ITV

Category: Technology

  • DAS stay extended in Madhya Pradesh to 15 May

    DAS stay extended in Madhya Pradesh to 15 May

    NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh high court today extended till 15 May the stay on switch-off of analogue signals in the cities of Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur covered in Phase II of digitisation.

    The extension came after the Jabalpur bench of the court noted that some of the respondents (mostly multi-system operators) had not filed their replies to the notice issued in the last hearing, and counsel Greesham Jain for one of the petitioners said he had received the replies in some cases just yesterday and wanted more time to file his counter-affidavit.

    The court is hearing five petitions – including a public interest litigation by a lawyer, a consumer body, one LCO including Rashmi Dubey, and one by an MSO run by Nilesh Rawal linked to Digicable – citing shortage of set top boxes, billing issues and some other problems linked to digital addressable system.

    As on 21 April, the status of seeding in Madhya Pradesh was 86.32 per cent in Bhopal, 103.04.per cent in Indore, and 45.84 per cent in Jabalpur.

    Meanwhile the stay in the Andhra Pradesh for the cities of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam was extended to 4 June. Stay also continues to be in force in Chennai, which was part of Phase I.

  • Prime Focus Tech pockets cloud computing orders from broadcasters & studios

    Prime Focus Tech pockets cloud computing orders from broadcasters & studios

    MUMBAI: Media and entertainment companies have been sailing on the cloud of cloud computing. And one of the companies that is bearing the fruits of this is Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of media and entertainment services leader Prime Focus.

    PFT today announced that it has secured orders worth Rs 2 billion in the previous quarter from existing and new clients in India, and the US which are to be executed over the next three to five years.

    The company was unwilling to name the clients on account of NDAs with them. All it said was that the new clients include the world‘s largest news aggregator, a prominent Indian studio and a new Indian television channel, each of which have signed multi-year deals for PFT‘s Hybrid Cloud Technology – Clear, a cloud-based Media ERP and technology infrastructure platform that helps manage the business processes of M&E companies.

    PFT works with major content owners like Star India, Eros International, Sony Music, Viacom 18, Multiscreen Media BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), the IPL (Indian Premiere League), Hindustan Unilever, The Associated Press, A & E TV Network, Netflix, Schawk! and WPP.

    Says PFT founder, president & CEO Ramki Sankaranarayanan: “Increasingly M&E companies are adopting cloud technologies across the enterprise content operations. They are not only migrating to digital file-based workflows but starting to adopt a Media ERP solution to manage the business processes around content. Clear‘s proven credential of managing over 300,000 hours of content is helping the growth of our order book.”

    Meanwhile, parent company Prime Focus today announced that it has entered into an initial non-binding memorandum of understanding with US-based Medient Studios. Under this, Prime Focus and Medient shall execute a definitive agreement within 90 days for the provision of production and post-production equipment, work flow technology and skill transfer by the former for the latter‘s megastudio project.

    Medient chairman & CEO Manu Kumaran has ambitious plans to develop a 1500 acre site in Effingham, Georgia, in the US which will house movie studios, entertainment facilities and a campus at an initial investment of $90 million. He estimates that the Prime Focus contribution is worth in excess of $40 million.

  • BigFlix records 1 mn registered users

    BigFlix records 1 mn registered users

    Mumbai: BigFlix, a movie-on-demand service that caters to movie buffs across the world, has recorded 1 million registered users.

    According to the company, with the recent addition of diverse catalogues and an upgraded user interface, BigFlix has been the preferred personal blockbuster theatre among film enthusiasts. “With consumers across the world watching films on-the-go at anytime, anywhere, the BigFlix app, which is available across platforms, has revolutionised the movie watching culture.”

    To celebrate the milestone achieved, BigFlix has announced a special celebratory offer for all its existing subscribers who have been a part of the journey of BigFlix since the very beginning. As a part of the offer, subscriptions worth Rs 1 million are to be gifted to certain invaluable customers who have been a part of the journey.

