Category: Software

MUMBAI: In an effort to expand its customer base, online travel portal Yatra.com has acquired events and entertainment portal Buzzintown.com.

This is its third acquisition in 15 months. It is estimated that the travel portal will expand its customer base by three million registered users through this acquisition.

Yatra.com co-founder and CEO Dhruv Shringi said, “Buzzintown will enable Yatra.com to provide its customers an enhanced experience by sourcing special deals for the destinations they are traveling to. Our focus is on increasing our portfolio of internet services for our customers, and investing in product development and innovation through
both organic and inorganic means.”

Buzzintown.com’s Amitabh Saran, who will continue as CEO, said, “We get millions of visitors with a common interest for alternate options of entertainment where a large majority of these surfers like to be outdoors and explore newer destinations. With this acquisition, Buzzintown customers will now be able to even plan and book their travel with Yatra.com.”

Buzzintown is an events and entertainment portal providing listings, content, deals and services across numerous events and happenings in the world and will continue to operate under the same brand name. It provides information on an array of events, including videos, venue details, artiste profiles, groups, and other stakeholders of the event industry.

Buzzintown has presence in over 19 Indian cities, and 16 cities across USA and Canada, Buzzintown. It is reported that this acquisition will help catalyse the expansion of Yatra.com’s portfolio giving customers the access to services beyond travel.

Previously, Yatra.com acquired ticket consolidator Travel Services International (TSI) to strengthen its foray into the B2B consolidation space. In July 2011, Yatra.com acquired hotel aggregation company, MagicRooms, offering access to a live inventory of over 3,000 hotels across India.

In April 2011, the online travel portal had received a funding of Rs 2 billion from venture capital firms Valiant Capital Management, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), and Intel Capital. Interestingly, Buzzintown is also backed by Intel Capital.

NEW DELHI: In a fillip to readying the nation for digitisation of cable TV, affiliate partners of Den Networks are being trained on cable TV digitisation.

This is being held across Delhi and in conjunction with Ernst and Young and is aimed at changing the perception of local cable operators (LCOs) towards digitisation and address their concerns regarding consumer‘s willingness to pay and benefit from digitisation.

The key features of the training are explaining the features of digitisation and the impact on each stakeholder in the value chain from subscriber to LCO to MSO (Multi-system operator) to broadcaster.

Cable operators are also being explained about current ARPUs (average revenue per user) and present model of business and how this will change. The scope of improvement of ARPUs, increase in revenue streams due to increase in number of channels and packages/increase in number of value added services /HD services/declaration of true number of TV sets by consumers, etc.

The aim is also to increase the role of LCO and clarity on revenue share after digitisation.

MUMBAI: Broadcom, which offers semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, has introduced its first family of 802.11ac (5G WiFi) chips designed for a broad range of product segments.

The new IEEE 802.11ac chips are three times faster and up to six times more power efficient than equivalent 802.11n solutions.

5G WiFi is the next generation Wi-Fi standard required for today’s mobile and video era. Based on 802.11ac, 5G WiFi, the company says, is an evolutionary step from the existing 802.11a/b/g/n networks.

Broadcom’s 5G WiFi improves the wireless range in the home, allowing consumers to watch HD-quality video from more devices, in more places, simultaneously.

The increased speed enables consumers to download web content from a mobile device faster and quickly sync large files, such as videos, in a fraction of the time it would take on a similar 802.11n device. Since 5G WiFi transfers the same volume of data at a much faster rate, devices enter low-power mode faster, which results in significant power consumption advantages.

Digital-content consumption is on a steep incline, with video content expected to reach approximately 90 per cent of global consumer traffic, according to Cisco’s 2011 Visual Networking Index Forecast. At the same time, Internet traffic is shifting rapidly from wired to wireless networks. The increased reliance on wireless networks, the explosion of video consumption and the growing number of wireless devices being used are all putting tremendous stress on legacy 802.11a/b/g/n networks. As a result, consumers are prone to experience deteriorated performance, choppy videos and slower load times.

By creating more reliable whole-home coverage, Broadcom’s 5G WiFi technology overcomes the digital content and wireless device challenge. Broadcom’s family of 5G WiFi solutions includes the BCM4360, BCM4352, BCM43526 and BCM43516.

