Category: Technology

MUMBAI: Television format creator and distributor FremantleMedia has launched its first-ever YouTube channel, “The Pet Collective,” featuring new series and programming available exclusively on YouTube.

The Pet Collective is part of YouTube’s initiative to create new channels of programming, and is produced by FremantleMedia to celebrate pets and pet lovers through entertainment, information and involvement.

At launch, “The Pet Collective” will offer seven original new, short-form series with new content added daily, for more than 20 hours of programming in its first three months.

“The Pet Collective underscores our commitment to produce original, quality programming for evolving media platforms, Fremantle says.

The channel also brings together three core divisions of FremantleMedia’s business – FremantleMedia North America, FremantleMedia Enterprises and FremantleMedia Cross Platforms (FMX) – to leverage their combined expertise, assets and busi-ness strategies to engage with consumers, advertisers and distribution partners.

In response to growing changes in the content-distribution marketplace, the emergence of new online platforms, and new ways of reaching audiences, ”The Pet Collective” will bring together originally, professionally produced programming, expert opinions and advice, pet health and wellness tips, content from celebrity pet lovers, and real-life animal stories. It will also feature robust social-media content through Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

FremantleMedia US CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz says, “FremantleMedia is a global creative powerhouse that develops brands that extend well beyond TV. We’re really excited to bring our high-quality storytelling and production expertise to a subject matter like pets that is close to everyone’s hearts, and we’re proud to be delivering informative and innovative content that offers a compelling new form of engagement with international audiences.”

FremantleMedia Enterprises CEO Americas Keith Hindle said, “From our many audition programs to numerous partner channels, FremantleMedia has a longstanding relationship with YouTube. ‘The Pet Collective‘ takes that partnership to a new level, securing our place at the forefront of online content development and creating new opportunities to monetise our content and build our brands.”

The initial lineup of original programming on “The Pet Collective” includes:

• The Litter – Narrated by animal lover and activist Khloé Kardashian Odom, The Litter is an adorably cute and informative series that follows a litter of six newborn kittens and their mother during an eight-week period.

•Growing Up Wild – Bindi and Robert Irwin continue the legacy of their father, adventurer Steve Irwin, by educating and informing audiences about the animals who share their day-to-day lives. Each episode introduces one of their treasured pets – and broadens our knowledge of the animal kingdom

• The Unadoptables – Designed to inspire a movement toward responsible pet purchasing and ownership, The Unadoptables focuses on different kinds of “unadoptable” pets – from black cats and senior animals to pets with special needs that have trouble finding a home.

• Kitten on a Keyboard – Feline host Anime Lillipuss greets viewers from her office in the Pet Collective building, leading them through the best, funniest, silliest, most inspiring and amazing content to be found on The Pet Collective in the news and across the web.

• Pet Sense – Animal communicator Michelle Childerley reaches out from her home in Cam-bridge, England, to help get Americans’ pet relationships on track.

• Master and Pet – An original scripted comedy series about a young woman and the pet cat that is her best friend, co-conspirator and therapist.

• David Lehre’s Hollywood Animals – YouTube star and innovative director David Lehre drops in on his celebrity friends to find out about their relationships with their pets.

FremantleMedia claims that its content on YouTube has garnered more than 4.2 billion views to date since the start of its collaboration with YouTube, with more than 2 billion views in 2011 alone. Driving those views are viral videos from global entertainment shows including ‘The X Factor‘ from both the UK and Australia; ‘Korea’s Got Talent’s Sung Bong Choi audition; American Idol’s Chris Medina audition; and ‘Family Feud‘ with host Steve Harvey.

Other popular videos include the audition of Susan Boyle for ‘Britain’s Got Talent‘, which has achieved more than 300 million views in aggregate, and Jackie Evancho’s audition for America’s Got Talent,which propelled the 10-year-old singing sensation to stardom after auditioning for the show through a season-long partnership with YouTube.

MUMBAI: Digital media company, Yahoo! India, has launched a cricket app for Windows Phone users in India.

The app is available for free on the Windows Marketplace. It offers a slew of features and user-friendly interaction for the user to follow live matches, and also keep a tab on the recent and upcoming ones.

It offers a complete match experience in a variety of ways –with live scores, detailed ball-by-ball commentary which can be filtered by wickets, 4s and 6s; an interactive score card which allows the user to browse through the batting line up, fall of wickets and a complete chronology of how a match progressed.

On a non-match day, the app will connect the user to specially created photo galleries, latest news articles on the game, player and team profiles, as well as results of completed matches, and schedules of upcoming ones.

It has been developed at the R&D centre in Bangalore and is the third cricket app released by Yahoo!. The earlier apps were built for iPhone and Android.

MUMBAI: Having just launched its new Smart TV range in India, Samsung is trying to provide consumers with a first hand experience of the next generation features of the Samsung Smart TV like Motion Control, Voice Control and Face recognition through Digital communications tailored by Starcom Worldwide, the company’s media agency.

