Category: Technology

MUMBAI: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is setting up cyber cafes at major railway stations across the country to create user-friendly public internet access points.

The company, which has been awarded franchisee rights for running of cyber cafes at 68 locations, plans to make all of them operational in the next few weeks. The first of this was inaugurated at the Bangalore railway station by VSNL president of broadband and retail business Shashi Kalathil.

Speaking on the occasion, Kalathil said, “This effort will enable VSNL implement the promise made in the Union Railway budget of setting up such cyber cafes across the leading railway stations in the country. We are keen on making internet easily available so that passengers can stay connected even while on the move.”

All Tata Indicom dial-up internet and broadband subscribers can use this facility by using their existing accounts. “Each of these cybercafes will be equipped with 10-20 high end multimedia PCs with flat panel monitors and will be open 24 X 7. Travellers can now avail Internet browsing and gaming facilities at very affordable rates. We also plan to offer other value added services like printing, scanning, mobile charging and CD writing through these cafes. Passengers can also use the cyber cafes for making onward bookings, checking their bank statements, tracking their investment portfolio and making ISD calls at affordable prices,” VSNL said.

Tata Indicom will also create select areas in the railway station that are Wi Fi enabled, allowing passengers to experience the internet on their laptop or Wi-Fi enabled PDAs.

MUMBAI: Video game and entertainment information destination IGN.com, which was acquired by News Corp recently has launched IGN TV.

The channel focusses on television shows for the 18-34 year-old male demographic. The IGN.com TV channel (IGNTV.com) covers the world of television through in-depth feature stories, interviews with top stars, ‘what to watch‘ suggestions and video clips. Visitors to the site will also have the opportunity to contribute to the dialogue through blogs, building out elements of fan pages for their favourite shows and by contributing entries to the site‘s TV database.

IGN.com‘s entertainment division publisher Steve Horn says, “IGN.com‘s move into daily coverage of television marks an exciting time for television fans. We have built a destination that brings the trusted voice and personality of IGN together with robust user tools, blogs, boards and a comprehensive user-controlled database.

“IGN TV is the place for the hardcore television fan to get info on their favourite shows, meet fellow fans, and participate in the news dialogue by using the tools to express their very own opinions.”

IGN.com claims to have the largest online concentrated audience of 18-34 year-old males. This move it says will see it become an even more comprehensive offering for its core audience with the launch of IGN TV. The channel will cover 25 shows in detail with mini-sites created around each, staffed by confirmed television geeks who have been following the shows for years, with at least one massive feature each week that explores the world of television in greater detail.

To celebrate the launch of IGN TV, the site‘s first major feature will be the The TV Top 100 a collection of quotes from 100 entertainment industry leaders about their favourite television memories. Till 16 June 2006, 20 people will be showcased each day, from writers to directors to musicians to stars of screens big and small. Each person will share thoughts about their favorite events, episodes, lines and series.

Notable participants include Kate Bosworth, Brandon Routh who stars in the upcoming film Superman Returns, John Goodman, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi, Lindsay Lohan and director Wolfgang Petersen, Troy.

MUMBAI: Emmy Award winner Louis J. Horvitz will return for his 12 time as director of the US Academy of Television Arts and Sciences‘ (Atas) 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air live in the US on 27 August on NBC.

In March, Horvitz directed The 78th Annual Academy Awards. This marked his 10th year at the helm of the Oscars.

MUMBAI: Narrowstep Inc., the UK-based IPTV firm, announced that its proprietary technology, telvos (Television Operating System) was chosen to power the Country Channel, the first broadband TV station designed for outdoor enthusiasts.

Accessible at www.countrychannel.tv, the channel is dedicated to country-life communities, and went live on a 24/7 basis, on 9 June.

The Country Channel covers subjects of interest to people living in the countryside, providing targeted, relevant information to those who live, work or play, close to nature. It aims to appeal to fast-growing outdoor groups such as horseback riders and breeders, wildlife spotters and bird watchers, conservationists, hikers, walkers, fishers, truck farmers and weekend farmers. It also appeals to the societies and clubs that these people belong to, states an official release.

