founder and editor-in-chief Verma said, “Srikant Sastri will help Nyoooz.com to focus on quantitative and qualitative improvisations in the way local news content is generated and served using technological innovations and will mentor not only the team, but also me, while Raja’s presence will add more zing to our sales as we look to consolidate our core base and also explore spreading wings.”

    One of the early entrants into the digital space, Nyoooz.com serves contextual and relevant local news for and from tier II and tier III cities in India with a primary focus on Northern India. Presently, the company serves and covers news of and from about 70 cities and has an audience reach of 3.5 million in text news and 6 million in video news, including latest blockbuster the IPL 2017 cricket matches.

    Verma, a journalist of over 30-year standing, has held senior news management positions, including that of the editor, in media groups such as TV Today Network, Zee Media and Star India. The entrepreneurship bug bit him when he sensed the importance of the digital space.

    Nyoooz.com curates all important news stories of target cities from trustworthy and competent publishers from across the web. It uses its TrueView algorithm’s to scan and fetch news published about 70 individual cities across India. Subscribers can customize their unique news feed after registering to gather news from the cities they love.

  • Go by Law, click MoneyMile en route to wise investment

    MUMBAI: In a pioneering move towards increasing financial literacy across the country, award-winning veteran business journalist Vivek Law, leading financial journalist Mitali Mukherjee and well known certified financial planner Surya Bhatia are co-creating The MoneyMile – India’s first multi-platform personal finance offering.

    In this strategic pairing of journalistic acumen and investing prowess, they are joined by one of television’s most seasoned production experts, Sumit Sabharwal (founder of MASS Entertainment) as the fourth co-founder of the MoneyMile.

    “We will reach out to our audiences through digital content along with on-ground events and TV. The need of the hour is to educate and empower Indian citizens on matters related to their money through multiple platforms, predominantly mobile – that is fast becoming the screen of choice for millions of Indians,” said The MoneyMile co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Law.

    Law is the former editor of Bloomberg TV India and is the author of The Money Book. He has anchored multiple personal finance shows across various channels including CNBC TV18, CNBC Awaaz, Aaj Tak and India Today Television.

    Set to launch digitally first via social media platforms, The MoneyMile will beam across mediums to provide easy to use and thought provoking content – in the effort to help multiply the savings and investments of each and every viewer.

    The MoneyMile co-founder and MD Bhatia, who has worked for two decades in financial planning, says, “Investment is not an option. It is the need. The trouble is lack of knowledge. I am confident we will provide the best financial solutions to each and every investor or potential investor.”

    “Our intent is to decode each and every event and development that could impact our viewers and their money. In fact, a key focus area will be women and how important investing is to give women greater assertion over themselves and their choices,” says The MoneyMile. co-founder and editor Mukherjee.

    She is the former Markets & News Editor of CNBC TV18 where she anchored the flagship show Bazaar. She has also worked with the TVToday Group, Doordarshan & BBC World.

    Sumit Sabharwal who takes on the role of the chief product officer of The MoneyMile has built multiple news channels and documentary features for internationally acclaimed channels. He says it’s time for informative content on personal finance and investment. “Content is the king. Provided it reaches people in formats they find engaging.”

    Sabharwal is the founder of MASS Entertainment and Turban Studioz which has conceptualized and produced several Prime time shows for leading networks in India like National Geographic, Discovery, A+E Networks, Fox Life, TLC, CNN, Bloomberg to name a few.

  • Age-appropriate ‘safe’ content is taken from Nat Geo Kids, Sony & Amar Chitra: Shirsa

    MUMBAI: Shirsa, a company specialising in enabling content publishers to engage-new age kids online and offline, has taken care of parental concerns on content and safety over internet and time spent on digital devices. The contents are age-appropriate and are based on user behaviour from renowned content partners such as National Geographic Kids, British Council, Amar Chitra Katha, Sony Music India, TED Ed and more,” said Shirsa co-founder and CEO Sukhada Tendulkar.

    As the kids’ television time is shifting to internet based devices, the time spent by them on the online devices is continuously on the rise. At the same time parents want their kids to learn from every interaction on the internet. This encouraged Tendulkar and Mandar Desai to start Shirsa as a ‘Kids Engagement Company’ which is primed to encourage children to be curious and have fun.The opportunity Shirsa sees is engaging kids globally, through interactive edutainment which includes entertaining content with educational value, gamification, interactive features offered through multiple platforms.

