Category: Software

MUMBAI: Giving the Murdoch empire its very own e-publishing platform, News Corp has decided to buy out the Skiff Reader tablet from Hearst for an undisclosed sum.

The company also announced that it had invested in online journalism LLC, a start-up that specialises in revenue-collection services for online newspapers and magazines.
 
The twin deals, the terms of which were undisclosed, underscore News Corp.‘s efforts to wrest consumer payments for its news properties on the web and also to put its media content across several tablet computers, mobile phones and other gadgets.

Skiff and the investment in the online-payments firm, Journalism Online, also could become a backbone of News Corp.‘s emerging project to encourage collaborations between news organisations on strategies and sales of digital subscriptions and advertising.  
 
News Corp. envisions a business similar to cable-TV subscription for news, where consumers could set up one bill to access digital content from multiple media companies. 

MUMBAI: India‘s direct-to-home (DTH) operators are gearing up for a cut-throat price war on the High Definition (HD) front, a service aimed at tapping top-end customers in an industry that is plagued by low ARPUs (average revenue per user).

Tata Sky, the joint venture between the Tata Group and Star, has set the ball rolling with the launch of its High Definition (HD) service at a price of Rs 2,599, the most aggressive in the DTH sector.

While Sun Direct is offering the HD set-top-box bundled with subscription package at Rs 10,000, Big TV‘s service comes at Rs 7,490 (HD with DVR technology) and Dish TV‘s at Rs 5,990.

Says Tata Sky MD and CEO Vikram Kaushik, “We were the first to break the Rs 100 price barrier, first to launch a host of customised innovative interactive service, first to launch India’s PVR and now, Tata Sky HD at an unimaginable affordable price point. Nowhere in the world has HD technology been offered at such great value by any DTH operator. Our aim is to make Tata Sky HD part of a colossal number of Indian households across the country.”

The price point will open up the market, limited at this stage by both the high cost of the HD box and the content.
 
Says Big TV CEO Sanjay Behl, “Though it is just the basic HD box, Tata Sky‘s aggressiveness is a welcome move as the market will expand. There aren‘t many channels available now on HD. But with a pressure on the pricing of the HD box, channels will see a potential to take this route. We, of course, are targeting the upper end of the customers at this stage as we offer HD with DVR technology.”

Tata Sky‘s HD offering will include two channels – National Geographic HD and Discovery HD. “We expect more channels like Star Plus, Star Movies HD and popular sports channels to take to the HD format,” says Tata Sky CMO Vikram Mehra.

Tata Sky‘s immediate endeavour is to get ESPN, the official broadcaster of the football World Cup. The DTH operator had moved the Delhi High Court but its plea was turned down. Now that it has launched its HD service, negotiations are expected to start.

“We have given our HD feed only to Dish TV for the Fifa World Cup. We are in negotiations with the other DTH service providers,” says ESPN spokesperson.

In addition to lowering the entry price, Tata Sky is also lining up movies on demand that it would showcase on HD format. As part of this gameplan, Tata Sky has bought the rights of Hritik Roshan- Barbara Mori starrer Kites which will be shown exclusively on Tata Sky HD.

Says Mehra, “Our objective was to launch the service in a really mass and affordable way. We are going to break open the market with the aggressive pricing.”

Dish TV, however, does not feel that the price war has started and customers have to be cautious of hidden costs. “We are not revising our rates for HD,” says Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor. 
 
On the content front, however, it is Sun Direct which has the most expansive offering – six channels (Colors, National Geographic, Discovery HD World, Sun TV, two regional movie channels) and an event channel.
So how does Tata Sky plan to push its HD service? During the launch phase, all existing Tata Sky subscribers can upgrade to Tata Sky HD and avail the HD Gold Pack for an entire year, absolutely free. New Tata Sky HD subscribers would be offered the HD Gold pack free for the first two months.

For the HD content, Tata Sky is going to charge an extra Rs 30 per month as subscription fee.

“The DTH model in India is that of subsidising of the boxes and retaining the customers. We are not charging exorbitant amount from our subscribers to view the HD quality content. We are also in talks with content providers and very soon they will offer more HD content,” avers Mehra.

Tata Sky HD will be made available across the country in all leading consumer electronic outlets. The service will support the 1080i picture quality, 16:9 aspect ratio and 5.1 surround sound.

Mehra claims 10 per cent of Tata Sky‘s new subscribers opt for the PVR service and hopes the response to be even better for HD. “We were first in India to launch PVR service and the box comes for Rs 6,000. Still, over 10 per cent of new subscribers buy that. With this kind of aggressive pricing and upcoming Commonwealth Games, which will be aired in HD, there should be better response,” Mehra affirms.

MUMBAI: CNN.com has revealed the latest enhancement to the site with the launch of CNN Tech, a completely reimagined section showcasing the latest news, products, perspectives and buzz in the world of technology.

The announcement was made in conjunction with the Mashable Media Summit, Mashable‘s and CNN‘s joint-one day conference held during New York‘s Internet Week, a week-long festival of events celebrating the city‘s thriving internet industry and community.

