Category: Software

MUMBAI: Matrimonial site Shaadi.com has launched a new game, ‘Angry Brides‘, to create awareness against dowry.

The game was launched on Shaadi.com‘s Facebook page which has over 266,000 people likes. The game has been conceptualised, designed and developed by Shaadi.com‘s in-house team.

Shaadi.com Sr VP and head of online marketing Ram Bhamidi said, “The Angry Brides game is our way of throwing a spotlight on the nuisance of dowry. According to a 2007 study by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there is a dowry-related death every 4 hours in India. We condemn this menace and have consistently run campaigns on Social Media to help create awareness on the seriousness of this issue.”

To play the game, users need to be logged into their Facebook accounts.

The game functionality is kept simple. It involves grooms with a heavy dowry price tag. The players have to strike the dodging grooms with a weapon of choice. Each hit decreases the price of the groom and adds the money saved to the player‘s Anti-Dowry fund, which players can choose to publish on their Facebook wall or tweet to their timeline.

MUMBAI: UK pay TV service provider Sky is acquiring a minority stake in zeebok and is also entering into a commercial deal with it.

As part of the deal, Sky has entered into a shareholders agreement with zeebox and its existing shareholders pursuant to which it acquired a 10 per cent stake in the equity capital of zeebox, which, however, remains an independent company.

Sky is looking to create a companion app for its scheduling.

Gross assets of zeebox subject to this transaction were ?0.2 million.

NEW DELHI: The Economic Times business newspaper and business and finance site now has mobile applications for all platforms.

Applications have been launched for the iPad, iPhone, Android phone, BlackBerry, Nokia and Windows Phone. The apps combine ET’s business news and market analysis with the easy browsing experience.

The applications have been designed keeping in mind the audiences’ preference for live coverage of the business news and markets. All the apps provide in-depth and analytical coverage of the stock markets, with live stock quotes from both BSE and NSE.

The apps feature the latest and most important news as it happens along with the analysis and features from ET’s print editions.

These apps also provide forex rates, commodities updates and news about the global markets. Stock recommendations and experts‘ views from ET Now are featured through the market hours. Users can also track the stocks on their watch-list and monitor live gainers, losers and movers. Investors can manage their holdings in the stock market with the ET Portfolio.

Announcing the launch of these applications, Rishi Khiani, CEO of Times Internet Ltd, said: “This stack of ET Mobile apps fill an important need for ET readers. Within a short time of launch, ET’s iPad & iPhone apps topped the most popular charts on the Apple website. We have received a phenomenal response to our Android app as well. The latest entrants to our portfolio are apps for both Nokia Symbian/Anna smartphones & also for Nokia for Windows. And, this is not the end. All the apps will be constantly upgraded & more features added in the weeks to come.”

All Economic Times applications come with social media integration. They let users share articles or photos on Facebook and Twitter, and also via e-mail. To download the applications, log on to mobile.economictimes.com from your PC, mobile or tablet.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate News Corp. and global software major Microsoft have announced plans to launch a series of new apps for Xbox Live that will feature content from News Corp‘s broadcast, news and Web properties.

The apps will incorporate content — as well as voice- and motion-activated controls using Kinect for Xbox 360 — from brands including Fox, Fox News Channel, IGN Entertainment and The Wall Street Journal.

Video content from the Fox News Channel and Fox apps will be made available to authenticated subscribers of participating cable and satellite television distributors.

News Corp. expects to announce authentication agreements to support the Fox and Fox News apps in the near future.

All the News Corp. apps will be available to Xbox Live Gold members and are slated to launch in 2012.

Xbox Live GM Alex Garden said, “This new partnership with News Corp., which will bring FOX, Fox News, IGN and The Wall Street Journal to the Xbox Live service, is a significant milestone in our vision to bring consumers the entertainment they love, shared with the people they care about, made easy. With these new properties on Xbox, you‘ll have great on-demand TV options, and using the magic of Kinect, you‘ll be able to find the entertainment you want by simply using your voice — whether it‘s news and headlines from Fox News and The Wall Street Journal or your favorite Fox shows, like ‘Family Guy‘ and ‘Glee‘.”

News Corp chief digital officer Jon Miller said, “As we continue to find new ways to deliver content to consumers, this partnership with Xbox Live enables our viewers to experience News Corp.‘s leading media brands in an entirely new and innovative environment. We look forward to working closely with Microsoft to continue evolving the media experiences on Xbox Live and to enable consumers to take advantage of this incredibly popular and fast-growing platform.”

The Fox Broadcasting app will give authenticated subscribers access to Fox‘s popular primetime shows in a new category-defining app environment on the Xbox LIVE service. Extensive short- and long-form programming will be available through the Fox app, including on-demand availability of shows, such as ‘Glee‘, ‘House‘, ‘New Girl‘, ‘Bones‘, ‘Fringe‘, ‘The Simpsons‘, ‘Family Guy‘ and others.

