Category: Software

MUMBAI: Singapore pay TV platform StarHub‘s subscribers of the Lifestyle and Chinese Entertainment Basic Groups can now enjoy FX and tvN at no extra charge.

Fox International Channels (FIC) and StarHub have announced that the two entertainment and lifestyle channels will now be re-tiered to their respective basic groups. To further enhance the audience‘s viewing experience, FIC will also launch two more channels in HD format—Fox Family Movies HD and tvN HD from 28 November.

FX is looking at bolder and edgier content that pushes the boundaries of television. In the month of November, viewers can look forward to the exclusive premiere of dark comedy ‘It‘s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘, when the American television sitcom returns for its fifth season.

Drama series ‘Mad Men‘ will also debut its third season on FX.

Korean entertainment channel tvN will air the 2011 Mnet Asian Music Award on 29 November 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Singapore will be the second overseas country outside of South Korea to present the major music awards show.

StarHub subscribers can also catch the showcase of artistes from South Korea and the pyrotechnics on the tvN HD channel. tvN HD, which is a simulcast channel to tvN in high definition format, is available for free preview to Chinese Entertainment Basic Group customers with the HubStation HD or HD Interactive set-top box from 28 November till 30 June 2012.

Fox Family Movies will follow suit with the introduction of its HD format in Fox Family Movies HD, under the Star Movies Pack. Available across Asia in dual-language English and Mandarin, Fox Family Movies is home to family films, such as â€?Aladdin‘, â€?Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert‘ and â€?Alice in Wonderland‘ from Hollywood studios.

Fox International Channels senior VP, GM Southeast Asia Avinash Himatsinghani said, “FX and tvN‘s being re-tiered to their respective basic groups is a testament to the high quality entertainment content offered by FOX International Channels and expanding availability to an even larger group of viewers in Singapore. As Asia‘s leading pay TV network, FIC aims to entertain audiences across all demographics and on all platforms. In addition, with the launching of new high definition channels such as tvN HD and FOX Family Movies HD, FIC remains the leading provider of HD services to audiences across the region and in Singapore”.

MUMBAI: Direct-to-home service provider Sun Direct is offering this month a free preview of kids channels, available on the Kids Mega pack.

This free preview will be held around the occasion of Children‘s Day, from the 12th to 19th of November.

The Kids Mega Pack groups Cartoon Network, Pogo, Disney and Disney XD.
 
Sun Direct is looking to fill a gap in catering to the 4-14 year age group. The promotions for the Kids Mega pack will be held on the Infotainment channels on Sun Direct.
 
Sun Direct CEO Mahesh Kumar said, “Children‘s Day is a great opportunity for Sun Direct to celebrate kids and everything that‘s special to them. The free preview of the Kids Mega Pack gives kids a great opportunity to sample the dedicated kids‘ channels available on our add-on packs.”

MUMBAI: Singapore pay TV operator StarHub‘s fiscal third quarter operating revenue rose by four per cent to S$572.2 million compared to S$552.3 million year-on-year (YoY).

The Group‘s EBITDA decreased by three per cent to S$167.2 million for the quarter. EBITDA margin as a percentage of service revenue was 30.8 per cent for the quarter.

In the third quarter, profit from operations came in at S$97.1 million, net profit after tax at S$75.8 million and free cash flow at S$148.3 million. Compared to a year ago, profit from operations decreased by nine per cent.
 
Net profit after tax decreased by eight per cent YoY. Free cash flow rose by 89 per cent YoY and 36 per cent YTD. Cash capital expenditure was at S$46.1 million for the quarter, 36 per cent lower YoY.

Business Highlights: Mobile revenue grew by three per cent YoY to S$307.4 million and S$905.4 million for the respective periods.

Pay TV revenue increased 1 per cent to S$93.4 million YoY. For the quarter, Pay TV ARPU increased to S$50. This was the result of a higher subscriber base as well as the S$2 monthly subscription price increase.