Product Highlights:

— All 5G WiFi solutions from Broadcom support the following features:

— 80 MHz channel bandwidth that is 2 times wider than current 802.11n solutions

— 256-QAM, a higher modulation scheme that increases data transfer efficiency

— Transmit and receive beamforming

— Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) Codes

— Space-Time Block Codes (STBC)

— BCM4360 supports the PCIe interface and implements 3-stream 802.11ac specifications, and reaches speeds up to 1.3 Gbps.

— BCM4352 and BCM43526 implement 2-stream 802.11ac specification to reach up to 867 Mbps. BCM4352 supports PCIe interface; BCM43526 supports the USB interface.

— BCM43516 supports USB and reaches speeds of up to 433 Mbps with its single stream 802.11ac implementation.

— Chips with the PCIe interface are ideal for access points, routers, DSL/cable gateways and PC products; chips that use USB are ideal for consumer electronics devices including televisions, set-top boxes and Blu-Ray players.

— Broadcom adds that its new 5G WiFi chips deliver better coverage and longer battery life in a small form factor that is interoperable and compatible with existing technologies.

— Beamforming helps steer content in the direction of the intended receiver, increasing reliability and extending range; this is well complemented by STBC and LDPC code support.

— By transferring the same volume of data at a much faster rate, devices go into a low-power mode faster than existing 802.11n solutions.

— Designed on 40nm manufacturing process, the new chips are smaller and more power efficient, giving customers more design freedom.

— Broadcom’s 5G WiFi solutions work with all legacy 802.11 standards and complement other wireless technologies – like Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth and NFC.

Broadcom is sampling 5G WiFi solutions to its early access partners including retail and PC OEMs, service providers and carriers, and will be demonstrating 5G WiFi capabilities at CES.

802.11ac the company adds has generated broad support across the consumer-electronics industry. Companies and partners across the ecosystem recognize that 802.11ac is the future of Wi-Fi and are committed to its development, integration and distribution.

Gartner Research Research Director, Wireless Mark Hung said, ” Wi-Fi-enabled devices will grow from less than 1 billion units in 2010 to more than 3 billion in 2015[1]. Given the current constraints of legacy 802.11 standards and the increased speed, capacity, coverage and battery life that 802.11ac offers, this next generation of Wi-Fi is poised for rapid growth across all product segments. 802.11ac will be one of the most influential mobile and wireless technologies in the years to come.”

Broadcom senior VP, mobile and wireless group Michael Hurlston said, “The exponential growth of digital media and wirelessly connected devices requires faster and more reliable ways to connect anytime, anywhere. 5G WiFi solves this media explosion challenge. Broadcom’s vast footprint in consumer electronics devices uniquely positions us to lead the transition to the next generation of Wi-Fi.”

MUMBAI: The proliferation of devices is increasing access to content, which in turn is driving more consumption. Deloitte’s sixth edition “State of the Media Democracy” survey reveals that the introduction of new platforms has led to increases in the consumption of movies and books.

Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy (sixth edition) survey assesses media consumption preferences of nearly 2,000 consumers, ages 14 to 75 years old in the US, revealing significant trends including increased access to content driving consumption, smartphones continuing to challenge other devices and the role of DVRs in preserving consumers’ cable and satellite television subscriptions.

Accessibility Drives Demand: Access to content is increasing American media consumption. Movies are available on a wider array of platforms – home TV via cable, satellite, DVD, pay-per-view, Internet and online via streaming/downloading to a personal computer, gaming console, smartphone or tablet.

As recently as 2009, only 28 per cent of Americans reported streaming a movie; today, 42 per cent report streaming.

Moreover, the number of people citing streaming delivery of a movie to their computer or television as their favourite way of watching a movie rose to 14 per cent from 4 per cent in 2009. Most tellingly, in 2007, 37 per cent of people said that they had not viewed a movie, available for purchase or rental, during the past six months. In 2011, that percentage of non-consumers dropped to only 19 per cent.

