Category: Software

MUMBAI: China Central Television (CCTV) partnered with partnered with China Mobile and China Unicom has launched its mobile TV service.

CCTV will provide live broadcasting and downloadable programs to mobile TV users. The CCTV mobile channel is currently free.

It will also contact international and local TV stations to develop more content for the consumers.

MUMBAI: Worldspace Satellite Radio , a satellite-based digital radio services has laucnhed the first ever 24-hour national Gujarati radio channel, Radio Umang.

Channel No 111 on the Worldspace Satellite Radio Network, Radio Umang presents a platform, showcasing the diversity of Gujarat’s musical traditions – ranging from the tunes of the Garba and Dandia Raas to the Sugam Sangeet and Ghazals and more, asserts an official release.

Worldspace managing director Shishir Lall said, “Radio Umang is our latest offering and the country’s first-ever 24-hour Gujarati channel and the ninth regional channel on the Worldspace Satellite Radio Network. Our refreshing advertising-free format, enables music aficionados to quench their thirst for quality radio programming in virtually any part of the country, thereby creating a truly pan-Indian radio experience.”

Radio Umang joins a portfolio of Indian regional language channels at Worldspace which currently offers eight other dedicated regional radio channels with programming in Tamil (KL Radio), Malayalam (RM Radio), Telugu (Spandana), Kannada (Sparsha), Bengali (Tara), Punjabi (Tunak Punjabi) Urdu (Falak) and Marathi (Surabhi).

Worldspace senior advisor content Velu Shankar said, “Radio Umang presents to its listeners opportunity and range of programs from folk music to modern Gujarati music, poetry and literature giving them a glimpse into the exciting world of Gujarati culture.”

Some programs on Radio Umang are :

– Suravali Ashit Ni – A show hosted by celebrity Ashit Desai as he takes listeners through some of his popular songs from various genres of Gujarati music every Saturday 9 to 11 pm.

– Taajgi – A breakfast show hosted by radio entertainer Ajinkya Sampat. It will showcase Gujarati music from film songs to garba, folk songs and light music and will also provide interesting facts and trivia on music.

– Be Ghadi Anand – An evening show with playback singer Hema Desai who would share interesting facts about Gujarati culture, literature and music.

– Makhmali Mehfil – Host by Gujarati theatre actor Aanand Goradiya the show will celebrate the lilting rhythms of Gujarati ghazals from Purushottam Upadhyay and Ashit Desai to Manhar Udhas.

MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has announced its strategic direction for 2007, as well as the results of 2006 Annual general meeting elections to the Casbaa council of governors and board of directors.

According to Casbaa chairman Marcel Fenez, in 2007 the association is to focus on the increasing impact of Mobile technology, also noting a clear signal from the council of governors to step up initiatives in India and China. Casbaa will continue to engage the regulatory authorities in multiple markets and promote industry development in Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan, among others.

In addition, Casbaa will strive to demonstrate the effectiveness of pay TV as an advertising medium and thus challenge other traditional media for advertising revenues, asserts an official release.

Fenez said, “On an almost daily basis Casbaa is engaging with decision-makers across the region regarding regulatory and intellectual property rights issues while maintaining a steady output of studies on markets and the benefits of effective regulation and the cost of pay-TV piracy.”

Casbaa also announced that the following were newly elected to the Casbaa council of governors, the association’s leading advisory body, Anytime president and COO Craig Zimbulis; Mabuhay Satellite president and CEO Garie Pimentel; MIH Asia president Ian Barnard; SkyVision Corporation (Sky Cable) head of programmes acquisition Juno Henares Chuidian; AGB Nielsen Media Research CEO Malcolm Spry and Standard Chartered Bank head of creative media and tech industries client relations Susan Ho.

The results of Elections to the Casbaa board of directors were as follows: HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink; AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson; United Broadcasting Corporation EVP-chairman Sompan Charumilinda; BBC World regional director distribution and business development Nic van Zwanenberg and Celestial Pictures CEO William Pfeiffer

MUMBAI: A Proton Breeze M launch vehicle, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, successfully placed the Measat-3 satellite into orbit earlier today.

After separation, the satellite will be manoeuvred into its orbital location and will undergo in-orbit testing. This is expected to be completed by 1 February, 2008.

The project cost of the Measat-3 satellite is $ 280 million.

Providing 300 per cent more capacity at the key 91.5E orbital location, Measat-3 is one of the region‘s most technologically advanced satellites.

