Category: Software

NEW DELHI: ApnaCircle.com, an Indian business and career networking site, has announced its integration with Twitter, the fast growing micro-blogging social network.
 
This integration now allows the users of these sites to sync their ApnaCircle and Twitter accounts to ‘Share’ their status updates in real-time. Thus one can share Tweets on your ApnaCircle profile from Twitter and choose to either send tweets or select tweets and send it from Twitter back to ApnaCircle as a status update. The integration works both ways.

“The Twitter integration with ApnaCircle brings refreshing context to the professional profiles. The ability to Tweet directly to your ApnaCircle profile and vice-versa will bring along a good amount of fresh content and new traffic to both the sites,” said ApnaCircle.com CEO and founder Yogesh Bansal. 
 
ApnaCircle started with 20 thousand users in 2007 and today consists of more than 1.4 million users in India. 

MUMBAI: Media conglomerate Disney has announced the acquisition of Palo Alto-based Tapulous, a developer of music games for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
 
As a part of Disney‘s mobile games group, Tapulous strengthens the company’s portfolio of games and entertainment offerings in the fast-growing mobile arena. Through this deal, Tapulous founders, Bart Decrem and Andrew Lacy, as well as their development team in Palo Alto, California, will be joining DIMG’s mobile content group.

Decrem and Lacy, previously CEO and COO of Tapulous, will now take on the leadership roles for the Disney mobile group with Decrem reporting to Disney president Steve Wadsworth. 
 
Wadsworth says, “Mobile gaming is seeing unprecedented growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our position in the mobile business. In a short time, Bart and Andrew have built Tapulous into a successful and accomplished mobile games developer that’s emerged as one of the most successful companies in the industry. We welcome the Tapulous team to the Disney family and look forward to integrating their popular games into Disney’s offerings.”
Disney says that it has enjoyed many successes in its mobile business counting several “platinum” performing apps with more than one million downloads including Disney’s Alice in Wonderland Lite, Fairies Fly Lite and JellyCar 2, which is Disney’s most successful premium game in the app store to date.

In addition, DIMG creates and delivers unique mobile content and manages a Disney-branded mobile phone service in Japan in association with Softbank.
 

MUMBAI: Dish TV, India‘s leading direct-to-home (DTH) operator, has decided to continue with Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador.

The renewal of SRK‘s contract comes in a year when Dish TV is expecting to load in 2.5 million new subscribers.

“We have decided to renew the contract with Shah Rukh Khan,” Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel told Indiantelevision.com.
 
Bollywood superstar Khan has been the brand ambassador for Dish TV since its inception in 2007.

In December 2009, Dish TV had unveiled its new brand identity with a new positioning – “Ghar Aayi Zindagi”. Earlier, it was “Wish Karo, Dish Karo” and “Sabse Jyaada”.
 
Dish TV will be spending approximately Rs 900 million towards marketing and promotions this fiscal, according to industry sources.

Other DTH operators also have stars like Aamir Khan (Tata Sky), Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan (Airtel Digital TV), Hrithik Roshan (Big TV) and Abhishek Bachchan (Videocon d2h) as their brand ambassadors.

The DTH industry will spend Rs 6 billion this year to market and promote their services.

MUMBAI: Indian social networking site ibibo.com has launched the first of its kind talent hunt initiative ibibo i-Serial Star, wherein it is calling in users to write, direct and act for an Internet serial.

The 24-episodic (webisodes) series will be generated by users and will have eight actors, two directors and two scriptwriters who will work behind and in front of the camera.
 
The website has also roped in Maruti Suzuki as title sponsor for the initiative. The contest – ‘The Maruti Suzuki Ibibo i- Serial Star’ will have a panel of judges comprising Raman Kumar, who created Tara for Zee TV and Khalid Hashmi who launched Zee News.

Users will have to only create their profiles on ibibo.com and upload videos, scripts and get maximum votes. The contest has been divided into three broad categories-acting, directing and scriptwriting.
 
The contestants who have to audition for the acting category have to upload their video enacting any scene in any movie, create a profile and get ibibo community to vote for them.

In the direction category, participants have to upload a short film or a serial directed by them and try to win maximum votes. Those trying their luck at scriptwriting will have to upload an original script or dialogues up to a maximum of 500 words.

MUMBAI: NDS has developed the first bookable promos service in New Zealand for Sky Television, the country’s leading subscription television provider.
 
The ‘Record Me‘ service enables viewers to record movies, individual programmes, or an entire series, direct to their DVR with the push of a button while watching a trailer for the show – whether immediately or weeks in advance. This user-friendly feature can also be used during an ad break to allow viewers to receive more details about a specific advertisement by expressing interest with the same button press.

Sky television director of technology Charles Ingley says, “The launch of Record Me has been made possible thanks to NDS’ experience in advanced DVR solutions combined with its systems integration expertise. Sky Television continually invests and innovates for the benefit of our subscribers, enhancing their TV viewing experience.”
 
