ITV

Category: Technology

  • ICC launches official mobile App for World Cup

    ICC launches official mobile App for World Cup

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC), in partnership with Reliance Communications, launched the official ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 app, which will be available for free download from the App Store and Google Play.

     

    The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, 11th edition of cricket’s flagship event, gets underway on 14 February and will see 14 of the best teams in the world compete for cricket’s top prize.

     

    The app will have a number of unique features and has been designed to enhance the user experience and enjoyment of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. It will keep fans thrilled with its innovative features and allow everyone to keep themselves up-to-date with all the latest news during the tournament – along with experiencing the best of ICC’s digital activations for the World Cup. So fans can play the Official ICC Cricket World Cup Fantasy League, pick their greatest all-time World Cup XI, play the official ICC Cricket World Cup quiz or look back over the 100 greatest World Cup moment countdown all on their smartphone or tablet.

     

    The app will provide access to the new ICC match centre that will keep fans abreast of the live action with the fastest source of live scores and ball-by-ball commentary. It will also contain video highlights and the most important moments of the match that will ensure that those who haven’t caught the action live on television will not miss out on anything. The video highlights will include all the dismissals, the magic moments, the big innings, the best dismissals and the post-match press conferences.

     

    When they choose their side, they will be notified of the latest news and updates surrounding their team throughout the tournament. In addition, the App will list all the relevant tournament statistics, so that scores, the top of the charts in run-scorers and wicket-takers, are all within easy reach.

     

    The App will also have details of all the fixtures and results. Viewers can read the reports that will be carried for every match and catch all the breaking news and any exclusive interviews that are conducted during the course of the tournament. There will also be interactive features of the app, where viewers can express their opinions through various polls that will sync with in-broadcast and get involved via the Social Hub section.

     

    The ICC will also have several former legends of the sport contribute exclusive columns that will offer their perspective on the spectacle that will be the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, all of which can be accessed through the App.

  • 23rd Convergence India expo ends with Annual Telecom and FTTH Council APAC Summit

    23rd Convergence India expo ends with Annual Telecom and FTTH Council APAC Summit

    MUMBAI: Themed as ‘Connecting India’, 23rd Convergence India 2015 Expo, largest South Asian platform for Telecom, Broadcast and Digital Media, came to an end today with an overwhelming response from the industry, trade visitors and participating exhibitors.

    The last day of the Convergence India 2015 Expo was a remarkable opportunity for many visitors to experience latest technologies, knowledge sharing sessions and views shared by some of the key global leaders. The expo also witnessed two landmark summits which happened on the third day – 2nd annual Telecom Summit and 2nd annual FTTH council Asia pacific summit.  

    During the 2nd Annual Telecom Summit R.K. Bahuguna, CMD, Rail Tel said “Wifi is the 4G for rural India and easy technology and cheaper technology is what we are looking for.”

    S Chandrasekhar, Group Director, Government Affairs and public policy, Microsoft shared during the 2nd Annual Telecom Summit, “There are two challenges – Physical access and affordability for rural India which we need to address”.

    The expo, inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, also witnessed various thought provoking conferences by leading industry experts like Mr. Manoj Kohli, Managing Director, Bharti Enterprise, Mr. Umang Das, Chief Mentor, Viom Networks Ltd. Etc and had interesting sessions on the topics like “Green Telecom in Digital India”, “OTT- Transforming the future of TV”, “Digital India”, “Internet for all” etc.

    Speaking at the forum, B.M Baveja, Scientist G & Group Coordinator, Department of Electronics & IT, Ministry of Communication & IT said, “Proliferation of broadband to rural masses is needed and this technology can be further exploited for the vision of Digital India to come into light.”

    During these three days, a huge number of visitors came to the 23rd Convergence India 2015 Expo and attracted over 400 companies and their CEO’s from countries like Australia, Canada, China, Japan, UAE, UK, USA, etc. to name a few, showcasing the latest trends and technologies in broadband, telecom, cable, satellite, digital India, cloud computing, VAS, LTE Networks etc. by some of the renowned brand names like Sony, HP, Broadcom, ABOX42, Ambrane, Ericsson etc.

