Category: Technology

MUMBAI: Netflix, US video-on-demand service provider, and Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, have signed a multi-year licensing agreement that will soon make a host of great TV series and films available for Netflix members to instantly watch in Latin America and Brazil.

All past seasons of 24, Prison Break and How I Met Your Mother will be available for viewing in July, as well as current and past seasons of Glee and Bones. Episodes of The X-Files and Arrested Development will be available starting January 2013.

In addition, Twentieth Century Fox classic films including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Wall Street and Office Space, will come to Netflix on 1 July, with more films and TV series to be added over the next few years.

“We are thrilled to be bringing such favorites as How I Met Your Mother and Glee to our members in Latin America and Brazil. Our partnership with Twentieth Century Fox continues to grow and benefit Netflix members around the world,” said Netflix VP Content Acquisition Jason Ropell.

“Because Latin America is such an important territory for the fan base of our shows, our partnership with Netflix serves as a vital opportunity to link that fan base with the characters and shows that they have come to know and love,” said Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution EVP Worldwide Pay Television and Subscription Video on Demand Gina Brogi.

Netflix launched in 43 countries and territories in Latin America, including Brazil, in September 2011. Since then, the number of movie and TV shows available to watch instantly has more than doubled.

Additionally, the number of devices members can use to enjoy Netflix continues to expand in the region and now includes a wide range of game players, Smart TVs, tablets, smart phones and Apple TV.

MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based Ybrant Digital has agreed to purchase three Internet brands in the United States – PriceGrabber, LowerMyBills, and ClassesUSA.com – for a consideration of $175 million.

The acquisition will add a business of $283 million and employee strength of over 300, says Ybrant. It will also allow the digital marketing company to nearly double its current revenues.

Ybrant believes it can become the leader in many key digital marketing areas worldwide through these acquisitions.

“By adding these established brands to Ybrant, we will offer interesting new products and a world class generation platform,” said Ybrant Digital chairman and CEO Suresh Reddy.

PriceGrabber, owned by Experian, is a price comparison shopping business which powers Yahoo! and MSN shopping. LowerMyBills.com is a one-stop destination that offers savings through relationships with more than 500 service providers across multiple categories. ClassesUSA.com is the leading online higher-education portal with two million visitors and 300 accredited college and university partners.

Steve Krenzer who is president of Experian Interactive, will continue to lead the new group by joining the Ybrant Digital family. “I am very excited to join the Ybrant team. With Ybrant’s global footprint and our leading sites, the combined group will make us the pacesetter globally,” said Krenzer.

Experian Interactive is currently one of the top five Internet advertisers in the US and will give Ybrant a foothold in the US market. This is Ybrant’s second successful foray into acquiring premium destination sites. The company successfully acquired Lycos.com in 2010.

Both Experian and Ybrant are committed to completing this transaction as quickly as possible, subject to various conditions and events by Ybrant, including the initiation in trading in Ybrant Digital Limited shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

NEW DELHI: A dedicated website of the Lok Sabha TV was launched by Lok Speaker Meira Kumar who expressed the hope that the initiative would bolster the inclusive image of Parliament and reach out to a wider, younger audience.

Kumar recalled the efforts of former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who envisaged the idea of a dedicated TV Channel for the Lok Sabha – the first of its kind in the world.

Lok Sabha Secretary-General T. K. Viswanathan, while lauding the recent initiatives of LSTV to bring people closer to Parliament, hoped that this initiative would help LSTV to achieve its targets with regard to the desirable standards of convergence of technologies. He also felt that the website would empower Members of Parliament to connect with their electors in a better and efficient way.

Speaking on the occasion, LSTV’s CEO Rajiv Mishra said the simple act of shifting the delivery of television to the Internet radically increases the content choices and the way advertising is delivered. He hoped that the website would help in achieving this target as it would also webcast the programmes of the LSTV channel. The website is available at www.loksabhatv.nic.in.

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released a Consultation Paper on ‘Review of the Telecommunication Interconnection (Port Charges)’.

