Category: Software

MUMBAI: Codemasters Online has revealed details of its new partnership with PlaySpan that offers monetisation solutions for online games, virtual worlds and social networks.

Players will be able to purchase Codemasters Online digital goods and services using more than 56 methods of payment.
 
The new partnership has gone live just in time for the launch of the latest digital expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood (due for release on 3 December).

UltimatePay (the combination PayByCash’s 10 years of payment services experience and Spare Change’s social network payment platform) offers many popular cash-based payment methods including CertaPay, CashU, Ecapay, hyperWallet, TravellersExpress, MobilCash, MoneyMail, Mister Cash, myCitadel and Wallie Card.

UltimatePay can be used to pre-order the Siege of Mirkwood digital upgrade as well as many other Codemasters Online products. 
 
This partnership is one of many enhancements that Codemasters Online has made to improve the consumer billing and account experience in the last six months. This addition to the accounts system will facilitate a wide choice of easy payment methods for any customers unable to purchase with a credit card.
Says Codemasters Online VP GM David Solar, “I am delighted to launch this new scheme and think it is fantastic that we can now provide yet another route for users without credit cards and enjoy our games and services. We are working hard to constantly improve our customer experience and this is another step in that direction.”

Avers PlaySpan founder, CEO Karl Mehta, “PlaySpan is excited and proud to partner with Codemasters Online. We’re eager to introduce UltimatePay to its fans and enable more of them to experience Codemasters premium content.”
 

MUMBAI: Adconion Media Group has acquired some key assets of online video service company Joost. Though the terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, it is learnt that it is a fire sale that wouldn’t bring any returns to Joost‘s investors.

Last June, Joost effected a change in its business strategy to focus on providing white-label video platforms. Adconion says that it would pursue with that strategy.

Adconion recently announced its first long-term licensing partnership as the exclusive display and video ad-serving solution for the Goldbach Media Group in Europe.
 
Adconion CEO Tyler Moebius said, “Video is a top priority for our company, and through the acquisition of the assets of Joost, we will be able to provide advertisers, content owners and website publishers with an end-to-end global video platform and cross-channel video and display ad-serving solution.”

Moebius added that the company would be continuing to operate Joost.com and would provide its clients with a destination site to showcase and distribute their branded entertainment content.  
 
Before it could acquire Joost, Adconion offered targeted distribution of content, including video and TV commercials, to audiences around the world via Adconion.TV. Through the acquisition, Adconion.TV will add to its library of professionally-produced video content available for targeted pre-roll ads across 2,000 publishers.
Said Joost ‘s former CEO Mike Volpi, “We had earlier put Joost on death watch, not in the least when its UK offices were dissolved and there was virtually no one left to comment on that story. It‘s also worth noting that the news of today’s acquisition comes a mere two weeks after it was announced that Joost’s owners Friis and Zennström had settled its lawsuits against eBay, the investor group that was purchasing Skype from eBay.”
 

MUMBAI: Den Networks, the cable distribution company with a pan-Indian footprint, traded below the offer price on its debut day.

The shares, listing on the bourses at issue price of Rs 195, managed an intra day high of Rs 197 but fell to a low of Rs 149.50 before finally closing at Rs 163.10, down 16.36 per cent.
 
A total of 7.73 million shares were traded during the day on the BSE.

On NSE, the stock closed at Rs 163.40, down 16.20 per cent. The stock saw an intra day high of Rs 199.80 and a low of Rs 149.50. 
 
A total of 10.26 million shares of Den were traded on the opening day on NSE.

As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Den has raised Rs 3.7 billion through its initial public offering (IPO) of up to 20 million equity shares.

MUMBAI: Essar Steel has awarded its online duties to digital marketing company, Ignitee Digital Solutions. 
 
Ignitee will be responsible for developing Essar Steel Hypermart‘s website that falls within the commodity retail industry. The website aims at giving their customers access to updated commodity prices and loyalty programme online. It will also equip Essar Steel Hypermart‘s managerial team with better insights from the sales and analytical perspective.