The phenomenon of eBook readers increasing consumer purchases of books is another encouraging sign that digital content married with new devices can increase consumption. While only 23 per cent of respondents preferred to be able to download their books, magazines and newspapers to a digital device in 2007, more than one-third of respondents (36 per cent) now express interest in this option.

Newspapers have also benefited from increased accessibility via smartphones. This year’s survey found that 20 per cent of leading millennials (respondents between the ages of 23 and 28) have read their favourite newspaper in the last six months on a smartphone – up from nine per cent last year. Eleven per cent of millennials have also stated that this is their favourite method for reading the newspaper – up from 3 per cent last year.

Deloitte vice chairman and US media and telecommunications sector leader Phil Asmundson said, “Our data shows that while Americans may be less interested in physical content, their appetite for digital content continues to grow. That appetite, coupled with the introduction of new technologies, is leading consumers to access the content they want on a number of different devices. Consumers may be watching fewer television shows and movies on TV, or reading fewer
physical copies of books and newspapers, but they have not stopped consuming the content. They are simply watching or reading on different media or platforms.”

Smartphones Challenge Other Devices: Americans’ love of smartphones continues to grow. The number of households owning smartphones jumped to 42 per cent in 2011 from 25 per cent in 2009. Furthermore, the number of consumers interested in purchasing a smartphone in the near future increased to 52 per cent in 2011 from 40 per cent in 2010.

As adoption of smartphones grows, Americans are beginning to use them as “all in one” devices for a number of different tasks. In 2011 the survey found increases in Americans using: text messaging (up to 78 per cent in 2011 from 71 per cent in 2009), mobile online search (46 per cent in 2011 compared to 30 per cent in 2009, GPS for directions (37 per cent in 2011 versus 22 per cent in 2009) and even online banking, which was tracked for the first time in 2011 (19 per cent).

“Smartphones allow consumers to greatly expand a phone’s functionality by downloading different applications. As the costs for these types of devices, apps and the wireless services that come with them continue to fall, consumers are starting to shift their behavior, taking advantage of connectivity, performance, and portability that rivals and often beats that of a laptop. As 4G rollouts continue and new smartphone technology is introduced, makers of single purpose devices may need to adopt similar business models if they want to remain competitive,” said Asmundson

DVRs represent an opportunity for cable and satellite TV providers. The survey shows Americans value cable TV and satellite TV above most other services, and using a DVR is the second-most preferred means of watching one’s favourite TV show. Yet, only 44 per cent of those surveyed have DVR functionality. This represents an opportunity for cable and satellite TV companies to provide this highly valued viewing capability to millions of additional Americans.

At the same time, a number of Americans have already cut, or are exploring cutting their pay TV connection entirely. Deloitte’s survey found that 9 per cent of people have already cut the cord and 11 per cent are considering doing so because they can watch almost all of their favourite shows online. An additional 15 per cent of respondents said that they will most likely watch movies, television programs, and videos from online digital sources (via download or streamed over the Internet) in the near future.

“Consumers have shown that they value DVR functionality, yet the majority of Americans don’t have a DVR in the home. This represents a potential opportunity for cable and satellite TV providers. In a world where consumers have other ways to access content, the DVR may be an underutilised service that could serve as a value-add for new and existing subscribers at minimal cost to cable and satellite TV companies,” averred Asmundson.

MUMBAI: The digital wave seems to have slain Eastman Kodak, the company which brought photography to the masses a century ago, to such an extent that the company is staring bankruptcy. The company has already begun preparing to ask for protection from creditors.

On Tuesday the New York Stock Exchange has, in a way, warned the company that if it cannot get its stock price 
 
In its heyday Kodak shares topped $80 in 1996 — just before the digital photo revolution stated making waves that eventually replaced the need for consumers to buy Kodak film,.

On Wednesday, Kodak™s share price plunged 28 per cent to 47 cents a share while on Thursday it sank another 10.6 percent to 42 cents.
 
Days have become so bad for the company that on Thursday the company‘s chief communications officer quit, following the resignation of three board directors in the last two weeks.

Founded in 1892 by George Eastman, Kodak developed handheld Brownie cameras that were sold at popular price, and furnished the film that would keep consumers pumping profits into the country for decades.