    BigFlix business head Shreyash Sigtia said, “This is indeed a milestone for BigFlix. We have come a long way from where we first began, and every single user who has joined us in the journey has made it possible for BigFlix to grow. It has been an honour for us to serve 1 million registered users so far by means of constantly introducing interesting movie catalogues in a number of languages and by consistently improvising on the user interface and customer service. With this success, our endeavour is to continue providing high quality, ad-free films across languages and genres to consumers across the world on PC, tablets and mobile.”

    Commenting further on the celebratory subscription offer he added, “The success of our service is attributed to the users of BigFlix. The subscription offer is a small token of appreciation from our side to the users who have been an integral part of the BigFlix journey.”

    The celebratory subscription offer is being conveyed to the customers by means of personalised mailers. The offer is valid throughout the month of May 2013.

  • Isobar works with Facebook to develop SeeitShopit

    Isobar works with Facebook to develop SeeitShopit

    MUMBAI: Global digital agency from the Dentsu Aegis Group Isobar has worked with Facebook to create an e-commerce product that enables brands to deliver an interactive shopping experience directly within people’s Facebook news feeds.

    Isobar worked with Facebook to develop SeeitShopit which launches globally this week across desktop, tablet and mobile.

    SeeitShopit provides a “unique” shopping experience to complement Facebook’s current advertising formats. It allows retailers to monetise Facebook fans, by showcasing collections of products within a single post. Facebook users will be able to browse through brand collections, share individual items, share SeeItShopIt with friends and go directly through to purchase. As the first interactive shopping tool of its kind on Facebook, SeeItShopIt is set to play a significant role in the way brands monetise their fan bases.

    Littlewoods, a digital department store, is the first brand to bring SeeItShopIt onto its Facebook page, initially using the tool to launch Myleene Klass’s exclusive new swimwear collection. Using SeeItShopIt, Littlewoods has plans to bring 10 new collections to its Facebook fan base throughout May and June.

    Littlewoods retail director Gary Kibble said, “Littlewoods always looks to be leading customer experiences, whether online or offline. The SeeItShopIt tool gives us the ability to deliver a new way for our Facebook fans to connect with our products.”

    “We created SeeItShopIt to deliver an interactive shopping experience directly within Facebook’s news feed, where users spend most of their time. The tool will allow any brand with a broad product portfolio to monetise their Facebook fan base by providing a seamless shopping experience,” Isobar CTO Rick Williams added.

  • Fun2shoot – A new age video social networking platform

    Fun2shoot – A new age video social networking platform

    MUMBAI: Singapore based Maverick Media & Technologies Pte Ltd‘s live video broadcasting application Fun2shoot will now be available for Symbian, Windows mobile and Android devices as well.

    It is a free application which allows users to easily shoot and share live streaming video from their mobile devices to their social networking sites and contacts, which can be viewed, live either on the mobile device or a web browser.

    This is certainly the birth of a one of a kind video social networking service which will allow users to broadcast live videos from a mobile phone to another mobile or web in nearly real-time. The developers claim that the user‘s experience of broadcasting and registering and shooting can happen in as less as five minutes.

    Instead of recording a video and then going home and uploading it to another site, Fun2shoot presents its users with an easy way to broadcast live events and news as they happen while sharing with a larger audience. It can do video streaming using 2.5G, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity.

  • DEN Networks to raise $160 million through share sale

    DEN Networks to raise $160 million through share sale

    Mumbai: That India’s cable TV digitization drive in phases is going to soak up a lot of investment – running into a few billion dollars – is well known. Some of the MSOs have been working to stay ahead of their capital requirement curve. Take national MSO DEN Networks founded and led by former TV executive Sameer Manchanda.