Broadband revenue increased by three per cent to S$60.2 million compared to a year ago. There was a S$1ARPU decrease to S$45 this quarter. For the nine months, ARPU was also at S$45. The lower ARPUs were mainly due to a higher mix of customers on lower speed price plans and hubbing promotional and discounts offers. The residential broadband customer base grew by six per cent YoY, ending the quarter with 438,000 customers. The average monthly churn was 1.1 per cent for the quarter as compared to 1.2 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

Fixed Network revenue decreased by four per cent to S$81.7 million. Data and Internet services revenue, which makes up 84 per cent of the Fixed Network revenue, decreased by four per cent from a year ago. The decrease was a result of pricing pressure in the local and international leased circuit services despite higher number of circuits sold.

Voice services revenue decreased 7 per cent to S$12.9 million YoY, primarily due to lower IDD revenue as a result of lower customer usage. YTD, Voice services revenue at S$41 million was S$2 million or five per cent higher from higher subscription of local voice services and increased interconnect revenue, offset by lower IDD revenue. 
 
The number of households subscribing to all three services increased by five per cent or 9,000 to 206,000 households YoY. The total number of hubbing households with at least one StarHub service totalled 793,000 after the quarter‘s net add of 2,000 households. The number of households taking more than one StarHub service was up two percentage point to 57 per cent from 55 per cent last year.

StarHub CEO Neil Montefiore said, “Despite stiff market competition and a slowing economy, we are happy to see resilient growth in all our consumer lines of business. Moving forward, we are extremely excited about our strategic and exclusive partnership with Vodafone in Singapore, as this will enable us to provide an even more comprehensive range of products and services for our enterprise customers locally and globally.

“Riding on the global mobile alliances of Conexus and Vodafone, StarHub will be able to leverage on the rapid growth of smartphone and mobile broadband data roaming by offering higher quality and more cost-effective roaming services for all our customers”.
 

MUMBAI: AOL advertising.com‘s Adtech is coming out with a new mobile software development kit (SDK) for both iOS and Android platforms.

The new kit enables publishers and ad networks to integrate ad delivery into their app with ease. It reduces the development expenses for apps and makes in-app advertising a highly economical solution.

Adtech CEO Erhard Neumann said, “With its 800 million mobile phone users, India is one of the world‘s key growth markets for mobile communication. Also in great demand is the usage of mobile internet, mobile advertising and developing ads within applications. India is the best market for the launch of this great mobile product.”
 
Adtech-Mumbai leader and director international business development Michael Sturm said, “What‘s great for customers is that our mobile offering is fully integrated into our adserving platform (ADTECH IQ), so customers can also enjoy the established features such as targeting, live monitoring, campaign optimisation features like frequency capping and campaign priorities.”

“All media forms and formats are booked in a single workflow and benefit from combined reporting. Because the users don‘t need new technical solutions to book and build mobile campaigns, there are no extensive migration processes or any need for additional training. Instead, customers can profit from additional revenues by simply extending their product portfolio. Adtech provides targeting by device, manufacturer, carrier and operating system” added Sturm.

MUMBAI: LED-backlit TVs and smart televisions that allow consumers to browse and view shows directly from the Internet have replaced 3D TV as the “must have” features driving television purchases globally in 2011, according to the soon-to-be-released 2012 edition of IC Insights‘ Integrated Circuit Market Drivers report.

In 2011, LED-backlit TVs are expected to account for an estimated 37 per cent of global TV shipments, up from 15 per cent in 2010. LED TVs are forecast to represent 53 per cent of digital TV shipments in 2012.

Besides being thinner and lighter, LED-backlit TVs have rapidly gained favour among consumers because they tend to offer broader colour range, improved contrast ratios, and use less power.
 
Also, LED TVs are said to be more reliable offering over 100,000 hours of life compared to traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) LCD TVs, which are often rated at 20,000 hours.

In general, DTV growth rates are expected to remain fairly flat in developed markets (e.g., North America, Europe, and Japan) through the forecast period, since the big digital upgrade cycle in these regions has mostly already occurred.

However, India, China and other countries throughout Asia-Pacific, and Latin America are forecast to enjoy strong DTV growth. Fast-growth economies, increased disposable incomes, and large populations will drive this expansion.

