Category: Technology

NEW DELHI:Even as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s government has complained at not being consulted on digitisation, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni has said digitisation would be beneficial to the cable operators.

Speaking to the media in London, Soni said all decisions would be taken in consultation with the stakeholders. “Firstly I think those (critics) who said this are not fully aware of the discussions and arrangements, which have been made by us as a Ministry and also the guidelines which were initially announced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Now you know that in 2002-2003 this was undertaken as CAS, there was resistance because most of the local cable operators thought that they would be out of job and they are estimated to be 40 to 60,000 in number,” Soni said.

“This time around even though Trai has suggested a complete digitalisation by 2013, the ministry felt we needed at least more time for talking as it is very important we talk to all stakeholders,” she added.

Soni further said that the cable operators have been pressing for digitisation as they sense stiff competition from direct to home (DTH) network providers.

She said the local cable operators have all in writing given their commitment to this. It is at their request that the government started moving in this direction. The cable operators today feel threatened by the DTH operators as one million DTH consumers are being created every month.

The digitisation of TV signals would offer a wider choice of channels to the consumers along with high quality viewing. Also, after digitisation, there would be no prime band.

While the multi-service operators (MSOs) and the local cable operators are racing against time to complete the technical requirements to meet the deadline, the remarks by a Minister in the West Bengal Government may create problems in Kolkata which along with other metros is to be digitised by 30 June.

The controversy arose when Firhad Hakim ‘Bobby‘, the Urban Development Minister and a close aide of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, said: “We were not consulted on this issue. If Trai or other agencies had discussed it with the erstwhile CPM government, we are not responsible for that.”

Meanwhile, Banerjee has stirred a hornet’s nest by advising people in the state not to see news channels and instead to see channels like Star Jalsha, Tara, and Channel 10 which offer music and entertainment.

MUMBAI: Flushed with funds from Saudi prince Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Microblogging site Twitter is on a buying spree. The company has made its third successful acquisition this year as it bought out social media analytics company Hotspots.io.

The financial details of the deal were not revealed.

The company had last month acquired mobile blogging start-up Posterous, while Internet security firm Dasient was bought in January.

Hotspots said its employees have joined Twitter‘s revenue engineering team effective 16 April and the focus will be on developing analytics tools for Twitter‘s advertising and publishing partners.

“We founded Hotspots.io with the vision of helping companies and individuals maximize their social media ROI through actionable and accessible analytics, and we‘re thrilled to be able to continue that work on a much larger scale at Twitter,” the company said in a statement.

In December last year, Abdul Aziz Al Saud had invested $300 million in Twitter through his investment firm Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) valuing the company at $8.4 billion at the time.

The San Francisco based company with over 140 million users had an estimated revenue of $140 million in 2010.

MUMBAI: Global leader in digital cinema Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. will acquire leading entertainment distributor New Video Group, Inc. (New Video), the largest worldwide digital aggregator of independent content and leading distributor of quality entertainment.

The acquisition of New Video will cost Cinedigm an upfront consideration of $14 million plus additional earn-out potential of up to $6 million over three years tied to the future financial results of the Cinedigm Entertainment Group.

The upfront consideration will be paid with $10 million of cash from Cinedigm‘s balance sheet and $4 million of Cinedigm stock issued at the trailing 10 day volume weighted average price.

The acquisition is expected to close by 20 April.

Said Cinedigm Chairman and CEO Chris McGurk, “Cinedigm is now a fully integrated distributor of independent films and specialty content. Over the past year, we have analyzed many companies in the digital distribution space for home and mobile entertainment and determined that New Video is the best partner for us.”

Cinedigm‘s acquisition of New Video will create a new full service end-to-end digital releasing studio that will enable the company to acquire and distribute independent films and specialty content both theatrically and through digital, mobile and home media platforms.

This acquisition builds upon the strategic acquisition and distribution partnership for independent films formed in January between Cinedigm and New Video. Already, the joint venture has acquired two award-winning films at Sundance and SXSW, The Invisible War and Citadel, which are planned for release in June and September respectively and today also announced the acquisition of a third highly regarded independent film, In Our Nature.

Along with this acquisition, Cinedigm has also announced an underwritten public equity offering of common stock with B. Riley & Co., LLC acting as sole book-running manager and Merriman Capital acting as co-manager of the offering.

MUMBAI: Ozone Media, India’s leading online ad network, have forayed into mobile advertising to provide 360 degree solutions to brands in the mobile space including development of content and support with the mobile ad-network on performance driven campaigns.

Ozone Media has announced the launch with a deal with IPL new media rights holder Times Internet as their exclusive sales partners for IPL 2012 WAP, Android and Blackberry Applications.