MUMBAI: Live and interactive social mobile gaming company PlayUp has announced the launch of the beta version of its application on the web after having success on the iOS platform.

The app provides an opportunity to sports fans to follow their choice of sport from thousands of live games in real time. At the same time fans can discuss the action with fellow enthusiasts on their mobile and computing devices.

PlayUp’s WEB beta version will further harness the cricket fever in the region and allow millions of cricket fans to create private rooms and banter as the action unfolds on-ground.
 
By creating an interactive platform for sports lovers and social networkers, PlayUp claims to have achieved 500,000 downloads in two months.
 
PlayUp India CEO Rajat Kulshrestha said, “Launching PlayUp WEB beta on the occasion of the legendary cricket series between India and Australia is a huge step for us. We all know how this series swings the cricketing fortunes of both the cricket playing countries and this time we wish to expand the experience of being a part of the game to our subscribers as well. Through PlayUp, cricket aficionados can be a part of the game, share experiences and put in their comments on play sequences which gives them an opportunity to live the game. Knowing how passionate people are of both the countries about the series, we intend to give them a 360° experience of the game.”

The brand ambassador of PlayUp Steve Waugh said, “The unique feature of PlayUp is that it enables sports fans to take part in the atmosphere of the game even when they can’t be at the ground. The great thing about sport is everyone has an opinion –you want your mates to think your opinion is the right one and vice-versa. What I love about PlayUp is that it allows you to easily talk about a situation or phase of the game – and you can voice this opinion easily through the iPhone app or website as you are watching the game.â€? join the room discussing the ongoing India – Australia Test Series.

MUMBAI: Vision IPTV has announced the launch of the first dedicated Chinese language channels to use the company’s Internet broadcast playout services, delivering entertainment via FreeviewHD channel 111.

Vision IPTV provides a solution to clients wanting to create TV and video services for connected audiences worldwide.

Through this service, China Central Television (CCTV), the largest TV network in China, is able to use the FreeviewHD electronic programme guide (EPG) to deliver new channels to the Chinese speaking audience in the UK.
 
Viewers visiting FreeviewHD Channel 111 with an Internet connected television or set-top box have access via an onscreen carousel to three, free to view channels of live 24/7 broadcast. CCTV.

Channel 9 broadcasts a mixture of programming including film and drama; CCTV Channel 4 provides a range of cumentaries; while a third channel provides the latest news coverage from China and worldwide.

CCTV deputy editor in chief Zhu Tong said, “This is an exciting day for us, by delivering the very best and latest compelling television from China to our UK audience we hope to make them feel closer to home, even when they live on the other side of the world.”
 
Vision IPTV CEO John Mills said: “CCTV has embraced the opportunity that internet television delivered over Freeview HD represents; to deliver high quality, world class broadcasting to the Chinese expat audience in the UK, and all for free.”

Vision IPTV‘s online video platform supports the latest FreeviewHD enabled television sets and set-top boxes on the market, including forthcoming YouView set-top boxes, ensuring broadcasters such as CCTV can deliver compelling new TV services to wider audiences in the UK.

Legacy devices or FreeviewHD devices not connected to the internet will receive a call to action message displayed on screen advising users on what is required to view these new Internet delivered channels.

MUMBAI: India‘s leading multi-system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable & Datacom plans to invest Rs 1.75 billion in the first phase of digitisation even as it expects DTH to take away 10-15 per cent of its cable TV subscribers in the two lucrative markets of Delhi and Mumbai.

Hathway has ordered 1.3 million digital set-top boxes (STBs) and signed a letter of intent for another 0.5 million STBs.

“We estimate our subscriber universe to be 1.5 million (including 2nd TV) in Mumbai and Delhi. About 20 per cent of this will be second TV sets. We have a presence in Kolkata through our joint venture company and expect to seed 200,000-300,000 boxes there,” said Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO K Jayaraman in an interview with
Indiantelevision.com.

Hathway has already seeded 250,000 STBs on a voluntary basis in Delhi and Mumbai.

