Category: Software

MUMBAI: Ignitee Digital Solutions has appointed R Sreekant as general manager- business development for the northern and eastern regions.

Prior to this, Sreekant was assistant vice president for north and east regions at Hello FM 106.4. 
 
Said Ignitee Digital Solutions national business director Shankar B, “We are aggressively looking towards expanding our base in the northern and eastern parts of the country, as these markets have immense potential. Following the path of the growth, it was extremely essential to have an experienced professional like Sreekant, who will act as a driving force in enhancing business in these markets.”  
 
Talking about his mandate Ignitee Digital Solutions, Sreekant said, “My role at Ignitee would be to develop business in the northern and eastern markets and I look forward to contributing in expanding the company‘s operations in these regions.”

MUMBAI: Network18 has entered into a co-marketing agreement with the professional networking platform LinkedIn for the Indian market.

The alliance is aimed at exploiting content integration and brand building opportunities between LinkedIn and synergistic brands within the Network18 stable.

The alliance, led by CNBC-TV18 and Moneycontrol, will focus on online and on-air initiatives in the areas of business news and information, issue-based research, personal finance and professional networking.

The alliance initially includes integration of business and finance content from Moneycontrol on LinkedIn and community-generated content from LinkedIn on CNBC-TV18. 
 
TV18 business media director Ajay Chacko says, “We believe that this partnership will create value because of the substantial content and audience synergies resultant from a combination of LinkedIn and Network18 brands. We see a great opportunity in jointly developing offerings for various key business communities including corporate leaders, professionals, SME‘s and management students.”

The bipartite agreement is the first media partnership announced by LinkedIn in India and is part of the company‘s strategy to growing brand awareness among professionals in the country.
 
Says LinkedIn India country head Hari Krishnan, “We believe that this alliance will be instrumental in strengthening LinkedIn‘s presence in India and driving awareness about key issues amongst India‘s professional audiences.”

The partnership has been flagged with the launch of the ‘CNBC-TV18 LinkedIn‘ poll along with traffic development and co-promotional initiatives with Moneycontrol.com.
 

MUMBAI: Rediff.com India has unveiled RediffBlogs, the new blogging platform in nine languages. The new release will be replacing Rediff‘s earlier blogging platform, Rediffland. 
 
RediffBlogs has social media elements that create vital growth enabling bloggers on the site to get noticed quickly. 
 
The platform supports languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam and Kannada. To support their blogs, users can upload photos and videos with their comments.

MUMBAI: Recessionary and competitive pressures have seen a significant decline in broadband subscriber additions in Western Europe.

The top 10 fixed broadband providers saw an average of less than 1.4 million net additions per quarter, down from the 1.9 million per quarter reported during 2007-2008. The only operators in the top 10 that accelerated their rate of subscriber additions were Germany‘s United Internet and Vodafone, due to the acquisitions of Freenet and Arcor, respectively.
 
The report also saw a surge in subscribers over a 10-quarter period from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2009.

A report by SNL Kagan found that Deutsche Telecom (DT) added more broadband subscribers from Q4 2006 to Q2 2009 than any other ISP in the region, accounting for 22 per cent of all top 10 operator net additions. 
 
Among the fastest growing operators in that period were France’s Iliad and SFR, each with a compound quarterly growth rate of 6.7 per cent. Germany’s Vodafone and DT followed with a compound quarterly growth rate of 5.2 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively. 
 

NEW DELHI: Indian Cable TV MSOs operators had better watch out. The Government has once again reminded all state governments and union territories to ensure strict compliance with its mandate for carrying Doordarshan and Parliament channels on cable TV networks and DTH services.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C M Jatua told Parliament today that a fresh letter was sent to all states and UTs on 8 December in view of complaints of non-carriage by some DTH and cable TV operators.
 
The Ministry said compliance should be ensured through authorized officers such as the sub-divisional magistrates, district magistrates, or commissioners of police who responsible for implementation of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995.

