Category: Technology

MUMBAI: With the sixth anniversary celebrations of MSN India under way, MSN India has announced the launch of five new portals, MSN Hindi, MSN Tamil, MSN Telugu, MSN Kannada and MSN Malayalam apart from unveiling Windows Live Messenger in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

MSN India also unveiled the new MSN India Homepage and Windows Live Domains. Prominent amongst these announcements is the launch of its new language portal homepage on http://in.msn.com along with launching Windows Live Messenger in the Hindi and the other regional languages (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam).

This new introduction enables MSN users to now chat in their regional language with their friends and family on MSN Messenger. The MSN Hindi and regional language portals was launched by renowned singer Shubha Mudgal in an event organized recently in the capital.

Korea and Japan have 3G networks based on WCDMA technology which allows GSM subscribers to connect to their networks on roaming.

Airtel has been the first to seize this opportunity and has carried out extensive network testing in Korea and Japan to ensure seamless connectivity. As a result, Airtel customers traveling to these countries will be the first to benefit from this initiative. Any Airtel customer on 3G compatible handset will be able to experience seamless connectivity whether on voice or data, while on roaming on WCDMA network and this includes Korea and Japan. Presently Airtel offers roaming facilities on more than 365 mobile networks across 154 countries.

Announcing the availability of international roaming services also on WCDMA networks, Sanjay Kapoor, joint president – Bharti Airtel Limited, said, “An increasing number of our customers travel overseas and our roaming facility on international networks therefore becomes very important. This latest initiative will undoubtedly add a lot of convenience especially to those Airtel customers who travel to Korea and Japan. We are happy that our innovative services & products provide our customers with supreme convenience and ease wherever in the world they travel.”

MUMBAI: The International Hockey Federation FIH has announced that its website www.worldhockey.org/ broke all its current records during the World Cup.

The event took place in Germany from 6 till 17 September and aired in India on Ten Sports.

The FIH is running live commentary from all the matches during its major events on its website. This popular feature will also be running during the Samsung World Cup women in Madrid, Spain from 27 September till 8 October.

MUMBAI: MKobvile communications service provider Motorola has announced an agreement with Hong Kong‘s telecom service provider PCCW.

The two parties will conduct a six-month technical trial using Motorola‘s end-to-end mobile TV system in Hong Kong.

The trial will run till March 2007 within Hong Kong‘s Quarry Bay district and will include Motorola DVB-H enabled mobile devices, network solutions and interactive services platform. During the course of the trial, PCCW will evaluate the technical capabilities and the operational performance of DVB-H in Hong Kong.

Motorola Asia Pacific president Simon Leung says, “Mobile TV is the next generation of mobile video entertainment experiences and this trial is an important step forward in bringing this experience to consumers.

“We are pleased to work together with PCCW to support their efforts and hope to see these services based on our solutions to become commercially available for Hong Kong subscribers soon after the technical trial.”

Motorola says that it is committed to delivering the ultimate mobile video entertainment experiences to consumers — and part of that vision is mobile TV. By leveraging its expertise across mobile and video, it is bringing new mobile TV enabled handsets and solutions to our partners and wireless operator customers around the globe.

Motorola says that it is actively driving development efforts in global mobile broadcast standards such as DVB-H and WiMAX and working with members of the cellular and mobile broadcast value chain to bring next generation services to market even faster for consumers.

MUMBAI: AOL Germany subscribers will soon be able to download music videos, thanks to the “Music2You” (M2Y) service from Siemens. M2Y is an innovative service for the provision of free content such as music and is already used by many Internet and telecommunications providers.

AOL Germany has been using the M2Y platform, which is managed and hosted by Siemens, since 2004 and now offers 850,000 downloadable songs with this service. In this time, the Internet provider has established itself as one of the three leading music portals in the German market.

This cooperation has now been extended with the addition of a download service for music videos. Partners who are providing AOL with content for the launch are Warner Music, EMI and SonyBMG.

The music videos are offered by M2Y in Microsoft’s WMV format and are characterized by high bit rates and high-quality resolution.

“We are expanding our download offering so as to address our customers’ needs even better. Video downloads are an ideal complement to our music video offering. We will deliver a premium quality product that meets the needs of home entertainment users rather than limiting usage exclusively to portable players”, said Director Entertainment & eCommerce at AOL Germany Boris Rogosch, describing the launch of the new download service for music videos.

“This new deal with AOL highlights the many and varied possibilities in the growing managed applications market”, explained Senior Vice President for Value Added Services at Siemens Communications Carrier Services Christian Hopf.

“Having begun by offering music to our carrier and Internet provider clients, we are now intensifying our efforts in diversifying our content portfolio with music video downloads, streaming delivery, ringback tones and ringtones via fixed and mobile networks,” added Hopf.

MUMBAI: Vuico Inc. and B2 Networks announced a strategic alliance to deliver live events and highlights to cell phones and mobile devices via B2 Networks worldwide broadband and mobile network.

B2 will use Vuico technology as a core component coupled with other B2 technologies to broadcast live events to the customer base of the revolutionary broadband network.

Vuico and B2‘s combined Mobile Video Technology will serve as a platform to broadcast more than 2,000 events during the next 6 months.

