Category: Applications

MUMBAI: US-based internet networking player Cisco Systems has announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Arroyo Video Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of next-generation solutions for on-demand television and related consumer services.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $92 million in cash. The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of Cisco‘s fiscal year 2007, ending 31 October, 2006.

The integration of the Arroyo platform into the Cisco IP-NGN (Next Generation Network) architectural framework will help enable carriers to accelerate the creation and distribution of network delivered entertainment, interactive media and advertising services across the growing portfolio of televisions, personal computers, mobile handsets and emerging media capable devices in our increasingly connected lives, informs an official release.

“The entertainment industry is going through a major shift while consumer desire for personalized on-demand service is on the rise. The industry is quickly evolving from pure video-on demand to anything-on-demand with any content delivered to any end device. Cisco‘s next generation network strategy offers service providers the ability to make this vision a reality,” Cisco senior vice president and general manager Michelangelo A. Volpi. “With the addition of Arroyo‘s innovative software, which offers flexibility in content delivery, service providers will be in a position to serve content how, when and where consumers want it.”

Joining Cisco from Arroyo will be a team of technical industry leaders. This team includes Drew Major, an original founder of Novell and industry icon recognized for his expertise in network operating systems, distributed systems and content delivery networking (CDN). Also joining is Paul Sherer, former chief technology officer at 3Com and key contributor to a broad portfolio of networking patents and technologies. Arroyo was founded in 2002 and has 44 employees based in California and Utah, the release adds.

Upon close of the transaction the Arroyo team and product portfolio will be integrated into the Cisco Cable & Video Initiatives Group, within the Service Provider organization led by Volpi

MUMBAI: Star Entertainment has launched what it claims as the organisation‘s biggest endeavor in the mobile entertainment space Star 7827 Voice. The interactive audio- service is kicking off with an audio-episode of Star Plus‘s new prime-time show Karam Apnaa Apnaa.

The audio episode will launch on 23 August, ahead of the soap‘s premiere, which is scheduled for 29 August.

To explore Star 7827 Voice, mobile subscribers can dial in 127827 from their BSNL mobile phones and say ‘STAR‘ to get a sneak preview of what the new show Karam Apnaa Apnaa, is all about. This service will also be extended to other telecom subscribers in the due course, informs an official release.

This May, Star India had announced a slew of initiatives to enhance & expand its services from television-focused interactivity to entertainment specially created and aggregated for the mobile screen through Star 7827.

Says Star India Interactive senior VP Viren Popli on the new initiative, “Star 7827 is one of the key focus areas of our business and by creating such special content, we have put together an offering that synergizes our programming strength with global learnings of entertainment ‘on the go‘. We will continue to make such efforts and refresh our content to offer compelling entertainment for our mobile & television consumers.”

Adds Star India marketing‘s Satya Raghavan, “Star Plus‘ new prime time show Karam Apnaa Apnaa is one of the biggest launches of the year for us, therefore we wanted to extend the service of Star 7827 Voice, first with this show. Going forward we would integrate this interactive service with other ongoing programs of the channel, as well. This platform is really our endeavor to reach the consumer further, and deliver him content at his convenience and time, so he can catch up with his favorite programs, which will help him to be abreast of all that is happening on television, even when he is on the move.”

Also read:
Star kickstarts triple play mission with 7827 expansion

MUMBAI: Mauj Telecom, the wireless solutions provider, has emerged as a ‘Red Herring Asia 100 Winner’, an award programme that recognises the most promising private technology companies in the region.

Red Herring‘s lists of top private companies are an important part of the renowned magazine‘s tradition of identifying new and innovative technology firms and entrepreneurs. Companies like Google and eBay were spotted in their early days by Red Herring editors as companies that would change the way we live and work, states an official release.

After receiving more than 600 submissions and nominations from across countries in Asia, Red Herring‘s editorial staff rigorously evaluated Mauj Telecom and the other contenders through a careful analysis of financial data and subjective criteria, including quality of management, execution of strategy and dedication to research and development. The Red Herring 100 Asia companies are at the forefront of the technologies that are changing our lives in profound ways, the release adds.

Mauj Telecom CEO Arun Gupta says, “Mauj Telecom in less than three years is established as the Gold Standard in the Mobile Entertainment business in India. We are continually pushing to set new standards in mobile entertainment by delivering a broad range of exclusive and highly compelling content,applications and services on the mobile phone and that is revolutionizing the way people experience entertainment on the move, transforming the mobile into the fourth screen for entertainment after Cinema, TV and PC. Mobile media channel is one of the biggest opportunities of this century and Mauj Telecom is very excited to be at the vanguard of this business.”

