Category: Software

MUMBAI: Even as India is in the initial stages of digitalisation, Comcast Corp. is in the final process of ending analogue delivery of signals to its Chicago customers by July.

The cable giant is investing $400 million in the four-year upgrade of its network. Comcast will then start suburban upgrades which should end by 2008-end, the company has said.

Customers will, thus, have to exchange their analogue set-top boxes for digital ones. Comcast vice president of sales and marketing Eric Schaefer was quoted in media reports to have said that the cable company would not charge an additional fee or raise rates for current analogue customers.

Comcast will offer the set-top boxes at its office or mail it to their customers. The company will offer two additional high-definition channels in the coming months, increasing the total to 18 HD channels. The upgrade, though, has created space for as many as 120 HD channels, 400 digital channels and 10,000 streams of video on demand, Schaefer said.

Comcast‘s efforts are in line with the Federal deadline that requires all broadcasters to send signals in a digital format by February 2009.

MUMBAI: Nasdaq-listed Digital Music Group Inc. (DMGI) will begin offering its television and film content via Amazon Unbox. The company has digital distribution rights to over 4000 hours of video content including TV favourites The Mr. Bill Show and Gumby.

DMGI will now make available its video catalogue to Amazon Unbox, Amazon.com Inc.‘s video download service, beginning this summer. The other digital video services in the DMGI distribution network include YouTube, iTunes Store, Google Video, and In2TV.

Amazon Unbox offers thousands of movies, TV shows and other videos for download to PCs and any Windows Media Video-compatible portable device.

NEW DELHI: A consensus has emerged among all MSOs and LCOs at the first meeting between them and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India that Cas should be extended to the entire areas of the three metros and notification should be issued simultaneously even if the implementation is phase-wise.

Most MSOs and LCOs wanted that the implementation should be done within the next six months, latest, so that the MSOs, LCOs as well as STB manufacturers have adequate time to get prepared well in advance and there are no hiccups, as happened in the first phase of implementation in southern parts of the three metros.

Sources said that though there have been demands also that the extension of Cas should include not just the entire areas of the metros, but adjoining areas as well, Trai reportedly held that it will first e done in the metros only.

Most players felt that already other platforms have made deep inroads and the cable industry would be damaged beyond repair if the extension is delayed.

The meeting discussed various issues, but central was the issue of zoning and timing, with most of the 125 participants from Mumbai and Delhi (for Chennai, only the Nodal Officer had come) not willing to wait beyond a few months from now, and informed the officials that they were ready to do what it takes to implement Cas in these extended areas.

One important point made by MSO Alliance president Ashok Mansukhani is that half the 180 days needed for the rollout of Cas in the first phase was taken up for making regulations, and so that would not be needed now.

Mansukhani held also that if zonalisation is done, there should be rezoning, as the zones as they exist now represent 2003 realities, and the present day demographics have changed vastly and this should be taken into account for demarcating zones afresh.

MSO Alliance feels that since regulations are in place already, the time taken to implement Cas in the first phase won‘t be needed, hence, the implementation should be done in 90 days.

One argument proferred for a longer implementation time was that newer MSOs would like to come in after extension is announced and they would need more time.

However, Mansukhani held for the Alliance that the newer players could come in as and when they are ready and this should not stop existing licensed MSOs from starting to operate in the extended areas.

He said also that the existing MSOs should not be asked to go for fresh registration for rolling out Cas in the extended areas, since they are already registered.

The Alliance also felt that there should be customer awareness in place and in the second phase, billing and customer choice should be built it.

The participants felt that even if the implementation is done in phases, it is utmost necessary to announce all the dates for the subsequent phases simultaneously, as this alone would remove the uncertainty and STB procurement, either my local manufacturers or through import would know how much to produce or import.

Two very important demands were raised, one by the All India Cable Operators Federation and by the Alliance.

The Alliance has demanded that level playing field must be created on the issue of rentals, and if the programme of Cas STBs on rent is kept intact, then the DTH operators would also have to be asked to offer boxes on rent.

The problem is that once the boxes are given on rental, the MSOs find it difficult to repay the manufacturers, because they get back the price of boxes back in five years, as is now happening. So, if there is the scheme of rental, it should apply to both Cas and DTH operators.

Roop Sharma of the Federation, on the other hand, demanded that the distributors, who “are fleecing both the MSOs and LCOs, must be straightened out and eliminated.