Says Ignitee Digital Solutions head technology Jyotindra Bagwadkar, “Retail industry faces the challenge to bring their CRM programmes online and to keep customers updated with products and prices.

“From the technology stand point, Ignitee ensured that we understand the full project delivery mechanism before proposing a viable solution.” 
 
Adds Essar Steel deputy manager Poulomi Pal, “This is our first opportunity to work with Ignitee.

“The project had few nuances and delicacies and they put in their earnest efforts in understanding and helping us towards a better outcome.”

MUMBAI: Epix, the next generation entertainment service from Viacom, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM, has chosen Akamai as the company’s launch provider to deliver and manage its full-length High Definition (HD) films.
 
Epix delivers blockbusters, new releases, library classics and original content across its HD television channel, video-on-demand service and EpixHD.com website.  
 
Says Epix VP operations Thomas Carpenter, “Akamai’s ability to seamlessly deliver our movies, concerts, comedy specials and events in HD allows us to fulfill our promise of a quality, TV-like experience in the broadband medium.”

Comments Akamai executive VP global sales, services and marketing Robert Hughes, “Feature length movies provide the perfect opportunity to be viewed at full 1280×720 resolution content in full screen. To handle that type of resolution, our customers are increasingly taking advantage of adaptive bitrate streaming, a key requirement to ensure consistency and a high-quality, TV-like experience for viewers.”
 

MUMBAI: In a move aimed at expanding its network and channel brands across multiple platforms and connecting viewers with their favourite shows anytime and anywhere, US media conglomerate Disney/ABC Television Group has announced the launch of a new Grey‘s Anatomy webisode series, entitled Seattle Grace: On Call.
 
Sponsored by Bertolli, the new online series consists of six individual webisodes, each four to five minutes in length, as well as a special behind-the-scenes episode which chronicles the making of Seattle Grace: On Call.

Says Grey‘s Anatomy creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes, “Our goal with the web series is to expand Grey‘s universe by offering a unique perspective of the various happenings at Seattle Grace while paralleling some of the same storylines seen on the show.

“The intent is to put everything fans love about Grey‘s into these short, four-minute mini-episodes that have been designed solely for the internet. We hope our fans will enjoy a new take on the familiar Grey‘s world which will appear exclusively on our website during the time our actual episodes repeat from November to January,” he adds.  
 
Set primarily in Joe‘s Emerald City Bar, the popular hangout spot for doctors and interns alike, Seattle Grace: On Call follows the trials and tribulations of many of the familiar faces featured in Grey‘s Anatomy.

Shot in a documentary-style, the webisode series stars Steven Bailey as Joe the Bartender, Mark Saul as intern Steve, Molly Kidder as Intern Megan, Joseph Williamson as intern Pierce, Gloria Garayua as intern Graciella, Brandon Scott as intern Ryan, Nora Zehtener as Reed Adamson, and Robert Baker as Charles Denman.

MUMBAI: UK‘s new Digital Economy Bill has decided to place a legal commitment on broadcaster Channel 4 to invest in films. The bill, announced by the Queen as part of the state opening of Parliament on 18 November, is expected to become a law in the next few months.

Said head of the broadcaster‘s filmmaking arm Film4, Tessa Ross, “This is a prize we have been working towards for some time and are absolutely delighted that we are well on the way to achieving that goal. Channel 4 has supported Film 4 since its inception and volunteered a commitment to it in a new expanded digital remit back in March 2008.”
 
Film4 presently invests around $16m (?10m) a year in feature projects like Slumdog Millionaire that grossed $377 million worldwide and this year‘s awards contenders, The Lovely Bones and Nowhere Boy.

Hailing the measures, UK Film Council (UKFC) chief executive John Woodward said, “Including Film 4 in Channel 4‘s remit for the first time is a prize the UK Film Council has been chasing for many years.

“As long as Channel 4 has not been required by legislation to make films, Film4 has remained on a knife-edge. The new legislation will finally embed Film4 at the centre of Channel 4‘s public service remit.” 
 
