ITV

Category: Technology

  • PUMA cashes in on Cricket fever

    PUMA cashes in on Cricket fever

    MUMBAI: PUMA is all set to take cricket digital with the launch of its Facebook application – PUMA Finger Bash. The innovative and addictive game allows players to virtually compete against Team PUMA in a game of cricket – where the players can bowl, bat & score with their fingers.

    PUMA Finger Cricket will give the Indian cricket fans a chance to be involved with cricket in a way convenient to them. Similar to the famous and age-old game played with the hand ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors‘ – PFB is easily played on-ground between friends and makes for a very entertaining past-time.

    Users can play PUMA Finger Bash (PFB) against the virtual forms of their favourite T20 cricketers like Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Brendon McCullum, Adam Gilchrist, Yuvraj Singh and Luke Wright.
     
    In the last season of IPL, PUMA had created a series of superhero comic strips after each match of the Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers.

  • eBay India announces Latif Nathani as managing director

    eBay India announces Latif Nathani as managing director

    MUMBAI: eBay India today announced a shift in leadership. Latif Nathani, a senior executive in the technology space in both India and the US will join eBay India as managing director.

    Nathani is taking over from Muralikrishnan B, who will be completing his responsibilities by the end of the quarter and then will be looking at exploring entrepreneurial opportunities.

    Nathani said, "I am excited about leading the thriving eBay India business, a market leader in India, that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs make a livelihood as well as provide vast selection and great deals to millions of consumers. The marketplaces business model fascinates me and I look forward to steering the talented India team to even greater heights."

    Nathani has 22 years of experience including a 15 year career at Microsoft and Symantec and most recently served as CEO of product strategy consulting firm. He has extensive expertise in building and leading high performance global business, engineering and marketing teams. He also led a consumer incubator for Microsoft India (including equity investments in mobile payments), headed global product marketing for Symantec‘s Norton business and was cofounder of eMemories.com.
     
    Muralikrishan said, "It has been my proud privilege to lead the India team and business through two of the most exciting years the industry has seen. We have set new benchmarks improving the customer experience along with building a stronger brand and reputation among government, industry, entrepreneurs and consumers."

  • Special spot on ‘Sadbhavana Divas’ on MIB’s YouTube site to remember Rajiv Gandhi

    Special spot on ‘Sadbhavana Divas’ on MIB’s YouTube site to remember Rajiv Gandhi

    NEW DELHI: A special TV spot to promote the message of communal harmony on the occasion of ‘Sadbhavna Diwas‘, the death anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, has already got thousands of views on the information and broadcasting ministry‘s YouTube site www.youtube.com/user/INBMINISTRY?.

    Officials said the 1.38 minute spot, directed by noted film maker Pradeep Sarkar, would beam across the media space spreading the message that ‘sadbhav‘ (communal harmony) is the idea of India.

    Sarkar, who has created the clip, had also directed the multimedia campaign ‘Glimpses of India Story‘, which was launched by I&B minister Manish Tewari earlier.
     
    Officials said the digital volunteers of the ministry who spread the government‘s policies and views on the social media would actively spread the message.

    The video has also been put on the ministry‘s blogspot and got over a thousand views till last evening.

  • Niloufer Dundh partners with Talenthouse India

    Niloufer Dundh partners with Talenthouse India

    MUMBAI: Former senior vice president and head of integrated media at Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Niloufer Dundh, has announced a partnership with Reliance Entertainment‘s Talenthouse India.

    This move signals Dhund‘s plans for her firm Ventes Dundh in the crowdsourcing segment and her belief in its appeal to brands.

    Niloufer has scored a six this IPL season, with a key role in Talenthouse‘s crowdsourcing initiative for Vodafone‘s IPL campaign where 22 kids will wear the winning design comprising of jersey and cap while leading the final two teams to the ground. With an overwhelming response, Talenthouse had crowdsourced 433 designs out of which Vodafone has chosen one design by Parth Gondaliya who received Rs One Lakh as cash prize.

    Besides providing the leading telecom brand in the country with an innovative method to crowdsource, Niloufer has connected one of her clients to an upcoming nation-wide campaign by Talenthouse. With a theme that is sure to connect with every Indian and targeted in its appeal to the youth, Talenthouse will announce this campaign over the next month.