    While it all starts with the brain, Shirsa has consciously correlated itself to being curious and as we know – Curious is fun. There is no better way to get kids involved in learning than getting them curious. Curiosity is nothing but an appetite for knowledge. It is the spark behind ideas, ideas that ignite reasoning and great learning. Today’s children or the ‘digital natives’ (children of digital era, always surrounded by technology) have access to technology at their fingertips. Digital music, video players, mobile phones, video games and the like have changed the way we receive and process information! Fundamentally, they ‘think’ differently than the previous generations. And that’s a greatest challenge as well as a boon when it comes to building educational tools for kids. Challenge – because the content has to compete with the round-the-clock ‘edutainment’ kids live with and be exciting and engaging enough to grasp the attention of the kids. And a boon – because kids love anything digital and anything that come through a laptop, a tablet or a phone, they are happy to experiment with.

    Shirsa is currently engaging children aged 6 to 15 years through innovative plus safe digital products and services in collaboration with parents, educationists and partners. Each online platform is created basis a deep understanding of the transforming nature of knowledge consumption in order to gratify the ever-changing needs of hungry young minds.

    PlanetOfGui.com is a social platform that inspires kids aged 6 to 15 years to be curious learners while having fun with engaging content. While Newspik.in is a digital newspaper sharing bite-sized news, city events and non-fictional articles for children. The news topics range from nature to science and technology, from entertainment to sports stories from across the world.

    Both the platforms are gamified wherein every activity of the child is rewarded with Geekos, our virtual currency. These Geekos can then be redeemed against buying real products, unlocking social features, customizing avatar, and getting freebies at your doorstep.

    Shirsa Enhance is the co-scholastic solutions vertical of Shirsa Labs that specializes in developing products that are child friendly, real-world relevant and easy to implement in schools. Our life skills product will make the child ready for the future along with preparing him or her to tackle any challenges in their life.

    Shirsa Engage is the events vertical of Shirsa Labs, specializes in conceptualizing and organizing large-impact kids events & school contact programs for brands. It creates engaging experiences for students, parents and educators through the help of brands. Shirsa Connect is the digital vertical of Shirsa Labs, specializes in enabling content publishers to engage digitally with kids aged 6-15 years through its multiple products. As Children’s preferences are evolving, it wants to cover the relevant Digital & Tangible touchpoints of a kid’s life through branded content engagement.

    Tendulkar said, “The Shirsa Parent App allows to set-up time duration for the child to be online. They can also monitor their growth, inclination and learning style through the App.”

    It’s the time when digital revolution is entering every aspect of life. It’s only prudent to let our children explore and experience the full learning potential of digital medium, within a safe and protected environment. With educational platforms like PlanetofGui and Newspik; children, parents, teachers and brands are to benefit equally from the innumerable fun ways to engage and enlighten the young minds.

  • Viacom18, Star India & B4U win case against pirated streaming in US

    MUMBAI: A US court has ordered closure of unauthorised digital streaming and distribution by the providers of the Cres TV and Shava STBs in further success for US pay-TV operator Dish. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently awarded more than US$25 million in damages in another blow to peddlers of illegal video piracy services soon after forcing the closure of an illegal IPTV operation.

    The court awarded the huge sum in damages to plaintiffs for unauthorised distribution of copyrighted works. Plaintiffs include Dish Network L.L.C., Al Jazeera Media Network, Asia TV USA Ltd., B4U U.S., Inc., GEO USA LLC, Impress Telefilm, Inc., MBC FZ LLC, MSM Asia Ltd., Soundview Broadcasting LLC, Soundview ATN LLC, Star India Private Ltd. and Viacom18 Media Private Limited.

    Back in India, Viacom18 has secured a John Doe interim order from Madras High Court restricting more than 1250 identified and all other unidentified websites from making the infringing copies of Viacom18’s latest release i.e ‘Force2’ available for public viewing over internet.

    In the said order, the Court has further directed 40 major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and also other unidentified ISPs to block all such pirate websites which are illegally making the said film available over internet, Advanced Television reported.