The written comments on the issues raised in the Consultation Paper are invited from the stakeholders by 8 June 2012 and counter-comments by 18 June 2012.

The comments and counter-comments may be sent, preferably in electronic form.

MUMBAI: BroadcastAsia 2012, the leading exhibition and knowledge platform for the Asian broadcasting industry, will focus on the Over The Top (OTT) technology.

The event, which is slated to take place in Singapore from 19–22 June, will showcase a global array of the latest technologies, applications, equipment and solutions in Film, Audio and TV with a spotlight on Multi Streaming Technologies, Playout Services, Pro-Audio Technology, OTT Technology, Cloud Broadcasting and Digital Radio.

As cloud-based technologies and services are increasingly being adopted to deploy the appropriate hardware and software solutions, broadcasters are being pushed to support ever-increasing distribution platforms. Multi-screen connectivity will become the norm, with new portable devices enabling flexible personalisation of multimedia content.

Companies who will be part of the limelight at BroadcastAsia2012 include ATG, Blackmagic, Evertz, Envivio, Fortis, Grass Valley, Harmonic, Harris, Miranda, Nevio, Plisch, Quantel, SalzbrennerStagetec, Sennheiser, Snell, Tektronix and Thomson Video Networks to name a few. Visitors can also look forward to nine international group pavilions on the show floors.

BroadcastAsia2012 will welcome new Indian exhibitors like Broadcast Automation Systems and Dejerolive, and returning exhibitors like Canara Lighting & Sconce, EsselShyam Communication Limited, Monarch Innovative Technologies, Rudraksha Technology, WASP3D and more.

BroadcastAsia Senior Project Manager Calvin Koh said, “India today is a power to reckon with in the global economy, holding tremendous growth and future opportunities in the broadcast technology sector. The Indian audiences today are ready to explore newer frontiers. Through BroadcastAsia, the Indian broadcast industry will get the opportunity to showcase their latest technologies and also get access to the ideal platform for networking, interaction and business procurement of the highest international quality.”

Backed by an international panel of speakers and industry veterans, the BroadcastAsia2012 International Conference and Creative Content Production Conferences return this year with a behind-the-scenes look at the latest technologies and techniques currently deployed. With the growing momentum behind Smart TVs, Cloud Broadcasting, Multi-screen platform and OTT delivery and the challenges of managing an effective Pay TV model as well as digital asset management, the BroadcastAsia2012 International Conference will offer more sessions to address the latest needs and technologies in the broadcasting industry.

In its third successful edition, the Creative Content Production Conference will comprise a mix of topical issues, case studies and hands-on sessions to address the evolving challenges faced by production professionals from new media and visual effects, to editing and IP rights.

Summit complements CommunicAsia2012 with contemporary tracks

CommunicAsia2012 Summit will offer distinctly titled forums and workshops that address compelling issues and challenges for the ICT industry with the spotlight on mobile-driven trends. Extended sessions dedicated to mobile-focused topics encompassing m-Commerce, Mobile VAS, and Mobile Security issues will be added to the conference, alongside the latest tracks on Mobile Payments, Mobile Health, Customer Experience Management (CEM), and OTT Business Models. Companies speaking at the Summit will include Amazon Web Services, Google, Pacnet, RIM, Tata Communications, Telstra, VMware, Vodafone and many others.

Following the success of last year’s event, which attracted a total of over 53,000 professional attendees from more than 100 countries, attendees to this year’s shows can look forward to a myriad of new technologies, products and solutions from 2,000 companies.Being the region’s largest international digital multimedia technology and ICT showcase, the shows continue to be the industries’ event of choice for product launches, expertise sharing and networking.

MUMBAI: AOL‘s net revenue for the first quarter ending 31 March 2012 fell four per cent to $529.4 million, but beat analysts‘ forecast of $526.5 million.

Advertising revenue during the quarter grew five per cent to $330.1 million compared to the year-ago period, while susbcription revenues witnessed a 15 per cent decline posting $182.1 million.

The ad growth showed improved performance in third-party network ads and international display ads. However, revenue from display ads – big splashy ads on Web pages that command high prices – in the United States showed weakness, falling one per cent. Facebook and Yahoo also reported a drop in display ads from the US, where Google is gaining.