“They are taking signals from more than one MSO and the same situation as existed earlier is facing us. This must be stopped,” she said. “They are creating vertical monopoly and are the root of the ills we are facing,” she stressed.

Arvind Mohan of WWIL has given the formula, which reportedly a lot of MSOs and LCOs supported, stating that the metros should be divided into three more zones each and these should be put up in the Trai website, so that consultation can start about which would be the first in the extension phase in each city to start rolling out Cas.

In any case, WWIL has said that all the zones and the implementation time for each of them must be announced simultaneously.

“The first zone selected should start rolling out Cas six months from Zero Date, or day of announcement, the second zone should start work in the seventh month and the third by the eighth month,” Mohan has suggested.

“Announce the dates right now and let us start implementing from month six,” Mohan has said.

Roop Sharma too has demanded likewise. “There is already too much pressure on us due to the DTH players, and if zone-wise dates are not announced all together, the market uncertainties would remain and finish off the cable industry,” she explained.

If the dates are announced at one go, manufacturers would be able to procure or manufacture STBs in bulk and growth in assured demand would lead to bringing down the STB prices drastically, she held.

Sharma wants extended rollout to be over four zones and stretched over six months at the most, and dates must be announced for all zones simultaneously, echoing the consistent demand of the players.

She said that the logic behind asking for phase-wise rollout is that it takes time for seeding boxes and inputting data from each filled form, so if the entire cities are to be implemented at one go, instead of phases, the operators would be chocked and there would be problems in implementation.

The Nodal Officers present at the meeting have reportedly said that Cas implementation has been largely successful, barring a few teething problems, which Arvind Mohan said would naturally be there in the extension phase.

Apart from RN Choubey, Advisor (S&CB), Trai, senior officials from I&B ministry were also present at the meeting

MUMBAI: US music broadcaster MTV, Harmonix, and Electronic Arts (EA) have launched Rock Band.

This is a platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music. Rock Band will allow gamers to perform music from the world‘s biggest rock artists with their friends as a virtual band using drum, bass/lead guitar and microphone peripherals, in addition to offering deep online connectivity.

The initiative has been built on deals with record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band will span all genres of rock and include many of the master recordings from the biggest songs and artists of all time. Rock Band is slated for release on Playstation 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft later this year.

Music publishers – EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music – are allowing unrivaled access to their catalogues of incredible songs for use in Rock Band. The record labels – EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group‘s Universal Music Enterprises and Warner Music Group‘s Rhino Entertainment – have agreed to supply master recordings by their artists for use in the game.

Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopulos says, “Harmonix was founded to create new ways for everyone to experience the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from playing music. Our work on Guitar Hero was an instrumental step toward that goal.

“But Rock Band is Harmonix‘s most ambitious project to date, and it will take music gameplay to an entirely new level. MTV has given us the freedom and the resources to really swing for the fences and make the game we‘ve always wanted to make.”

MTV Programme Enterprises executive VP Jeff Yapp says, “Our vision for Rock Band is to completely change the way people interact with and enjoy the music they love. By joining forces with EA and the music industry‘s largest record labels and publishers, we are striving to create a groundbreaking new platform that allows people to connect with their favorite music and artists in ways they never have before.”

Electronic Arts will serve as the exclusive distribution and marketing partner for Rock Band, managing distribution for the game in US, Europe and Australia.

MUMBAI: BigBand Networks which provides broadband multimedia infrastructure for video, voice and data, today announced that Chinese media firm Xiamen CATV is using its Cuda cable modem termination system (CMTS) and FastFlowBroadband Provisioning Management software to deliver high-speed data and IP video.

Xiamen is using Cuda to make news, sports and other local video content available to subscribers on-demand, by delivering it over cable modems to TVs via IP-enabled set-top boxes

BigBand’s Cuda and FastFlow provide the foundation for Xiamen CATV to deploy an advanced IP services implementation that delivers content—including television programming and Internet content—reliably. Xiamen CATV says that BigBand Networks’ programmable architecture allows it to give its subscribers a powerful set of broadband Internet capabilities today, with the prospect of adding speed enhancements and other new features in the future.