Measat-3 has 24 Ku-band transponders and has been designed to provide capability for data services and Direct-to-Home (DTH) applications in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Indian Subcontinent. The satellite has been designed with a C-Band payload capable of reaching over 100 countries, representing 70 per cent of the world‘s population, and the most powerful Ku-band DTH coverage for over 160 million TV households in the countries under its footprint.

Measat-3‘s launch opens up the options available to Indian operators looking to enter the DTH arena. Kalanithi Maran‘s southern broadcast network Sun Group‘s Sun Direct DTH service is ready to launch and is only waiting a satellite to beam off. Anil Ambani‘s ADAG also has plans for a DTH service under the brand name Bluemagic, which is headed by the former CEO of Zee Group‘s Dish TV, Sunil Khanna.

It may be recalled that the unfortunate failure in July of the GSLV-F02 launch rocket carrying the Insat-4C communication satellite had wrecked the timetables for the launch of Sun Direct.

Sun had booked seven high-power Ku-band transponders, six for DTH and one for DSNG (digital satellite news gathering), of the total 12 carried by the Indian Space Research Organisation‘s Insat-4C.

Said Measat‘s COO, Paul Brown-Kenyon: “The launch of Measat-3 will enhance our ability to support Malaysian and international customers. It will not only augment capacity but also enhance redundancy capabilities for customers using the Measat-1 satellite. Planning is already underway for the launch of Measat- 1R, scheduled for end 2007 / early 2008, which is being developed to support and sustain future growth requirements for existing and prospective customers.”

Currently operating a two satellite network, Measat provides video distribution services across East and South East Asia, Indochina, South Asia and Australia. The launch of Measat-3, and Measat-1R end 2007 / early 2008 will extend the reach of the Measat fleet, providing customers with a satellite able to reach Pay-TV operators in over 100 countries, representing more than 70 per cent of the world‘s population. Leveraging facilities at the Measat Teleport and Broadcast Centre, and working with a select group of world-class media partners including Astro, Pacific Century Matrix and STT, Measat provides a complete range of broadcast services including video playout, up-linking, and video turnaround to and from the key European and North American markets.

MUMBAI: India Telecom 2006, the biggest showcase of the telecom industry, will be inaugurated by President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on 14 December at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Communications and information technology minister Dayanidhi Maran will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session.

Over 200 companies are participating is the international exhibition and conference. In the exhibition the Indian telecom industry will be represented by companies like Bharti Airtel Limited, BSNL, C-DOT, Hutchison Essar Mobile Services Ltd, COAI, Qualcomm India Pvt Ltd. Reliance Communication Ltd. Etc.Among the international participants there will be companies from Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Italy while Taiwan, Korea and US companies will be seen in independent pavilions.

A highlight of India Telecom 2006 will be the CEO’s Roundtable with Maran. It will be an interactive session of all the telecom CEO’s with the minister. Trai chairman Nripendra Misra and DoT secretary DS Mathur will also address the session. Among the participants at the Roundtable will be ADAG chairman Anil Ambani, Bharti Enterprises CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal, Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, Essar Group chairman Shashi Ruia, BSNL CMD AK Sinha, MTNL CMD RSP Sinha and IDEA Cellular MD Sanjeev Aga.

Concurrent to the exhibition would be technical seminars and conferences. The objective of the summit is to discuss new growth drivers that are revolutionizing the telecom sector in India and around the world. It would also focus on showcasing the huge potential that India holds in this sector for inviting investments.

The first session on 15 December would be on Regulatory and Policy Imperatives. Misra will chair the session, while the theme address would be delivered by Ambassador David A Gross, US Co-ordinator for international communication and information policy, US department of state. Global Mobile Suppliers Association president Alan Hadden will also address the session.

MUMBAI: Telecom major Alcatel-Lucent has announced the availability of its managed Mobile Interactive TV service in the Asian Pacific Region. The solution will allow content and service providers to address the growing demand for interactive Mobile TV services by offering a differentiating user-centric experience to their customers based on best in class technology.

The managed business model will enable them to introduce the new service quickly, cost-effectively and at low risk.

Alcatel-Lucent will deploy, host and operate the end-to-end solution whilst content and service providers will focus on developing service marketing programs and enhancing user satisfaction. The service also offers content providers an open environment for content aggregation to create interactive made-for-mobile channels.

The service the firm says is providing a high quality experience for users thanks to ergonomic and intuitive navigation interfaces such as fast channel zapping and can accommodate a diverse range of handset configurations and network delivery methods such as those that are 3G circuit switched, packet switched or broadcasted.