To this end, Samsung and Starcom have come out with the first ever Augmented Reality Motion Control Banner in the Digital space.

Samsung’s Smart Interaction technology provides Smart TV users with a option for controlling and interacting with the TV breaking the physical boundaries between the consumer and screen. Samsung’s new Voice Control, Motion Control, and Face Recognition commands enrich the consumers’ television experience.

Users can turn the TV on or off, activate selected apps or search for and select content in the web browser—all without touching the remote. The Samsung 2012 Smart television series feature a built-in camera that recognises movement in the foreground, as well as microphones that recognise voice.

To communicate the benefits of a Smart TV, Samsung and Starcom have together innovated the first ever Augmented Reality banner format through the Motion Control Banner utilising digital platforms like YouTube and Moneycontrol.

Samsung India CMO Rahul Saigal said, “In keeping with the Company’s thrust on innovation we have created this digital communication to provide consumers a complete experience of the interactive features of our new 2012 Smart television range.The Augmented Reality banner is giving consumers an opportunity to experience Motion Control in a manner that helps them understand this truly distinctive feature of our new leading edge Smart TV range.”

SMG Digital national director Arnab Mitra said, “To a lot of Indians Smart TV just stood for a television with a few features like a radio or internet, which does not have a unique space anymore with the advent of Smartphones, however, the Samsung Smart TV is beyond that and enhances television viewing experience with interactive online content, exploring apps, and much more. Our objective was to ensure that the consumers can live this experience without having to visit a store or buy the TV, and thus actually create awareness about the features.”

MUMBAI: Pay TV accounts will surpass the 1 billion mark in 2014 globally, with cable accounting for 58 per cent of the total accounts, down from 66 per cent in 2011, according to Pyramid Research’s bi-annual Media Forecast released recently.

By end-2014, IPTV subscriptions will exceed 100 million, and IPTV over fiber networks is expected to contribute a larger share of the total IPTV subscriptions in 2017.

With telcos and mobile operators increasingly offering TV and video services, Pyramid Research’s Media Forecasts are designed to provide competitive intelligence on the pay-TV and mobile TV dynamics for over 52 countries, including 14 in Asia/Pacific, as well as regionally and globally.

The Media Forecasts track demand patterns for free and
pay-TV services over terrestrial, satellite and mobile platforms worldwide, providing market share information at both the technology and operator levels, as well as five-year adoption and revenue projections.

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General has described the hybrid satellite digital multimedia broadcasting service agreement with Devas as “a classic case of public investment for private profit.”

In the ‘Report on hybrid satellite digital multimedia broadcasting service agreement with Devas’, CAG has said the Department of Space “in its eagerness went beyond its remit as laid down in the Allocation of Business Rules, concealed facts from the Union Cabinet and violated numerous rules, policies and procedures.”

Furthermore, it says “public interest and those of the Government were sacrificed to favour” a private consultancy firm which was promoted by D. Venugopal and M G Chandrashekhar, retired employees of Indian Space Research Organisation.

The Report contains the results of examination of the ‘hybrid satellite digital multimedia broadcasting service agreement with Devas’ entered into by Antrix Corporation Limited on behalf of the Department of Space and Devas Multimedia Limited. The audit was conducted between July 2010 and June 2011.

The Antrix-Devas agreement allowed Devas to provide multiple services such as 4G services (improvement in 3G services), mobile TV services both through satellite and terrestrial route, DTH services, etc., on the same platform. It provided for the launch of two customer-specific satellites for Devas by leasing all 20 transponders of these two satellites.

A total of 70 MHz of S-Band was earmarked for spectrum in 2.6 GHz band to Devas as a part of leasing out the transponders of the two satellites. Orbital slot was to be allocated for an indefinite period to Devas. It indicated a sub-licensing clause which would enable Devas to sub-lease satellite transponders to others.

The breach of existing rules, policies and procedures finds resonance throughout, the CAG Report says, adding that the DoS took upon itself the task of approving the new hybrid SDMB service which as in the case of DTH services was the prerogative of the Union Cabinet. Valuable spectrum frequencies, including 10 MHz meant to be reserved for strategic purpose, were earmarked for Devas without obtaining approval of the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing of the Department of Telecom.

The report says the DoS, while seeking approval of the Union Cabinet for the launch of the GSAT-6 satellite in November 2005, “suppressed the crucial fact that it had signed an agreement with only one user, that is Devas, and not with different users as mentioned in the Cabinet note. The agreement with Devas was, in fact, signed well in advance of seeking approval of the Cabinet in January 2005.”