Edited by CNN.com tech producer Brandon Griggs under the leadership of features editor Cybil Wallace, CNN Tech draws on the full reporting resources of CNN Worldwide to serve users up-to-date and personally relevant technology news. Available at www.cnn.com/tech, the section‘s content can be filtered by categories and beats, including Social Media, Mobile, Web, Gaming & Gadgets, Innovation and Tech Biz, powered by the unparalleled business reporting resources of CNNMoney.com and Fortune Magazine. 
 
Featuring coverage and columns from CNN.com writers and producers John D. Sutter and Doug Gross, CNN Tech also will include coverage from CNN‘s Dan Simon and Augie Martin in San Francisco, and Eric Kuhn in Washington, D.C., as well as CNNMoney.com‘s David Goldman in New York.

The section also introduces weekly columns from well known digital influencers including Pete Cashmore, Mashable Founder and CEO; and co-founders of the popular blog and forthcoming book Stuff Hipsters Hate, Andrea Bartz and Brenna Ehrlich, whose weekly humorous advice column – “Netiquette” – addresses users‘ questions about how to handle awkward situations on the social web.

Additionally, CNN Tech will highlight guest columns from technology luminaries such as Slate Magazine technology columnist Farhad Manjo, Hunch.com and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Fortune‘s Philip Elmer-DeWitt, author of the Apple 2.0 blog.  
 
Utilising a premium design and features incorporating social media activity and online buzz, CNN Tech offers tech reporting, play-in-page video and dynamic data visualizations.

CNN.com‘s Technology section also will provide in-depth coverage of special events like the International Consumer Electronic Show, Apple‘s Worldwide Developer‘s Conference, New York City‘s Internet Week and E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Content from the new section is also available through CNN‘s mobile website, as well as via the CNN App for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
 

MUMBAI: Online video ad network Vdopia has announced the launch of iVdopia, an advanced mobile advertising platform and network pioneering rich media and video advertising on Smartphones.

iVdopia’s range of solutions are used for mobile advertising in the US, including campaigns for Coca-Cola, Warner Brothers and Miller Lite.
 
With mobile advertising growing in India, iVdopia’s video and social networking solutions for mobile applications on iPhone, Android and Blackberry Smartphones will allow advertisers to reach audiences with interactive ads. iVdopia will also provide application developers with a large inventory of brand ads and the ability to serve their own ad campaigns.

Vdopia COO Chhavi Upadhyay says, “iVdopia is the first to bring Pre-App video advertising to mobile applications and will provide brand advertisers a great way to not just extend their online offering to the mobile web, but also connect with the growing Smartphone user base in India”.

MediaContacts director India Arnab Mitra said, “iVdopia’s ad platform brings significant capabilities to engage with consumers in the mobile segment, especially those using Smartphones avidly. There are tectonic changes being experienced in the mobile ecosystem today. Various Smartphones are hitting the market and with the launch of 3G services, we believe iVdopia will take the lead and witness a huge interest from advertisers.”
 
While some ad networks use only banner ads, iVdopia supports the widest and most engaging ad formats: Pre-App video, logo placement, banner ads and, for the first time, sponsorship ads to the smartphone applications. Its proprietary technology enables complete analytics for both applications and advertisements, including information on user reach, user engagement and the number of times users play ads.
Vdopia chief business officer Saurabh Bhatia says, “100 million! Those are the number of 3G-enabled handsets expected in India by 2012. The mobile advertising medium will inarguably offer the highest number of unique users. Proportionate to mobile content usage, the mobile ad market is projected to grow by more than 700 to 800 percent year-on-year and we soon expect FMCG, technology, automobile, consumer electronics and the entertainment industry to embrace 3G mobile ads in India.”
 

MUMBAI: Tata Sky, the DTH joint venture company between Tata Group and Star, has decided to get a new managing director even as Vikram Kaushik‘s contract expires on 31 December 2010.

Harit Nagpal will replace Tata Sky MD Kaushik, taking up the task of mopping up subscribers while trying to turn the direct-to-home business profitable in the medium term.

“Kaushik‘s contract is coming to an end on 31 December. He was appointed as MD with effect from 1 January 2006 for a period of five years,” a source said.
  
Nagpal, who is currently Vodafone group marketing director, will join Tata Sky in August to facilitate a smooth transition. He comes with over 25 years experience, out of which nine have been with Vodafone.  
 
Kaushik had led Tata Sky since its inception in 2004, growing it to a base of over 5 million subscribers. The company today announced the launch of its HD service at a competitive price of Rs 2599 for the set-top box while customers will have to pay an extra amount of Rs 30 per month.

MUMBAI: Cablevision Systems Corp, the fifth-largest US cable operator, is in plans to buy Bresnan Communications Co. for $1.3 billion.

Cablevision will buy out the company from private equity firm Providence. In 2003, Providence had bought Bresnan and began exploring a potential sale of the company in March.

The company‘s auction follows last year‘s death of founder William Bresnan. 
 
Cablevision elbowed out competitors including six other bidders like TPG Capital, BC Partners Ltd., Suddenlink Communications and Ascent Media Corp in the final round last Friday.