The app will also include a number of interactive features, such as Facebook integration, as well as voice and motion control via Kinect.

The app will also include voice commands and navigation with a controller and with simple gestures to help users get the most out of their experience, whether that‘s watching or socially sharing videos.

WSJ Live from The Wall Street Journal will offer up to four total hours of live video programming each business day from across The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, including the Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Barron‘s, MarketWatch, SmartMoney and AllThingsD.com.

Users will be able to access seven half-hour live shows, breaking news updates, exclusive interviews and special events coverage. The service will also offer more than 2,000 videos per month from an extensive library of on-demand content.

Dedicated to all-things gaming, the IGN Entertainment app will offer previews, reviews, gameplay videos and live streams, as well as instant access to game help walkthroughs and IGN‘s extensive catalog of popular shows, including The Daily Fix and IGN_Strategize.

The app will also have full support for Kinect magic, voice control, and Facebook sharing. IGN first hit the platform in 2008 with its Strategize show, which has been viewed more than 40 million times.

MUMBAI: Online entertainment destination MySpace.com that lets artists and fans share and discover content has announced the launch of MySpace TV, a new service that makes the television experience social.

Available on the next generation of Panasonic Viera Connect-enabled HDTVs, MySpace TV puts viewers in control by allowing them to discover, share and comment on the programmes they‘re viewing.

Initial channels on MySpace TV will be music-focused, leveraging Myspace‘s music rights and leading library of 100,000 music videos and 42 million songs.

Myspace TV will expand beyond music, however, to encompass movies, news, sports and reality channels, with a growing lineup of today‘s popular broadcast and on-demand content.

Audiences will not only be able to view their favourite television programmes, but Myspace TV will also allow them to chat about what they‘re viewing while they‘re viewing it and invite friends to watch with them virtually.

The platform fully integrates social and television in new ways that add a dimension to content discovery and evolve the traditional television experience. A companion app will be available on tablets and smartphones, providing instant sync capabilities for a seamless experience.

“Myspace was the first successful social network because it allowed individuals to share their interests, listen to music, express their creativity and connect around the things they love,” said Myspace CEO Tim Vanderhook. “Historically, TV has been a shared experience, as people gathered together to watch their favorite programs. Our belief was that we could enhance the TV experience by increasing viewers‘ ability to connect to both content and each other. By partnering with Panasonic, we‘re bringing together the content that people love and a social experience in one service: MySpace TV.”

MySpace co-owner Justin Timberlake said, “We‘re ready to take television and entertainment to the next step by upgrading it to the social networking experience. Why text or email your friends to talk about your favorite programs after they‘ve aired when you could be sharing the experience with real-time interactivity from anywhere across the globe? As the plot of your favorite drama unfolds, the joke of your favorite SNL character plays, or even the last second shot of
your favorite team swishes the net, we‘re giving you the opportunity to connect your friends to your moments as they‘re actually occurring. This is the evolution of one of our greatest inventions, the television. And, we no longer have to crowd around the same one to experience it together.”

Myspace TV intends to return the diminishing social element of television by connecting viewers around content, simplifying discovery by creating fan communities empowered to comment, rate, chat and invite friends to view programming together in real-time.

Launching in the first half of 2012, Myspace TV‘s over-the-top television service will be offered across the Panasonic Viera Connect platform.

Viera Connect is Panasonic‘s connected TV platform, which
offers access to Internet-based video-on-demand content and applications, ranging from news and fitness, to social networking and online gaming. Viera Connect requires no external box or PC(1) and is accessed via a single button on the television remote control.

Panasonic US chairman, CEO Joseph Taylor said, “Year after year, Panasonic‘s Viera Connect Smart Viera TV platform has continued to expand rapidly but with a singular focus to deliver to our consumers an extremely robust and interactive connected TV experience that can be customized and enjoyed on their large-screen HDTVs. We are proud to partner with the new MySpace on the debut of MySpace TV on our Viera Connect Smart TV platform. By partnering with a brand like MySpace on the Viera Connect Smart TV platform, we‘re taking connected TV to a whole new level of engaging, interactive experiences for consumers.”

MUMBAI: The 2012 Nab Show, from 14 – 19 April 2012 in Las Vegas, will focus on the theme ‘The Great Content Shift: Defining Your Evolution‘, addressing how new paradigms in consumption are forever changing the way we create, manage, deliver and monetise content. These changes are forcing industries, businesses and individuals to reevaluate expectations, technologies and strategies for the future.

In a two-part General Session ‘Making Sense of the Great Content Shift‘ on 18 April 2012 the Institute for the Future executive director Marina Gorbis will discuss the seismic shifts that are impacting the modern digital world as people demand content anytime, anywhere.

Gorbis will outline the top five trends that will shape the future of the broadcast and telecommunications industries on both an organisational and individual level. Attendees will then be invited to engage with Gorbis directly in a Q&A session live via social media.