MUMBAI: Sify Limited has announced the promotion of V.Sivaramakrishnan as the president of its portal business. Prior to this, he held the position of vice president of the iWay cyber café chain business.

With over 18 years of experience in marketing consumer brands, Sivaramakrishnan has a track record of managing brands, sales, and customer service for global market leaders such as Procter & Gamble and Ford, both in India and abroad. During his career with them, he has led brand, sales and customer service teams, championing marketing and sales initiatives for brands such as Vicks, Pampers, Old Spice, Ford Fiesta, Ford Ikon and the Ford Endeavour, informs an official release.

He is a management graduate from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi and as part of Ford‘s Asia-Pacific marketing leadership team, first in the US and subsequently in the UK, Sivaramakrishnan has led the development and launch of Ford‘s new generation of small cars, the Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion, into markets like Australia, Japan, South Africa, and China. He was also part of the Ford India marketing leadership team and led the successful launch of Ford‘s Ikon, Fusion, Fiesta and Endeavour in India. In his previous role as Vice President of the iWay cyber cafe business, he was instrumental in leading their transformation from Internet browsing centers to becoming e-stores by introducing break-through alliances and initiatives, adds the release.

Commenting on his appointment, Sify Limited CEO and managing director Raju Vegesna said, “I am very pleased to announce Siva‘s promotion as President, Sify Portals. In his earlier role as Vice President of the iWay cyber café chain business, Siva brought a deep insight and understanding of consumers, and executed initiatives to grow business revenues through innovative services, products and promotions in synergy with our portal strategies. While we will see the result of these efforts going forward, I believe that he will bring a fresh perspective to how we grow our portals and online advertising business both in India and overseas. With his rich experience in building brands, understanding of media, marketing and consumer behaviour, I am confident he will play a key role in further strengthening and growing our portal business in tandem with our access strategies.”

Sivaramakrishnan said, “I am really excited about this opportunity as it will enable me to bring to bear all of my previous experience with consumers, brands, marketing, media and the Internet in building our portals business. The Net is the most exciting medium of our times, and it will be our intention to maximize the opportunities presented by this versatile medium for compelling and relevant online content for Indians, to add to the quality of their lives. This includes extending the leadership we have in broadband content with www.sifymax.in, our popular portal www.sify.com, our city-centric broadband portal strategies, and www.samachar.com, the most popular site for non-resident Indians.

“I will also be involved in growing the online advertising business with marketers as they begin to understand the flexibility, focus and power that online advertising gives them for cost effective brand promotions, and overseeing Sify‘s consumer brand marketing for both the portals and access businesses for greater synergies. I believe this will be the most exciting and challenging phase of my career, and I look forward to making a difference to Sify‘s pioneering efforts for exciting India-centric online content in synergy with our access businesses,” he added.

MUMBAI: Film and TV company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc (MGM) has announced it has made current episodes of the hit science fiction/adventure series Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis available for purchase and download from the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com).

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Effective today the first five episodes of Stargate SG1 season 10 and the first five episodes of Stargate Atlantis season 3 will be available for download and subsequent episodes for both series will be within 24 hours after airing on the Sci Fci Channel.

The deal marks the first step in MGM’s strategy to expand its electronic distribution footprint globally with more announcements expected in the future. Since forming the New Media Division in April of this year and the recruitment of Lee to supervise it, MGM is now positioned to expand in the new media world, which will bring upside potential for the company’s library.

MUMBAI: Tata Sky, the direct-to-home platform from Tata and Star Group has added four regional channels to its special introductory package of Rs 200 per month (inclusive of taxes). The DTH platform also introduces the fifth interactive service Actve Games.

The four channels include Star Ananda, DD Chandana, DD Gujarati and DD Punjabi.

The DTH company has earlier introduced interactive services such as Actve Newsroom, Actve Khabar, Actve Star News and an on-screen Guide.

Actve Games, this dedicated interactive gaming service will be available free to all its subscribers. The service provides access to play multiple interactive games on television.

According to an official release, the gaming service caters to all ages with the option of playing six exciting interactive games including Aliens, Trance, Solitaire, Cubix, Bug Blaster and Speed Spell on their television screen.

This service termed as ‘easy-to-use‘ can be played with the help of the Tata Sky remote, eliminating the need of investing in additional hardware, states the release. Further, to maintain the enthusiasm levels of its audiences, Tata Sky will refresh the games periodically.

Actve Star News service presents the viewer with four screens in a single window allowing him to choose from current news, headlines, top stories and special features, at the press of a button. The service also scrolls text, allowing the viewer to read the headlines, weather updates of 35 cities and a constant update on the stock market.

