ITV

Category: Technology

  • How broadcasters and studios can harness ERP, innovative tech to run content biz

    How broadcasters and studios can harness ERP, innovative tech to run content biz

    MUMBAI: India’s Prime Focus, which was in news in connection with the leak of an upcoming episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ to be broadcast by its partner Star India’s Hotstar, recently signed technology deals with prominent traditional and digital broadcasters. Now, its technology arm Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) will be unveiling a host of industry-first upgrades to its flagship product, CLEAR Media ERP Suite, at IBC 2017.

    CLEAR now offers a brand new functionality for end-to-end Work Order Management, pre-integrated with its Media Asset Management (MAM), Workflow Engine and Video Tools.

    This further elevates CLEAR’s promise of enterprise digitization to the next level, by enabling users to manage all of the following on ONE system:

    * Assets, with associated metadata and essence.
    * Resources, including internal and freelance resources, as well as 3rd party vendors.
    * Tasks, including generation, timeline estimation, scheduling, assignment and execution (using tools within or outside CLEAR)
    * Orchestration of content workflows across the content supply chain.

    While users have been able to track business processes in previous versions of CLEAR, the new Work Order Management now allows the tracking of every incoming work request including all of its associated processes, tasks and deliverables, through completion. Additionally, its Resource and Task Assignment modules enable assignment of manual tasks to best-fit resources based on skill, availability and cost. Users can assign tasks across their pool of internal, vendor and freelance resources, thus ensuring optimal resource utilization in alignment with business objectives.

    With BPM driven tasks, due date based Work Order monitoring dashboards, in-depth data analytics and reporting, Work Order Management is a vital ingredient that helps Media and Entertainment enterprises improve quality and maintain on-time delivery alongside increases in scale. It lays the foundation for streamlining content operations and helps M and E players enhance efficiencies across core processes like acquisition, review and approval, cataloguing, QC, mastering, distribution, promos and localisation.

    “To lead in the industry, broadcasters and studios have to move beyond managing just content and focus on successfully running the business of content by harnessing the power of enterprise software and innovative technology,” said Prime Focus Technologies founder and CEO Ramki Sankaranarayanan.

    “For the first time ever, media and entertainment organisations can have both assets and work related details for the entire supply chain on one system. This will usher in extreme transparency across the content lifecycle, and reduce manual effort drastically to help M and E enterprises lower their Total Cost of Operations,” he added.

    PFT will also be showcasing the latest additions to its Hybrid Cloud-enabled CLEAR Media ERP Suite at IBC 2017. These include:

    DAX® Production Cloud: ONE Software for Dailies and Post Workflows that enables all stakeholders within the production supply chain to collaborate, service and distribute media, all on the same software

    Promo Operations: A never-before functionality that provides end-to-end business process orchestration for promo creation including versioning automation.

    Mastering Automation: An efficient and cost-effective way to create masters for domestic and international syndication
    Interoperable Master Format (IMF):

    * World’s first IMF Media Player for playback over streaming proxy
    Future-ready solution for IMF content exchange, with support for SMPTE’s upcoming Applications (beyond 2 and 2e).

    * Technology to transform IMF Packages into deliverables for DPP and iTunes.

    When both, assets and work-related details, for the entire supply chain would be on one system, life would certainly be much easier for the media and entertainment organisations.

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  • STBs, VoDs & IPTV will soon have high-end TV content via Tata-V-Nova tech

    STBs, VoDs & IPTV will soon have high-end TV content via Tata-V-Nova tech

    MUMBAI: V-Nova Ltd., a leading provider of video compression solutions, and Tata Elxsi, a leading provider of specialised broadcast and communications engineering services, have announced a partnership that enables operators to deploy V-Nova Perseus technology at an accelerated pace.

    – Strategic partnership offers broadcasters and operators unique solutions and know-how for TV delivery to connected devices and set-top boxes.

    – Joint offering leverages Tata Elxsi’s system integration expertise to enhance performance, simplify deployment and reduce operating costs.

    – Customers will benefit from faster time to market with V-Nova Perseus-based solutions.

    Tata Elxsi has already integrated V-Nova’s award-winning technology within the set-top-box (STB) of a satellite TV operator in Europe, enabling rapid deployment and immediate benefits.

