Category: Software

The study revealed that Americans aged 65 and older are consistently more likely to receive television signals via an over-the-air antenna than are Americans under 65. These findings cover the period between the first quarter of 2002 and the first quarter of 2007.

In the most recent quarter, 24 per cent of households with Americans 65 and older received their TV programming over-the-air, while only 19 per cent of younger households were over-the-air.

Moreover, the study found that of Americans aged 65 and older who rely solely on over-the-air connections to television programming, only 17 per cent own a digital TV. In addition, 41 per cent of Americans 65 and older and 55 per cent of those younger than 65 have purchased a new television set in the past three years.

The findings are suggestive that the older viewing population may not be as attuned to recent changes in TV appliance offerings and may not be spending as much time in retail outlets that sell TV sets, the study concluded.

Since this older population may not be exposed to DTV transition messaging from electronics retailers, they will need special focus in efforts to educate the public about the February 2009 end of analog TV transmissions. APTS says that it has long called for a greater federal investment in consumer education about the DTV transition.

In the partnership, Sprint will use some of the company’s known products, including applications like Google Talk instant-messaging, email service Gmail and Google search engine amongst others.

The two companies will also develop new location-based services for corporations, consumers and government customers too. WiMAX will be tested in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington and Sprint Nextel Corp. is hoping to be covering about 100 million users by the end of the year, as its service is expected to launch by spring.

Google enterprise VP and GM Dave Girouard said, “Google shares Sprint’s vision for enhancing the consumer’s mobile lifestyle and is focused on greater access to information through a variety of channels. We look forward to working with Sprint to bring to market a rich and compelling broadband experience for WiMAX customers.”

Google itself has plans for becoming a wireless-service provider and has announced its intention of spending to enter a bid for the upcoming auction for the 700-megahertz band spectrum. The partnership with Sprint Nextel is expected to give Google a good understanding of the wireless industry and help it to gain more in the business.

Recently Sprint also announced a 20-year agreement with Clearwire Corp. for building a WiMAX network all across the United States, which is expected to eventually provide coverage to about 300 million users.

The price cut is a sign of the increasing competition between the HD DVD and Blu-ray disc high definition formats. Xbox 360 HD DVD buyers between 1 August and 30 September will get five free HD DVD movies by mail-in, from a catalog of 15 films picked for the promotion which include Apollo 13, Seabiscuit, Constantine, Casablanca, We Were Soldiers, U-571 and Blazing Saddles.

Rival Sony’s PlayStation 3 console has a Blu-ray disc player that is considerably more expensive than the Xbox 360 but it features only a standard definition DVD player. Recently, the Japanese consumer electronics giant which is championing Blu-ray disc technology against HD DVD reduced the price of the PS3 in north America by $100.

Microsoft VP Jeff Bell said that the $20 price drop would enable the Xbox 360 HD DVD player to be the most affordable way to enjoy high definition films. “From the beginning, we set out to offer Xbox 360 owners an unrivaled high-definition experience, with a choice of optical discs on the HD DVD format and digital downloads through Xbox Live Marketplace,” he said.

The company also announced that the movie ‘300‘ and pilot program for Heroes:Season 1 would be available in HD DVD format and it would also be unveiled at Xbox Live Marketplace on 14 August.

The deal involves the sale and delivery of high quality multicrystalline silicon wafers by REC to MBPV over an eight-year period beginning from 2008.

MBPV CEO Ravi Khanna said, “We greatly value the technical, managerial and operation capabilities of REC and we believe that this strategic sourcing deal is a win-win situation for both sides. It will provide a long term customer for REC and an assured supply of high grade silicon, wafers to MBPV.”

Globally, given the rapid growth of the photovoltaic industry, there is a shortage of silicon wafers, a key raw material for the photovoltaic industry. While the demand continues unabated, the supply is expected to remain tight in the near to medium term. An assured supply of silicon wafer will provide a significant competitive advantage to MBPV in the current industry scenario, states an official release.

The three year agreement is aimed to help Microsoft to get a stronger hold on the growing online advertising market.

According to online audience measurement firm Hitwise Inc, Digg is one of the most-visited web site for technology news, and the agreement will help it focus on improving its site without having to create its own sales to sell banner advertising.

“Our collaboration with Digg is about bringing our advertising technology and sales force to one of the fastest-growing sites on the web and a true innovator in user generated content,” said Microsoft Online Services Group SVP Steve Berkowitz.

Microsoft and Federated Media Publishing, Digg‘s current advertising partner, also plan to collaborate to bring integrated programs to Digg‘s users and advertisers, informed an official release.

“As the Digg audience continues to grow and diversify, we believe that this initiative with Microsoft, and the resources that it provides, will enable us to focus less on developing an advertising infrastructure and more on developing new and innovative features for the site”, said Digg CEO Jay Adelson.