    It has a presence in roughly 11 million households in over 150 cities across 13 key states in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The MSO has been at the forefront of digitising cable TV nationally since mid-last year and with the next phase of digitization into smaller towns going on and expected to intensify in the next year, it desperately requires cash.

    And it is reaching out to foreign institutional investment to meet that need. It announced on 6 May that it had got board approval to sell equity to raise about $160 million. This was communicated to the stock exchanges on 6 May.

    Part of that will be raised through a preferential equity allotment to Goldman Sachs’ Singapore registered affiliates Broad Street Investments and MBD Bridge Street 2013 Investments for a total amount of $110 million at a issue price of 217.50 per share (face value: Rs 10).

    The allotment is of course subject to shareholder and other regulatory approvals.

    In addition to this, it got the board’s go-ahead for a qualified institutional placement plan to qualified institutional buyers for raising another $50 million at a price of Rs 217.23 per share.

    DEN had got board approval in end March to divest 26 per cent of its paid up share capital.

    An April end extra ordinary general meeting saw it getting shareholder approval for increasing its FII limit. Earlier this year, it had doubled its borrowing powers from Rs 1000 crore.

    The company’s share rose 2.14 per cent at its closing price of Rs 226.75 on the BSE on 6 May.

  • Digital Commerce Market to spike by 33% in 2013

    Digital Commerce Market to spike by 33% in 2013

    MUMBAI: The total digital commerce market in India was valued at Rs 473.49 billion in December 2012 and is expected to grow by 33 per cent to achieve Rs 629.67 billion by the end of 2013. This is according to the latest Digital Commerce Report, by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, released today.


    Source: IAMAI-IMRB International

    The report claims that while Online Travel, which includes booking rail, air, bus tickets, hotel accommodations and tour packages comprised a majority 71 per cent of the whole Digital-Commerce pie in 2012, E-Tailing, which includes purchases of various consumer products or services such as electronics, apparels, footwear, jewellery, home & kitchen appliances, consumer durables, furnishings, constituted 16 per cent of the overall share.

    Financial Services, which include services such as paying insurance premiums and renewals, paying utility and mobile bills, trading shares and securities amounted to 6 per cent of the overall share. B2B and B2C Classifieds (jobs, matrimony, car, real estate etc.) contributed 5 per cent, whereas other online services such as online entertainment ticketing, online food delivery, buying discounts/deals/vouchers etc. constituted 2 per cent of the overall digital commerce market in 2012.

    Source: IAMAI-IMRB International

    According to the report, online travel industry has on an average grown by 32 per cent from Rs 149.53 billion in 2009 to Rs 345.44 billion in 2012 and is estimated to grow by another 30 per cent and be valued at Rs 449.07 billion by the end of December. The E-Tailing category has grown from Rs 15.5 billion in the year 2009 to INR 64.54 billion in year 2012. This category is estimated to grow by 55 per cent and cross 100 billion by the end of this year.

    Financial services market was valued at Rs 28.86 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow by 25 per cent and reach to Rs 36.07 billion by the end of the year. According to the report, Classifieds market has seen a significant growth and has reached Rs 23.54 billion in 2012. Classifieds as a category has grown with a CAGR of 45 per cent growth from 2009 and is expected to grow by another 30 per cent to Rs 30.61 billion by end of the year.

  • Zapak Mobile Games launches Brainbots vs. Zombie mobile game

    Zapak Mobile Games launches Brainbots vs. Zombie mobile game

    Mumbai: Zapak Mobile Games, a developer and publisher of mobile game from Reliance ADAG, has announced the launch of a new mobile game ‘Brainbots Vs Zombies’.

    Zapak has launched the game, which will be available for free on Google Play, keeping in mind the upcoming summer holiday season

    The mobile game that is set in the post apocalyptic future is a casual arcade game. The plot of the mobile game revolves around a herd of zombies and their quest to attack the last settlement of the brains. The brains, tired of protecting themselves decided to stay put and make a stand against the advancing zombies. The primary goal is to protect the brains by killing the zombies.

