Category: Software

NEW DELHI: The government has made no signals of deferring the deadline for digitisation in the four metros, but a Parliamentary Committee has indicated that it wants an extension of time.

The government has set 30 June as the date for digitisation in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Worried that adequate number of set-top boxes may not become available in time, the Committee has said the Department of Electronics and Information Technology should coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the issue of extension of the proposed deadline for switchover to digital addressable systems in the first phase.

The Standing Committee for Information Technology while examining the demands for grants of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Communication & Information Technology Ministry) said the manufacturing of STB should lead from the assembling to finding out the solution for the required core technology through Indian R&D initiatives.

It says the proposed extension should be considered after having detailed strategy with regard to manufacturing of the required number of STBs through indigenous production and also finalising the policy issue with regard to providing competitive edge to Indian manufactured STBs.

Need for indigenous STBs

During the deliberations certain crucial Research and Development issues relating to the technology also emerged and the Committee were apprised that it would take some time for the country to become fully self reliant with regard to indigenous production of STBs.

The Committee also observed that even if the Indian industry was able to produce the desired number of STBs by the stipulated timeline for switching over to digitisation, the Government intervention would be required to ensure 100 per cent indigenisation of STBs. In this direction, the Government may consider hiking of the import duty from 5 to 10 per cent.

The Committee noted that STBs are being assembled in India at present and the real challenge is of the card that is going into the system which is a technology mastered by only four or five different manufacturers worldwide. But similar technology has been developed in India as well.

Indian STB cards to be ready in 6 months

The representative of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) told the Committee that India would be ready in about six months for the first prototype of the card which can be manufactured in the country.

The Committee while taking note of the status of R&D in the basic electronic component of the STBs strongly recommended that all the financial support and other support should be provided to C-DAC so that Indian STBs are made available.

The Committee was also apprised that 25 per cent subsidy is proposed to be provided under the modified SIP scheme. The Committee was of the strong opinion that promoting indigenous STBs would definitely provide employment opportunities to our people.

No review of STBs before announcing DAS deadlines

The Committee in a separate report relating to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry also reviewed the implementation of Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011.

It found that the Ministry had not done any survey on the availability of STBs to ascertain the domestic preparedness and self sufficiency in the manufacturing of STBs.

The Committee noted that the Bill for introduction of Digital Addressable system (DAS) had been enacted recently notifying the dates for switching over to DAS from analogue cable services by December 2014.

It said it had been given to understand that following the passing of the above legislation making digitisation mandatory, there is an ongoing demand for STBs in future and there will be large scale demand for STBs to meet the requirement.

Concern over cross-media holdings

Apart from referring to some recommendations of the Administrative Staff College of India in Hyderabad, the Committee noted that some of the stakeholders who deposed before the Committee in the context of examination of The Cable TV (Regulation) Network Second Amendment Bill 2011 brought before the Committee the emergence and growing trend of cross media holdings in the country.

The Committee, therefore, emphasized that the issue merits urgent attention and need to be addressed before it emerges as ‘a threat to our democratic structure.’

It asked the Ministry to formulate the stand on the issue of cross media ownership in coordination with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India after taking into account all related aspects and the prevalent international practice followed by the suitable legislation/guidelines in this regard.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Viacom has unveiled the results of its new ‘Social TV: Viewers C‘s The Moment‘ study exploring the social TV phenomenon through the lens of the viewer.

As per the study, while fairly nascent, social TV and co-viewing trends are growing rapidly, representing a shift in TV viewing from a lean-back to a lean-forward experience. Viewers engage in an average of seven different types of social TV activities – online or offline – on at least a weekly basis. The most common activities include watching TV with others (85 per cent), searching for supplemental content (61 per cent) and viewing TV show clips on social networks (58 per cent).

The new research reveals that consumers engaging in social TV activities “C‘s the moment” primarily by communicating, consuming content and checking comments.

The two-phase study involved 24 ethnographies in Boston and San Diego with VMN viewers aged 13-52 that engage in social TV activities on at least a weekly basis. National online surveys were conducted with over 1,500 VMN viewers aged 13-54. When asked what social TV means to them, the most commonly reported words were “interactive,” “friends” and “Facebook “or “Twitter.” The leading source of discovery of social TV services is through search (38 per cent), followed by social networks (26 per cent) and ads run on shows (22 per cent).

