Category: Software

MUMBAI: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is running an online contest that would let the winner win its SUV, the XUV500.

All that a contestant has to do is log onto www.mahindraXUV500.com and guess the price of the yet-to-be launched SUV and answer two other questions.

Each participant can keep coming back every day to make a fresh entry. Up for grabs are also 20 tickets to India’s first Formula 1 Race, at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida (scheduled for October 30th 2011), where the Mahindra Scorpio is the official intervention vehicle.

Mahindra & Mahindra automotive division SVP Vivek Nayer said, “The ‘Guess the Price’ of the XUV500 contest is another innovation from Mahindra which allows everyone the opportunity to participate and actually win our all new XUV500.”

MUMBAI: Tamil Nadu has emerged as the highest entertainment tax imposer on the direct-to-home (DTH) industry, adding to the woes of a sector which is growing in volumes amid losses.

The Jayalalitha government’s imposition of 30 per cent entertainment tax surpasses that of the state of Uttar Pradesh (25%), and is aimed at directly hurting the Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun Group. Other DTH operators do not have a wide presence in Tamil Nadu, which accounts for approximately seven per cent of the subscriber universe.

The four southern states constitute 22 per cent of India’s 38 million DTH population. Tamil Nadu is a very low ARPU (average revenue per user) market and with opportunities opening up for DTH after the launch of state-owned Arasu Cable, the steep entertainment tax could act as a deterrent.

“The entertainment tax on DTH seems to be very much a political issue at this stage. While in Tamil Nadu it is going to be 30 per cent, in Rajasthan it has been waived. The DTH industry is saddled with taxes,” said Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel.

India’s largest DTH company, Dish TV, has a subscriber base of around 0.4 million in Tamil Nadu, according to market estimates. The impact will, thus, be minimal compared to the other private players like Airtel Digital TV and Videcon’s d2h.

Dish TV, the only listed company in the DTH space, expects FY’12 entertainment tax as a percentage of sales to be almost 7 per cent versus 3.6 per cent in FY11. The tax in Tamil Nadu will further impact a quarter per cent more.

Dish TV expects its Ebitda to improve from 24 per cent to 26 per cent as it grows in revenue while costs come down proportionately due to economies of scale.

The subscriber growth in the DTH sector is slowing down in the second quarter of this fiscal by about 10 per cent over the year-ago period.

MUMBAI: Mobile phone provider Samsung Electronics has enhanced its 3G portfolio in the Indian market with the launch of Champ 3.5G ( S3770), Chat 527 ( S5270) and Primo ( S5610) 3G handsets across the Touch , Qwerty and Bar type formats.

With the launch of these four phones, Samsung‘s 3G portfolio now has 13 models in the range of Rs 3400 – Rs 32,890.

Announcing the launch, Samsung Mobile & IT country head Ranjit Yadav said, “Consumers increasingly want to stay connected with friends and family through SNS, IM and messaging while being on the move. With our array of affordable 3G devices across different mobile formats , we are making the 3G experience accessible to a wider set of consumers.”

“The new Samsung Champ 3.5G gives users the quality and style that is best suited for consumers who prefer full – touch functionality in their phones,” the company said. “Its 7.1cm touch screen helps in instant messaging, easy access to mobile applications and business related features.”

The Multimedia experience is further accentuated by the SoundAlive feature which enhances earphone sound with 3D effects, 2 MP Camera. It comes with a 30 MB Internal memory, and a powerful 1000 mAh battery.

The phone offers enhanced connectivity to various Social -Networking sites with native Facebook & Twitter Apps that let the user browse these services with minimum effort with layouts that have been optimised for the screen size.

Samsung Champ 3.5G (S3770) is priced at Rs 5590.

The Samsung Chat 527 (S5270) features an optical track pad and multimedia features. The phone caters to the needs of consumers who prefer a device suited to heavy texting, mails, chatting multimedia and Internet based features to help them lead an active online social life.

Samsung Chat 527 (S5270) is priced at Rs 5930.

MUMBAI: Netflix, the new challenger to old entertainment houses, is suddenly finding its business under attack from dropping subscribers, opposition from Hollywood content suppliers and a wobbly stock price movement.

The video rental company has hived off its DVD service to a separate website called Qwikster, while instant streaming of television shows and movies will continue with Netflix.

Netflix chief executive officer Reed Hastings said in a blog post that Netflix was changing the name of its DVD-by-mail business to Qwikster. This brand will also offer video games.

