ITV

Category: Technology

  • Google+ Social sign in now live on Speakingtree.inpoppp

    MUMBAI: Times Internet and Google have announced the implementation of Google+ Social sign on its spiritual network – Speakingtree.in

    The integration not only simplifies the sign-in process but also maximises interactions and sharing of content among the spiritually inclined on the portal. Signing in through Google allows users to seamlessly share content including articles, tips on meditation, spiritual blogs, forums and conversations thus eliminating the need to create a new username and password. The implementation also enables a one click install of the Android application thus maximising consumption of articles on the move, the company said in a statement.

    The integration has been demoed at the Google I/O this year and is the only representation from the social space in India.

    Times Internet vice president Archana Vohra said, “Google Social Sign helps make sign in more convenient and allows our engaged users to easily access, discover and share exclusive content. The over the air Android install extends our brand engagement across devices.”

    “We had an extremely fast turnaround on the integration of Google social sign in on Speakingtree.in. We look forward to connecting readers on Speakingtree.in and creating even more engaging experiences for them across both Speaking tree and Google,” Google strategic partner manager Matt Gaskell said.

  • TNT, TBS to offer live streaming 24/7

    TNT, TBS to offer live streaming 24/7

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Time Warner has announced that its cable networks TBS and TNT are about to become the first entertainment networks in the US to stream on-air content live across multiple platforms 24/7, including through the networks‘ websites and a pair of newly created Watch TNT and Watch TBS apps. The announcement was made during TNT and TBS‘ annual Upfront presentation in New York.

    Live streaming the company adds is the latest phase in the rollout of TV Everywhere, the industry-wide initiative that gives subscribers to cable, satellite and telco video services access to more of their favorite shows across a wide range of digital platforms.

    Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin said, “Starting this summer, subscribers will be able to watch TBS and TNT live – anytime, anywhere, on multiple devices. Tablets and smartphones become television sets, bringing new opportunities for us and for advertisers”

    TNT and TBS will begin their live streaming just as both networks are in the midst of the their summer programming, which for TNT includes returning series ‘Rizzoli and Isles‘, ‘Falling Skies‘, ‘Major Crimes‘. TBS‘ summer lineup includes the second season of the sitcom ‘Sullivan and Son‘ and the new series ‘Deon Cole‘s Black Box‘ and ‘Deal With It‘. Also available through live streaming will be TNT‘s coverage of the NBA; TBS‘s regular-season and playoff coverage of Major League Baseball; and both network‘s coverage of the NCAA Division I Men‘s Basketball Championship.

  • PlayStation launches Move Street Cricket II for PS3

    PlayStation launches Move Street Cricket II for PS3

    MUMBAI: Sony PlayStation has announced the release of the second edition of the Street Cricket game as Move Street Cricket II. This PS3 game was developed in India in partnership with development studio, Trine. This is coming in as a sequel to the previous version of Move Street Cricket, launched last summer.

    The game costs Rs 1,499. One can either opt for the Move Street Cricket II stand-alone game or MSCII Move Starter Pack to be available in June this year at a price of Rs 3,650.

    The latest version of Move Street Cricket has new features, including a responsive AI that enhances the user experience when equipped with the Sony PlayStation Move functionality. The pace of the game has been heightened in order to keep the player on their toes. The mini-games have also been tuned to perfection to give the ardent gamer a seamless gaming experience.

    Positioned as ‘Play, the way you play!‘ Indian game developer – Trine has tweaked around with the environments to include eight unique playing fields to choose from. One can now choose their playing field to suit their mood which varies from ‘a school ground‘, ‘the chawl‘ or even ‘a society roof top‘. An added bonus would be the choice to play with any one of eight international teams. The key idea in play here is that the player gets so immersed in their game that they overlook the fact that they are playing it on a digital interface.

    Sony PlayStation India country manager Atindriya Bose said, “After the tremendous success from Move Street Cricket, we are confident consumers are going to enjoy the sequel of Move Street Cricket II. This is another one in the series of successful local development with Trine. In this version, the gameplay has been hugely improved for both the bowling and batting levels through motion sensitivity.”

  • TRAI initiates action against LCOs for failure to get forms filled by consumers

    TRAI initiates action against LCOs for failure to get forms filled by consumers

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has initiated action against cable operators who are violating the new laws relating to digitisation.

    It is learnt from LCOs that around fourteen operators have so far been issued notices.

    When questioned about this, a TRAI official confirmed to indiantelevision.com that the regulatory body had been contemplating action for some time against offending cable operators.

    However, he said a press release would be issued in due course as and when such action is taken.
     
    Complaints have been raised against LCOs for not filling the forms with details about the consumers.

    However, several cable operators contacted by this website said the form had to be filled by the consumer, who was refusing to comply because his charges were going up manifold.

  • YouTube announces direct live-streaming

    YouTube announces direct live-streaming

    MUMBAI: Forever now users who have desired to live broadcast to YouTube had to go the extra mile and stumble through many hurdles. There is some respite now from YouTube as they announced that channels with over 1,000 subscribers can now apply for live-streaming from their webcam or network connected video camera.

