Category: Software

MUMBAI: After months of speculation, Apple Inc finally unveiled its long-awaited iPad on Wednesday.

Just half-an-inch thick and weighing 1.5 pounds, Apple‘s new iPad allows users to browse the web, read and send emails, view and store photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games and read e-books.
 
The iPad is a so-called tablet computer: a flat, magazine-sized device with a colour touch screen that allows users to surf the web, watch movies, send email and read electronic books, among other things.

It has an on-screen keyboard — Apple is selling an optional physical keyboard that connects to the iPad — as well as special software for spreadsheets and word processing. But analysts say the iPad‘s main draw is for consuming media – from reading digital newspapers to watching video — rather than for PC-like work. 
 
The most basic iPad, with 16GB of flash memory, will be priced at $499. A 32GB version will cost $599 and a 64GB version will cost $699.

All iPads can access the Internet using WiFi, but Apple will also sell versions of the iPad that connect to high-speed 3G wireless networks from carriers like AT&T.
 

MUMBAI: Tata Communications has chalked out an investment plan of $50 million to shore up its media and entertainment portfolio, quickly following up on its acquisition of BT Group‘s on-demand digital media management platform Mosaic.

The company has created a division, Global Media and Entertainment Solutions (GMES), for this purpose.

Tata Communications, which will make the investment in the division over two years, will broadly offer three products— workflow management through Mosaic, high speed broadcast through fiber using Video Connect and traditional satellite uplinking.

Tata‘s current GMES customers include NDTV, France’s TV5MONDE and Singapore’s IAH Games.

“Tata Communications intends to invest about $50 million to strengthen its media and entertainment portfolio over the next two years,” says Tata Communications president and COO Vinod Kumar. 
 
With the two softwares (Mosaic and Video Connect), Tata Communications is aiming to maximise the opportunities that digital media provides by enabling end-to-end management, distribution and delivery of content over its lifecycle from production to distribution.

“These two softwares will offer media companies an integrated end-to-end management solution, distribution and delivery of content over its life-cycle from production to distribution,” Kumar adds.

The company is expecting to generate revenues of $200-300 million in the next 2-3 years from the GMES portfolio.  
 
Tata‘s GMES division will help media companies compete in the digital age as content gets delivered across multiple platforms like TV, PC, the mobile and traditional theatres quickly. The solutions will help companies approach markets rapidly, reduce costs and, as a reult, maximise profits.

Pegged at 10-$12 billion, Tata expects the GMES market to double by 2014.
 

MUMBAI: The foray of YouTube into movie rental streaming featuring five independent films from last weekend‘s Sundance Film Festival have resulted in the exercise being termed a failure.

The titles, from the 2009 festival and also this year‘s edition, include The Cove, One Too Many Mornings, Homewrecker, Children of Invention and Bass Ackwards are available as standard-definition and high-definition downloads for $3.99 each for a 48-hour viewing window.
 
Only 72-hours after launch, 1,422 viewers had totally paid $5,673.78 to rent the five titles including 303 views of The Cove, 301 of Children of Invention, 298 of Bass Ackwards, 279 of Homewrecker and 241 of One Too Many Mornings, according to MotleyFool.com analyst Rick Munarriz.

The analyst said that the social network behemoth is discovering the challenges Apple, Blockbuster and Amazon have encountered in attempting to deliver movie rental streams and compete with Netflix.
The online DVD rental pioneer, which claims that 50 per cent of its 11 million subscribers watch at least 15 minutes of streaming per month, offers streams of select catalog titles as a value-added feature to new and existing monthly subscribers. 
 
Said Google spokesperson Chris Dale, “it would be a mistake to compare the performance of five independent films on YouTube to Hollywood blockbusters on opening weekend.”

He said that of the 9,000 films submitted to Sundance in 2009, about 53 titles found some form of distribution. He said the initial focus of YouTube movie rental streams is the independent filmmaker who creates “amazing works” on a micro-budget without any assurance their project will be picked up and distributed.
 

MUMBAI: Neil Smit is set to join Comcast Cable Communications as president.

He will report to Comcast COO Steve Burke and will be responsible for all business aspects of the company’s cable operations.
 
Says Comcast chairman, CEO Brian L Roberts, “Neil is widely respected throughout the cable industry as a strong leader with deep knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of topics. We look forward to having him on our team as he helps take us to the next level of our company’s evolution.”

Avers Smit, “I am very pleased to join Comcast at such an exciting period for the Company and industry. Comcast has led many consumer innovations in video, high-speed internet and digital phone and I couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with such a terrific group of people.” 
 
Smit joins Comcast from Charter Communications where he served as CEO and director since 2005.

Prior to joining Charter, Smit was the president of Time Warner’s America Online Access Business overseeing Internet access services, including America Online (AOL), CompuServe and Netscape ISPs.

