Category: Software

NEW DELHI: Google today told a Delhi court that that it has removed alleged objectionable contents from its web posts as it is aware of its responsibility as a service provider.

In a written statement before Administrative Civil Judge Praveen Singh, Google Inc. denied the allegation that it projected Indian culture in poor light.

The statement said Google Inc has a system to ensure that “rights and interests” of all relevant parties were well protected.

The US-based firm said the alleged objectionable contents were removed after its Indian subsidiary Google India brought them to the notice of the service provider.

Every product offered is governed by the policies aimed at striking a proper balance between enabling free speech and expression and maintaining a responsible and safe community, the company told the court.

Seeking dismissal of the civil suit, Google Inc said that the case against it was filed in complete disregard of immunity given to a service provider under the Information Technology Act for any third party content linked or hosted by it.

Besides Google Inc, Orkut and YouTube today also filed their written submissions in the court.

Earlier, Facebook, Yahoo India and Microsoft, accused of hosting objectionable contents, had told the court that neither a case was made out against them nor there was any cause of action.

The court had on 20 December last year in a ex parte order, issued summons to 22 social networking websites asking them to remove “anti-religious” or “anti-social” contents from their sites.

The court had also asked the websites to file by 6 February the compliance reports in pursuance of the direction to remove the objectionable contents in the form of photographs, videos or texts which might hurt religious sentiments.

Earlier, Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal had asked the social networking websites to “screen” the contents.

The websites, which have been asked to remove objectionable contents, include Facebook India, Google India, Google Orkut, YouTube, Blogspot, Microsoft India, Microsoft, Zombie Time, Exboii, Boardreader, IMC India, My Lot, Shyni Blog and Topix.

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the huge revenue generated by the e-auctioning of 3G even as it continues to battle the after-shocks of 2G spectrum, the Government hopes to auction the spectrum for the fourth generation (4G) mobile services by the end of this year.

Furthermore, the Government will work towards finalising plans to sell off radio waves for the 2G services.

This was stated by Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

“That is what our intent is. We have enough spectrum now to share with everybody,” he said at the India Day function organised by his Ministry as part of the Congress.

Sibal said the government will have enough radio waves for all operators after it is released from the defence services, as well as the cancellation of 122 2G new licences by the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

Sibal said the government did not want to put all the spectrum for auction at one go but the final decision would depend on the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). “The idea being that we should come up with enough spectrum to get reasonable price for ourselves,” he said.

“When that auction will take place is something that we have to work out. The procedures are laborious, the procedures are complex,” he said. He added that the procedure for holding spectrum auctions should be very transparent.

MUMBAI: Residential gateways, the home networking device used as a gateway to connect devices in the home to the Internet or other WAN, are expected to become the new hub of the so-called digital living room when they take over from set-top boxes, with the vigorous gateway market projected to triple from 2012 to 2015, according to a report from information and analytics provider IHS.

Although gateway devices will center on the North American region during the next few years and limit the size of the overall residential gateway space in the near term, the market will continue to expand as emerging regions begin to adopt the model.

If the current set-top box market is any indication, countries like India, Brazil, Russia and China could propel the gateway space during the latter part of the decade and beyond, IHS predicts.

In North America, many of the leading operators are moving to the server/client model, with the “Whole Home DVR” service offered by DirecTV, Comcast and others as the first step.

Shipments of residential gateways and thin client boxes that act as receivers are miniscule at present, but their numbers will grow dramatically as cable and wireless operators begin to roll out services offering broader connectivity and seamless access, the report notes.

According to IHS, the worldwide gateway and thin client shipments are projected to reach 4.2 million units in 2012, up from just 345,000 last year and a mere 1,000 in 2010.

Shipments then are expected to continue to climb quickly during the next two years—rising to 6.7 million units in 2013, to 10.4 million in 2014 and to 12.6 million by 2015.

“While the set-top box has been the heart of the home media environment, acting as the home’s primary media interface to the outside world and also connecting to the network and the TV, the residential gateway will be the next step up as it is able to link together an even wider range of devices,” said Jordan Selburn, senior principal analyst for consumer platforms at IHS.

“Through the residential gateway, a set-top box acting as a central server can be connected to any number of thin client boxes—and eventually to other media devices being used in the home, like smartphones or tablets—in order to deliver content. As such, gateways can become the nucleus of the digital living room, where consumers have seamless access to material from a wide range of sources.”

The residential gateway model also has a pull and push component driving it forward, further ensuring that the market will grow rapidly. Among service providers, gateways can save money by allowing them to move to a server/client configuration that is less expensive than putting a hard drive into each set-top box.

