Category: Software

MUMBAI: Global consulting, outsourcing and technology leader Infosys and Fabric, a part of global communications service group WPP, have tied up to launch Infosys BrandEdge.

The platform was launched by Infosys CEO and MD S D Shibulal and WPP CEO Martin Sorrell at the Infosys Experience Center in London.Three leading Global 200 companies are leveraging the platform to accelerate digital engagement.

BrandEgde is a comprehensive cloud-based offering that simplifies digital marketing by bringing together integrated marketing and technology expertise on a single unified platform. Its functions include full spectrum of digital marketing activities like creation and management of digital properties, data management, coordination with multiple partners, and campaign execution.

Offered in the Cloud, the platform is available in a subscription-based, pay-per-use model. This will enable marketers to convert their capital expenditure into variable operational expenditure while embracing the latest advances in technology and marketing.

Shibulal said, “As organizations work towards building tomorrow‘s enterprise, they must deliver personalized products and services to an informed and discerning digital generation. Infosys BrandEdge provides the agility needed to tap the true potential of digital marketing, accelerate consumer engagement and drive growth. With our deep industry experience, drawn from working with over 600 clients across domains, and proven cutting-edge technology leadership, we are uniquely positioned to develop offerings such as Infosys BrandEdge and drive innovation-led growth for our clients.”

Sorrell said, “It seems to us that clients are seeking simpler solutions in an increasing complex marketing world. The application of technology and data analytics to accelerate effectiveness and efficiency is well established. However, the traditional approaches of technology and marketing rarely speak the same language. Infosys BrandEdge provides a comprehensive solution to bridge this divide and help our clients create unique personal experiences for consumers.”

The platform is powered by an underlying BLUE framework, and comprises four modules that enable marketers to efficiently build digital assets, effectively listen to and understand target segments and easily engage consumers across a wide array of digital channels.

It will help marketers create, manage and reuse digital properties efficiently and brings together internal and external stakeholders on a single platform to collaborate seamlessly, reducing time-to-market by up to 40 per cent and costs by up to 30 per cent.

BrandEdge will also help integrate owned and earned digital asset data, with CRM data and other third-party data sources to allow organisations to set measurement, privacy and security standards and control this data. This unified view of the consumer can be made available in real-time across the organisation and can be shared with other toolsets or services such as media buying or advertisement serving technologies.

In addition, it will also provide advanced intelligence to analyse consumer behaviour across multiple digital channels. The fine-grained, interactive and consumer-centric reports enable marketers to improve targeting of existing consumers. The real-time and bespoke analytics help identify new segments faster.

Lastly, it will help marketers maintain homogeneity in communication across digital channels. It provides a common gateway to a catalogue of pre-integrated marketing tools to connect with consumers across a range of digital channels, such as email, social media and advertisement gateways.

MUMBAI: NimbleTV, the cloud-based subscription-based TV platform that seeks to provide customers to access television content from anywhere on any device, has launched its beta service.

The company will announce exact pricing when it launches the product to the public in the next few months.

The service is a global platform beginning with TV offerings from the US and India, and will subsequently roll out to other countries.

NimbleTV CEO Anand Subramanian, “NimbleTV is based on the simplest idea: customers should be able to access the TV they pay for wherever they happen to be. Today, the groundbreaking technology behind our service makes ‘TV everywhere‘ a reality – with more options, high-quality viewing on any device, watchable from anywhere. Our model is predicated on the belief that providers and content producers should be paid. NimbleTV is a solution that‘s both consumer friendly and industry friendly.”

NimbleTV sets customers up with their own subscription agreements with TV providers that NimbleTV supports. Customers make payments directly to their providers with NimbleTV acting as a payment service.

In addition to local coverage, NimbleTV includes all cable channels, depending on which package a customer selects. The service has more than 10,000 hours of digital recording. There is no box to buy or equipment to set up. NimbleTV has built-in social features that enable customers to easily follow and record what their friends like to watch on TV.

Beta users will have access to a TV subscription package with more than two dozen channels, with more added during the beta period. The NimbleTV price will include the provider subscription at cost, plus a small fee for services such as subscription set up and management, the advanced functionality of portability and industry leading DVR capabilities.