    Back in India in Novermber 2016, Viacom18 had blocked Force 2 movie telecast across 1250 websites after getting an interim order from the Madras High Court  Viacom18 secured the John Doe interim order restricting identified and other unidentified websites from making the infringing copies of Viacom18’s release i.e ‘Force2’ available for public viewing over internet.

    In the said order, the Court has further directed 40 major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and also other unidentified ISPs to block all such pirate websites which are illegally making the said film available over internet.

    Viacom18 group general counsel Sujeet Jain said, “I welcome this order. It is estimated that India loses $2.5 billion to online movie piracy every year. This order is a significant development for the film industry in its fight against online piracy. As immediate next steps, we’ve also launched an investigation into identifying the source of piracy at the threshold level and we will be soon taking strict action on that front.” Viacom18 had earlier successfully secured John Doe orders against infringement of its films Drishyam and ‘Manjhi – The Mountain Man’ as well.

    Also Read :

    Viacom18 blocks Force 2 across 1250 websites; gets interim order from Madras HC

    IPL 2017: The Piracy Conundrum

    FICCI FRAMES: Legitimate screens, stricter laws, best practices for IPR

    ‘Make piracy an economic offence, good cos ‘badvertise’ too’

  • Do ‘set paths’ & sense of duty stop Asians from taking risks?

    GOA: The concluding day of the twelfth edition of Goafest presented a knowledge seminar that partially revolved around the East’s resurgence in its potential to (soon) surpass the West as the dominant game-changer in terms of ‘creativity’.

    Speaking widely on the topic, AKQA’s executive creative director Eric Cruz highlighted a few factors that could soon play a crucial role in ensuring so.

    The ‘ideas and innovation company’ executive cited how one of the superpowers, China, began its quest for excellence through creativity over 4000 years ago. Soon, the nation turned into the Innovation Valley of Asia. He argued that, over the past few decades, the East merely became a consumer or follower of trends, instead of impacting the world through its own creations. From search engines to social media platforms, most inventions have emerged from the West, and Asians have merely been the heavy consumers of these trends.

    Cruz emphasised on China’s role throughout its history on spearheading the creativity phenomenon and impacting the world as we see it. Through graphs and statistics, Cruz demonstrated the rapid growth in the need of technological presence in every necessity of life. With the metaphor that the future is much like a tsunami, Cruz identified the early obstacles in understanding this phenomenon. “We are living in a world where creative history is being made. And, the question of the hour is ‘Are we Asians creative enough to invent our own world?’” asked Cruz to the room filled with enthusiasts.

    The root problem as identified by him, was the way Asians have evolved. The academic structure, values and cultural environment leads to the loss of creativity, added Cruz, and more often than not,  the sense of duties and set paths thrust upon Asians prevent them from exploring the creative field entirely. “The perception globally is that Asia is posed to follow, and not innovate. We are known to be fast followers but not innovators,” stated Cruz.

    New world tools like Automation and AI are necessary steps towards evolution. Automation will help humans rid of menial processes and AI will enable  to enhance the creative process.

    Cruz ended the talk a hopeful note that since 50 per cent of students in the West are Asians, there is a new generation which is learning from the West to implement change and innovation in their respective countries. China, Korea and India will be the centers of innovation in the years to come.

    The following speaker was all of 11 years old, but came with an abundance of wisdom and quick-fixes. Youngest Indian TED Speaker Ishita Katyal addressed a pertinent topic of discussion — Encouraging creativity. She started off by asking valid questions, “Why are kids not encouraged to be creative or ask questions? Why are they forced into fixed streams of academics?”

    She went on to elaborate, with the help of her personal example, how creativity is ageless. When she wrote her first book at the age of eight, she faced tremendous prejudice from publishers and others, but her determination and support from her parents helped her pursue her dreams and the book was published to roaring success.

    One of the biggest obstacles one faces while trying to fulfill their dreams is fear, and this little girl mesmerised the house with a simple story of how you can beat your fear by simply moving closer to it. The more closely you encounter your fear, the smaller it becomes. She ended by saying, “We the children are the future, and if you want us to build a beautiful world, give us the answers to the questions we ask.”