The DoS also failed to inform the Cabinet that GSAT-6 and 6A satellites, proposed to be funded by the Government budget, were almost entirely (only 10 per cent was set apart) to be used by the private commercial entity. To avoid obtaining of approval of the Union Cabinet, DoS estimated the cost of GSAT–6A, the subsequent satellite of a similar configuration after GSAT– 6 at Rs 1.47 billion so that it fell within the financial competence of the Space Commission. The first satellite GSAT – 6, had been costed at Rs 2.69 billion.

To promote the interest of the private consultancy firm, Forge Advisors, USA, the DoS extended to it a host of benefits. Seventy MHz of S-band spectrum was earmarked for an indefinite period to Devas ignoring its revenue potential to the Government.

Subsequent events like the auction of 3G in which the Government received Rs 677.19 billion and auction of Broadband Wireless Access where Government received Rs 385.43 billion revealed that the possibility of obtaining commensurate amounts for providing this commercial service was never explored, the CAG says.

“The special treatment accorded to Devas is also reflected in the fact that in the case of Devas, DoS decided to use the country-specific scarce orbital slot at 83° East for two co-located satellites to be used exclusively by the private customer.”

The Antrix-Devas agreement cherry-picked from two different models (Customer specific satellite agreements and transponder lease agreements) in a way that extended maximum benefits to Devas. DoS further went on to even revise the contract to “reassure the investors’ so that even before engaging in any trading, manufacturing, ground segment development activity and rolling out of any services, it could raise an amount of Rs 5.7576 billion from foreign investors.”

The CAG notes that there is an expectation that the Government should deliver a high standard of integrity in the civil services, public institutions and public services. There is a need to recognise and deal with conflict of interest issues so that the fundamental integrity of decisions, departments and the Government is not undermined. Having the same person holding multiple posts of Chairman ICC, Chairman Space Commission, Secretary DoS, Chairman ISRO and Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Antrix clearly led to a conflict of interest.

This conflict is evident in the multiple roles exercised by Dr. G. Madhavan Nair. As ISRO Chairman, he appointed the Shankara Committee to examine the proposals of Forge Advisors. As Secretary in the DoS, he submitted a note to the Union Cabinet in which critical facts were concealed. As Chairman of the Space Commission, he chaired meetings where approval to GSAT– 6 and 6A satellites were accorded. He failed to convene INSAT Coordination Committee meetings as its Chairman, as a result of which, concerns of key stakeholders, represented through respective Secretaries of Ministries/Departments, were effectively blocked off in the decision-making process.

Since the damage that this could do has been very clearly brought out, among others, by the High-Powered Review Committee, it is evident that the Government would have to ensure that the same person does not hold all the crucial posts and different functionaries are appointed to ensure checks and balances.

The Antrix-Devas deal is a classic instance of failure of the governance structure in which selected individuals, some serving and some retired public servants, were able to successfully propel the agenda of a private entity by arrogating unto themselves, powers which they were not legitimately authorized to exercise. In the parliamentary system of Government, the Cabinet has a role of centrality in the exercise of executive power.

The fact that a group of individuals was able to conceal facts and sidestep the Cabinet is a testimony of the extent of abuse of the trust reposed in them and needs to be addressed, the CAG says.

MUMBAI: The online streaming of the just concluded IPL season recorded 113 million page views globally, a 55 per cent increase in comparison to 72 million page views last year, Times Internet has said.

The online viewership also recorded over 87 per cent growth in India with 80 million page views as against 43 million last year.

The final match of the tournament, which ended in nail biting finish with KKR taking home the title, generated 7.5 million page views, making it the highest single day viewership during the entire season.
 
 
This year the IPL website offered a slew of features including interactive scorecards, high-definition streaming of IPL matches, DVR features (to rewind during a match), video-on-demand facility, and a ‘Battleground‘ section.

Times Internet Limited CEO Rishi Khiani said, “Premium video content is a key focus area for us at Indiatimes and IPL is the key property as part of this vision. We promised IPL 2012 viewers a highly interactive and engaging cricket viewing experience beyond what India has seen before. The record breaking online viewership numbers and advertiser traction across the season validate our delivery of this promise.”

Google APAC Director Content Partnership Gautam Anand said, “It‘s heartening to see the continuous growth in the viewership of this exciting tournament online from across the globe. This season was extra special with lots of close matches and last ball finishes and we are really glad that we were able to bring all the action live to our audience on YouTube for the third consecutive year.”

The IPL was streamed live on Indiatimes.com and the YouTube channel of Indiatimes.

MUMBAI: 9X Media, the music television network, is now available on iPad through 9X Music Network Live Application.

This application brings 9X Music Television Network‘s four channels – 9XM (Bollywood music channel), 9X Jalwa (Timeless Bollywood Hits music channel), 9X Tashan (Punjabi Music Channel) and 9X Jhakaas (Marathi Music Channel) on the platform. The app is available by way of a quarterly, half yearly and annual subscription.

