Category: Software

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and mobile gaming company ZeptoLab UK will be working together to develop a format for a game show, television series based on ZeptoLab’s game ‘Cut the Rope’ and its character, the green monster Om Nom.

Skills-based and inspired by physics, ‘Cut the Rope‘ has been downloaded more than 250 million times around the world. SPT will also have a first look at future properties developed by ZeptoLab for live-action, game shows as well.

SPT chief creative officer, international production Wayne Garvie said, “Every hour of every day, app producers are creating new ways to entertain global audiences, with Cut the Rope offering one of the most striking examples. ZeptoLab is a pioneer in bringing innovative, witty and addictive apps to the world. We share a similar passion and ambition at SPT and this collaboration will lead to forms of entertainment across all possible partners.”

ZeptoLab CEO Misha Lyalin said,”Sony Pictures Television has an amazing track record in developing hugely successful game shows on television. We love the idea of our fans being able to see and engage with Om Nom on the television screen and this partnership with Sony Pictures Television will let fans do just that, bringing Cut the Rope to life in a brand new, interactive way.”

MUMBAI: zeebox, the TV viewing companion, has signed on Viacom as a strategic partner, joining Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, HBO and Cinemax in backing the universal, cross-channel TV viewing companion app for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, and the Web.

zeebox, which had launched in the US a few days ago, is the brainchild of former EMI executive Ernesto Schmitt and former BBC iPlayer CTO Anthony Rose. It enables consumers to discover what to watch by browsing comprehensive TV listings, social media and personalised recommendations. Viewers can engage with their favourite television personalities directly through zeebox and even buy the products they see on TV. zeebox also automatically displays richer information about each program as viewers are watching.

zeebox CEO, co-founder Ernesto Schmitt said, “zeebox was built as an open platform that programmers and operators can easily use to enhance their brands on the second-screen, engage with fans and build new ways to bring the TV and Internet advertising industries together. The most engaging, compelling consumer experience on the second screen will be driven by the depth of content and the degree of integration with established TV brands – for this reason we‘re delighted to be working with Viacom and its world class entertainment brands.”

Like Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal, Viacom is backing zeebox with investments and promotional commitments, while preparing to enhance their top TV shows on zeebox. zeebox‘s OpenBox API is designed to enable any TV network to enhance its shows on zeebox, distribute exclusive content, and connect directly with fans whilst enabling them to continue using their favorite social media, such as Twitter.

Viacom Media Networks COO Rich Eigendorff said,”Viacom has the most socially engaged audiences anywhere, and we‘re constantly striving to give our fans new ways to discover and connect with our content. zeebox is a powerful new platform to create even richer and more interactive experiences around our programming, and build an even deeper connection between our brands and our fans.”

zeebox‘s OpenBox API allows content owners to enhance their shows and channels on the zeebox app in a matter of hours, distributing exclusive content to consumers, connecting directly with fans through live interactions and social engagement, and monetizing the second screen alongside TV commercials through synchronised, targeted, relevant advertising and affiliate links.

MUMBAI: Comcast announced the second year of Internet Essentials, an ambitious and comprehensive broadband adoption program designed to help close the digital divide for low-income Americans.

In its first year, the programme reached out to more than 100,000 families or 400,000 Americans. In its second year, Comcast has introduced new features and processes designed to accelerate enrollment in the program.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said, “It is imperative that Colorado become a more digitally connected state so all children have the same opportunities and more adults can find jobs. Making affordable communications and technology available to low-income families throughout Colorado helps ensure every child can benefit from getting online at home. These kinds of steps will create brighter opportunities for our children and keep Colorado moving forward.”

Comcast West Division president Steve White said, “I am thrilled to announce year two of Internet Essentials in Colorado, making affordable Internet available to even more students and their families. Cities like Denver and Aurora are making a real difference in the lives of students and families who are now able to go online at home and access the wealth of information and learning the Internet has to offer.”

MUMBAI: Dish TV‘s mobile train technology is now installed in the luxury train Maharaja Express.

The mobile train technology will enable travellers to experience in-train live entertainment of all genres on the go.

Dish TV is using mobile in venture satellite antennas manufactured by “Gilat” that enables live TV on the move. Every seat has a dedicated STB which enables the passenger to view channel of their own choice.

According to the company, the train moving in any direction, at any speed, will receive seamless digital signal. Dish TV will be installed in all cabins of Maharaja Express.