NEW DELHI: Datawind, producers of Aakaash tablet series, will bring the latest news and analysis on the go on the tablets, thanks to a tie-up with Indian Express.

Aakash 2 tablets will soon be launched by the Human Resource Development Ministry for students in India, making available two models for commercial use in Delhi from tomorrow. As part of the venture both models – the Ubislate 7+ priced at Rs 2,999 and the high-end Ubislate 7C priced at Rs. 3,999 – will come preloaded with the Indian Express news application that will keep readers up to date with latest news, intelligent analysis and opinions from some of the country‘s finest columnists.

As a complementary offer, the purchase of the Ubislate 7+ or the 7C will also come with a 50 per cent discount on annual subscription for The Indian Express and The Financial Express. Datawind is currently making the Ubislate series of Tablet PCs.

Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli said, “Indian Express with its great news coverage will be a valuable asset to have as part of the Ubislate tablet platform. We are excited to partner with The Indian Express
team to bring this quality content via a mobile app to all our customers to give them anytime anywhere access to latest news and analysis.”

Express Group business head – online Sanjeev Gera said, “The low-cost tablet is going to be an effective mode of communication and education in the future. Ubislate series and Aakash, we hope, will play a key role in bridging the gap of the digital divide of our country. Express Group would be able to reach out to more readers through these tablets.”

MUMBAI: Apple has posted revenue of $39.2 billion and net profit of $11.6 billion for the fiscal second quarter.

These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net profit of $6 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Gross margin was 47.4 per cent compared to 41.4 per cent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 per rcent of the quarter’s revenue.

The company sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 88 per cent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, a 151 per cent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

The company sold 4 million Macs during the quarter, a 7 per cent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.7 million iPods, a 15 per cent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter. The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said, “Our record March quarter results drove $14 billion in cash flow from operations. Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.”

MUMBAI: Reliance Home Video and Games, a Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company, has bagged the exclusive rights to market and distribute BBC Worldwide’s audio-visual library on home video in India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

BBC Worldwide, a wholly owned subsidiary of BBC, has a catalogue of around 50,000 hours of programming across all genres from drama and comedy to factual and formats. Programs like Sherlock (a contemporary adaptation of Sherlock Holmes that attracted 8.7 million viewers at its UK TV premiere and has become BBC One’s top drama of the year) and Frozen Planet (the Natural History program narrated by Sir David Attenborough that is the highest rating documentary in the UK since 2003 and the highest rating Natural History documentary for over 11 years) are some of the recent hit series from BBC.

In addition, BBC’s Catalogue also constitutes a number of classic dramas, thrillers and comedies– from Shakespeare’s dramas to key works of Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Anton Chekov, George Eliot, classic Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple’s mysteries, classic comedies like Yes Minister and Fawlty Towers and also natural history programmes like Planet Earth and Life.

Said Reliance Home Video and Games COO Sweta Agnihotri, “We are delighted with this prestigious alliance. BBC Worldwide’s library has a superlative selection of audio video content across various genres, including a rich treasure of contemporary and classic titles. Reliance Home Video and Games, with its expertise, focus and resources will work toward tapping into the huge potential that BBC Worldwide’s library offers in the Indian sub-continent.”

Reliance Home Video and Games has a pan-India distribution network that will allow the BBC titles to reach urban and mass markets alike. With this alliance, BBC fans in and around India would be able to enjoy acclaimed programs also on the Blu-rayTM format, including Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and Planet Dinosaur.

MUMBAI: A new report by Media Partners Asia (MPA) indicates that digital pay-TV penetration of TV homes in India will grow from less than 20 per cent in 2011 to 50 per cent by 2016, and 61 per cent by 2020.

The key demand drivers will come from cable operators, six commercial DTH pay-TV platforms, and DD Direct, the government-owned free DTH platform. A gradual consolidation of last-mile local cable operators will become inevitable, leading to a shift in industry profits and value to centralised distribution platforms and broadcasters.

