Category: Applications

MUMBAI: AT&T Inc. and MobiTV, Inc., the global leader in television and music services for all things mobile and broadband, have inked an agreement to offer a mobile television service to broadband users in the United States, including AT&T Yahoo High Speed Internet and AT&T WorldNet subscribers.

The browser-based service, which will be called AT&T Broadband TV, will enable subscribers to use a computer to access a wealth of live programming while at home, at work, or on the go using wired and wireless broadband technologies.

Through the deal, AT&T becomes the first U.S. broadband provider to offer a live TV subscription service with MobiTV to consumers through any broadband connection. The service expands upon an earlier agreement that enables AT&T to offer MobiTV to customers who use thousands of AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots, states an official release.

The AT&T Broadband TV service will initially have approximately 20 channels of live and made-for-broadband television content spanning national news, sports, entertainment and full-length music videos from top artists. Among the channels included in the initial channel lineup is Fox News, Bloomberg, Oxygen, History Channel, Comedy Time, Toonworld, Maxx Sports and the Weather Channelm, the release adds.

The industry-leading, browser-based service features desktop integration for easy access, fast channel-changing, full-screen functionality and quality video playback. Subscribers can quickly access AT&T Broadband TV through a hyperlink or desktop shortcut.

Users will have access to a comprehensive channel lineup for a flat monthly subscription of $19.99. And soon, additional television channels will be offered to ensure that AT&T customers have access to the broadest range of entertainment content. The subscription can be used with nearly any broadband connection, at home, work or on the road.

Consumers can test-drive and order the new service at http://att.mobitv.com. The companies will also market the AT&T Broadband TV offering on the AT&T WorldNet portal at www.att.net.

“The AT&T Broadband TV service offers our customers the ability to watch live television programming beyond the TV screen, increasing our capabilities to provide compelling content to consumers who are seeking information and entertainment when, where and on the device they desire,” says AT&T Entertainment Services EVP Scott Helbing. “The deal helps further enhance AT&T‘s broadband service and three-screen initiative by offering differentiated broadband-enabled content that consumers are increasingly demanding.”

“Television is officially available on the PC now and will reach television fans in their home, office, college dorm, at the airport or anywhere they happen to be,” says MobiTV chairman & co-founder Dr. Phillip Alvelda. “MobiTV and AT&T will deliver premium quality content seamlessly across all broadband networks, making entertainment, wireless and technology history.”

Through this agreement, AT&T, the nation‘s largest high speed DSL Internet provider with more than 7.8 million DSL lines in service, will give its customers and other broadband users a new avenue for entertainment and information, enabling them to take control of their viewing options. In addition, the company recently launched AT&T Homezone, a groundbreaking new service that integrates AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet, AT&T | DISH Network satellite television and AT&T Home Networking services via a single device.

The new AT&T Homezone service provides Internet-based video with satellite TV programming in a seamless in-home experience, giving consumers a powerful new way to extend the best of the Internet beyond the desktop to bring entertainment content to their TV screens and stereos. It features digital videorecording, movies on demand, photo- and music-sharing, storage for both, and it whets the anytime/anywhere generation‘s appetite with remote, Web-based access to the system.

MUMBAI: Zee Network has won two awards for technology supremacy. The CIO 100 Award for 2006 is in recognition of Zee’s innovative use of technology in its Digital Asset Management system. The ‘EMC Storage Giant of Year 2006‘ has been awarded as Zee Network has a massive data archive of digitized video AND other media content of well over 1000 terabytes. This award is given to FIVE companies in India by EMC for integrating and having large data storage, states an official release.

Zee Network VP Business Technology Ishwar Jha said, �Our technology initiatives have been focused on making our Network future ready, employing the best technology across operations. With our digitized content archive, we will be able to easily offer viewers our innovative programmes through multiple channels of distribution. Our innovations have helped us demonstrate technological excellence in deploying solutions to deliver optimum value to our consumers.�

The CIO 100 event has been running in the US for 17 years now. The CIO Awards are a global phenomenon, with events in Canada, Sweden, Singapore, Vietnam, Hungary and now India, the release adds.

