Category: Software

MUMBAI: With two weeks to go before the West Indian party begins at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 2010, ICC global partner Reliance Communications is set to bring the atmosphere of world-class cricket from the Caribbean directly to the mobile handset.

The official ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 mobile services will include live audio commentary, match action video clips, wallpapers, ring tone, caller ring-back tune, score updates and other features. It will be available for a wide range of mobile devices including the iPhone and BlackBerry.
 
Licensing Opportunity: To extend the reach of the official services, Reliance Communications is keen to tie up with established mobile operators in key cricket territories so that fans located in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Pakistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies can enjoy the action and excitement of international Twenty20 cricket.

ICC Mobile Rights Protection: The appetite for cricket content delivered via mobile phone is growing rapidly in countries such as India, where internet penetration and even television coverage is not fully developed outside of major cities. However, since the market is still in its infancy there is a general lack of understanding as to what constitutes permissible non-rights holder coverage of cricket and other sports. 
 
To safeguard the value of the ICC mobile rights and to encourage take up of the official services, ICC has issued an advisory notice which explains the process by which interested parties will be able to partner with Reliance Communications. It should be noted that ICC and Reliance Communications will monitor mobile services during the event in the West Indies and may impose legal proceedings against any infringers of the exclusive rights granted by ICC to Reliance Communications.
 

MUMBAI: Twelve broadcasting groups in the US have formed a joint venture for mobile content service.

Belo, Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Fox, Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television, Ion Television, Media General, Meredith, NBC, Post-Newsweek Stations and Raycom Media have announced plans to form a standalone joint venture to develop a new mobile content service in the US.

Utilising existing broadcast spectrum, the service will allow member companies to provide content to mobile devices, including live and on-demand video, local and national news from print and electronic sources, as well as sports and entertainment programming. 
 
Broadcast spectrum to be utilised for the new mobile service will come from the three owned-and-operated station groups — Fox, NBC and Telemundo, and Ion — and the nine local broadcast groups, which are Belo, Cox, E.W. Scripps, Gannett, Hearst, Media General, Meredith, Post Newsweek and Raycom. Separately, these nine local broadcast companies formed Pearl Mobile DTV Company LLC as a vehicle for their involvement in the venture.

By aggregating existing broadcast spectrum from its launch partners, the new venture will have the capacity to offer a breadth of mobile video and print content to nearly 150 million U.S. residents. In addition to broadcast spectrum, the partners will commit content, marketing resources and capital to the new venture.

The service will employ ATSC-M/H, an open broadcast transmission system developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) specifically for mobile devices.

The venture is designed to complement the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) National Broadband Initiative by giving consumers mobile access to video content while reducing congestion of the nation’s wireless broadband infrastructure. In addition, the service’s mobile content network will have the capacity to deliver local and national time-sensitive emergency information to citizens across the U.S.

Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy says, “We are excited about building a platform that makes mobile television universally available and economically viable. This venture is the first step in forging cross-industry and company partnerships to deliver content to consumers.” 
 
NBC Local Media president John Wallace adds, “This initiative offers a path for the next generation of video consumption, and will help the FCC in its goal of ensuring efficient and reliable broadband service for US consumers.”

MUMBAI: Ericsson is providing ESPN 3D, a 3D sports television network, with complete standards based video processing solution, featuring encoders and receivers tuned for ESPN 3D broadcasts as well as for high quality HD. 
 
ESPN is deploying a variety of Ericsson 3D and HD products including the complete solution for direct-to-home and contribution and distribution of 3D content launched at NAB this week.

At the same time, ESPN will transmit HD programming to viewers worldwide in 2D using Ericsson’s MPEG-4 AVC HD 4:2:2 video processing system. The solution delivers more efficient bandwidth usage while ensuring the transmissions meet ESPN’s high standards for picture quality.

Ericsson head of Solution Area TV Staffan Pehrson says, “Our consumer labs research consistently shows that high quality pictures are the number one consumer desire in today’s TV market. Having pioneered HDTV with our first to market solutions, we are well placed to provide the video processing platform for 3D, the next wave of consumer innovation. We are excited to be working with ESPN on delivering these ground breaking 3D sporting experiences”.
 