Live events will be broadcast worldwide from B2 Networks system of arenas, stadiums and entertainment venues. Additional future product innovations are being developed by the alliance.

“B2 Networks is the leader in the global broadband broadcasting market for TV and direct to home broadcasting. With this new mobile video alliance, Vuico and B2 Networks are taking the delivery of live content to cell phones and mobile devices around the world,” said Vuico President and CEOVui Le.

The new alliance brings unprecedented capability for consumers to watch sports and entertainment from major stadiums and venues on mobile and wireless devices.

“With Vuico‘s mobile video technology coupled with B2 technology delivering our live events and programming, B2 Networks can now offer live mobile TV to the cell phones of our customers. Our partners, whether they are arenas, stadiums, local venues, clubs, schools or churches can leverage our end-to-end systems to reach their constituents,” said B2 Networks Owner and CEO Greg P Bell.

The combined technologies have already been deployed to recently broadcast the World Professional Fighting Championship from Las Vegas and live entertainment from The Palm in Las Vegas to viewers on three continents.

MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group will unveil a set of digital initiatives under the banner of its newly-formed digital arm Digital Media Convergence Ltd (DMCL) by January 2007, including a web portal.

The plan is to explore new media platforms such as mobile and IPTV and the online space in a full-fledged manner to distribute various formats of digitised content.

“We will be unveiling our initiatives in three months time. We are going to create various in-house formats and shows. Apart from this, we are speaking to various foreign players as well to acquire internationally acclaimed formats. We are sending a special programming delegation for the upcoming Mipcom session. Though the stress is on delivering fresh content, we are keen on the Zee digital library as well,” says DMCL CEO Abhijeet Saxena.

DMCL will concentrate on acquiring, digitising and making available content on various delivery platforms. “Apart from our library products, we are keenly looking at providing our services to all the content owners who want to distribute their content in these platforms. The company will also be exploring the interactivity segment to tap the potential this space offers to the maximum,” Saxena adds.

To enrich its platforms, DMCL will be creating special interest content, apart from making use of the Zee Network library on a selective basis. DMCL has already initiated talks with various Indian as well as international companies to acquire programming formats and various genres of content.

According to Saxena, the company is thinking beyond mobisodes and other existing mobile value added services (VAS). He says the plan is to launch multiple formats of shows, targeting various segments of the consumer.

“We have thought about the viability of the services from a consumer point of view and the practicalities of making it a popular medium. Hence, we will offer various price rates depending on the duration and uniqueness of the formats. For example, we are working on multiple formats for movies, not just abridged versions. To market these multiple segments, we have classified the services into premium and mass oriented,” Saxena offers.

DMCL expects to contribute to the mobile VAS in a significant manner with the initiatives. “The existing mobile VAS market size comes about $500 million and this space is expected to reach $10 billion by 2010. DMCL expects to be a major contributor to the expansion,” says Saxena.

DMCL has recently roped in Intel and IBM for its back-end technology support. The company has already brought most of the telecom operators on board for the initiative

MUMBAI: Apple has introduced the new iPod shuffle, nearly half the size of the original, it claims to be the world‘s smallest digital music player. It is half a cubic inch in v olume, weighs just half an ounce and features a all-new aluminum design and a built-in clip.

The new iPod shuffle contains one gigabyte of flash memory which holds up to 240 songs, and is more affordable than ever at Rs. 5,600.

“It‘s hard to believe the new iPod is a real music player when you first see it,” said Apple‘s CEO Steve Jobs. “But it is real, and holds up to 240 songs in an incredibly compact and wearable design that weighs just half an ounce.”

iPod shuffle is based on Apple‘s popular shuffle feature which lets users enjoy their songs in random order. Or listeners can simply flip a switch to listen to their songs in order, such as when listening to a new album. iPod shuffle features up to 12 hours of battery life.

The new iPod nano models are now available through Apple authorized resellers across the country for Rs. 5,600 (INR).

MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the central government for its response to a petition filed by Star India challenging the Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) order capping pricing of pay channels at Rs 5 under conditional access system (CAS).

The matter will come up for next hearing on 15 November. The court will examine whether Star‘s fundamental right to do business in India stands affected by the price regulation.

Star has the option to approach the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

“Our writ petition has been admitted by the court and has been slotted for hearing on 15 November. We will only know then if our plea stands accepted or rejected,” says a Star India spokesperson.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Star, argued that the regulation of broadcasting was beyond Trai‘s jurisdiction.

Star had filed an appeal in the court, challenging the basis of Trai‘s recent announcement on pricing for CAS. The matter came up for hearing today

MUMBAI: Mauj Telecom has entered into a partnership with the Miss World Ltd as its global mobile partner. Mauj through its partnership with 50 plus operators and portals worldwide would be distributing the Miss World content exclusively on mobile phones worldwide.

The mobile content would include World zone show highlights, contestant images, final highlights, video profiles of contestants, video ring tones, wallpapers, ring tones, screensavers, themes, and calendar application, as per an official release.

Mauj is also developing a virtual reality application called as “I want to be Miss World” which takes the users through the experience of preparing for the Miss World pageant. All archived images and videos from Miss World 2003-2005 will also be available to subscribers across the world through Mauj and its Partners. The content will be available on 200 plus handsets from all leading manufacturers.