MUMBAI: Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE) Inc has partnered with Rovio Entertainment to provide the casual mobile gaming franchise Angry Birds, to airlines as inflight entertainment content.
Angry Birds is the most downloaded mobile game of all time, boasting 2.8 billion downloads across all types of platforms. Through this agreement, GEE is providing customized Angry Birds content specifically for seat-back entertainment systems, and will soon market it to airline customers.
GEE is the provider of inflight games and media content to airlines. With a catalogue of over 150 titles in its AirGames portfolio, and 20 years of experience in supplying popular casual games for seat-back and wireless inflight entertainment systems, the company provides licensed and in-house designed games to over one hundred airlines around the world.
“Since it was first introduced, Angry Birds has grown into one of the most recognized brands in the world. We are very excited to be able to offer our airline customers this exclusive opportunity to elevate their passenger experience offering. Angry Birds’ mischievous casual game style, engaging short game play and international appeal make it an ideal addition to an airline’s entertainment line-up,” said GEE SVP of digital products Alexis Steinman.
“In the last five years, Angry Birds have been spreading their wings to every corner of the world. Thanks to our agreement with GEE, passengers will be able to take flight and join the Angry Birds on their mile high adventures. We love the idea of entertaining in the sky,” added Rovio Entertainment vice president of business development games Miikka Lindgren.
MUMBAI: Over the last few days, the hot topic of debate on social media has been net neutrality. Even as Indians sent more than 300,000 emails to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in support of net neutrality to ensure equal internet access for all, e-commerce giant Flipkart, has pulled out of its deal with Airtel for its platform Airtel Zero, which allows users to access partner apps sans any data charges.
Flipkart faced a lot of flak on social media platforms on its partnership with Airtel Zero. As a result of this, the company backed out of its deal and has also now committed itself to the larger cause of net neutrality in India.
In an official statement, Flipkart said, “We at Flipkart have always strongly believed in the concept of net neutrality, for we exist because of the Internet. Over the past few days, there has been a great amount of debate, both internally and externally, on the topic of zero rating, and we have a deeper understanding of the implications.”
Based on this, the company took the following decisions:
(1) Flipkart ended ongoing discussions with Airtel for their platform Airtel Zero.
(2) The company committed itself to the larger cause of Net Neutrality in India and will be discussing internally the details of actions it would take to support the cause.
(3) Flipkart will also work towards ensuring that the spirit of net neutrality is upheld and applied equally to all companies in India irrespective of the size or the service being offered and there is absolutely no discrimination whatsoever.
As was reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, stand-up comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB) released a video explaining the concept of net neutrality and its impact if it was denied to users. AIB’s video, which went viral, conveyed the message that Internet was a utility and not a luxury.
To review the concept of net neutrality, the government has created a committee of six members. Indian Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the team’s report on net neutrality will be presented in mid-May.
MUMBAI: Not long ago stand-up comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB) was directly or indirectly labeled as ‘anti-socials’ because of the controversial roast they uploaded on social media platform, which was eventually pulled down. The same group has now made a sincere attempt to explain the complicated concept of “Net Neutrality” to the common man. And their attempt has been successful with the video going viral and how.
Net neutrality is something that every taxpayer deserves but no one cares for. It’s often regarded as technical jargon. However, AIB’s “Save The Internet” video has changed the perception and now a lot of people are aware of the impending catastrophe.
What is Net Neutrality?
Net Neutrality means every user will have the right to access whichever website she or he wants to. There will be no infringement from anybody and certain websites won’t be given more bandwidth than others. Amazon or The Times Of India, Flipkart or Indiantelevision.com, every website will load at the same speed and that is exactly what Net Neutrality means. And that’s the problem telecom operators have.
Where it started from:
Indian telecom operators lobbied to The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to change certain rules as per their convenience, which would have a direct impact on the consumer’s pocket. TRAI, in response to the telecos on 27 March, released a 118-page long consultation bulletin, which concluded by asking 20 questions. The last date to respond to that bulletin electronically is 24 April, 2015 while all the counter responses can be sent till 8 May, 2015.
What all can change?
No, telecom companies are not restricting any particular website so you can be rest assured that another ban is not coming into play. The demand is to access certain genres that users have to pay separately for. The question then arises: What are the users paying the initial fee for?
The scenario that can emerge from the change is; to access Flipkart, Whatsapp, Facebook or any other established OTT service, one has to separately subscribe for it. The freedom to access any website independently will be infringed upon and the internet, which is probably the only free platform where one can express their opinion, will become a claustrophobic cozy club dominated by big names.
Who all will face the impact?