Viacom Media Networks executive VP, chief research officer Colleen Fahey Rush said, “One of the main goals of this research was to understand how to inspire social TV activity among our audiences. At VMN, we‘re focused on leveraging our fans‘ attachment to their favourite shows by developing compelling social TV services and apps that deepen those connections and unlock the value of social chatter.”

Communication: Communicating is a top priority for social TV users. Many respondents described cobbling together unique communication systems to interact with different social circles while watching a show. “When I‘m watching Jersey Shore, I have Facebook chats with 10 friends and I‘m texting a dozen people, and I can be on the phone to my best friend,” said one participant.

There is no one-size-fits-all in terms of chat options. Of those interested in chat features, 56 per cent prefer communicating through the social TV app/service, 53 per cent through Facebook, 50 per cent through individual or group texts and 38 per cent through Skype or Apple FaceTime. For those that use check-in services, 71 per cent check in to a show to let their friends know and 64 per cent check in to let other fans of the show know. Check-in services are a unique way of communicating viewing activities while simultaneously encouraging others to tune-in and join a shared experience.

Smartphones dominate the use of social TV apps at 82%, trailed by tablets at 18 per cent. For services that are delivered via HTML websites and associated apps, 52 per cent of usage occurs on smartphones or tablets, followed closely by desktop or laptops at 48 per cent.

Content: Content is king for social TV users. Viewers want something special from their social TV services rather than commoditized content that can be found through online searches. The number one request for content is full-length episodes (88 per cent), followed by sneak peeks of new episodes (75 per cent), and behind-the-scenes extras (71 per cent) and highlight clips (71 per cent).

The majority of TV socialisers are interested in rewards with real value, like free merchandise or signed cast photos. When putting aside the material aspect, virtual rewards offer an emotional pay-off, described as being similar to the feeling when ‘liked‘ on Facebook. Trivia and casual games related to a show are of greater interest if they offer some kind of reward. Real fans want to have their knowledge and skills tested, and expect the game to be challenging.

Comments: Social TV users check comments about their favorite shows for a variety of reasons. Comments provide a different point of view, can pick up on something a viewer may have missed on their own and most importantly, create a direct connection between fan and show. “I love reading Daniel Tosh‘s tweets while watching Tosh. It gives the show a whole other dimension,” said one survey respondent.

Not all sources of comments are equally valued. The number one source viewers want to hear from is a show‘s cast and crew, followed by the people they know. Audiences are sensitive to the quality of comments from a show‘s cast and crew – they look for authenticity and prefer the star(s) to be in character.

Social TV Users “C‘s the Moment” During Live Viewing: “Viewers C‘s the Moment” reveals that live TV show viewing unlocks the real value of social TV services and co-viewing activities. Features relating to communication, content and comments are twice as likely to be used during live than time-shifted viewing. Social TV enthusiasts reported feeling “left out” of the conversation if they missed a live airing.

One respondent said, “I‘m most likely to engage with Social TV networking when it‘s live. So when a new show comes on, I‘m very likely to check-in just before the show, see comments from other people, [and] make my own comments during the show as well.”

Social TV activities also increase directly after a live show, when viewers can access exclusive content like sneak peeks without interrupting the live viewing experience. “I go to the website and watch the director‘s cut…after it airs as I like the extra scenes. I like to feel that I am getting something extra and it extends the
show,” said a participant.

Social TV can also help foster show discovery. Features like check-ins, viewer comments and shared video clips help viewers discover shows; incentivise them to watch and encourage them to join the live conversations.

MUMBAI: Visual Computing Labs (VCL), a division of Tata Elxsi and a leading player in the animation and visual effects space, has associated with Walt Disney Pictures and UTV Motion Pictures’ animation film Arjun – The Warrior Prince, scheduled to release on 25 May.

VCL created all visual aspects of the film and provided all facets of animation production. It leveraged cutting-edge technologies to enhance the complete look and feel of the animated film. The project was completed in the time frame of 14 months with 70-80 artistes working on the creative as well as technical aspects.

VCL COO S Nagarajan said, “We are proud to be associated with UTV Motion Pictures for this very special and interesting project. This project has given us another opportunity to showcase our expertise in the VFX and animation space to a much wider range of audiences in India and globally. We are confident that we have been able to produce content that will provide viewers a world-class experience that matches international standards.”