Instructions have also been issued on 14 October to all DTH service providers in this regard, he said. 
 
Meanwhile, the minister said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is carrying out a de novo tariff exercise for cable TV services in non-CAS areas according to a Supreme Court order of May 2009.

While TRAI has not issued any subscription rates for DTH services, the Minister said the regulator had issued a consultation paper in March this year which tariff at the subscriber end is one of the issues.

MUMBAI: US broadcaster NBC has unveilled Mission: Chuck Me Out, a new social media game designed to reward fans who help spread the word about the network‘s returning series Chuck by using social networking sites.

The grand-prize winner of the new Chuck online game will have a photo of themselves featured in an upcoming episode as part of a Chuck “flash” – along with additional prizes.
 
NBC Entertainment Marketing president Adam Stotsky says, “The fans of Chuck have been incredibly passionate and supportive of the show. We want to reward this loyalty and activate further social conversation about the new season.”

The third season of Chuck debuts on 10 January next year with all-new missions and an action-packed, two-hour premiere before the series — starring Zachary Levi in the title role moves to its regular day and time on Mondays from 11 January 2010.

On the show Chuck Bartowski is a computer geek, works at a Buy More electronics store. He unwittingly becomes the government‘s most vital secret agent.

The game – which will run from December 10 through March 8, 2010 – is designed to reward the extremely active online Chuck fan base. It will tap into the power of social networking to spread the word for both the new season of “Chuck” as well as the abundance of Chuck-related features on NBC.com. 
 
To play the game, fans can log on to www.chuckmeout.com, a site launched by NBC.com in July (and announced at last summer‘s Comic-Con) that is completely dedicated to the fans of ‘Chuck‘.

Users can sign up with their existing Facebook, MySpace and Twitter log-ins. Players will then receive points for taking various Chuck-based actions within those social networks. For example, if a user becomes a fan of the “Chuck” Facebook Fan Page (www.facebook.com/chuck), then they will earn points.

Other ways that fans can rack up points include mentioning ‘Chuck‘ on the user‘s Twitter account or getting their friends to click on a link to watch full episodes of ‘Chuck‘ on NBC.com.

In addition, there will be daily tasks that offer users additional opportunities to earn points by linking to specific Chuck videos, articles or other ‘Chuck‘ related promotions. Every one of their friends who click on that link earns the player additional points thus encouraging them to spread the word.

The fan with the most points at the completion of the game will receive the grand prize and will see their photo featured in ‘Chuck‘.

Additionally, fans that reach a base level of points will be eligible to win additional prizing such as a second season DVD of ‘Chuck‘ autographed by title star Levi.

MUMBAI: The National Basketball Association (NBA) in association with HP and Reebok has rolled out online and mobile sites in India.

The website accessible at nba.com/india features a live game broadcast every Thursday morning in India throughout the regular season. The site will also include select Hindi content, player blogs and columns by Ayaz Memon and Sahil Sharma.
 
The mobile site, accessible via m.nba.com will provide fans real-time access to latest NBA news, scores and standings.

The site will promote weekly live telecasts of NBA games which are available on ESPN and Star Sports on Friday and Saturday mornings in India. TV schedules and game matchup information will also be showcased on the website. 
 
Additionally, fans in India can also access up to 40 games each week on NBA LEAGUE PASS BROADBAND, the league‘s premium online video subscription service available on the website.

“As the NBA‘s fan base in India continues to grow, we are delighted to be working with our local partners to provide this unique digital experience.

“As more sports fans in India are embracing the game of basketball we hope this multimedia experience will encourage them to play the game and follow their favorite NBA teams, players and latest League news,” said NBA International president Heidi Ueberroth.
 

MUMBAI: 7Seas Technologies, the Hyderabad-based independent games development company, has announced the launch of its first 3D racing game concept for the PC Windows platform with multi-genre content, Kraze.

Kraze, the first-ever PC racing game to be developed in India, was launched by Tollywood hero Nandamuri Balakrishna. 
 