The report ‘Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2012‘, measures consumption and revenue generation across pay-TV and broadband industries in 16 Asian markets, including India, which the remains the key pay-TV market for Asia in the future.

MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “India’s digitalisation timetable implies a three-year transition to full digital TV (DTV) conversion. This is ambitious though we believe DTV transition will occur but over a longer time frame. The industry will remain capital-intensive until 2017 at the earliest, due to the capex requirements associated with digitalisation. This will lead to more M&A and fund-raising activity in both primary and secondary markets.”

The sector’s improved transparency, scale and operating leverage will attract large domestic and international strategic players, who will play a key role in M&A activity.

MPA’s biggest concerns include cable execution and capitalisation as MSOs transition from a B2B to B2C model; DTH satellite capacity; and the extent of regulation in the broadcast ecosystem. While digitalisation is the result of policy progress, this has not been the case for investment and taxation policies.

MPA projections indicate that pay-TV industry subscription fees will grow at an 11 per cent CAGR between 2011-16, driven by increased volume over DTH and digital cable. Total pay-TV subs are expected to reach 172 million by 2016, and 199 million by 2020.

MPA projections measure pay-TV penetration after accounting for households that opt for multiple services. Using this definition, MPA estimates that pay-TV penetration will grow from 79 per cent to 89 per cent between 2011 and 2020.

The majority of DTH pay-TV platforms will be generating free cash in the next three to four years, says MPA. The active DTH subscriber base (i.e. paying customers only) could grow from 29 million in 2011 to 69 million by 2016, and 93 million in 2020. This implies a 46 per cent share of the overall market by 2020 (versus 23% in 2011), and a 65 per cent share of the digital pay-TV market. DTH operators have been working together to improve the overall economics for the business; nonetheless, a rise in subscriber acquisition costs due to growing competition from digital cable, as well as medium-term satellite capacity constraints, remain concerns.

DTH industry revenues will reach almost $4 billion by 2016 and $6 billion by 2020, with revenue growth largely driven by expanding the subs base. ARPU growth will be partially limited as DTH expands nationally, with low-income homes coming into the mix, although MPA also sees a greater contribution from high-ARPU HD subs.

Digital cable subs will reach approximately 33 million by 2016 and 48 million by 2020, with cable’s consumer proposition, in the form of channel packs, HD, VAS and broadband, driving subs and Arpu growth. Monthly digital cable ARPUs will grow from $4 in 2011 to $5 by 2016 and $6 by 2020. Total cable industry subscription revenues will grow from $4.2 billion in 2011 to $6.4 billion by 2020, with broadband contributing 15 per cent to sales by 2020 versus 85 per cent for pay-TV.

For broadcasters, digitalisation and greater transparency in the pay-TV ecosystem will result in a higher proportion of subscription revenues, as well as rationalised carriage and placement fees. At the same time, broadcasters will need to programme stronger, differentiated content to survive and prosper in a new ecosystem, and create new consumer demand.

MPA expects total pay-TV channel revenues to grow from $3.4 billion in 2011 to $6.7 billion by 2016, and to $9.6 billion by 2020. Subscription revenue upside from DTH will be capped, however, due to fixed fee deals already in place between broadcasters and DTH operators. Incremental growth and upside will largely be driven through digital cable platforms.

Revenues will continue to remain skewed in favor of advertising, with the latter contributing 70 per cent to total broadcaster revenues in the long term.

MUMBAI: Social networking site Facebook has reached a definite agreement with Microsoft to purchase a portion of the patent portfolio it recently agreed to acquire from AOL for $550 million in cash.

“The parties are evaluating the accounting treatment for these transactions. These transactions are also subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended,” Facebook said in a statement.

Microsoft had recently bought approximately 925 U.S. patents and patent applications plus a license to AOL’s remaining patent portfolio, which contains approximately 300 additional patents that were not for sale. Microsoft had paid approximately $1.056 billion to buy those patents.

As a result of agreement, Facebook will obtain ownership of approximately 650 AOL patents and patent applications, plus a license to the AOL patents and applications that Microsoft will purchase and own.