MUMBAI: Tata Sky has signed an agreement with SaharaOne Media Entertainment to distribute Sahara One and Filmy channels on its direct-to-home platform.

The two Sahara channels will be available in Tata Sky‘s existing introductory offer of Rs 200 per month. The offering includes the Star and Sony-Discovery bouquet of channels besides ESPN, Star Sports, Eenadu, Asianet, Aaj Tak and many more.

The service also offers interactive services including Actve Khabar, Actve Newsroom, Actve Star News, Actve Games, Actve Sports and an on-screen guide.

“We are delighted to have SaharaOne and Filmy on Our platform. This propels our initiative of providing Indian audiences with a broader array of entertainment. It will remain our constant endeavour to expand our offering to present our subscribers with the best of digital entertainment services in India,” says Tata Sky CEO and MD Vikram Kaushik.

Adds SaharaOne Media Entertainment CEO Shantonu Aditya, “We are happy to join the Tata Sky DTH platform. We are confident that DTH as the new delivery platform will reach many viewers in the coming months.”

The Sahara channels, however, are out of the Dish TV DTH platform. Though earlier available, it was pulled out because Sahara because of differences over revenue sharing.

“We are in negotiations with Dish TV and will soon be available on the platform,” clarifies Aditya.

MUMBAI: mobile2win, wireless value added services enabler, has bagged the contract as the exclusive and official wireless aggregator for reality show Philippine Idol.

Under the terms of the agreement, mobile2win will handle the entire connectivity with all operators, back-end infrastructure, voting, collation and vote management for the 14 weeks of the show that‘s being aired from 3 September 2006 on ABC 5, informs an official release.

The deal was inked with FremantleMedia, creators and producers of programme brands in the world and owner of the Idols format, after a pitch and selection process amongst several wireless aggregators in Asia.

mobile2win worked previously with FremantleMedia on Indian Idol, the local Indian version of the Idols format, and was responsible for creating a distinct mobile platform with distribution of all the latest and regularly updated content week after week across operators in India. mobile2win conceptualized and created the entire content for Indian Idol, including wall papers, animation, true tones, polytones, videos, colour logos, themes and an Indian Idol mobile game, adds the release.

mobile2win India country head Rajiv Hiranandani says, “The Idols format has always been tremendously popular the world over and the show‘s interactivity gives viewers and even greater chance to participate in their favourite programme. Indian Idol was a huge success and winning the contract for Philippine Idol is indeed a great milestone for the company and mobile2win will strive to provide the best in terms of backend infrastructure.”

FremantleMedia‘s VP licensing and interactive Asia Pacific Jon Penn said, “We chose mobile2win as they have done a fantastic job over several years for the voting and interactivity on Indian Idol. Their approach is systematic and professional and we know they will do a great job for us in the Philippines, one of the most “interactive” markets in the world.”

Based on the international award-winning Idols format the Philippine Idol judges include the famous trio, Ryan Cayabyab, Pilita Corrales and Francis Magalona, and the show promises a positive blend of humour, drama, action and suspense.

MUMBAI: Dell, HP, AT&T, Sony, podcast firms and net broadcasting firms are among those who have come together to voice their dissent against a proposed treaty by the World Intellectual Propertry Organisation (Wipo).

This will give television channels a new set of intellectual property rights over content. The firms mentioned above will fight to stop the UN proposal being adopted internationally.
Media reports state that the plan being opposed is called the Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organisations. Wipo convenes in Geneva this week to discuss steps to be taken regarding the treaty.

It would create a new class of IP rights designed to protect broadcasters from having their signals being stolen. The treaty reports indicate is designed to help fight signal piracy across countries. Here a channel shown in one country is re-broadcast in another without permission.

The technology companies have signed a protest document against the treaty. The firms say that they remain unconvinced that a treaty is necessary at all. “We note with concern that treaty proponents have not clearly identified the particular problems that the treaty would ostensibly solve, and we question whether there are in fact significant problems that are not addressed adequately under existing law. Further, we are concerned that the current treaty approach differs radically from US legal traditions, and, if implemented, would require substantial and unnecessary changes to current US law.”