    Prem Behl, Chairman, Exhibitions India Group, said “We are pleased to receive quality trade visitors and eminent speakers at our forum. We will continue to work on improving and contributing to the Indian ICT industry, and aim to increase the level of the show with each passing year.”

    Exhibitions India Group (EIG) has been serving the Indian Information Communication Technology sector by organizing the annual International Convergence India series of expos since 1992. The forthcoming international expo is endorsed by the Department of Telecommunication and the Department of Electronics & Information Technology, the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.  Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also extended its support to the event.

  • Convergence India: Take Digital India to rural areas, say experts

    Convergence India: Take Digital India to rural areas, say experts

    NEW DELHI: Leading experts from the telecom, broadcast and digital media industry stressed the need for Digital India to reach rural areas.

     

    Taking part in various sessions at the 23rd Convergence India 2015 Expo on its second day, the experts also stressed the need for green telecom.

     

    Over 120 senior executives exchanged views on topics namely, Green Telecom in Digital India, TV white space & it’s utility for mobile services, M2M Adoption, OTT- Transforming the future of TV and TV Vas—Drive for growth of Digital TV.

     

    Speaking at the forum, Communications and Information Technology Scientist G & Group Coordinator, Department of Electronics & IT BM Baveja said, “Proliferation of broadband to rural masses is needed and this technology can be further exploited for the vision of Digital India to come into light.”

     

    One of the path breaking sessions of the day was the “CEO’s Power Panel” themed as “Next Gen Television: Reshaping content with new solutions for multiscreen content delivery and interactive experiences.”  

     

    Appear TV CEO Carl Walter Holst said, “One of the great challenges that is present in the multi-screen world is that you really have to send all of the signals at the same time in different formats.”

     

    Exhibitions India Group chairman Prem Behl, which has organized the expo, said, “Convergence India 2015 expo will aid in knowledge sharing, trend forecasting, business development setting the future roadmap for a Digital India.”

     

    The 2015 exhibition has attracted over 400 companies and their CEOs from 30 countries including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, UK, USA, to name a few showcasing the latest trends and technologies in broadband, telecom, cable, satellite, digital India, cloud computing, VAS, LTE Networks etc. Over 15,000 trade visitors are expected to visit the expo over 3 days.  

     

  • IndiaMart launches mobile app for Windows users

    IndiaMart launches mobile app for Windows users

    MUMBAI: IndiaMart has launched its mobile application for the Windows platform. The mobile app would assist the Windows users in finding the right business partners, even while on the move.

     

    Buyers can fulfill their requirements by searching for relevant suppliers, comparing prices, sending enquiries, posting requirements, etc., anytime and anywhere, by using a smart and intuitive, yet simple interface. The mobile app is available for download on the Windows Store and has been designed for Windows 08 and above.

     

    IndiaMart founder and CEO Dinesh Agarwal said, “The industry has been evolving each day, to drive the customer experience a notch higher every time. As per statistics, India is the second biggest user of Windows phone in the world, with a user base of 7.5 per cent. Having registered over 5 lac app downloads on the Android & iOS platforms, we strongly felt that the launch of the Windows App was important and inevitable. We are extremely confident that our new initiative would open up an array of business opportunities for Windows users.”

     

    The app also provides various benefits to the sellers, especially to the small and medium enterprises, by facilitating on-the-go business for them. IndiaMart Windows App supports exclusive features for individual seller accounts, as well as detailed product listing view as per categories and sub-categories, among many interesting aspects.

     

    Agarwal added, “Mobile has proved to be an important medium for our business, with about 40 per cent of the traffic on IndiaMart coming through mobile. Also, we have found that the average time being spent on IndiaMart Mobile App is more than the average time spent on our mobile site, clearly pointing towards a growing importance and usage of Apps. We are delighted to see a good response for our Windows App so far, with over 20,000 installations already witnessed within a few days of its launch. We expect this to grow further, and help more and more buyers and sellers grow their businesses.”

     

    With this new App on Windows, IndiaMart now has its application available on all major platforms, including Android, iOS, and Blackberry.