Operators also can charge for the increased connectivity provided by gateways, boosting provider revenues in the process. On the part of consumers, gateways with real-time, high-definition video transcoding capabilities will become a must-have feature in the connected world, allowing media to be correctly rendered in the tablets and smartphones that users already possess.

The key component within the residential gateway box—the media processor—is now ready for prime time, IHS believes. Tasked with converting media into the right format and resolution for a given rendering device, the media processor requires substantial computation power, and until recently was out of reach for even leading-edge media processors without a separate co-processing chip.

All that has changed, however, with companies like Intel Corp., Broadcom Corp. and STMicroelectronics launching products aimed at the gateway and client markets. Intel was the first to release a chip—the CE4200—for handling real-time transcoding, and quickly began to forge relationships with major set-top box manufacturers. For its part, Broadcom has the BCM7425 and other similar chips in volume production, while STMicroelectronics has its “Orly” chip scheduled for production in mid-2012.

NEW DELHI: Tata Teleservices has partnered with Exent to bring the first mobile 24×7 game subscription service to India, satiating the growing craze for mobile gaming.

The new Tata mobile game offering built with Exent‘s GameTanium is the first and only all-you-can-eat subscription service, offering unlimited game play of the hottest games on Android.

Projected to grow at a CAGR of over 70 per cent during 2010-2013, India has according to a recent report by global market research firm RNCOS emerged as one of the fastest growing mobile game markets in the world.

The company said millions of its customers will have unlimited access to the best Android games like Zenonia, Wave Blazer and Edge.

“By partnering with Exent, Tata DOCOMO customers can now enjoy unlimited mobile gaming with access to the top Android games from around the world,” said Tata Teleservices mobility wireless solutions head Sharad Arora.

A recent study by Nielsen indicates that smartphone users in India spend more than 40 per cent of total active time on data-centric activities. The company said that it seeks to capitalise on this usage.

“Since the advent of smartphones, mobile game play continues to grow globally each year and by partnering with Tata, we are pleased to introduce GameTanium for the first time to users in India,” said Peter von Schlossberg, president of Exent.

Recently, Tata Docomo announced that it is powering EduOlympiad, a competition for school students with multiple levels to prove their genius at a national level.

MUMBAI: BigFlix, a video content service from Reliance Entertainment, has entered into a partnership with Karnal-based Vas content and enterprise messaging solutions firm Unisys Infosolutions for online streaming of over 200 full-length feature films and music videos.

Commenting on the new partnership, Shreyash Sigtia, business head, Big Flicks said, “This association is extremely vital for us as it will provide aid in reaching out to the masses effectively.”

As per a company statement, a mixed catalogue of Bollywood films, old and new, including All The Best, London Dreams, Blue, Action Replay, Knock Out, Rann, LSD and evergreen hits from BR Films such as Dhund, Waqt and The Burning Train has been prepared by Unisys.

Also,regional content from popular movies in Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu,Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada and Marathi and over 5000 music videos in more than 15 languages including Hindi will be featured.

“Through this collaboration, we expect to continue playing an essential role in facilitating movie and music producers in increasing the reach of their content to a wider audience,” said Unisys Infosolutions founder and managing director Shelley Chaudhury.

Earlier, BigFlix had tied up with UTV Motion Pictures under a licence deal wherein more than 45 UTV movie titles were dished out to BigFlix plus subscribers. Under the deal, users could view films like Jodhaa Akbar, Wake Up Sid, Raajneeti, I Hate Luv Storys, No One Killed Jessica, Dev D and Udaan in ad-free model across devices such as desktop, tablets, smartphones and connected TVs.

MUMBAI: Media technology company Komli Media announced the acquisition of South East Asian digital media network Admax Network. Admax covers six markets in the APAC region including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The online advertising market in SEA is estimated to be worth approximately $250 -$300 million and is growing at 30-40 per cent per year. This acquisition allows Komli media to have a diverse publisher network of 4,600 local and international websites, including Admax’s exclusive sales partnership with Facebook in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines and with MSN in Thailand.

Komli will consequently have reach of the total SEA online audience and access to the region’s local language sites along with the advantage of having access to Admax’s sales relationships with over 350 advertisers such as Sony, Citibank and Blackberry. Conversely through this acquisition, Admax will gain access to Komli Media‘s leading technology platforms and solutions across display, mobile, video, social, data, and search advertising.

Komli Media will integrate its current SEA team operating as Aktiv Digital with that of Admax’s under the Komli Media brand. With this acquisition, Komli Media will be more than 400 people strong and will service more than 1000 active advertisers across Asia Pacific with a reach of over 150 million unique monthly users.

