Category: Software

NEW DELHI: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. (Integra), one of the leading Publishing BPO services companies in the world providing end-to-end content management and content transformation services, has announced the acquisition of Silver Editions, a design studio and publishing services company in the PreK-12 space, based in New York , USA.

Silver Editions has a track record of creating award-winning and best-selling PreK-12 products in every subject area. Integra will now be able to offer the complete range of services to educational publishers. Integra has a strong presence in the STM and higher education markets and will now extend it to the school market as well. 
 
The company in the recent past has grown inorganically through acquisitions. Earlier Integra had acquired Elm Street Publishing a publishing services company in the Higher Education space in the US. These acquisitions are key examples of Integra’s commitment to its customers to offer end-to-end services with a compelling value proposition.

Commenting on the acquisition Founder, Integra Software Services chairman & CEO Sriram Subramanya said in Pondicherry, “Silver Edition’s expertise in the PreK-12 space especially in content creation and design capabilities backed by Integra’s technology and production capabilities will help deliver greater value to our global customers. This will firmly position Integra to emerge as the global leader in the e-publishing space“. 
 
Founded in 1994, Integra is one of the largest content processing companies with operations in India and the United States. It provides end-to-end publishing services to major publishers and publishing groups across the globe catering to segments such as STM, Academic, Higher Education, School, Trade etc.

With presence across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific it is currently positioned amongst the top 6 publishing services companies in India. Integra has a strong team of 1200+ highly qualified professionals with diverse skill sets delivering top notch quality to their customer which is only reflective in its long standing relationships with many of its customers.

NEW DELHI: Saregama India Limited has launched wap.saregama.com where anyone can download full songs on their mobiles from anywhere.

With this, Saregama has taken further the initiative introduced by them in April 2009 when full-song downloads were allowed on mobile on Airtel Live and Vodafone Live through aggregator Techzone, which opened up a new revenue model for the music industry on the mobile platform.
 
Saregama chief manager – New Media PK Prasannan says, “Saregama‘s wap initiative to deliver the MP3 full songs from their rich catalogue of over 50000 songs from 10 languages has set a benchmark in the music industry. At a point when the physical sale is on a downtrend, Saregama has proved yet again that retro content has got good demand. Since the launch of this service on mobile more than 100,000 music lovers visited and downloaded songs from wap.saregama.com.”

This new platform brings Saregama’s huge collection of musical treasures to the mobile phone user. Browse through over 50,000 songs from India‘s top artists in every genre – from Lata, Rafi, Asha, Kishore to MS Subbulakshmi.

The South Indian selection has MGR, Rajnikant, Sivaji Ganesan, SPB, Yesudas. The Bengali music collection ranges from Tagore to Hemanta.  
 
One can download on the GPRS enabled phone by logging on to http//mobile.saregama.com or http//wap.saregama.com or by sending the sms MUSIC to 56060. One can listen to a favourite song or sample the song of the day and the RJ’s special tracklist. Downloads are available for a nominal charge. Airtel and Vodafone users can download DRM free MP3 songs. Other selected telcos will get poly and true tones.

All the songs are digitised, Saregama said.

NEW DELHI: The value of 3G auction has gone up to over Rs 86.62 billion, but a trend is emerging that bids are touching the roof in circles where 2G spectrum is in scarcity.

A Telecom Ministry official told indiantelevision.com that while it was too early to predict, the overall bid price was expected to go up to almost four times the floor price, particularly in the larger states and the metros.
 
The bid for Mumbai stands at Rs 13.29 billion, ahead of Delhi‘s Rs 12.84 billion stretch at the end of 88 rounds on day 15.

The rest of Maharashtra peaked at Rs 84.85 billion, with Tamil Nadu at Rs 7.85 billion. Karnataka closed at Rs 7.34 billion, while Andhra Pradesh had a bid of Rs 7.42 billion, and Gujarat closed at Rs 6.70 billion. Kerala rose marginally to Rs 2.60 billion, while Kolkata clocked Rs 2.56 billion.

The bids for some states are expected to rise very little. These include Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, West and East Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the North-East.

While West Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 3.16 billion, Punjab stopped at Rs 1.49 billion. Bihar rose marginally to Rs 3.51 billion, Rajasthan rose to Rs 2.59 billion, and the North-East rose marginally to Rs 309 million.
 
The bids for some states remained unchanged: East Uttar Pradesh at Rs 2.60 billion, Assam and Orissa at Rs 309 million, Madhya Pradesh at Rs 2.36 billion, Haryana at Rs 2.18 billion, West Bengal at Rs 1.24 million, and Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh service areas at Rs 300 million each.
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.

The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.

MUMBAI: HomeShop18, the 24-hour shopping channel from the Network18 stable, has launched its services on Reliance Big TV digital services platform with an aim to expand reach.
 