NDS Australia and New Zealand GM Peter Iles says, “Since the launch of Sky Television’s first DVR in 2005, we have continuously worked with Sky to enhance the DVR functionality. This latest collaboration, which provides cutting-edge services, reaffirms SKY’s position as an innovator in the provision of advanced digital-TV services in the country.”
NDS XTV has over 28 million units deployed world-wide. XTV enables viewers to pause live TV and rewind, fast-forward and play content that they have previously recorded to their DVR – providing them with maximum viewing flexibility.
 

MUMBAI: DirecTV, and consumer electronics company Panasonic have announced the launch of three 3D channels, including n3D powered by Panasonic – a linear channel dedicated exclusively to 3D programming and viewable on 3D television sets.

n3D powered by Panasonic, is now available at no additional cost to DirecTV HD customers on channel 103. Throughout this month n3D customers will have access to exclusive, original 3D programming such as Guitar Center Sessions with Peter Gabriel and Jane‘s Addiction, as well as additional titles such as Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia, Wild Safari: A South African Adventure and N Wave Picture‘s S.O.S Planet, African Adventure: Safari in the Okavango and Encounter in the Third Dimension.
 
n3D will also offer events such as this weekend‘s running of the Nascar Coke Zero 400, the local broadcast of the Yankees-Mariners series on July 10-11 and DirectTV‘s exclusive, national broadcast of Fox Sports 2010 MLB All-Star Game in 3D on July 13.

In addition to n3D, DirecTV is also launching DirecTV Cinema in 3D on channel 104, which is currently offering Imax titles, Deep Sea 3D and Under the Sea 3D and n3D On Demand on channel 105, which is currently delivering replays of ESPN‘s 3D coverage of the 2010 Fifa World Cup matches. DirecTV also launched ESPN 3D on channel 106 on 11 June 2010. 
 
DirecTV executive VP of content strategy and development Derek Chang says, “The ability to bring high-quality 3D programming into the home is a huge advancement in the evolution of television. Our innovative technology has allowed us to lead the industry in HD and we are continuing on that same path by establishing ourselves as the premier destination for the best 3D viewing experience available. We are proud to be partnering with Panasonic and are excited to deliver this new dimension of television to millions of DirecTV HD customers across the country.”

Panasonic US chairman and CEO Joseph M. Taylor says, “This is a major milestone in the young history of 3D home entertainment and Panasonic is very proud to work with DirecTV to bring consumers this new TV channel dedicated exclusively to 3D programming.

“We have launched our Viera 3D TVs and Blu-ray 3D Player, and they have been very well received by consumers, but we know the key to the success of 3D for the home is the availability of content. The arrival of n3D powered by Panasonic underscores the fact that consumers will have access to a rapidly growing range of 3D TV programming including live major sports and entertainment events, as well as movies on 3D Blu-ray Disc in 2010.”

Panasonic is the exclusive presenting sponsor of DirecTV‘s n3D channel. In January at the Consumer Electronics Show, DirecTV and Panasonic announced their plans to launch 3D TV channels and have since worked together to leverage relationships with programming partners and movie studios to obtain new and existing 3D content.

Last month, DirecTV HD customers received a free software upgrade enabling them to have access to the 3D channels on DirecTV. Customers of DirecTV HD customers will need a 3D television set and 3D glasses to view 3D programming on DirecTV.

NEW DELHI: Airtel digital TV has extended its recording capability via the internet. Airtel digital TV recorder customers can now record programmes by logging into their Self Care account on www.airtel.in/digitaltv. They can click on “Program Guide” at the top navigation bar to access the feature.

Said Bharti Airtel CMO – DTH Sugato Banerji, “Our internet recording feature for the Airtel digital TV recorder is consistent to our efforts of driving innovation based on a deep understanding of the consumer that makes technology relevant and useful for them. Our unique mobile recording feature has been excellently received by consumers. With the addition of the internet recording capability, we further empower our Airtel digital TV Recorder customers to make the most of their busy schedules while still keeping up with their favourite TV programmes.”
 
Besides replicating the appeal of its mobile recording application, the intuitive user interface has also introduced some other innovative features for its Internet Recording offering. Launching the feature takes the user to a grid view of channel-wise listing of programmes by time.

In what is another unique feature, Airtel digital TV customers can browse the Programme Guide by Genre, Channel; Search by Time/Program name. One can also view programs in advance and jump directly to Favourite Channels. 
 
The Record functionality will be available to new and existing Airtel digital TV Recorder customers. Clicking on any programme gives the programme details. If customers want to record, they can just click on the Record button to schedule a recording. The recorder has to be on the Power mode at home and the chosen programme will automatically get recorded. The simple one-click procedure is similar to that on the unique Airtel digital TV mobile application that is both handset and operator agnostic.

Self Care on www.airtel.in/digitaltv also enables Airtel digital TV customers to view their account balance, recharge their account, order movies and add or remove top ups.

MUMBAI: The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry will enter a new era, owing largely to digitisation of technology and new distribution media like Internet and IPTV.

The increasing use of digital technologies is profoundly reshaping the M&E Industry with significant cost reductions throughout the value chain.