Salil Kapoor, COO, Dish TV said, “As a pioneer and market leader of the DTH Industry, It is indeed a proud moment for us to take TV entertainment to a completely unprecedented level by bringing Live TV experience to one of the top twenty five luxury trains in the world – ‘Maharaja Express‘. We continue to provide the latest technology through our constant innovation to the consumers. It‘s a proud moment for us to render our services to Maharaja Express, our thrust to provide entertainment through all modes and medium has created a benchmark in mobile train technology”.

In 2010, Dish TV had launched its Mobile Train Technology on Palace on Wheels and Royal Rajasthan on Wheels and two other luxury trains.

MUMBAI: Global watch major Timex Group India Ltd. has undertaken a slew of initiatives on the digital platform to tap into the increasing audience on the medium. These include the launch of a webstore, active Facebook pages for its brands Timex and Helix and a dedicated Youtube brand channel.

The Helix and Timex webstore can be explored with a common login id. The timepieces available on the website feature sports, fashion, casual and formal collection. The customers can make the payment online by using their domestic and international credit cards, Visa debit cards and net banking payments from select banks in India.

Apart from this, shoppers can also keep abreast of the latest from Timex‘s brands through the Facebook fan page which will have content around the latest products, brand, events, generic posts focusing on fashion, sports and fitness and facilitates everyone to interact and give opinion on the products.

The brands‘ You tube brand channel will include all Timex India brands videos, product manuals, informative presentation on product accessories converted in to flash files along with the some promotional content linked with Timex India/ Helix India Facebook page.

Timex Group India Ltd. CEO and MD V D Wadhwa of said, “The number of web-shoppers has increased exponentially in the last few years and it was natural for us to tap this segment as well. Timex web-store is aimed to bring Timex brands in the priority list of their target audience. The variety of content on Facebook fan page, would help us establish connect with the users and make our brand more desirable. Through YouTube brand channel, we aim to build a complete eco-system around all our brands videos and seed them in interesting ways which would help in building great brand resonance.”

MUMBAI: TimesDeal.com will begin offering its deals free of cost. It has traditionally charged users for 20-40 per cent of the deal value upfront.

With this move, the buying portal from Times Internet, is disrupting its business model.

TimesDeal has traditionally operated with a similar revenue model to competitors such as Snapdeal, who charge an upfront amount to purchase a deal. TimesDeal will no longer charge consumers for its deals.

TimesDeal made this decision after some learnings, some purposeful and some accidental. In February, TimesDeal ran a Valentine‘s Day promotion and for the promotion all deals were made free. As a result, there was a 10 times increase in consumption. This drove the internal conviction for a free product, the company said.
 
Times Internet CEO Satyan Gajwani said, “After the Valentine‘s Day‘s free promotion, we knew we had tapped into some significant, latent demand in the market for free deals. We started working on the free product immediately after that. Last week, a promotional code was accidentally released and it spread on the Internet. TimesDeal experienced over 100,000 transactions, a dramatic increase in deal consumption before the code was withdrawn. While TimesDeal lost revenues from the mistake, it helped further validate our belief in a free deals platform just as we were about to launch it.”

TimesDeal aims to focus more intensely on the discovery of deals, which will make the process of consuming a deal “faster” and “simpler” and also allow users to avail more targeted and personalised options of their interest.

MUMBAI: The Broadcast India Show, the event organised by Saicom Trade Fairs & Exhibitions, will be held from 10-12 October at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon (E) in Mumbai.

More than 550 companies from 36 countries will exhibit their state-of-the-art equipment and technology at this year‘s show.

Broadcast India is a global marketplace for television, film, pro-audio, radio, IPTV and mobile TV to CG, VFX, multimedia, music, lights, cable, satellite, broadband, internet, transmission and related fields.

MUMBAI: Bollywood and South Asian content distributor Hungama.com is one of the ten beneficiaries to receive strategic investment totaling $40 million from Intel Capital, the global investment and M&A organisation of Intel Corporation.

The investment was announced at Intel Capital Global Summit, a three-day conclave that was held in California from 1-3 October.

Intel‘s other investments include Box (secure content sharing platform), FocalTech (North American integrated circuit design house), Jelli (social radio platform), LIFO Interactive (social game developer), NewAer (mobile proximity platform), PagPop (e-payment platform), Tier 3 (cloud services provider), Transmension (3-D game developer) and UUCun (mobile advertising provider).

