Category: Applications

MUMBAI: As a way to whet fans appetitie for the new season of the longest running sitcom The Simpsons, US broadcaster Fox along with sister firm Fox Interactive Media (FIM) are offering fans a glimpse of the show on the web.

Through a campaign sponsored by Burger King, FIM sites will offer a promotional first look at the first episode.

In a Simpsons first, online fans on three FIM sites including MySpace.com, Fox.com and IGN.com‘s new site will have the exclusive opportunity to see the first seven minutes of the first episode before it airs on television. In addition, viewers will get to see footage of an episode in the making including an animatic and the finished scene.

Across the FIM network, a marketing campaign will drive fans to the video debut and promote tune in for the broadcast. Promotional initiatives specific to each property include: AskMen.com becoming “AskHomer” for the day and profiling Homer as the site‘s Man of the Week; FoxSports.com on MSN presenting Homer‘s week one NFL picks; a “Simpsons”-style graphic takeover of the homepage on Rotten Tomatoes and much more. The promotion will culminate with The Simpsons season premiere on 10 September.

Fox president entertainment Peter Ligouri says, “This sneak peek at The Simpsons‘ 18th season is a huge bonus for dedicated fans. Being able to preview the first episode of the new season will surely whet viewers‘ appetite for the premiere on Sunday.”

FIM president Ross Levinsohn says, “We are thrilled to be able to offer an exclusive first look at the Simpsons to our core audience of 18-34 year olds, who have embraced this show as one of the most popular TV programs of our time.

“We are seeing an increasing demand for video content across FIM sites, and we are focused on delivering that content in a variety of ways – blending established media and user-generated content in a meaningful way.”

Simpsons fans can visit MySpace, www.igntv.com and Fox.com to get the first look at the first episode before it airs on 10 September. Additional Simpsons features and promotions can also be accessed at www.rottentomatoes.com and www.scout.com in addition to the other three sites.

The Simpsons will air their historic 400th episode in May 2007. The series features Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson who take traditional family life and turn them upside down.

MUMBAI: Tata Sky has announced the launch of Showcase, its dedicated pay-per-view movies service. With this service, Tata Sky promises to offer new Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters to the customers.

Showcase, the pay-per-view will launch with the movie Taxi No. 9211, screening on multiple channels, offering subscribers a number of convenient viewing options. The movies will be screened without any ad breaks.

Priced at Rs 75 per movie, the service will provide viewers with a convenient and economical alternative to watching movies in cinema halls, according to an official release.

The original prints of all the films will be sourced directly from their producers and digital satellite television transmission will ensure DVD quality picture and CD quality sound throughout the movies.

Also, another advantage for subscribers is that they can chose to watch the movies at a convenient time, when they are free from household responsibilities.

Tata Sky Ltd MD and CEO Vikram Kaushik said, “The launch of Showcase helps us propel our objective to provide our subscribers with maximum convenience. This service can be enjoyed equally by every family member and undoubtedly will recreate the experience of watching a movie in the theatre, in the comfort of the home. The freedom to choose the time of viewing and the liberation from advertisements while watching one’s favourite movies will be universally welcomed.”

To purchase a movie, a subscriber will need to call the Tata Sky helpline and make a request for the movie, indicating the desired time slot. Orders can be placed up to five minutes prior to the film’s start, informs the statement.

Tata Sky’s satellite television service currently offers viewers 61 popular television channels including Star, Sony, Discovery, Disney, MTV, NDTV, ESPN Star Sports, National Geographic, Eenadu, TV Today, Asianet and many more.

In addition, the service offers a total of six interactive services including Actve Khabar, Actve Newsroom, Actve Star News, Actve Games, Actve Sports and an on-screen guide. The service is available at a special price of RS 200 per month, inclusive of all taxes.

BANGALORE:The Failure Analysis Committee (FAC), constituted for investigating the failure of ISRO‘s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-F02 mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR) Sriharikota, on 10 July, 2006 has submitted its report.