In an endeavour to capture this transformation and discuss the multitude of factors fueling the digital revolution, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organising a one-day Conference on Digital Media – The Digital Revolution: Managing Media & Entertainment Business in Digital Era on 5 July. 
 
I&B Secretary Raghu Menon will deliver a keynote. Trai chairman Dr JS Sarma will deliver a speclal address on regulation in digital media. There will be a panel discssion on Monetising Digital Opportunities. This panel will discuss the potential of IT solutions for broadcasters and movie studios in highly competitive broadcasting space. Air time sales, Advertisement management, broadcast management technologies with the help of ITand upcoming technologies to be used for protecting the content and restricting piracy.

How broadcasters can better manage and leverage the true value of content post digitisation? What business models will drive the industry? Who will be the winners in the years to come? These are the questions that the panel will look forwrd to answer. Zee director and CEO Punit Goenka will deliver a keynote on this subject. The panellists are Times TV Group MD Sunil Lulla, Nielsen president, India Piyush Mathur, ESPN Star Sports‘ Vijay Rajput, Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik and Reliance Media Works head of strategy, film and media services Patrick von Sychowski.
 
UTV chairman and CEO Ronnie Screwvala will deliver a keynote at the session on Changing Media Experience. The focus will be on specific case studies- get the first hand insights from the industry on how the use of digital technology has affected routine processes and businesses at large in the entertainment industry.

The panellists are Discovery India senior VP, GM Rahul Johri, filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt, Cisco Systems (India) VP Vish Iyer, Zapak COO Rohit Sharma, Cognizant Technology Solutions Practice Head, Information Media and Entertainment Shailaja Jha and India Times CEO Rishi Khiani.

Another session will examine News in the Digital Age. The panel will discuss the trend of new mediums of news dissemination – websites, blogs, and portals. Issues of content, users and growth of such medium as well as the survival of traditional media like newspapers etc.

The panellists are Press Information Bureau Principal DG Neelam Kapoor, NDTV Group Editor Barkha Dutt, Mid-Day Multimedia MD Tariq Ansari, India Today managing editor Kaveree Bamzai and Malyalam Manorama deputy editor and Chief GM Jayant Mammen Mathew.

NEW DELHI: The daily ‘Hindustan Times’ is now available on Nokia OVI Store. 
 
It is the first newspaper in India to be available on Nokia OVI store as a downloadable application. This application gives reader‘s access to complete coverage of the day‘s top stories, national news, world news, business news and India‘s two biggest passions- Bollywood cinema and cricket.
  
The key features of the application include complete coverage of the day’s top stories in text and pictures; national, world and business news; and complete coverage of India ’s two ultimate passions – Bollywood and Cricket.
 

MUMBAI: Spanish cable op Ono and Tivo, which creates television services for personal video recorders, have signed a strategic agreement to deploy ‘next generation TV‘ in Spain.

Through the combination of its modern fibre optic network and TiVo‘s best in class television user experience, Ono will be able to offer Spanish homes a video service in a convergence between Internet and traditional television.
 
This partnership establishes Ono as the exclusive distributor of Tivo‘s advanced television services in Spain. Similarly, Tivo will become the exclusive software provider for all next generation set top boxes deployed by Ono, including both PVR platforms and traditional “non-PVR” set-top-boxes. Ono and Tivo also expect to collaborate on solutions that make the TiVo experience available to consumers beyond Ono‘s cable footprint in conjunction with terrestrial and Internet delivered content — though specifics of these plans were not disclosed.

Endorsed by its undeniable success in the US, the Tivo service is a completely novel experience on the audiovisual panorama.

Ono CEO Rosalía Portela says, “Working with a strategic partner of the stature of TiVo, a pioneer and innovator in the development of a converged recording system and in the implementation of a new model of television in other countries, allows us to make the leap to launching the next generation of TV in the market. Our fibre optic network combined with the capacity of TiVo will position us at the cutting edge of advanced next generation services for the Internet and Television.”

The Tivo products deployed by Ono will showcase the superiority of Ono‘s fibre optic network to deliver the market‘s most comprehensive array of content including broadcast television, cable video-on-demand, and Internet delivered video. This will be made possible by Tivo‘s software platform which provides a universal search experience across the infinite world of content unleashed by this type of hybrid platform.

The product will feature the Tivo branded user interface and will enable a variety of features that Tivo users in the US have come to know and love, for example, Season Pass recordings and WishList searches.  
 
Tivo president and CEO Tom Rogers says, “We are extremely proud to be selected as ONO‘s strategic partner for its next generation video experience and believe that together we can offer the most compelling video product in the Spanish marketplace. Building on our recent announcement with Virgin Media in the UK, this deal demonstrates the growing proliferation of Tivo as the most compelling solution for television providers seeking to differentiate their service through a best-in-class user experience and a world of content that integrates broadcast and broadband television to go well beyond the confines of traditional pay television.”
Ono and Tivo will also be working with other technology providers such as Nagravision and Cisco to implement and subsequently launch Ono‘s next generation TV platform.