  • Convergence India: Verimatrix to share digitisation revenue security strategies

    Convergence India: Verimatrix to share digitisation revenue security strategies

    MUMBAI: Verimatrix, the specialist in securing and enhancing revenue for multi-network, multi-screen digital TV services around the globe, will update attendees on revenue security solutions tailored for phase III and IV of India’s TV digitalisation roll-out at Convergence India 2015 to be held on 21-23 January in New Delhi.

     

    The company’s marketing VP Steve Christian will also participate in the “Post Digitalisation: Explore new business opportunities for DTH, Cable and IPTV video services” panel on 21 January. During the session, Christian will explore the advantages of an advanced cardless security approach when compared with legacy smart card solutions.

     

    Verimatrix will also host several demonstrations in its stand to highlight how optimised DVB cardless security solutions have proven to save costs and enhance revenues as operators digitise TV and video services. The VCAS for DVB cardless revenue security solution is immediately available across the majority of MPEG-2 SD, MPEG-4 SD, MPEG-HD and hybrid set-top-boxes, including those from LG CNS and DTV Research, which will be included in the demonstration during the show.

     

    It will also highlight how its new VCAS Ultra solution offers pay-TV operators an agile multi-network revenue security approach with the flexibility and scalability required to meet their future goals for growth. The solution enables service providers to take full advantage of next-generation UHD services and deploy in physical or virtualized environments via an ecosystem of tightly integrated cloud-based components, including enhanced security profiles to meet MovieLabs’ UHD video service requirements, with multi-network video watermarking and TrustZone support.

  • Hungama launches ‘Dabake Free Gifts’ campaign

    Hungama launches ‘Dabake Free Gifts’ campaign

    MUMBAI: Hungama.com, India’s first and largest on-demand digital entertainment storefront that has become synonymous with music with consumers across the world is launching the second phase of its ‘Zindagi Ka Soundtrack’ Brand Campaign. The second leg of the 360 degree campaign will be following up on the majorly successful October 2014 campaign by introducing a refreshing and lucrative new offering for their loyal consumer base – ‘Dabake Free Gifts’. This new offering promises to make the ‘Hungama’ experience even sweeter as along with the superlative music streaming services the patrons already enjoy, they now stand to gain a lot more from their favourite pastime – music.
     
    With the plethora of music options to suit every mood, that Hungama has to offer, the music streaming portal is already an indispensible part of the lives of its loyal consumers. And now with ‘Dabake Free Gifts’, Hungama gives its large pool of listeners the unique opportunity to gain something more from the thing they love already.
     
    Since we are always on the lookout for the best deal available, Hungama now offers its patrons the chance to win gifts by earning points on Hungama.com. By follow a few simple actions of ‘Registering’, ‘Liking’, ‘Sharing’, ‘Downloading’, ‘Listening’, Watching, etc. users can earn points and win assured prizes from the premier music streaming destination. Music was already synonymous with Hungama and now with ‘Dabake Free Gifts’, Hungama has become synonymous with rewards.
     
    Hungama.com, which is the only music streaming services with a set of loyalty customers, has carefully handpicked prizes that appeal to its consumer base, which is mainly made up of the youth. The prizes include products from brands like Apple, Bose, Phillips, Blaupunkt, Samsung, Nokia, JBL, Lenovo, Sennheiser, Wildcraft, Portronics, Benetton, Happily Unmarried, Epitome, Chumbak, MOM Italy, etc. as well as experiences like fine dining at select five-star hotels & restaurants, holidays, etc. As an added incentive for users, Hungama will also be offering free talktime to users as a part of the rewards.
     
    Commenting on the idea behind the launch of the second phase, Siddhartha Roy, CEO at Hungama.com said, “The first phase of our brand campaign received an overwhelming response from consumers, which also led to Hungama’s mobile app’s move to the top position in the download charts. As the market leader in this space, we felt it was important for us to now start communicating with our consumers about how while Hungama’s app is entertaining them, it can also simultaneously reward them. Hungama, across our multiple platforms, has the largest set of engaged active users and this campaign is our way of acknowledging their loyalty to our platform.”
     