Asia-Pacific is undergoing a digital TV boom that some believe will result in 70 per cent of homes having a DTV in 2015, up from approximately 35 per cent in 2010.
 
The 2012 IC Market Drivers report also notes that the method of delivering programming is quickly transforming broadcast television. Just as smartphones brought the Internet and thousands of applications to cellphone users, Smart TVs are bringing Internet and Web 2.0 features to television sets and offering access to TV broadcasts,
videos, movies, photos, and other content via the web.

An estimated 20 per cent of television shipments in 2011 were Smart TVs, but this is expected to increase to nearly 40 per cent in 2012. Consumers can watch almost anything found on a website on their television, and that is partly why so-called “cord cutting,” where consumers drop cable to
watch videos or TV shows on Hulu, Roku, or their Xbox 360, is accelerating.

Meanwhile, 3D TV has gone from cutting-edge television technology in 2010 to commodity-like status in 2011. Manufacturers, who in 2010 pulled out the stops to convince users to upgrade to 3D TV, now promote it as a nice-to-have feature. In fact, TV manufacturers are slowly adding 3D technology into all of their newest products.

MUMBAI: Times Internet limited (TIL) beats Network18 and Rediff.com, according to comScore‘s latest report for September 2011.

September saw 17.5 million unique visitors to the TIL sites, as compared to Network 18‘s 15.7 million and Rediff.com‘s 15.4 million visitors.

TIL‘s audience base has grown over 50 percent in the last one year (Sep 2010 to Sep 2011), on par with Facebook‘s growth and more than double that of Google and Yahoo‘s.

With 7.8 million unique visitors, the Times of India (TOI) leads in the news portal category while Economic Times leads in the financial newspaper category.

Within three months of launch, Gaana.com managed 3.17 million unique visitors (2.5 million visitors came from India).

In the auto category, Zigwheels.com made it to the number one spot with 1.6 million unique visitors and in the deals space, timesdeal.com followed Snapsdeal.com to have the second most traffic of all deals‘ sites in India last month.

TIL CEO Rishi Khiani said, “Reaching a leadership position in five of our verticals is indeed motivating. This is a result of our continuous effort on innovation and enhancing the user experience, and we intend to keep pushing the envelope with all our verticals. The Times network also offers our advertisers a platform to reach out to a wide spectrum of diverse audiences.”

MUMBAI: France Télécom-Orange and Publicis Groupe have announced plans to launch a new venture capital fund.

The fund will finance and develop budding entrepreneurs in the digital economy, particularly in France and the European Union, building on the sector’s potential for spectacular creativity and growth.

France Télécom-Orange and Publicis Groupe are committed to jointly investing 150 million euros in the new fund. In addition to their respective commitments, the two sponsors intend to invite other investors to join them, to reach a target of 300 million euros.
 
The fund’s main targets for investment will be companies focusing on digital technology, content and services. Likely sectors include online marketing, e-commerce, mobile content and services, online gaming and social networks, as well as their associated technologies and infrastructures such as middleware, cloud computing, security, and online payments.

The fund’s investments will be divided into three distinct categories. Seed-capital and early-stage investment will target fledgling companies in France and Europe, with investments of up to one million euros. Later-stage financing for more established companies in France and Europe will provide up to 15 million euros per project.

Thirdly, at a later time the fund may also opt to invest in start-ups outside Europe, alongside American or Asian partner funds.

The new fund will be operated by a management company, with investment decisions made by an Investment Committee independent of both France Télécom-Orange and Publicis Groupe. Details of the fund’s operation and governance will be released at a later date.

The parties note that French investment capital has been suffering for far too long from the absence of a solid ecosystem to link young companies together with larger groups, research centers and government systems. The aim is to finance and support digital start-up projects.

Publicis CEO Maurice Lévy said, “All over Europe, there are young companies with powerful, game-changing ideas, and they’re not getting the financial backing they deserve. The need for a major, dedicated venture capital fund became obvious while Jean-Pierre Jouyet and I were writing our report on the intangible economy in November 2006, and it became even more clear during the e-G8 Forum on the digital economy that took place in Paris in May. I’m delighted that France Télécom-Orange and Publicis Groupe have been able to launch this fund to help budding companies blossom and create value in the digital economy, which has such huge potential for innovation and growth. We feel that this project is in the national and European interest, and I hope that we’ll be swiftly joined by other institutions and funds so that we can operate on an even more massive scale.”