AOL‘s display and third party network revenue grew 10 per cent, totalling $240.5 million for the quarter.

Net income rose to $21 million from $4.7 million a year earlier, representing a change of 349 per cent.

The company has increased its adjusted Oibda guidance to $350 million for the current year due to improved revenue & expense trends.

“AOL is a much stronger company today than a year ago and began 2012 by growing advertising revenue, lowering expenses and improving Adjusted OIBDA trends,” said AOL Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong. “In 2012 and beyond we are simultaneously focused on the continued successful execution of our strategy and on creating and unlocking value for our shareholders.”

AOL has agreed to sell over 800 of its patents and patent applications to Microsoft and grant Microsoft a non-exclusive license to its retained patent portfolio for aggregate proceeds of $1.056 billion in cash.

AOL has acquired several media properties including the Huffington Post and TechCrunch, and has invested heavily into a network of neighbourhood news sites called Patch.

MUMBAI: Reebok, the sportswear company, has launched the first ever online flash mob, ‘Flex a Move’.

With this initiative, Reebok aims to leave a lasting impression in the web space. ‘Flex a Move’ is a dancing feat created for the fans, by the fans and from the fans.

It is an engagement platform to encourage fans to usher fitness into their lives with rhythm and RealFlex. While ‘natural movement perfected’ is the philosophy behind RealFlex, the USP of the RealFlex range of shoes and apparel is their flexibility. Through this application, Reebok has merged the RealFlex philosophy with the products’ key attribute, asking fans to showcase their flexibility through the medium of dance and get rewarded, the company said.

In order to execute the plan, Reebok fans on Facebook were asked to follow five pre-defined steps. They were asked to upload their own dancing videos over a period of a month.

The company said that the application created a never before buzz and has gained a cult status within the brand’s Facebook community. Reebok India has grown by more 100,000 fans and has collected more than 250-plus dance videos in just three weeks.

Reebok aired the synchronised repertoire of all the videos on Reebok India Facebook page, giving birth to the first-ever online flash mob.

MUMBAI: SingTel-controlled Amobee has bought out AdJitsu, a company that specialises in interactive 3D ads, for an undisclosed amount.

Amobee, a mobile advertising company that was acquired by SingTel for $321 million, hopes to leverage AdJitsu‘s technology to accelerate the innovation of interactive and spectacular 3D mobile ads. It will collaborate with ad networks, premium publishers, brands and agencies
to create engaging and differentiated 3D mobile ad units.

A wholly owned business unit of Cooliris, AdJitsu‘s technology has the ability to transform existing 2D ad assets into interactive 3D campaigns, which result in impressive click through rates and higher revenues for advertisers and publishers.

Amobee CEO Trevor Healy said, “Creating mobile ads with an immersive 3D experience fundamentally changes the way people perceive ads.

Instead of a passive experience, mobile users now interact and play with the ad, which is key to starting a love affair between the consumer and the brand. With AdJitsu‘s advanced 3D technology, Amobee‘s mobile ad campaigns feel like mini apps that mobile users look forward to receiving.”

Cooliris CEO Soujanya Bhumkar added, “We are thrilled about this acquisition because it impacts the future of mobile display advertising and benefits consumers, publishers and brands worldwide.

Cooliris now doubles down on bringing killer new consumer apps to the market. The new Liveshare is seeing great traction in the market with a DAU/MAU of 25 per cent. With the new Cooliris coming to the market soon, we’ll bring our famous 3D Wall to the world on mobile devices.”

MUMBAI: Multi-system operators (MSOs) had planned to enter into fixed fee deals with broadcasters to keep their content costs under control in the cable digitisation era. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has, however, disallowed tbis in its tariff order for digital addressable cable, while DTH can do volume deals with broadcasters till Trai comes out with regulations for them.

“No service provider shall demand from any other service provider a minimum guaranteed amount as subscription fee for the channels provided by such service provider,” the Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable Television Systems) Regulations 2012 states.