Komli Media CEO Prashant Mehta “The strength of our teams and technology has established us as the leader in digital advertising across Asia Pacific. Admax’s deep publisher and advertiser relationships and strong team presence across key markets in South East Asia will further reinforce our position. We are delighted to have our expertise come together, allowing the combined organization to flourish as the strongest player in the region.”

Komli Media recently launched its proprietary Real-Time Bidding (RTB) platform which enables media buyers to evaluate, bid on and purchase online ad inventory on an impression-by-impression basis, leveraging data to reach their target audience with precision and scale, unlike any other platform in the region.

Admax Network CEO Mathew Ward said, “Komli Media is at the forefront of bringing leading solutions to the digital marketplace and we are thrilled to be part of their team. We are especially excited to leverage their innovative RTB, mobile and video platforms to deliver more value to our partners and deepen our presence in SEA.”

Komli Media co-founder and vice president international Akshay Garg added, “We are excited to work with the dynamic Admax team and believe there is a strong cultural fit between our two companies. With significant experience in many global media and technology companies, the Admax team will strengthen Komli Media’s competitive advantage in the region.”

Admax is headquartered in Singapore and has local offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

MUMBAI: Cartoon Network Arabic channel will be available across Middle East and North Africa region in High Definition via YahLive‘s satellite service following an agreement between YahLive and Turner Broadcasting Systems.

The new partnership will allow Cartoon Network‘s Arabic speaking fans across the region to see comedy and action-adventure animation series available from the commercial kids‘ TV network.

The agreement was signed by Alan Musa, TBS‘s Vice President and General Manager for the Middle East-Africa region, and Mohamed Youssif, CEO of YahLive, during Cabsat, the Middle East‘s largest digital media & satellite expo, running from 28 February to 1 March at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Commenting on the new agreement, YahLive CEO Mohamed Youssif said, “Our new HD partnership with Turner Broadcasting Systems is another clear example of YahLive achieving our strategic vision to become the HD hotspot for the region. The addition of the Cartoon Network Arabic to our bouquet means that young people, across the region, have the opportunity to experience their favorite TV shows in quality HD.”

TBS Vice President and General Manager for the Middle East-Africa region Alan Musa said, “We are excited to launch Cartoon Network Arabic channel in HD enriching our audience‘s viewing experience. YahLive are the perfect partner in the region to help achieve our goals in providing our content in the highest quality possible.”

YahLive is a partnership company with Yahsat, the United Arab Emirates-based satellite communications company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, and the global satellite operator SES.

MUMBAI: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, SanDisk and Western Digital have revealed Project Phenix (working title).

This is an initiative that will give consumers an easier and faster way to organize, store and move their high definition digital movies and TV shows – including new releases in up to full 1080p quality – across multiple devices.

In addition to local storage, the content will also be backed up via the UltraViolet industry standard as well
as other cloud-based services.

The project is being developed by the newly formed Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA). Established as an LLC, this coalition will create and license solutions that secure high definition and other premium copyright-protected content on local and portable hard drives, and flash memory products such as USB flash drives, SD™ cards and solid state disk drives (SSDs).

Once content is downloaded to a hard drive or flash memory product, it could then be accessed, online or offline, on any SCSA-enabled device such as a connected TV, laptop, Blu-ray player, tablet, mobile phone or game console. The optimised content will be made easily available for purchase via digital download, digital files bundled with physical media, kiosks in retail stores, or other means of secure digital delivery.

Warner Bros. Technical Operations president Darcy Antonellis said, “Developing solutions that will allow consumers to easily access and store true HD digital content is a critical component supporting digital media and entertainment consumption. Through the SCSA, we will accelerate the development of products that will make it easy for the consumer to download, store and playback their high definition digital movies and TV shows, in full 1080p, on any SCSA-optimized device at home and on the go.”

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn said, “The vision for this new product is to store, play and back up in the cloud personal and professional content. The device renders content up to 10 times faster than over-the-top internet. We see Project Phenix as a key component of the emerging digital ecosystem.”

The SCSA‘s solutions will be designed to work with the industry-backed UltraViolet (UV) ecosystem and aimed to complement other next-generation high definition content protection technologies already in the market such as Intel® Insider™. The SCSA expects to make its solutions widely available for license this year.

Western Digital Branded Products CTO Bert Hesselink said, “The SCSA will provide consumers with a digital solution for movies and TV shows that is as simple to use as DVD and Blu-ray discs. The SCSA solution will allow the consumer to store high definition purchased content, including copies of certain DVD content, in a secure, consumer-owned digital home library on a hard drive, along with their personal photos, music, and videos. Digital library content can be easily viewed inside the home on a TV, PC or tablet, or when owners are on the move with a portable library copy, providing mobile viewing even when a reliable Internet connection is not available, such as a plane, car, train or remote location.”