Kraze has been developed for the mass market with an investment of Rs 20 million.

The salient features of Kraze include: 12 different vehicles with varying speed and handling, eight different locations around the world, off-road, rally, F1 and street race modes, championship, quick race and time trial, individual profiles and vehicle customisation.  
 
7Seas Technologies MD Maruti Sankar says, “Kraze is targeted at both amateurs as well as young gamers. With the Indian gaming market fast evolving, we hope to see good results from Kraze. The game is competitively priced which suits the Indian gamer.” He addd that the $2 million company is also contemplating to create a new line of games based on this unique gaming concept.
For publishing and distribution of Kraze, 7Seas has joined hands with Hyderabad-based Comprint for the Indian market and with UK-based Candella Systems Limited for the overseas market. With these publishing and distribution collaborations in place, Kraze will now be for sale at more than 275 premier retail chain stores throughout India through Comprint. These include Landmark, Odyssey, Music World, Crossword, Planet M, Big Bazaar and Central stores. Besides, the Kraze game will be available across Comprint‘s ‘GameX‘ outlets and shop-in-shops.

The game will be retailed in the stores for Rs 199 per CD.

“Kraze will be available at all leading retail stores in the International markets through Candella Systems from the year 2010,” Sanker adds.

Kraze will also be available for purchase via digital distribution portals such as gamestreamer.com, onlinerealgames.com and www.indiaplaza.in/kraze (an online store). Through this initiative, Kraze game will be available to consumers online as well as offline.

MUMBAI: Big TV, the Anil Ambani-owned direct-to-home (DTH) company, has entered into a marketing alliance with Fox Star Studios for promoting James Cameron’s magnum opus Avatar in India.

As part of the deal, Big TV will run a month-long 360 degree marketing campaign and will launch a 30-second English television commercial (TVC) featuring the cast of the film. The TVC is expected to go on air across 12 English channels including Times Now, AXN, Star World, Star Movies, and HBO from 15 December.
 
The DTH operator will also showcase interviews with Cameron and the stars of Avatar. The footage will also include behind-the scenes of the movie.

Reliance Big TV senior VP Umesh Rao said, “This partnership brings in enriched content to our subscribers and delivers larger than life experience through multiple grounds promotions planned across key cities.” 
 
Fox Star Studios and Big TV are also creating special promotional zones across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Ahemdabad and Jaipur at key multiplexes. Apart from this, tie-ups with Baskin Robbins and Big Cinemas have been finalised to create exclusive zones.

The tie-up is part of Big TV’s content strategy to introduce niche and unique content on its DTH platform, the company said in a release.

Avatar is releasing in theatres across the country in 2D, 3D and IMAX versions on 18 December. Fox Star Studios is releasing the movie worldwide.

MUMBAI: Amid a rapidly-growing subscriber base, the Kalanithi Maran-owned Sun Direct has taken a loss of around Rs 1.5 billion for the three-month period ended 31 October 2009.

For the fastest growing DTH operator in terms of subscribers, the loss in the quarter has increased from the trailing three-month period. Sun Direct had posted a loss of Rs 1.3 billion for the quarter ended 31 July. 
 
Sun Direct‘s ARPU (average revenue per user) stays almost flat at Rs 90 during the three-month period ending 31 October, the lowest in the industry.

Malaysia-based Astro has suffered “associate losses” of Rs 300.64 million from its 20 per cent holding in the DTH venture over the stated three-month period.

Astro has so far invested $122 million (Rs 5.73 billion) in Sun Direct till 31 October. 
 
Meanwhile, Astro has subscribed to 6.28 million additional new ordinary shares (till 5 December) of Rs 10 each in Sun Direct through its wholly-owned subsidiary South Asia Entertainment Holdings Limited (“SAEHL”). The total cash consideration for this is Rs 500 million, representing a price of Rs 79.57 per share.

The holding of SAEHL in Sun Direct remains at 20 per cent.