Category: Software

The meeting, a marked departure from the for-long confrontational stances taken by the two sides, opens up new vistas of cooperative effort for digitalisation and Cas.

The inevitability of Cas rolling out and getting extended, to the entirety of the three metros on a mandated regime and in 55 other cities on a voluntary basis, is said to have triggered the meeting.

The meeting, which was held in Mumbai on 27 June, was convened by the IBF and coordinated by Set Discovery president Anuj Gandhi, discussed a wide range of issues that had been mutual irritants, but sources said that both the parties were looking at a happier horizon now. The meeting, which started at 6 pm, lasted for more than two hours.

Gandhi, when contacted, said it was “just a private meeting, general chit chat”, but agreed that the broader issue of Cas extension was discussed.

However, sources said that the meeting was elaborate, so that issues like piracy, under-declaration even in an addressable system, pressure from broadcasters to increase subscriber base, and such others would not become hurdles in the path of digitalisation.

“Perhaps issues like piracy, etc., will no longer raise their heads, for the broadcasters are now clear that SMS data is correct, and realise that one or two LCOs indulging in piracy or underdeclaration did not make the MSOs as a whole responsible,” an MSO source said.

He said that though it was not explicitly discussed, the reason why the broadcasters convened the meeting was “their realisation that Trai needed to proceed towards a de-regulisation regime and that would be possible only if broadcasters and MSOs worked together.

One issue that had been discussed was value content and niche content, and it has been agreed that the MSOs and broadcasters need more inclusive dialogue to get that done, the first time that such a development has taken place.

“We need to discuss and work out good packages that will lure subscribers towards Cas and digitalisation, which would then become more profitable for both parties, as we all eat portions of the same pie,” a source revealed.

“This was a major step forward in confidence building and we know each other better,” a source said, using the phrase “a lot of bonhomie” to underscore the general mood of the meeting.

The three key MSOs, Hathway, Incable and WWIL had been invited to what IBF sources repeatedly stressed was an ‘agenda-less” meeting, and the broadcasters were represented by MTV, Star, Sony and Zee, among others.

The source said that normally in such circumstances such meetings would become a monthly affair, though the immediate next step is still being worked out, with notes from the meeting being compiled and then to be sent to all the parties, and a second meeting soon could be expected.

Incidentally, the MSOs had been saying for a long time that the broadcasters ought to work out content and others issues in discussion with them, and they came away from the meeting in a positive frame of mind.

What is interesting is that a few days ahead of the meeting, a senior IBF official had told indiantelevision.com, “Though there are problems, we are happy with Cas if seen in the long run,” something that had sounded incongruous because many in the industry had been insisting Cas is a bane.

Perhaps that comment, coming on the eve of the meeting, had been a curtain raiser.

The new Nokia service enables people to order high-quality prints easily and directly from the device, over cellular or wireless lan networks, and have them delivered.

“Remember when you had to drag yourself to the store to have your film developed?” asks Nokia multimedia director Mikko Pikamma. “Now you can order prints directly from your Nokia Nseries device, and have them delivered to your doorstep – hassle-free!”

Users can also have the images printed on stickers, gift items like mugs and T shirts and get them delivered.

The mobile printing service is accessible from the device‘s gallery application. Ona has to select the images to be printed, insert address and other requested information, and press ‘Order now‘. The order is then processed by CeWe Color and prints are delivered to the entered address.

WASP3D is based on Microsoft DirectX technology offering real-time graphics rendering that reduces cycle time from design to on-air playout.

The workflow provides a real-time preview of rendered templates and enables seamless integration of data-entry with newsroom control system through ActiveX MOS version.

Beehive Systems senior VP Ajay Pal Singh said, “At this stage we are looking to expand our activities in Canada and United States. Deltech, with its vast experience in Canadian media and broadcasting industry would be able to provide right kind of support to expand our customer base in the Canadian market.”

Operating revenues, however, have increased to Rs 1.9 billion as against Rs 314.63 million. Expenditure has surged to Rs 3.76 billion, from Rs 1.14 billion a year ago.

Added Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel,“Today, we are the only platform that offers 170 digital channels that combines the best of both worlds, in terms of both extensive international and regional content for our all discerning subscribers. In June 2007, we have acquired additional two satellite transponders which coupled with our advanced channel compression and multiplexing systems, are expected to give us a competitive advantage, which will be difficult to match. We plan to take the number of channels upto 200 plus, by the present year end. In our mission to provide the Indian viewer with the best in entertainment, the enhanced channel capacity will provide us a clear edge over others.”

