Category: Software

MUMBAI: ZTE corporation today announced the signing of its first commercial contract in Georgia for the construction of a CDMA WLL network.

United Telecom of Georgia (UTG) is estimated to be a major fixed line operator in Georgia and an agreement with it has opened a doorway for ZTE in Georgian market.

The network, based on ZTE‘s mature All-IP CDMA solution will enable wireless data transmission, better quality of service and improved data service applications. It will support a wide variety of data rich multi-media applications for UTG subscribers upon completion by August 2007.

The phase one network is expected to mainly provision voice and 1X data services for over 1,00,000 subscribers from Kakheti region of west Georgia.

UTG CEO Jorg Schmolinski noted, “We‘re preparing to be a comprehensive operator and this is our first time to adopt CDMA for a WLL network.We have been impressed with the strength and depth of ZTE‘s CDMA technology expertise, that is the reason why we eventually chose it.”

ZTE Georgian‘s chief representative Yan Tingxiang said, “ZTE‘s All-IP CDMA solution is a carrier-class hardware platform providing open interfaces, advanced NGN Softswitch technology and powerful functionality. Importantly, these features provide the necessary degree of compatibility for the new network to be integrated with the operator‘s existing fixed-line infrastructure.”

ZTE has till date, deployed over 60 million lines of CDMA equipment in over 100 carriers‘ networks in more than 60 countries and regions, including India, Indonesia, the Czech Republic and a variety of countries in Africa, as well as in developed markets like the U.S.A. and Europe.

ZTE is a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, having a product range covering wireline, wireless and handset markets.

MUMBAI: The US market earned revenues of $423 million in 2006 from IPTV and this is expected to reach $12 billion in 2013, according to Frost & Sullivan.

“IPTV deployment is not always easy; in addition, there have been delays associated with set-top boxes and potential customers become disenchanted if announced services are not delivered. There may also be capacity issues with the set-top boxes that do not have enough storage space for on-demand and DVR programming” says Frost and Sullivan senior analyst Lynda Starr.

Frost & Sullivan has come out with a study on `IPTV-Personalising Television: North American IPTV Services Market.‘

According to the study, there is a significant demand for niche, older programming and educational programming. Programs from other countries are also attractive, for which consumers will pay.

The service providers are likely to either charge subscription/viewing fees or sell targeted advertising, which will defray network deployment costs. IPTV, thus, offers consumers savings over cable services, the study says.

MUMBAI: Interactive entertainment games publisher Electronic Arts has made an equity investment in one of China‘s largest
online game operators.

The two companies have also announced a licensing agreement that gives The9 exclusive publishing rights for EA Sports Fifa Online in China.

Upon completion of the equity investment, EA will own 15 per cent of the common shares of The9. The investment is roughly $167 million.

The agreement builds on EA‘s strategy of partnering with proven regional operators to bring online games to Asia, and The9‘s strategy of expanding its game product offerings in the Chinese market.

EA Sports Fifa is EA‘s leading international sports franchise and is seeing early online success in Asia. Last year, EA and Seoul-based Neowiz partnered to launch EA Sports Fifa Online in Korea, now one of Korea‘s most popular games, consistently ranked among top performers with more than 4.4 million registered subscribers. The9 has exclusive publishing rights for the game in mainland China.

The9 chairman and CEO Jun Zhu says, “EA will be a strong partner for us in the rapidly expanding online game market in China. We are seeing strong interest in online sports games in China with the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics and the Fifa World Cup in 2010, and Fifa Online is set to be a top favorite in the Chinese market.”

EA Asia Online president Hubert Larenaudie says, “This is another significant step in EA‘s strategy to build an online presence in Asia. The9‘s proven expertise will be a tremendous advantage in bringing FIFA Online to a growing market and we look forward to partnering with them to bring the best online football gaming experience to millions of Chinese gamers and football fans.”

MUMBAI: Moser Baer India has announced a breakthrough in technology development in next generation optical media formats. The company, along with recently acquired OM&T, the former R&D subsidiary of Philips, has developed what it says is the world‘s first high speed 8x Blu-ray disc (BDR).

The company was also the first company in the world to ship the blue laser based HD DVD-R product to its global OEM customers.

Moser Baer executive director Ratul Puri says, “This is a major achievement for the Company and it gives us a significant advantage in the fast growing next generation optical format market. Moreover, this vindicates our strategy of acquiring OM&T and adding their capabilities to the strong in-house R&D team to lead the technology development curve in the optical and photovoltaic space. The pioneering work in the Blu-ray format will further enhance our global leadership position.”