Upon closing of this transaction with Facebook, Microsoft will retain ownership of approximately 275 AOL patents and applications; a license to the approximately 650 AOL patents and applications that will now be owned by Facebook; and a license to approximately 300 patents that AOL did not sell in its auction.

“The agreement with Facebook enables us to recoup over half of our costs while achieving our goals from the AOL auction. As we said earlier this month, we had submitted the winning AOL bid in order to obtain a durable license to the full AOL portfolio and ownership of certain patents that complement our existing portfolio,” said Microsoft EVP and general counsel Brad Smith.

“The agreement with Microsoft represents an important acquisition for Facebook. This is another significant step in our ongoing process of building an intellectual property portfolio to protect Facebook’s interests over the long term,” said Facebook general counsel Ted Ullyot.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has refused to interfere in the plans of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to issue a tariff order and related directions in connection with digital addressable systems (DAS).

A bench of the Apex Court today said that if Trai felt that it had the powers for issuing a tariff order, it should go ahead and do so.

The counsel appearing for Trai said it had mentioned the matter before the apex court only as a matter of abundant caution in view of a matter relating to tariff pending in the court with regard to direct-to-home (DTH) operators.

This clears the legal decks for Trai to issue the long-awaited tariff for DAS. The government has mandated 30 June as the deadline for digitisation in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

NEW DELHI: Rejecting the government‘s appeal that it be given 400 days to conduct fresh 2G auctions, the Supreme Court has now fixed a deadline for the auction process from 2 June to 31 August.

The court had on2 February this year ordered 122 permits granted to eight operators in 2008 when A Raja was the Telecom Minister be revoked in early June and asked the government to redistribute radio airwaves through an open bidding process.

A bench of Justices G S Singvhi and K S Radhakrishnan also said today that existing licences can operate till 7 September 2012.

The Centre had argued through Attorney General G E Vahanvati that the government needed 400 days to conduct fresh auctions and that the time given by the apex court was too short.

Vahanvati said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had come out with its recommendations on 2G spectrum prices only yesterday. ‘‘Trai‘s recommendations will have an impact on the auction process,‘‘ he told the court.

But the judges said the government could certainly take more time but this entire exercise could have been avoided if an effort was made by ‘‘your officers‘‘ earlier. When the 2G licences were allotted, the Department of Telecom officials knew the value of the spectrum, the court said, but it was still allotted at a low price in 2008. ‘We are still not able to understand and believe that the officers of India are so na?ve that they do not understand the price difference’, the court said.

Private telcos were also warned against filing petitions questioning its 2 February verdict. The bench said it would impose exemplary costs if they continued to do so as it was wastage of precious public time and money.

MUMBAI: bbTV of Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited has launched international rugby channel Setanta Sports, bringing its action-packed lineup of live and exclusive rugby to its customers in Hong Kong.

Setanta is available on bbTV channel 323 as a premium service to residential, hotel and commercial subscribers.

Some of the rugby broadcasts on the channel include the RBS Six Nations, Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri Nations), The Currie Cup, ITM Cup, Aviva Premiership, Anglo-Welsh Cup and Pro-12 (previously Magners League), as well as live Rugby League from the NRL and State Of Origin.

With over 500 exclusive rugby matches from both the Northern & Southern Hemispheres, Setanta offers an action packed lin-up of rugby throughout the year.

HKBN MD business development To Wai Bing said, “We are very proud to introduce Setanta Sports to our bbTV subscribers. Rugby is becoming a popular sport in Hong Kong and I believe our subscribers will be able to enjoy the excitement bring by different rugby matches through watching Setanta Sports at home anytime.”

Setanta Sports International MD Roger Hall said: “We are really pleased to be part of the premium offering of television channels on bbTV at an exciting time in the development of their business.”

This is the 12th distribution agreement for Setanta in Asia, following agreements with Many of Asia‘s leading subscription television operators including Now TV (Hong Kong), StarHub & Singtel mio TV (Singapore), Astro (Malaysia & Brunei), True Visions (Thailand), First Media (Indonesia) and Dialog TV (Sri Lanka), among others.

Setanta Sports claims to reach over 5 million households across Asia.