Category: Software

MUMBAI: News Corp‘s business newspaper The Wall Street Journal has announced plans to hold its first Data Transparency Weekend, an outgrowth of the Journal‘s ‘What They Know‘ investigative series, which documents the tracking of data online.

To be held from 13-15 April in New York, the event will bring together approximately 100 programmers who will form teams to work on free Web tools that promote data transparency. At the end of the weekend, the best tools will be
publicly recognised.

Led by Wall Street Journal senior technology editor Julia Angwin, who directs the Journal‘s award-winning ‘What They Know‘ team, the weekend will be divided into three main tracks: Scanning, Education and Control. Scanning will focus on enhancing technology that scans the Web to reveal tracking; Education will concentrate on how to help people see how much information they share; and Control will focus on improving software that helps people control sensitive information.

Speakers who will also serve as judges will include Alessandro Acquisti, professor of information technology and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University; Sid Stamm, Web security and privacy strategist at Mozilla; and independent security researcher Dan Kaminsky. Closing remarks and prizes will be delivered by Daniel Weitzner, deputy chief technology officer for Internet policy at the White House.

The Wall Street Journal Digital Network Managing Editor Raju Narisetti said, “Our research for ‘What They Know‘ shows that people underestimate the amount of personal data being shared about them online. We are excited about helping developers build tools that could eventually help readers understand what is happening.”

The event is open to qualified participants – those with engineering, product-development or technical research backgrounds. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and will be accepted until the event is full.

MUMBAI: As TV networks struggle to find the right balance between digital and traditional access to their content, new research from Knowledge Networks, a GfK company, shows that online access wins favour with US consumers in ways often overlooked by standard metrics.

The study, ‘TV‘s Web Connections 2012‘, is conducted annually to track the interplay between on-set and online interaction with TV network content.

Topics covered include the use of TV-related (network and program) websites, differences between “streamers” and “downloaders” of TV network content, favourability toward advertisers and sponsors of online TV content, and interaction with that content via social media and smartphone apps.

Knowledge Networks senior VP client service David Tice said, “The gains from making TV content available online are significant and growing, but they may pass under the radar of traditional metrics.

Few advertisers would pass up the chance to be seen more favorably by consumers; yet that benefit may be missed if we are focused solely on metrics such as audience size.

To truly understand the ROI of online content, we need subtle, more expansive measures that reach across digital platforms.”

 
Results from the latest wave of the study – conducted in November 2011 among 1,505 Internet users on KnowledgePanel – indicate that, among streamers and downloaders of TV network video:

• 42 per cent say that the availability of this video makes them think more highly of a TV network – up from 30 per cent in 2008.


• 22 per cent report they would never have watched some shows if they were not accessible online, compared to 10 per cent in 2008.


• 20 per cent say that they spent more time watching a network‘s content after it became available online, up from nine per cent in 2008.
   

The new study also shows that, among streamers, TV network sites are the preferred source of network content, cited by 57 per cent of those who watch streaming network video.

This compares to 37 per cent who cited non-network sites (such as Hulu) as their preferred source.

Downloaders are more likely than streamers (30 per cent versus 20 per cent) to say that they spend more time watching TV network content after it becomes available online.

The availability of online TV network video – full episodes or clips – is the best website feature for increasing programme involvement and sponsor consideration of frequent supermarket and drug store shoppers, the study said.

MUMBAI: Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Redbox, a subsidiary of Coinstar, in the US have announced the signing of a multi-year agreement that will continue to make Universal Blu-ray Disc and DVD titles available for rental at Redbox locations 28 days following their home entertainment release.

Redbox offers new-release DVD, Blu-ray Disc and video game rentals through its network of self-service kiosks.

Redbox senior VP Galen Smith said, “The multi-year agreement between Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Redbox represents a win for consumers, Universal and Redbox . Redbox is committed to forging relationships that provide our consumers with affordable and timely access to new release content.”

The agreement extends the direct working relationship between Redbox and Universal Studios Home Entertainment through August 2014.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today quashed the charge against Yahoo India of hosting objectionable content on its website, and set aside the summons issued to it by a trial court for initiating criminal proceedings.

Quashing the criminal proceedings against Yahoo India, Justice Suresh Kait accepted the plea that there was neither any material on record nor any allegations in the complaint against it. “There is no evidence on record against the petitioner,” he said.

While granting relief to Yahoo India, the High Court also warned it that the case against it can come up again if any credible piece of evidence is filed. The Court had earlier refused Yahoo India‘s plea for staying a trial court‘s proceedings against it.