The 49 metre tall and 414 tonne GSLV comprises three stages. The first stage consists of a solid propellant motor and four liquid propellant strap-ons. The second stage is also a liquid propellant stage and the third is a cryogenic stage.

GSLV-F02 launch was the fourth in the series. All the three earlier missions (GSLV-D1, D2 and F01) were completely successful. The mission objective of GSLV-F02 was to place Insat-4C, an operational satellite into Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). About 55 sec into the flight, GSLV-F02 started deviating significantly from its nominal flight path resulting in the vehicle breaking up at 62 sec after lift-off. The debris fell into Bay of Bengal.

The 15 member FAC chaired by K Narayana, former Director of SDSC SHAR, with the participation of experts from academic and research institutions besides ISRO, has reviewed the performance of GSLV-F02 from lift-off to the end of flight. FAC had detailed deliberations for over 100 hours in several sittings and was assisted by eight specialist sub-committees examining the flight data of vehicle subsystems, manufacturing documents, inspection, calibration and test results, etc. Especially, the details related to the realisation of liquid propulsion stage of GSLV were closely scrutinized. Several tests simulating possible failure modes were also conducted to identify the exact cause.

FAC has concluded that the performance of all vehicle subsystems, except one strap-on stage was normal until 56.4 sec. The primary cause for the failure was the sudden loss of thrust in one out of the four liquid propellant strap-on stages (S4) immediately after lift-off at 0.2 sec. With only three strap-on stages working, there was significant reduction in the control capability. However the vehicle attitude could be controlled till about 50 sec. At the same time the vehicle reached the transonic regime of flight and the vehicle attitude errors built up to large values, resulting in aerodynamic loads exceeding the design limits thus leading to break up of the vehicle.

The thrust of the liquid engines used in the strap-on stages is precisely controlled by a set of regulators. Detailed analyses have indicated that in S4 engine the thrust control was not effective. Instead of stabilizing at 5.85 MPa (Mega Pascal) chamber pressure, it reached 7.11 MPa at 2.8 sec. This was much beyond the design limits and the engine failed at 0.2 sec after lift-off, that is 5 sec after its ignition.

Simulations and analyses of flight data and verification through calibration tests have led to the conclusion that the propellant regulator in the failed engine had much higher discharge coefficient in its closed condition. The reason for this could be an inadvertent error in manufacturing, which escaped the subsequent inspection, and acceptance test procedures. This regulator has functioned satisfactorily in all the previous 50 engines manufactured and tested so far, states an official release.

The larger flow of propellant led to higher operating pressure in the gas generator (4.7 MPa against design specification of 3.6 MPa). Due to this higher operating pressure of the gas generator, the water flow rate into it got reduced. The combined effect of larger flow of propellants and reduced flow of water led to a very high gas temperature of 1823 K against design specification of 900 K and pressure of 4.7 MPa against the design specification of 3.6 MPa. The very high operating pressure and temperature resulted in the structural failure of the gas generator. The consequent abrupt stopping of the turbo pumps that feed propellants at very high pressures to the engines led to loss of thrust of S4 engine. The water calibration tests conducted simulating the malfunction of the propellant regulator hardware could closely reproduce the flight phenomenon thereby confirming the larger flow area.

FAC has concluded that the design of GSLV is robust and recommended implementation of strict control on fabrication, inspection and acceptance procedures. Among others, FAC has recommended fabrication processes to be critically reviewed and updated. It has recommended for independent inspection of all critical dimensions of components and subassemblies by in-house agencies. Further, long duration hot test on one out of every 20 engines fabricated has been recommended to ensure that production process is under control. In addition, FAC has recommended strengthening the process of clearance of launch during Automatic Launch Sequence (ALS) phase.

FAC conclusions and recommendations have been accepted and necessary action has been initiated to implement all of them, the release adds.

NEW DELHI: The Mumbai-headquartered Time Broadband Services Pvt Ltd might not ring a bell immediately, but this media technology company has achieved an Asian landmark.

Commissioning of a fully integrated content delivery network over H.264 AVC Revision 10 of MPEG4 format as an end-to-end solution on Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) MPLS core and ADSL 2+ access system is the first of its kind in Asia.