    V-Nova Perseus offers the benefits of next-generation codecs, on available encoders and decoders, at the same time providing substantial reductions in processing power requirements. Compatible with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware, including both legacy and the latest generation of STBs, PERSEUS provides optimum performance at the operating points that are key for service delivery.

    The benefits are particularly suited to (VoDs) video-hungry services, from HD and UHD TV to social media applications, across all delivery networks. V-Nova Perseus is compatible with existing h.264/HEVC workflows irrespective of DRM, streaming protocol such as HLS and DASH, ad-insertion and other processes.

    Perseus has been deployed in a number of applications, from contribution to IPTV and OTT delivery in multiple countries worldwide.

    V-Nova CEO Guido Meardi said: “Together with Tata Elxsi, we can help operators turbocharge the performance of their services with the rapid deployment of V-Nova Perseus 2 on custom integrations across a wide range of client devices, including legacy and new cable, IPTV and satellite STBs.”

    Using its extensive domain depth, product design and integration expertise, Tata Elxsi will provide fast and reliable delivery of V-Nova PERSEUS-based solutions for broadcasters, Pay TV operators, content owners and video service providers. With a backing of over 25 years of experience in technology, systems integration and consulting, Tata Elxsi can maximize the benefits of the deployment of V-Nova Perseus within operator specific head-ends, ad-servers, cloud environments and set-top-box middleware, while minimizing time to market.

    Tata Elxsi VP and head of broadcast business unit KP Sreekumar said: “V-Nova Perseus 2 is a natural fit for our broadcast and communications clients, and we look forward to work closely together to maximize existing services and enable new use cases.”

    The joint offering, combining the performance of V-Nova Perseus with Tata Elxsi’s know-how, will be readily available to operators and broadcasters looking to maximize the potential of video services across connected devices and set-top boxes.

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  • Fox-Samsung to licence metadata for HDR to content cos & STB makers

    Fox-Samsung to licence metadata for HDR to content cos & STB makers

    MUMBAI: 20th Century Fox, the parent company of Star India, Panasonic Corporation and Samsung Electronics have announced a new partnership to create an open, royalty-free dynamic metadata platform for High Dynamic Range (HDR) through an associated certification and logo program, tentatively called HDR10+.

    Together, the three companies will form a licensing entity that will begin licensing the HDR10+ platform in January 2018. The entity will license the metadata broadly to content companies, ultra-high definition TVs, Blu-ray disc players/recorders and set-top box manufacturers, as well as SoC vendors, royalty-free with only a nominal administrative fee.

    “As leaders in home entertainment content and hardware, the three companies are ideal partners for bringing HDR10+ into the homes of consumers everywhere,” said Jongsuk Chu, Senior Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to making the latest technology available in our TVs and are confident that HDR10+ will deliver premium quality content and enhance the way you experience television programs and movies in the home.”

    HDR10+ is a cutting-edge technology, building upon the benefits of HDR televisions, which offers the best possible viewing experience for next generation displays. HDR10+ provides unprecedented picture quality on all displays with brightness, color, and contrast automatically optimized for each scene. In previous iterations, static tone mapping applied a fixed enhancement across an entire piece of content. With HDR10+ dynamic tone mapping, every scene is individually enhanced to bring to life vibrant visuals and achieve unprecedented picture quality. This new enhanced visual experience will allow consumers to see pictures that match the intention of filmmakers.

    “HDR10+ is a technological step forward that optimizes picture quality for next generation displays,” said Danny Kaye, Executive Vice President at 20th Century Fox and Managing Director of the Fox Innovation Lab. “HDR10+ provides dynamic metadata, which precisely describes every scene to deliver unprecedented picture quality. Working in partnership with Panasonic and Samsung through the Fox Innovation Lab, we are able to bring new platforms like HDR10+ to the market that more accurately realize the vision of our filmmakers beyond the theater.”

    There are several key benefits for partners who wish to adopt the platform for their HDR10+ compliant products. HDR10+ offers system flexibility, allowing a variety of partners, including content creators, content distributors, TV manufacturers and device makers, to incorporate this platform and improve the viewing experience for audiences. The HDR10+ platform was designed to allow for future development and innovation in order to deliver a more powerful technology in the years to come.

    “Panasonic has a long history of working with industry leaders to develop lasting technical formats. We are delighted to work together with 20th Century Fox and Samsung to develop a new HDR format, which will bring consumers so many benefits,” said Yuki Kusumi, Executive Officer at Panasonic. “By offering considerable HDR picture quality improvements across a wider range of TVs while accelerating the amount of premium HDR content available, we expect HDR10+ to quickly become the defacto HDR format.”

