Category: Software

MUMBAI: Created exclusively for MTV Mobile TV, MTV Networks International has launched its made-for-mobile animated series Wulffmorgenthaler inspired by the world famous comic strip of the same name.

The Wulffmorgenthaler shorts, a coproduction between MTVNI and Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler.

Comprising 20 short animations featuring the comical twists of different characters and storylines, it is available on MTVNI‘s mobile TV channels and mobile video on demand across Europe, Australia and the US for eight weeks.

It will be distributed on MTVNI‘s broadband services, according to media reports.

MTVNI has 20 mobile TV channels in 19 countries.

“Wulffmorgenthaler delivers on our promise to provide audiences with the most original, compelling content on multiple platforms around the world. These edgy animations will offer audiences a new, bite-sized burst of humour and creativity that only MTV can offer,” said MTVNI senior VP digital media Gideon Bierer.

The Wulffmorgenthaler shorts join MTVNI’s other made-for-mobile productions including Head and Body, produced in partnership with Motorola.

MUMBAI: JumpTV has entered into an exclusive agreement to begin offering Sony Entertainment Television Asia (SET Asia) in North America via the Internet.

The global internet-television network JumpTV streams live, high-quality international television signals via its website from stations in more than 60 countries. The subscribers can access their favorite channels from any Internet- enabled device including home computers, laptops, internet-enabled televisions, mobile phones and video game consoles, informs an official release.

Through JumpTV, SET Asia is now available for US$14.95 a month for a high- speed connection, with an upgrade option for an ultra bandwidth version, which runs at 1 Mbps and produces one of the highest resolution streams available on the internet.

SET Asia features some shows as: the love story Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai and Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, the Hindi adaptation of Juana La Virgen.

Additionally, the channel is bringing in a whole host of new programs including Aisa Des Hai Mera, Thodi Kushi Thode Gham and Rishton Ki Dorr, states an official release.

“Sony Entertainment Television Asia has been exploring new technology platforms to deliver our content over the Internet. We knew that with millions of South Asians living abroad, there was a tremendous opportunity and untapped market of more tech savvy South Asians in the US and Canada,” said SET Asia executive VP international business Rajan Singh.

“JumpTV will be the first Internet broadcast platform where SET Asia will be available after much success on cable and satellite platforms in North America.”

“We are incredibly excited to announce the launch of Sony Entertainment Television Asia on JumpTV. South Asian communities are avid followers of dramas and serials. The quality of these shows will attract a huge audience who are not able to access the channel through a regular television medium. There is no better way to stay in tune to Indian entertainment, music and events than through television, and SET Asia is a lead broadcaster from the sub-continent,” said JumpTV chairman and chief executive officer G. Scott Paterson.

“The addition of SET Asia to our channel lineup is an important step forward in bringing innovative, original television to one of the largest diaspora communities in the world.”

BANGALORE: Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today solemnized the acquisition of the 49 per cent stake in Spice Communications Pvt. Ltd. by the exchange of ‘completion documents‘

The deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is currently heading the trade delegation in India witnessed the exchange of documents. TM was represented by its Group CEO, Dato‘ Abdul Wahid Omar while Mcorp Global was represented by Dilip Modi, president, Mcorp Global. This formal exchange marks TM‘s entry into the lucrative Indian telecommunications market of India, which is the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world.

With the competition of this acquisition, TM is now the owner of a 49 per cent equity stake in Spice Telecom. TM secured this critical piece in its regional footprint, through its international investment holding company, TM International SDN BHD. The acquisition was of a total consideration of USD 178.85 million. The remaining 51 per cent equity remains with the existing shareholders Mcorp Global Ltd. and its associates, Mcorp.

Opined Dilip Modi, “Today, both countries are at the forefront of the revolution in Information, Communication and Entertainment (ICE) technologies and have much to offer each other. Together, they could become a powerful force to take Asian companies to an entirely new globally competitive level. I am confident our strategic partnership with TM will create a new synergy and help us in maximizing growth in one of the world‘s fastest growing markets.”

“Spice customers today join TM‘s global mobile subscriber base of over 20 million. Apart from TM‘s operational and management experience both in Malaysia and key Asian regional markets, Spice customers stand to benefit from, through the creation and innovation of new products and services, sharing of technological experience and implementation, and the leveraging of group synergies such as in global procurement,” Modi further added.