The STBs will be subsidised and sold to customers at a price of Rs 750-790 (including taxes). “We will not sell below this even if there is a price war. We, however, feel that no player is in a position to indulge in a price war. DTH will fight for market share on the basis of perception and brand. All the Santa Clauses are broke,” said
Jayaraman.

Hathway will do fixed fee deals with broadcasters and content cost in a digital environment is expected to fall in the region of 35 per cent. The local cable operators (LCOs) will get a revenue share of 30-35 per cent and the distributors five per cent. Distributors are to also get a 30 per cent share in carriage revenues. “In Mumbai, we are comfortable with the distributors. There may be some issues in Delhi but we will manage to strike a smooth bond with them,” said Jayaraman.

Carriage income is expected to shrink by 30 per cent in the digital environment. “This can even go up to 50 per cent. But we will be somewhat compensated by a reduction in content cost,” averred Jayaraman.

Hathway has a cash pile of Rs 2 billion and does not feel the need to raise capital in the first phase of digitisation. “We will manage with bank debt, vendor and buyer‘s credit,” said Jayaraman.

For the first time, Hathway will splurge on marketing. The MSO has earmarked a spend of Rs 250 million towards advertising and the first campaign will break on 6 January.

Hathway expects to stay Ebitda positive while net losses will drag on till at least 2016. “We will regain good valuations if we manage to seed the boxes. Investors are bothered about that and not about net profitability at this stage. We expect our Ebitda to be at least in the 20-25 per cent range. We know it will be difficult at the early stage of digitisation but our endeavour will be towards achieving that range from the start,” said Jayaraman.

Hathway expects the ride in the second phase to be even smoother as it has already got a large population of digital subscribers on a voluntary basis in some of these major cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad. “The second phase is looking even more promising for us,” said Jayaraman.

MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has issued a permanent injunction forbidding any cable operator from illegally airing ESPN Star Sports’ ongoing telecast of India’s cricket tour to Australia.

The order restrains all cable operators, hotels and Internet websites from unauthorised telecast of the series in any manner.

The official rights holder, ESPN Software India (ESIPL), had filed suit in the Delhi High Court for permanent injunction against cable operators across the country. ESIPL had claimed that it has just cause for apprehension that the defendants, approximately 63 named cable operators, hotels and Internet websites may take unauthorised connections and may access signals of ESIPL without taking license from the company.

ESPN Software India VP –affiliate sales TS Panesar said, “This order will go a long way in ensuring that the unauthorised telecast is curbed. We have a team of observers across the country to ensure that piracy does not happen and in case we spot any, we will align with the police to bring the guilty to the book.”

After this order anyone showing the broadcast of India’s tour to Australia through any unauthorised means or any other channel will be liable to be held in contempt of court and can be prosecuted.

The Delhi High Court has also permitted ESIPL to take action against ‘unnamed’ entities, not party to the suit, but are found to be unauthorisedly utilising the feed of ESPN, and Star Cricket without license.

The Delhi High Court has also restrained unnamed entities who may be found to be indulging in cable piracy. The police authorities concerned have been directed to render all assistance to ESIPL to enforce the order of injunction.

NEW DELHI: BigFlicks, a part of Reliance Group’s Digital Entertainment Business, today launched India’s first online Movie on Demand service, BigFlix Plus, which lets the user just click and play a catalogue of 500 movies at a subscription fee across PCs, tablets and mobiles.

BigFlix Plus is a user’s Personal Blockbuster Theatre, which allows the user to stream and download HD (High Definition) quality content for a subscription fee of Rs 249 per month by logging on to www. Bigflixplus.com.

It provides movies at the users preferred time, sans the advertisements, across all devices such as desktop, tablets, smart phones and connected TVs.

According to Reliance Entertainment COO – Digital Business Manish Agarwal, “BigFlix Plus is the first movies on demand subscription service that offers a vast choice of HD uality movies to the net savvy movie buffs in India, at their convenience, across all internet connected devices. We are looking at replicating a ‘NetFlix’ in India, In order to provide this world class experience. Reliance entertainment has hugely invested in developing the movies on demand ecosystem spanning across product, distribution & content.”

BigFlix Plus offers an extensive HD quality movie library across Hindi, English, and several regional languages.