    AlsO Read :

    Laura Ries, Phogat sisters, Amitabh Kant impart leadership lessons: Goafest ’17 concludes

    Goafest 2017: Carat chief strategist observes data’s great tool, but gut feeling critical

     

     

  • Javed Akhtar revamped IPRS’s new chairman

    MUMBAI: Fresh elections were held after more than a decade in the revamped IPRS, in which both the authors (music composers and lyricists) and publishers (music labels) participated. These elections have the backing of the author and publisher community in India. Renowned poet and writer, Javed Akhtar, was unanimously elected as the chairman of the new board.

    The revamped IPRS has adopted a new working constitution and is fully in sync with the Amended Copyright Act. The primary objective of this constitution is to ensure rightful royalty flow to all the rights owner, while simplifying licensing process for the end users.

    Akhtar said, “IPRS has turned over a new page and a new chapter has started, where there is no WE and THEM, only US. Writers, composers and publishers have risen above the past conflicts and have a taken a pledge to work together for the enhancement of Indian Music Industry’s reach and prosperity.”

    “This is a historic moment for the music industry, and will act as catalyst of growth for all stakeholders. We look forward to IPRS achieving new heights under the leadership of Javed saab,” said Saregama India managing director Vikram Mehra.

    The newly elected members on the board are Javed Akhtar, Shridhar Subramaniam, Aashish Rego, Kumar Taurani, Rajinder Singh Panesar, Devraj Sanyal, G.V. Prakash Kumar, Ganesh Jain, Anupam Roy, Mandar Thakur, Sahithi Cherukupalli and Vikram Mehra.

    The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS) owns, administers and currently controls the Performing Right in Musical Works and Literary Works assigned to it by its owner members.

  • Gartner digital rights report lists Seclore as ‘rep vendor’

    MUMBAI: Seclore, a leading provider of Enterprise Digital Rights Management (EDRM) solutions, was mentioned in the Gartner Market Guide for Information-Centric Endpoint and Mobile Protection1. Gartner identified Seclore as a representative vendor for Cloud and EDRM information protection methods profiled in this research.

    Gartner stated: “Information theft pays big benefits to thieves, and plagues businesses with long-term damage. It is the hack that keeps on giving, since the extent of breaches is not always known, and business information can have long-term exploit value, extending into years and lifetimes in the case of some medical and financial knowledge. Once thieves have obtained your business information, they can unplug from your systems and they will be difficult to trace.”

    The report goes on to conclude that – “disk encryption remains the oldest and best defense against extraction from a lost, stolen or mishandled endpoint device. EDRM promises to be the most flexible and pervasive future technique to protect files regardless of where they travel. In between these extremes, choices should be made that match current information security concerns.”

    A recent survey from ESG, Securing Information in the Age of External Collaboration, concludes that more than 1 in 4 companies believes it’s very likely that sensitive data has been stolen by third party vendors. 98 per cent of respondents cited the loss of sensitive data as a top or significant concern. Commonly stated reasons for data loss include emails sent to the wrong person (67 per cent), unauthorized access (64 per cent) and lost portable storage devices (61 per cent).

    Seclore is expanding its GCC presence and operations in response to increasing demand for its award-winning solutions, with a new regional office in Dubai and the appointment of a new distributor in Saudi Arabia.

    “Ensuring the effectiveness of one’s security and risk management strategy is a critical component to the organization’s success,” said Seclore CEO Vishal Gupta, speaking at the Dubai office opening.

    “Despite today’s sluggish global economy, data losses are at all-time high and information centric security is gaining momentum. Our recent tie-ups with SAP and SolidWorks have further enriched our product offerings, for vertical markets worldwide,” Gupta said.

    “Most EDRM solutions on the market today have fatal security flaws that cause data leakage regardless of airtight network and server cybersecurity solutions,” stated Seclore CTO Abhijit Tannu.

    Seclore recently won prestigious awards like ‘The Security Industry’s Coveted Global Excellence Awards’.

  • Half of video production may see greater RoI migrating to IP

    MUMBAI: Ooyala, a global provider of video monetization technology and services, and the Digital Production Partnership (DPP), the media industry’s business change network, launched the industry’s first report analyzing the benefits of adopting Internet Protocol (IP)-based processes and technologies in video production, “The Business Benefits of IP Production.” The findings show that by 2022, more than half of the video-production environments analyzed in the report will recognize greater business benefits, efficiencies and return-on-investment (ROI) by adopting IP.