Xiamen serves more than 400,000 subscribers in southeastern China’s Fujian province. The operator decided in 2006 that it wanted to augment its traditional digital video services with high-speed data and IP video, and selected BigBand Networks’ for its CMTS project. Xiamen selected Cuda in part for its support for key Ethernet functions—such as virtual local area networks (VLAN) and point-to-point protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)—that are designed to allow the CMTS to interoperate with the Fujian operator’s other network equipment. The operator added BigBand’s FastFlow software to configure its IP services for multiple subscriber profiles and devices.

Bibband notes that Xiamen is pushing the envelope with new services, such as IP video, and demonstrating the flexibility of our Cuda platform,” said Johnny Cheung, BigBand’s . It’s an exciting time for the cable industry in China. Operators continue to move forward with their migration to digital infrastructures and continue to seek out innovative technologies to help them deliver new, advanced services.

BigBand Networks’ has created a modular CMTS (M-CMTS) architecture that is designed to leverage key features of the Docsis 3.0 specification—downstream channel bonding and multicast forwarding—to deliver switched IP video to a television or personal computer.

MUMBAI: Last year was a good one for the development of WiMax in the Asia/Pacific region, as a solid foundation was laid by the joint efforts of market regulators, operators and eager equipment vendors, reports In-Stat .

From a lean base of 0.27 million in 2006, total WiMax subscribers in 16 Asia/Pacific countries are expected to reach 31.43 million by 2012, the high-tech market research firm says.

In-Stat analyst Victor Liu says, “In emerging countries where current household broadband penetration rates are extremely low, governments have quickly built a pro-WiMax regulatory framework. One temporary setback, though, was WiMax subscriber growth developing more slowly than expected in South Korea due to limited network coverage and lack of user devices.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

— The Asia/Pacific WiMax market will grow to US$8 billion in 2012.

— The South Korean version of mobile WiMax, Wibro services, was commercialized in June.

— Carrier spending of WiMax and WiMax-backhauled WiFi network equipment will escalate from $394.9 million in 2006 to $2908.9 million in 2012.

The research WiMax in Asia/Pacific: A Well Laid Foundation for Prominent Future Growth covers the market for WiMax in Asia/Pacific nations. It provides subscriber, revenue and equipment forecasts for 16 countries in the region, including India, Australia, Bangladesh and China.

MUMBAI: Emirates Cable TV and Multimedia (E-Vision) has signed an agreement with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (WBITD) to bring feature films from Warner Bros. to viewers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The partnership allows E-Vision to show movies and offer them through its pay-per-view service (eView).

This agreement allows E-Vision to provide the latest titles—including Superman Returns, Flags of Our Fathers, Happy Feet and The Departed to all customers in the UAE. The service will also show movies from the Warner Bros. Entertainment library, including the Lord of the Rings and Matrix trilogies.

E-VIsion CEO Humaid Sahoo says, “This deal is fantastic for E-Vision consumers. Bringing the latest blockbuster movies to the UAE complements our objective of delivering the best quality content to our customers. E-Vision cautiously chooses its offerings in line with customer feedback and requests to guarantee that all its offerings completely comply with its customers‘ needs.

“This initiative is expected to witness great response from all our customers, especially that it delivers exclusive titles from one of the leading studios in Hollywood.”

MUMBAI: Vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are now looking at promising alternatives such as nomadic devices, bluetooth, DAB, satellite radio, HDD and other important digital media playback as key revenue sectors.

To leverage emerging growth opportunities, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need to strike the right balance between offering sophisticated features while ensuring cost-effectiveness.

Frost & Sullivan finds that the car audio systems market in Europe earned revenues of $1.49 billion in 2005 and estimates this to reach $2.37 billion in 2014. The key reasons for such strong expansion will be the explosive growth of MP3 head units.

“Consumers increasingly want to use the MP3s they burn at home inside their cars,” notes  Frost and Sullivan Telematics  infotainment team Lleader N Praveen Chandrashekhar, “MP3s are also available, physically separate from the CD, from many other sources. These factors are driving the demand for OE audio systems to offer MP3 playback capabilities – a trend that is promoting future market growth.”

Currently, different compressed digital media such as MP3 and WMA are widely available. When consumers burn an original music CD at home, it gets ripped onto their home PC in WMA format, and they want to use this in their cars as well. This is pushing the need for vehicle manufacturers and suppliers to offer digital compressed media playback.

“This means that OEMs can make revenues out of a new product,” says Chandrasekhar. “In addition, the cost of implementing MP3 across different vehicle platforms is also declining, a sign that clearly proves rising interest levels in MP3.”