MUMBAI: SES World Skies, a division of SES, has unveiled its updated strategic satellite fleet development plan, as well as a new naming convention for future additions to the fleet that will leverage the company‘s global reach and powerful brand.

Three new advanced satellites in various stages of development and construction by Orbital Sciences Corporation are intended to replenish and expand SES WORLD SKIES’ North American fleet and will be named SES-1, SES-2 and SES-3.

SES-1 is set for launch in the spring of 2010 and will replace AMC-2 and AMC-4 at the 101° West orbital slot. Further information on launch dates and slots for SES-2 and SES-3 will be published shortly.
 
NSS-14, currently under construction with Space Systems/Loral and scheduled for launch in Q1 2011, has been renamed SES-4. It will replace NSS-7 and provide incremental capacity over the Atlantic Ocean with comprehensive coverage of the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. NSS-7 will then move to replace NSS-5 at 340° East.

The C-band payload of the Sirius 5 spacecraft, also under construction with Space Systems/Loral and scheduled for launch in Q4 2011, will be named SES-5 and reside together with the Ku-band payload of SIRIUS 5 at 5° East.

The NSS-806 replacement satellite, under negotiation with vendors, will be named SES-6. 
 
Finally, upon closing of the Protostar-2 acquisition announced late last year, the satellite will be fully integrated into SES World Skies global fleet and renamed following the same SES satellite naming nomenclature.
SES World Skies president and CEO Rob Bednarek says, “Our fleet strategy is focused purely on meeting our customers’ growing demand for telecom, television and government services delivery with the most reliable and advanced satellites that carry the most trusted and financially secure name in the industry. SES World Skies is embarking on one of the most ambitious satellite deployment initiatives in the industry to meet the strong need for ubiquitous connectivity in virtually every corner of the world.”
 

MUMBAI: Online and mobile video monetisation company Vdopia successfully inserted Online Video ads during the India -Sri Lanka series that was live webcast on CricketNirvana.com.

Approximately three million online internet viewers watched five ODI’s, three Test matches and two T20 matches. Vdopia served over 40 million dynamic Online Video ads through its recently developed live streaming ad insertion technology, V-Live. At times during the match webcast, there were approximately 150,000 concurrent users watching the live stream.
 
Aircel, IDBI Bank, Axe , Samsonite, Maruti, Volkswagen and SBI Savings A/c., were some of the leading companies who did online video advertising on Neo’s website, www.cricketnirvana.com, during the live webcasts of the India – Sri Lankan series. These brands were able to reach to the relevant audience through the power of V-Live technology. This technology combines the power of TV Branding with measurability of the internet.

The key aspects of V Live technology are:

– Dynamic Video Ad Insertion
– Real Time Ad Switching: Must for Sports Webcast
– Real Time Geo Targeting capability within the Live Stream
– Clickable Pre Roll, Mid Roll and Post Roll Online Video Ads  
 
VLive platform enables the online video ads to be inserted in any Live Video Stream in the same way video ads are inserted on Live TV. The innovation developed from Vdopia’s VDO ad lab is that the online video ads are not static (Like in TV Broadcast) but are dynamic.

Recently Vdopia raised $4 Million from Nexus Venture Partners, which the company will invest further to drive its growth.

The live streaming of World Championship of Cricket (India – South Africa series) will be exclusively webcasted on Cricketnirvana.com. Vdopia would be powering online video advertisements for the India – South Africa series starting 6 February. India will be playing 2 test matches and 3 ODI matches with South Africa.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster HBO is unveiling a newly imagined and flash-based web site (www.HBO.com) that it says reflects its brand, programming and reputation for technical innovation.

The fully integrated site incorporates content that brings a more robust level of engagement to consumers and fans of HBO shows, including newly designed presentations of popular features like episode guides, cast and crew information, behind-the-scenes clips, music and locations. 
 
HBO VP, brand strategy and digital platforms Alison Moore says, “We wanted to create a rich, interactive online destination worthy of the HBO brand. Fully dynamic, the new HBO.com allows us to extend HBO’s promotional digital footprint through a rich and engaging design that is built upon a platform of technical innovation.”

Optimised to provide a totally immersive experience on any computer, the site’s key expanded features include streaming video, enhanced schedule that includes the HBO HD and HBO On Demand schedules as well as email reminders and filters for your various programmes.

Additionally, the new feature aims to help users share content with friends in and outside of the HBO community, with a set of share tools that includes email, video embed and post functionality.

One can also create a dashboard of favorites, plus bookmark discussions, clips, and even get recommendations for new content based on favored programmes.

MUMBAI: Argosy, the leading international supplier of HD broadcast, cables and studio infrastructure products, has announced that it has provided a range of its infrastructure products to Essel Group’s direct-to-home (DTH) company Dish TV.

This installation forms part of an ongoing programme by the DTH operator to expand to its facilities at its playout centre in Noida, India.