The parties say that if the treaty moves forward in any form then the current rights-based approach of the treaty must be abandoned. They argue that creating broad new intellectual property rights in order to protect broadcast signals is misguided and unnecessary, and risks serious unintended negative consequences. They recommend instead a signal protection-oriented approach, ideally focussing narrowly and specifically on protecting signals from intentional misappropriation or theft.

The protest is being co-ordinated by digital rights activist group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Podcasters and internet broadcasters claim that the treaty may give broadcasters a lot of rights over internet content.

The new rights that the treaty seeks to give channels include an exclusive right of retransmission for over-the-air television signals (retransmission involves capturing a broadcast signal and rebroadcasting it without permission of the copyright holder or the original broadcaster) and more than doubling the term of protection for broadcasts to 50 years from the current 20-year term.

EFF has expressed concern that the proposed treaty will endanger consumers’ existing rights, restrict the public’s access to knowledge, stifle technological innovation, preclude free and open source software, and limit competition in the next generation of broadcast and Internet technologies. It believes that Congressional hearings should be held in the US to address concerns.

EFF argues that before creating a brand new set of exclusive rights for broadcasters, cablecasters, and netcasters, there should be a demonstrated need for such rights, and a clear understanding of how they will impact the public, educators, existing copyright holders, online communications, and new Internet technologies.

Also it says that Treaty proponents have not provided a clear statement of the particular problem that justify the need for the new treaty, and why they are not able to be addressed adequately under current treaties and law. EFF notes that while Treaty’s ostensible goal is protection against broadcast signal theft, the treaty goes far beyond that by creating broad new intellectual property rights over the recording or fixation, and subsequent uses of, recorded
programming content.

Creating a new layer of rights that apply on top of, and in addition to, copyright law, would allow broadcasters to restrict access to public domain works and use of information that would be lawful under copyright law. This will directly impact all entities that rely on the balanced set of exceptions and limitations in national copyright.

A Wipo statement regarding the treaty said: “Updating the IP rights of broadcasters currently provided by the 1961 Rome Convention began at WIPO in 1997. A growing signal piracy problem in many parts of the world, including piracy of digitised pre-broadcast signals, has made this need more acute.”

MUMBAI: The direct-to-home broadcasting segment is set to witness some more action with the government clearing the application of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises. The proposed DTH project under the brand name Reliance Bluemagic, a subsidiary of Reliance Energy, has received the letter of intent (LoI).

This will be the fourth licence issued by the government to a private operator. Nonetheless, even after the letter of intent is issued, it would be a while before the letter of approval and an actual DTH license is handed over to the Reliance Bluemagic.

According to sources close to the government and DTH developments, the information and broadcasting ministry has issued the LoI. “The absence of any foreign investment or partner has simplified matters,” the officials pointed out.

When contacted, senior officials at Reliance refused comment on the developments.

Once the letter of approval is issued, the company would be granted a licence after depositing a bank guarantees of Rs 100 million.

Reliance Bluemagic had applied under for a DTH licence under the name ‘Reliance Skymagic last year. However, News Corp had issued a caution notice, asserting ‘Sky‘ was its registered trademark under which the company runs its DTH operations in UK under the name of BSkyB. Consequently, the trademark Sky was also registered in India.

In the present scenario, besides pubcaster Prasar Bharati, which manages DD Direct, there are two private DTH service providers. Dish TV and Tata-Sky already operating. Although South Indian media major Sun Group‘s Sun Direct TV received the LoI last year, it has yet to kick off operations.

The government has set stringent entry norms for DTH operators. According to the norms, the applicant has to be registered under the Indian Company‘s Act, 1956, while its total foreign equity holding should not exceed 49 per cent, of which not more than 20 per cent should be the FDI component. It also says the applicant company must have Indian management control, with majority representatives on board, and the company‘s CEO must be a resident Indian.

Reliance‘s presence in DTH, FM radio and other segments of media and entertainment means that the group will enable itself to leverage its brand across all platforms.