Allowing the company‘s contention that it only provides email and chat services, the court said: “Being an intermediary, you are exempted.”

Yahoo was one of 21 websites facing criminal proceedings for hosting objectionable content.

The Metropolitan Magistrate had on 23 December summoned 21 websites, including Yahoo, Google and Facebook, to face trial for allegedly committing the offence punishable under Sections 292 (sale of obscene books) and 293 (sale of obscene objects to young person) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Yahoo India had told the court that the suit against it was “motivated” and should be dismissed. The company said that there was neither any material on record nor any allegation in the complaint against it. The company also submitted that it could not be made a party in the case as the complainant did not disclose any cause of action against it.

Yahoo‘s counsel Arvind Nigam said it is not a social networking site like the other accused in the case, and only provides email and chat services. In any case, no objectionable material has been attributed to it and hence its case was different from others, he argued.

Earlier, complainant Vinay Rai had approached the trial court to remove objectionable content from 21 websites including Facebook, Google, Yahoo and YouTube. Among these, 12 websites are foreign-based.

The trial court had observed that the material submitted by the complainant contained obscene pictures and derogatory articles pertaining to Hindu deities, Prophet Mohammad and Jesus Christ.

NEW DELHI: Even as it sought more time for auction of the 122 cancelled 2G licences and was contemplating filing a Presidential reference, the Government did a turn-around and filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the verdict cancelling the licences, contending that the court cannot review the merits of a policy decision made by the executive.

The Department of Telecommunication also defended the first-come-first-served policy and submitted that the Court’s recommendation for auction in case of distribution of natural resources went against the principles of the Constitution. The Court’s methodology of a single method for distribution of all natural resources, including spectrum, through the “auction” route was contrary to the principle of separation of powers embodied in the Constitution, it was contended.

“The finding in the judgment that the state is duty bound to conduct a public auction whenever it distributes natural resources, such that said resources always go to the highest bidder, is contrary to the principle in the Constitution and various legislations which prescribe various alternative method of distributing natural resources, including the policy of first-come-first served,” the plea said.

Earlier on 1 March, the Telecom Ministry sought clarifications and directions from the Supreme Court on the timing to e-auction 2G licences. Ministry sources said it was not possible to complete this process within four months as directed by the Court and the Centre may need up to 400 days from the date of the judgment.

Several petitions were filed against the judgment delivered on 2 February by a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly (who is since retired).

Two telecom companies, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) and Uninor, approached the Supreme Court seeking review of the verdict cancelling 2G licences.

Former telecom minister A Raja who was indicted in the verdict also filed for review, saying the order violated the “principles of natural justice” and “judicial norms” and that he was “condemned” without being heard.

The government’s petition filed under Article 137 of the Constitution contended that the Supreme Court verdict “is liable to be reviewed since there are errors which are apparent on the face of the record.”

The petition said: “The court would further have had to consider that as the urban market is already captured by existing telecom providers, there is a need to induct new telecom service providers who would provide service in semi-urban and rural areas. The Court failed to appreciate that in order to facilitate teledensity it was necessary to offer at competitive rates thereby allowing millions of rural and semi urban consumers to gain access to telecom services.”

“The impugned judgment is, with the greatest respect, internally contradictory as it holds the policy was flawed because it did not adhere to the principles of equality, while acknowledging that the policy was based on the twin principles of level playing field between different players, as well as including the need to promote affordability and increase penetration of wireless services in semi-urban and rural areas, both of which promote the principle of equality,” the petition said.

MUMBAI: The Kudelski Group, which offers media content protection and value-added service technology, has seen a 3.8 per cent decline in revenue for the fiscal.

Total annual revenue and other operating income declined from CHF 1‘069.3 million in 2010 to CHF 896.6 million in 2011, with the Digital TV segment driving most of the decline.

The continued fall of the dollar and Euro rates affected the Group‘s 2011 financial results, with a negative impact of CHF 121.7 million on full-year revenues and CHF 46.5 million on operating income. Operating income for the year amounts to CHF 25.4 million compared to a CHF 110 million in 2010.

Net of restructuring costs, the Group‘s 2011 operating income was CHF 35.3 million. 2011 cash flow generation was strong, with an operating cash flow for the year at CHF 86.7 million.

Structural developments in the Digital TV segment remained positive, with new customer wins, a positive traction for the Group‘s latest generation of products, and selected regions, such as Latin America, continuing to deliver strong growth in constant currency.These developments could only partially compensate the economic slowdown in Southern Europe.