    Having previously managed brands in the digital space, the lack of quality content can diminish a brand‘s efforts to appeal to audiences. Speaking of the association, Niloufer Dundh entrepreneur Ventes Dundh said, “We often fail to meet the objectives of digital campaigns due to the poor quality of content. Good content has proven to be a differentiator for a brand, as it increases talkability and engagement quotients. This is a gap that I am confident that Talenthouse will fulfill, as we will be able to reach out to several brands across the country. Together with Talenthouse, we plan to up the ante and execute different projects and deliver unique crowdsourcing initiatives.”

    Talenthouse India CEO Arun Mehra said, “Crowdsourcing is essential for brands to be taken seriously in this increasingly digital age. Talenthouse has consistently delivered quality content for brands, having successfully engaged consumers. We are excited to work with Niloufer who has a strong reputation in the industry, with some stellar work to her credit. We have a string of projects in the pipeline that we are excited to announce and will continue to grow successfully in the crowdsourcing space.”

  • YouTube could make $20 bn in 2020: Morgan Stanley

    YouTube could make $20 bn in 2020: Morgan Stanley

    MUMBAI: When Google bought online video service YouTube for $1.6 billion six years ago some eyeballs were raised about whether the move was smart or made sense.

    While it took the search giant a while to figure out the revenue model things are now moving full steam ahead. In fact the progress has been so good that Morgan Stanley has said that YouTube can make $20 billion in revenue and operating income of $5 billion in 2020.

    YouTube will make $4 billion in gross revenue and $711 million in operating income this year.

    The interesting thing is that YouTube is not just relying on advertising. It has started a paid subscription service for some channels. The aim is to allow for more interaction between content creators and consumers. Channels that have availed of this service include Acorn TV, Jim Henson Family TV and UFC Select.

  • Yahoo! board approves $1.1 bn Tumblr acquisition

    Yahoo! board approves $1.1 bn Tumblr acquisition

    MUMBAI: To compete better in an internet environment dominated by social networks and blogs Yahoo! has agreed to buy social blogging service Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash.

    Millions use Tumblr as a vehicle to blog. Tumblr will function independently.

    Tumblr is especially popular among young users. According to the research firm Quantcast, 29 per cent of Tumblr‘s members are ages 18 to 24, and 19 per cent are younger than 18.
     
    Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp who founded the company six years ago will make millions of dollars but will stay on for at least a few years indicate reports.

    Reports also indicate Yahoo! is perceived in young circles to be ‘old‘ and needs to find a way to stay relevant to the young crowd as the digital space evolves rapidly.

  • Facebook could go the way of ‘crappy’ MySpace: Murdoch

    Facebook could go the way of ‘crappy’ MySpace: Murdoch

    MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch whose company News Corp suffered a big loss after having to sell ‘crappy‘ MySpace for less than a tenth of the price it was bought at has warned that Facebook could suffer a similar fate.

    On the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Facebook‘s IPO Murdoch took to Twitter and wrote, “Look out Facebook! Hours spent participating per member dropping seriously. First really bad sign as seen by crappy MySpace years ago.”

    It may be recalled that News Corp bought MySpace for $580 million way back in 2005. Some people at the time felt that the price was a steal. Rival media company Viacom had also been eyeing MySpace and was furious at losing out.

    But MySpace lost the opportunity to build itself and Facebook came in 2007 and blew everything in its path away. News Corp sold MySpace for a mere $35 million two years ago.

  • Digital TV homes to double in Eastern Europe

    Digital TV homes to double in Eastern Europe

    MUMBAI: Rapid conversion means that the number of digital homes in Eastern Europe will nearly double between 2012 and 2018, bringing the total to 121 million, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. In fact, the Digital TV Eastern Europe report estimates that 13 million digital TV homes will be added in 2013 alone.

    Digital TV penetration crossed the halfway mark of TV households in 2012, up from only 20 per cent at end of 2008. Fast take-up (and analog terrestrial switch-off) will push digital TV penetration to 61.4 per cent by end of 2013 and onto 97.3 per cent by 2018. Ten of the 21 countries covered in this report will be completely digitised by 2018, with Estonia the first to full conversion – in 2012.

    The number of analogue terrestrial TV households fell by 30 million between 2008 and 2012, leaving 37.2 million. However, only 13 million DTT homes were added, therefore the digital pay TV platforms benefitted from the analogue terrestrial homes converting to digital. With nearly all of the analogue terrestrial TV homes disappearing, there will be 43.3 million DTT homes (or about a third of the TV households) by 2018.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “Much of the emphasis has fallen on the remaining 21.7 million analogue cable subscribers. Many of these homes will upgrade to digital cable, but some will shift to IPTV and DTH. However, many of the remaining analogue cable subscribers are refuseniks, who don‘t want to pay more for TV services. Free-to-air DTT (or even pay DTT) is an attractive option for these homes.”