Not only users but the change will also vigorously affect all aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups. It is easy for established ventures like Flipkart, which is supporting telecom operators, to pay the service providers and ask them to make their app freely available. However, that will leave an impact on the start-ups who don’t have the luxury of cracking a deal with telecom operators. The irony is that when the Prime Minister is delivering speeches in France and Germany about how easy it is to do business in India and sharing aspirations of making the country a global destination for investment, Indian e-commerce startups are on the verge of demolition.
What did AIB do?
The stand up comedians came up with a video (Save the Internet) explaining the entire concept of net neutrality. What was lost and diluted in TRAI’s 118 page long complicated bulletin was garnished in AIB’s nine-minute video. The important points were highlighted and the refreshing yet simple explanation that AIB members’ offered in the video added to the appeal and was lapped up by young and old alike. The Net Neutrality jargon thus became a national movement.
What did AIB’s video do?
AIB’s video conveys this message – “Internet is not a luxury but a utility.” The video ends with a link, which directs people to the net neutrality home page where all of TRAI’s 20 have been answered in detail. One can simply click to send an email with the pre-written answers or can edit as per their wish. At the time of filing this report, AIB’s video had received 1,132,453 views and more than 100,000 emails had been sent to TRAI through the http://www.netneutrality.in/ website.
The AIB video witnessed unabated praise across all social media platforms from the common man and celebrities alike. It brought about the necessary awareness in India and made Net Neutrality a national issue. The Internet is a very important part of the civilized world and a major source of information, entertainment and social networking. Net Neutrality is a right of every Internet subscriber and cannot be infringed at any cost. While the issue has managed to become a major talking point, one only hopes that political parties don’t politicize the issue and turn it into vote bank propaganda because Internet without Net Neutrality is like bones without flesh.
NEW DELHI: With increasing emphasis on social media by the present government, citizens who do not have access to internet will be able to receive the tweets sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from time to time on issues of national importance.
People who want to know Modi’s views on various events can now receive his tweets through SMS on their mobile phones.
A person wanting to receive the tweets will merely have to give a missed call to (011) 30063006 and the caller will start receiving these tweets.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has written a letter to all state and district units of the party to popularize this concept.
For those using the internet, the Prime Minister can also receive mails from people on either pmindia.nic.in or mygov.in.
Currently, Amitabh Bachchan is one of the few whose tweets are being sent by SMS to selected mobile users.
MUMBAI: Focusing on providing international content to subscribers and expanding its network in markets around the world, YuppTV has launched premium channels SirasaTV and Shakthi TV, part of Capital Maharaja Group, in homes worldwide.
Sirasa TV is a Sinhala language channel broadcasting entertainment, news and current affairs, while Shakthi TV broadcasts in the Tamil language in Sri Lanka. Its content includes entertainment, sports, current affairs, children’s programmes and news.
YuppTV CEO Uday Reddy said, “We are thrilled to launch Sri Lanka’s top television channels Sirasa TV and Shakthi TV for the first time in markets across the world today. It is our constant endeavour to offer viewers from varied ethnicities and backgrounds top quality television viewing experience. We welcome viewers from Sri Lanka into the YuppTV family. The Capital Maharaja Organisation owns Sri Lanka’s largest Media network and a respected Sri Lankan brand. This launch will give viewers across the world access to the channels’ premium content. We trust subscribers in different markets will receive this launch very well. We are soon to add more Sri Lankan channels to make it a complete package of entertainment to the Sri Lankan viewers worldwide.”
The Capital Maharaja Organisation group director electronic media business Nedra Weerasinghe said that being a forward thinking media network, moving into new territories was of prime importance. “As Sri Lanka’s most innovative local content and trusted news provider we realise that OTT will play an important role in allowing consumers to access services in the way they want. We believe consumers will enjoy content ‘any time, any place’ through a range of devices including mobile phones, iPads, game consoles or connected TVs, all connected to a central content gateway. It is our pleasure to partner with YuppTV on this venture,” said Weerasinghe.
Channel head Chammantraj added, “Since its inception, the Capital Maharaja Organisation has always believed in setting new benchmarks as far as its business strategy is concerned. We are excited to partner with YuppTV in offering two of our premium channels Sirasa TV and Shakti TV for the first time to subscribers across the globe and trust this will mark the beginning of a new and exciting international partnership.”
NEW DELHI: Telecom network Ericsson will supply online video platform to the over-the-top (OTT) and live TV subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service of Bonnier Broadcasting.
The multi-year deal will see Ericsson provide a number of managed services including content management and preparation, digital rights management, subscriber management and billing and advertising insertion for multiple devices and platforms.