The animated mythological action film is the untold story of Arjun, hero of the Mahabharata. A precocious talent plunged from boyhood and innocence into a murky world of deceit and betrayal, coming of age to become the most powerful warrior of his time. Spanning the dusty plains of Hastinapur to the icy peaks of the Himalayas, Arjun – The Warrior Prince is the story of a man discovering what it takes to be a hero.

Talking about the release of Arjun-The Warrior Prince, VCL, creative director Pankaj Khandpur said, “As the movie is about Arjun coming of age as the warrior prince, a lot of our effort went into conceptualising and planning around each frame and character. I am sure this movie would appeal to a wider audience, who would be able to relate to the story and characters.”

The film required the use of large-scale sets, massive backdrops and close to 20 primary and around 100 secondary characters keeping in mind its ambitious nature and look. VCL used software such as Maya, Renderman, Massive (for crowd multiplication) and fume effects (for fire sequences) to achieve the desired result.

Shots of real actors engaged in a sequence depicting war, fighting and racing were taken as referrals and replicated in animated versions to get a real-life look and feel to the scenes. In addition, each frame was also executed with attention to detail, to showcase the location and surrounding.

MUMBAI: Sap America, a subsidiary of Sap AG, has entered into an agreement to acquire Ariba, the leading cloud-based business commerce network, for enterprise value of approximately $4.3 billion.

The acquisition will combine Ariba’s successful buyer-seller collaboration network with SAP’s broad customer base and deep business process expertise to create new models for business-to-business collaboration in the cloud.

The transaction will be funded from Sap’s free cash and a €2.4 billion term loan facility. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of calendar year 2012, subject to Ariba stockholder approval, clearances by relevant regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Sap’s non-IFRS earnings per share in 2013.

With the addition of Ariba, SAP will acquire the leader in cloud-based collaborative business commerce. The acquisition establishes SAP as the leading business network, adding business-to-business collaboration to its existing solutions.

The move positions SAP in a fast-growing segment as buyers and sellers across the globe connect in new ways through the cloud.

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Ariba has approximately 2,600 employees. The company is the leader in cloud-based collaborative commerce applications and the second-largest cloud vendor by revenue.

With $444 million in total revenue, Ariba experienced 38.5 per cent annual growth in 2011. Its business network recorded 62 percent organic growth in the same period.

“The cloud has profoundly changed the way people interact. The impact will be even greater as enterprises connect and collaborate in new ways with their global networks of customers and partners,” said SAP Co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe.

“Cloud-based collaboration is redefining business network innovation, and we are catching this wave in the early stage of its evolution. The addition of Ariba will create the business network of the future, deliver immediate value to our customers and provide another solid engine for driving SAP’s growth in the cloud.”

Upon completion of the transaction, it is planned to consolidate all cloud-related supplier assets of SAP under Ariba.The existing management team will continue to lead Ariba, which will operate as an independent business under the name Ariba, a Sap company.

The SAP Executive Board intends to nominate Ariba CEO Bob Calderoni to the SAP Global Managing Board after closing of the transaction and subject

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide Channels will launch a channel in Brazil for the first time. This will be in partnership with NET Servi?§os, the biggest telecommunications and entertainment company of Latin America.

BBC HD will be available to Net‘s Top HD package subscribers starting on 28 May. This deal also includes a branded VOD service agreement which will provide content from BBC Entertainment and the preschool channel, CBeebies.

BBC HD will offer British entertainment content in high definition.For the first time, subscribers will see BBC programmes never seen before in Brazil like ‘Top Gear‘, now in its 18th season, one of the most acclaimed series from the BBC, sold to more than 198 countries and ‘Sherlock‘.

Global events will also be part of BBC HD in June, beginning with London Calling, a unique season of programming to celebrate the people, music, fashion, art, culture and history of Britain‘s capital city in the run up to the Olympics.

The season will be led by the spectacular coverage from the Queen‘s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.Planet Earth Live, an ambitious project which is the result of over ten years of innovation in techniques and formats at the BBC Natural History Unit and the biggest wildlife global broadcast ever undertaken by the BBC.

BBC Worldwide president of Worldwide Networks, Global BBC iPlayer Jana Bennett said, “I am thrilled that our channels will now reach audiences in Brazil with the BBC‘s amazing output. We will deliver the highest quality array of drama, documentaries, factual entertainment and natural history – the very best of British and the best of British talent, all in glorious HD. I‘m pleased that this has been made possible through our exciting partnership with Net Servi?§os”.

BBC HD programming will be broadcast in English with Portuguese subtitles and a few titles will be dubbed in Portuguese.

