Category: Software

MUMBAI: Despite another rejection last month of its last attempt to pull the plug on Dish Network‘s Hopper, 21st Century Fox is stepping back into the legal fray in its battle against the ad-jumping DVR service. The broadcaster filed a brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week requesting a brand new review of the 24 July ruling to be heard by all the court‘s judges. The previous ruling shut down Fox‘s aim for an injunction against the Hopper.

For Fox, that was an error and raised the stakes even higher. “The panel announced two unprecedented rules of law that threaten the creation and licensing of television shows, movies, books, software, or other copyrighted content,” said the August 7 filing.

With this latest request, Fox may have reached the point where they are now truly grinding away in this satcaster case. Last month‘s ruling in Dish‘s favor rebuffed Fox‘s notion that letting viewers essentially erase the ads in TV shows was a fatal blow to the broadcast industry‘s business model.

The late July ruling came out an appeal by the broadcaster after a previous District Court ruling in November of 2012 ended up in the satellite service provider‘s favor. Then US District Court Judge Judge Dolly Gee refused to block sales of the Hopper, even though she agreed with Fox that Dish has likely committed copyright infringement. Introduced in May of last year by Dish, the service lets subscribers to leap past commercials in programs that have been recorded off network TV the day before. CBS, NBC and Fox all filed copyright infringement suits almost immediately against Dish to get the service stopped.

MUMBAI: The companies say that Raycom stations will be back on Dish Network “overnight,” and didn‘t provide any details about the agreement.

The broadcaster owns or controls 53 stations in 36 markets including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, and MyNetworkTV affiliates in cities including Cleveland, Toledo, Honolulu, Tucson, Baton Rouge, West Palm Beach, Louisville, and Memphis.

The stations went dark on Dish on 1 August when the previous carriage contract expired. Dish accounts for about 15 per cent of Raycom‘s viewers, according to data from SNL Kagan.

MUMBAI: After months of teasing, the wait is finally over: Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, who brought forth the video-sharing site YouTube, are taking the wraps off their newest project, a video creation app called MixBit.

Versions for Apple mobile devices and the Web are already live, and an Android version is due in coming weeks.

On the surface, MixBit resembles two other leading video apps, Twitter‘s Vine and Facebook‘s Instagram. As with those apps, users press and hold the screen of their smartphone to record video. Instagram users can capture up to 15 seconds of video, a bit longer than Vine‘s six-second maximum. MixBit allows 16 seconds.

But as the name suggests, MixBit is all about mixing and editing video. Both the app and a related website, MixBit.com, are aimed at making it easy to clip and stitch together snippets of videos. Simple tools built into the app allow users to edit each 16-second clip and combine up to 256 clips into an hour long video. The final product can then be shared on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus or the MixBit website.

Think of it as “shoot, mix and share.” You don‘t even have to do the shooting – the MixBit site allows anyone to snip and remix any publicly shared video content.

In fact Hurley said encouraging users to remix other people‘s videos to create new works is the principal goal of the service, which is the first big product to emerge from Avos Systems, the start-up he co-founded with Chen two years ago. (The company has received funding from the venture arm of Google, which bought YouTube, as well as from Innovation Works, Madrone Capital and New Enterprise Associates.)

“The whole purpose of MixBit is to reuse the content within the system,” Hurley said in an interview. “I really want to focus on great stories that people can tell.”

The ability to create those more complex video stories could give MixBit an edge, at least momentarily, over Vine and Instagram, which are growing rapidly. Vine has no editing tools and Instagram introduced rudimentary ones recently.

But one crucial decision by Avos is likely to hold it back: the app is totally anonymous and communal. Users cannot post their videos under a name, and they cannot comment on each other‘s work.

Showing off is a big part of modern internet culture. The competition to create popular videos helped build YouTube into the powerful force that it now is, and it propels social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

MUMBAI: Disney Interactive has released Disney Animated, an iPad application that gives users access to the art and technology behind dozens of feature films from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Disney Animated was created in collaboration with Touch Press and Walt Disney Animation Studios. The app features interactive illustrations and animation workshops based on real Disney technology, as well as text, art, sound, images and interviews from throughout the studio‘s history. It also includes an exclusive first look at footage, concept art, animation tests and visual effects from Frozen, an upcoming Disney movie.

“At Disney Interactive we are committed to building new, high-quality storytelling experiences that leverage digital technologies and platforms,” said Disney Interactive Entertainment senior VP Mark L. Walker. “Through the power of the iPad, we are bringing fans closer than ever to their favorite Walt Disney Animation Studio films and the art and technology of making those films. Disney Animated represents a rare moment when innovation, technology and art converge to create an experience that is entirely new.”

MUMBAI: The blackout dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable has shifted from the TV set to the tablet.

In their latest heated exchange, TWC claims that CBS wants to charge higher fees while shortchanging it on digital programming rights that it “has provided to others.”

CBS contends that the cable-TV outfit is aiming to get digital rights for free or inhibit licensing deals with newer online rivals like Netflix and Amazon.