The lifecycle mismatch is a highly relevant issue in the audio systems market due to rapid technological developments such as, for instance, the launch of Bluetooth A2DP (audio distribution profile) for audio streaming from personal devices into the vehicle. Being in sync with fast-evolving technologies presents a clear challenge to automakers and is becoming increasingly important because of competition from low-cost aftermarket systems.

“The typical time taken for the construction of a vehicle is three to five years, whereas the typical lifetime for any consumer electronics standard is around a year and a half only,” explains Chandrasekhar. “This makes it difficult for vehicle manufacturers and their associated Tier 1 suppliers to keep track of these rapid changes, and upgrade their vehicles to incorporate the latest audio technologies.”

Vehicle manufacturers and their associated Tier 1 suppliers need to increase their product portfolio for audio systems. This means they not only have to offer different solutions such as the single CD, MP3 and even high-end DVD players, but must also ensure a wide variety of each of these.

“They must strive to strike the right balance between cost and features suited to a particular vehicle segment,” concludes Chandrasekhar. “This strategy will help counteract competition from low-cost aftermarket systems.”

MUMBAI:Sony pictures entertainment (SPE) has signed a five-year $3.8 million contract with IBM to support its global financial system.

The agreement, signed in Q1 2007, expands on a $4.3 million Q4 2006 contract between the two companies that was based on a competitive evaluation.

IBM global business services will provide application management services for SPE‘s sap global financial applications, leveraging IBM‘s India-based global delivery capabilities. The agreement, which includes application, system development and security support responsibilities, will allow SPE‘s own IT staff to focus on other high priority new project and improvement initiatives, says an official press release.

“Here at Sony Pictures, we have put a real priority on fiscal discipline and the integration and growth of our business on a worldwide scale. So our financial system must perform at optimum levels to give us a global view of financial and product information across our filmed entertainment business,” said SPE‘s chief financial officer David Hendler. “IBM offers us a low-cost and high quality support model for the global SAP skills that we require. We‘ve brought in global reinforcements to augment our SPE staff, have substantially reduced our support costs, and redeployed our IT and finance staff on high-value activities,” he added.

Originally implemented by IBM in collaboration with SPE, the new, single financial system replaced several systems that were installed in the territories in which SPE operates. The system provides more than 2300 users real-time access to SPE financial information globally. IBM will provide operations and support services, both on site at SPE‘s Culver City headquarters and remotely from the IBM support centers in India.

“SPE has been an entertainment industry leader in modernizing its enterprise financial systems, and the agreement to outsource global SAP financial applications support services to IBM continues that tradition of leadership,” said IBM global business services worldwide leader for media and entertainment Steven Abraham. “IBM Global Business Services‘ seamless, efficient and cost effective approach to infrastructure support enables SPE to focus its resources on core business priorities.

MUMBAI: The Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) is currently installing an advanced on-board satellite television system for India‘s Kingfisher Airlines‘ Airbus A320 aircraft.

Gamco installed the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) system on the first Kingfisher aircraft early this year and will complete work on the first batch of the airline‘s A320s this month.

“This is an industry-first for Gamco in Asia. Kingfisher is the first airline in Asia and the second in the world to install on-board satellite television on Airbus A320, and all of us in Gamco are very proud that this was done at our facilities in Abu Dhabi by our engineers and technicians,” Gamco CEO Saif Al Mughairy said.

In-flight entertainment for passengers has until recently focused on a menu of films, pre-recorded television programs and music. DBS systems enable aircraft to receive signals directly to provide passengers access to a full spectrum of satellite video and audio programming. The system installed on Kingfisher aircraft will enable passengers to receive 16 television channels distributed to each passenger seat via the in-flight entertainment system.

“For Gamco, this involved getting the support and cooperation of specialist companies supplying the avionics equipment such as Thales, Rockwell Collins and Armstrong Aerospace, and approvals from regulatory authorities such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India, who have all put their stamp of confidence on Gamco‘s technological capabilities,” Al Mughairy said.

“When Kingfisher chose Gamco to install the system, our challenge was to carry out the necessary modifications and test the system to obtain the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) clearance for our customer. We achieved it without any difficulty, reinforcing our ability to offer innovative services for the aviation industry,” he added.

Gamco secured the contract to install the DBS system along with another agreement signed with Kingfisher last November to provide maintenance support for the entire Airbus A320s and A319 fleet.