The Country Channel is available on subscription, with a startup price of 16.99 pounds for a full year. In order to provide as full an experience for viewers as possible, the Country Channel also encourages appropriate advertising and sponsors who can bring information and services to the audience, adds the release.

MUMBAI: Telkonet, Inc., the provider of in-building broadband access over existing electrical wiring, announced that they have begun deployment to beta customers and testing of its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service in New York City. Telkonet‘s NuVisions IPTV service delivers traditional cable TV programming and enables subscribers to surf the internet, receive on-demand content, and perform a host of Internet-based functions via their TV sets.

As per an official release, the NuVisions IPTV service will deliver a host of bundled services such as television, internet, and telephone service over the NuVisions‘ gigabit network that connects the properties it serves in a redundant gigabit ring within New York City – a virtual fiber optic network in the air. NuVisions also plans to add more channels and features, such as video-on-demand, movies, games and interactive content, to the service when fully deployed. With NuVisions‘ IPTV service, subscribers can use the television via remote controls and wireless keyboards to watch TV programs, surf the Internet, communicate with building services, and shop with neighborhood vendors or national retailers.

NuVisions IPTV service can be deployed rapidly and at a lower cost than current cable televisions systems. It can offer consumers many advanced features, such as the ability to record several programs simultaneously without having to add more tuners. The NuVisions IPTV service is seamlessly integrated into a building as it relies on existing telephone wires for delivery to subscribers.

The use of IP technology enables direct communication between a subscriber‘s IPTV device, which replaces the much larger traditional set-top “cable box”, and the NuVisions control center. As a result of this direct connection to the control center, functions currently performed by stand alone devices, such as digital video recorders (DVR‘s), are now incorporated as features of the new offering controlled through the IPTV device, the release adds.

MUMBAI: Florida-headquartered Harris Broadcast Communications Division has announced that PT Marlin Trisiana has purchased a Harris TV transmission system that will provide over-the-air service to all of Indonesia on behalf of its customer, ANTV, a terrestrial TV network there

ANTV is a terrestrial TV station in Indonesia and a joint venture between PT. CMA Indonesia (80 per cent) and Star (20 per cent). First aired in Lampung Province in 1993, ANTV is now a national station with an 85 per cent audience reach in the country.

Delivery of the $6.9 million system begins this month, with a planned launch in late October. Harris will provide analog transmitters and spare parts, along with turnkey services for commissioning the transmission sites. PT Marlin Trisiana, a broadcast systems integrator based in Jakarta, will deliver the Harris transmission equipment, supply tower and antenna systems and provide civil works.

As per the official communique, Harris will deliver two 120 kW Sigma analog transmitters, one each to sites in Jakarta and Surabuya where the bulk of the station‘s broadcast signals will originate. Eight sets of 20 kW and nine sets of 5 kW Atlas(TM) analogue transmitters will be delivered to other sites in the country

MUMBAI: In a bid to get a global presence, Gemini Communication Ltd, a provider in networking, systems integration and RFID solutions, is buying out the US-based PointRed Technologies for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition of the wireless product company will help the Chennai company foray into a new segment. “We were implementing solutions on other product providers. Now we can provide solutions and offer an innovative product range. The buy out will help make us the largest broadband wireless access company in South Asia,” says Gemini Communication chairman Vijay Kumar.

PointRed Technologies has a presence in 12 countries with a turnover of $1.5 million. The company has been funded by Acer Technology Venture America to the tune of US $9.7 million.

“We will be getting into the DSL (digital subscriber line) segment. It will also help us in expanding rural connectivity. We will be aggressively targeting ISPs (internet service providers), telecom operators and corporates with multiple points,” says Kumar.

Gemini Communication is acquiring the entire share capital of Clear Blue Llc, the holding company of PointRed Technologies. The company owns IP‘s and IPR‘s products in the wireless broadband space.

