ITV

Category: Software

  • NDS unveils digital television solutions at Scat









    MUMBAI: NDS, which provides technology solutions for digital pay-TV, is showcasing solutions and services at the television technology show Scat 2009 that will enable Indian operators to go digital quickly and cost-effectively.


    Also on show will be advanced applications and solutions that can help digital pay-TV operators in India to generate new revenue streams and reduce churn.

     

    NDS solutions that have been deployed successfully by Tata Sky and Hathway will be featured at the show.


    Market-leading services and solutions from NDS being showcased at SCaT India 2009 include:


    Solutions deployed by cable operator Hathway: This includes the first DVR service launched by a cable operator in India and an advanced, customised EPG providing subscribers with a highly engaging, easy-to-use interface to enrich the subscribers’ digital TV viewing experience.


    Tata Sky+’s end-to-end solution: Features NDS XTV DVR technology, India’s first multilingual Hindi EPG and NDS VideoGuard conditional access technology. The XTV DVR solution allows subscribers to pause, record, play back, rewind and fast forward their recorded TV programmes, offering consumers real freedom and flexibility, and giving pay-TV operators a proven way to grow revenues and reduce churn.


    PC solutions: NDS PC Show enables operators to securely deliver video on demand (VOD) services and traditional broadcast channels to PCs over the open internet or via an operator’s existing broadband platform.


    NDS iTV applications: NDS’ innovative applications deliver next-generation interactive services, including a range of single-user and multi-player games. On show are a selection of Tata Sky’s interactive services and games, based on NDS technologies and marketed under the Active brand. Also on show will be some of the new XtreamPlay capabilities deployed by US satellite operator DirecTV.


    NDS Conceptual User Interface (UI): Subscribers can enhance their TV viewing experience using an intuitive UI that enables them to search for and view relevant, contextual information from the Web on their TVs. Services that could be accessed in this way include social media sites (e.g. MySpace) and video content and information sites.


    NDS senior VP, GM Asia Pacific Sue Taylor said, “NDS is ideally placed to help pay-TV operators, whatever their size, make the move to a digital platform cost-effectively. At the show we will be showcasing some advanced solutions and services that have enabled some of our Indian customers to benefit from new revenue streams and reduced churn.”

  • Prime Focus launches web-based asset management service









    MUMBAI: Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) has launched a web-based media asset management service ‘Clear‘ to help film studios, broadcasters and advertisers to efficiently manage their content and workflows.


    The service manages the entire lifecycle of content from production to distribution and offers a secure, fast and reliable digital delivery platform for advertising and entertainment content.

     

    PFT has also launched ‘Clear‘ Live, a video-on-demand (VOD) package and creation service that can deliver custom VoD packages from live feeds in less than three minutes to new media platforms – including web, mobile, IPTV and catch-up TV.

    ‘Clear‘ is a customisable and scalable subscription service, requiring no upfront capital expenditure. Clients benefit from a single point of contact and substantially reduced production and delivery times and costs – across all media and at every stage of the process.

    It allows organisations to preserve content and manage workflows that span geographies, helping advertisers and ad agencies roll out global or regional print and television advertising campaigns. ‘Clear‘ provides custom support for client business driven meta data models, processes, workflows and applications.


    Said Prime Focus Technologies President and CEO Ramki Sankaranarayanan “In the digital media world, the management of content, processes and interactions is key. With ‘Clear‘, such workflow items can be managed across locations and the platform is customised to increase productivity. This is particularly pertinent at a time when companies are looking to cut costs and generate new revenue streams, while changes in the way content is produced and managed call for increased collaboration and efficiencies.”

    ‘Clear‘ ensures that content is available across time zones and geographies without the need for round-the-clock IT support staff. It‘s built on open standards, enabling integration with in-house systems and software, and is composed of four main components.

  • Zapak launches MMORPG RuneScape

    MUMBAI: Reliance Entertainment’s online gaming portal Zapak has launched the fantasy Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game (MMORPG) RuneScape. It has tied up with Jagex Games Studio which developed the game.


    Zapak is the marketing and distribution partner of the game in India.


    RuneScape is a graphical browser game implemented on Java and incorporating 3D rendering. The game has 104 million active accounts and is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world’s most popular free MMORPG. Jagex which is based in the UK had launched this game back in 2001.