Net Servicos programming director Fernando Magalhaes said, “This launch is a reality due to an unprecedented partnership between Net and BBC, bringing an exclusive channel, with the well known and differentiated production quality that characterises the BBC, and that complements NET‘s international content offer. This deal will also facilitate our offering of new contents for NOW, NET‘s exclusive on demand service, that allows viewers to choose the content they wish to view when they want it, with the highest sound and image quality”.

Additionally, the VOD offering will bring NET‘s NOW platform subscribers, programming from BBC Entertainment with reality shows as popular as The Voice (US version) and Got to Dance UK; while preschool channel CBeebies will bring the favourite titles amongst the little ones like Finley the Fire Engine and Waybuloo, among others.

MUMBAI: Quikr, the Internet and mobile based classifieds leader, has attracted an investment of $32 million led by private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Existing investors Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners and eBay Inc. also participated in this round of fund raising, which is the fifth and the largest round of capital raised by the parent company Quikr India.

Quikr is India’s leading horizontal classifieds platform with 17 million unique individuals and small businesses using it across 83 cities every month.

These individuals and businesses access Quikr to sell, buy, rent or find products and services in a variety of categories such as electronics, cars, bikes, real estate, services, jobs, education and entertainment.

Existing investors include Nokia Growth Partners and Omidyar Network, apart from those mentioned above.

Quikr Co-Founder and CEO Pranay Chulet said, “In the initial rounds of fund raising, we have already attracted some of the best investors across the globe. We are delighted to have a strategic partner like Warburg Pincus as we continue our journey forward. The current round, which is our largest to date, will enable us to diversify our offerings across both online and mobile platforms, intensify our product evelopment efforts and further strengthen our marketing capabilities.”

The next decade is poised to present tremendous growth opportunities in the Internet sector in India, supported by a growing number of Internet users, increasing income levels and a young population.

Warburg Pincus India MD Nitin Nayar said, “We were impressed by the dynamism and the vision of Quikr‘s management team to further build on Quikr‘s leadership position as an innovative online marketplace. Globally, Warburg Pincus has been a leading investor in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors for more than 25 years. We look forward to working closely with the management team to build on the company’s success and accelerate its growth plans.”

MUMBAI: Times Internet Limited (TIL) and All India Radio have joined hands to broadcast live commentary of the last three matches of the Indian Premier League 2012 on the state-run radio broadcaster’s AIR’s National Channel and FM Gold Network.

With the deal in place, AIR will offer the running commentary of the final matches of IPL 2012, including the eliminator match at Bangalore on 23 May, second qualifier match and final match at Chennai on 25 May and 27 May respectively.

The matches will be broadcast alternately in Hindi and English on National Channel and FM Gold Network.

Speaking on the deal, Times Internet CEO Rishi Khiani said, “By partnering with All India Radio, IPL 2012 will be able to reach out to a much larger base of cricket fans, who are spread all over the country ,especially beyond the metros.”

The coverage area of National Channel includes Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Orissa, Pondicherry, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and parts of Assam, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

The commentary on National Channel will be radiated by 1000 KW transmitter from centrally located places i.e. Nagpur (Mtrs. 191.6 M – 1566 KHz.), 500 KW, from Kolkata (Mtrs. 264.5 M – 1134 KHz.) and 20 KW Transmitter at Delhi (Mtrs.246.9 M – 1215 KHz.) and two SW transmitters at 9425 KHz and 9470 KHz at Bangalore and Aligarh respectively.

“AIR has had a very long innings in promoting sports including cricket in the country. We are still going strong in that direction. We are now about to carry live commentary of the last three important and crucial matches including the final match of IPL – 2012. We hope that this would provide a new experience to our listeners,” said AIR director general LD Mandloi.

MUMBAI: Victorian new media company, My Heroes, has landed an exclusive contract with Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals.

My Heroes, which specialises in digital and electronic products, will develop a suite of fan-based interactive products, using traditional and new media, to connect India’s youth to their cricket heroes by accessing celebrity and team-based intellectual property.

The deal fructified due to the efforts of Victorian Coalition Government‘s super trade mission which helps local firms to help secure contracts in international markets.

“During the super trade mission to India earlier this year, we were able to engage with key contacts including the Rajasthan Royals, other Indian Premier League teams, the League’s governing body, as well as various Bollywood talent management companies with whom we had existing relationships,” My Heroes CEO Jon Field said.