PointRed has been commercially deploying its wireless broadband access solutions worldwide since June 2002. The company offers a pay-as-you-grow infrastructure and a NLOS solution that route around line-of-sight obstacles.

The acquisition of PointRed is expected to increase Gemini‘s turnover from Rs 1.26 billion to Rs 2 billion this fiscal. “Over the years, Gemini Communication has been selling products of other companies. Through this acquisition, we will now be promoting our own brand and this will enable us to access the international markets in a shorter span of time in the wireless technology space”, says Kumar.

NEW DELHI: The broadcast regulator is at it again — issuing another set of consultation paper on cable TV prices for CAS areas.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today floated a paper on amendments to the tariff order for CAS areas asking stakeholders whether the regulator should fix the maximum retail prices (MRPs) of TV channels, amongst other things.

The last date for the industry to give feedback is 5 July 2006, the day when the government is supposed to revert to the Delhi High Court on the status of CAS rollout in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.

Pointing out that the latest initiative is at he behest of the industry, Trai said, “Several stakeholders (had) suggested fixation of ceilings for individual channels. Since this is at variance with the earlier decision of Trai, it was considered appropriate to undertake a fresh consultation on the specific issues of regulation of tariff in CAS areas.”

A Trai, official, however, denied that these consultation papers would any way affect a court case on CAS or that it would give the government some breathing space when it updates the judiciary on CAS’ rollout plans.

“The issue of consultation papers and government’s stand on CAS are different matters,” the official stressed, refusing to expand any further.

On 10 March 2006, the Delhi High Court had directed that CAS be implemented in three cities within a month’s time after being petitioned by a group of MSOs.

Subsequently, the I&B ministry had held a series of meetings with industry stakeholders and consumer groups and had submitted to the court that for an effective rollout of CAS an additional 265 days were needed.

The court, after making clear its disapproval of such suggestions and penalizing the ministry Rs. 100,000 (RS 1 lakh) for delay, asked the government to come back with a final implementation plan by 5 July.

The regulator’s fresh consultation paper covers the following issues:

i) Should Trai fix the maximum retail price for each individual channel?

ii) If so, what should be the methodology and principles to be adopted for the same?

iii) Should Trai promote individual choice of channels by fixation of the maximum price as a percentage of the average price of a channel in a bouquet and, if so, what should be this percentage?

(iv) If the individual MRPs are fixed by Trai, along with a formula as indicated, should TRAI also regulate the maximum permissible discount for the bouquet of channels? If so what should be the discount and what are the principles on which this should be calculated?

(v) The choice of the precise option out of the several alternatives to regulate prices in a CAS environment.

Also Read:
Trai drafts standardised interconnect regulations

Trai proposes to amend Cable TV Act

Trai brings PVRs, MDU tech under scanner

Trai asks DTH operators to file inter-connect agreements with broadcasters

MUMBAI: As telcos are gearing up to deploy competitive pay television offerings, a new report from market research division of Light Reading, Heavy Reading indicates that cable companies in US are revamping their video programming offerings.

The cable ops are primarily doing it to fend off growing competition from IPTV services being launched by incumbent phone companies, adding more interactive services to their existing MPEG/QAM broadcast networks.

The report suggests that the cable Next-Gen Video Plans and the Future of IP delves deeply into the next-generation video plans of North American multiple system operators (MSOs) as they prepare for the coming assault from telco IPTV and continue to defend against the competitive threat of direct-broadcast satellite providers.

The report further analyzes the evolution of cable video from both a technology perspective and a business perspective, focusing not just on how MSOs are changing their networks, but also on how they are changing their business models with respect to video on demand (VOD) and the growing trend toward non- linear programming in general.

“MSOs have no near-term plans to swap out their existing infrastructure to adopt end-to-end IP, nor is this type of move immediately necessary,” notes Heavy Reading and author of the report senior analyst Sterling Perrin. “In the near term, the MSOs plan to mimic the interesting features of IPTV using their existing MPEG/QAM networks.”