Founded in 1984, Bresnan Communications provides communications services like high-speed internet access, high-definition television, video-on-demand and digital telephone service to residential and business customers. It has over 320,000 customers in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. 
 
Acquiring Bresnan would give Cablevision a bigger slice of the mushrooming high-speed internet services market where revenue is expected to rise to $210 billion globally in 2014 from $164 billion in 2009.
The purchase expands the customer base of Cablevision from the New York City region into the western US market which is attractive because it has lower pay-TV penetration rates than Cablevision’s home market.
 

MUMBAI: Hathway Cable & Datacom is gearing up to take its consolidated revenues to Rs 10 billion this fiscal as it steps up its digitisation, broadband and last mile acquisition drive.

India’s leading multi-system operator expects to lift its Ebitda from Rs 1.38 billion to Rs 3 billion in FY’11, hoping to benefit from an improved business model.
 
“We are looking at a turnover of Rs 10 billion and an Ebitda of Rs 2.75-3 billion this fiscal,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director and chief executive officer K Jayaraman.

Hathway had posted a revenue of Rs 7.35 billion for the fiscal ended 31 March 2010.

The company hopes to seed one million digital set-top boxes during the current fiscal. The MSO will start charging an extra amount of Rs 15 as monthly subscription fee in markets where it can, augmenting its revenues from digitisation. 
 
“We will be charging Rs 15 from the operators. We will leave it open for the operator to fix the monthly subscription price that a digital customer will have to pay,” says Jayaraman.

Speeding up its acquisition drive, the MSO expects to have direct primary points touching half a million. The last mile access directly to the customer homes will allow it to offer value-added services.

On the broadband front, Hathway will reach half a million subscribers while holding on to its ARPU (average revenue per subscriber) of Rs 330.

Analogue cable ARPU can also go up by 10-15 per cent in certain markets, Jayaraman says.

Hathway will expand its reach from eight to nine million in FY’11.

“Hathway is planning to cure the business model of digitisation by charging an extra Rs 15 as subscription fee. The ebitda target of Rs 3 billion looks ambitious at this stage but could be achievable,” says a media analyst who tracks the company.
 

NEW DELHI: The Government today approved the results of the BWA spectrum auction, according to which the Government will earn revenues of Rs 385.43 billion.

After considering the provisional results, the Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary said the price per block of pan –India spectrum of 20 MHz is Rs 128.47 billion.
  
All the winning bidders including Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Linited are required to pay the amount by 22 June.

The e-Auction for allocation of BWA Spectrum began on 24 May and closed on 11 June after 16 days and 117 rounds of bidding. The base price for BWA had been fixed at Rs 17.5 billion.

Communications and Information Technology Ministry sources said the total revenue has been worked out at over Rs 385 billion as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which have already been issued licences for BWA services, will also have to pay this winner‘s price.
 
While Infotel Broadband Services Private Limited, which was yesterday taken over by the Mukesh Ambani Reliance Group for Rs 48 billion to mark his entry into the telecom sector, won a bid in all the 22 service centres, Aircel won the bid in eight centres; Tikona Digital Networks Private Limited in five centres; Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm Incorporated in four centres each; and Augere (Mauritius) Limited at one centre.

Reliance WiMax Limited, Spice Internet Service Provider Private Limited, Tata Communications Internet Services Limited, and Vodafone Essar Limited opted out of the auction.

Mumbai had the highest bid of Rs 22.93 billion with Delhi at Rs 22.41 billion, in both cases from Infotel and Qualcomm. The frequencies allocated are in the range of 2305.0 – 2325.0, and 2327.5 – 2347.5 MHz.

Tamil Nadu came next with Rs 20.69 billion, followed by Karnataka at Rs 15.43 billion and Andhra Pradesh at Rs 10.59 billion. The North-East and Jammu and Kashmir had the lowest bid at Rs 212.7 million each.
 

MUMBAI: The 2010 World Cup will air in South Korea for the first time in 3D.

South Korean soccer fans will be able to watch World Cup action in 3D at 50 cinema screens across the country using 3D glasses. The aim is to make this huge global sports event an even more engaging experience for viewers.
 
Ericsson has supplied South Korean multiplex cinema chain CJ Golden Village (CGV) with compression solutions that will enable it to show World Cup action in 3D.
 
Ericsson has supplied CGV with its EN8090 MPEG-4 AVC HD encoder and RX1290 receiver solutions, with video being distributed over an LG Telecom fiber network.

MUMBAI: With the soccer World Cup kicking off, Fifa president Joseph S. Blatter has launched his personal Twitter page.
 
Fans from all over the world will be able to follow the Fifa president’s views and opinions on the account “@seppblatter” throughout the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. 
 
“We are approaching the first Fifa World Cup in which social media websites will play an important role in connecting everyone who cares about the game of football. I’m very excited to be sharing my own personal experience of the 2010 FIFA World Cup with football fans from all over the world,” says Blatter.
FIFA.com, the world’s official football website, will launch two further accounts, to go live later in June. They are: @FIFAcom covering interviews, site developments, Fantasy Team progress and updates on key news from tournament matches, and @FIFAcomLive, providing continuous and real-time updates from all 64 games at South Africa.