Category: Software

MUMBAI: Times Internet Limited has launched Satvikshop.com which offers consumers the largest collection of organic and ayurvedic solutions and products from different brands.

The website offers free consultation with a panel of experts who can best advise you about treatments for various ailments. Consumers can post their questions online and receive answers from the experts. A full-fledged call center guides consumers on a 24×7 basis.

The website provides access to a vast knowledge base with information on herbs, certifications and their importance. Product attributes include detailed description, brand, ingredients, symptoms, contra-indications, side-effects, user reviews, recipes, nutritional facts, and dosage.

Offering free shipping facility, the e-shop also features an active blog with regular updates related to organic and ayurvedic lifestyle.

Satvikshop.com and Indiatimes Shopping business head Subhanker Sarker said, “It is our endeavor to promote Satvik living – free of chemicals, pesticides and pollutants that have entered our lives without us noticing. With reputed partners such as Dabur, Organic India and Morrarka Organic Foods, we are confident of reversing this trend and bringing a healthy lifestyle to our consumers. Pre launch consumer engagement has been very encouraging and we already have a facebook community which is 15000 strong.”

Organic India M.D and global CEO Krishan Guptaa said, “Association of Organic India and Satvikshop.com is the ideal partnership to deliver authentic Organic Products to our consumers. Both companies have similar vision to ensure everyone in the chain from nature, farmers, associates, employees, consumers and planet as a whole wins with this unique partnership.”

Morarka Foundation and Morarka Organic Foods CEO and ED Mukesh Gupta said, “MOFL being the single largest and oldest retail organic player in India has always been supportive of initiatives that creates awareness and makes organic food more accessible to the masses. The availability of organic food has not yet spread to every nook and corner of this country, though the health conscious consumers live in every place. We are sure that many consumers who have not been able to buy from shops will now be able to buy it on line. Satvikshop.com provides consumers with a fantastic platform to access the same. The credibility of Indiatimes will also convince them to do so.”

NEW DELHI: Noida Software Technology Park Limited (NSTPL), part of the Jain TV Group, is planning to invest Rs 15 billion over five years in its Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) project.

The HITS service, branded JainHITS, is set for a November launch coinciding with the digitisation deadline in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Jain TV founder and chairman JK Jain said NSTPL is owned by two investors with Ankur Services having 87 per cent stake and Growth Fund with Jain Studios having the remaining 13 per cent. Ankur Services is privately held by JK Jain‘s son Ankur Jain who is also the managing director of JainHits.

NSTPL has roped in Motorola as the end-to-end technology partner, while Intelsat is the satellite provider for the service and KIT Digital the solution architect and managed services partner.

Intelsat has initially made available three transponders to carry 200 television channels, JK Jain said. The earth station of NSTPL is on a 23-acre area in Noida.

The digital addressable system installed through NSTPL will cost a mere Rs 1.5 million as against Rs 30 million. The entry cost to the subscriber will be Rs 950.

“Carriage fees will be shared with local cable operators (LCOs) who opt for JainHits service,” he said, while refusing to disclose the percentage that would be shared with them.

JainHits was officially launched today, more than two years after Essel Group-owned WWIL had shut its HITS service citing lack of clarity in regulations.

“JainHits is the cheapest alternative for cable operators who are fighting to save themselves from the DTH onslaught in the face of digitisation deadlines,” he added. The government has mandated 31 December 2014 as the deadline for switchover from analogue to digital cable systems across the country.

According to JK Jain, the cable operators in the country would have to spend around Rs 180 to Rs 300 billion for going digital but with the HITS service this could be achieved pan-India in just Rs 9 billion.

In the first phase, JainHits aims to offer 200 standard definition and high definition service; HBB TV (Interactive TV) and broadband. In the second phase, it will be scaled to offer 500 channels including 30 HD channels and value added services for e-commerce, education, healthcare, financial services, gaming, and on-demand content etc. Within one year of launch, the platform will evolve into a multi-screen service.

JainHits aims to facilitate 60,000 cable operators and 120 million subscribers three million terabits of downloads, e-education services for 300,000 villages, e-health for 300 million rural Indians, and 60 million daily electronic transactions.

Ankur Jain said the latest technology in DVB S2 MPEG 4 quality over satellite followed by DVBC transmission for cable would be used. These technologies are more suited for broadcast than IPTV and DTH as they are weather proof, capacity efficient and can run 1000 channels unlike DTH and IPTV.