This hi-tech implementation was first recorded on 4 July 2006 at Cavalier Telecom in the USA by Kasenna, which also happens to be Time Broadband’s technology provider.

“Considering the few weeks gap, the achievement of having a total integrated solution on an emerging technology is certainly a landmark in Indian broadband domain where more than 100 TV channels are to be delivered via digital multi-cast to PC and TV sets by our technology partners,” said Time Broadband MD and CEO Sujata Dev.

What this means in layman’s language and where does the
government-controlled telecom company MTNL fit into the scenario?

MTNL, providing services in Delhi and Mumbai, has associated with Time Broadband to provide IPTV at affordable rates to the telco’s consumers. The services are slated to be commercially flagged off later this year.

According to Dev, apart from the telephony and internet services, a MTNL subscriber can also subscribe to TV channels, which can be seen either on the consumer’s PC or television set.

The charges for subscribing to over 100 channels and internet services are likely to be in the region of Rs 400 per month (exclusive of charges for telephone usage).

Time Broadband, which in no way is connected to the Times of India group, did a trial simulation of the technology in Mumbai on 14 January 2005, the day on which a nation-wide launch of broadband was held by MTNL and its sibling Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

On 21 November 2005, Time Broadband signed up formally with MTNL for providing the content delivery network (CDN) and do content aggregation for MTNL to enable rich-media content delivery.

MTNL, set up on 1 April 1986 by the government, has a customer base of approximately 5.92 million as on March 2006. The government presently holds 56.25 per cent stake in the company.

Time Broadband, where Sujata Dev’s husband Amit works as the chief tech mentor, has been initially funded by promoters and has received $12 million mix of equity and debt from global investors to move into full-scale rollout plan to 600 tri-band customers shortly in Delhi.

Next stage of integration would cover uni-cast or the interactive on-demand media delivery, which is to be completed shortly.

“In IPTV domain, a major challenge faced by a operator is the integration of the CDN components like middleware, content protection, video-on-demand services and head-end encoding components with set-top box. We could successfully integrate the whole system in past six months along with inputs from our technology partners,” said Dev.

A unique aspect of the whole venture involving MTNL is the content protection or guarding against piracy.

The content protection technology used by Time Broadband for MTNL’s IPTV service is being provided by Verimatrix and is a mix of session-based water marking and clone-detection capabilities.

“Broadcasters like Star, Sony and Zee have approved the content protection system of Verimatrix as also major studios of Hollywood as a key defense against the vandalism of piracy due to the forensic tracking, which is invisible but un-destructible,” Dev explained.

The video-marking added to 128 bit PKI as per AES norms would offer threshold level of protection to all content. The achievement of technical solution is one hurdle crossed but the issues of Regulation and availability of volume based H.264 STB with ‘session-based water-marking’ is still a challenge to be overcome before commercial launch, Dev adds.

However, a major hurdle in rollout of IPTV services in India is the regulatory body Trai’s present ambivalence on the status of such service.

Telecom Regulatgory Auhtority of India (Trai) is yet to decide whether to classify IPTV as a television service or make it part of telecom.

Both MTNL and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (the biggest telecom service provider in India in terms of reach) control over 95 per cent of last mile
connectivity in India.

The remaining miniscule is with some private players, which are finding themselves handicapped to introduce large scale broadband services in the country in the absence of last mile connectivity.

Though the set-top box needed to access the MTNL Tri-band service is being imported by Time Broadband for approximately $ 160, in the initial stages the boxes are being subsidised to catch consumers.

Time Broadband would build and own all the elements of this massive city-wide content delivery network with service delivery platform to operate uni-cast and multi-cast services of rich-media, apart from critical sub-system and peripheral devices.

MUMBAI: UTStarcom, Inc., the IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services, has launched its portable WiFi handset – the F3000. The handset is currently being deployed by customers worldwide and can be purchased directly from UTStarcom or through one of the company‘s regional distributors.