Furthermore, 2010 was positively impacted by certain one-off contributions, which were not available at the same levels in
2011, including revenues from a card replacement programme at Virgin Media and a one-off other operating income from government grants.

In 2011, operating income for the Digital TV segment declined by CHF 100.5 million to CHF 28.9 million.

The Public Access segment continued to grow its revenue in local currency and, as it was less affected by currency fluctuations, it raised its operating income to CHF 12.5 million.

2011 also saw the turnaround of the Middleware and Advertising segment as it reverted to profitability on a full year basis.

The Group adds that its restructuring program announced late last year has already delivered its first tangible results, with CHF 15.8 million in savings realized in 2011. The series of measures aimed at reducing the Group‘s total annual operating expenses by CHF 90 million are progressing according to the Group‘s original plan.

Personnel expenses decreased by CHF 26.0 million in 2011, primarily due to currency effects. Compared to the end of 2010, total headcount decreased by 69 to 2‘999 FTEs at the end of 2011. This headcount includes 100 FTEs in the Group‘s newly organized operations in India.

However, this figure does not reflect the impact of the restructuring announced by the Group late last year, which is being implemented during the first months of 2012.

The Group reduced other operating expenses by CHF 44.9 million in 2011, a 19.2 per cent reduction from the prior year. In addition to the currency-driven reduction, the lower cost base reflects initial efforts undertaken by the Group as part of its overall cost-reduction program.

Compared to the previous year, aggregate development, engineering, legal, expert and consultancy expenses in 2011 were reduced by CHF 24.9 million. The ongoing systematic replacement of external resources with lower cost internal resources has helped drive this cost reduction.

The company adds that cable, satellite and telco service providers are increasingly turning to Nagra for its expertise and innovation capabilities to enable an Internet-connected environment for their viewers as a natural extension to their existing services.

Latest developments at customers integrating Nagra‘s Internet TV capabilities include:

• Dish/Echostar is deploying Nagra solutions to up-coming Internet TV (OTT) projects and Sling DVRs


• Canal+ in France is extending Nagra PRM (Persistent Rights Management) to additional devices


• APS/HD+ in Germany introducing Nagra PRM


• Prisa TV has launched new devices working on the deployed Internet TV platform


• Jazztel the Prisa TV platform has been extended to support pure Internet TV set-top boxes with both live and VOD content

With the new deployments of the last few months, Nagra PRM – a key element of the Group‘s Internet TV solution suite – is now
implemented at leading service providers around the world including: Telefonica, UPC, T-Com Croatia, Numericable, SFR, Digital+, Zon, Mediaset, Virgin Media, Telenet, VOO, NET, Embratel, Skylife, CNS and kbro (Taiwan), Elisa, Hansenet, Naxoo.

Furthermore, Nagra and abertis telecom, the leader in Spain in infrastructure and telecommunications services, signed a strategic partnership to launch a cloud-based service aimed at pay-TV service providers and free-to-air broadcasters seeking to deploy affordable multiscreen services, integrating broadcast TV with on-demand Internet TV services, with fast time-to-market.

In the established pay TV segment, the Kudelski Group has continued to win new contracts and expand its global footprint, benefitting in particular from new wins in emerging markets.

The Latin American market is showing a sustained momentum and remains an important growth vehicle for the digital TV segment. Besides significant growth with established customers like NET, Embratel and Telefonica, some important additions were made in 2011 like CNT of Ecuador who selected Nagra for DTH, ClaroTV (American Movil) selecting OpenTV middleware, Oi in Brasil getting additional middleware modules.

Further, major wins were achieved notably in India, Bangladesh and Taiwan where Nagra advanced technologies are proving critical to support the ongoing local networks digitalisation and soaring demand for pay-TV.

IMCL, a Nagra customer since 2003 and India‘s leading cable MSO with around 8 million homes under the brand name InCableNet, has selected Nagra‘s fully integrated end-to-end solution to be initially deployed in 500,000 set-top-boxes with a further potential 500,000 devices.

Nagra will act as the system integrator.

Bengal Communications, a cable MSO in Bangladesh, has selected Nagra‘s latest generation conditional access (CA) and middleware technologies for its upcoming digital cable services.

In Taiwan, Nagra will drive the country‘s cable digitalisation deployment with the four services providers, kbro, TBC, CNS and HYA, having selected Nagra Media Access DLK (cardless) technology.

In parallel, Nagra continues to build a revenue and R&D base in fast developing economies (R&D centers in India and China).