Alcatel-Lucent’s head of activities in Asia Pacific Frederic Rose says, “Mobile TV is a reality today and is gaining momentum in Asia. With more than 80 multimedia services in operation worldwide, Alcatel-Lucent enjoys a leadership position in the booming mobile TV market and is ideally positioned to help its customers deliver a user-centric experience for their subscribers.

“The Alcatel-Lucent’s managed Mobile Interactive TV service gives content and service providers a fantastic opportunity to deliver revenue generating entertainment services to their customers

MUMBAI: Israel based Metalink, which provides wireless and wireline broadband communication silicon solutions, has unveiled the second generation of its WLanPlus chip-set. Designed to enable high-throughput, rich-content, quality-critical applications, WLANPlus provides the foundation for a full-coverage wireless home entertainment network.

Metalink‘s WLanPlus 802.11n chip-set family is optimised to go beyond previous solutions that are designed primarily to transport data, and addresses the far more rigorous needs of the consumer electronics market. As such, it supports the most demanding optional specifications of the 802.11n standard with functionality that is critical for the streaming of high-quality High-Definition Television (HDTV) video throughout the home (three MPEG2 HDTV streams at 60Mbps with whole-home coverage at 60 feet).

The company adds that first-generation WLANPlus technology has already been integrated by consumer electronics
manufacturers into a broad range of products, including Residential Gateways, Digital Televisions, HDTVs, Set-Top Boxes (STB), Media Adaptors and Digital Video Recorders (DVR).

NEW DELHI: Electronics major LGE India Limited launched its latest product that gives the owners the kind of digital edge in home entertainment not seen in the country before: a TV set that allows “you to control time”, the company’s national product head, Prashanta K Das said at a press conference here.

Aiming at a market of Rs 1.14 billion “in the flat panel business alone by the end of 2007”, the slick LCD and Plasma versions of this latest from the LG bouquet is named “Time Machine”, and has a built-in 80 GB hard disk that allows between 33 and 20 hours of recording programmes.

The unique offer is the user can record any programme even if s/he is not at home or sleeping, and then watch it at leisure. There is option for replay, fast forward, slow motion, and even skipping irritating commercials in the recorded programme at your will “and a push of a button.”, Das said. “This is the only TV in the world that has an inbuilt DVD recorder,” announced Moon B Shin, deputy managing director of LG.

In fact, two programmes can be watched at the same time, one with a full-screen image and the other in a sufficiently-sized frame within the main screen, and one of these two programmes can be recorded.

One can watch a programme and record another one simultaneously, and switch the programme being watched without disturbing the recording. And like any recorded programme, too, one can go back to a favourite scene or piece of action at will ad as many times as one wants.

“The advantage is that there is no need for a separate DVD recorder and multiple remote control equipment,” Das said. Priced at between Rs 120,000 to 240,000 , Das claimed it gives a better option over the recording facility that DTH boxes allow, at a lesser cost of conversion.

During the spectacular presentation – with the new product rising from the background – Das said that the set automatically records any programme being watched – at one hour intervals when the TV set is on, but one can set it to a channel of choice, and programme the time and duration of recording using the remote control, and the machine will keep the recorded version ready for viewing when the user desires.

“It will store 33 hours of normal video quality and 20 hours of very high video quality, and you can delete previous recordings and record whatever new programme you want.” The company, in fact, is working towards making the hard disk upgradable. “So you can watch cricket while your kids watch cartoons,” Das said.

The gizmo uses “Clarofilter”, LGs advanced optical film filter which replaces the conventional glass filter in plasma TVs “to give brighter, sharper and anti-reflective images”, with 20 per cent improved contrast ratio and five per cent brightness improvement. The company claims that the TV offers the “world’s highest brightness” level at 600cd/m2. The other technical edges are the new XD Engine using advanced digital circuit, which ‘unites multiple processes at 3-dimensional levels to create crystal clear colour images’.

The technology used also converts low resolution images into hi-res ones and adjusts dynamic ranges of each scene to accurately redefine the image. The ‘image noise’ will be reduced using Spatial Noise Filter using multiple data analysis systems The “Hue-Saturation Control” controls the images to give appropriate feel and the “Colour Temperature Control” activates the UV Plot to separate colour domain to give life-like images, a company dossier on the new system said.

“Actually, the demand for LCDs are higher,” said Das. The company is confident of meeting the high target it has set because of a number of factors: consumer behaviour is supporting such target setting because the young consumers are spending substantially on luxury; secondly, the company is offering higher-purchase system, “which has done such a magical thing to the automobile market”; and finally the digital edge and the sizeable reduction in cumbersomeness of recording programmes at times when you aren’t there, or watching two programmes simultaneously are unique offers.