“We are seeing massive growth in demand for mobile voice-over-IP devices as the number of public WiFi hotspots and prevalence of wireless routers in people‘s homes and offices increases,” says UTStarcom, Inc. VP EMEA Youssef Kassissia.

“This, combined with the international roaming charges levied by operators, is encouraging consumers to look to wireless VoIP as a cost- effective alternative to traditional mobile telecommunications, both at home and abroad.”

“The F3000 builds on the success of our award-winning F1000 handset, our first-generation WiFi phone launched last year and the low-cost market leader in WiFi handsets worldwide,” Lu adds. “Much like the F1000, UTStarcom‘s F3000 enables consumers the ability to reap the benefits of VoIP service without being tethered to a fixed-line and at a consumer friendly price point.”

With a designs available in both black and gold, UTStarcom‘s F3000 WiFi handset bridges the gap between traditional WiFi phones and today‘s state-of-the-art cellular devices, offering consumers a combination of form and functionality. Measuring 85 x 43 x 22mm and weighing approximately 90g, the F3000 features a full-color, 1.8″ (45.7mm) LCD screen, polyphonic ringtones, text messaging capability and talk-time of up to three hours and stand-by time of approximately 75 hour, states an official release.

The phone supports a range of voice protocols, including SIP, SDP, RTP/RTCP and RFC 2833/inband DTMF, and utilizes ITU codecs G.711 and G.729. It operates at WiFi 802.11b/g 2.4GHz and supports WiFi security WEP64/128 and WPA. The F3000 also supports a variety of user interface languages, including English, French, Spanish and Chinese, and standard PSTN features, such as call waiting and three-way calling, are also available. It is easily configured, supporting auto-provisioning and remote software upgrades, the release adds.

Additionally, UTStarcom‘s F3000 features an Auto-Search capability, enabling users to locate WiFi networks within range and store these profiles for later use. Moreover, the handset can be programmed with three separate SIP accounts, providing both service provider and access point flexibility for the end user.

MUMBAI: ICTV which creates on-demand solutions that blend the choice and control of broadband video with the quality and responsiveness of television, will unveil its ActiveVideo platform at the IBC trade show.

The event takes place in Amsterdam from 8-12 Seotember. The company says that its platform combines the best attributes of television and the Web.

ICTV will demonstrate how operators, programmers and advertisers can use the ActiveVideo platform to successfully bring broadband video programming and advertising models from the Internet to the television. ActiveVideo delivers Web-driven programming in combination with both live and VOD streams to provide an immersive TV-quality viewing experience.

ActiveVideo programming can be delivered either through the widely deployed two-way cable infrastructure or via an IPTV network. ActiveVideo is navigated with standard remote controls and is fully compatible with all existing IP and cable set-top boxes, enabling the complete re-use of existing capital infrastructure.

At IBC, ICTV will be demonstrating two new applications of the ActiveVideo platform: An ActiveVideo Mosaic, the multichannel industry‘s first customizable, personalised mosaic for video-rich navigation, and ActiveVideo Channels, which enable existing broadband programming networks to be delivered to the TV in real time as subscriber-controlled television video.

ICTV president and CEO Jeff Miller, says, “One of the greatest challenges for network operators in the broadband era has been to match the precision of the Web in delivering the right programming and advertising to the right subscriber at the right time.

“The ActiveVideo platform is a standards-based approach that creates new programming choices with high-CPM, targeted, auditable and interactive advertising opportunities.”

Capitalising on the ability to deliver Web programming as MPEG video to any digital set-top box, the ICTV ActiveVideo platform is entirely standards- based, requiring no custom integration or proprietary development. Live and on-demand programming can be blended with content that is created and modified quickly using standard Web tools and talent.

The ICTV ActiveVideo Mosaic creates easy-to-use personalised navigation. This allows subscribers to view live video from and navigate through a number of channels at a single glance. The ActiveVideo Mosaic can be personalised based upon subscriber, operator, or programmer choice, or via system response to subscriber viewing habits – all on any digital set-top box.