The CyberSecurity business line setup is progressing according to plan, with an initial launch of new CyberSecurity services targeting pay TV customers and prospects and addressing security in over the top delivery environments, cloud hosting, managed security services as well as reputation management services. The initial industry focus beyond the digital TV markets covers financial services with a “security as a service” offering for cloud based solutions, including security assessment, security monitoring services, as well as identity and access management. Similarly, the Intellectual Property has initiated a new licensing scheme addressing an initial set of identified targets.

Following the R&D investment ramp-up aimed at accelerating the development of the next generation Group middleware solutions in 2010, initial deployments of such solutions took place in 2011. Thus, additional resources were released resulting in a lower cost base that enabled the middleware and advertising segment to revert to a positive operating income for the year. The targeted effort in next-generation middleware has yielded it first promising results in the market.

OpenTV4 has been successfully launched to power an internet TV solution for the Spanish ISP Jazztel. The flexibility of the middleware has been proven by the fast roll-out of an innovative user experience. Building on this innovative approach, OpenTV5 is progressing according to plan with its lead deployment customer Telefonica, positioning it as its global middleware solution across TV services.

Former Swiss Federal Councillor and President of the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly Joseph Deiss will be proposed as new Member of the Board of Directors of Kudelski SA at the next Annual General Meeting of shareholders to be held in Lausanne on 15 May 2012. Deiss has been a member of the Board of Directors of OpenTV until the full acquisition of this company by the Kudelski Group in March 2010.

On 31 October 31 2011, the group had announced measures targeting a net annual cost reduction of CHF 90 million, with initial effects expected in late 2011 and the cost reductions becoming fully effective in the course of the second half of 2012. The implementation of these measures is progressing as planned.

As part of this program, Digital TV and Middleware and Advertising operations have been fully integrated as of the beginning of 2012. Accordingly, these activities will be reported as a single segment, called Digital TV, as of January 1 2012.

The new Digital TV segment is expected to continue to benefit from favorable fundamentals and a solid Group competitive positioning.

However, Group top line is expected to decrease from 2011 to 2012, as the Polyright, Medioh, Embedics and Nagra Audio businesses are fully deconsolidated, government grants are expected to be lower and the expected expiration of a contract provision with a large customer will result in the application of a lower base of paying smart cards for the purpose of license fee calculations.

The contribution of new business sectors such as Internet TV, Cybersecurity and Intellectual Property will remain marginal in 2012 while materially contributing to the Group‘s growth in the following years.

On this basis, management expects to report 2012 total revenues between CHF 830 million and 855 million. Further, management guides for an operating income ex-restructuring costs between CHF 35 and 50 million.

MUMBAI: The new IPTV forecast from MRG, Inc. indicates that the number of global IPTV subscribers will grow from 53 million in 2011 to 105.1 million in 2015, a CAGR of 18.7 per cent.

The service revenue for the global IPTV market was $21.8 billion in 2011 and is projected to grow to $45.3 billion in 2015, a CAGR of 20 per cent. By 2015, Europe and North America will continue to generate a larger share of the global revenue. New and innovative services of key Operators described in the report reveal that IPTV operators are aggressively developing these new services to compete with other local Pay-TV operators.

MRG IPTV analyst Jose Alvear said, “In recent quarters, IPTV Operators have seen their subscriber growth outpace that of their Cable and Satellite TV rivals. IPTV Operators are expanding their TV offerings by aggressively adding HD, multiscreen and multiview services, and hybrid services like OTT video linked with Digital Terrestrial or Satellite video services.”

Increasingly, IPTV providers are moving away from pure-play IPTV services and are adding new ways to deliver content to their customers.

“Although certain regions and countries have seen very good IPTV subscriber growth, areas like Latin America, and Southeast Asia still have not gotten off the ground with IPTV. As such, IPTV growth will likely be quick once government and regulatory issues have been dealt with.”

The IPTV ecosystem breaks into nine industry segments: DSL Subscribers, IPTV Subscribers, Access Systems, Video Headend Encoder Systems, Video-on-Demand Server Software Licenses, Set-top Boxes, Middleware Licenses, Content Protection/Digital Rights Management (CP/DRM) Licenses and System Integration and Professional Services.

Each market segment is split into four regions around the world: Europe, Asia, North America and Rest of World, based on over 930 Service Providers (operators) worldwide offering IPTV services. The number of operators has increased since the last report, since more of them have launched services in the last 12 months or announced new trials.