Besides, the new set will be just eight to 10 per cent costlier than the genre so long present in the market, Das said. “We also do not have any competition in this product, because we are the only ones to offer it,” Das explained. He added that instead of cash incentives for buying the expensive sets, the company will give a DTH appliance free with each set so that viewing is of even higher quality.

To meet the target of Rs 1.14 billion the company needs to sell 260,000 sets in the coming year. LGEIL has an expected target of Rs 90 billion turnover, improving vastly over its turnover last year at Rs 75 billion.Shin explained that company has detailed an elaborate marketing plan, and will unveil it in stages

MUMBAI: United Film Organizers (UFO) Moviez, a subsidiary of Apollo International Ltd, is in the process of raising venture capital (VC) funding of $25 million (Rs 1.13 billion).

The company plans to spread its digital cinema network to 2,000 screens by 2007-08, for which it is going to invest Rs 3 billion. UFO has already invested close to Rs 800 million and its digital system runs across 550 theatres.

UFO has mandated Ernst & Young to arrange the VC funding. “We are in talks with a few VCs. We will be raising $25 million. We have already pumped in around Rs 800 million. The balance will come from debt and internal accruals,” UFO Moviez CEO Sanjay Gaikwad tells Indianteleviievision.com.

Apollo International holds 60 per cent in the company while 25 per cent is with the founder-promoters (including Gaikwad) and initial investors. The balance 15 per cent is held by Singapore-based DG2L Technologies. “After receiving the VC funding, all of our shareholdings will get diluted proportionately. We will know the new shareholding structure only when we finalise our VC partner,” says Gaikwad.

UFO installs the digital equipment at cinema theatres which cost Rs 1.7 million. Theatres using the UFO digital system do not have to pay for the equipment but are charged Rs 450 per show. The company uses Mpeg 4 digital cinema solutions.

“We plan to increase the fee to Rs 525 per show. We also expect the usage of digital systems in the theatres whiere we have installed them to go up from 60 per cent to over 90 per cent as the business matures,” says Gaikwad.

UFO has competitors like Adlabs and Essel Group‘s E-City Digital Cinemas. “We expect our revenues to touch Rs 2 billion by 2008-09,” says Gaikwad.

MUMBAI: The World Economic Forum has announced 47 Technology Pioneers for 2007.

MobiTV, which works in the area of mobile and broadband television and music services, has been selected.

The Technology Pioneers were nominated by venture capital and technology companies. The final selection from 225 nominees was made by a panel of leading technology experts appointed by the World Economic Forum. Technology Pioneers 2007 are invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland from 24-28 January 2007.

MobiTV is responsible for leading the convergence of television and music content across the mobile and personal computing markets. The service has more than one million subscribers and offers TV and digital radio channels from labels, networks and cable providers. MobiTV is available in the US through AT&T, Sprint, Cingular, Alltel. In the UK it is available through 3UK and Orange; in Canada through Bell, Rogers and Telus and in Latin America through América Móvil.

Technology Pioneers are companies that have been identified as developing and applying highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. This year’s class of companies has been selected not only because of the cutting-edge work undertaken by these organizations, but also because their work has potential long-term impact on business and society.

The World Economic Forum MD Peter Torreele says, “The competition to become a Technology Pioneer has been more intense than ever. It is evident that technology and innovation is playing a key role in the shifting power equation at a global level. Driving this shift is the tremendous amount of innovation taking place outside of traditionally hubs. The wide geographic spread of this year’s Technology Pioneers is a testament to this trend. We are pleased to welcome MobiTV to our Community of Technology Pioneers, and look forward to engaging them into the community of the World Economic Forum”.

Another firm that was selected is Sling Media. The US consumer electronics company, offers digital lifestyle products. It offers Slingbox, a device that allows consumers to access their living room digital television from any location through Internet connected laptops, desktops, PDAs, and smartphones. The company also offers SlingPlayer Mobile, a software package, which allows Slingbox owners to watch and control their home TV from any network-enabled mobile phone or handheld computer.

Measurement firm comScore Networks also features. comScore Networks started in 1999 with the vision to measure, analyze and report actual e-commerce transaction data across all websites. Harnessing its technological innovation and creativity, comScore has evolved far beyond this initial vision to become the leading provider of digital marketing intelligence.

To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader – and its technology must be proven.