MUMBAI: Disney Interactive and online video social network YouTube are joining forces to bring family-friendly video entertainment to the web.

The alliance will bring together the leading provider of family-friendly entertainment with the Internet’s most popular
destination for video programming.

Complementary online video destinations tailored to Disney audiences will be made available on both Disney.com and YouTube in early 2012, furthering Disney Interactive‘s strategy to deliver the most relevant and immersive online experiences to its guests wherever they are.
 
Disney Interactive will produce and program the co-branded video destinations for both Disney.com and YouTube, providing a family-friendly experience for viewers across both platforms.

Programming will include video drawn from relevant family-friendly content currently available across YouTube, original video produced by Disney, as well as a blend of current Disney Interactive original series, select Disney Channel programming and Disney user created content.

An original video series based on Disney’s mobile game
‘Where’s My Water?’ and its main character Swampy will be the first project to launch in February and will be followed by other similarly short-form, family-oriented programming.

Disney Interactive co-president Jimmy Pitaro said, “With online video consumption exploding and YouTube at the center of that trend, we see an opportunity for Disney Interactive and YouTube to bring Disney’s legacy of storytelling to a new generation of families and Disney
enthusiasts on the platforms they prefer. As we prepare to re-launch Disney.com in fall 2012, the Disney/YouTube destination will play a critical part in our next generation platform.”

YouTube global head of content partnerships Robert Kyncl said, “Disney has established itself as one of the world’s most loved brands. We are thrilled to work with them to bring amazing new, family-friendly entertainment to YouTube’s audience of 800 million users worldwide.”

MUMBAI: Kids‘ entertainment channel Cartoon Network has announced its new dedicated HD channel, the first amongst kids‘ broadcasters in the region.

Rolling out initially in South East Asia from January 2012, Cartoon Network HD will offer TV viewing experience in native HD that includes a line up of the channel‘s best original and acquired content. This includes the series ‘The Amazing World of Gumball‘, ‘Ben 10‘, ‘Chowder‘ and perennial favourites ‘Scooby Doo‘ and ‘Looney Tunes‘.

Cartoon Network‘s move into the HD arena coincides with its recent regional brand refresh and the debut of its new tagline, “It‘s a Fun Thing”, designed to reflect the multidimensional aspects of kids‘ lives today.

Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific senior VP, GM Sunny Saha said, “Kids across Asia are increasingly sophisticated in their media consumption habits and Cartoon Network HD is set to become the benchmark for the TV viewing experience. HD opens up a crisper and more vivid world of animation that‘s truly captivating”.

The HD roll out also presents an opportunity for cable operators across Asia. “Cartoon Network HD will help support a new audience segment focused on families, presenting a significant subscription marketing opportunity. The launch marks the first time that a kids‘ channel will be included as part of an HD subscription package,” added Saha.

MUMBAI: Smile group‘s daily deals site, dealsandyou.com, closed $17 million round of funding led by Mayfield Fund and Norwest Venture Partners (NVP).

Nokia Growth Partners and Intel Capital also participated in this round.

dealsandyou.com was launched in August 2010 and in just over a year has expanded to serve local deals in 12 cities and national deals (product, travel, retail) to more than 250 cities.

The company previously raised $1.5 million in its first round of funding from Group Buying Global A.G., which has launched similar business models across four continents.
 
Dealsandyou.com CEO Gaurav Kachru said, “The raised capital will help us continue to build a strong customer focused business with greater investments in technology and infrastructure, which will help better serve our customers.”

Mayfield Fund MD Navin Chaddha said, “The upwardly mobile Indian consumer has embraced the Internet, and dealsandyou.com has the team, the scalable product and momentum with over 3M members to dominate both the local and national daily deals space. dealsandyou.com has continuously led innovation in the daily deals market and is India‘s fastest growing business in this segment.”