Digg has an estimated 17 million visitors a month and is positioned as a site which challenges the long-held journalistic assumption that editors know best what people want to read and allows readers to ‘digg‘ or vote for a story to push up its rankings.

While Regency Media proposes to hold 74 per cent in the joint venture, Saregama will have 26 per cent. The board of Saregama, which met on Thursday, has taken this decision.

“We realise there is a huge opportunity in doing physical front delivery. We have in-principle approved for investing in a new joint venture company which will be incorporated in India alongwith Regency Media. But this is subject to several conditions being met,” says RPG Enterprises – Entertainment sector president and CEO Subroto Chattopadhyay.

Regency Media has an electronic manufacturing output of over 40 million DVDs and 25 million CDs.

The musical event which will last for the full day will see Eric Clapton gathering the past, present and the future of guitar music on the stage.

“The internet is a powerful medium today for entertainment, where people can access live performances just with the click of a button. Like the Live Earth concert, MSN will continue to exhibit live performances like the Crossroads Guitar Festival, which will collapse time barriers, shrink distances and provide innovative media experiences to consumers across the globe,” said MSN India executive producer Krishna Prasad.

This year‘s festival will feature a full day of musical performances with performances from BB King, John Mayer and many more. The audience can also expect surprise guests and impromptu jams from these performers.

All profits from the festival will benefit The Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation center founded by Clapton in 1997, states an official release.

These are some of the findings from the largest-ever global study undertaken by MTV and Nickelodeon, in association with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, into how kids and young people interact with digital technology.

Globally, the average young person connected to digital technology has 94 phone numbers on his or her mobile phone, 78 people on a messenger buddy list and 86 people in his or her social networking community.

Yet, despite their technological immersion, digi-kids are not geeks – 59 per cent of 8-14 year-old kids still prefer their TV to their PCs and only 20 per cent of 14-24 year-old young people globally admitted to being ‘interested‘ in technology. They are, however, expert multi-taskers and able to filter
different channels of information.

The Circuits of Cool/Digital Playground technology and lifestyle study challenges traditional assumptions about their
relationships with digital technology and examines the impact of culture, age and gender on technology use.

The report found:

• Technology has enabled young people to have more and closer friendships thanks to constant connectivity.
  
• Friends influence each other as much as marketers do. Friends are as important as brands.
  
• Kids and young people don‘t love the technology itself — they just love how it enables them to communicate all the time, express themselves and be entertained.
  
• Digital communications such as IM, email, social networking sites and mobile/sms are complementary to, not competitive with, TV. TV is part of young peoples‘ digital conversation.
  
• Despite the remarkable advances in communication technology, kid and youth culture looks surprisingly familiar, with almost all young people using technology to enhance rather than replace face-to-face interaction.
  
• Globally, the number of friends that young males have more than doubles between the ages of 13-14 and 14-17 it jumps from 24 to 69.
  
• The age group and gender that claims the largest number of friends are not girls aged 14-17, but boys aged 18-21, who have on average 70 friends.

The made-for mobile channels are available on the MobiTV service via participating mobile carriers throughout the US.

The creation and distribution of A&E Mobile and The History Channel Mobile to wireless video subscribers in the US is a step in AETN‘s overall digital strategy to deliver its programs and services to viewers on multiple platforms.

AETN senior VP, digital media Paul Jelinek says, “The mobile platform is an increasingly important interactive screen that provides our consumers with access to our branded programming wherever and whenever they want it, and we are pleased to partner with MobiTV to offer A&E Mobile and The History Channel Mobile to viewers.

“These mobile channels enable us to offer a new service to our existing audience, and through cross promotion, to bring new viewers back to our linear channels.”

A&E Mobile and The History Channel Mobile are distinct services from the linear channels. Series such as Dogfights and Modern Marvels from The History Channel, and Dog the Bounty Hunter and Criss Angel Mindfreak from A&E Network, will be available on the mobile channels.

In line with Philips’ brand value of ‘Sense and Simplicity’, the two models have been designed to enhance the user entertainment experience combining Hi-fi music system and Home Theatre technology.

Philips Electronics India director- entertainment solutions, consumer electronics division Gunjan Srivastava says, “Philips is always committed to creating customer centric innovations. In this age of convergence with space being a major constraint, consumers are looking at a single product with multiple functionalities and benefits. With the launch of the Wall Theatre range, we are fulilling this customer need to combine best of Hi-fi music system and Home Theatre technology in one product.”

The firm says that MCD 988 is the world’s first wall-mountable Micro Theatre with Moving Surround Sound with Dolby Virtual Speakers that glide out from each speaker unit in order to transmit sound from an optimal position. The system does not only provide an optimal surround sound experience but also allows consumers to ‘visualise’ this experience.