The battle between the two companies, which has left CBS-owned TV stations dark in New York and other cities, underscores how the demand for digital rights, including the ability to watch shows on tablets and other mobile devices, is overshadowing the traditional cable bundle.

On Monday, TWC honcho Glenn Britt offered to end the five-day blackout and pay a higher rate – $2 a month per subscriber, up from $1 now – in exchange for video-on-demand and digital rights to CBS and Showtime programming under the terms of their old contract.

In response, CBS head Les Moonves argued that the terms of the 2008 deal no longer apply.

“Those terms and conditions, better known as rights, were established in 2008,” Moonves wrote in his rebuttal. “That was before the introduction of the iPad. Netflix was still doing little but mailing out DVDs. Amazon was known simply for selling books.”

Moonves wants to protect future digital revenue and doesn‘t want TWC limiting his ability to sell shows such as The Big Bang Theory to whomever he sees fit.

For its part, TWC wants to protect its turf. It doesn‘t want CBS giving Amazon preferential treatment to air shows such as miniseries Under the Dome if it‘s paying huge fees to carry CBS, according to those familiar with the talks.

As one cable executive told The Post, “The program guys want all the Amazon revenue to be incremental, and the cable guys are saying we‘re not doing that anymore. We want to compete and offer the same experience.”

MUMBAI: Sony Music Entertainment has announced new appointments to the US division of their sales team. Celine Joshua has been appointed as senior VP of digital sales and Scott Van Horn has been appointed as senior vice president of sales, commercial group.

“Celine and Scott are both accomplished sales executives. With their strong partner relationships and proven understanding of the industry, we are well positioned for continued success moving forward,” said Sony Music Entertainment executive VP of Sales & Distribution Darren Stupak on the appointments.

Joshua will be responsible for growing Sony‘s business with digital partners, along with managing key digital accounts, and driving digital product development for Sony artists and labels. Prior to joining Sony Music, Joshua worked for Walt Disney Studios and served as head of digital Commerce where she oversaw the global digital platforms for artists from the Disney Music Group. Prior to joining Disney in 2011, she spent over five years at Warner Music Group‘s Rhino Entertainment, where she helped launch the Led Zeppelin catalog globally and oversaw international sales.

Scott Van Horn, who was named senior VP of sales, Commercial Music Group (CMG), will now oversee all aspects of sales for CMG‘s Legacy, catalog, and non-traditional sales businesses. In his new role, Van Horn will work in close coordination with CMG president Richard Story and the CMG senior management team.

Prior to his new appointment, Van Horn served as VP of sales for Legacy where he was responsible for developing and driving retail sales programs for a number of Legacy brand initiatives. Van Horn previously served as director of sales for Universal Music and Video distribution where he managed sales efforts for catalog programs and new catalog releases. He previously held sales roles at DreamWorks‘ music division and Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records.

MUMBAI: Yahoo chief marketing officer Kathy Savitt has announced that it will be introducing a new logo next month.

From 7 August onwards Yahoo will post new logo on its homepage throughout its network in the US for 30 days on Tumblr, @Yahoo (#dailylogo) and on the official Facebook page as well.

Yahoo will be revealing its official logo on 4 September at 9 pm PST (Pacific Time).

Savitt wrote in a press statement that “The new logo will be a modern redesign that‘s more reflective of our re imagined design and new experiences, We also want to preserve the character that is unique to Yahoo! – fun, vibrant, and welcoming – so we‘ll be keeping the color purple, our iconic exclamation point and of course the famous yodel. After all, some things never go out of style.”

MUMBAI: With Delhi under control now, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is focusing increasingly on the other two metros to ensure that all the consumer application forms (CAFs) come in to the MSOs.

Following a meeting held on 2 August with MSOs operating in Mumbai and Kolkata, a decision has been taken that the time for carrots is over, now one needs to use the stick to get customers to get moving on their CAFs. And that stick is like Delhi is switching off their cable TV service, if the CAF is not yet in.

“There will be no further extensions like in the past,” says a senior TRAI official. “In fact, the switch offs have already begun from 3 August. The process for switching off the set top boxes will take at least four to five days because we are talking about a huge number.”

Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar agrees that his network has started switching off subscribers who are being tardy from 3 August. “But the process will be tedious,” he says. “So far, we have managed to collect 80 per cent of the forms duly filled.”

Indiantelevision.com spoke to another three MSOs operating in the financial capital and all of them stated that CAF collection was between 70 and 80 per cent. Going by that yardstick, it appears as if cable TV subscribers don‘t seem to be too disturbed about the stick, as the numbers mentioned by MSOs to indiantelevision.com even a month ago were in that range. Could they be opting for a DTH connection? We do not know, but a media observer, says that it could be a possibility.

The TRAI official says that Kolkata should not expect to be treated with kid‘s gloves. “When Delhi can meet the deadline why not Kolkata?” he questions. “We are sure that Kolkata will be able to meet the 23 August deadline as it does not have any other option.”

Well cable TV operators and subscribers in Kolkata, that‘s as ominous a warning as you can get!