It needs to be noted here that global marketing communications company JWT had acquired 51 per cent stake in Hungama Digital in June this year.

While Intel Capital did not disclose financial details of each investment, the company said the investment is designed to help these companies grow to the next level.

Intel Capital has been investing in India since 1998. It has invested over $300 million in 80+ companies across 10 cities in India.

“Business deals happen when Intel Capital brings together our vast global network with our portfolio company innovators,” said Intel Capital president of and Intel executive vice president Arvind Sodhani.

“Our annual Global Summit and the ongoing Intel Capital Technology Days provide our portfolio companies with unmatched access to the decision-making executives critical to revenue-generating sales or partnerships. The 10 new investments in innovative companies announced today stand to benefit greatly from these longstanding company-building resources.”

Indian company Hungama.com, which received an undisclosed sum from Intel Capital, is India‘s leading digital entertainment company that launched India‘s first and largest on-demand digital entertainment storefront. The storefront has over 2 and half million pieces of content across genres and languages, in the form of music tracks, movies, music videos & mobile content.

Hungama Movies has over 5000 Bollywood, Hollywood, Regional Indian Movies and Television Series available in both HD and SD quality, powered by Intel Insider.

With over 20 million users, the website is accessible from PCs, mobiles, tablets, connected TVs and other connected devices. Consumers can enjoy all this content via download and streaming.

Intel Capital, APAC and Japan MD Sudheer Kuppam said of the investment, “Hungama.com is another great example of an innovative Indian company. It has become India‘s largest on-demand Digital Entertainment storefront, which serves audio, video and imagery to South Asians across the world.

We‘ve been aware of Hungama.com‘s success for some time, and we‘re excited about working with the company to develop the brand and building upon the success it has found in India by taking the venture global.”

Hungama.com chairman Neeraj Roy said, “We have been working with Intel Corp over the last few years. As a company we are delighted to have Intel Capital partner with us on the Hungama.com opportunity. Hungama.com is the only platform agnostic digital entertainment storefront that caters to over 1.5 billion South Asians worldwide, via mobile, internet, connected devices, DTH and retail.”

As per Hungama.com, it has partnerships with over 400 content creators, record labels, studios, broadcasters, game publishers and has licensed worldwide exclusive digital rights to over half a million music and video titles. It serves content to consumers in 47 countries across mobile, internet, IPTV services and has more than 150 partners across the world.

MUMBAI: The cable TV digitisation will face opposition from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who recently walked out of the UPA government alliance over reform policies like FDI hike in retail.

The West Bengal government has requested the centre to extend deadline for cable digitisation following a meeting with local cable operators and multi-system operators.

“The state government has requested the Centre to extend the deadline for digitisation,” Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim told reporters in Kolkata after the meeting.

During the meeting, the LCOs and MSOs had expressed inability to meet the deadline contending that they had received only 40-50 per cent set-top boxes (STBs).

Hakim said the government should manufacture STBs instead of importing them.

The cable operators from Kolkata had recently disputed government figures on digitisation which said that 67 per cent of Kolkata households have been digitised till mid-September.

In a related development, the Cable Operators Association of Kolkata has threatened of a protest the government‘s decision to digitise cable TV network. The COAK has alleged that the government‘s decision is a hurried one and ignores real issues faced by cable operators.

The association has alleged that the government was working for vested interest of the multinational, corporates and not for the small businessman like Cable operators.

The digitisation deadline has already been extended once from 30 June to 1 October to give enough time to operators to seed the STBs, a critical element in the digitisation process.

Also Read:Cable TV digitisation could face political storm in 2 metros, Mamata Banerjee raises voice

MUMBAI: Home shopping channel Star CJ Alive has now tied up with Videocon‘s DTH service and will be available on channel 133.

Star CJ Alive is present on DTH platforms TATA sky, Dish TV and Hathway on channel no‘s 127, 196 and 9, respectively.
 
Star CJ Network India Pvt. Ltd CEO Kenny Shin said, “We are thrilled to announce our association with Videocon DTH services as digitisation will perk up the audio visual quality of STARCJ Alive. Moreover the channel will have a fixed EPG number which will make it easier for us to communicate with our STARCJ consumers across MSOs/Regions. With digitization becoming compulsory, DTH players growing rapidly across India, thus a tie-up with them provides an opportunity for STAR CJ Alive to reach more effectively to our target audience.”