Category: Software

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.

Singh has been working in the telecommunications market for a number of years, most recently at fixed wireless equipment vendor Aperto Networks.

Cambridge Broadband Networks‘ Bjorn Krylander says, “We are pleased to welcome Digvijay on board to further strengthen the rapidly expanding team in our Indian office, which supports our customers throughout South Asia. Demand for our VectaStar transmission system continues to increase and we are building strong relationships with operators throughout the region, particularly in rapidly growing countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.”

Cambridge Broadband Networks’ Indian office is its second in Asia, after Malaysia.

The partnership will enable targeted, interactive ads to be inserted into the full range of mobile content and applications for the first time in India, including WAP Browsing, video & music, games, SMS and MMS. Amobee Media Systems is a provider of ad-funded mobile content.

Hungama Mobile CEO and MD Neeraj Roy said, “Mobile marketing is a key focus for us. With the Indian market adding over 7 million new subscribers each month, it offers immense opportunity for marketers, carriers, content owners and consumers alike. We are convinced in the ad-funded model to enhance consumption of mobile entertainment and indeed grow it from its current $23 billion market size to $42 billion over the next 3 years.”

Amobee chief sales and marketing officer Patrick Parodi said, “Amobee‘s trials with tier-1 operators across multiple regions have shown the huge potential impact of tapping into mobile as an advertising media. Results have clearly shown that users consume considerably more content and communication in the Amobee ad-funded model than in the current ‘user-pays‘ world. In fact, our analysis suggests that this model has the potential to quadruple the current mobile gaming industry alone.”

The resulting new revenue stream for operators is particularly significant in South Asian markets, where ARPU is typically sub $8 per month.

By offering brands the opportunity to maximize the unique potential of mobile as an advertising media, operators will be able to deliver ‘more for less‘ to their subscribers in the form of advertising-subsidized content and communications.

Known as SMS 2.0 (short message and search two point zero), the application has enhanced features, content, promotions and a free Internet search facility. Users can schedule SMSes, send SMS to email, send graphic and multimedia attachments, access the Internet and receive updates on discounts and promotions from various advertisers.

In other words, default content will remain at the bottom of the screen and converts to full screen when either the message is sent or the consumer clicks on the content. It also links to other customizable search services such as online dictionaries, movies, Wikipedia and others.

Affle chairman and CEO Anuj Khanna said,“SMS 2.0 redefines the second ‘S’ in SMS, it is now Short Message and Search. We‘re working with various online search engines to power mobile search on SMS 2.0.”

Currently, Affle is partnered with Group M to get advertisers on board and mobile operator Airtel to provide service to its customers. Khanna further added that the revenue from the services will be shared between the application provider, operator, handset manufacturer and advertising agency.

Affle is currently in talks with mobile operators in Malaysia to launch the product in the country. Besides India and Singapore, Affle plans to launch the SMS2.0 platform in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.

MUMBAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has once again chosen Arianespace, this time to launch its Insat 4G communications satellite.

The launch is slated for the end of next year, using an Ariane 5 from the Guiana Space Center, Europe‘s Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guiana.

Insat 4G will be the 14th Isro satellite to use the European launcher. Starting with the Apple experimental satellite on Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 13 Indian satellites to date.

Insat 4G is designed, assembled and integrated by Isro. Weighing about 3,200kg at launch, it has payloads for communications, broadcasting and weather observation. Its primary payload comprises 18 Ku-band transponders and a radio-navigation module. Insat 4G‘s coverage zone includes the entire Indian sub-continent.

This would enable broadcasters to provide digital television (DTV) signals to a range of mobile and portable devices.

The ATSC is an international, non-profit organisation developing voluntary standards for digital television systems.

The ATSC Technology and Standards Group requested proposals from companies offering systems aimed at facilitating the delivery of DTV programming and data to mobile, pedestrian and handheld devices via the digital broadcast signal.

LG and Harris submitted a proposal detailing their technology for the delivery of mobile and handheld DTV, which is backward-compatible to the current standard.