Argosy claims that Dish TV has continued to show its confidence in Argosy products including Argosy’s IMAGE HD video cables, connectors, main distributions units (MDUs), routers, video and audio patch panels, racks, audio monitoring equipment and an array of tools such as crimping tools, cutters and strippers, by choosing Argosy as its preferred partner.
 
“We have had a longstanding relationship with Argosy and chose their infrastructure equipment primarily because the company not only distribute some of the best quality products on the market, they also have one of the largest range of the right products.” said Dish TV president – projects Rajiv Khattar. “The team at Argosy understands our business drivers and continuously delivers the highest quality products, in the shortest possible time to meet our exacting requirements.”

Dish TV provides over 250 channels, majority of which are third party channels which are down linked at the Dish TV facilities before being uplinked to viewers. However Dish TV also teleports content for 50 channels on its own playout network, with some channels being distributed as far as the UK and the USA, South Africa and Russia.

Argosy director Bob Clark said, “Dish TV continues to regularly expand its playout facilities – and we work closely with their engineering teams across the four entertainment companies in the group to ensure that we keep on delivering products that meet their ongoing mission-critical transmission needs.”  
 
Clark continued, “Furthermore we stock limited spares of our equipment locally in India which allows us to expedite orders to customer like Dish TV as and when these are needed – ensuring we provide the best-of-breed solutions on time and within budget.”

Argosy’s infrastructure products include a collection of SD and HD video, audio and power cables, fibre optic cables and accessories, high density HD video patch panels, MDUs, routers, audio jack fields, rack systems, KVM switches, and Sonarae, its audio monitoring system as well as an array of video accessories.

MUMBAI: Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL) has mopped up Rs 2.12 billion from the first tranche of its Rs 4.5 billion rights issue.

The remaining amount will pour in by March-end as the Subhash Chandra-promoted cable TV distribution company plans to go aggressive on its Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) operations.

“WWIL has utilised the entire Rs 2.12 billion. The company has repaid Rs 1.6 billion towards unsecured loans. Investment has also been made for HITS and some acquisitions,” WWIL CEO Sudhir Agarwal tells Indiantelevision.com.

WWIL has invested Rs 1.5 billion for HITS and is the lone operator in this segment so far.

The company has widened its third-quarter consolidated net loss to Rs 344.58 million as revenue dropped 12 per cent. WWIL also took a knock of around Rs 140 million losses from HITS.

WWIL had posted a loss of Rs 226.74 million in the year-ago period.

“We are expanding the market through HITS. In the same period of last fiscal, we hadn‘t started these operations,” says Agarwal.

Operating revenues fell 12 per cent to Rs 722.2 million for the quarter ended 31 December 2009, compared to Rs 817.9 million in the prior year. 
 
“The television distribution market in India is fast changing, with visible signs of progression towards a digital environment. The HITS policy announcement this quarter is a positive indication and I am confident that digital cable will also start playing an important role in the digitization of television,” says WWIL chairman Subhash Chandra.

Expenses in the quarter dipped marginally by 2 per cent at Rs 793.6 million, compared to Rs 810.3 million in the year-ago period. WWIL has streamlined staff and content costs over the quarters.

Operating loss for the quarter was Rs 71.3 million, as against an operating profit of Rs 7.7 million in the prior year.

The operating profit for analogue business in Q3 was Rs 61 million compared to an operating profit of Rs 8 million.   
 
Says Agarwal, “The initial rollout of HITS has focused on tapping critical tier-II and tier-III cities and we are scaling up at decent pace. I am confident that going forward, HITS shall be a win-win proposition for WWIL, its consumers and stakeholders.”
WWIL promoters pledged 32.2 million shares, or 11.2 per cent of their stake, amounting to 7.1 per cent equity of the company.

Shares of WWIL closed Friday at Rs 19.15 on the BSE, down 2.54 per cent from its previous close.

NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has introduced a ‘Satellite TV Channels Application Tracking System’ (STATS) to bring complete transparency in the entire system of approvals for new channels.

This first-ever initiative allows applicants to get updates on the status of their applications online. Software developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) will enable companies to log on to an especially designed programme to know the status of their applications. The link has been made available on the website of the Ministry, www.mib.nic.in.
 
The applicant companies can log on with their Unique Company Identification Number (CIN) and a password to use the software. Each company can see the information related to the channels for which they have applied. In addition to the status of the channels, companies can also get information regarding the status of their applications, regarding SNG/DSNG vans, change of name, change of logo, change of directors of the company, change in the shareholding pattern, extension of period of operationalisation and licence renewal.

This initiative follows the start of the system introduced a couple of months earlier of Open House meetings on the 5th of every month where applicant companies can participate and get information about the status of their applications. 
 
The Ministry has urged the applicant companies to make full use of the software and actively engage with the Ministry by giving their comments and suggestions for further improvement.

Under the Policy Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of private TV notified in 2005, the Ministry has till date permitted 516 private channels. Permissions have also been given to set up 78 teleports.