Category: Technology

MUMBAI: Sap America, a subsidiary of Sap AG, has entered into an agreement to acquire Ariba, the leading cloud-based business commerce network, for enterprise value of approximately $4.3 billion.

The acquisition will combine Ariba’s successful buyer-seller collaboration network with SAP’s broad customer base and deep business process expertise to create new models for business-to-business collaboration in the cloud.

The transaction will be funded from Sap’s free cash and a €2.4 billion term loan facility. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar year 2012, subject to Ariba stockholder approval, clearances by relevant regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Sap’s non-IFRS earnings per share in 2013.

With the addition of Ariba, SAP will acquire the leader in cloud-based collaborative business commerce. The acquisition establishes SAP as the leading business network, adding business-to-business collaboration to its existing solutions.

The move positions SAP in a fast-growing segment as buyers and sellers across the globe connect in new ways through the cloud.

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Ariba has approximately 2,600 employees. The company is the leader in cloud-based collaborative commerce applications and the second-largest cloud vendor by revenue.

With $444 million in total revenue, Ariba experienced 38.5 per cent annual growth in 2011. Its business network recorded 62 percent organic growth in the same period.

“The cloud has profoundly changed the way people interact. The impact will be even greater as enterprises connect and collaborate in new ways with their global networks of customers and partners,” said SAP Co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe.

“Cloud-based collaboration is redefining business network innovation, and we are catching this wave in the early stage of its evolution. The addition of Ariba will create the business network of the future, deliver immediate value to our customers and provide another solid engine for driving SAP’s growth in the cloud.”

Upon completion of the transaction, it is planned to consolidate all cloud-related supplier assets of SAP under Ariba.The existing management team will continue to lead Ariba, which will operate as an independent business under the name Ariba, a Sap company.

The SAP Executive Board intends to nominate Ariba CEO Bob Calderoni to the SAP Global Managing Board after closing of the transaction and subject

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Channels will launch a channel in Brazil for the first time. This will be in partnership with NET Servi?§os, the biggest telecommunications and entertainment company of Latin America.

BBC HD will be available to Net‘s Top HD package subscribers starting on 28 May. This deal also includes a branded VOD service agreement which will provide content from BBC Entertainment and the preschool channel, CBeebies.

BBC HD will offer British entertainment content in high definition.For the first time, subscribers will see BBC programmes never seen before in Brazil like ‘Top Gear‘, now in its 18th season, one of the most acclaimed series from the BBC, sold to more than 198 countries and ‘Sherlock‘.

Global events will also be part of BBC HD in June, beginning with London Calling, a unique season of programming to celebrate the people, music, fashion, art, culture and history of Britain‘s capital city in the run up to the Olympics.

The season will be led by the spectacular coverage from the Queen‘s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.Planet Earth Live, an ambitious project which is the result of over ten years of innovation in techniques and formats at the BBC Natural History Unit and the biggest wildlife global broadcast ever undertaken by the BBC.

BBC Worldwide president of Worldwide Networks, Global BBC iPlayer Jana Bennett said, “I am thrilled that our channels will now reach audiences in Brazil with the BBC‘s amazing output. We will deliver the highest quality array of drama, documentaries, factual entertainment and natural history – the very best of British and the best of British talent, all in glorious HD. I‘m pleased that this has been made possible through our exciting partnership with Net Servi?§os”.

BBC HD programming will be broadcast in English with Portuguese subtitles and a few titles will be dubbed in Portuguese.

Net Servicos programming director Fernando Magalhaes said, “This launch is a reality due to an unprecedented partnership between Net and BBC, bringing an exclusive channel, with the well known and differentiated production quality that characterises the BBC, and that complements NET‘s international content offer. This deal will also facilitate our offering of new contents for NOW, NET‘s exclusive on demand service, that allows viewers to choose the content they wish to view when they want it, with the highest sound and image quality”.

Additionally, the VOD offering will bring NET‘s NOW platform subscribers, programming from BBC Entertainment with reality shows as popular as The Voice (US version) and Got to Dance UK; while preschool channel CBeebies will bring the favourite titles amongst the little ones like Finley the Fire Engine and Waybuloo, among others.