  • Cable & b’band solutions co C & D Tech acquired by KPS Capital

    Cable & b’band solutions co C & D Tech acquired by KPS Capital

    MUMBAI: KPS Capital Partners has announced the acquisition of C & D Technologies, Inc. and its affiliates through a newly created subsidiary. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP acted as legal advisor to KPS and its affiliates.

    Blue Bell, Pennsylvania-based C & D manufactures, designs, supplies and services fully integrated standby power systems to regulate and control power flow and provide standby power. It is a leader in solutions and services for the utility, telecommunications, uninterruptible power supply, cable, broadband and renewable energy markets.

    C & D operates four manufacturing plants located in the United States, Mexico and China , with sales and distribution in Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and India. The Company has approximately 1,400 employees.

    KPS managing partner David Shapiro said: “We are proud to acquire C & D and look forward to working closely with CEO Armand Lauzon and the Company’s management team to aggressively develop the C & D platform both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Is a leading global provider of energy storage solutions and services, with a long history of innovation, quality and service to its customers. As a result of the acquisition of KPS, C & D is now well capitalized, with a solid and Access to strategic, operational and financial resources of KPS “.

    C & D CEO Armand Lauzon said: “We are very excited about this partnership with KPS for the next stage of growth and evolution of C & D. C & D strives to offer its customers quality, technology and services of unparalleled quality. Focus and commitment, as evidenced by its 26 years of successful investments in global manufacturing and industry businesses. KPS’s focus on manufacturing excellence and its commitment to investment in research and development, accompanied by significant capital resources, will accelerate the Numerous C & D growth initiatives.”

  • Hotstar tech partner Prime Focus signs deals with Turner & sports broadcasters

    Hotstar tech partner Prime Focus signs deals with Turner & sports broadcasters

    MUMBAI: India’s Prime Focus, which was recently in news for admitting and plugging the leak of an upcoming episode of Game of Thrones to be broadcast by its partner Star India’s Hotstar, has signed technology deals with prominent traditional and digital broadcasters.

    A link to view Episode 4 of Season 7 of Game of Thrones bearing a Star India watermark appeared online three days before its airdate as an outcome of an illegal breach of obligations by PFT’s current and former employees. Following PFT’s forensic investigations, Mumbai Cyber Cell arrested four accused on 14 August.

    Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of Prime Focus, recently signed an agreement with Turner Latin America, where PFT’s CLEAR™ Broadcast Cloud will provide work order and supply chain management along with end-to-end process monitoring of critical tasks, with reports and dashboards. “CLEAR was built as an ERP system tailor made for M&E and is well-poised to help Turner improve efficiencies across their supply chain with lowest TCOP, while enabling them to be the first to publish their content to multiple destinations,” said Prime Focus Technologies CEO Ramki Sankaranarayanan.

    PFT also manages the content operations for sports broadcasters. Also, the Sports Video Group recently welcomed PFT as a corporate sponsor. PFT creates CLEAR enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) software for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry.

    Apart from Star, PFT is working with Disney, Warner Bros., Hearst, CBS Television Studios, 20th Century Fox Television Studios, Lionsgate, Showtime, A+E Networks, Tru TV, HBO, IFC Films, FX Networks, Miramax, CNBC Africa, TERN International, Sony Music, Google, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Hooq, Viacom’s Voot, Cricket Australia, BCCI, and The Associated Press and Indian Premier League.

    “We chose CLEAR for three reasons: it is cloud native, multi-platform and easy to integrate through a solid Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach”, said Turner Latin America VP – technology & operations Luis Esparza.

    Operations at Turner Latin America’s main content processing hub in Buenos Aires (Argentina) will be seamlessly connected with all other supply chain locations through the CLEAR hybrid cloud architecture. This will support multi-location distributed workflows such as subtitling and dubbing, compliance mastering, promo operations, archival, playout delivery as well as schedule driven distribution for OTT and VOD.

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  • APAC may lead US$ 6-bn b’cast equipment market growth by ’23

    APAC may lead US$ 6-bn b’cast equipment market growth by ’23

    MUMBAI: The global broadcast equipment market is expected to expand from USD 4.38 billion in 2017 to USD 5.82 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 4.87 per cent between 2017 and 2023.