    “Slow implementation of analogue terrestrial switchover favored the pay TV operators as it gave them more time to convert homes to their packages before FTA DTT became established. Poland and Romania are prime examples of this. However, we expect the impact of DTT in these two countries to result in (small) declines in their pay TV subscriber counts,” he added.

  • More than 3,000 on-demand services in Europe

    More than 3,000 on-demand services in Europe

    MUMBAI: In May 2013, more than 3,000 on-demand audiovisual services were identified as being established in European countries or received in at least one country.

    The European Audiovisual Observatory in a report said that 447 VoD services established in the European Union offer only or mainly cinema films. More than 130 film VoD services targeting one or more EU countries were established outside the EU, mainly in the US and Switzerland.

    The database also lists 45 services offering compilations of trailers and 10 European archive services.

    The European Audiovisual Observatory has just taken stock of on-demand audiovisual services on the occasion of the Cannes Film Market. The general use of cross-border strategies for VoD services

    This month, the European Audiovisual Observatory identified 3,087 on-demand audiovisual services: catch-up TV services, newspapers‘ video services and various kinds of VoD services (general-interest, films, TV fiction, music, animation and children‘s or adult programmes) and various economic models (financed by advertising, pay per view, direct subscription, services included in a subscription to digital packages, services from public broadcasters). 2,733 services established in the European Union were identified, 447 of them film VoD services (or 18 per cent of the total available), 44 were trailer services (not including distributors‘ promotional websites) and 10 were film archive services.

    It appears only natural that the big countries should have a large number of film VoD services: 48 are established in the UK, 34 in France and 33 in Germany. Four countries have a relatively large number of services compared to their size. Three of these, Luxembourg (86), Sweden (36) and the Czech Republic (31) are very clearly countries of establishment of services targeting other countries. Luxembourg hosts the iTunes Stores that are operated by iTunes S.?.r.l. and target not only other European countries (apart from Romania) but also many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia (with the exception of Japan). Netflix, which provides services for the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries and has announced the continuation of its European rollout, is also established in the Grand Duchy.

    In addition, the following are established in Luxembourg: the Xbox Video platforms operated by Microsoft Luxembourg S.?.r.l., which are available in 15 countries and are not considered VoD services but as catalogue distribution platforms, most being American and each regarded as a separate service. Sweden hosts various services that target the Nordic countries (SF Anytime, Canal+ Digital, CDON, Headweb, Filmnet) and even a service targeting Spain.

    The Czech Republic hosts various language versions of HBO OD, which targets Central Europe. The Netherlands is characterised by a multiplicity of small online VoD services and a few cable or IPTV platform services.

    417 or 45.3 per cent of the 920 VoD services in the database (all countries and types combined) are operated by American groups, either from the United States or via subsidiaries in Europe.

    The Observatory estimates that in the European Union over 52 per cent of the VoD services available in one country are established in another. This development in the cross-border provision of on-demand audiovisual services, which is especially pronounced in the case of film VoD services, might make it difficult to implement measures laid down by the most stringent national regulations for the promotion of European works or for contributing to production funding.

    There are an increasing number of multi-platform services (fixed or mobile internet, cable, IPTV, sometimes digital terrestrial). More and more film VoD services are also available in the form of applications for tablets or smart TVs.

    Subscription VoD (SvoD) services have proliferated in the last few months, and 76 have been identified. This model, which was initially employed for some types of special-interest services (especially children‘s services), has been developed with the launch of film subscription services. Many pay film channels also offer catch-up services, which are included in the subscription price and are increasingly accessible on tablets or smartphones.

    European Audiovisual Observatory head of the department for information on markets and financing André Lange said, “The establishment of a database on on-demand audiovisual services in Europe is in some way Utopian. The complexity of this field is growing and the lack of transparency is rather worrying, especially as far as the precise identification of the company providing the services and its country of establishment are concerned. At least a third of the identifications that we provide in the database are plausible but are in fact based on assumptions. This lack of transparency with regard to producing companies definitely does not conform to European or national transparency standards relating to publishing or media ownership. There is some risk involved in making these data available to the public, but we hope that service providers and distributors will be keen to help us correct any mistakes.”