MUMBAI: OpenTV, which provides enabling technologies for advanced digital television services and mobile technology firm weComm, have announced a partnership.

They will provide integrated mobile television solutions to OpenTV‘s worldwide pay TV customer base and to other broadcasters and programmers interested in providing an experience across traditional broadcast television and mobile TV.

OpenTV senior VP and MD Europe, Middle east and Africa Ben Bennett says, “We are delighted that we will be able to offer a seamless solution to our customers that bridges the pay TV experience with the mobile phone experience in a user-friendly manner.

“This integrated solution is intended to make it easy for our customers to extend their TV experience across multiple platforms and devices, and to allow those viewers to personalise that experience in ever more compelling ways. One simple example of this Mobile TV is to enable OpenTV‘s PVR users to record programmes seamlessly and remotely from the mobile handset.”

The integrated solution combines features and functionalities from OpenTV‘s advanced digital television software, in particular its middleware offering, and weComm‘s wave technology. The solution extends OpenTV‘s middleware features into the mobile environment, allowing direct access on the mobile phone to electronic programming guides (EPGs) that have been ported to OpenTV‘s platform.

The solution also enables mobile phone users to remotely programme their PVRs and to view live or on-demand television programming by navigating through the EPG resident on their phone.

weComm COO Oliver Sturrock says, “Integrating weComm‘s Interactive Mobile TV technology with OpenTV‘s industry-leading technologies offers a solution that will seamlessly extend TV-based interactive services to the mobile phone. We think that these solutions will help broadcasters and operators extend their content and services to a younger and more mobile audience.

“And we think that by combining OpenTV‘s and weComm‘s expertise and technologies, we can do that in an effective and seamless way that will eventually lead the market.”

The weComm solution is available on Symbian OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile and Java phones and has been ported to over 100 handsets, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, LG and the RIM Blackberry.

MUMBAI: Mobile communications firm Nokia and Vietnam Multimedia (VTC) have inked a deal to launch commercial mobile broadcast TV services based on Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) technology in two Vietnamese cities by the end of the year.

The agreement is Nokia‘s first commercial mobile TV service rollout in the Asia Pacific region. It is also among the first of Nokia‘s commercial rollouts globally. Nokia is currently spearheading several trials in the Asia Pacific, Europe and North American countries.

VTC is a broadcaster and operator in digital broadcasting. It will make available its mobile PayTV services to consumer subscribers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Consumers in both cities will be able to enjoy seven digital TV channels as well as a video-on-demand service from a catalogue of selected titles offered by VTC.

The service is available on Nokia‘s Nseries DVB-H enabled multimedia devices, delivered by the Nokia N92 which will make its debut in Vietnam for this purpose.

For the uninitiated DVB-H, is a broadcast-to-mobile technology which provides reception of the ordinary television broadcasting in digital format on mobile phones and television screens mounted on-board public and private means of transportation. DVB-H was chosen based by Nokia on its merit to support mobility, efficient power management, and DVD quality audio and video services without disturbance.

Up to 50 TV channels can be delivered with low cost, over one network. With extensive pilots of broadcast mobile TV currently taking place across the globe, involving leading broadcasters, mobile
operators, broadcast network operators and handset manufacturers, the market for commercial broadcast services is expected to grow throughout this year.

Mobile TV broadcasting works by receiving a digital TV broadcast signal optimized for mobile devices from the air in much the same way as televisions at home do. Channel guides will also be broadcast allowing users to keep abreast of the latest programmes on air. Broadcast Mobile TV is not the same as a streaming video service over 3G or GPRS where each recipient gets a separate copy of the programme stream. Rather, one simultaneous TV stream can be received at any time by any number of users enjoying high picture quality and low battery power consumption.

VTC director Le Doan Quan said, “The open technology platform solution provided by Nokia resonates with VTC‘s vision of increasing choice and participation for consumers and other technology providers. Nokia implementation uses the OMA DRM approach for services and content delivery protection thus enabling many additional possibilities such as delivery of ringtones, logos, music, videoclips, games and large file applications, in addition to the ordinary TV programmes.”