Stephane Thibault, managing sales director, media services – Asia of Intelsat said that two Intelsat satellites – IS 17 at 66 degrees East ad IS 10 at 68.5 degrees east had been made available to JainHits and since they were positioned over India, dish antennae would just have to be positioned upwards without fear of signals being blocked by buildings.

Motorola Mobility VP and regional GM for Asia Pacific Kevin Keefe claimed that no other technology could be deployed as rapidly to meet India’s digital mandate, using existing HFC infrastructure. The growth in video services was estimated to be 4 per cent CAGR between 2011 and 2015.

Kit Digital MD Asia Pacific Nicole Dixon said Kit Digital would play the role of integrator. Its E2E solution would help distribute 500 channels.

Former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India head Pradip Baijal, who has come on board as advisor for the project, said the Indian market was very price sensitive but had the best technologies, especially in mobile networks.

JainHits would be promoted through personal contact. NSTPL also plans to form National Federation of Cable Operators.

Alsor read:

Jain TV Group plans HITS service, signs up with Intelsat
NSTPL’s HITS platform christened as Jain HITS

MUMBAI: SatLink Communications, a leading teleport and HD Playout Centre delivering content, has upgraded their MCPC platform on the AsiaSat 5 satellite to DVB-S2 which will allow International HD, SD & 3D channels to be distributed more cost effectively on the Asian prime satellite.

The new DVB-S2 platform, which utilises SatLink‘s full C-band transponder on AsiaSat 5, will deliver higher throughput and greater bandwidth efficiency, enabling customers to benefit from high quality, cost effective content contribution and distribution solutions to and from the Asia Pacific.

SatLink‘s CEO David Hochner commented, “Providing the gateway between East and West, this upgrade will enable broadcasters and content providers to deliver content from Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas directly to Asia in one hop from our strategic location.

“Not only will customers benefit from greater bandwidth efficiency but also complete end-to-end broadcasting services including localisation of content via our HD playout centre, live insertions, time delay and encryption (CA) services. This upgrade will be instrumental in providing a high quality level of service and flexibility to broadcasters and channels alike as they look for a partner to deliver rich media content to access all major Pay-TV platforms across the Asia-Pacific region.”

AsiaSat 5, at 100.5 ?E, has established penetration into over 50 countries across Asia, including two of the world‘s largest TV markets China and India.

Top tier international and national broadcasters are utilising SatLink‘s capabilities on AsiaSat 5 to distribute programmes to Asian free to air, Pay-TV and terrestrial markets.

News channels and content providers including Thomson Reuters TV, Associated Press, euronews, France 24 as well as other leading International channels such as DayStar Network, Luxe HD, Trace HD and major sporting events are delivered to Asia via SatLink‘s teleport.

AsiaSat President and CEO William Wade said, “The introduction of a more efficient DVB-S2 platform on AsiaSat 5 by our teleport partner SatLink is an important move to meet the growing demand for more cost effective end to end transmission services from international broadcasters who are expanding into the rapidly growing Asian market. We are pleased to work with SatLink to continue to provide innovative and comprehensive services to broadcasters through this new DVB-S2 platform.”

MUMBAI: Japanese consumer electronics brand Akai has announced the launch of its new range of LEDs and LCD televisions in India.

The company has launched two new models of LED TVs and one new model for LCD TV. The range includes India‘s first 29 inch ultra slim LED with only 9 mm narrow bezel (model LED29E12) whose initial response has been extremely encouraging.

Akai India is targeting a growth of 50 per cent in the next quarter with its diverse range of LEDs, High Definition LCDs and CRT televisions.

Akai India MD Pranay Dhabhai said, “With our new range of affordably priced and technologically superior LEDs and LCD TVs, we hope to make a strong value proposition to the buyer in the Indian hinterland across smaller towns and villages.We are targeting a growth of 50 percent in the festive season and our innovative launches coupled with festive offers and discounts will further help us achieve these figures”.

Akai stated that its new 29-inch LED TV 29E12 has a narrow bezel of only 9 mm, possibly the narrowest amongst the available LEDs in India. There is a Blu-ray USB feature that allows the user to enjoy playback of full HD movies straight on the LED TV through the provided two USB slots. Besides, full HD format, these USB slots have capability of playing all other popular movie, picture and music formats.

Other key features include natura light technology with dynamic back light, brushed finish, 3D dynamic noise reduction, 3D comb filter and dynamic skin correction. The model with 236 channels also allows one to pack in sports, movies and games with a backlit picture, amplified and enhanced surround sound, and the convenience of sleep timer and picture freeze. It also supports USB 2.0 for both movies and still photos.