Dato Abdul Wahid Omar described organic growth as the key approach for creating shareholder value in Spice, “TM and its partner, Mcorp will seek to grow Spice to be a market leader in the geographies it operates in.”

BANGALORE: O2 today strengthens its Asia Pacific management team with the appointment of Guillaume Debrosse as COO and Sean Wilkins as CFO.

Both appointments underscore O2‘s commitment to delivering excellent customer service and operational efficiency as it expands into new markets, including some Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the Middle East, according to an official communication.

O2 Asia Pacific is a member of the O2 group, a leading provider of mobile communications services in Europe with more than 35 million active mobile customers.

Guillaume Debrosse is responsible for O2 Asia Pacific‘s entire regional operations, from project management, delivery and testing to supply chain management and after-sales support services. Debrosse‘s key focus is to ensure prompt time-to-market for O2‘s converged mobile devices and excellent service experience for O2‘s customers.

Prior to this role, Debrosse was the CFO at O2 Asia Pacific, a role he assumed since the de-merger from BT plc. He was instrumental in successfully turning O2 Asia Pacific into a profitable and cash flow positive business with a six-time revenue increase and an EBITDA multiplied by 15 over the last 3 years.

Sean Wilkins succeeds Debrosse as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for O2 Asia Pacific. In his capacity as CFO, Wilkins oversees all O2‘s financial and legal operations in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets.

Sean Wilkins joins O2 Asia Pacific from O2 UK where he was head of finance and business development for wholesale. Wilkins has made significant contribution to O2‘s partnership with Tesco Mobile and successfully developed a completely new and vital business sector and helped achieve the million-customers mark within a span of two years.

Both Debrosse and Wilkins are based in Singapore and report directly to Mark Billington, CEO, O2 Asia Pacific, the release adds.

MUMBAI: To date, mainstream media attention on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has focused for the most part on such entertainment programming as the amateur videos of YouTube.com and popular television shows such as Lost that now are made available for download to iPods.

According to a major new report from the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC), IPTV allows consumers not only to customize their video programming experience, but also empowers organizations of all types to directly and more inexpensively access new and/or targeted global audiences often otherwise unavailable to them via traditional television.

In order to provide a more well-rounded perspective on the emerging industry, the NMRC report focuses on two companies — Interactive Television Networks Inc., (ITVN) of Irvine, CA and Communication Technologies, Inc. (COMTek) of Chantilly, VA. — that are in the vanguard of IPTV.

Entitled The State of IPTV 2006: The Advent of Personalized Programming, the new NMRC report finds: “With the expansion of broadband access and the growth of computing and video production equipment, industry analysts believe IPTV is realizing its potential as a viable programming platform that can compete with cable, satellite and other traditional video mediums … IPTV is also seen by providers and industry watchers as a gateway for new content providers.”

The findings of the report points out, “IPTV is not simply offering traditional television programming through another device or connection. The low costs of creating content allows just about anyone to produce a ‘television show.‘ IPTV providers are already offering content from sports leagues to home cooking shows and more. The video content is making the web experience more robust for consumers, presenting information in compelling formats that greatly interests existing and new audiences. This new programming vehicle, allowing organizations and individuals to transmit their messages to an audience of their choice, could be the ‘killer application‘ that experts agree is needed to catapult IPTV to equal footing with traditional television.”

Commenting on the report, Harris Interactive vice president and senior consultant for the technology research practice Milton Ellis said: “When you consider that IPTV is a new technology offering, the future for IPTV does look promising … in our recent study of 1,093 US. adults, conducted from 2 to 8 December, 2005, 18 per cent said they would sign up and try it immediately if it was available for their PC and TV set-top box. That would seem to suggest that many adults are poised to get on board if service providers drove up awareness and familiarity and offered the right value proposition.”

University of Massachusetts Computer Science Department research scientist Amherst Michael Zink said: “IPTV is an interesting, emerging video platform that will offer a variety of services beyond traditional TV broadcasts. The NMRC presents an up-to-date technology and service analysis of the state of IPTV in 2006.”

As is noted in the discussion of the two case studies in the NMRC report, ITVN and COMTek offer somewhat different versions of IPTV. COMTek has developed a new managed IPTV service called “PowerTV,” which is comprised of two distinct offerings: PowerTV Multicast and PowerTV On Demand.