“We are excited to partner with Ozone Media for our exclusive IPL 5 mobile channel inventory with a projected audience of 4 million unique audiences totaling to 80 million impressions. We needed a robust partner to channel our Mobile inventory sales. Our satisfactory association with Ozone Media on their display ad network has made them our first choice for our mobile ad inventory,” Times Internet Limited director Upen Roop Rai said.

Ozone has been in an expansion mode in the past few months roping in premium publishers and attracting multi-million dollar accounts.

“Mobile advertising is expected to grow seven fold in the next five years. It is a lucrative opportunity and a natural progression for us. We endeavor to repeat the success of our display ad network in the mobile space as well and be the number one choice for advertisers. With an inventory pool of 40 million unique audience spread across premium publishers and our stellar relationships with publishers, this channel will be our next inflection point,” said Ozone Media CEO and founder Kiran Gopinath.

Mobile advertising currently accounts for a small share of the market, at Rs 1 billion 2011 but is expected to grow significantly over the coming years to an estimated Rs 7.6 billion in 2016, according to Ficci-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment industry report 2012.

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has collaborated with Google to market android devices for the next two years in India.

The telecom service provider will push the android mobile operating system and Google Mobile Services in order to promote the usage of Android devices in the country.

Reliance Communciations has committed to devote dedicated resources to accelerate the delivery of superior services, content and applications for android device users. It will create data plans and services specifically targeted to promote android devices on its network. This collaboration will ensure that the data plan is optimised for usage with android devices, the company said.

The services offered will help create a distinctive and enhanced experience for existing customers on its network using android devices along with the promotion of at least one 3G data plan. R Comm will offer a free 1GB usage per month 3G plan to all Android device users. Reliance also plans to introduce expert customer care, carrier billing, exclusive apps and content in addition to the dedicated Android experience zone at Reliance retail outlets across the country.

RComm group head – brand and marketing Sanjay Behl said, “In line with the rapid growth of Smartphones in the country, Reliance has collaborated with Google to catapult the change by providing compelling new experience to device users in terms of speed, coverage and app ecosystem across segments. Our collaboration with Google is set to bring in many novelties and unique features for device users on our superior network, complementing the innovation of Android powered services and devices.”

The marketing activities will include ATL and BTL activities, developing co-branded mobile applications for Android Smartphones and marketing campaigns promoting the Google Mobile Services. Reliance Communications shall continue to work on Android launches and promotional campaigns going forward in the next 2 years.

RComm has also introduced the Reliance – Android ‘Blue Bot’ advertisement campaign across various platforms. The campaign showcases the Green Android Bot changing its colour to become the ‘Reliance Blue Bot’ symbolising the partnership as ‘Be Blue, it’s Simply Better’.

BANGALORE: US headquartered retail major Wal-Mart Stores‘ (Wal-Mart) global e-commerce unit @WalmartLabs has been building its India operations with a focus on social and digital technology.

@WalmartLabs creates platforms and products around social and mobile commerce to support Walmart’s global strategy of anytime, anywhere access where millions of customers can discover, research and shop through mobile devices, online or at physical stores @WalmartLabs has moved into a 50,000 square foot 300-400 seater capacity facility in Bangalore. It plans to hire an additional 100 people to create a next-generation e-commerce platform, to bring the strength of its India operations to 200.

“At Walmart, we are committed to building the technologies required to power e-commerce for consumers today and into the future,” said Walmart Global e-Commerce Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Jeremy King. “In the past few months, @WalmartLabs India has attracted best-of-class talent into the group. As we expand our operations, we look forward to adding to this base to create a team whose focus is to build products that matter to millions of customers around the globe.”

Wal-Mart serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 9,700 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Wal-Mart employs 2.1 million associates worldwide.

MUMBAI: US streaming platform Roku has announced the official launch of its products in Canada. Two Roku streaming player models – the Roku XD and the Roku 2 XS – are available for purchase in Canada. These small set-­top boxes (STBs) use the Internet to stream entertainment to the TV instantly.

At launch in Canada, Roku features more than 100 entertainment channels including movies and TV shows from Netflix and Crackle; live and on-­-demand sports from the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball; music from Rdio and TuneIn Radio; photos and videos from Facebook and Flickr; news and weather from the Wall Street Journal and CNBC plus casual games like ‘Angry Birds‘, ‘Wheel of Fortune‘ and ‘Jeopardy‘.

Roku expects to broaden its channel selection in Canada at a pace similar to its growth in the US, now at more than 450 channels.

Roku VP global marketing Chuck Seiber said, “We have a simple formula for our best-­-selling streaming players: provide access to a ton of entertainment at a low price, while maintaining a best-­-in-­-class streaming experience. We’ve set the same high bar for ourselves with the launch of our players today in Canada.”