    Zapak Digital Entertainment COO Rohit Sharma says that the company is looking at launching another four to five MMOG titles over the next 12-18 months. “We feel that Indian gamers will move from casual games to MMOGs. Online gaming is one of the fastest growing verticals in the gaming space. MMOG is the stickiest form of online gaming. Crazy Kart was the first MMOG that we launched last year. We have 150 gaming cafes across the country. This will rise to 500 over the next 12-18 months. We also sold 300,000 PC games in the last quarter. We are looking to double our revenue for the year. With 3G coming in, the uptake of online games will rise,” said Sharma.


    Jagex Games Studio COO Rob Smith says that RuneScape has been developed to appeal to multiple demographics. While most of the company’s revenue comes from the US, Europe and Canada the company is looking at opportunities in the Asia Pacific. India is one of the key markets and he feels that this is the time right time for the company to come into the country.


    “RuneScape currently has over five million unique players a month including over one million paying subscribers. The game is updated weekly with a new content, quest, skills or events which means there are always new challenge to face whenever players log on,” added Smith.


    RuneScape can be accessed at www.runescape.in. The game costs Rs. 150 a month for subscribers. In the US it costs over $5. There is a standard version of the game which offers hundreds of hours of game play. The premium version of the game offers quest, skills and houses and looks to advance social interaction. Sharma says that Zapak will look to organise fan events around the game as time goes on.


    Music broadcaster MTV has also associated with the game through its show Roadies. The first seven levels of RuneScape have Roadies branding. RuneScape is the gaming partner of Roadies.


    Viacom18 Media senior VP strategy and business development Anuj Poddar says, “Roadies and RuneScape share several values including adventure, youth, excitement, twists, danger and competition. MTV Roadies is a brand in itself and we see a great fit of our flagship show with Runescape as both target adventure and youth.”


    RuneScape takes place in the game world of Gielinor, a fantasy realm divided into several different kingdoms, regions, and cities. Players can travel throughout Gielinor on foot, by using magical teleportation spells and devices, or by using mechanical means of transportation. Each region offers different types of monsters, resources, and quests to challenge players. The game‘s fictional universe has also been explored through a tie-in video game and novel, Betrayal at Falador.


    Players are represented in the game as customizable avatars. RuneScape does not follow a linear storyline; players set their own goals and objectives. Players can fight NPC monsters, complete quests, or increase their experience in any of the available skills. Players interact with each other through trading, chatting, or by participating in both combative and cooperative minigames and activities.

  • Prime Focus launches View-D









    MUMBAI: Prime Focus has announced the launch of View-D, a proprietary 2D-to-3D conversion process that allows filmmakers to efficiently create stereoscopic 3D movies from source material shot on virtually any medium.


    View-D will be introduced at international launch events in Mumbai, London and Los Angeles to unveil the Prime Focus global rebrand in which Prime Focus London, blue, Machine, Post Logic and Frantic Films VFX will be brought together under the Prime Focus name.

     

    Said Prime Focus VFX CEO Michael Fink, “3D moviemaking has proven to be more than a passing trend – it‘s rejuvenating international box offices and giving filmmakers a new storytelling technique that enriches the movie-going experience. “


    View-D was developed under the guidance of Chris Bond, president and senior visual effects supervisor of Prime Focus VFX. Filmmakers can now shoot a movie with a single camera on film, without having to be locked into digital cameras and potentially complicated stereoscopic camera rigs. View-D allows conversions to fit into the post production schedule by critically shortening the length of time they take.

  • ACT Television to air Champions League T20 on IPTV platform

    MUMBAI: Bangalore-based ACT Television will air the Champions League T20 matches on its IPTV (internet protocol TV) platform, ACT Interactive.



    ACT Interactive’s features will enable the subscribers to pause and reply the live matches. Its Spot Record function will record and save the matches.


    Also in the offering is ‘Internet on TV’ feature, where users can instantly access interviews and antics of cricketers, by searching for and viewing them on the TV screen.ACT Television MD Sunder Raju commented, “Cricket has always been a fanatical sport in India and this maiden Champions League Twenty 20 is a tournament every Indian is looking forward to. ACT Television’s endeavour is to make the Champions League Twenty 20 experience as thrilling as possible for the Indian cricket fan.”

  • IBN Lokmat hops on to Tata Sky









    MUMBAI: Marathi news channel IBN Lokmat has signed a distribution deal with direct-to-home (DTH) operator Tata Sky.


    Starting 3 October, IBN Lokmat has been made available on Tata Sky‘s channel No 837.

     

    IBN Lokmat is a JV between Raghav Bahl-promoted IBN18 and Lokmat Group. The channel covers news from politics, sports, celebrities, entertainment to business.