This year sports fans around the world will be treated to more events in 3D than ever before. From the World Cup in football, to the X Games, consumers are ready to watch their games with a 3D movie-theatre experience at home. Broadcasters, service operators and content providers will compete for viewer attention by providing coverage of live sporting and cultural events in 3D. 

NEW DELHI: After the end of the seventh day, a total of 40 rounds were completed in the 3G auction. The All-India price had reached Rs 57.10 billion, or 63 per cent up from the base price of Rs 35 billion.

Even as the bid for Delhi circle took a major leap rising from Rs 5.13 billion to Rs 6.26 billion, the bid for Gujarat slowed down and rose to Rs 5.33 billion at the end today.

The bids for Tamil Nadu and the rest of Maharashtra rose to Rs 5.49 billion and Rs 5.33 billion respectively. Mumbai also saw a steep rise to Rs 5.99 billion, while the bids for Andhra Pradesh, which had leveled with Mumbai yesterday, halted at Rs 4.93 billion.
 
Kolkata received a bid of Rs 1.74 billion, rising marginally over the bid of Rs 1.67 billion yesterday.

Meanwhile, Karnataka with Rs 5.08 billion remained the only other state to cross the figure of Rs 5 billion.

While east Uttar Pradesh closed with a bid of Rs 2.29 billion, west Uttar Pradesh clocked Rs 2.26 billion. Rajasthan clocked Rs 2.21 billion while Madhya Pradesh had a bid of Rs 2.18 billion.

The bids for some states remained unchanged: Assam, Orissa and Jammu & Kashmir service areas and Himachal Pradesh at Rs 300 million each, and of the north-east at Rs 303 million for the second day today, while Bihar rose marginally to Rs 327.6 million from Rs 324.4 million yesterday. 
 
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: Tanti and his family members, promoters of wind power company Suzlon Energy Ltd, will reduce their stake in Digital Outsourcing Pvt Ltd (DOPL), the cable TV venture of Citigroup Venture Capital-controlled You Broadband and Cable.

You Broadband and Cable, which is planning to raise Rs 3.58 billion through an initial public offering (IPO), plans to purchase 433,875 equity shares, or 13.29 per cent stake, of DOPL.
 
The company currently holds 36.24 per cent in DOPL. Though CVC holds 82.44 per cent in You Broadband, the holding will come down following the IPO. This will provide headroom for You Broadband to increase its stake in DOPL. The government has put a 49 per cent foreign holding cap on cable TV companies.

“We intend to be ‘Indian owned and controlled’ (namely to have at least 50 per cent of the equity interest of our company beneficially owned by resident Indian citizens and/or Indian companies which are in turn owned by resident Indian citizens) on the completion of the IPO. As an Indian owned and controlled Company, we will be able to purchase or acquire a controlling stake in MSO/LCO companies. As part of the objects of this issue, we intend to purchase 433,875 equity shares in DOPL,” You Broadband said. 
 
You Broadband has entered into an agreement with the Suzlon promoters to acquire from them 433,875 equity shares of DOPL for an aggregate consideration of up to Rs 128.26 million.

You Broadband also said it is entitled to purchase of 416,125 equity shares, or 12.75 per cent, of issued and paid-up share capital of DOPL, “inter-alia subject to allotment of 10,688,757 Equity Shares of our Company constituting 4.425 per cent of our equity share capital.” This will mean “extinguishment of all rights and privileges of Tanti Family with respect to our Company.”

Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that the Suzlon promoters had picked up 49 per cent stake in DOPL in 2008.

MUMBAI: Star India has taken its flagship Malayalam channels pay, in continuation of its strategy to ramp up subscription revenues from its regional channels.

Star Jupiter Entertainment Television Limited, the joint venture company in which Star India holds majority stake, has priced the general entertainment channel Asianet at Rs 13.50 and the youth entertainment channel Asianet Plus at Rs 7.50 per month.
 
The combined price of the two channels is Rs 15. “We have gone pay in the Malayalam market. The price is Rs 15 for the two channels. This is applicable to DTH as well,” Star India president – South Jagdish Kumar tells Indiantelevision.com.