The Nordic next-generation online TV services will launch later this year. From launch, Bonnier Group content – including a mix of sports, local and international drama series, sitcoms and Swedish and international feature films – will be available both on-demand and live. Multiple platforms will be supported, including the web, iOS and Android devices.
Ericsson Broadcasting and Media Services Head Thorsten Sauer said, “Our long-running relationship with TV4 for their linear channels has now been extended to a business transformation that encompasses on-demand and live services across platforms. Consumers want access to content anytime, anywhere and on any device, which is something TV4 is providing through its platform agnostic strategy. Ericsson is the partner in this transformation and our Ericsson Managed Player is designed to help our clients meet the needs of their audiences in this ever-changing landscape.”
Ericsson’s Managed Player masters the combination of OTT delivery and playout to deliver content to consumers. Ericsson Mediaroom Reach, a scalable adaptive bitrate-based technology platform for intelligent OTT video delivery to cross-platform connected devices, powers it.
Bonnier Group’s TV4 selected Ericsson in 2009 to manage their technical operations end-to-end as part of a 10-year contract. In addition, Ericsson and TV4 established a joint technology and business development forum, where the two companies evaluate new business opportunities.
NEW DELHI: The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which is now investing a major share in the entertainment sector, is considering selling of some of its start-up film industry assets.
The businesses could be transferred to Alibaba Pictures Group (APG), the film production and investment company that has its own separate share listings in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Alibaba has major share stakes in integrated film and TV group Huayi Brothers Media, rival studio Enlight Media, Internet TV group Wasu Media, and online video platform Youku Tudou.
Alibaba chairman Jack Ma’s Yunfeng investment fund also has a major stake in Hong Kong’s Media Asia, according to Variety.
“The possible business injection would be comprised of Alibaba Group’s (i) online movie ticketing business and (ii) financing and investment platform for the production of movies and other media content, both of which commenced operations in 2014,” APG said in a statement.
However, the deal is yet to be finalized, as APG said, “This new strategic direction calls for an integrated approach towards the funding, production, marketing and distribution of entertainment content.”
The proposed transfer would appear to exclude many of Alibaba’s larger and more mature film industry assets.
KOLKATA: War for internet data market seems to intensify in Kolkata as telecom operator Bharti Airtel is in the process of seeking permission from the West Bengal government to create Wi-Fi hotspots across the city to push data usage.
“We have sought permission from the state government to create hotspots across the city as we are also looking at Wi-Fi service to consumers,” Airtel CEO (Bengal & Odhisa) R S Negi said, on the sidelines of launching company’s 3G service in the Kolkata circle on its recently acquired The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) 900 Mhz spectrum.
In February, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the company owned by Mukesh Ambani’s flagship Reliance Industries, rolled out a free 4G Wi-Fi service at Park Street, enabling Kolkata as the first metro city with a 4G-enabled high-speed internet service. The company last week said that four more areas of Kolkata will turn into Wi-Fi enabled zones by next month. The company, which is investing around Rs 3,300 crore to roll out 4G in Bengal, plans to offer the free service as part of a sampling experiment. The official commercial launch will take place later.
Data is turning out to be major focus for the telecom companies, experts said.
While Negi declined to give financial numbers, he said that half of the incremental revenue for Bharti Airtel comes from data services.
He also informed that the company may use 3G or 4G network to fire the Wi-Fi service or in a combination of both depending on the situation.
Airtel is already offering free Wi-Fi on two bus routes, as trial to this mode of service, since late last year.
According to Negi, the new 3G service branded as Platinum 3G will offer better speed for consumers and better outdoor and indoor coverage, while adding that the company is not tweaking with the existing 3G tariff for consumers.
However, the new 3G is only for Kolkata and not Rest of West Bengal (RoWB) circle. Kolkata is the second circle for 3G service based on UMTS 900 after Mumbai for Airtel.
“With the launch of Platinum 3G, Airtel customers of Kolkata can browse the internet 122 per cent faster than any other 3G network, get 36 per cent better indoor coverage and enjoy extended battery life. Additionally, users can stream videos 144 per cent faster than the existing speed. Customers need not to pay extra to avail this superior connectivity and can enjoy Platinum 3G at the existing 3G tariffs,” he said.
This 3G services in Kolkata on the 900 Mhz spectrum will offer better speed than when these services are offered on another bandwidth.
The 3G network in Kolkata is likely to be managed by Nokia Networks, which already has the operations & maintenance mandate for its 2G and 4G networks in the city.