    Although North America is expected to hold the largest market share, the broadcast equipment market in APAC is likely to witness the highest growth rate between 2017 and 2023. The major players in the broadcast equipment market include Cisco Systems, Inc. (US), Ericsson AB (Sweden), Harmonic Inc. (US), Evertz Microsystems, Ltd. (Canada), and Grass Valley (Canada).

    The CAGR projection has been done by MarketsandMarkets, which provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high-growth niche opportunities/threats with the help of 850 fulltime analysts and SMEs, in recently published report titled: “Broadcast Equipment Market — by application, technology, products and geography – to 2023.”

    The rising demand for ultra high definition (UHD) content production and transmission, radical shift of products from hardware oriented to software and open architecture based, and increasing D2C offerings through OTT services and multi-channel networks in developed economies are some of the factors driving the growth of the broadcast equipment market.

    Increasing use of video servers to store and play out multiple video streams to drive the growth of broadcast equipment market 

    The broadcast equipment market, on the basis of product, has been segmented into dish antennas, amplifiers, switchers, encoders, video servers, transmitters and repeaters, modulators, and others.

    The market for video servers is likely to grow at the highest rate between 2017 and 2023. The increasing number of broadcasters offering direct-to-consumer (D2C) propositions through OTT services, along with traditional distribution routes, is fueling the growth of the market for video servers. In broadcasting, servers act as hosts and are used to deliver various contents or videos. These servers are used to store and play out multiple video streams without degrading the video signals. 

    Broadcast video servers often store hundreds of hours of compressed audio and video (in different codecs), play out multiple and synchronized simultaneous streams of videos, and also ensure quality interfaces such as SDI for digital video and XLR for balanced analogue audio, and AES/EBU digital audio.

    Market for digital broadcasting expected to grow at a high rate between 2017 and 2023 

    The market for digital broadcasting is expected to grow at a high rate between 2017 and 2023. Digital broadcasting offers several advantages over analogue broadcasting, including choice of programming and services such as additional channels, HD offerings, radio data services, and pay programs. It also allows consumers to avail better quality content with considerably lesser signal interference, without compromising on picture quality.

    North America held the largest share of the broadcast equipment market in 2016. The increasing number of cable and satellite television channels and the rising penetration of the Internet have provided broadcasters with many choices for their own creative and political expression. The growing cultural diversity throughout North America has also led to the increase in the number of broadcast channels, which, in turn, has boosted the demand for broadcast equipment in this region. Europe is also one of the potential markets for broadcast equipment. The broadcast equipment market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2017 and 2023.

    MarketsandMarkets research claims to impact 70-80 per cent of worldwide companies’ revenues. It is currently servicing 5000 customers including 80 per cent of global Fortune 1000 companies. 

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  • Irdeto’s Cloakware to safeguard tech brands

    MUMBAI: Irdeto, a leader in digital platform security, has announced the launch of its next-generation Cloakware™ Software Protection solution. Designed for the world’s largest and most innovative brands, the solution provides resilient and durable protection against cyberattacks.

    Cloakware combines cutting-edge cybersecurity technologies, libraries and tools that enable organizations to customize the protection of their valuable digital assets. The solution, which is used by some of the world’s biggest technology brands, now offers Irdeto’s unique combination of program code and data protection, a customizable architecture and new language-independent support (currently JavaScript, Web Assembly, Objective C and Swift). Combined with binary protections, function and control flow transformations, runtime application self-protection (RASP), application shielding as well as whitebox cryptography, the solution protects code and data from hackers attempting to nullify security and alter program functionality. These techniques provide security-savvy organizations with the very best in renewable software security designed to adapt quickly as industries evolve.

    “Businesses today are living in a software-defined world,” said Jaco Du Plooy, Vice President of Cloakware, Irdeto. “While the implementation of software and IoT technologies provide organizations with the flexibility to innovate, they also introduce a number of vulnerabilities that are exploited by hackers on a daily basis. It is critical for businesses to have a robust and dynamically renewable cybersecurity strategy that protects software and endpoint devices from tampering or reverse engineering. Cloakware Software Protection provides the very best deep layer software security in the industry and is used by some of the largest organizations on the planet to protect their core assets and data day after day.”