Interactive elements, including Web-driven targeted advertising, can be incorporated within the mosaic screens. With ActiveVideo Channels, network operators and programmers can enhance the value of existing channels by allowing viewers to take active
control of what they see and when they see it. Simply by using their remote control, television viewers can select an ActiveVideo Channel from the standard programme guide and enter a broadband experience that includes video, navigational elements, channel branding, banner advertisements, and links to different video segments.

Screens can be manipulated to reflect personal viewing interests and purchasing preferences. Clicking on advertisements within the ActiveVideo experience enables interaction with sponsor messages, including “telescoping” to let consumers request more information, watch a demonstration or make a purchase

MUMBAI: The Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTG) is establishing a new digital production venture Studio 2.0.

This will work with creative talent and advertisers to create original live-action and animated short-form programming for broadband and wireless devices.

WBTVG has tapped producer and senior advertising executive Rich Rosenthal to head Studio 2.0. These announcements were made by WBTG president Bruce Rosenblum. The venture will be overseen by WBTG executive VP Craig Hunegs.

Studio 2.0 will provide a creative platform for the Television Group’s established as well as up-and-coming talent to produce content of varying lengths – from multiple-episode series to one-offs. Rosenthal will actively align Studio 2.0 with advertisers seeking early identification and involvement with original programming. They will develop projects through independent creative resources as well as through the various in-place Warner Bros. Television Group production arms.

Studio 2.0 will look to license the programming to online sites, portals and wireless providers in collaboration with the recently formed Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

Rosenblum says, “What has become eminently clear is that our advertising partners in our traditional television businesses are anxious to work in collaboration with the creative community to develop original digital content.

“At our core, we are a content creation company and Studio 2.0 is a natural, yet extraordinarily exciting, extension of our television production businesses. We are confident that Rich and Studio 2.0 will successfully provide advertisers with cutting edge tools that will integrate their brands with inventive digital content in fresh, impactful and meaningful ways.

“At the same time, Studio 2.0 will present our creative partners in our television production divisions with a vibrant platform to express their vision in expanding digital arenas and allow us to collaborate with Simon Kenny (President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution) and his team on terrific content for digital distribution.”

Hunegs says, “Rich’s breadth of advertising experience, both as a creative and production exec, and the wide array of advertisers, brands and companies for which he has created, make him the ideal choice to run Studio 2.0. It is a coup to have him join us”.

Time Warner Global Marketing, the cross-divisional client partnerships arm of Time Warner, will work closely with Rosenthal and Time Warner advertising clients.

BANGALORE: Bharati Airtel has announced that their total mobile subscriber base has crossed three million in Karnataka. With this they claim to be the circle with the largest portion in the Airtel all India subscriber pie of 25.89 million (to end July 2006).

Airtel joint president-mobility Sanjay Kapoor said, “This equals Singapore‘s subscriber base.” Karnataka has been the growth engine for Airtel disclosed Kapoor.

Bangalore has a subscriber base of roughly 50 per cent of Airtel‘s Karnataka mobile subscribers according to Airtel Karnataka CEO Deepak Mehrotra.

Airtel continues to be Karnataka‘s no. 1 mobile network in telephony, even beating BSNL mobile services. The only other entity that could match Airtel coverage in numbers and reach is the BSNL landline. Airtel now covers over 12,000 towns and villages in Karnataka, of which more than 11,000 towns and locations have a population of less than 5000. This includes 96 per cent of the gram panchayat area in the state, and covers 63 per cent of the population. Around 500,000 subscribers have been added over the last three months, a million over the last six, informs an official release.

Airtel plans to expand the gram panchayat reach to 100 per cent by March 2007. Mehrotra revealed that Airtel has spent around Rs.14.35 billion capitalization to date in the state and another Rs.3.5 billion have been earmarked till end March 2007.

Karnataka and the Andhra Pradesh circle which stands third after Delhi both contribute to more than 20 per cent of the all India subscribers in the Airtel kitty. While Punjab stands fourth with a subscriber base of around 2.4 million, adds Airtel Karnataka COO V Venkatesh.