The Roku 2 XD Streaming Player offers value for streaming video and music directly to a TV. The Roku 2 XD connects to the Internet instantly via built-in WiFi and supports up to 1080p high-definition video. The Roku 2 XS is the top-of-the-line Roku streaming player.

In addition to the features of the Roku 2 XD, the Roku 2 XS comes paired with an enhanced remote with motion control for playing games like ‘Angry Birds.‘ It also features an Ethernet port and a USB port for playing music, videos and photos off of any USB drive.

MUMBAI: Internet protocol television (IPTV) service provider, Internet Broadcasting Corp., has raised $500,000 in Series A equity financing as part of its $2 million offering.

The Series A funding was led by Washington DC area angel investors and the company‘s existing investor Silver Stone Capital came in as a co-investor.

This financing will help fund the roll out of Vibble TV, the company‘s initial offering that focuses on the three million plus South Asians in the United States.

Vibble TV‘s offering already includes leading Indian television content provider Zee TV and 60 other channels. In addition, Vibble TV offers to its subscribers over 500 Bollywood movies and the entire library of Amar Chitra Katha animated Indian fables through video on demand. The company is continuing to add compelling content to its lineup and plans on launching the service in May.

“We are excited to have the support of our new investors as we bring television viewing to the 21st century. Our goal is to create the world‘s leading IPTV company and our investors share our vision and passion. Vibble TV also plans to roll out service to other ethnic markets later in the year,” said IBC founder and CEO Suresh Kadagala.

MUMBAI: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific has launched Discovery Kids on SkyCable in the Philippines.

In addition, its popular global lifestyle channel TLC will now reach a broader subscriber base with its move to SkyCable‘s Silver Pack.

Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific senior VP, head of content Kevin Dickie said, “With the entry of Discovery Kids and expansion of TLC, our portfolio in the Philippines now includes something for everyone from young to old. Both brands deliver on our brand promise to provide quality programming and provides our audience with an opportunity to explore their world from the comfort of their homes.”

SkyCable COO Rodrigo P. Montinola said, “SkyCable takes pride in being one of the first to launch Discovery Kids in the Philippines. We are now the only operator in the country to carry all of the Discovery networks available in the region. With the launch of Discovery Kids, we have strengthened the edutainment push amongst kids. TLC is one of the most popular travel and lifestyle channels in the Philippines and we are delighted that even more SKYCable subscribers can now enjoy the channel though SKYCable Silver.”

Discovery Kids is offering content that combines learning and entertainment. The aim is to offer children a fun and entertaining way to satisfy their natural curiosity and explore their world with stimulating and imaginative programming. The channel looks to help children develop their cognitive, social, emotional and personal skills, bringing families together by promoting co-viewing with parents.

The target audience for Discovery Kids is kids four to twelve years old and their parents with the core target audience being kids seven to ten years old.

MUMBAI: Media marketplace organiser Natpe has announced that more than 250 companies from 50 countries are confirmed to attend the inaugural Natpe Budapest content market, formerly known as Discop East, which takes place from 26 – 28 June 2012.

Close to 250 buyers representing 150 companies are already signed to attend the three day market at Budapest’s Sofitel Chain Bridge Hotel and organisers at NATPE expect this to increase to more than 300 registered buyers by the event opening.

Natpe Budapest will also welcome more than 100 sellers representing major Hollywood studios including Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, CBS Studios International, Lionsgate and MGM Worldwide Television Group alongside key international distributors such as A&E Networks, Alfred Haber Distribution, Artear, CableReady, Caracol Television, Dori Media Distribution, Endemol Group, FremantleMedia, Globo TV, ITV Studios, Televisa and Venevision.

Natpe will host evening events for all participants on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights during the market as well as offering myBudapest, a robust, online database allowing buyers and sellers to connect, set appointments and share information before, during and after the market. An onsite business concierge will also be available at the Sofitel Hotel to support these online tools.

Natpe president, CEO Rick Feldman said, “We are delighted to announce this latest update on activity and attendance at the upcoming first edition of Natpe Budapest – which promises three intensive days of meetings and deal making. This is a fantastic opportunity for Natpe to build on the established success of Discop East. Historically, more than 65 per cent of the TV content buyers attending the event never or seldom attended other major international markets, so we are looking forward to showcasing our proven successful market formula to a host of new attendees and organisations as part of our increased global focus.”

Following its acquisition last year, Natpe Budapest runs as a companion to NATPE’s highly successful Miami-based international content market, which takes place in January. Natpe is working with locally-based representatives throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to raise the profile of both events in the global marketplace and together the events are expected to connect more than 6,500 television professionals from throughout the world.

Natpe continues to partner with Discop organisers Basic Lead on regional events Discop Africa and Discop Istanbul. Basic Lead GM Patrick Jucaud continues to oversee operational activities in these events and is working with Natpe as the Budapest based market transfers for 2012.