The move is significant as Hastings had earlier stated that the future lies in streaming. Some analysts conclude that Hastings could be preparing to sell the DVD unit while sticking to the higher-margin streaming business.

Netfllix, however, has seen a dramatic slowdown in subscribers after it increased its price to as high as 60 per cent, or $6 a month, for streaming and DVD rental service in combine. Customers are looking at cheaper options such as Coinstar Inc‘s Redbox kiosk.

Netflix has also been hurt by its failure to rope in movie-content provider Starz. The price hike has led customers to feel that they are being asked to pay for more at a time when the content is shrinking. Liberty Media‘s Starz has rights to popular titles like “Tangled” and “The Karate Kid” from Disney and Sony; the collapse of talks means it won‘t let Netflix stream those films when it expires in February.

Netflix will have access to a lone major studio, Paramount Pictures, for recent releases.

Competition in web video is rising from Amazon.com, Google Inc and Apple Inc. Blockbuster, now owned by Dish Network, is also readying to unveil plans for a streaming service on Friday.

MUMBAI: Viacom18 Media has collaborated with Hong Kong’s now TV platform to launch its flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Colors in Hong Kong.

Viacom18, an equal joint venture between Viacom and Network18, said that Colors will be available as a-la-carte channel and offered to subscribers in the foreign language lineup for a monthly subscription of HK$78.

The channel can be viewed on Channel 780 on now TV.
 
Viewers in Hong Kong will now be able to watch Colors‘ shows the same day as their Indian telecast.

now TV, part of the PCCW group, is one of the world’s largest commercial deployments of IPTV.

Viacom18 head – international business Gaurav Gandhi said “We are excited to expand our distribution base in South East Asia and reach out to the Hong Kong audiences through now TV. There is a huge and growing demand for Hindi GEC content in overseas markets as diaspora would like to stay connected to their roots and watch the same programming that their family back home enjoys. In just 3 years since it launched in India, we have managed to expand and strengthen Colors’ overseas distribution base to close to 40 countries.”

PCCW‘s MD of TV and new media Janice Lee added, “With the addition of Colors now TV will be offering a total of nine top-class Indian channels and video-on-demand service. It demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers across the community with the best entertainment programmes.”

MUMBAI: Google Wallet, the long-awaited digital wallet, is likely to be officially launched as early as tomorrow.

Google Wallet allows ‘one load credit cards to its app‘ and taps Near Field Communications-enabled phone to a special reader to buy anything.
 
Currently, the only phone compatible with this service is the Nexus S 4G and the only credit card firm to support the technology is Mastercard. Compatible terminals in retail outlets are still very rare.

This situation, however, is expected to change as more mobile providers and credit card firms embrace the technology.

MUMBAI: Diageo, owner of brands such as Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff, has stitched a multi-million dollar deal with Facebook to drive integration, joint business planning and experimentation between the two companies.

Building on the current ad investment collaboration, the new partnership agreement will focus on driving consumer engagement with a particular focus on emerging growth markets.

Facebook will provide strategic consultancy to Diageo’s priority brands in its main creation hubs of New York, London, Amsterdam, Dublin, Sao Paulo and Singapore, ensuring that the development of consumer participation programmes are social by design.
 
Diageo and its roster of agencies will work closely with Facebook teams from concept development, through campaign creation to execution.

Recognising the importance of emerging growth markets to Diageo’s business, Facebook has also established local account teams in Brazil and Singapore. Facebook will also provide metrics to help Diageo define ROI and performance across its priority brands.

Diageo CMO Andy Fennell said, “Facebook has been a natural fit for us from day one. Working in such close collaboration will allow us to really maximise consumer participation at scale in our campaigns, particularly in emerging markets.

We are already seeing real value from our work in this space. Over 950 Diageo marketers around the world have now been trained in Facebook boot camps to build their social media capabilities and we are seeing significant returns on investment across a number of brands. We expect this new way of working to deliver even more commercial value for Diageo.”

Facebook VP of global marketing solutions Carolyn Everson added, “Diageo is an ideal partner because we see the world through the same lens – we put people at the center of everything we do. Working closely together has delivered some amazing results and I‘m looking forward to bringing to life some of the great things in the works across several of Diageo‘s core brands.”

MUMBAI: The global BBC iPlayer app, available in 11 European markets, has introduced a weekly-updated BBC News programme collection to its multi-genre video-on-demand service.