The report also discusses that each service provides COMTek customers with the ability to create their own Internet television “channels” that distribute video content and integrated interactive features such as email, e-commerce, VoIP and information retrieval via the Web. COMTek recently utilized its PowerTV service in conjuction with Earth Day Network to connect 16,000 classrooms nationwide in a discussion about global warming. Using different technologies and platforms, ITVN offers IPTV through a set top box that translates video services sent via the Internet into digital images for viewing on a regular television. ITVN currently provides programming networks such as Silver Screen Network, the National Lacrosse League, and ITVN Live. Content is available to ITVN subscribers in both 24/7 linear and on-demand formats.

As a participant in the phone-based news event launching the NMRC report, COMTek CEO and founder Joseph E. Fergus said: “COMTek sees IPTV maturing into an industry over the next several years that will serve two distinct groups in cost-effective ways that old-fashioned television just can‘t do. The soon- to-benefit groups include consumers that are highly mobile and whose television viewing habits are not restricted to living rooms or sports bars. This group includes business professionals, lobbyists, Generation X and ‘Generation Next.‘ The second group that will benefit from IPTV consists of entities such as federal, state and local governments, non-profits and other organizations that historically could not afford to create their own television channels.”

KEY NMRC REPORT FINDINGS

* Market forecasts for IPTV are enthusiastic. According to a study by Insight Research Corporation the Internet video market “is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 32 percent over the next five years.” Deloitte TMT reported that digital convergence of services and products could generate revenue of approximately $55 billion for IPTV through 2010. The Multimedia Research Group predicted the number of IPTV subscribers to reach 36.8 million in 2009. Research and Markets identified a potential eightfold increase of new IPTV subscriptions to 36.9 million. In its most recent report, Infonetics predicts that the IPTV subscriptions will increase more than 40 times in North America. It is clear that market experts see tremendous potential for IPTV growth in the near term.

* The iPod-ization of video is creating on-demand culture that is ripe for IPTV. Online video interest in general is also growing. A February 2006 survey by the Online Publishers Association found that 24 percent of American Internet users watch online video at least once per week. The projected rate of IPTV growth is partially driven by technological innovations like the iPod that are creating an on-demand culture coupled with and lower costs for the production of high quality video.

* The strongest market potential for IPTV is among younger consumers. Awareness of IPTV is directly related to age, with younger respondents indicating a higher level of knowledge about online video services. An Accenture survey examining IPTV attitudes in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain found approximately 70 per cent of respondents of the ages 25-34 were aware of IPTV, whereas less than 50 percent of respondents ages 55-64 were aware of the technology. Age was also a factor when considering the willingness to pay extra for IPTV services. Although 73 percent of respondents were not very willing or not at all willing to pay extra, younger respondents
had a higher acceptance of IPTV costs.

* Obstacles to success for IPTV remain to be addressed. Challenges do exist for the IPTV field. Regulatory hurdles, including local franchise rules for some IPTV providers and content/digital rights management issues still must be addressed. There are also concerns that online content will not compare favorably with traditional television in the near term and consumers will not be interested. However, many of the technical hurdles that prevented IPTV from emerging earlier have been addressed. Networks now have sufficient capacity to deliver video and in-home devices (set top boxes and computers) can present the programming in easy-to-use formats. By leaping over traditional video transport systems, IPTV avoids many of the regulatory and technical pitfalls that exist in traditional television. Experts identify this attribute as a key reason for IPTV‘s growth and its ability to create major change in the video marketplace.

* IPTV industry standards may be needed. Industry experts believe many of the technical hurdles to IPTV deployment have been overcome. “Transport is frictionless” according to one IPTV provider and the technology for consumers receiving and viewing video over IP is readily available. Even though the technology has arrived for IPTV to flourish, some industry analysts believe standards will be required for the many different types of equipment and services. Without standards, experts believe, it will be difficult for IPTV systems and their many component parts to interact seamlessly.