9X Media Group VP-digital Vibha Gosher said, “With iPad sales skyrocketing and their ever increasing popularity, it‘s probably one of the best platforms to extend the 9X experience of unadulterated music. The 9X Music Network Live app is targeted at the ever growing segment of connected users who consume content on-the-move. This App will provide the users with the best experience of Bollywood and Indian regional music along with entertaining short format shows featuring some our most interesting animated characters.”

NEW DELHI: Repositioning of the mobile phone as an instrument of empowerment, “Broadband For All” at a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps, convergence of network, services and devices and liberalisation of spectrum are some of the salient points of the National Telecom Policy and Unified Licensing Regime for 2012.

The policy, approved by the Union Cabinet today, seeks to provide a predictable and stable policy regime for a period of about ten years. It will be operationalised by bringing out detailed guidelines, as may be considered appropriate, from time to time.

Implementation will enable smooth implementation of the policies for providing an efficient telecommunication infrastructure taking into account the primary objective of maximising public good by empowering the people of India.

The policy will further enable taking suitable facilitatory measures to encourage existing service providers to rapidly migrate to the new regime in a uniformly liberalised environment with a level playing field.

The Cabinet also approved introduction of Unified Licence and authorised the Department of Telecommunications to finalise the new Unified Licensing regime with the approval of Minister of Communications & IT.

The policy envisions providing secure, reliable, affordable and high quality converged telecommunication services anytime, anywhere for an accelerated inclusive socio-economic development. The main thrust of the Policy is on the multiplier effect and transformational impact of such services on the overall economy.

The aim is to increase rural teledensity from the current level of around 39 to 70 by the year 2017 and 100 by the year 2020.

Simplification of Licensing regime: Unified Licensing, delinking of Spectrum from License, Online real time submission and processing.

Consumer Focus: The policy calls for full mobile number portability and working towards one nation.

Free Roaming; Resale of Services; Voice over Internet Protocol; and Cloud Computing with Next Generation Network including IPV6 are among the salient features of the new policy.

MUMBAI: iNovo Broadband, which provides next generation CPE‘s to the market, has appointed Roshan D’souza as vice president and GM for Asia Pacific.

D’souza comes in from Hathway Cable & Datacom, where he was president – broadband. Prior to joining Hathway in September 2010, he was with Scientific Atlanta / Cisco.

iNovo was founded by Jack Miller and Himanshu Parikh in 2011. Miller also founded N2 broadband which he later sold to Tandberg Television (now part of Ericsson) for $130 million. Parikh started in 2000 the standard base CPE business in Scientific Atlanta (later acquired by Cisco) and after 11 years generated over $1 billion in annual sales.

Miller is CEO, while Parikh is CTO at the company. “We currently have on board a full team of marketing and engineering experts in the CPE business, most of them coming from Scientific Atlanta / Cisco,” D’souza said.

“We are seeing that worldwide deployment of video and IP based digital set-top boxes and modems are continuing to expand, with a market over $10 billion,” he further added.

iNovo will offer a full line of CPE products, such as digital STBs for cable, satellite and IPTV service providers besides DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0 modems and residential gateways.

iNovo is discussing its products with several Asia Pacific customers and plans to ship its first products mid-to-late summer of this year. “We can bring to the market our combined team experience, from partner’s relationship like Contract manufactures, CAS vendors, chipset vendors and customer relationship,” emphasised D’souza.

MUMBAI: Yahoo! India has launched the country’s first-ever online retrospective from Vinod Chopra Films (VCF) on Yahoo! Video.

With this, internet users in India now have the opportunity to watch eight super hit films from this banner for free on Yahoo! Video. Starting 7 May and lasting through September this year, the festival showcases a selection of films from the banner of which some will be available online for the first time.

Movie buffs can catch movies like 3 idiots, Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Parineeta, Parinda, Khamosh, Mission Kashmir and Kareeb. Each film would be available for viewing on Yahoo! Video for 60 days from the day of launch.

Yahoo! India managing editor Prem Panicker said, “For movie buffs, the Vinod Chopra Films label has been a guarantor of quality – entertainment with a mind and heart. From classics like Parinda and Khamosh, to more recent block-busters like the Munnabhai franchise and 3 Idiots, VCF has produced films that have defined their time.

Yahoo! is proud to associate with VCF in its first-ever online retrospective. Online consumption particularly of entertainment content is growing exponentially, and the signal we get from our audience is that they are primed to enjoy such premium content.”

Commenting on the tie-up, Vinod Chopra Films CEO Sameer Rao said, “In launching the online Vinod Chopra Films retrospective, we are happy to partner with Yahoo! and take the benefit of their wide reach and strong editorial programming to bring our iconic films to online Indian audiences.”

Last year, in an first-ever for India, the kids full-length animation movie Super K produced by Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. had an exclusive online premiere on Yahoo!