The move is a significant step as this will open up pay-TV revenues in a market that has solely depended on advertising income. Even Sun TV Network‘s Malayalam channel Surya TV is free-to-air as it battles fiercely with market leader Asianet for taking the top position. 
 
The southern market is interestingly poised this year as Sun TV increased its advertising rates across the network channels after a gap of two years.

“The ad and subscription revenues are opening up for southern language broadcasters. It will be interesting to find out how fast the revenue growth is in this region,” says a media observer.

Late last year, Star took its Bengali regional channels pay. Star Jalsha, the Bengali general entertainment channel, was priced at Rs 12 while Star Ananda, the joint venture Bengali news channel from ABP Group and Star India, was made available at Rs 6. The bundled package is Rs 12.
 

MUMBAI: In the first phase of Mobile TV licensing, every applicant and its related entities should be allowed to bid for only one licence per service area to prevent monopolies, the sector regulator has recommended.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has also said that as the number of licences per licence area will be limited “no entity can hold more than 25 per cent of the total number of permissions given in the country to prevent monopolisation at national level for the first phase.” This is in addition to the stipulation that an entity should have only one licence per service area.

Trai also clarified some of the provisions of its recommended mobile TV policy, in which it has put the onus of bandwidth allocation on the government. The regulator has also proposed that the licence fee be decided between four per cent of gross revenue or five per cent of one-time entry fee (OTEF). Initially, it had suggested that four per cent of gross revenue be charged as licence fee, or 10 per cent of OTEF, whichever is higher.
 
Trai, which has submitted its report to the Information and broadcasting Ministry, said anyone eligible including UASL/CMTS licensees can participate in the bidding process. Moreover, convergence of technologies should be encouraged, which would ultimately result in better service proposition to the subscribers. So, the earlier recommendation is reiterated.

In the initial policy report, which was filed in April 2009, Trai had suggested that each mobile TV licensee be given 8MHz of spectrum in the 585-806MHz band. But the ministry said the band was already being used by state-run television broadcaster Doordarshan and the Defense ministry.

The authority said that as recommended, DoT (WPC) has agreed that carriers would be allotted in the specified frequency band. The question of priority between broadcasting and telecom will have to be considered appropriately keeping in view the requirement of both the sectors and also keeping in view the convergence of platforms.

Earlier, in January, Trai had recommended a limit of 74 per cent for foreign investors in mobile TV services and had said that mobile TV licensees should be allowed to broadcast only those news channels that have been authorised by the Ministry. Both these and several other points have been agreed upon.

The authority, after carefully considering the views of the government, recommended that roll out obligation should be in three phases. In the first phase, the licensee must commence the mobile TV transmission in all cities having a population (as per 2001 census) of more than one million and the State/UT capitals within the licence area within 12 months from the date of allocation of spectrum. 
 
In the second phase, the licensee must commence the mobile TV transmission in all cities /towns having population (as per 2001 census) of 100,000 or above within the license area within 24 months from the date of allocation of spectrum.

In the third phase, the licensee must commence the mobile TV transmission in all the district headquarters within the license area within 36 months from the date of allocation of spectrum.

Delay to meet the roll out obligations should attract liquidated damages for six months and subsequent defaults should result in cancellation of licences and withdrawal of spectrum.

Referring to the Ministry’s view that a mobile TV broadcaster cannot be equated to a broadcasting company, Trai said this issue is similar to the on-demand services like movie-on- demand, pay-per-view service etc on DTH platform which is presently under consultation. So views on this issue will be given by Trai after the similar issue on DTH is finalised. While determining the shareholding of a company or entity or person, both its direct and indirect shareholding has to be taken into account. As far as the criteria for calculating the direct and indirect holding as per the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s press note no 2 of 2009 is concerned, view on this will be given by Trai after the outcome of the ongoing consultation process on foreign investment limit in broadcasting sector. Further, once a telecom operator takes a mobile TV licence, the cross holding restrictions automatically apply to it. So, there is no issue of non-level playing field.