    The TVC of the campaign will go on air from 18 January, for 2 weeks, across national and regional channels. The campaign will also be extended toas the digital platforms. To activate the campaign on Youtube, Hungama.com has created a series of 5-second advertisements for the platform. The campaign will also be promoted via social media, where fans winning prizes will have their pictures clicked and uploaded to Hungama’s pages.

  • Modi’s ‘Make In India’ effect: Xperio Labs mulling Indian manufacturing unit

    Modi’s ‘Make In India’ effect: Xperio Labs mulling Indian manufacturing unit

    MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make In India’ initiative, which is designed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub, has started attracting various companies.

     

    Xperio Labs, an emerging market focused ‘Devices and Services’ company, is now evaluating the prospects of setting up a manufacturing unit in India.

     

    The company will be showcasing its products at the upcoming 23rd Convergence India 2015, which is being held in Delhi from 21-23 January. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Xperio Labs VP sales Paul Avery said, “We have both sales and support staff in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. We have also set the ball rolling for a small development team in Chennai. We look at India as our ‘hub’ for software and services and China for our manufacturing. We are also evaluating the prospects of manufacturing in India given the call for ‘Make in India’ by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

     

    According to Avery, India is not only a significant contributor to the company’s revenue, but is a high growth market for them.

     

    Talking about the products that the company will showcase at Convergence 2015, Avery said, “At Convergence 2015, we will be exhibiting our range of devices namely MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 Set Top Boxes (STB), Docsis-2 and Docsis-3 wired and wi-fi modems. We also plan to run live demonstrations of our Platform as a Service (PaaS) that allows service providers to offer OTT/TV Everywhere services on a pay as you go basis.”

     

    Xperio Labs has worked together as a team under different brands like Scientific Atlanta/Cisco and has contributed to the transformation of the Indian cable industry since 2003. “We have seen this industry grow by leaps and bounds. We have also learnt over the years that Indian Service Providers are value conscious (not price conscious) and cable has offered stiff competition to DTH and has been able to provide a credible alternative to DTH,” he added.  

     

    The service company, which currently has offices in Hong Kong, Atlanta, Bengaluru, Delhi, Dubai, Mumbai, Surrey and Shanghai is initially focusing on markets in south Asia, south east Asia and middle east regions. “In the very near term, we would like to do deeper, rather than wider coverage in these markets and then look at other emerging markets such as Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America,” said Avery.

     

    According to him, in the broadcast space, service providers have now started moving their focus from just offering video services to more data and voice globally and very soon next generation services, such as home security and automation services will also begin. “We plan to offer these services as part of our PaaS platform,” he informed.

     

    Elaborating further on PaaS, Xperio Labs CTO Ajith Nair said, “This platform allows service providers to quickly launch OTT/TV Everywhere services with minimum capex and mostly on an opex model i.e pay as you go. It also helps reduce service providers’ Time To Market (TTM) and focus on customer acquisition and retention, without being concerned about the technology and its management. Service providers can offer services like broadcast TV, on demand TV, internet radio and concierge services to name a few.”

     

    Xperio Labs, which has been involved with service providers for more than two decades, has seen the international service providers evolve from single service companies to triple pay, and in some cases quad play. “During this transition they have had to undergo several operational challenges and we anticipate that in the emerging market service providers will face similar challenges, and there is a broad dearth of technology companies that can help them with such challenges,” Nair opined.

     

    The company, according to Nair, can provide a Tier-1 engagement model at an Asia Inc price. “We also believe we can provide close-in product and operational support with an India based support team. In this way service providers can take advantage of the best of both the worlds,” he said.

     

    Since its inception in September 2013, Xperio Labs has been successful with a number of Tier-1 and 2 service providers in several markets like India, Nepal, Maldives, Vietnam and Philippines.

     

    The company has been working on providing OTT/TV Everywhere service. When asked about the progress, Nair said, “It is still in its infancy in emerging markets, it is similar to what Digital TV was 8-10 years ago, but slowly and surely we have seen a huge upswing in consumers purchasing more mobile devices namely smartphones, tablets and Phablets and hence their need to consume content on the move, or consume content on multiple screens in the home.”