* Potential regulatory/legal challenges for IPTV still loom. IPTV
providers who offer video content directly online face fewer regulatory barriers. One issue that will be important to these types of IPTV providers is piracy and digital rights management. Copyrighted content will be available over IPTV networks, and analysts believe providers will have to be vigilant to protect both their content producers and customers. While media reports indicate Hollywood movie and television studios are interested in online distribution, there are still fears that content will be viewed illegally and the producers will lose money.

MUMBAI: Verizon and DirecTV has entered an agreement that will enable Verizon wholesale customers to sell a package of voice, DSL and DirecTV services that is designed to offer a superior and more value-oriented alternative to cable “triple play” offers.

Under the agreement, telecom service providers that utilize Verizon‘s popular wholesale advantage voice service and selected high-speed data services can also receive DirecTV service and sell all three services to consumers at a competitive price. The companies expect the package to become available in July.

Terms of the agreement between Verizon and DirecTV were not disclosed.

“The agreement demonstrates wholesale telephony‘s progress as an industry since the Federal Communications Commission allowed providers to enter into commercial agreements for many wholesale services last year,” said Verizon Partner Solutions David Small. “Verizon is dedicated to helping our wholesale customers compete with the cable industry‘s triple play. By joining with DirecTV, the market-leader in digital satellite TV services, we add a strong video brand to our voice and DSL services for wholesalers, creating a powerful combination and an attractive triple play at a discount.”

DirecTV sales and service president John Suranyi said, “The triple-play offer for wholesalers enables DirecTV to reach a new segment of customers with an attractive array of services that will more effectively compete with the local cable provider. Consumers have been responding favourably to the superior choice, value and quality offered by the Verizon/DirecTV service bundle, and we believe Verizon wholesalers will find they now have an offer that will invigorate their market.”

Verizon expects to make the bundle available to wholesale customers in July. Wholesalers must buy Verizon‘s wholesale advantage voice services to qualify for the package discount.

MUMBAI: OpenTV Corp. a provider of enabling technologies for advanced digital television services has announced a multi-year license agreement with Time Warner Cable to deploy the cable operator‘s digital navigator on the Open TV platform.

The Time Warner Cable digital navigator will enhance existing programme guides, facilitate cross platform integrated services and speed to market new product introductions on the company‘s Motorola set-top boxes.

Additionally, OpenTV‘s Core 2.0 software and related interactive television services will be available to Time Warner Cable divisions running Motorola equipment for deployment.

This licensing agreement represents the first US cable deployment of OpenTV‘s advanced digital solutions and applications, informs an official release.

Initial launch of OpenTV‘s solutions is expected in late 2006 on Time Warner Cable‘s Motorola set-top boxes, ranging from the DCT-2000 to more full-featured Motorola set-top boxes. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

OpenTV will provide its Core 2.0 set-top software, interactive applications, and infrastructure systems for application delivery, set-top messaging, and advanced two-way communications.

As part of the deal, OpenTV has agreed to make available a variety of interactive applications for Time Warner Cable‘s use, and expects to write additional applications for the OpenTV platform, OCAP, and other platforms that Time Warner Cable introduces within its Divisions.

“This deal marks a historic milestone for OpenTV and the culmination of many years of work,” said OpenTV CEO James A.Chiddix. “Gaining a strong foothold in the U.S. cable market has long been a goal of OpenTV, and with an anchor customer like Time Warner Cable we now have a firm foundation from which to continue extending and enhancing our solutions and services as digital television moves ahead in the market. We look forward to fostering this new relationship with Time Warner Cable and furthering its commitment in delivering choice, quality, and value to its subscribers with the most advanced digital television services.”

MUMBAI: BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five have joined forces to launch the UK‘s first high definition (HD) trial broadcasts to terrestrial aerials.

A specially selected 450-strong audience sample collect their trial HD set top boxes this week for the closed technical digital terrestrial television (DTT) technical trial which is due to last six months.

In an joint official statement issued, high definition is a step change in television technology which provides far clearer and more detailed pictures than normal standard definition TV. Each picture contains up to five times as much digital information as an ordinary TV picture.

The trial will offer participating broadcasters and their technical partners valuable lessons about delivering HD broadcasts on a digital terrestrial network and also research how the audience enjoys this new format.

It will help to discover whether there could be HD broadcasts on Freeview in future. The trial is being conducted under an Ofcom licence which strictly limits the number of receivers and forbids reception of the trial stream by general members of the public.