SanDisk senior VP, chief strategy officer Sumit Sadana said, “Consumers around the world will finally be able to enjoy locally stored premium Hollywood content in up to 1080p quality anywhere they desire on a broad range of electronic devices. With the involvement of major Hollywood studios and leaders in the HDD and Flash memory industries, the SCSA alliance‘s openly licensable security standard holds the promise of fostering new device capabilities, new business models and ultimately improved value for consumers. SanDisk is very pleased to participate in this ground breaking alliance.”

MUMBAI: Indian broadcasters are beginning to join the over-the-top (OTT) TV race. While the U.S. is the most developed market where the battle is being fiercely fought, India is beginning to start the game.

Zee‘s digital arm, Zee New Media, today launched the country‘s first and only OTT (over-the-top) TV distribution platform, Ditto TV, with an aim to offer TV channels and On-Demand video content to consumers on their mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, entertainment boxes and connected TVs.

Along with this India launch, Ditto TV will also be available in UK, UAE, New Zealand and Australia, with US soon to follow by the first quarter of next fiscal.

Currently hosting 21 channels, Ditto TV has already partnered for content with Multi Screen Media (Sony Entertainment Television), TV Today Network, BBC, and Zee. It expects to offer 50 channels shortly and is in talks with other broadcasters including Star India to get in their channels.

Ditto TV is targeting one million global subscribers in its first year.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zee) managing director and CEO Punit Goenka said, “The OTT category presents a powerhouse of potential and adds a new dimension to Zee’s business model. As a pioneer in the entertainment and content business, we have been systemically investing in our digital outreach; Ditto TV was created to bring cutting-edge wireless broadband digital services to customers across the world. Over the years, we have launched many industry-firsts, but this is a launch that I am especially excited about; I believe that Ditto TV will transform the way content is consumed, and monetised and we are thrilled to be at the helm of this revolution.”

Ditto TV allows for complete customisation, both in cost as well as choice of content- users are given the option to handpick a basket of channels as per their own personal preferences. Different price points offer control of channel selection, with prices starting as low as Rs 49 (three channels) to platinum pack at Rs 2499 (all the channels) for one year.

Zee business head – New Media Vishal Malhotra added, “Ditto TV offers extreme versatility- both, in terms of content as well as device and bandwidth compatibility. With the increasing number of smart phone users, Ditto TV will allow subscribers to access premium content from across the world, at the simple click of a button. For partners, it will create unique revenue generation opportunities– namely, for content owners, distributors, retail, OEMs, and service providers.”

It offers features such as adaptive streaming, an elaborative electronic programme guide, a content recommendation engine and an elegant user interface, all of which will be integral to enhance the user experience.

Ditto TV has partnered with Siemens Communication and Media Technology to develop a strong technology platform that will offer adaptive streaming.

As an application, Ditto TV is available on application stores viz. Apple App Store, Android Market, and BlackBerry Application World. Ditto TV‘s prepaid cards will be retailed at high footfall outlets like Croma and Vijay Sales with whom Ditto TV has entered a distribution alliance. For Windows and MAC PCs, the same can be downloaded from company’s website.

Ditto TV will run on the similar business model as of DTH.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide is preparing to bring the world of Jane Austen to Facebook in a new interactive game inspired by her work.

Developed in partnership with Legacy Interactive, Jane Austen‘s Rogues and Romance will re-create the world of her novels allowing players to take part in an imaginative adventure that follows the path of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy after they are married.

For almost 200 years, Jane Austen‘s work has stood the test of time with legions of fans worldwide enjoying her witty character portrayals and depictions of 19th century English society. Her novels have inspired countless adaptations, prequels and sequels including The Jane Austen Book Club; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Clueless. Jane Austen‘s Rogues and Romance will mark the first time her works have inspired an online social game.

Robert Nashak, EVP, BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment & Games, explains, “Social interaction is at the core of Austen‘s work and we felt that was a concept we could explore that had a natural synergy with Facebook. Rogues and Romance is a fun romp of a game that celebrates the world of Jane Austen.”

Legacy Interactive CEO Ariella Lehrer said, “I am a ‘Janeite‘ of long standing and thrilled to be able to translate my secret obsession into a fun social game. We are determined to deliver an experience that passionate Austen fans will love, as well as gameplayers who know of Austen but have never read her novels.”

Jane Austen‘s Rogues and Romance is set to launch on Facebook. The game takes ‘Pride and Prejudice‘ as its starting point following the newly married Elizabeth and Mr Darcy on a hidden object adventure with a twist. Players will be able to take their place in society leaving calling cards, attending and hosting receptions and pursuing courtships. Each player will have their own manor house and be able to indulge their penchant for fashion with a choice of Regency-era costumes.