    The player in the mobile game can use the brainbot and smash all the incoming zombies to pulp, before they break in and eat up all the brains. The player can move the brainbot left to right and to kill the zombies the player has to drop the spiked metal ball on them. Over time the Zombies will attack the defenses and the player can repair them to prevent more zombies from getting in. If the zombies eat up all the brains, it‘s game over.

    Talking about the launch Zapak Mobile Games India business head Chaitanya Prabhu said, “Our newly launched game, Brainbots vs. Zombies is a complete package of adventure and thrill. This game is an addition to our current catalogue which provides highly entertaining and engaging mobile games to casual gamers across the world.”

  • Noah Falstein is Google’s chief game designer

    Noah Falstein is Google’s chief game designer

    MUMBAI: Google has hired the computer games veteran Noah Falstein to the position of chief game designer.

    He has been a designer and producer in the gaming industry since 1980. He has worked at LucasArts, 3DO, and Dreamworks Interactive.

    He most recently ran his own consultancy, The Inspiracy, which offered companies help on game design, development and business.

  • Condé Nast Entertainment announces over 30 new shows for digital video network

    Condé Nast Entertainment announces over 30 new shows for digital video network

    MUMBAI: In its bid to move from being a pure magazine publisher to a creator of online video content Condé Nast Entertainment (CNE) at its Newfront presentation announced the addition of original programming slates inspired by Vogue and Wired to its digital video network.

    Vogue programming will launch on 8 May with Wired following on 15 May. Further, another six new series inspired by Glamour and GQ will be added to those brands‘ previously launched programming slates. In total, CNE announced over 30 new series across the Glamour, GQ, Vogue and Wired channels. Later this year, channels inspired by Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Epicurious.com and Style.com will all launch on the network.

    CNE president Dawn Ostroff said, “Only Condé Nast can create a digital video network comprised of over twenty established and iconic brands, offering viewers diverse programming choices for every interest and passion. In the first partial month of our content going live, our channels jumped significantly in the rankings, and we saw incredible engagement and feedback from viewers. New programming inspired by Vogue and Wired will further extend our reach and add new content verticals to our growing digital network.”

    CNE has also announced strategic syndication partnerships with Yahoo!, AOL, Twitter, Dailymotion and Grab Media, which will make the digital video network programming available on even more platforms and devices.

    CNE executive VP chief digital officer Fred Santarpia said, “We are offering advertisers a unique proposition – premium content released daily, broad distribution, and tremendous marketing support.”

    “We‘re thrilled to be working with our new syndication partners, which are some of the biggest names in video and social media, to make it even easier for consumers to discover our programming” he added.

    To create digital series, CNE partnered with production companies Radical Media, Hud:sun Media and Magical Elves. These creative teams are behind shows like ‘Oprah‘s Masterclass‘, ‘Iconoclasts‘ and ‘Project Runway‘.

    The existing Glamour series being renewed include ‘Elevator Makeover‘, ‘Why Do Guys‘ and ‘Fashion Week Ride-Along‘. New Glamour series include:

    Glamour Video Gift of the Week – This is a weekly series featuring the hottest guys in hilarious vignettes that bring every woman‘s viral video fantasies to life.

    Style to Kill – This competition series, developed with Magical Elves features two up-and-coming stylists who compete by making over one lucky Glamour fan per episode. Glamour editors judge the competition and decide who wins the chance to style a Glamour photoshoot.

    The existing renewed GQ series include ‘Fighting Weight‘, ‘10 Essentials‘, ‘Car Collectors‘ and ‘Jogging with James‘. New series include:

    Casualties of the Gridiron – This is a documentary series that looks at the physical and mental effects that football has on NFL players and how they cope with their post -NFL lives.

    GQ How To – From how to tie a tie, to how to make the perfect cocktail, this is the next generation of How To for men looking for answers from the brand that has all of the answers.