Humax and ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast) have supplied the HD set top boxes for the trial. The DTT HD trial consists of low power transmissions from Crystal Palace in London on frequencies that are not suitable for high power broadcasting.

National Grid Wireless (NGW) is transmitting the BBC‘s HD stream, which went on air last month, and Red Bee Media provides play-out services.

Arqiva is transmitting the multiplex shared by ITV, Channel 4 and Five, with Grass Valley, a business within Thomson, providing broadcast playout and video encoding equipment, states the official statement.
Siemens Business Services is providing technical support for the BBC‘s HD trial. The test broadcasts will use MPEG4 video coding, 8K carriers and 64QAM modulation at launch – different parameters may be tested during the trial period.

The BBC‘s trial DTT HD stream will offer identical programming to its HD trial broadcasts on satellite and cable over the trial period. That includes the BBC‘s World Cup coverage, major Wimbledon matches and programming highlights such as Planet Earth and Bleak House

MUMBAI: China Mobile Limited, News Corporation and Star Group Limited have announced a broad strategic partnership to explore wireless media business opportunities.

By leveraging the content assets and interactive services of News Corporation and Star, the partners will combine their strengths to develop wireless media services based on China Mobile‘s mobile platform, through which China Mobile serves over 260 million subscribers. The cooperation will explore wireless media business opportunities on a global basis, states an official release.

Key areas of the cooperation will include development, production, aggregation and distribution of a wide array of wireless services ranging from music, broadband interactivity, and social networking to multimedia value-added products, informs an official release.

China Mobile chairman and CEO Wang Jianzhou said, “The partnership with News Corporation and Star will lay a solid foundation for providing wireless multimedia services. This is a very important step for us in view of the global convergence of telecommunication, media and Internet. With News Corporation and Star‘s popular and quality media content assets, we will be able to offer more exciting services to our customers.”

News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch says, “Partnering with China Mobile gives us immediate access to a vast consumer base throughout China. News Corp. has been a world leader in wireless content while our services such as MySpace dominate the online social networking craze. It is my hope that this partnership will unleash the creative and technical abilities of the talented employees of News Corp. and China Mobile to bring new offerings to consumers across mainland China and Hong Kong.”

Star Group CEO Michelle Guthrie adds,” Today‘s partnership represents an important new media growth opportunity for Star. China Mobile‘s world-leading expertise, customer base and exciting growth initiatives will allow us to expand the Star brands and services in the largest wireless market in the world. We look forward to working closely with them to bring a new level of wireless entertainment to the consumer.”

MUMBAI: China Mobile (Hong Kong) Group Limited has purchased a 19.9 per cent interest in Phoenix from Star Group Limited. After the transaction, Star will continue to hold 17.6 per cent of Phoenix.

China Mobile and Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited have also reached a strategic alliance to jointly develop, market and distribute wireless content, products, services and new media applications.

Under the strategic alliance agreement, China Mobile and Phoenix will jointly develop products and services relating to the wireless delivery of media content. In exchange for direct access to China Mobile‘s network and customer base on favourable terms, China Mobile will have preferential access to Phoenix‘s news and selected programs.

The deal will complement China Mobile‘s 3G strategies by widening its service offerings and providing enhanced media content to its mobile subscribers, and will broaden Phoenix‘s new media content‘s access to China mobile‘s customer base, informs an official release.

China Mobile chairman and CEO Wang Jianzhou says, “Phoenix offers a unique set of content to the Chinese community globally. By leveraging Phoenix‘s media content via our mobile platform, China Mobile will be well positioned to provide wireless multimedia services to our customers.”

Phoenix chairman and CEO Liu Changle adds, “The establishment of this new strategic alliance will provide an excellent opportunity for the further development of Phoenix‘s new media business, and should have a very positive impact on Phoenix‘s long-term commercial prospects, enabling Phoenix to distribute its content through China Mobile‘s wireless platform and reach a broader market.”

Star Group CEO Michelle Guthrie says, “We believe that bringing in China Mobile as a shareholder and strategic partner will create incredible growth opportunities for Phoenix in the future. We look forward to our continued involvement in Phoenix as the company extends its content to the largest wireless customer base in the world.”

Goldman Sachs is acting as financial advisor to China Mobile. Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to Star, according to the news release.