A selection of News strands, previously broadcast on BBC News channels – both domestic and international – over the past week will be available for new and current subscribers to stay informed and view at their leisure.

The selection of titles available will be Newsnight (BBC‘s flagship news and current affairs programme, noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians); HardTalk (a half hour interview show that asks the difficult questions and gets behind the stories that make the news); Click (covering news and recent developments in the world of consumer technology); Fast Track (delivering the latest insider travel news, including destinations, amazing experiences and practical advice); and Talking Movies (a guide to the best in film, from the most recent Hollywood blockbusters and ground-breaking world cinema).
 
BBC Worldwide president Worldwide Networks and Global iPlayer Jana Bennett said, “The BBC is respected around the world for the strength of its journalism and we know that international audiences highly value BBC News programming. I‘m really pleased that we’re now able to give BBC iPlayer subscribers access to an array of authoritative News shows that will capture the topics and debates at the heart of the international news agenda.”

The global BBC iPlayer app launched in Western Europe in July 2011, delivering the award-winning programming upon which the BBC’s history and heritage is built. For €6.99 a month (or €49.99 for an annual subscription), the app is currently available in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. More territories are due to launch later this Autumn.

Subscribers are able to access a selection of English language programmes across eight genres: News Specials and Documentaries; Entertainment; Drama; Comedy; Science and Nature; Family and Kids; Music and Culture and Lifestyle.

MUMBAI: Arianespace will soon launch two satellites for DirecTV, with the option to add two more.

The new satellites will strengthen DirecTV’s direct-to-home (DTH) digital entertainment services across the US. Both the satellites will weigh over six metric tons and will be a part of a fleet expansion and replenishment programme.

The satellites will be launched on Ariane 5 from Europe‘s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana in 2014.
 
Said DirecTV chief technology officer Romulo Pontual, �DirecTV is pleased to be back with Arianespace and its high performance and highly reliable Ariane-5 launch vehicle services. We have the utmost confidence in this system’s design and in the depth of the organization behind this rocket. We have a long standing relationship with Arianespace and we are happy to build upon that foundation of success.�

Averred Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall,”It is a matter of great pride that DirecTV has entrusted us with as many as four of their satellites. An order of this magnitude confirms Arianespace‘s reputation as offering the most reliable launch service and solutions in the marketplace. We are excited to build upon a relationship that goes back nearly two decades, to the dawn of the direct-to-home revolution, when Arianespace launched DBS-1 for DirecTV.”

DirecTV-14 is currently being built by Space Systems Loral of
California. The DirecTV-15 satellite is in the final stages of contract award.

NEW DELHI: Even as the Tamil Nadu Government imposed taxes on DTH in a move to help the Arasu Cable Corporation, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India termed the performance of the corporation as “dismal” on two major counts—revenue and consumer base.

“The company which anticipated a revenue of Rs 2.412 billion in three years of operation up to 2010-11 actually earned only Rs 24.8 million from October 2008 to October 2010. Even out of this small amount, the company could not realise Rs 9.55 million from local cable operators till November 2010,” the report said.

“To earn this revenue, the company incurred Rs 105.9 million in payments made to pay channels (Rs 27.1 million, lease charges for fibre cables Rs 21.6 million and establishment, rent and other incidentals Rs 57.2 million). Thus the overall operations of the company resulted in a cash loss of Rs 81.1 million”, it is stated.

 
The CAG said that the project proposals approved (July 2008) by the state Government indicated that the company‘s estimated project cost of Rs 915.9 million would be paid back in four years and three months, subject to achievement of anticipated connections—152 million connections in the first year of operation with five per cent cumulative annual growth.

It pointed out that after installation of the digital heads, “the company started with a baby step and procured a consumer base of only 34,350 in August 2008 which expanded to 55,705 in October 2010. But it could not expand further due to non-availability of popular channels”.

The report observed that the company ventured into a highly competitive business and commenced its commercial operations immediately after the clearance of the proposal by the project investment committee in the same month. However, “in the absence of proper strategy to procure telecasting rights of popular channels and increase the consumer base and firm agreements with local cable operators for assured patronage resulted in a cash loss of Rs 81.1 million, besides unfruitful creation of infrastructure worth Rs 282.8 million.”

It also said that the Government stated (August 2010) that its aim of formation of this company was not to augment the revenue but to provide high quality television signals at a reasonable cost to public. The fact, however, remained that even this objective was not achieved as the company did not make headway in enlarging the customer base as envisaged till November 2010 resulting in “continued poor performance”.