MUMBAI: Quikr, the Internet and mobile based classifieds leader, has attracted an investment of $32 million led by private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Existing investors Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners and eBay Inc. also participated in this round of fund raising, which is the fifth and the largest round of capital raised by the parent company Quikr India.

Quikr is India’s leading horizontal classifieds platform with 17 million unique individuals and small businesses using it across 83 cities every month.

These individuals and businesses access Quikr to sell, buy, rent or find products and services in a variety of categories such as electronics, cars, bikes, real estate, services, jobs, education and entertainment.

Existing investors include Nokia Growth Partners and Omidyar Network, apart from those mentioned above.

Quikr Co-Founder and CEO Pranay Chulet said, “In the initial rounds of fund raising, we have already attracted some of the best investors across the globe. We are delighted to have a strategic partner like Warburg Pincus as we continue our journey forward. The current round, which is our largest to date, will enable us to diversify our offerings across both online and mobile platforms, intensify our product evelopment efforts and further strengthen our marketing capabilities.”

The next decade is poised to present tremendous growth opportunities in the Internet sector in India, supported by a growing number of Internet users, increasing income levels and a young population.

Warburg Pincus India MD Nitin Nayar said, “We were impressed by the dynamism and the vision of Quikr‘s management team to further build on Quikr‘s leadership position as an innovative online marketplace. Globally, Warburg Pincus has been a leading investor in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors for more than 25 years. We look forward to working closely with the management team to build on the company’s success and accelerate its growth plans.”

MUMBAI: Times Internet Limited (TIL) and All India Radio have joined hands to broadcast live commentary of the last three matches of the Indian Premier League 2012 on the state-run radio broadcaster’s AIR’s National Channel and FM Gold Network.

With the deal in place, AIR will offer the running commentary of the final matches of IPL 2012, including the eliminator match at Bangalore on 23 May, second qualifier match and final match at Chennai on 25 May and 27 May respectively.

The matches will be broadcast alternately in Hindi and English on National Channel and FM Gold Network.

Speaking on the deal, Times Internet CEO Rishi Khiani said, “By partnering with All India Radio, IPL 2012 will be able to reach out to a much larger base of cricket fans, who are spread all over the country ,especially beyond the metros.”

The coverage area of National Channel includes Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Orissa, Pondicherry, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and parts of Assam, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

The commentary on National Channel will be radiated by 1000 KW transmitter from centrally located places i.e. Nagpur (Mtrs. 191.6 M – 1566 KHz.), 500 KW, from Kolkata (Mtrs. 264.5 M – 1134 KHz.) and 20 KW Transmitter at Delhi (Mtrs.246.9 M – 1215 KHz.) and two SW transmitters at 9425 KHz and 9470 KHz at Bangalore and Aligarh respectively.

“AIR has had a very long innings in promoting sports including cricket in the country. We are still going strong in that direction. We are now about to carry live commentary of the last three important and crucial matches including the final match of IPL – 2012. We hope that this would provide a new experience to our listeners,” said AIR director general LD Mandloi.

MUMBAI: Victorian new media company, My Heroes, has landed an exclusive contract with Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals.

My Heroes, which specialises in digital and electronic products, will develop a suite of fan-based interactive products, using traditional and new media, to connect India’s youth to their cricket heroes by accessing celebrity and team-based intellectual property.

The deal fructified due to the efforts of Victorian Coalition Government‘s super trade mission which helps local firms to help secure contracts in international markets.

“During the super trade mission to India earlier this year, we were able to engage with key contacts including the Rajasthan Royals, other Indian Premier League teams, the League’s governing body, as well as various Bollywood talent management companies with whom we had existing relationships,” My Heroes CEO Jon Field said.

The My Heroes partnership with the Rajasthan Royals follows a deal last year when My Heroes gained exclusive licensing rights to personalise digital and electronic products for one of India’s largest entertainment and new media companies, with strong ties to Bollywood and sporting celebrities.