The My Heroes partnership with the Rajasthan Royals follows a deal last year when My Heroes gained exclusive licensing rights to personalise digital and electronic products for one of India’s largest entertainment and new media companies, with strong ties to Bollywood and sporting celebrities.

According to Victoria Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise the deal was just one of many successful outcomes following the Victorian Coalition Government’s super trade mission to India earlier this year.

“My Heroes’ partnership with the Rajasthan Royals, who represent the state of Rajasthan in the Indian Premier League, will allow fans to connect personally with their favourite cricket players across a number of media forums,” Asher said.

Asher said the growing Indian market enabled My Heroes to position itself as a leader in digital and electronic personalised sports and entertainment products across the world.

“My Heroes has leveraged its strategic competitive advantage in the Indian market, connecting fans through sport and entertainment,” Asher added.

MUMBAI: BigFlix has expanded its catalogue in India to over 1000 movies spanning across eight major languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi across all genres of romance, drama, action and comedy.

On his company’s revamped approach, BigFlix content head Sandeep Mehra said, “Our effort is to make movies available on World Wide Web within 15 to 20 days of its theatrical release. Out of 200 movies released in India, only 20 movies release internationally. The aim of BigFlix is to showcase latest Bollywood movies of good quality print at an economical price. Now anyone with internet access can stream full movies at extremely affordable price. They don’t have to resort to bad quality print or piracy anymore. With this we also take a step towards abolition of piracy.”

With BigFlix one can experience a seamless movie viewing experience on the Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Android Devices and Smart TV with a single login across devices.

Many film producers like Vikram Bhatt have embraced this digitisation with open arms and are positive that the digital medium launch will prove to be a good catalyst for films to have a wider reach.

Said Bhatt, “With the kind of digital boon we are witnessing, services like BigFlix will drastically increase a filmmaker’s reach. It will give them an opportunity to cater to a vast audience both in India and the international market. It is a win-win situation for both the subscribers and the film producers because now the film can reach a much wider and diverse audience at a very nominal fee.”

BigFlix’ entire catalogue is available in DVD quality print at a small subscription fee of 249 Rs per month for unlimited streaming and downloads.

MUMBAI: Gadgets are the most popular online purchases over mobile phones as per the study conducted by eCommerce marketplace, eBay India.

The report says that 68 per cent of mobile internet users have bought gadgets on their smart phone followed by 40 per cent who have bought clothes and footwear and 34 per cent who have bought books.

The findings are based on the eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey conducted with over 4500 eBay India users in May 2012.

eBay India country manager Muralikrishnan B said, “Mobile Commerce is starting to gain traction in India with the burgeoning smart phone penetration and a large number of Indians now use their smart phone to shop as well as compare prices. eBay India is a believer in Mobile Commerce and we have launched a suite of apps to cater to the Mobile Shopper and aid his online shopping behaviour.”

eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey also reveals that shopping is the third most popular category of search after emails and social networking and 70 per cent of smart phone users access online shopping websites. Over 87 per cent of Indian smart phone users compare product prices online. Interestingly, this is more popular than travel tickets, movie timings and contact details.

Over 94 per cent of Indian smart phone users access the internet on their mobile. The results indicated that a large majority of Indian smart phone users are accessing the mobile internet and as many as 64 per cent of them have upgraded to 3G services. As many as 80 per cent of the respondents claimed to be always on the internet.

However, the home is the favourite access point for the mobile internet. Over 84 per cent of the survey respondents expressed that they accessed the mobile internet at home followed by 66 per cent who accessed it at work and 55 per cent who accessed it while waiting for their friends. The malls, restaurants, theatres, airports and the commute were the other times of access.

Meanwhile, 57 per cent of smart shoppers check prices online before they shop in a mall or a store. Over 30 per cent of users have stated that they always find better deals online and 49 per cent have stated that they ‘mostly‘ find better deals online.

Mobile Commerce Users are savvy shoppers and use their smart phones to check product prices (84 per cent). Other popular activities are to locate a store (65 per cent), research product features (57 per cent), find deals (55 per cent), and check product availability (48 per cent). 68 per cent of users have made an online purchase using their smart phone and digital commerce is gaining traction with Indian smart phone users.

Samsung and Nokia (40 per cent each) are the smart phones of choice for the Mobile Indian. The iPhone (17 per cent) is the third most popular smart phone brand.