    Some of the top shows on the channel are Great Bhet, Youth Tube and Reportaj. The channel at present is focusing on the upcoming assembly elections with special programmes like Maharashtra cha Mahasangram, IBN Lokmat Express – Janatecha Jahirnama, Awaaj Kunachaa, Vote Mumbai Vote – Mumbai Special, Mahila Raj, Youth Powe and Khara Mudda.

  • Nielsen to provide online currency for UK digital industry











    MUMBAI: Nielsen has been appointed by UKOM, the UK online measurement body, as its official partner to create the country‘s first currency for planning advertising campaigns on the internet.


    In India, Nielsen will follow suit and launch a similar standard for internet measurement.

     

    In addition to the UK, Nielsen provides the currency of choice in France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Switzerland, China and South Africa. In early September, Nielsen also acquired KoreanClick, a web measurement company in South Korea.


    Nielsen‘s online division CEO John Burbank says, “As with our strategic alliance in the US to develop products to measure ad effectiveness online with Facebook, we are committed to partnering with our clients to help them compete in the marketplace.” Set to launch in January 2010, the UKOM Audience Planning System (APS), powered by Nielsen, gives advertisers and their agencies the ability to plan media schedules around a single, benchmark source of highly accurate and consistent online data, just as they currently do in the UK for TV, radio and print media.


    Nielsen associate director, online division Karthik Nagarajan says, “This comes at a time when we are about to launch a similar online audience measurement service in India, which will help media planners and agencies to finally get access to the same extensive and accurate data that has helped grow ad spends in the largest online markets of the world. It will be the first currency for planning advertising campaigns on the Internet in the country”.


    Providing the online reach and frequency metrics that agency planners require to build media schedules, the planning system will supply UK online audience data for sites with at least 50,000 unique visitors a month, and more.


    In 2008, according to the IAB, the UK display ad market was worth $1.02 billion – 90 per cent more than in 2005. However, display‘s growth has lagged behind the other two major forms of online advertising – search (up 159 per cent) and classifieds (up 173 per cent). The planning currency will help display advertising grow much faster by giving advertisers the confidence to commit more budgets to this form of advertising.

  • Sab Kanaujia to quit NBC Universal









    MUMBAI: NBC Universal (NBCU) vice president digital product strategy & development Sab Kanaujia has put in his papers.


    Kanaujia, whose last date in the organisation is 9 October, was working on behalf of NBCU on the NDTV Convergence project for the relaunch of NDTV.com.He was also responsible for launching NBCU digital solutions in India.

     

    Kanaujia joined NBCU in August 2006. “After spending three enriching years with NBC Universal, I‘ve decided to move on to pursue other opportunities externally,” he says.”With reference to my next role, I‘ve been exploring several options but have not yet made a decision. It‘d be an entrepreneurial opportunity in all likelihood,” says Kanaujia.

  • Albert Almeida to join Hungama Mobile as COO









    MUMBAI: Former Sony Entertainment Television (Set) EVP and business head Albert Almeida will join Hungama Digital Media as chief operating officer for its mobile business.

     

    Almeida will be working closely with Hungama Digital Media MD & CEO Neeraj Roy and will be responsible for Hungama‘s domestic and international Mobile business covering entertainment, platforms and applications businesses.”I will join Hungama Digital Media from 20 October and will be responsible for the company‘s mobile business,” says Almeida.

  • Google India launches free online ad platform for SMBs









    MUMBAI: In a bid to promote online advertising among small and medium business (SMBs) enterprises, Google India has launched a special initiative on Google‘s Ad Words platform.


    As part of the initiative, consumers registering their website on Google India Ad Words platform will be able to avail Rs 2,500 worth of advertising coupons for free.

     

    Google India‘s head of on-line sales Sridhar Seshadri said, “Small and medium businesses have always wanted to advertise to get more business but that option has consistently remained beyond their reach. With Google‘s AdWords platform, they can start advertising with a budget as low as Rs 200 per day and grow it as per their business demand.”

    “The combined benefits of the online medium and Google AdWords platform enables SMEs to target precisely, pay only for results, and stay firmly in charge of costs. Besides this, online is also a smart place to be when your customers are price-conscious and doing a lot of research on the web before they make a purchasing decision,” adds Seshadri.


    The demand for online search engine advertising by small medium enterprises (SMEs) have been growing consistently in India. Small medium businesses can also use the platform to target new audiences.