Akai 40-inch Full HD LED Television model Takashi 40 comes with narrow bezel of 12 mm and displays super-high resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Akai Takashi 40 LED has 3 HDMI slots which allows the user to stream high definition content from Blu-ray players, laptops, camera and other devices. It has special features like dynamic skin correction, natura light technology, 3D comb filter, 3D noise reduction. Like the 29 inch LED, Takashi 40 is also equipped with Blu ray USB feature which has capability of playing all popular Full HD movies, picture and music formats. The model is available across India at leading retail outlets.

Akai 15-inch LCD TV model Cutie comes with a USB Blu-ray player which allows playing all popular Full HD movies, indeed a first-of-its-kind for the size and segment of LCD. Also, Cutie has digital photo frame feature which allows one to store numerous pictures in USB and use the product as a photo frame. The high definition television comes with dynamic contrast of 100000:1 and a strong sound of 200W PMPO stereo.

MUMBAI: Chinese Pay-Per-View (PPV) and Video On Demand (VoD) platform, You On Demand Holdings, has signed a carriage agreement with cable operator Hubei Chutian Radio and Television Information Network Company.

Hubei has 1.7 million subscribers in the cities of Wuhan, Yichang, Xiantao, Xianmen and Qianiiang. They will now have access to both You On Demand‘s Transactional Video On Demand (TVoD) and Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) packages. With the addition of Hubei Cable, You On Demand is now available in 7.2 million homes.

You On Demand chairman, CEO Shane McMahon said, “We are thrilled to have Hubei Cable join the roster of cable operators in China that are partnering with You On Demand. We look forward to providing their customers with the best in home entertainment.”

You On Demand currently has content deals in place with Hollywood studios including Warner Bros., Disney and Paramount Pictures.

MUMBAI: Movie on demand service BigFlix has launched an app on Windows Phone, allowing users to access over 1000 movies.

The company has a catalogue of multi-lingual Indian movies and also hand-picked Indian films – within 15 days of its theatrical release. Films like ‘Jism 2‘, ‘Bodyguard‘ and ‘Fashion‘ can be watched at the user’s convenience – anywhere, anytime.

The BigFlix app can be downloaded free of cost by Windows Phone users by going to the Windows Marketplace and a simple clicking on the app.

Users can subscribe to watch full movies and the same logins would also work on PCs and laptops, Tablets and other smartphones.

“This is the first Indian video-on-demand app available on Windows Phone, featuring movies across languages Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and others in DVD like quality. With the launch of the new range of mobile devices – powered by Windows Phone, Microsoft is aiming to strengthen its position in the global smartphone market,” BigFlix said.

In the last year, mobile devices running on Windows Phone 7.5 have grown among smartphone users in India. The OS has been built to let users enjoy a multimedia experience on mobile devices, which is leveraged by apps like BigFlix.

BigFlix business head Shreyash Sigtia said, “Microsoft has set technical specifications for all their devices, which lend themselves well to high-quality content on all the smartphones powered by Windows Phone. With the mobile platform becoming popular with high-end smartphones users globally, BigFlix aims to fulfill the need gap of Indian movies on Windows Phone. I am sure that the BigFlix app will be able to achieve the same success it has witnessed on iOS and Android on the Windows Phone platform too.”

Microsoft India director – Windows Phone Business Group Vineet Durani said, “All of us love our daily dose of movies and Bollywood and BigFlix gives you yet another compelling reason to stay glued to your Windows Phone. With no ads and no breaks between you and the latest film; watching films via BigFlix is pure pleasure.”

Microsoft adds that Windows Marketplace has been growing with more than 100,000 apps in less than a year since the launch of the Windows Phone 7.5 in India.

MUMBAI: Leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel entered into an agreement with Microsoft to deliver the technology company‘s cloud-based Office 365 business productivity solutions to small and medium businesses through its cloud platform.

Under the agreement, Airtel will be able to power SMBs with access to Microsoft Office 365, addressing their connectivity and productivity requirements while allowing them to focus on their core business activities.

Office 365, along with Airtel‘s DSL and Internet Leased Ports/Lines (ILP) services, will empower SMBs with the option to create a public facing website with their own domain name, access to the latest releases from Office 365, state-of-the art anti-virus & anti-spam solutions and most importantly, anytime, anywhere access to documents and emails with best experience delivered on smartphones using Airtel‘s network.