    Earlier, users had to rely on Google+ and create a “Hangouts on Air” session while at the same time ensuring their respective YouTube account was synced, to add to other hurdles.

    If an account qualifies, it will have an “enable” button to sign-up. According to the YouTube Creators page, the account will be ready for live-streaming in the following weeks after sign-up. Then YouTube will transcode and broadcast the supplied signal in real-time to the user‘s YouTube channel.

    Other features available include inserting ads & closed-captioning, multiple camera-switching, and the ability for viewers to pause, fast-forward and rewind, depending on when they start watching.

    YouTube will automatically adjust the quality to make sure the user content is available live from any device. This puts YouTube right in the game with names like Ustream and Livestream, provided the channel has “the juice”.

  • Amazon.com expands content licensing deal with NBCUniversal

    Amazon.com expands content licensing deal with NBCUniversal

    MUMBAI: Online retail major Amazon.com has announced an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution that will bring programmes to Prime Instant Video.

    Prime Instant Video offers more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes for Prime members to stream on Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, among other connected TVs and devices – all at no additional cost.

    Prime members will have exclusive unlimited subscription streaming access to prior seasons of the following NBCUniversal shows:

    NBC‘s dark fantasy drama ‘Grimm‘, based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales
    USA Network‘s legal drama ‘Suits‘ and serialised spy thriller ‘Covert Affairs‘
    NBC‘s new psychological thriller ‘Hannibal‘, based on the novels by Thomas Harris and produced by Gaumont International Television, available later this year
    Syfy‘s new futuristic sci-fi and drama series ‘Defiance‘ will be available early next year
    In addition, the announcement will add several shows to Prime Instant Video including ‘Smash‘, as well as Syfy drama series ‘Alphas‘, ‘Eureka‘ and ‘Warehouse 13‘. Also available are children‘s programmes including ‘Curious George‘ and ‘Land Before Time‘, which will both be available in Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, the content service that brings together books, games, apps, movies and TV shows.

    Amazon director of digital video content acquisition Brad Beale said, “We listen carefully to our customers to find out which TV shows and movies they find the most entertaining. Our expanded agreement with NBCUniversal gives Prime members access to even more exclusive content that they can stream instantly, at no additional cost. Compelling shows like ‘Covert Affairs‘, ‘Defiance‘, ‘Grimm‘, ‘Hannibal‘ and ‘Suits‘ are big wins for our customers and we look forward to adding more titles soon.”

    NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution president Frances Manfredi said, “We‘re excited to expand our relationship with Amazon by adding great NBCUniversal content to Prime Instant Video. With Amazon, we‘re giving our established viewers a chance to catch-up on what they missed while simultaneously reaching and engaging new audiences who may not have seen these great series on their premiering networks.”

  • Avid celebrates ‘The Great Gatsby’ at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

    Avid celebrates ‘The Great Gatsby’ at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

    MUMBAI: Editors Jason Ballantine and Matt Villa used Avid Media Composer to cut Cannes Film Festival opener ‘The Great Gatsby‘ in 3D.

    The 2013 Cannes Film Festival, which runs till 26 May, opened with the latest adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, The Great Gatsby directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Amitabh Bachchan. With careers spanning over 20 years, Ballantine and Villa are long-time Media Composer users and have worked on major projects including Bax Luhrmann‘s previous films ‘Moulin Rouge‘ and ‘Australia‘. Ballantine is currently using Media Composer on his next project, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road‘ and Villa is using it to cut ‘Predestination‘.
     
    Ballantine said, “Every film throws a new set of creative and technical challenges for post-production that must be overcome. With so many variations in workflows to navigate, it‘s incredibly reassuring that there is no decision to be made with the offline cutting system – it‘s always Media Composer, that‘s a given. The reliability and functionality of the entire Avid product range is second to none.”

    Media Composer empowers professionals to edit movies with 64-bit performance and provides easy-to-use video editing tools, and streamlined HD, file-based, and stereo 3D workflows.

    Villa said, “During the shoot we had an editing station permanently on location and during post we had two fully operational cutting rooms running concurrently and in perfect sync; one in Sydney and one in LA. We called upon many tools from the Avid family to deal with the 3D material and they never faltered. Productions of this scale can be unrestrained and unpredictable, but Avid never fails in being stable yet flexible enough to get these jobs done.”

    Avid VP worldwide marketing W. Sean Ford said, “Jason and Matt have done outstanding work on The Great Gatsby. Their achievement is a great example of why we are so committed to providing editors with the technology that lets them push the limits of what is technically possible– from syncing workflows across many locations, to working with 3D material. The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of what can result when professionals have the tools they need to turn their creative visions into reality.”

  • Broadcast Content Complaints Council warns Kids TV channels

    Broadcast Content Complaints Council warns Kids TV channels

    MUMBAI: Kids TV channels in India had better watch out. The Broadcast Content Complaints Council (BCCC) has sent out a warning to members of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation cautioning them to be more circusmpect about the programming they air on their channels.