    Businesses today rely on software to conduct day-to-day operations. However, software is inherently vulnerable, providing hackers with an easy entry point to execute various attacks, including ransomware, malware injections, Man-in-the-Middle attacks, Man-at-the-End attacks and others. From media & entertainment organizations, to the automotive industry and any business with IoT devices, each rely on optimal security to protect their brand, revenue and intellectual property from these attacks. Cloakware Software Protection secures digital assets by concealing proprietary algorithms and secrets, including cryptographic keys. Once protected, these applications can be safely deployed on untrusted hosts and in hostile environments such as mobile and IoT endpoint devices.

    Cloakware’s security techniques provide application protection through sophisticated data, function and control flow transformations, anti-debug, whitebox cryptography and active integrity verification. Cloakware Software Protection integrates these security techniques into the customer’s software build process, thereby embedding application protection directly at the source code level.

    Irdeto was recently named a Representative Vendor in Gartner’s June 2017 Market Guide for Application Shielding, “Protecting applications that run within untrusted environments is ever more crucial as mobile and IoT become ubiquitous, and as web applications modernize, bringing more intelligence to the client,” according to Gartner Research Directors, Dionisio Zumerle and Manjunath Bhat. “Security and risk management leaders must apply shielding selectively to close security gaps. Application shielding refers to a set of technologies that modify an application’s source, byte or binary code, to make the application more resistant to intrusion, tampering and reverse engineering.”

    Combining patented technologies and services, the Irdeto Cloakware suite of products enables brands and developers to protect their application code against reverse engineering, tampering and automated attacks. Irdeto’s Cloakware solutions provide a highly effective, multi-layered and tunable approach to software protection that is future-proof and relies on 20 years of proven success. Cloakware technology forms the basis for several innovative Irdeto solutions like Cloaked CA and ActiveCloak that are currently being used by multiple Irdeto customers, including Stofa, HorizonSAT, GOBX, ORS, RCS & RDS, MEDIA BROADCAST and many others.

  • TV channels get unique AI: Zone TV & Ooyala partner Microsoft

    MUMBAI: ZoneTV, taking a quantum leap forward in the linear TV experience, will utilize media logistics tools from Ooyala, a global provider of video monetization technology and services, plus Video Indexer, part of Microsoft Cognitive Services, to automate the curation of content of a first-of-its-kind, customizable suite of linear TV channels which launches this fall. ZoneTV has licensed digital-first content which it will curate into specialized channels delivered to pay-TV subscribers. For consumers, these channels will initially appear like any traditional linear channel. But ZoneTV’s unique service allows consumers to do more, combining linear, ondemand and customized choices into a new offering called ZoneTV Dynamic Channels. The company’s ability to curate 6,000 hours of videos on the fly in these channels creates a unique and personalized experience for the consumer.

    “We’re building the next generation of pay-TV services, so we need next-generation tools. With the combination of Ooyala’s platform and Microsoft Cognitive Services, the ZoneTV Programming Studio delivers an unmatched capability to enhance the TV ecosystem and translates into a one-of-a-kind viewer experience,” said ZoneTV CEO Jeff Weber.

    The content in the specialized channels will be presented in a consumer-friendly, easily discoverable way to viewers. ZoneTV will achieve this using the ZoneTV Programming Studio, which is integrated with Ooyala’s Flex CMS and with Video Indexer, part of Microsoft Cognitive Services, to curate fine-tuned specialized channels.

    The combination of these tools features advanced algorithms that characterize content; the platform automatically extracts and analyzes metadata to identify video genre and content sentiment, pulls topics from speech and text, translates captions into multiple languages and integrates subscriber analytics. This provides quick scalability for ZoneTV as it adds additional content, and reduces manual processes that can slow content curation and introduce errors in metadata translation and application.

    ZoneTV, Ooyala, Microsoft Join Forces to apply AI to Linear TV Channels “Ooyala puts a premium on collaboration, which is what our Integrated Video Platform solutions are all about. To be the bridge bringing Microsoft AI innovation to ZoneTV, an exciting North American programmer, is putting us at the center of reshaping TV for tomorrow,” said Ooyala CEO Jonathan Huberman.

    In addition, ZoneTV will utilize Ooyala’s Flex Platform, the company’s versatile and customizable solution for video production and distribution workflows, for its end-to-end video workflow for both new specialized channels and its VOD assets. Flex runs on Microsoft Azure Media Services and can transform assets into any format for distribution to any device with Ooyala’s video platform; and it automates transcoding, packaging and syndication, which gets content in front of audience faster. Ooyala Flex is the only workflow tool which can be 100% cloud-hosted, freeing up space in an affiliate’s data center.