KOLKATA: Saturday Times Group, a Kolkata-based media group, with an aim to give a new voice to the cultural capital of the country West Bengal, plans to launch 35 editions of the Bengal daily Pratyahik Khabar soon.
Furthermore, in order to reach the technology savvy fraternity, the Kolkata based media group will also launch a mobile application along with a multi-lingual non wire news agency called STNA (Saturday Times News and Analysis).
“Bengal is a rich state that comprises ever changing artistry, sports and of course politics. We at STNA are proud to announce our maiden venture so that we can inform our readers about the change and other newsworthy developments,” said Saturday Times Group founder editor Priyanath Chattopadhyay.
“Our team comprises talents that has played a pivotal role in Bengali journalism. I am sure that our fearless and balanced reporting will once again create a surge towards news as it is,” he added.
According to Chattopadhyay, Saturday Times Media Group has evolved with the times, reflecting the changing India and is targeted to be the newspaper of choice of over one million Indians.
Talking about the editions, he said that the newspaper would have several editions in states like West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Jharkahnd, Bihar and Delhi.
ce of television. Twenty-five series aired in more than 70 countries across 2014. The format continues to be a hit in the USA, UK, Italy, Spain, Canada and Israel as well as in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and Asia.
Williams and her teams regionally oversee Endemol Shine Group’s newly combined catalogue of formats. The new company’s regional presence includes local production hubs in Poland, Middle East and North Africa, Russia and Turkey, with the Central and Eastern Europe format distribution team representing remaining territories.
MUMBAI: As part of its ongoing commitment to deliver branded content to online audiences around the world, Lionsgate has partnered with Comic-Con International: San Diego on a subscription video-on-demand service that will launch later this year.
The new service will launch with a broad portfolio of content including original short-form content created exclusively for the channel’s subscribers, films and television series from Lionsgate and other studios designed to appeal to the diverse interests of Comic-Con’s fan base as well as exclusive archived footage from Comic-Con’s 45-year history. As part of the new channel, the two companies will also work closely to make the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI-IFF) a 365-day-a-year online event.
Last year 17 of the top 20 North American box office blockbusters had a presence at the Comic-Con Convention along with iconic television series such as The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. Comic-Con International has grown from 300 attendees in the basement of San Diego’s US Grant Hotel in 1970 to well over 130,000 fans from around the world last year, marking its evolution into a staple of popular culture and the longest-running comics and popular arts convention in America. Badges for this year’s Comic-Con sold out in 60 minutes.
“We’re thrilled that the biggest pop culture event of the year will become a year-round digital channel for Comic-Con fans and audiences around the world. The fan base for the kind of films and television series showcased at Comic-Con has grown exponentially, and a subscription video-on-demand service is the ideal platform to capture the magic and excitement of the Comic-Con experience year-round as well as the perfect vehicle for Comic-Con fans to discover new content,” said Lionsgate president of worldwide television and digital distribution Jim Packer.
Reflecting the tremendous interest in the diverse roster of comics, films and television series showcased at Comic-Con International each year, the two companies plan to roll out the new service beginning with the US later this year.
“From the beginning of our discussions, nearly two years ago, we have been extremely impressed with Lionsgate’s embracing and understanding of fan culture. Working with our Lionsgate partners has been an exciting exercise in finding great ways to expand our horizons to deliver the unique magic of Comic-Con and the celebration of comics and popular art to our fans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and around the world,” said Comic-Con director of marketing and public relations David Glanzer.
“As a next generation studio, Lionsgate has grown up with Comic-Con, and their fans are our audiences. We’re excited by the opportunity to expand and enrich the world of Comic-Con for existing fans and extend it to a whole new global audience with a channel distinguished by its imaginative curation, depth and diversity of content and fierce loyalty to the Comic-Con brand,” said Lionsgate president of interactive ventures & games Peter Levin.
Originally showcasing comic books, film and fantasy literature, Comic-Con has grown to also encompass science fiction, horror, animation, anime, manga, toys, collectibles, video games, interactive multimedia, webcomics, fantasy novels and other aspects of pop culture. In addition to San Diego Comic-Con International, the new subscription video-on-demand service will also have exclusive access to the archives of sister convention WonderCon.
The new Comic-Con International channel is the third streaming service to be launched or announced by Lionsgate as the company continues to build its suite of online platforms to deliver content directly to consumers. Lionsgate also recently launched the Lionsgate Entertainment World platform with the Alibaba Group in China and has announced the planned launch this summer of Tribeca Shortlist, a subscription video-on-demand service for film aficionados in partnership with Tribeca Enterprises.
