Category: Software

MUMBAI: Maya Digital Studios, the studio that pioneered the art and technology of animation and visual effects in India in the 1990s, has started yet another ‘industry first‘ initiative where young animation, VFX & 3D stereoscopy professionals will undergo advanced training based on a Studio Ready Training Modules with employment at Maya‘s studio facilities in Mumbai and Goa. The, initiative by Maya called ‘Maya In Studio Training‘ (MIST), will be formally launched on 11 August in Mumbai.

Elaborating about MIST, Maya co-founder and director Deepa Sahi said, “Our focus at Maya has always been on artists and I‘m proud to say that even after so many years Maya is the dream place to be for any animation and visual effects artist- as the saying goes- “Your work is as good as the person behind the machine”.

We are therefore committed to nurturing the men and women ‘behind‘ the machine! Hence we are now starting with the facility for a dedicated in studio training facility within the studio to create studio ready artists, who have the right blend of creativity & production skills.”

Earlier, Maya had launched an academic training institute and created over 50000 animation and visual effects professionals in the Indian industry. At that time, the industry was new in India training was critical, which is when Maya decided to launch the training facility to create an animation and visual effects ecosystem in the country.

Elaborately, talking about MIST, Maya chairman & managing director Ketan Mehta stated, “As the training industry evolved for Animation & Visual Effects the focus shifted from creating artists to mass production. Thus, there was no focus on teaching them the studio skills and production processes to create consummate Techno-Artists in this field.

With Maya In Studio Training, MIST we are all set to fill in this gap that exists between Animation & Visual Effects training and the studio environment, between ‘knowing‘ and ‘doing‘. Freshers will work with studio veterans and learn while working on live projects at MIST.”

MUMBAI: Saban Brands is adding game to its digital capabilities. The company has acquired The Playforge business, a mobile games developer and publisher, known for Zombie Farm, the third highest grossing iOS app in 2011 and a top 10 grossing game for nearly two years, accounting for more than 37 million downloads.

This acquisition continues Saban Brands‘ growth since reacquiring the Power Rangers property and purchasing lifestyle brand Paul Frank in 2010. Additionally, the company announced in July that it is launching Vortexx, a broadcast television block on US broadcaster The CW network and an online destination for action, adventure and comedy entertainment.

The company plans to extend current and future free-to-play mobile games developed by the San Mateo-based The Playforge into licensing, merchandising and media opportunities.

In addition, the acquisition greatly expands Saban Brands‘ development capabilities, providing additional resources for advancing games currently in its slate. The Playforge team adds more than 25 employees to the organisation and gives Saban Brands a solid footprint in Silicon Valley.

Saban Brands VP of digital Dan Silberberger said, “Mobile is becoming the default medium for entertainment, and games are the future of social engagement. The Playforge has a demonstrated record of creating sustainable, high-quality mobile social games. This acquisition allows us to take a leadership position in the space, combine our brand expertise with the development capabilities of The Playforge, and further expand our reach to wherever consumers want – from mobile to online to television.”

The Playforge, founded by husband and wife team Vince McDonnell and Susan Salvador, will continue to release game titles under its own brand, continuing the company‘s reputation as a leading developer of highly engaging, character-based games. The Playforge already has three live games in the iTunes App Store (Zombie Farm, Zombie Life, and Tree World) and is the only company, with the exception of Rovio and its Angry Birds game, to be in the Top 10 grossing iPhone apps on the iTunes Rewind in both 2010 and 2011.

As of the end of 2011, Zombie Farm is the No. 1 top grossing free-to-play application of all time and The Playforge was only bootstrapped company to make the top 10 grossing list.

The Playforge CEO Vince McDonnell said, “By partnering with Saban Brands we‘re able to take our products to new heights where they can be enjoyed and experienced by a much broader audience through licensing, merchandising and media opportunities, areas that are tremendously exciting to us. We look forward to collaborating with Dan and his team in support of our three additional title launches in 2012, and as we plan for the future.”

The Playforge has taken a focused approach to game development with a team of product managers, producers, developers, designers and artists focused on the core aspects of a game. The approach has worked well for its highly-successful Zombie Farm franchise.

Saban Capital Group director of private equity Richard Yen said,”Zombie Farm is one of the first iOS games to sell virtual currency redeemable for virtual goods. This continues to reinforce The Playforge‘s position as an industry pioneer and leader as this model now represents the lion‘s share of iOS app revenue”.