Announcing the partnership, Bharti Airtel CEO – India & South Asia Sanjay Kapoor said, “We are delighted to partner with Microsoft to address the growing ICT needs of the SMB segment. The partnership will allow us to become a virtual CIO for our SMB customers. According to industry estimates, there is a growing affinity towards technology adoption in this segment and their IT spending is surging at a rate of 15 per cent per year.”

SMB segment has shown a high adoption of Cloud computing especially SaaS – which contributes more than 50 per cent to the overall cloud market. “With our superior network experience and Microsoft‘s dependable technology suite we will be able to offer cost effective and secure cloud services in a high growth SaaS market,” Kapoor said.

Commenting on the occasion, Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said, “We are pleased that Bharti Airtel will offer our world-class cloud productivity solution to SMBs in India. Agility, focus and cost are the key reasons why businesses are moving to a cloud and hence Microsoft‘s partnership will allow Bharti Airtel‘s customers to continue to stay ahead of the curve through solutions that truly fit their needs. The agreement will enable SMBs to take advantage of a secure cloud computing environment at an opex model based pricing.”

MUMBAI: DigiVive, which runs mobile TV platform nexGTv, has expanded its bouquet by partnering with Times Television Network to live stream Times Now and ET Now.

Under this partnership, nexGTv users will also enjoy select content of Zoom channel by use of the replay TV feature of nexGTv.

At present, nexGTv users have access to range of over 100 channels with features like – replay TV, EPG guide, on screen controls, option of deleting and listing the channels as per their choice and much more.

DigiVive SVP Operations Rohit Sawhney said, “We are glad to partner with Times Television Network for live streaming of – Times Now and ET Now along with select content from Zoom TV. With increasing customer base, our endeavor is to enrich our content options so as to offer the best quality of TV service on the move.”

Times Television Network Head – Digital & Syndication Ayesha Surty said, “This partnership with nexGTv which provides live streaming and VOD of our channels will help us offer further value to our consumers who can now access our content on the move.”

MUMBAI: YouTube, the world‘s leading video community, has partnered with digital specialists Rightster and international sports media rights agency MP & Silva, to bring the best of international football content to YouTube.

This partnership creates a new football channel on YouTube, Love Football, which will include highlights from Italy‘s Serie A, France‘s Ligue 1, US Major League Soccer, Brazil‘s Serie A and the Championship, FA Cup and Capital One Cup from England.

YouTube audiences can now access some of the best footballing action from around the world. In addition, Love Football offers fans the ability to subscribe to content on YouTube from their favourite leagues. Clips of interviews with players and managers, documentaries and behind-the-scenes footage are also part of the channel offer.

YouTube EMEA Senior Director, Sports Stephen Nuttall says, “We‘re delighted to be able to offer content from Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1 and other international leagues to YouTube‘s passionate football community around the world.

“Our ambition is to establish YouTube as a destination for goals and highlights and this deal adds another top league to YouTube‘s football offer.”

MP & Silva Group CEO Andrea Radrizzani said, “Launching Love Football on YouTube is an extremely exciting project for us. In addition to highlights clips our new channel gives us the ability to stream live sports content. We can now for the first time engage directly with consumers and football fans on a global scale.”

Rightster Founder and CEO Charlie Muirhead said, “We‘re delighted to be supporting MP & Silva with the exciting launch of the LoveFootball Channels on YouTube. The YouTube platform now has many amazing new features that sports fans will love. Rightster‘s audience development team in London and New York have already been busy working to alert fans and build the loyal and passionate subscriber base these channels deserve.

“For the first time, Rightster provides MP & Silva with centralised visibility and control of all its sports rights, including complex geographic restrictions and release windows, across both YouTube and all other platforms and publishers – allowing them to do the best possible job for each League.”

MUMBAI: Sony Music has launched an application for ‘Coke Studio-2‘.

The app hosts current Coke Studio season 2 episodes, audio, artiste profiles and twitter feeds.

It is available on android phones on the PlayStore and will soon be available on the iOS platform across the globe. It is also embedded with social media allowing users to share what they are listening to on Facebook and Twitter.

Sony Music Entertainment India marketing director Sanujeet Bhujabal said, “We have received overwhelming response from our customers on the Coke Studio albums so far. The first season surpassed expectations while this season is already notching some great numbers with 10000 CD‘s sold over a period of five months and over 10 Million downloads. This has in fact got us to launch an app for music lovers to experience the music on the go and share the music on social feeds on a touch of a button. Currently we are featuring the 4 episodes while the rest of the episodes will be added soon.”

The Coke Studio App brings these iconic and diverse music styles into one compact application which allows users to access performances at their convenience, the company said.