     

    “We have made considerable progress with the technology and we are currently in the midst of launching a tier-1 MSO go TV Everywhere. Our target group is tier-1/2 MSO’s who appreciate the need to launch such services but don’t want to make a capex investment and also don’t want to build and manage the OTT infrastructure,” informed Nair.

     

    Xperio Labs, in order to meet the requirements of its growth plans in India is always on a lookout for strategic partners, who can, not only help them grow their reach in the market but also invest/co-develop in some of its services and technologies.

     

    Avery is confident about the products the company makes. “Our devices and services are built not just keeping a consumer, but also the service provider in mind, a B2B2C (Business to Business to Consumer) approach to the market. The industrial design, user interface, along with the software design and architecture of our products reflect our understanding that technology is only as good as it is useful to the people using it. In short it is an experience that we provide our customers,” he informed.

     

    According to Nair, digital STBs may soon cease to exist in its current form. “In the years to come, it would just be an application residing on a mobile device or television, or it would have to transform into a set of devices; a  gateway for home entertainment, communication, security, automation and health care with one or many display devices,” concluded Nair.

     

    Organised by Exhibitions India Group (EIG), the 23rd edition of Convergence India 2015 is themed around ‘Connecting India.’ The event is set to bring together the best minds in the ICT ecosystem under one roof to create an interactive platform for the companies to showcase their technical prowess, and tap into new business opportunities. The expo which will focus on growth opportunities, future trends and upcoming technologies for the ICT ecosystem stakeholders, will feature a wide spectrum of ICT verticals including telecom, mobility, broadcast, cable, satellite, entertainment, IT and information security etc.

  • PayUMoney ropes in Leo Burnett & Mindshare; to roll out ATL campaign

    PayUMoney ropes in Leo Burnett & Mindshare; to roll out ATL campaign

    MUMBAI: PayUMoney, an online payment solution company, has appointed Leo Burnett to handle its creative duties, whereas Mindshare has been roped in to handle its media planning and buying mandate.

     

    The company is all set to launch its first multi-media advertising campaign to raise awareness about its consumer offering. The nationwide campaign will run across months and target online buyers.

     

    Leo Burnett will be looking at the entire creative process and will be the agency on record for the Gurgaon-based company. The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch that went on for around three months.

     

    PayU India marketing director Varun Jha said, “Leo Burnett’s thought processes on contemporising the brand thought, creative connect, out-of-the-box thinking and passion made them an obvious choice. We are confident that the team at Leo Burnett understands the unique nature of PayUMoney’s business model and will be able to execute a communication strategy that will enable us to grow in the exciting segment of online payments. We are excited to share our passion with Leo Burnett team to take PayUMoney to the next level.”

     

    Leo Burnett executive director Samir Gangahar added, “PayUMoney is transforming the way Indians make online payments. We are happy to associate with them at such an early stage in their journey and help them in making PayUMoney synonymous with a simple payment solution for every need.”

     

    Leo Burnett NCD Sainath Saraban said, “Working on PayUMoney is going to be exciting and challenging as well, because of the behavioural change it aims at bringing into the lives of the consumers. We will be looking at telling stories and creating conversations that our audiences will find both engaging and insightful.”

     

    Mindshare south Asia leader Ravi Rao added, “Online payment is on the cusp of a major revolution and we are proud and excited to partner with PayuMoney, the leader in this space. We see great opportunity to engage with this evolving consumer and bring about behavioral change.”

     

  • Hungama.com releases ‘Digital Music Trends 2014’ report

    Hungama.com releases ‘Digital Music Trends 2014’ report

    MUMBAI: The year gone by had much to take note of. Hungama.com, an on-demand digital entertainment store-front, too has released a report on the music trends of 2014.

    The report, ‘Hungama.com Digital Music Trends 2014’, analyses music trends as per usage, both downloading and streaming, pan-India; with information on the most popular music streaming platforms as well as popular devices and music choices of Indian consumers.