    In an advisory to its members the BCCC chairperson justice AP Shah has stated that ”while the BCCC wishes to avoid being a censoring agency, it advises all IBF member channels, particularly children’s/cartoon channels, to be more cautious in the selection of the content shown, considering the impressionable minds of their target viewers.The emphasis should be on the “best interest of the child”.”
     
    The letter from BCCC says that it has received several complaints regarding the telecast of content on channels meant for children, including cartoon channels.

    The complaints have broadly been about:

    *Telecast of “objectionable” content, visuals, theme, animation and/or use of “inappropriate” language in some programmes aired on children’s/cartoon channels. This includes foreign cartoon shows and their translated/adapted versions.

    * Telecast of films/movie clips classified as UA, including horror/action films, on children’s/cartoon channels.

    * Telecast of “objectionable” promos of programmes meant for more mature viewers on children’s/cartoon channels.
    The BCCC has acknowledged that it has taken note “of the contention of some broadcasters that there is no separate classification of channels as those meant exclusively for children and, therefore, there can be no additional restraint on the telecast of content, even if it is meant largely for adult viewers.

    The Council, however, is of the opinion that as a matter of fact, some channels consider children to be their principal target viewers. Consequently, it is children who overwhelmingly watch these channels and unsuspecting parents allow them easy access to programmes aired on such channels.”

  • WeChat aims to reinvent social communication on mobile in India

    WeChat aims to reinvent social communication on mobile in India

    MUMBAI: WeChat, a global mobile social communication application, has unveiled its latest brand campaign to boost its marketing effort with Bollywood actors Parineeti Chopra and Varun Dhawan as the brand ambassadors of WeChat in India.

    The brand campaign captures the “true spirit” of WeChat of being young, effervescent and instant. The campaign also showcases WeChat’s distinctive features like voice messaging, group chat, moments and special emoticons.

    With a bundle of features like ‘Hold-To-Talk’, WeChat is all set to re-define the way people communicate with each other. WeChat’s ‘Hold-To-Talk’ is the first application in communication space which enables users to send voice messages at the touch of a button.

    ‘Moments’ is another key differentiating feature of WeChat where users can post image or text and share with their selected friends in a secure way.

    According to the company, WeChat has already become a rage amongst Indian youth and is the top app downloaded daily on the AppStore. WeChat’s daily users have grown five fold in the last one month.

    WeChat has also introduced “Official Accounts” on its platform, a feature that can be utilised by companies and merchants to build interactivity with their fans in a new and innovative way. Brands like Café Coffee Day, Big Bazaar, Yahoo! Cricket, Goibibo, Santa Banta, and Tradus are amongst the earliest brands to start their official accounts on WeChat in India, the company said.

    The global top free mobile social communication application WeChat, was launched in India in July last year across iPhone, Android, Symbian, and Windows Phone platforms and was recently launched on the BlackBerry platform as well.

  • InMobi study reveals that Indians love mobile phones more than TV

    InMobi study reveals that Indians love mobile phones more than TV

    MUMBAI: The Indian television industry which is pegged at a humongous Rs 37,000 crore (KPMG at India analysis 2012) may have some reason to worry if the latest study by Bangalore based independent mobile advertising network InMobi is to be believed. The study which is part of its – Mobile Media Consumption Report – claims that Indians prefer mobile phones over TV! It covered 2,004 respondents nationally.

    According to this InMobi study, dual or second screening, the phenomenon of users spending time on additional electronic devices while watching TV, continues its upsurge. This implies that the number of hours a consumer spends on his mobile phone is rising rapidly and is also invading his TV viewing space. Take a look at some of the intriguing revelations.

        63 per cent of users now actively spend time on a mobile device while watching TV, compared to 26 per cent in 2012. Now, that is quite a jump.
        57 per cent users engage in social networking while watching TV.
        79 per cent of Indian mobile web users plan to conduct m-commerce in the next 12 months.
        65 per cent of Indian mobile web users are now as comfortable with mobile advertising as they are with TV or online advertising
        80 per cent noticed mobile ads on their smartphone, while a majority of 48 per cent users experience these ads on mobile apps specifically.

    Observing these trends, InMobi vice president & general manager India and south east Asia Phalgun Raju stated: “The tiny mobile phone has overtaken the mighty TV in India from a media consumption perspective. With over 850 million active mobile connections in India, the mobile marketing channel presents marketers an unprecedented opportunity to engage with the always-connected consumers. The onus is now on brands and content agencies to create compelling, engaging mobile rich media to capture consumers‘ attention.”

    The study, developed with Decision Fuel, finds that mobile web users in India are increasingly influenced by mobile, with nearly a third of their media consumption time being spent on mobile devices.

    Raju concludes: “The Indian app market is showing strong growth, as smartphone penetration continues to accelerate with lower and lower price points and mobile consumers turn to apps. Our research shows that on an average 7.1 apps are actively used by Indian consumers over a 30-day period. This has huge implications for both publishers and advertisers as they seek to garner an audience for their offerings and monetise through advertising.”

    Interestingly, most broadcasters are now engaging with their viewers on social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and have also launched several mobile apps to seek the attention of the ever so easily distracted audience.