Says Reliance Big TV Platform CEO Sundeep Malhotra, “HomeShop18 has been constantly expanding its distribution footprint to enable its world class home shopping services to a wider audience and this tie up is another step forward for us.” 
 
Adds Reliance Big TV chief marketing officer Umesh Rao, “I am sure our viewers will benefit from their strong brand associations and it would be an added advantage to have them on our platform. Services like these will provide the right impetus for differentiation for us in the category.” 

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has extended to 30 April the last date for receipt of comments of stakeholders to its consultation paper on tariff and interconnection issues related to Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) services.

The extension has been given in view of the demand by stakeholders and keeping in view the importance of the issue and the need for wider participation of stakeholders in the consultation process.
 
Trai also extended to 8 May the date for submission of counter comments, adding that no further extension would be given.

The paper was issued by Trai on 6 Aprilconsequent to the guidelines for providing HITS broadcasting service in India issued by the government on 26 November 2009. Stakeholders had been asked to submit their comments and counter comments by 26th April and 3rd May respectively.

In the paper, Trai asked stakeholders to give their opinion on whether the tariff model for HITS should be based on the DTH (direct-to-home), Cas (conditional access, or non-Cas system. 
 
Trai has also sought to know how the tariff model will be regulated and sought the views of the stakeholders on carriage and placement fee.
The consultation paper follows the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s reference to Trai on 10 December last to revisit the Interconnection Regulations and issue Tariff Orders for promotion of HITS services.

Among other things, Trai also wants to know the revenue shares of broadcaster, HITS operator, and cable operator, the retail tariff for subscribers for pay channels, and whether there should be any minimum tariff for the subscribers.

Suggestions have also been sought on any other model to regulate the tariff for HITS service, and whether the quantum of carriage and placement fee should be linked to some parameters. Stakeholders have also been asked to give their views on putting a cap on the quantum of carriage and placement fee and how this will be fixed.

Stakeholders have also been asked to suggest any further amendments to implement HITS policy.

In the model where HITS operator is only a passive infrastructure provider, HITS operator will get replaced with ‘MSO who is using HITS platform for distribution of signals’. Trai, thus, wants to know if there can be any other model.
 

NEW DELHI: The value of 3G auction has gone up to over Rs 83.82 billion, a 139.4 per cent rise over the floor price of Rs 35 billion fixed by the government.

As anticipated, the bid for Mumbai has overtaken that of Delhi, and stands at Rs 12.52 billion with the bid for the national capital service region at Rs 12.10 billion at the end of 82 rounds on day 14 today.
 
The rest of Maharashtra peaked at Rs 8.24 billion, with Tamil Nadu at Rs 7.69 billion. Karnataka closed at Rs 7.12 billion, while Andhra Pradesh had a bid of Rs 7.20 billion, and Gujarat closed at Rs 6.51 billion. Kerala rose marginally to Rs 2.64 billion, while Kolkata clocked Rs 2.48 billion respectively.

The bids for some states are expected to rise very little, with no applications for price increment for tomorrow’s round. These include Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, West and East Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the North-East.

While West Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 3.10 billion, East Uttar Pradesh had a bid of Rs 2.60 billion, and Punjab stopped at Rs 1.46 billion. Bihar rose marginally to Rs 347.5 million and Rajasthan rose to Rs 2.50 billion.

The bids for some states remained unchanged: Assam and Orissa at Rs 309 million, Madhya Pradesh at Rs 2.36 billion, Haryana at Rs 2.18 billion, West Bengal at Rs 1.24 billion, the North-East at Rs 306 million, and Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh service areas at Rs 300 million each. 
 
The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.

The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.

MUMBAI: Chinese video site Youku.com has announced that FIFA and CCTV have jointly authorised Youku.com with online broadcast rights to all Fifa 2010 matches.

CCTV has also granted rights to Youku.com for on-demand broadcast of CCTV’s self-produced FIFA programmes.

With these agreements in hand, Youku says that it is now positioned to offer the most complete range of World Cup broadcasts of any online video site in China.
 
Youku.com’s new World Cup Channel will be dedicated to broadcast of matches as well as interactive activities for football fans. Programming will include match play, an extensive collection of highlights, background
information on teams, and much more. In addition, the Youku World Cup Channel will also broadcast all Fifa-related programming airing on CCTV.

Working with many of its over 2000 media partners, Youku will leverage both online and offline entertainment activities around the World Cup to encourage deeper participation from football fans.

During the Fifa season, Youku will also invite experts, entertainment stars and well-known figures from the world of sports as well as celebrities from the entertainment world to interact with Youku users.

According to the data provided by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), over 60 per cent of Chinese netizens followed the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany online. With more than three years of development, online video sites are better equipped than ever to offer marketing value, an excellent user experience, and deep level of user engagement for this long anticipated event.

With daily video views averaging over 200 million and 30 million unique visitors, Youku has established itself as the leading brand in China’s online video market, occupying more than half of the market by total time spent online. The World Cup Channel takes its place beside Youku’s other leading content channels — Youku Information, Box Office Hits, TV Serials, and Youku Entertainment. 
 