Airtel executive director -southern regional hub, mobility Atul Bindal revealed that the southern hub comprising of five circles has had the fastest growth in the number of subscribers in the country.

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications owned Falcon Undersea Cable System has started its operational from today unleashing international bandwidth between India, Middle East and Europe.

The Flag Telecom Global Network would be the world‘s largest undersea cable system covering 65,000 route kms, with the launch of Falcon. The current bandwidth on India-Europe route is controlled by VSNL and Bharti.

“Falcon will have an equally powerful impact on the economic front, driving higher levels of trade, commerce and global integration,” Reliance ADA chairman Anil Ambani said.

The vision at Reliance ADA group is to ‘give millions of ordinary people across the world the means to realize their dreams, the power to shape their destiny, the chance to fulfill their true and diverse potential,” Ambani added.

The Flag Global Network bridges the distance between 35 diverse developed and developing economies, connecting the global economic hubs in USA, UK, Germany, France, Middle East, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Japan to name a few.

The Company‘s Flag is the first global network of this scale to provide integrated connectivity on one seamless network to the three highest growing regions; India, Middle East and China; in terms of international bandwidth demand.

MUMBAI: OpenTV, which provides enabling technologies for advanced digital television services, will showcase its latest technologies under the banner of “television is changing … open it up!” at the IBC show in Amsterdam.

The event takes place from 8-12 September 2006.

The theme, grounded by the premise that today‘s television viewers are demanding greater choice, flexibility, and access, encompasses the entire range of OpenTV‘s products on display. By ‘opening up‘ the technologies that serve as a foundation for set-top boxes and digital television, OpenTV says that it is taking a leadership position by enabling the adoption of flexible business models and compelling viewer experiences in the television industry.

OpenTV chairman and CEO James A. (Jim) Chiddix says, “Today, the central technologies for building and maintaining social networks around the world are the phone and the internet.

“OpenTV believes that TV is next, and that the way to survive in this changing world is to embrace explore, and enable that change. When we say we are ‘opening up‘ television, we are extending our tradition of pioneering middleware and related solutions to new content sources, new navigation models, new forms of television advertising, and new experiences in participation with television.”

Featured products at IBC will include solutions for advanced digital
television; advanced advertising; and participation television.
— OpenTV Vision: Supporting its theme for IBC, OpenTV will debut a supermodal, zoomable user interface (ZUI) that fundamentally changes the way viewers navigate and make viewing choices from the massive amounts of available content, by providing navigation tools that create relevance and match interests.

— Advanced Digital Television:– OpenTV will showcase a number of live HDTV services from OpenTV customers as well as a wide array of HD set-top boxes from ADB, Pace, Philips, Scientific Atlanta, and Thomson.

— OpenTV will demonstrate the power of its popular Core2/PVR2
set-top software through the demonstration of a HD guide
developed by Nagravision. The guide features key elements such
as time-shifting, scheduling, and series linking, as well as
push VOD.

— OpenTV will demonstrate IPTV, highlighting a solution for
hybrid IPTV deployments by cable and satellite operators.

— OpenTV Core2/PVR2 supports multiple application execution
environments including HTML and Flash(R). OpenTV will showcase
its Flash solution, based on the award-winning MachBlue(TM)
from Bluestreak Network, supporting rapid authoring of enhanced
programming using standard Adobe(R) Flash authoring tools.
OpenTV will also demonstrate its industry -leading HTML
solution with home networking applications.

— OpenTV has also integrated technologies with ICTV(TM) and will
be demonstrating a personalized mosaic that delivers
alternative navigation and Internet-type programming and
advertising capabilities to OpenTV-enabled set-top boxes.

As far as advanced advertising:solutions are concerned the company will conduct demonstrations that will feature an end-to-end production system for enhanced advertising that engages audiences by enabling compelling, interactive advertising applications to be created, validated, scheduled, and launched more quickly and less
expensively.

— Also shown will be OpenTV‘s advertising sales and inventory
management solutions with a demonstration of OpenTV‘s ad
decision engine for dynamic insertion of targetted ads.