While the BDR market is witnessing development in the 1x-4x recording speeds discs, the company with its innovative technology has already demonstrated new benchmarks in 1x-8x discs.

End users can now have a faster media that can record a 2-hour transmission equivalent of HD (High Definition) quality data in less than 15 minutes. The next generation formats have a capacity ranging from 15 GB to 50 GB and offer more than five to ten times the data storage capacity of standard DVD media. These next generation formats offer an ideal solution for reliable business backup, including medical and government imaging, photography, videography, as well as high definition video recording.

Moser baer VP R&D and engineering Giriraj Nyati says, “This is a significant landmark for us. We are very proud that an Indian Company has once again set global benchmarks in the optical media market. Our intensive in-house R&D focus coupled with the capabilities of OM&T will ensure that we continue to set new global benchmarks for the industry. This is inline with our strategy of transforming Moser Baer from a technology recipient into a technology developer and innovator.”

NEW DELHI: The digitalisation programme of the public broadcaster would be completed by 2017 and 17 out of the 64 Doordarshan studio centres have been fully digitalised, Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli said.

Speaking today at the launch function of the pilot project which made eight DD channels accessible on compatible mobile phones in Delhi, Lalli said another 30 centres were partly digitalized. DD had 1400 transmitters all over the country.

The focus on digitalisation was also emphasised by information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi who launched the project. He said special thrust has been laid on digitalization of broadcasting in the eleventh Five Year Plan and expected a major part of this to be completed by the time of the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

The minister also announced that the project would be extended to other centres shortly.

Referring to the Digital Video Broadcasting (Handheld) – DVB -H – Pilot Project, Lalli said the trial runs had commenced in December. The eight channels will be available in a radius of 12 km of the television tower on Parliament Street in New Delhi. He stressed that the project was vendor-neutral and Doordarshan had not tied up with any mobile service provider for the scheme.

The service will initially be free to air and the channels available on the DVB-H mode are: DD National (DD 1), DD News, DD Bharati, DD Sports, DD Urdu, DD Bangla, DD Punjabi, and DD Podhigai (Tamil).

Doordarshan Engineering-in-Chief A S Guin said the number of channels available on the DVB-H mode will go up ultimately to sixteen. The project had been sanctioned in February 2006 and though the project was initially planned from the Pitampura tower, it was shifted to Parliament Street to make it more accessible.

He described this as the second major technological revolution in media in recent years, the first being Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial which had turned Doordarshan into the largest terrestrial network in the whole world.

Work was now on for the pilot project to enter the era of High Definition Television (HDTV) for which a budget of Rs 150 million had been sanctioned this year. Though all the metros will be digitalized and have HDTV by the time of the Commonwealth Games, he said analogue transmission will have to continue for several years since many years were still accessible on digital technologies.

Doordarshan DirectorGeneral L D Mandloi also spoke on the occasion, and Pandit Rakesh Chaurasia (nephew of Hari Prasad Chaurasia) presented a flute recital, performing ‘Shudh-Sarang’ in which he was accompanied by Ustad Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa on the tabla.

Earlier, Lalli told Indiantelevision.com that the cost of a TV compatible handset had been brought down to Rs 18,000 from the initial Rs 32,000 and may come down further to around Rs 6,000.

Mr Guin said in an informal chat later that Rs 25 million had been set aside for the DVB-H project. He said that DD will gradually have to shift to mobile-specific programming since a mobile user could not watch long serials or films for long periods.

NEW DELHI: The Government has amended a 2004 notification to merge all services related to telecommunications under the title ‘telecommunication service’ in view of the merger of various telecommunication related taxable services.

According to a press release issued by the Finance Ministry, the notification of December 2004 relating to Service Tax and Rule 2(1)(d)(i) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994, have been amended accordingly.

The new notification substitutes the reference to various telecommunication related taxable services like telephone connection, pager, leased circuit, communication through telegraph, communication through telex and facsimile communication through two notifications.

These were among the ten notifications issued to give effect to some of the provisions of the Finance Act, 2007, relating to service tax. Seven services which are added in the category of taxable services shall come into force from June 2007.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Disney‘s TV distribution arm Disney-ABC International Television and France‘s TF1 Vision have concluded a new video on demand (VoD) agreement for shows.

This agreement is in line with Disney‘s focus on the application of technology to enhance its content and expand its distribution.

With this agreement, every TF1 Vision video on demand service user will be able to either stream or ‘download to rent‘ a selection of ABC Studios live action series, including season three of thehospital soap Grey‘s Anatomy and the adventure show Lost and the first season of Ugly Betty. Viewers will also be able to enjoy season two of Ghost Whisperer and the first season of In Justice.

