Category: Software

NEW DELHI: The information & broadcasting ministry officials here today told senior state government officials from West Bengal, Maharashtra and Delhi that they should inform the ministry within one month whether they want Cas extension in two phases or at one go, sources told Indiantelevision.com.

I&B officials also made it clear that in case the state governments preferred a phase-wise approach, they would have to identify which are the demarcated areas under each phase and within what time frame the implementation would take place.

The state officials informed the I&B officials that they had not had enough time to take the issue in the three metros at their own state cabinet and chief ministerial levels.

Cas has been mandated only in the southern parts of the three metros.

An announcement on extending Cas to other pockets of the metros is expected only after the 8 June review meeting by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Senior minsitry officials said that if the major issues are resolved, the government could make some announcement this month, and the details like whether it would come in phases or at one go would depend on what the states said.

MUMBAI: Sify.com has announced a tie-up with Sony Entertainment Television to conduct online voting at its Sify Iway chain of cyber cafes on the official website for the Indian Idol 3 – www.indianidol.sify.com

As the official website partner, Sify.com will web cast Indian Idol 3, and showcase exclusive content from the show, behind the scenes video clips, the latest happenings from the show. Users can go through the contestant profiles, videos and photo galleries. The portal will also be conducting exclusive videoconferences and exclusive web chats with the participants, judges and other celebrities where fans of the show will win a chance of interacting with their favourites.

The website will also give a chance to the fans of the contestants to interact with other fans through contestant fan clubs where users can post messages and interact with other members to share opinions and trivia. Users will also be invited to send in their recap of episodes as well as personal messages, wishes to their contestants, which will be read out on air during the show on Television. The users can also participate in the contests and win passes to watch the show and get an opportunity to meet their favourite contestants.

MUMBAI: Webaroo Inc. will present at the California Tech Showcase 2007 from 28 to 29 June. The conference is being hosted by EuroStart Capital Partners LLC, a new San Francisco-based venture fund.

This event will allow Webaroo to present and meet with 200-300 CEOs, CIOs, and CTOs from Europe‘s largest businesses, says an official press release.

“This is an excellent opportunity for Webaroo to identify potential clients, business partners, and distributors. CTS 2007‘s unique format will catalyze immediate revenue ramp-up in Europe”, said EuroStart MD Jean-Bernard Guerrée.

“This is an excellent opportunity for Webaroo to identify potential clients, business partners, and distributors. CTS 2007‘s unique format will catalyze immediate revenue ramp-up in Europe”, said EuroStart MD Jean-Bernard Guerrée.

MUMBAI: Microsoft has launched Ignition, a new initiative to promote music across its international services by signing up UK band Maximo Park under its programme.

Ignition is a marketing programme aimed at offering musicians exposure through services such as MSN, Zune and Xbox Live. Each band or musician within the Ignition programme will receive one month of publicity and promotion for an undisclosed amount.

Zune director of music marketing Christina Calio said, “Consumers are looking for ways to find new music, and Ignition helps connect artists with potential new fans by giving them multiple opportunities to listen to, watch or read about the artist across Microsoft‘s online platforms.”

However, strict guidelines put in place by Microsoft forces bands to agree to an exclusive contract with Microsoft only, and an agreement to provide on-going participation from the artists.

Maximo Park‘s single from their album Our Earthly Pleasures is available through the Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live Marketplace, coupled with streaming video on MSN.

Amongst other initiatives, Microsoft has the Zune music programme On the Road, which aims to provide financial and tactical support for touring artists.

The company claims the Xbox, MSN and Zune web sites total around 30 million regular users, making Microsoft‘s latest initiative the broadest programme for musicians to become involved in.

MUMBAI: Turner has announced a strategic partnership with Reliance to make CNN International available for the first time as a live stream 24 hours a day to compatible Reliance mobile phone users across India.

Reliance mobile users (online streaming capable phones) can access CNN International‘s trademark live breaking news and landmark programming initiatives as it happens directly on their phones or other handheld devices.

In addition to online streaming of CNN, Hollywood Express episodes will also be streamed on the mobile, providing Hollywood news and updates. Additionally, Reliance subscribers will soon be able to enjoy ring tones, wallpapers, animations of Cartoon Network‘s toon stars such as Tom & Jerry, Scooby – Doo, The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter. When available, the partnership will also offer users‘ access to Cartoon Network video clips on streaming enabled phones.

Hosted on Reliance Mobile World, the multimedia suite of applications of Reliance Mobile, the ‘Mobile TV‘ menu offers an experience in viewing CNN‘s content including the network‘s latest programming. As the streaming is on-line 24×7, Reliance Mobile customers can watch their favorite programs conveniently even while traveling across the country, states an official release.

“Our partnership with Reliance Mobile reiterates our commitment to ensure our compelling content is available across multiple platforms. For today‘s consumer who‘s always on-the-move, time is a rare commodity, and with technology swiftly changing the traditional means of news & entertainment consumption, it is imperative to be present on platforms that are easily accessible by our target audience. We are extremely excited that Reliance mobile users can now access and benefit from CNN breaking news, even on the go.” said Turner International India Pvt. Ltd VP distribution and business operations (India and South Asia) Siddharth Jain.