Trai has also given its recommendations of bundling states and union territories when licences are issued. In its response to the ministry on issues pertaining to the licensing of Mobile TV services in India, Trai has suggested that there be 20 circles of operation for Mobile TV services in India, as opposed to the 22 circles of operation for mobile and broadband wireless services in India. For Mobile TV, Mumbai and Maharashtra are a part of the same circle, named after the latter, and Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West) are being combined.
 

MUMBAI: Blackmagic Design introduced Multibridge Eclipse and HDLink Pro at NAB 2010.

Blackmagic Design introduced a new 2K SDI format that took advantage of the faster speed of 3 Gb/s SDI. This allowed real time capture and playback of 2K 2048 x 1556. This new 2K over SDI format allowed feature film work to be handled using the same easy workflows.
 
Since that time, Blackmagic Design has introduced a wide range of products with 3 Gb/s SDI and support for 2K. These models include DeckLink HD Extreme 2, DeckLink HD Extreme 3, Multibridge Eclipse, Multibridge Pro, HDLink Pro, HDLink Pro Optical Fiber, Studio Videohub, Broadcast Videohub, Enterprise Videohub, Mini Converter Optical Fiber and more.

With a current installed base of tens of thousands of customers using Blackmagic Design products that support 3 Gb/s and native 2K, all these customers will now be fully compatible with this new Sony HDCAM-SR deck with 2K for direct to tape capture and playback. 
 
N2K SDI is an open format, and is published in Blackmagic Design operation manuals for products that support 2K. Any company can develop products that support 2K SDI allowing this exciting SDI film format to become widely adopted. This format will also be submitted to standards organisations for adoption.

Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve colour correction system has also been updated to include support for DeckLink HD Extreme 3, and now also supports native 2K colour grading direct to and from the new Sony HDCAM-SR deck. This allows end to end DI workflow for the first time with the ease of conventional video workflows. Now customers have an easy way to colour correct and edit in native 2K, and eliminate the slow and cumbersome file-based workflows.
 

MUMBAI: NextIO announced the release of vSTOR S100, the first flash storage array designed to consolidate and dynamically reallocate Tier 0 storage across servers, at the NAB show.

Utilising ioMemory technology from Fusion-io, the vSTOR S100 achieves a capacity of five Terabytes (TB) and over 1.7M IOPS performance, delivering the industry‘s best flash performance at a price per capacity that is 50 per cent less than similar solutions.
 
vSTOR S100 achieves this in under 300 watts, which is also lower than competing solutions when measured in watts/TB.

The company says that the vStor S100 adaptive application accelerator represents a paradigm shift in the functionality and design of flash storage arrays. By utilising NextIO‘s vConnect I/O virtualization switching technology, vStor can dynamically reallocate flash storage between servers, eliminating the over-provisioning of Tier 0 storage that occurs with dedicated flash cards or existing flash arrays.

This capability allows users to optimise their Tier 0 storage expenditures while providing large amounts of on-demand high-speed flash when applications need it, enabling customers to use flash application acceleration where it was previously cost-prohibitive.

By accelerating applications on existing servers, vSTOR S100 also eliminates the need for system administrators to spread applications over multiple servers, which typically results in over-provisioning of both servers and the storage attached to the servers. 
 
Storage Strategies Now founder and principal analyst Deni Connor says, “Over-provisioning of the server results in more complex server farms and infrastructure. Using large numbers of high-performance, short-stroked drives to achieve the best possible storage performance results in very expensive, highly over-provisioned storage arrays. Virtualised storage solutions are the answer to a physically efficient data center that can run multiple applications with fewer servers, while reducing the total cost of ownership.

MUMBAI: The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has released its attendance figures for the 2010 Show. 
 
The total registered attendees were 88,044 from 156 countries. While the international attendees stood at 23,900, the news media attendees were 1,152.

The 2009 NAB Show final attendance was 82,650, according to an official statement. 
 
According to NAB executive VP Dennis Wharton, content professionals from across the globe turned out in force.

“The uptick in attendance and dazzling technology on display here in Las Vegas demonstrates again the NAB Show‘s enduring popularity and status as the premiere global event for the content marketplace,” he said.