Saban Brands president Elie Dekel said, “As Saban Brands continues to grow and evolve, we are thrilled to be working with the talented team at The Playforge. We look forward to a steady stream of new games, new intellectual properties (IP), and new strategic collaborations that bring together and amplify the strengths and capabilities of the combined group”.

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The deployment of set-top boxes (STBs) in three metros is dismal, indicating that the sunset date of 31 October for switching off analogue cable in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai under the first phase of digitisation will be a herculean task.

Mumbai looks the most prepared with 50 per cent of cable TV homes already having digital STB installations. But Delhi and Kolkata seem to be struggling with the rate of STB installations around 25 per cent while Chennai is way behind.

Installation of STBs in cable TV homes is the most crucial precondition for digital switchover of cable television. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has, thus, been constantly reviewing the preparedness of the industry for the digital switchover.

A review by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has revealed that in Mumbai city there is an estimated requirement of 3.485 million STBs and so far 1.707 million have been installed.

The MSO-wise installation of STBs in Mumbai is as under:

“If the progress stays so sluggish, how will the government be able to force digitisation by 31 October? Things have to improve or we shall possibly be headed for another deadline extension,” a media analyst said.

Another headache for the Ministry is the absence of agreements between the broadcasters and the multi-system operators (MSOs). No deal has been signed so far, making it difficult for the cable operators to sell digitisation to their subscribers. MSOs and independent cable operators will also have to prepare channel packages, making them attractive for consumers to buy.

The completion of negotiation and the signing of interconnection agreements between the channel aggregators/ broadcasters and MSOs is one of the prerequisites for implementation of digital switchover.

The Ministry has been constantly coordinating with the stakeholders of the cable television industry, namely, broadcasters, MSOs and local cable operators (LCOs) to ensure that the deadline of 31 October 2012 is met and TV viewers in the four metro cities are in position to have the pleasure of experiencing digital broadcast without any interruption.

Fortnightly meetings of the Task Force are being held with all the stakeholders to take constant stock of the progress and to chalk out the measures to address emerging concerns.

MUMBAI: International cable company Liberty Global has reported a 5.2 per cent jump in revenue to $2.52 billion for the second quarter ended 30 June.

Operating Cash Flow was $1.19 billion, reflecting rebased growth of 2.5 per cent. Operating income decreased by three per cent to $479 million. Adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by 24 per cent to $186 million.

Liberty Global has added over 800,000 RGUs during the first six months of the year, reflecting strong demand for our market-leading, triple-play bundles.

Liberty Global president, CEO Mike Fries said, “These gains helped drive our second consecutive quarter of more than five per cent rebased revenue growth. As we expected, rebased OCF growth was modestly below our first quarter result at 2.5 per cent for Q2, which should represent the low point for the year. We remain committed to driving free cash flow growth, with Adjusted FCF increasing 19 per cent year-to-date to $466 million compared to the same period last year.”

Providing guidance for the full year, the company said that as it moved into Q3 and Q4, it expected to generate accelerating rebased OCF growth due largely to the strong volume growth achieved during the first six months, as well as margin expansion in Germany.

“Product innovation remains a core focus of ours as we strengthen our leadership position in digital video products and services. We intend to roll out our next-generation Horizon video platform in the Dutch market next month, followed by Switzerland in Q4. On the wireless front, we launched our 4G mobile service in Chile in mid-May. Although it’s still early, we are very encouraged by the traction that we are getting from existing, as well as new customers,” said Fries.

Also, having added nearly 30,000 wireless subscribers in the first six months, the company expects to see customer take-up accelerate.

The company was engaged in several merger and acquisition activities during the second quarter. First, it closed the sale of its interest in Australian business, Austar, in late May, generating roughly $1.1 billion in proceeds.

Subsequently, Liberty announced an agreement to create the leading cable operator in Puerto Rico by combining OneLink’s and its own cable operations into a joint venture that gives the entity control and consolidation with a 60 per cent majority interest.

“We are also pleased to report that our integration in Germany is proceeding on track with a new management team in place since July 1, combining the best of Unitymedia and KBW,” Fries said.

Liberty‘s consolidated liquidity position stands at approximately $4.0 billion, including $1.9 billion of cash and cash equivalents. “This gives us ample capital to deploy into high return investment opportunities, including acquisitions and our stock buyback program. As of June 30, we had repurchased approximately $430 million of equity this year and remain committed to completing our $1 billion target for 2012,” Fries stated.