    Surveying nearly 30 companies across the video supply chain, including ITV, Sky, BBC and Sony, the report shows where IP migrations will result in greater cost savings, cost avoidance, creative benefits and competitive advantages. Tracking against ten different production environments, five will see the greatest ROI by adopting IP, including:

    ● IP Distribution: Companies with internet-first distribution services, OTT

    ● Live Streaming: Companies distributing live content across devices and social
    platforms

    ● Single Camera Shooting: Companies accessing on-site footage via the cloud

    ● Media Management: Companies managing, moving and storing media

    ● Cloud Playout: Linear TV stations adopting cloud-based services

    The findings show media companies with online distribution at the heart of their business, particularly OTT services, will find the greatest value and ROI in adopting IP-based technologies. Other areas that IP disruption will impact are asset management, cloud playout and post-production, benefiting from technologies that reduce manual-labor costs such as automating metadata insertion.

    “The fact is, the move to IP has inherent benefits for many processes, but only specific environments will see the greatest benefits and highest returns today,” said DPP Managing Director, Mark Harrison.

    “Within a few years, IP infrastructure may be essential in doing business because of the impact it is having across media companies and distribution.” “As the first in the industry, the report brings to light the ROI opportunities for producers, broadcasters and media companies to adopt IP processes,” said Ooyala Co-founder and SVP of Products and Solutions, Belsasar Lepe. “Media logistics solutions like Ooyala Flex provide the ability to connect inherently disconnected and on-premise systems so companies can take
    advantage of IP benefits immediately or incrementally as needs change over time.”

    Ooyala and the DPP will host a special NAB morning event on Tuesday, 25 April at 8am PST in Ooyala’s booth, SV1000, to discuss the report and the future of IP production alongside BT Sport and PBS.

    Built with superior analytics capabilities for advanced business intelligence, Ooyala’s solutions help broadcasters, operators and media companies build more engaged and more profitable audiences, with personalized experiences across every screen.Vudu, Star India, Sky Sports (U.K.), ITV Studios (U.K.), RTL Group (Germany), M6 (France), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain), America Television (Peru), and Media Prima (Malaysia).

  • Sanjeev Kapoor launches mobile app with EscapeX

    MUMBAI: Celebrity chef, entrepreneur writer and television personality, Sanjeev Kapoor, announced the release of his new mobile app in collaboration with New York-based tech firm EscapeX. The new app will enable fans to access the Chef’s social handles (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and directly interact with him through the in-app social feed.

    This provides an unparalleled experience for his large fan base, who will enjoy unique & exclusive content from Sanjeev Kapoor and a personal view of his life.

    The app will provide unique features like push notifications, Featured Videos, Superstar posts, contests, Superfan badges, a subscription service, live Broadcast of cookouts, and live chat between Kapoor and his fans. Sanjeev Kapoor has been a pioneer in the Indian culinary field and has been awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.

    “We are glad to be a part of Sanjeev’s next level of engagement with his fans & followers,” said EscapeX CEO Sephi Shapira.

    An exciting, patented feature will transform how fans interact with Kapoor by giving them the option to boost their or their peers’ comments to increase visibility and actually be seen by the star himself. By turning recognition into virtual currency, the entire fan base can trade their earned or purchased in-app currency to promote themselves and others to the top of the comments feed and become Top Fans. This one of a kind tool also increases fan-2-fan engagement, while giving users a true sense of community.

    Being completely free for fans, the app will display the same targeted advertising content users see on Facebook, Twitter and Google, with revenue going to the person who produces the content that drives people to these apps and websites in the first place.

    An artist-owned app garners the star a greater slice of ad revenue, while also scooping up data on the content fans like most and enables the direct sale of all sorts of merchandise. By creating his own branded app, Sanjeev Kapoor hopes to provide his massive fan base with a better social experience and a very interactive experience.

    “It is my responsibility to make sure that my fans and users live a healthy tasty life. Through this App I can engage with them and understand their needs better to help them live a fitter life,” says Kapoor.