“This equips VTC with a cost-effective and future-proof platform for driving the development of the vibrant multimedia ecosystem in Vietnam.”

Nokia Multimedia Asia Pacific director, experiences Jawahar Kanjilal said, “We are delighted to be part of this great development in Vietnam. This marks the beginning of exciting times in the Asia Pacific broadcasting industry, bringing digital television to consumers‘ pockets and ushering in a new era of personal interactive entertainment.

“The Nokia N92 multimedia computer will be a key element of this consumer offering, and we look forward to the continuing development of mobile TV services in the region.”

Under the agreement, Nokia and VTC are committed to jointly propel the consumer adoption of mobile entertainment services in Vietnam. After taking mobile TV services commercial in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh in 2006, VTC plans to extend the coverage to a national level over a two-year period.

In the Asia Pacific, Nokia claims to have spearheaded several mobile TV technology showcases in countries such as Singapore (with Mediacorp & M1), Malaysia (Astro & Maxis), as well as in India and Taiwan. Nokia also participated in many industry-wide events demonstrating simulcast mobile TV content together with players in the media and entertainment industries in Australia.

Nokia is also in the midst of a DVB-H trial first started last July 2005 with the Bridge Networks & Telstra consumers in Sydney. In Europe, Finland, Digita, supported by Nokia, has been awarded an operator license and is working to debut DVB-H mobile TV services soon. Italy has also launched a DVB-H service, while many other regions in the world are expected to follow suit with the commercialisation activity once their own trials are concluded.

MUMBAI: Rajan Raheja-promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom plans to raise Rs 1 billion as debt to fund the first phase of conditional access system (CAS). The multi-system operator (MSO) is also preparing to launch voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services by the last quarter of the year.

“We will require an investment of Rs 1 billion for which we will be raising debt,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom CEO K Jayaraman.

The bulk of the investments will be towards subsidising the digital set-top boxes (STBs). Funding will also be required in setting up VoIP and expanding broadband infrastructure. The company has tied up with telecom major Bharti for VoIP.

“We are conducting test runs and expect to launch VoIP services by the year-end. MSOs will have to infuse capital in the changing business environment. On each STB, the subsidy works out to Rs 1,500,” says Jayaraman.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has fixed the pricing of the boxes in the CAS areas. Cable TV service providers will have to offer digital STBs on a monthly rental scheme of Rs 30 and a refundable security deposit of Rs 999. There will be no payment for installation, activation charges, smart card/viewing card, repair and maintenance cost.

The cost of the STBs including the smart card is around Rs 3,500. “Once we drive in volumes, the price of procuring these STBs should fall by 15-20 per cent,” says Jayaraman.

Hathway will also be aggressively pushing digital cable TV in non CAS markets. The MSO launched its digital services in Jalandhar a few days back, having rolled it out earlier in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

“Starting with Jalandhar, we plan to roll out our digital services across Punjab over six months. In the first phase, 16 cities of Punjab will be connected by the end of this year,” Jayaraman says.

The a la carte pricing of channels will increase the penetration of STBs in CAS areas, Jayaraman believes. “We expect a 80 per cent penetration if the broadcasters get the pricing right within a maximum of Rs 5 per channel,” he says.

MUMBAI: Television and film distributor Granada International is looking topwards building its presence in Asia.

It has appointed Ting Wai Ho as senior sales executive based in its new Hong Kong office. The announcement was made by Granada International MD Nadine Nohr.

He will also work closely with regional director in Asia James Ross on the media opportunities offered by the way of VOD and IPTV in India.

Ho will also be responsible for sales of Granada International programming into South East Asian countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Ting Wai Ho was formerly BBC Worldwide senior sales executive, South East Asia. Based in Hong Kong he was in charge of TV programme distribution in Asian countries.

Ross says, “I am very pleased to have Ting on board at the new Granada International office in Asia. As we continue to expand Granada International and ITV Worldwide‘s presence in Asia, I am sure his wealth of experience in selling programming to the Asia region will be a great asset to us.”