Users will be able to enjoy the latest episodes of the shows from the TF1 Vision service, directly to their PC or television via DSL immediately after its first broadcast on TF1. Single episodes will be available from € 1,99 each and bundles of 2 or 3 episodes will be available for a reduced price, with an extended viewing period.

This new agreement strengthens the relationship between Disney-ABC International Television and TF1 Vidéo‘s VOD service TF1 Vision, who, in 2006, first made “Lost” episodes available to download from their website TF1 Vision and also concluded a movie VOD agreement.

Disney-ABC International Television, EMEA & Canada executive VP, MD Tom Toumazis says, “We are committed to working with partners with a strong presence and consumer offering in the digital media space, such as TF1 Vidéo, to bring our content to consumers in flexible, secure ways. We‘re delighted to be building upon the range of our content already successfully available on TF1 Vision.”

TF1 Video CEO Pierre Brossard said, “Following Lost‘s successful VOD operation in 2006, TF1 Vision is proud of this new agreement which allows users to have a safe and easy access to some of the world top TV series. A new step that confirms TF1 Vision‘s unique position as France‘s VOD service by which family audiences will enter the world of video-on-demand”.

MUMBAI: Online TV service Joost has signed with talent and literary agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

CAA will assist Joost in its efforts to secure content for distribution on the online entertainment platform.

Founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, the guys behind Skype, Joost looks to combine the TV and the internet by offering viewers a full-screen sight, sound and motion experience enhanced with the choice, control and flexibility of Web 2.0.

Currently in an expanded beta, Joost is an online, global TV distribution platform that brings advertisers, content owners and viewers together in an interactive, community-driven environment.

Joost executive VP, content strategy and acquisition Yvette Alberdingk Thijm said, “Through our partnership with CAA, we are able to bring more high-quality, professionally-produced programming to audiences around the world through the Joost platform. By providing interesting, relevant programming on a platform with interactive, community-based features, Joost is becoming the online destination for entertainment.”

MUMBAI: Reed Midem, which will organise the television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, from 8-12 October, has announced that the third edition of the Mipcom Mobile TV Awards has been expanded by a new partnership with the Marché du Film and the Short Film Corner, key components of the Cannes Film Festival.

The partnership will introduce two new film categories into the awards. Launched at Mipcom 2005, the Mobile TV Awards honour creative excellence for new short form audiovisual entertainment content and services for mobile and, also new this year, internet media.

The two new categories in partnership with the Marché du Film and the Short Film Corner are:

1. Best Short Film originally created or repurposed for Mobile

2. Best Film shot on a mobile device

The rest of the categories for this year are Best Made-for-Mobile TV or Film Channel, Best Cross Platform & interactive Mobile TV Format, Best Mobile Service for Social Community and User-Generated Content, Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet Drama, Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet Comedy, Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet: Lifestyle/Music and Best Short Form Audiovisual Entertainment made for Mobile and/or Internet: Factual

Festival de Cannes executive director of the Marché du Film Jerôme Paillard says, “The Marché du Film and the Short Film Corner are very happy to be partnering with the MIPCOM Mobile TV Awards on the two new film categories that we have developed together. We want to make these new platforms more accessible for the film industry which continues to seek new distribution possibilities and ways to enhance filmmakers’ creativity.”

The call for entries for the Mipcom Mobile TV Awards will open next month. Last year’s competition brought in a record number of 290 entries from 34 countries.

MUMBAI: Sony is currently in negotiations with several Korean telecom companies to offer Video-On-Display (VOD) services with its 80GB PlayStation 3.

According to a report in the Korean Times, at least two domestic landline telecom carriers, Hanaro Telecom and KT appear to be involved in the negotiations.

“We are contacting some Korean firms in order to incorporate VOD applications into PlayStation 3 service line-up,” Sony spokeswoman Park Seo-yun said.

The report also quotes a Hanaro spokesman saying, “We are negotiating with Sony and the atmosphere is pretty good. We hope we will be able to reach an agreement in June. Once a deal is struck, PlayStation 3 users can watch all the Hana TV programs after downloading software, without having to buy a dedicated set-top box.”

The Korean move represents the first step in Sony‘s plans to roll out the VOD initiative on a larger scale in the near future. Although no details have been released on the launch or the pricing structure, consumers would be able to access full-length movies, music and TV programmes under the services available.

Microsoft currently offers VOD services via Xbox Live for North American Xbox 360 users. Users can download movies, TV shows and other media content on a pay-per-item basis.
It was the first gaming console to offer standard and high-definition TV media content via digital distribution.