  • TV news industry awaits 4G telco services

    TV news industry awaits 4G telco services

    MUMBAI: Zip, zap, zoom – high speed! Don‘t most of us love it – especially when it concerns data transfer speeds? India‘s new TV broadcasters too eagerly await the rapid speed that comes with 4G LTE services. India‘s telecom landscape is going to undergo some drastic changes once 4G LTE starts spreading in more cities and starts gaining traction amongst users, courtesy licensees such as Reliance and Airtel and other telcos.

    And amongst the customers who are just counting down the days to 4G‘s rapid uptake and spread are Indian news broadcasters. Reason: they are looking to use the data pipe to get the video footage to their studios and master control rooms, faster and cheaper, replacing clunky and very expensive outdoor broadcast (OB) vans.

    In fact, what‘s heartening for the industry are reports that more than five news crews including the Beeb reported lived on the UEFA Championship using 4G LTE services on 15 May. In their case, they used Dutch based Mobile Viewpoint‘s 4G technology. Mobile Viewpoint is a subsidiary of Dutch company Triple IT focusing on the development of mobile video solutions for the security and broadcast industries. But there are others such as TVU Networks, SeekFit Technology, AVIWest, which are also offering solutions which entail a shift in live video acquisition away from the super expensive satellite transmission, delivering a cost effective cellular alternative that offers resilient broadcast quality video uplink while enhancing freedom of mobility in the field for TV news journalists.

    Currently, most Indian news broadcasters are functioning on a combination of OB vans and 3G mobile technology. According to industry sources, 3G technology provides a bandwidth of around a maximum of 700 KBPS to one MBPS. Multiple sim data cards are clubbed together in a special 3G unit to stream live footage. It is estimated that compared to that 4G technology would enable a massive bandwidth of up to 2 MBPS.

    Says leading Indian news broadcaster NDTV CTO Dinesh Singh: “4G technology would bring in better clarity as compared to OB vans and 3G technology. Currently, we at NDTV are functioning on a 50:50 ratio of OB vans and 3G mobile technology. 4G technology in India will be a welcome advancement.”

    What gives mobile technology an edge over traditional OB vans, is the cost effectiveness and the convenience it offers. Think about the parking constraints that news broadcasters have to deal with while transmitting live events in a bustling and congested city area through an OB van! With mobile technology, it is a matter of a convenient ‘backpack.‘

    In terms of costs, mobile technology or digital mobile news gathering systems are way less heavy on the pocket as compared to OB vans. Explains Singh: “An OB van would require an investment of around Rs 6 million to Rs 8 million. On the other hand, establishing an infrastructure for mobile technology involves an investment of roughly Rs one million. The difference in costs is quite substantial and hence very attractive.”

    Apart from establishment costs, OB transmissions require access to satellite uplink bandwidth. This burns another hole in the broadcaster‘s pocket at an estimated Rs 5 million a year. Whereas, all one needs for 3G or 4G mobile technology is a couple of supportive mobile handsets and a good data packet plan which would cost a meager Rs 5,000- Rs10,000, says one of the broadcasters.

    However, all is not hunky-dory as far as using 4G LTE services are concerned. â€?OB vans offer a success rate of 99.9 per cent as opposed to mobile technology which leaves scope for an error. In a competitive industry like news, there is no tolerance for an error,” points out a media observer. â€?Mobile technology is ideal for news gathering and live streaming, however not entirely dependable.”

    Network18 CTO Piyush Gupta reasons: “We will all happily welcome 4G technology, if all the telecom providers sort out the loopholes. Many a times, the mobile towers get choked up because of congestion. While OB vans ensure us a dedicated bandwidth, that‘s not the case with mobile technology.”

    Network18 is currently functioning on 80 per cent OB vans and 20 per cent 3G technology. It uses mobile technology for gathering and relaying footage to its studios.

    Besides, compatibility issues may also arise. “3G had high hopes pinned on it. The industry invested in special units which act as receivers and transmitters. And advanced 4G technology would imply advanced transmission units,” Gupta adds.

    Another area of concern is the need for pan India connectivity. TV Today Network general manager Amit Gemini points out: “Mobile technology is not consistent. The moment you go beyond the four metros, the connectivity gets bleak. It would be great only if we are assured pan India connectivity.”

    But a couple of aspects aside, 4G is the way ahead. “4G as a technology is very good for news gathering and distributing content. Currently television consumption is linear. With 4G coming in, the streaming of an entire show could take just a few minutes.”

    All in all, 4G may not entirely replace the good old OB van, but it will definitely revolutionise live broadcasting. Are TV news journos licking their chops?