MSOs will have to hand over a copy of the signed interconnection agreement within a period of 15 days from the date of execution of the pact.

The status of any channel declared free-to-air (FTA) or pay cannot be changed for at least one year and the broadcaster will have to inform Trai before making such conversion. A month’s notice will have to be given before such conversion in two local newspapers, out of which one shall be published in the newspaper of the regional language of the area in which such conversion takes place.

Packaging and payment terms to broadcasters

The MSO is free to decide the packaging of the channels offered to the subscribers from the bouquet of channels provided to it by the broadcaster. However, the payment to the broadcaster for such bouquet shall be calculated on the basis of the subscriber base for that channel of the bouquet which has highest subscriber base in case the MSO does not offer to a subscriber the entire bouquet of channels provided to it by the broadcaster.

Every service provider shall enter into a new agreement before the expiry of the existing agreement. In case this does not happen before the expiry of the agreement, the provisions of the existing agreement will continue to apply till the new agreement or for the next three months from the date of expiry of existing agreement, whichever is earlier. If the service providers are able to enter into an agreement before the expiry of the three months, the new agreement shall apply from the date of expiry of earlier agreement:

In case of failure to enter into fresh agreement, the service provider may be entitled to disconnect the signals of TV channels by giving three weeks notice published in two local newspapers, out of which one shall be published in the newspaper of the regional language of the area for which the said agreement is applicable. No MSO will make available signals of TV channels to any linked local cable operator without entering into a written interconnection agreement.

However, this will not apply in case of any legal proceedings or in compliance with any order or direction or judgment of any court or tribunal.

Trai to receive all interconnect agreements

Every MSO will submit to the sector regulator information, in the specified proforma, on all interconnect agreements with the broadcaster and local cable operators. They will also have to inform about subsequent modifications that are made from time to time.

Every existing MSO shall submit to the Authority by 31 July 2012 all interconnect agreements entered into by it and amendments made therein prior to the date of notification of these regulations. Every MSO commencing its services after the notifications of the Regulations will submit to Authority its interconnection agreement within 30 days of entering into the agreement or 31st July 2012 whichever is later.

Every broadcaster will also furnish details of carriage fee paid by him to the MSO along with the information furnished by him under the Register of Interconnect Agreements (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Regulation 2004 as amended from time to time. Such information henceforth shall also include details of carriage fee paid to the MSO by the broadcaster.

Intervention by the authority

Trai may intervene in order to protect the interest of the consumer or service provider or to promote and ensure orderly growth of the broadcasting and cable sector. It shall monitor and ensure compliance of these regulations, by order or direction, and intervene, from time to time.

Disconnection of signals

No broadcaster, MSO or cable operator can disconnect the signals of a TV channel without giving three weeks notice and clearly specifying the reasons for the proposed disconnection.

Furthermore, the Telecommunication (Broadcasting And Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable Television Systems) Regulations 2012 says every notice of disconnection of signals of TV channel or re-transmission of TV channel will have to be published in two leading local newspapers of the State in which the service provider is providing the services, out of which one notice shall be published in the newspaper in local language.

The period of three weeks will start from the date of publication of the notice in newspapers or the date of service of the notice on service provider, whichever is later. In case the notices are published in newspaper on different dates, the period of three weeks shall be counted from the later of the two dates.

NEW DELHI:The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued the Standards of Quality of Service of Basic Telephone Service (wireline) and Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (Amendment) Regulations, 2012, laying down the network related Quality of Service standards for the 3G Networks covering voice calls.

These regulations have amended the existing Quality of Service parameters for Cellular Mobile Telephone Service relating to network quality, prescribed through the Standards of Quality of Service of Basic Telephone Service (wireline) and Cellular Mobile Telephone Service Regulations 2009 dated 20 March 2009.

Trai, after considering the Quality of Service requirements for 3G networks, felt that in the case of voice service provided by the 3G Networks the existing network related Quality of Service parameters would suffice, except that the nomenclature for some of the terms used in the existing regulations and the measurement methodologies would be different. Trai has, accordingly, issued the amendments to the regulations.