With MPH, consumers can view programmes from local broadcasters, watch movies and sports, check local news and
weather information and access pay services – even when travelling in fast-moving vehicles or using handheld video devices away from home.

The MPH in-band mobile DTV system provides robust DTV signals to mobile, pedestrian and handheld devices. Harris, which works on television transmission systems, and LG Electronics, which develops receiver systems and DTV standards, designed MPH to be fully compatible with the ATSC A/110 standard for distributed transmission.

Until now, reliable reception of signals transmitted by terrestrial broadcasters has not been possible in fast-moving vehicles or pedestrian handheld devices such as mobile phones or laptop computers.

Unlike the cellular-based approach, MPH technology uses only the single, existing transmitter from commercial and public broadcasters. For broadcasters, this new technology enables new and potentially lucrative revenue streams.

LG Electronics president and CTO Dr. H.G. Lee says, “As long-time, active members of the ATSC and key players in the development and marketplace implementation of digital television, LG Electronics, its U.S. R&D lab and Harris look forward to working closely with our fellow ATSC members and with ATSC staff on mobile DTV.

“We share the ATSC‘s enthusiasm for this promising new technology, which we believe will enhance and complete the digital television experience for consumers and broadcasters alike.”

This business deal marks Zentek‘s first foray in Taiwan market for DVB-MHP STB.

Taiwan terrestrial broadcasters have adopted DVB-MHP as the transmission standard for terrestrial broadcast. Since July 2004 all five terrestrial broadcasters have been broadcasting digital television programmes.

To accelerate its push for DVB-MHP, TTV will be the first Taiwan broadcaster to define the DVB-MHP specification of the STB. As a next step in offering value-added services to television viewers, TTV will broadcast interactive digital television applications based on the DVB-MHP standard, and will launch the DVB-MHP STB to the Taiwan market.

The DVB-MHP STB is based on the NEC chipset EMMA2SL and powered by Zentek MHP Middleware. TV viewers can get the latest information from the TTV interactive applications, such as news, weather, traffic information, property market and stock market.

The set top box supports stored applications, which saves bandwidth — broadcasters can use TTV to deliver wider ranges of services to TV viewers. The STB also supports banking card and GPRS as a return channel. This advanced feature enables TV-commerce services, such as TV shopping, banking and transactions.

NEW DELHI: An announcement about extension of conditional access system (Cas) to other parts of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata will have to wait for some more time, with the governments and administrations of the three metros still not responding to the information and broadcasting ministry’s request for their assessments on the experience of implementation.

A senior I&B ministry official told Indiantelevision.com that though CAS was functioning effectively in the entire Chennai city and in the southern parts of the other three metros, the chief secretaries of the three metros had not sent in their responses despite a reminder just over three weeks earlier. The official said the representatives of the three metros had been asked to indicate the time-frame for extension of Cas, if agreed to.

In fact, the representatives of the three metros had given their assurances to the ministry in a meeting on June five about extending Cas to other areas, but the official said there appeared to be some reluctance. Ministry officials asked the representatives from the metros to express their opinion on whether they wanted extension of Cas in the respective entire city, or would prefer a phase-wise implementation. The state-level officials wanted the issue to be discussed first at the level of the local or state government.

The source said cable operators had been urging the ministry to take steps to extend the roll-out of Cas to other parts of Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi as a first step and later extend to other larger cities. However, the officials from these cities informed the ministry officials today that they had not had occasion to study the issue or interact with cable operators or other stakeholders.

The software‘s user interface is drag-and-drop and designed to allow amateur web users to edit their videos online.

By combining video clips, music, photos, effects, transitions and titles, users will be able to quickly create and edit web videos.

Currently, Adobe Premiere Express is available free to users on Youtube.com and MTV.com. At MTV.com, users can remix Kelly Clarkson‘s new video, Never Again to enter a contest. Winners get a chance for MTV to play their music video remix on the MTV network.

Adobe Premiere Express is a light flash-based web application, and does not require plug-ins or special software downloads. It uses Flash 9.0.