    The collaboration features a full-featured workflow solution with both operational dashboards as well as creative dashboards to allow efficient editing, content review and metadata entry. “ZoneTV shows what Microsoft Cognitive Services can do for TV programming. By integrating their content with Microsoft Azure, they can leverage Azure Media Analytics and Ooyala Flex for automated content indexing potentially driving more value for ZoneTV affiliates and subscribers,” said Microsoft Corp. GM – enterprise video Sudheer Sirivara.

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  • From lab to end-user: India launches TV, radio & FB integrated server ‘Sagar Vani’

    MUMBAI: The India government, in order to effectively disseminate ocean-related advisories from the lab to the end-user, has developed ‘Sagar Vani’.

    The union minister for science & technology, earth sciences and environment, forest & climate change Harshvardhan has launched the ‘India Quake’ app and ‘Sagar Vani’ at the Foundation Day of Ministry of Earth Sciences in New Delhi on 27 July.

    ‘Sagar Vani’ is a software platform where various dissemination modes will be integrated on a single central server. It ’ includes multi-lingual SMS, Voice Call / Audio Advisory, Mobile Apps (User / Admin modules), Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), Email, GTS, Fax, Digital Display Boards, Radio / Television broadcast units, IVRS, Cloud Channels, etc. The system also has facility to provide access to various stakeholders so that they too will be able to further disseminate information and alerts to the user community.

    ‘Sagar Vani’ system compares with the most advanced countries’ services in terms of speed of delivery, omni channel capabilities and diverseness of services. With this system, the services will be disseminated in local languages using advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. For the first time in India, Sagar Vani is also using the power of television and cable network mediums for topical and alert dissemination services.

    ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) provides ocean information services for the benefit of various user communities in India. The services are more fruitfully utilized when the advisories reaches the end user in timely manner and in user readable format. Now-a-days ICT facilities in the country are accessible to large population of the country and that plays a major role in effective dissemination of information to the end user. ESSO-INCOIS has adopted the state-of-the-art technologies and tools available in the country for the timely dissemination of Ocean Information and Advisory Services that includes Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories, Ocean State Forecast (OSF), High Wave Alerts and Tsunami early warnings.

    Presently, the advisories are being disseminated to the stakeholders from different service sections and through various stakeholders and partners, which might cause delay in dissemination of the services. In order to timely disseminate the advisories, ‘Sagar Vani’ has been developed by ESSO-INCOIS through Gaian Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

    The ‘Sagar Vani’ will now serve the coastal community, especially the fishermen community with the advisories and alerts towards their livelihood as well as their safety at Sea.

  • Japan’s KDDI adopts TiVo’s remote-recording service

    Japan’s KDDI adopts TiVo’s remote-recording service

    MUMBAI: TiVo Corporation, a leader in entertainment technology and audience insights, has announced that KDDI Corporation, a leading Japanese telecommunications provider, has selected TiVo’s remote recording service for G-GuideÒ and will also implement new voice control features to deliver one of the most advanced entertainment discovery experiences in Japan.

    KDDI has deployed TiVo’s latest G-Guide HTML on its Cable Plus Set-Top Boxes (STB) to provide customers with the ability to find and discover programming. This capability is an enhancement to KDDI’s existing deployment of the G-Guide HTML for IPTV STBs last year, enabling KDDI to deliver an expanded range of solutions to cable TV service providers.

    KDDI has also adopted TiVo’s remote recording service and mobile application, G-Guide xD, allowing subscribers to record programs at any time right from their smart phones, enabling greater convenience and accessibility to the latest entertainment. This feature is available to service providers for the first time in Japan.

    With the new voice control features, subscribers can find content quickly and change between channels by giving verbal commands to the cable STB remote control, thus connecting to their favorite entertainment with ease. This is the first deployment of the voice control feature for G-Guide HTML in Japan.

    “We are very pleased to be working with KDDI to introduce these advanced functions to the Japanese market,” said TiVo SVP & GM – user experience Michael Hawkey. “Japanese consumers are often ahead of the curve when it comes to technology adoption so this latest development is a testament to KDDI’s dedication to providing its customers with new functionality to enhance their entertainment experience.”

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