According to Victoria Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise the deal was just one of many successful outcomes following the Victorian Coalition Government’s super trade mission to India earlier this year.

“My Heroes’ partnership with the Rajasthan Royals, who represent the state of Rajasthan in the Indian Premier League, will allow fans to connect personally with their favourite cricket players across a number of media forums,” Asher said.

Asher said the growing Indian market enabled My Heroes to position itself as a leader in digital and electronic personalised sports and entertainment products across the world.

“My Heroes has leveraged its strategic competitive advantage in the Indian market, connecting fans through sport and entertainment,” Asher added.

MUMBAI: BigFlix has expanded its catalogue in India to over 1000 movies spanning across eight major languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi across all genres of romance, drama, action and comedy.

On his company’s revamped approach, BigFlix content head Sandeep Mehra said, “Our effort is to make movies available on World Wide Web within 15 to 20 days of its theatrical release. Out of 200 movies released in India, only 20 movies release internationally. The aim of BigFlix is to showcase latest Bollywood movies of good quality print at an economical price. Now anyone with internet access can stream full movies at extremely affordable price. They don’t have to resort to bad quality print or piracy anymore. With this we also take a step towards abolition of piracy.”

With BigFlix one can experience a seamless movie viewing experience on the Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Android Devices and Smart TV with a single login across devices.

Many film producers like Vikram Bhatt have embraced this digitisation with open arms and are positive that the digital medium launch will prove to be a good catalyst for films to have a wider reach.

Said Bhatt, “With the kind of digital boon we are witnessing, services like BigFlix will drastically increase a filmmaker’s reach. It will give them an opportunity to cater to a vast audience both in India and the international market. It is a win-win situation for both the subscribers and the film producers because now the film can reach a much wider and diverse audience at a very nominal fee.”

BigFlix’ entire catalogue is available in DVD quality print at a small subscription fee of 249 Rs per month for unlimited streaming and downloads.

MUMBAI: Gadgets are the most popular online purchases over mobile phones as per the study conducted by eCommerce marketplace, eBay India.

The report says that 68 per cent of mobile internet users have bought gadgets on their smart phone followed by 40 per cent who have bought clothes and footwear and 34 per cent who have bought books.

The findings are based on the eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey conducted with over 4500 eBay India users in May 2012.

eBay India country manager Muralikrishnan B said, “Mobile Commerce is starting to gain traction in India with the burgeoning smart phone penetration and a large number of Indians now use their smart phone to shop as well as compare prices. eBay India is a believer in Mobile Commerce and we have launched a suite of apps to cater to the Mobile Shopper and aid his online shopping behaviour.”

eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey also reveals that shopping is the third most popular category of search after emails and social networking and 70 per cent of smart phone users access online shopping websites. Over 87 per cent of Indian smart phone users compare product prices online. Interestingly, this is more popular than travel tickets, movie timings and contact details.

Over 94 per cent of Indian smart phone users access the internet on their mobile. The results indicated that a large majority of Indian smart phone users are accessing the mobile internet and as many as 64 per cent of them have upgraded to 3G services. As many as 80 per cent of the respondents claimed to be always on the internet.

However, the home is the favourite access point for the mobile internet. Over 84 per cent of the survey respondents expressed that they accessed the mobile internet at home followed by 66 per cent who accessed it at work and 55 per cent who accessed it while waiting for their friends. The malls, restaurants, theatres, airports and the commute were the other times of access.

Meanwhile, 57 per cent of smart shoppers check prices online before they shop in a mall or a store. Over 30 per cent of users have stated that they always find better deals online and 49 per cent have stated that they ‘mostly‘ find better deals online.

Mobile Commerce Users are savvy shoppers and use their smart phones to check product prices (84 per cent). Other popular activities are to locate a store (65 per cent), research product features (57 per cent), find deals (55 per cent), and check product availability (48 per cent). 68 per cent of users have made an online purchase using their smart phone and digital commerce is gaining traction with Indian smart phone users.