    Music streaming across Hungama.com’s digital properties saw over a 100 per cent increase between 2013 and 2014, as per the report, which includes statistics based on web, WAP and mobile apps consumption. In comparison, between 2013 and 2014, the Android platform witnessed an increase of close to 100 per cent with regards to access of service over Android devices alone.  In fact, during 2014, 90 per cent of the music streaming access was accounted for by mobile devices driven by the growth in mobile internet usage.

    Bollywood based music, accounting for 81 per cent, was the preferred genre of music consumed across Hungama.com’s digital platforms, followed by international music at 10 per cent. Hungama.com, which introduced a multi-lingual transliterated version of its Android app in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi in 2014, saw streams for south Indian music and Punjabi music accounting for 4 per cent and 2.2 per cent of the total streams for the year. In terms of regions, Maharashtra accounted for the largest share of streams and downloads in 2014.

    The report also gives insight into the most popular handset manufacturers and devices of 2014. While Samsung continues to be the most popular mobile brand, the second spot was taken by Sony, followed by Micromax, Motorola and HTC in the top 5 most popular device manufacturers of 2014. Among the most popular handsets used, Samsung Galaxy dominated with nine devices leaving one spot for the Motorola MOTO G (8th position) in the list of top 10 most popular devices of 2014.

    2014 was also the year that brands increased their presence and reach on digital platforms. The leading advertisers on Hungama.com’s music platforms for 2014 include leading brands Airtel, Snapdeal, Vodafone, Ford, ITC, IPhone, HP, Unilever, Bacardi, Ask Me, We Chat, OLX, Canon, Quikr, Zee, Max Life, Maruti, Mcdowells and Cadbury.

    The report also includes ‘Hungama.com Chart-toppers 2014’, which delves into the most popular music among Indian consumers during the year. Hungama.com Chart-toppers 2014 is based on trends, both streaming and downloads, along with songs’ popularity and number of likes for music released in 2014; with a vision to promote the talents behind the music. The list includes a broad mix of genres, artists, languages and composers whose music released in 2014.

    As per the report, Arijit Singh is the most popular male singer of 2014 while Priyanka Chopra is among the top 10 most popular international artists for her hit title ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’. Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Happy New Year’ and Yo Yo Honey Singh’s ‘Desi Kalakaar’ with multiple entries to their credit are the two most popular albums of 2014.

     

  • Gaana.com announces ‘Top charts of the year 2014’

    Gaana.com announces ‘Top charts of the year 2014’

    MUMBAI: As 2015 is ringing in, Gaana.com, a music streaming service app, is all set to announce the ‘Top charts of the year 2014’, a list of last year’s most hit music records. The series comprises of the most checked songs and videos by the Gaana.com listeners and is a categorized list based on the Most Popular Song (Bollywood & International), summing up the songs striking chord with the music buffs.

    Based on the choices of nine million Gaana users across web and the mobile app, ‘Top Charts of The Year’ will help music enthusiasts have the most popular songs on their playlists without missing out on any of the hit numbers.

    Clicking the rhythm with Bollywood lovers, The Most Popular Bollywood Song of 2014 is ‘Manwa Laage’ from the movie, Happy New Year sung in the melodious voice of Shreya Ghoshal and Arijit Singh whereas Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ from Despicable Me 2 became an instant hit with the music followers claiming the title of The Most Popular International Hit 2014 and The Most Popular International Pop Hit 2014.

    Favourite in The Top Tamil Song 2014 is ‘Selfie Pulla’ from Kaththi sung by Ilayathalapathy Vijay and Sunidhi Chauhan and in The Top Telugu Song 2014 is ‘Kanulanu Thaake’ from Manam by Arijit Singh.

    ‘Manwa Lage’ again won hearts for The Most Romantic Bollywood Track 2014 and ‘Maps’ by Maroon 5 claimed the spot for The Most Romantic International Track 2014. Feet tapping, dance number, ‘Bang Bang’ from Bang Bang by Vishal, Shekhar, Benny Dayal, and Neeti Mohan topped the list of Bollywood Top 50 Dance Hit 2014 while Lovers on the Sun (feat. Sam Martin) from ‘Lovers on the Sun EP’ by David Guetta ruffled to the top of International Top 50 Dance Hit 2014.