BANGALORE: Indian sports e-commerce platform for ticketing and sports merchandising, Kyazoonga.com, has been appointed as an official ticketing partner by Karnataka Lions, the Bangalore team at the Bridgestone World Series Hockey (WSH).

Karnataka Lions Director Kingshuk Gupta said, “While winning is the key for every sport, the actual success is determined by the loud cheers on ground. To ensure large numbers, easy ticket availability is a must. Our association with Kyazoonga is primarily to ensure smooth ticketing for sports enthusiasts.”

Apart from booking online tickets on www.kyazoonga.com, tickets have also been made available in retail outlets at Archies, Landmark and The Smart Shop, in order to reach out to a larger number of hockey enthusiasts.

KyaZoonga.com Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO Neetu Bhatia, said , “We are very excited to be associated with Bridgestone WSH. India is a nation of enthusiastic and overwhelming supporters of various sports.”

The Bridgestone World Series Hockey, which commenced on 29 February and runs until 2 April, will involve 200 players, Indian as well as international, who will showcase their talent in 59 matches and vie for the biggest prize money hockey tournament in the world.

NEW DELHI: Yahoo! India and Malayala Manorama have announced a partnership to deliver premium digital content in Malayalam.

The co-branded property, malayalam.yahoo.com, offers the combined editorial strengths of Yahoo! and Malayala Manorama and provides a superior digital content experience for the large base of 37 million Malayalam speaking audience across the globe, an official statement said.

This latest launch is the fifth in a series of language offerings from Yahoo! India – that started with Hindi followed by Tamil, Marathi and Bengali.

Malayalam on Yahoo! India offers local, national and global news across genres of Politics, Sports, Business, Governance, Utility, and Entertainment. Easy to browse and to discover, the stories connect users to their interests. Lifestyle and utility information is available as Education, Motoring, Health, Religion & Spirituality, and Astrology. Select content such as Movie, Music, and Weekend features from Manorama Online will also feature on this destination.

According to the ICube report by IAMAI, the Indian language audience is growing at a rate of nearly 40 per cent per year and the next wave of digital audience in India is expected to emerge from the non-English speaking population. These statistics indicate that there is a large base of Internet users in India who are keen to access content in their own regional language.

Commenting on this launch Yahoo! India and South Asia MD Arun Tadanki said: “Launch of Malayalam content on Yahoo! India is yet another milestone in the execution of our language strategy, aimed at growing the overall Internet user base in India. Our choice of partner has always been driven by our commitment to bring in premium content from a trusted brand, in this case Malayala Manorama. Together, we bring the latest from the world of news, entertainment and other local interests to a discerning audience.”

MUMBAI: The amount of time that consumers spend on mobile and internet has surpassed that of television, according to Mobile Media Consumption Q4 2011 Survey conducted by independent mobile ad network InMobi.

The key highlights of the survey says that on any given day, mobile web users spend 27 per cent of their media time on mobile, 22 per cent on TV and 32 per cent online. Availability, ease of use, and privacy are the top three driving factors to be on mobile, it adds.

The survey says mobile consumers recognise the impact of mobile advertising on purchase behaviour and their willingness to transact over mobile with 42 per cent of respondents indicating that mobile ads have introduced them to something new, 23 per cent of respondents indicating that mobile ads saves time and money, and 14 per cent of respondents indicating that mobile ads have influenced them to buy via mobile.

Mobile, PCs, and TV are the most powerful media that influence the purchase decision among mobile users with 66 per cent of mobile users indicating that they are comfortable with mobile advertising as they are with TV or online advertising.

The survey notes that the social media, entertainment, and search are the top three mobile media activities among mobile web users, which will continue to grow in the next 12 months.

InMobi CEO Naveen Tewari says of the survey‘s findings, “Mobile devices are redefining the media landscape across the world. As we move into 2012, we will continue to see these trends rapidly accelerate as consumers rely ever more heavily on their mobile device. While the opportunities to exploit mobile media remain strong, the stakeholders across the industry will be confronted with ongoing questions and challenges which need to be addressed in order to meet the growing expectations of the customer.”

InMobi recruited respondents via its global mobile ad network between September and November 2011, and used Decision Fuel’s and On Device Research’s mobile web platforms to collect a representative sample, including a full range of smart-phone & feature phone users. The sample was weighted according to available mobile web demographics and included 20,000 mobile consumers in 18 markets across all continents.

The intention of the survey was to strengthen InMobi’s thought leadership position in the mobile ad network space by providing agencies, publishers and advertisers with the latest, cutting-edge research on media consumption habits of consumers on mobile devices.