Nab executive VP, conventions and business operations Chris Brown said, “Nab is pleased to have a renowned expert on the shifts in the modern digital landscape join us for a conversation at Nab Show. Marina Gorbis offers a truly unique perspective on how digital media affects global interactions.”

Institute for the Future (IFTF) is an independent, non-profit research company that examines topics such as work and daily life, technology and society, health and health care, and global business trends. As Executive Director, Gorbis has worked with hundreds of organizations in the business, education, government and philanthropy sectors on projects to improve innovation capacity, develop strategies, and design new products and services. Gorbis led IFTF‘s Technology Horizons Program, focusing on interaction between technology and social organisations.

NEW DELHI: Google has entered into a partnership with Wi-Fi provider O-Zone Networks (O-Zone) to encourage mobile internet usage and get consumer experiences of Google+ and YouTube on their portable devices while away from work and home.

As part of the deal, all Google+ users will get free and unlimited access to Google+ on the Wi-Fi network at all O-Zone hotspots across the country. Further, users will be able to surf YouTube for 10 minutes each week at no charge.

This first-of-its-kind offer will go live this weekend and will be available for three months pan-India, initially at all O-Zone Wi-Fi hotspots.

O-Zone‘s services are available at popular hangouts like Café Coffee Day, McDonalds, Café Oz, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Costa Coffee, Subway, OM Bookshop, etc., and also in buildings managed by DLF, Fortis, the Ansal Group, the Oberoi-Trident hotels and the Radisson group.

O-Zone Networks CEO Sanjeev (Bobby) Sarin said, “This association between Google India and O-Zone Networks reinforces the fact that people are now realising the power of Wi-Fi. We aim to provide a good internet surfing experience to the customers. With India being the fastest growing internet market in the world, people are very conscious of the content they view online. This will enable them to enjoy Google+ and YouTube free of cost at any of our hotspots.”

MUMBAI: Global telecommunications company Bharti Airtel has announced the launch of Comedy FM for its mobile users.

Comedy FM on Airtel will offer its listeners a host of fun filled content to choose from. It will have jokes, fillers, stand up comedy acts and humorous excerpts from sitcoms. The initiative will empower mobile users with the ability to get the radio experience on their devices – anytime, anywhere, the company said.

Bharti Airtel Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa CEO Ramesh Menon said, “At Airtel, it is our constant endeavour to deliver products and services that are innovative, affordable and relevant for our customers. The launch of Comedy FM on Airtel is another step from Airtel towards bringing to our customers what they enjoy the most.”

Airtel mobile customers can dial 52747 to subscribe to Comedy FM and start getting their daily doze of humour from Comedy Circus, FIR, Office-Office, Lapatagunj and Rangeela Raju among other.

Comedy FM on Airtel will be available at Rs 2 per day and 2 paise per second browsing charges.

MUMBAI: Raj Television Network has signed a lease agreement for C-band capacity on Asiasat 5 to broadcast a TV bouquet of 11 satellite channels in the Asia-Pacific region.

Raj Television Network‘s channel offerings on AsiaSat 5 include its flagship Tamil entertainment channel Raj TV; Tamil movie channel Raj Digital Plus; Telugu entertainment channel Vissa; Hindi entertainment channel “Raj Pariwar”; music channels in South Indian languages Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu; and news channels in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

The network has plans to launch a Kannada-language news channel and HD channels in the future.

Raj Television Network director Dr Ravindran M said, “Asiasat has an excellent reputation for quality service and superior penetration. Our new partnership with Asiasat will further consolidate our market leadership position in South India entertainment and enable us to grow our business regionally. AsiaSat 5 offers unprecedented access to all major cable headends and DTH platforms in India and numerous pay TV operators across the region, it is the right choice for us to expand our audience base in southern India and nationally as well as in international markets”.

Raj TV Network‘s 11 channels are now available on AsiaSat 5 in C-band with the following reception parameters:
Orbital Location : 100.5 degrees East
Transponder : C1H
Frequency : 3643 MHz
Polarisation : Horizontal
Modulation : QPSK
Symbol Rate : 18.8085 Msym/sec
FEC : 3/4

MUMBAI: Elisabeth Murdoch‘s Shine Group has acquired ChannelFlip, the company that makes Internet TV shows.

Murdoch is trying to turn Shine into a multimedia production company. ChannelFlip will be incorporated into Shine Digital, and support the company‘s multi-platform business.

Co-founded by former QI producer Justin Gayner and Wil Harris, ChannelFlip started by making online comedies featuring famous faces. As well as creating a range of online shows for TV personalities, ChannelFlip recently did a deal with Studio Canal for access to 2,500 film titles like ‘Rambo‘, ‘Spinal Tap‘ and the ‘Ealing‘ comedies to use as short form clips.

ChannelFlip claims to be Europe‘s largest premium network on YouTube, with more than 1 million subscribers generating 320 million video views, and boasting a combined monthly reach of over 4.4 million viewers.