Commented Dish TV CEO Arun Kapoor, “ We reach 4100 markets in this vast expanse called India, through an integrated sales and distribution set up comprising 35000 dealers and 400 distributors. Nearness to our consumers across market segments, has given us a lead in reaching out to them, with better sales and service support. This year we have added several new zonal offices and set up an enhanced logistics infrastructure to facilitate the trade and consumers.

” About 12,500 service personnel across the country and over 100 Dish Care Centre (DCC) are today, providing quality service to our esteemed subscribers‘ at their doorstep. Moreover, our understanding of the consumer pulse, that has translated into consumer friendly strategies w.r.t. multiple packages, price points, exciting consumer offers, has been instrumental in driving our fast paced growth. This will only quicken in times to come. We are all set to cross the 3 million mark in the coming financial year.”

Sunil Khanna, who was roped in last year from Zee‘s DTH venture Dish TV to head Reliance‘s Bluemagic, has resigned.

Though Reliance executives were not willing to comment, a source close to the company confirmed that Khanna had put in his papers. “He is serving a notice period,” the source added. Khanna was the CEO of Dish TV before he decided to move to Reliance.

“Both of them are planning to launch niche channels,” the source said. Iyengar, who was also handling ESPN Star Sports‘ distribution business, has recently left the company.

ADAG is launching its DTH venture under Bluemagic and is awaiting Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to provide a satellite with Ku-band transponders.

The service will be launched in 15 countries and seven languages to compete better with market leader YouTube, which recently launched local sites in nine different countries.

The site will be launched in enhanced beta version and will allow users to watch clips even if they are not signed up to the social networking site. It will be powered by MySpace‘s own technology, and videos will be edited using Flektor technology, a company that News Corp bought last month.

MySpace GM video Jeff Berman said, “This is the next step in the evolution of video on MySpace. We‘ve quietly grown into the second biggest video site on the internet. Our users have been uploading video in huge numbers for the last couple of years. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

MySpace will be on the lookout for professional, rather than simply user-generated, content. It is expected to host shorter versions of sitcoms known as minisodes, for which the site has got into a deal with Sony. Short ads will run before the professional content on the site, which will also host display advertising.

Similar deals have been patched with content partners who will have channels on the site, including National Geographic, The New York Times, Reuters, Fox‘s IGN Entertainment, Animation Show and the Daily Reel.

The site will also be part of the NBC Universal/News Corp. joint venture, which is expected to launch this summer, providing a legal online home for those networks‘ TV shows and movies.

According to comScore Media Metrix, although Youtube continues to lead the online video arena and its market share continues to grow, MySpace‘s total number of video streams has grown by 100 per cent since January.

BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield says, “BBC iPlayer is a free catch-up service for UK licence fee payers. Your favourite programmes from all the BBC‘s network TV channels will be available to download over the internet, and watch on your PC without advertising for up to a week after transmission.

BBC Vision director Jana Bennett said, “This is a significant moment, as it heralds a new era when viewers will have the freedom to watch programmes from the BBC‘s linear TV channels when they want.

“It‘s a revolutionary service which offers audiences more value, because from now on they never have to miss out on their favourite programmes – or those that they didn‘t previously have the opportunity to try.”

At launch, once viewers have accessed BBC iPlayer at bbc.co.uk/iplayer and have downloaded a programme, they will have up to 30 days in which to watch it. Once watched, the programme file clears itself up by deleting itself.

Users will be able to watch promotional clips of programmes, and link back to BBC iPlayer on bbc.co.uk, enabling them to download the full programme.

The BBC is in discussion with a wide range of potential distribution partners, including MSN, telegraph.co.uk, AOL, Tiscali, Yahoo!, MySpace, Blinkx and Bebo.

Highfield adds, “We are committed to making it as easy as possible to use BBC iPlayer. Developing a version for Apple Macs and Microsoft Vista is absolutely on our critical path. We‘re also committed to making it available on the Television screen, which is why we are delighted to be working with Virgin Media towards a launch on cable later this year. We are hopeful that other TV platforms will follow soon after.

“Our vision is for BBC iPlayer to become a universal service available not just over the internet, but also on cable and other TV platforms, and eventually on mobiles and smart handheld devices. It underpins our Creative Future strategy, to maintain the BBC‘s relevance among all audiences in the digital age.”

BBC iPlayer is currently in closed environment testing amongst some 15,000 people. It will go live to the general public in open Beta on 27 July, allowing the number of users to increase over the summer in a controlled manner, before a full marketing launch in the autumn.

In time, extra features will be added to BBC iPlayer, such as streaming on-demand (allowing users to watch a programme straight away), series stacking (which allows users to download episodes from selected series retrospectively) and the highly successful BBC Radio Player.