MUMBAI: Pay-Per-View (PPV) and Video On Demand (VOD) platform in China, You On Demand, has signed an agreement to offer Paramount Pictures titles through its Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) and Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) services in the People‘s Republic of China.

The titles that will be available to You On Demand customers include the ‘Mission: Impossible‘ franchise starring Tom Cruise, including the latest in the series, ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol‘, Michael Bay‘s ‘Transformers‘, the Coen Brothers‘ ‘No Country For Old Men‘ and director/producer J.J. Abrams‘ ‘Star Trek‘.

You On Demand CEO, chairman Shane McMahon said, “Paramount Pictures is one of Hollywood‘s most iconic studios and we are delighted to offer films from its rich library to our customers. The addition of Paramount‘s roster now gives YOU On Demand the most vibrant and compelling titles available in the People‘s Republic of China.”

Paramount now joins Warner Bros. Entertainment, Disney Media Distribution, Lionsgate, Miramax Pictures, Magnolia Pictures, Gravitas Ventures, Film Buff, K2 Communications, 3net and Big Mama Digital Entertainment (Karaoke) as content providers working with You On Demand in its efforts to bring the best in home entertainment to audiences in China.

MUMBAI: UK‘s Competition Commission has said that pay TV service provider Sky‘s strong position in the pay-TV movie market does not adversely affect competition.

The Competition Commission had initially said that Sky’s exclusive deals with film studios to air their movies when they first air on television restricted competition. However, the Competition Commission has now decided not to take action over the situation.

The Competition Commission noted that companies like Netflix and LoveFilm have increased competition and consumer choice.

Competition Commission chairman of the inquiry group Laura Carstensen said, “In our view, competition in the pay-TV retail market remains ineffective but we were asked by Ofcom to look specifically at the role of first pay-movie content and Sky‘s position with regard to these rights. We have concluded that this content does not provide Sky with such an advantage when competing for pay-TV subscribers as to harm competition and, given this finding, we are not proposing any remedies. We note that, were there to be a material change in the circumstances which have led us to our findings, this might warrant renewed scrutiny of these issues. We also note that Ofcom has sought separately to remedy Sky’s position with regard to sports content.”

MUMBAI: The mobile data services market is projected to grow to Rs 671 billion by 2015, according to a recent report by IAMAI-IMRB.

The study estimates that over 30 per cent of the total mobile revenues would come from mobile data services, contributing 54 per cent of telecom revenue by 2015.

With mobile devices driving consumption for news, social media, e-commerce & banking, video-on-demand, gaming & entertainment, there is a need for the industry to strengthen the existing eco-system. A major challenge that remains for the industry is to drive engagement from customers on the mobile screen utilising the internet.

It is in this background of explosive growth that the IAMAI is organising the Mobile Innovation Conference on 8 August at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. The conference aims to become a platform to encourage industry leaders – both from the telcos and providers of mobile data platforms and services – to come together and collaborate on the future of engaging customers on mobiles.

Highlighting the need of the industry to look at revenues beyond traditional means, the event will open with a key note address by Vishwanath Alluri (Founder & CEO – IMImobile) on mobile ‘mEngagement – Its Present, Future & Relevance to businesses in India.’ Idea Cellular managing director Himanshu Kapania will also be speaking at the event on ‘Services beyond Voice and SMS‘ in the mobile space.

IAMAI president Dr. Subho Ray said, “Thus far, the mobile industry has focused on aggregating numbers for mobile usage. While MVAS provided consumers with information, entertainment and utility services and generated incremental revenues for operators, the time is now ripe to move beyond MVAS and focus on enterprise adoption of mobile technologies for greater business productivity. A robust and proven mobile data services platform that can act as a bridge between operators and enterprises is needed. Such a platform can drive enterprise adoption of mobile and open up new revenue streams for operators.”

The Mobile Innovation Conference will feature participation from prominent industry thought leaders like Neeraj Roy (Managing Director & CEO – Hungama), Anisha Singh (Founder & Chief Executive Officer – mydala.com), Jonathan Bill (Senior Vice President and Business Development – Vodafone India), Beerud Sheth (Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer – SMS Gupshup) and Sunil Kamath (Sales Director- India & SAARC – Opera Software).

IAMAI & IMImobile will also be releasing a joint study on ‘Mobile Adoption: State of Indian Enterprises’ during the inaugural session of the event.

MUMBAI: Vuclip has announced the launch of its new advertising unit Vuclip Click2Vid globally.