The Digital Economy Bill also contains a two-stage strategy to tackle online piracy. The first stage is legal action and consumer education about online copyright, followed if necessary by a second stage in which reserve powers would be used to introduce technical measures, such as broadband disconnection.

UKFC chairman Tim Bevan said that the proposals should leave persistent pirates in no doubt that what they were doing was wrong and damaging both the film sector and wider economy.
“Piracy hits film revenues, threatens jobs, and restricts reinvestment back into new movies,” Bevan avered.

“The digital film future is a hugely exciting prospect, but one obvious downside to a fully digital world is that piracy will be made even easier, which is why we believe strongly that these measures should be supported and introduced as speedily as possible,” he added.
 

MUMBAI: US-based Apollo Management will take a 11 per cent stake in the expanded equity of Dish TV, marking its first media investment in India.

Apollo will pump in $100 million to subscribe to Dish TV‘s GDR (Global Depositary Receipt) issue. Dish TV has priced its GDR at Rs 39.80 per share of Re 1 each. 
 
Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that Dish TV would be going in for a GDR issue as it plans to raise up to $200 million to fund its expansion programme.

“Dish TV will issue 117.03 million equity shares in the form of 117,035 GDRs, at a price of $ 854.5 per GDR (with each GDR representing 1,000 equity shares of Re 1 each), aggregating $100 million,” the company said.

The deal is expected to settle on 30 November, subject to customary closing conditions.

Says Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel, “Apollo has a strong track record of investing in growing businesses, especially in the media sector, and with their investment, Dish TV will be well capitalised to build on its market leadership and pursue its ambitious business objectives.”   
 
Dish TV has an aggressive target of mopping up 2.5 million subscribers this fiscal. But with the fund raising in place, the DTH operator hopes to up its earlier target of having eight million subscribers by FY‘10.

Apollo Management has approximately $50 billion in assets under management, in private equity and credit-oriented capital markets invested across a core group of industries where it has considerable knowledge and resources. Apollo’s recent and current investments in the media and satellite space include Hughes Network Systems, Intelsat, Sirius Satellite Radio, CableCom and UnityMedia.

MUMBAI: Den Networks, a cable distribution company with a pan-Indian footprint, has raised Rs 3.7 billion through its initial public offering (IPO).

Den, which has fixed its issue price at Rs 195 per share, will list its equity shares on the exchanges on 24 November.
 
LIC has put in $10 million and will hold a little over two per cent, according to a source in the company.

SoftBank of Japan and Indea Capital had come in as anchor investors at Rs 205, the upper end of the IPO price band. 
 
Den was expecting to raise Rs 4.1 billion at the upper end Rs 3.9 billion at the lower price band.

“We raised Rs 3.7 billion. There was a small unsubscribed portion from retail individual investors,” says the source.

Non-institutional investors helped the issue to get subscribed just 1.04 times. Their reserved portion subscribed over four times, while the qualified institutional investors‘ portion was subscribed just one time.

Promoted by IBN18 Broadcast joint managing director Sameer Manchanda and Lucid Systems, Den had entered the capital market on 28 October with an IPO of up to 20 million equity shares.

MUMBAI: Mauj Mobile has joined forces with mobile advertising and multimedia solutions provider Mobixell to deliver services in mobile advertising.

The partnership will offer a commercial and technological package for managing operators‘ advertising inventories for global and local brands in India. This will include creative work, campaign planning and execution, media management, inventory management, ad serving and ad delivery via various digital and mobile channels.
 
Mauj Mobile CEO Manoj Dawane said, “The mobile advertising opportunities are huge in the Indian market which now has 420 million mobile subscribers. We are looking to capitalise on this with a cutting edge solution that will ensure we can manage the advertising inventory of operators as effectively as possible.”

Mobixell and Mauj Mobile will work together on a number of immediate opportunities to deliver interactive above the line, below the line and through the line integrated campaigns.
 
“Mobile advertising is an area in which operators and brands work together to achieve effective advertising and higher RoI (Return on investment), which is precisely what this partnership will deliver,” added Mobixell AVP mobile advertising Eran Hertzmann.