Perrin adds, however, that switched digital video (SDV) could be a precursor to an MSO move to an end-to-end IP network — once SDV proves to be able to deliver quality equal to that offered now by conventional cable networks. “Cable end-to-end IPTV would require the final — large — step of replacing currently installed cable set-top boxes with IP STBs,” he says. “The rest of the network is moving to IP already.”

Cable Next-Gen Video Plans and the Future of IP delivers a complete analysis of the Next Generation Network Architecture (NGNA) initiative from CableLabs, the cable industry‘s research consortium, including how and when NGNA is likely to be deployed by leading MSOs. The report provides details covering product and market strategies of more than a dozen technology suppliers, including Ciena, Cisco Systems (and its Scientific-Atlanta subsidiary), Fujitsu, Motorola, and Nortel Networks.

The methodology adopted has been exclusive one-on-one interviews with key executives from leading North American cable MSOs provide rich insight into this emerging market sector. Cable MSOs interviewed for the report include Comcast, Cox Communications, Rogers Cable, and Time Warner Cable.

Other key findings of the report include:

MSOs will leverage IP technology (and vendors) to expand their reach beyond the TV and set-top box as they branch into new areas, including delivery of content to mobile devices and to PCs. IP is well entrenched in MSO aggregation and core networks, but non-TV video service will likely be the first beachhead of IP in the access network — where preserving traffic in an IP form and building on the enormous industry support for IP (meaning lower costs) makes sense.

MSOs are facing a spectrum crunch as they look to next-generation services to compete with both satellite and the telcos, but the situation is not dire. Cable executives interviewed for this report insist they have plenty of unused capacity in their networks. The efforts and innovation of the next three to five years will center on how best to tap that unused capacity.

Deployment of SDV, when it does happen, will not necessarily boost sales of optical transport equipment. SDV is really about doing more with the same – – i.e., boosting the number of video channels available to subscribers without adding any new capacity to the network. The migration will likely be similar to that for VOD, which by its switched nature has allowed MSOs to ratchet up programming choices without having to dedicate much additional bandwidth (if any) to it.

Cable Next-Gen Video Plans and the Future of IP costs $3,795 and is published in PDF format. The price includes an enterprise license covering all of the employees at the purchaser‘s company.

MUMBAI: In order to create excitement around its upcoming movie, Superman Returns, Warner Bros. and US internet service provider AOL have launched a special Superman Channel on the entertainment site In2TV www.aol.com/in2tv to celebrate the Man of Steel.

In2TV claims to be the largest offering of popular television series available online for free and the destination for watching full TV episodes. The Superman Channel is available now through the end of next month.

In2TV‘s Superman Channel will also feature the new A&E documentary Look, Up In the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman directed by Bryan Singer, in its online and on-demand debut. The documentary, narrated by Superman Returns star Kevin Spacey, features behind-the-scenes clips of Superman Returns, Superman fans Jerry Seinfeld, Gene Simmons and Mark Hamill, comic book legend Stan Lee and more.

The Superman Channel will also have the TV series The Adventures of Superman. The series starred George Reeves is back. Fans can reconnect with the original live action version of America‘s favourite superhero in his never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way.

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman — The sci-fi television series had romantically united the duo while exploring the odd love relationship that develops between a modern career woman who falls head-over-heals for Superman while not realizing that he is also her best friend, Clark Kent. It stars Teri Hatcher who is now back in the limelight thanks to Desperate Housewives and Dean Cain. Fans can see how the couple works out their differences.

The channel will also have Superboy which premiered on American television in 1988. In this, fans join Clark during his college-years at Shuster University. The mild-mannered journalism student battles his arch-nemesis, Lex Luther, while trying to sweep Lana Lang off her feet. The Superboy series introduces “Superman” arch-villains Metallo and Bizzaro.