Tata Sky CEO and MD Vikram Kaushik said, “Services such as Actve Games and Actve Star News are perfect examples of how television today has transformed into an interactive medium, allowing viewers the opportunity to do more than just watch television. This is only the beginning, we will continue to introduce innovative services to enhance the entertainment choices for our subscribers.”

Tata Sky recently launched its satellite television service across 300 cities in India on 8 August. Only 15 days from the launch and the service has already penetrated 2000 cities,the company claims.

At present, the platform has on offer channels includes Star, Sony, Discovery, Disney, MTV, NDTV, ESPN Star Sports, National Geographic, Eenadu, TV Today, Asianet and many more.

MUMBAI: China will soon unveil a locally developed terrestrial digital TV standard, Xinhua News Agency has reported.

Wang Xiaojie, director of the technology department of State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), said the new standard will be promoted for one year before it is fully implemented.

Broadcasting systems operating with other standards will be forced to embrace the new standard after the promotion year ends, Wang said.

Terrestrial digital TV is designed to replace the existing analogue system through which the majority of viewers in China watch the TV networks.

The number of households with digital broadcasting facilities rose from one million in 2004 to 4.13 million in 2005.

MUMBAI: Canadian Internet TV news network, Internet Broadcast Corporation www.ibctoday.com, formerly known as MediaScrape has released new navigation expanding access to world television news.

The company which claims to have thousands of users in the US and other countries has also announced a new broadcast partner Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and a goal to be the number one global Internet video news source.

Internet Broadcast Corporation (ibcToday) says that it is the first Internet TV News Network to digitise analogue TV broadcasts in a format that is high quality video, on-demand, translated, interactive, free, searchable and archived.

ibcToday publisher Tyler Cavell says, “This name change reflects ibcToday‘s goal to be the leading international Internet TV News Network. The new name explains more clearly what we are, and translates easier to our global users.”

The site currently has registered users from 91 countries and broadcasts two hours of news clips a day from North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. To achieve the company‘s goal of providing more information in a user-friendly environment ibcToday has employed groundbreaking navigational techniques, including ajax.net components.

This technology allows ibcToday to retrieve data for the user without refreshing the page, stopping the video or hindering site performance. Another new feature is ‘one-stop-shop‘ navigation, which enables users to watch video while browsing the top stories from other regions.

Internet Broadcast Corporation recently signed an agreement with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to broadcast their top national and international stories. The CBC joins ibcToday‘s other video news agencies and wholesalers, including AP, Canadian Press and Dogan News Agency. Internet Broadcast Corporation has also signed partnerships with local television broadcasters from Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia and expects to sign on more than a hundred countries over the next year.

Updated every 30 minutes, 24-hours a day, Internet Broadcast Corporation also features message boards, blogs and user submitted content. By offering its Internet video services free of charge to the public ibcToday aims to become the number one Internet television news network.

MUMBAI: Webaroo, the creator of the searchable web offline, has introduces a improved version of Webaroo’s services allowing the users‘ to download web content onto their mobile devices.

“There is definitely a growing interest in accessing Internet content on mobile devices, but consumers have been challenged with small screens and slow but expensive connections,” said Enderle Research Group USA principal analyst Rob Enderle. “Webaroo is a wonderful way to provide the experience of a fast broadband connection on a disconnected mobile device nearly eliminating the drawbacks of slow or unavailable wireless networks and high cellular Internet costs.”

“We’ve received great feedback over the past few months from all over the world and have improved our service to meet customer requests. People now have great control over the content they mobilize with Webaroo, can easily save bookmarks, video and audio attachments, and save web sites more completely and easily,” Webaroo CTO and co-founder Beerud Sheth said.

The upgraded service include features:
Increased control: several new features have been integrated to provide deeper management and manipulation of each person’s custom, mobile web. Users can save a web site up to ‘five links deep’ while controlling the download size with easy settings for the number of pages to save or the amount of hard disk space to occupy.
Easily Add Favourite Bookmarks: People can now import bookmarks from IE and Firefox browsers into Webaroo in one simple step. Support for Saving Multimedia Attachments Webaroo now supports downloading embedded attachments on websites including documents, audio and video content. People can easily limit download attachment sizes.
Browser Button for Adding Web Pages and Sites: A new Webaroo button seamlessly implemented into Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers makes it easy to add websites and web pages to Webaroo as people browse. People can also add email correspondences.
Content Location Control: People now have the option to select the location on their hard disk where the offline web is stored. For maximum convenience, they receive an alert when the maximum disk space limit is approaching.

The release informs that it is compatible with computers running Windows XP and Windows 2000 and handhelds running Windows Pocket PC 2003 SE or Windows Mobile 5.0. The company is planning to introduce supports for further mobile device operating systems.

Webaroo is a free software service that allows people to download web content onto their laptops and mobile devices and search it anytime, anywhere, without a connection