Vuclip Click2Vid is a mobile video ad unit that provides media experience across 5,500 devices, including smartphones, feature phones and tablets, without requiring time consuming, manual adjustments by brands or advertising agencies. 
 
The pilot run of this program is running in India and according to the company, brands such as Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Cadbury Silk have already experienced success reaching more than 100 million mobile Internet users in India. For example, Cadbury Silk experienced one million impressions from an approximately six-week campaign, the company said in a statement.

Vuclip‘s Click2Vid ad unit allows clients and agencies to handle all aspects of ensuring the creative is optimised for all devices and can play the video ad directly, without the need for an intermediate landing page.
 
MadHouse India COO Vinod Thadani said, “We‘ve been helping our brand owners get very focused on targeting consumers where they spend the majority of their time — on their mobiles – and Vuclip has helped us achieve great success. Vuclip Click2Vid has even enabled us to take television commercials and run them on mobile and enable consumers to interact with them- an innovation I thought would never be possible!”

“We‘re hearing from our pilot advertisers that we have nailed the perfect combination of respect for the user and efficiency for advertisers by making mobile advertising device agnostic. We already have a track record of delivering optimized mobile video to more than 5,500 device types and this announcement is an extension of that. Our priority is to connect consumers with brands without friction,” Vuclip global head of advertising and managing director of Southeast Asia Ashwin Puri added.

Vuclip Click2Vid is now available in the US, Indonesia and India.

NEW DELHI: The Government has said broadcasters, multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators should speed up finalisation of agreements if the first phase of digitisation has to be implemented on 1 November.

In the meeting of the Task Force on digitisation on Wednesday, Additional Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry Rajiv Takru was clear that the government will not tolerate such delay.

The broadcasters informed the Government that talks were still on in about 90 per cent of the cases for signing agreements with multi-system operators (MSOs).

MSOs would need to ink their content agreements so that they can work out channel packages and approach consumers to make the shift to digital cable TV.

On the cable TV front, MSOs and LCOs have to settle their revenue share agreements. The LCOs control the last mile to the consumer homes and form a valuable part of the distribution chain.

Several MSOs are in advanced talks with local cable operators for finalising the revenue-share deals. The LCOs are unhappy with the revenue share mandated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Trai has fixed LCOs‘ revenue share of 45 per cent for free-to-air channels (FTA) and 35 per cent in case of pay channels. The LCOs want their revenue share to be increased as the onset of digital cable will result in their having to disclose the actual number of subscribers. The total subscribers disclosed by the LCOs now is much lower than the actual numbers which helps them in not having to pay to MSOs for all their subscriber connections.

Apart from representatives of the I&B Ministry, ASSOCHAM and Broadcast Engineering Society India Ltd. (BECIL), the meeting was attended by Arun Mohan of Zee on behalf of the broadcasters while Ashok Mansukhani represented the MSO Alliance and Roop Sharma represented the LCOs.

The Task Force comprising all stakeholders was constituted by the Ministry in April 2011 to oversee digitisation.

It was also found that deployment of STBs at cable homes had slowed following the deferment of the sunset date for analogue cable connections. The Ministry wanted STB deployment to be hastened.

The Task Force decided to meet again on 3 September to take stock of the situation with regard to deployment of STBs in the four metros where analogue is scheduled to switch off on 31 October.

The Government – which wants to complete digitisation in the country by December 2014 – had on 20 June postponed the sunset date by four months to 31 October.

Mumbai: Jump Games, Reliance Entertainment Digital‘s mobile and web games developer and publisher, has partnered with Playtone to launch the official mobile application for Tom Hanks‘ multi-dimensional animated series, Electric City.

The app is currently available on iOS and Android platforms.

The application includes all available episodes from the series created by and starring Tom Hanks, an original Role Playing Game (RPG) featuring a key character from the online series, digital comic books that expand on the series‘ mythology and behind-the-scenes sneak peeks from its development.

Reliance Entertainment CEO – digital business Manish Agarwal said, “Electric City is an ambitious and groundbreaking series from one of the world‘s biggest stars, and we are proud to help bring Tom Hanks‘ vision to mobile audiences.”

“We always knew that Electric City was a big, multi-dimensional story, and that it made sense to present it in a non-traditional way,” Playtone partner Gary Goetzman added.

Available for $0.99, the mobile RPG game allows players to step into the role of a key character from the series as he attempts to undermine the control of the Electric City and restore freedom to its people.