At launch, BBC iPlayer will include a display settings toolkit for the hard-of-vision and sign language for the hard-of-hearing; subtitles and audio description will be rolled out in the coming months.

Technical development and delivery: BBC iPlayer has been created and developed by the BBC‘s Future Media & Technology division in partnership with Siemens and Red Bee Media.

Red Bee Media is responsible for content ingest, transcoding and quality control. This happens through an automated workflow system, enabling programmes to be quickly re-purposed for BBC iPlayer. Red Bee Media also produces rich metadata tagged to each programme, enabling audiences to search for their favourite shows as well as discover new content.

Siemens is responsible for the delivery technical infrastructure, for applying the digital rights licence and for distributing media to end users via the peer to peer network. VeriSign working through Siemens has delivered the Kontiki Broadband Delivery Service software that enables users to install the BBC iPlayer application on their PC, download, store and play programmes on-demand.

BBC Future Media and Technology development teams, who also develop the bbc.co.uk website, have played a significant role in developing the product – from the search and browse facility, run on Autonomy, to the look and feel and functionality that end users experience on the website and within the application they have installed on their PCs.

MUMBAI: Microsoft has added a downloadable photo sharing and a web-based file sharing service on its Windows Live application suite and has announced plans to launch more offerings this year as part of its internet strategy.

With the bid to take on competitors Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. using its ‘software plus services‘ strategy, it aims to leverage its dominant market position for software running on the computer to a new suite of services delivered over the internet.

Microsoft already offers over a dozen online services in beta version including e-mail and Web search under its Windows Live brand. According to the latest announcement, it will introduce test versions of two new free services: Windows Live Folders and Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Windows Live Photo Gallery is the new version of the photo application operating systems, Windows XP and Windows Vista. It simplifies photo sharing on their Windows Live Spaces site, Microsoft‘s social networking platform.

Windows Live folders will provide up to 500 MB of online storage in US in a limited test release. Usage will be gauged during the test release and it will add more capacity if required. Users can share documents using these folders but not necesasarily back-up their hard-drive.

Meanwhile, Google still remains mum on its plans for an online storage device. However, they already offer services that provide exhaustive data storage, including Gmail and Docs and Spreadsheets.

The new series will take Australian chef Luke Mangan on an exotic culinary road trip throughout Asia as he seeks inspiration for new dishes for his restaurants in Sydney, Tokyo and San Francisco.

Currently in production, the show is slated to premiere in late 2007 on Voom HD Networks‘ ultra HD channel, followed by distribution throughout the world.

Ultra HD VP programming Elizabeth Dewey said, “This series offers an excellent opportunity for us to expand our entertainment driven, visually stunning programming line-up. We are thrilled to be adding Luke Mangan‘s expertise and energy to the channel and delighted to be producing again with Mega Media and MDA.”

MDA CEO Christopher Chia said, “This latest series gives us the opportunity to share Asia‘s wonderful cultural treats with the world, not just through food and sightseeing but also through the customs that Chef Mangan experiences along the way. The series adds to the growing portfolio of entertaining made-by-Singapore HD programmes.”

Singapore‘s Mega Media MD Jonathan Foo said, “The series we‘re developing will tempt the palettes of viewers the world over, as the magic of HD virtually transports them right into the kitchens of Asia‘s top restaurants, eateries, cafés and markets.”

Using musical knowledge and pop culture sensibilities as a gauge, contestants on the show will select their choice of date based on the music playlists of three prospective partners.

“To passionately connect with audiences these days, you have to go beyond television,” said MTV Canada SVP and GM Brad Schwartz. “By working closely with our sponsorship partners like Maynards candy, we can create engaging, original content containing smart, integrated brand messaging that lives on TV, on-line and on mobile.”

Beginning in April 2007, MTV and Maynards asked viewers to submit their original MTV.ca playlists – including videos, music, TV and other dating content. Based on those submissions, MTV produced eight original episodes featuring the dating hilarity, explained program producers. Each episode also features Maynards branding and product integration with co-branded promo spots running on MTV.

“This is just a first step for MTV digital, extending its platforms and programming out to both our advertising partners and audience – both of whom are looking for cool stuff, innovation and a way to connect to audiences,” said, MTV.ca VP digital media and EP Kris Faibish. “And we‘re connecting television and internet to deliver functionalities to the site that we haven‘t had in the past.”

The new site is now compatible with Firefox Web browser and Mac computers, developers stated.

Apart from offering various features like faster video player that works on various browsers, Photo flipbooks and mobile ringtones, Date My Playlist, MTV.ca will be the exclusive home to several new series premiering this summer such as The Andy Milonakis Show, Human Giant and Crank Yankers. MTV.ca will also continue to feature new music video programming every day, states an official release.