Reliance Communications head- VAS business and marketing Krishna Durbha said, “Reliance Communications has pioneered video based content on mobile phones in India since its inception. With this major initiative, our mobile phones will offer the best of International content as well. This is in line with Reliance‘s pursuit of making mobile TV a reality in India & making the phone become an entertainment station in itself.”

MUMBAI: TV.com, a content and community site for TV fans and a property of CNET Networks, is launching four video programmes. They are available at www.tv.com.

“Television fans have come to rely on TV.com for information about their favorite TV shows and characters because we give them access to the content they want, when they want it, in the format they prefer,” said CNET Networks Entertainment vice president of programming Greg Brannan. “The addition of these four new shows that revolve around TV culture makes TV.com a recurring stop for television fans that want to find new shows as well as get closer to the shows they already love.”

New shows, which range in topics from Hollywood beauty and style, to classic TV favorites from the past, to what‘s new and exciting on TV, include:

TurboVision which is hosted by comedian Laura Swisher. This daily video provides an overview of what‘s on TV each night, and makes suggestions about the night‘s best viewing options.

Prime Times Past is a weekly program that offers a bite-sized look back at the TV shows that people have obsessed over the past two decades. The show, available each day of the week, will offer a pop culture perspective of what was going on in the world when these shows were hits, and how these favorites influenced the overall television industry.

Extreme Beauty Time with Quentin provides tips on beauty by the host Quentin.

MUMBAI: Mobile entertainment company Hungama Mobile has been short-listed under two categories at the Mobile Entertainment Awards (Meffys) for the year 2007 to be held on 5 June in Monte Carlo.

Hungama Mobile‘s Hutch and Casino Royale campaign has been nominated for the ‘best marketing‘ campaign and the Kingfisher Mobile Calendar for the ‘best content‘ campaign categories respectively.

For the Casino Royale campaign, Hungama Mobile tied up with Hutch for providing mobile entertainment content for all 20 Bond back catalogue movies as well as the most recent, across content categories such as music, imagery, video and games.

The exclusive content available also includes ‘The making of‘ and ‘Behind the screen‘. This association was used to enhance mobile entertainment content consumption among Hutch subscribers and acquire new ones.

Meanwhile, the Kingfisher Mobile calendar, shot exclusively in South France by noted Indian lensman Atul Kasbekar, has a simplified interface and functionality such as notes, birthdays, meetings, events, alerts and holidays.

Hungama Mobile COO Saleem Mobhani said, “We are delighted and honored to be nominated on an international platform like Meffys and to be grouped among such highly respected companies. The nomination is a testimony to our constant endeavour to bring the best innovations in mobile entertainment.”

Meffys has attracted more entries in this year compared to 2006. Applications from 20 countries across four continents. The awards are across 13 categories viz; games, music service, artist campaign, TV and video service, technology innovation award, content award, innovative business model, communities and UGC, search and discovery, handset application, marketing campaign, mobile entertainment handset, mobile entertainment operator awards.

MUMBAI: Microsoft has added copyrighted books to its online library, Windows Live Search, saying it has permission to offer the works to searchers on the Internet.

It has made deals with authors and publishing houses to include their works in the Live Search Books index. Live Search Books (in beta) carries out a full-text search and generates a results list showing title, author, year of publication and a snippet containing the search terms.

Microsoft thus has leapfrogged over the controversy triggered by Google‘s plan to offer the world‘s written works online.

In a posting on the Washington-based website, Live Search program manager Betsy Aoki said, “We have paid particular attention to ensuring that we are only including books in our index that our publishing partners have given us permission to include. So our customers and partners can feel secure in our stance on copyright protection.”

Publishers like Cambridge University Press, McGraw-Hill Companies, Rodale and Simon and Schuster are listed on the library adding their books to Microsoft‘s virtual shelves.

Publishers get to decide what percentage of a copyrighted book Microsoft can show to users. If a user decides to buy a book, Microsoft will offer links to external sites selling it, such as online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. or publisher Web stores.

Google launched its book project in 2004 aiming to scan all literary works and post them online. It has stored on its searchable database classic works in the public domain, along with copyrighted books submitted with or without the publishers‘ permission.

After opposition from publishing houses and authors, Google modified its online library to offer only summaries of copyrighted works along with information regarding where to buy or borrow the books.

NEW DELHI: India and Brazil today signed an agreement on increasing audio-visual co-production and exploring the possibility of co-productions in the field of broadcasting and cinema.

The agreement was signed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi and Brazilian Minister for External Relations Celso Amorim.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were present on the occasion.

This was one of seven agreements and memorandums of understanding on diverse fields signed between the two countries.

This included an MOU for implementing an arrangement regarding cooperation in augmentation of Brazilian Earth Station for receiving and processing data from Indian Remote Sensing Satellites. This was signed by Mr G Madhavan Nair, Secretary in the Department of Space, and Mr Amorim.

Other agreements included those in oil and education, in consonance with their growing trade and political ties in recent years.

MUMBAI: Animax, the young adult animation channel in India and casual games firm Games2win, have announced a joint initiative to promote the animation series Initial D and the Sega game CT Racer, via an interactive promotion.