Samsung and Nokia (40 per cent each) are the smart phones of choice for the Mobile Indian. The iPhone (17 per cent) is the third most popular smart phone brand.

MUMBAI: Videocon d2h has issued a notice to Animax to drop the channel from its offerings from 12 June.

The DTH platform provider has added Sony Six, the new sports entertainment channel from the Multi Screen Media stable. Both Animax and Sony Six are distributed by MSM Discovery.

“Animax will not be available on Videocon d2h platform with effect from 12 June,” the notice stated.

Meanwhile, Videocon d2h has added six HD channels from diverse genres to its offering. It now offers 19 HD channels.

The service provider will offer History TV HD, M Tunes HD, CNBC Prime HD, UTV Stars HD, Active 3D and Sony HD starting 27 May. It offers a total of 368 channels and services.

The HD channels which Videocon d2h offers have 1080i resolution, 5X Digital Picture Quality, HDD Sound with 16:9 wide aspect ratio and other features. Videocon d2h broadcasts these channels using the MPEG -4 DVBS-2 compression technology.

Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera said, “Videocon d2h believes in offering their customers the most premium content and by now offering highest number of 19 Asli HD channels, we have fulfilled our promise of surpassing expectations.”

As part of its marketing efforts to gain mileage, Videocon d2h has partnered Kings XI Punjab as title partner for this season’s IPL and is showing DLF IPL in high definition on Max HD for its viewers.

MUMBAI: Big Magic, the regional entertainment channels from the Reliance Broadcast Network (RBNL) stable the for Hindi heartland, will now be available on Reliance Digital TV platform.

Big Magic will replace Imagine TV on Reliance Digital TV channel No. 213, increasing its reach to an additional 4.5 million digital homes across India.

The move allows Big Magic immediate width in reach across the country, and marks the first step in its digital distribution plan, the channel said. It is also in the process of closing more digital alliances.

Big Magic business head Anand Chakravarthy said, “The last one year has seen Big Magic build a strong platform on the back of an excellent programming mix and leveraging Big FM‘s brand lineage to fortify its position as a leading player in a very short span of time. As a next step of growth, DTH was the logical move and what better than Reliance Digital TV to begin with. This will only further cement our position as a leading regional television player, serving tailored entertainment to people who belong to the heartland.”

Reliance Digital TV business head Ashutosh Srivastava added, “It has always been our constant endeavour to provide our customers with choice of content thus, enhancing their viewing experience. By adding Big Magic to our bouquet, we now offer the unique regional variety entertainment content like movies and daily soaps for our subscribers from the Hindi speaking states of UP, MP, Bihar and Jharkhand directly in the comfort of their homes.”

The partnership with Reliance Digital TV will be promoted on Big Magic as well as on Big FM.

At present, Big Magic is being distributed across all cable operators across the states of UP, MP and Bihar and spread across operators like DEN, Digicable, WWIL, Hathway, Darsh and Maurya amongst others, the channel said.

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel‘s DTH service Airtel digital TV has launched a new interactive service, iEnglish, to help subscribers hone their English speaking skills.

The service offers English language tutorials based on an audio-visual format, animated characters and quizzes for easy comprehension.

Bharti Airtel CEO- DTH/ Media Shashi Arora said, “Today, interactive services on digital TV platforms are not merely value added services but ‘infotainment plus‘. Our new interactive service, iEnglish will enable customers become skilled at day-to-day spoken English by enhancing their learning through entertaining, yet educational activities. We believe it will truly enrich the lives of the customer who are unable to leave their homes due to lack of time or confidence.”

The interactive service is powered by digital entertainment company Hungama and computer education institute Aptech. Apart from teaching correct pronunciations of words, it would also help subscribers learn new words and phrases, proper grammar usage and an opportunity to gauge their competencies.

Hungama MD and CEO Neeraj Roy added, “The DTH platform is emerging as a new tool for more interactive forms of entertainment and learning. We will continue to innovate and create products with ease of access for our consumers.”

Besides iEnglish, Airtel digital TV currently offers other interactive services such as iExam, iKidsworld, iDarshan, iRadio and iFasal.