Youku has also announced plans to host a conference in the near future, inviting brand advertisers and partners to discuss ways to best use Youku World Cup Channel for building brand value and developing optimal content.
With the Fifa license and Youku’s natural marketing advantage, Youku invites brand advertisers and partners to explore this opportunity.

MUMBAI: Jump Games, which publishes mobile entertainment and games, is creating games for the App Store.

After the success of the BMX Cunning Stunts 3D for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the company has announced the availability of this game for the iPad! Packed, with daredevil stunts actually performed by The Stunt teams.
 
BMX Street Stunts 3D features 56 different challenges across eight different ride zones, unlocking new stunts, cool new pop-ups and new riders as you progress. The user can master the tricks of the trade, pull off maximum gravity-defying stunts or earn huge bonuses by performing multiple stunts in a go with 3D graphics.

In the game, the user has to help Coco Foxx and Air Jesus stick Decade Airs and Tail Whips while riding the ramps. The scores of the game may be shared on Facebook to compete with friends and to earn the right to be the next iPad BMX Stunt Bike Champion. 
 
Jump Games CEO Salil Bhargava says, “Jump Games is elated to launch its first iPad game BMX Street Stunts 3D on the App Store. Apple has given innovation a new meaning. We‘ve used our extensive knowledge of stunt bike racing development to create a game which is incredibly immersive and personal, an adrenaline-fuelled rush application.”

Post the success of games like Putt Putt Golf 3D, BMX Street Stunts 3D, and ICC World Twenty20 England 09 for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Jump Games will be launching a few more titles in this quarter for the iPad on the App Store.
 

NEW DELHI: The top bid for 3G – which has already reached more than double the opening price – appeared to be slowing down, with just a marginal increase to Rs 10832.7 million for Delhi at the end of 76 rounds on the 13th day today.

However, with Mumbai‘s final bid rising to Rs 10799.3 million, it showed every sign of overtaking Delhi with a price increment application of Rs 400 million for tomorrow as against just Rs 108.3 million for Delhi.
 
The rest of Maharashtra peaked at Rs 7691 million, with Tamil Nadu at Rs 7468.4 million. Karnataka closed at Rs 6913.4 million while Andhra Pradesh had a bid of Rs 6851.6 million and Gujarat closed at Rs 6316.5 million. Kerala rose marginally to Rs 2561.8 million while Kolkata clocked Rs 2411.6 million respectively.

The bids for some states are expected to rise very little, with no applications for price increment for tomorrow‘s round. These include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, West and East Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and the North-East.

West Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 3005.7 million. Punjab stopped at Rs 1448.8 million and Haryana closed at Rs 2182 million. Madhya Pradesh and Bihar rose marginally to Rs 2362.7 million and Rs 344.1 million respectively. Rajasthan rose to Rs 2479.8 million and that of Assam and Orissa to Rs 309 million. 
 
The bids for some states remained unchanged: East Uttar Pradesh at Rs 2575.1 million, West Bengal at Rs 1236.3 million, the North-East at Rs 306 million, and Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh service areas at Rs 300 million each.

The telecom operators in the race are Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Etisalat DB Telecom, Idea Cellular, Reliance, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Videocon Telecommunications and Vodafone Essar.

The successful bidders would be allowed to start commercial 3G operations from 1 September.

A total of 11 telecom companies- Aircel Ltd, Augere (Mauritius), Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Reliance WiMax, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar – have qualified for the BWA auction, according to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
 

MUMBAI: Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd. has suffered a loss of around Rs 1 billion from its Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) operations and has suspended the service from 1 April as the government is yet to come out with tariff and content guidelines for the new delivery technology.

WWIL, the first and the only cable TV operator to have launched the service, has invested over Rs 1.5 billion towards HITS.
 
“We will revive HITS after the guidelines are in place and it is favourable for the industry. We would be losing about Rs 650 million in FY‘10 from the HITS operations. Our total loss on HITS would be Rs 1 billion,” a source said.

WWIL, hoping to get a nationwide footprint through HITS, had purchased 600000 set-top boxes but could manage to deploy around 110000 of them.

The multi-system operator, controlled by the Essel Group, expects losses for the fiscal ended 31 March 2010 to be around Rs 250 million, a lower amount than the losses from HITS, as analogue cable has turned profitable for it.
 
Revenue could close under Rs 3 billion, primarly led by carriage fee paid by broadcasters. “The carriage fee will account for 50-55 per cent of our total revenues in FY‘10,” the source said.

WWIL has already received Rs 2.2 billion from its proposed Rs 4.5 billion rights issue.

The focus this year will be to expand the analogue business.”We plan to revive in Hyderabad and expand in Bhubaneswar and West Bengal. We will revive our acquisitions drive,” the source said.