ITV

Category: Television

  • Apple integrates the iPod in US automobiles

    Apple integrates the iPod in US automobiles

    MUMBAI: Apple has teamed up with Ford, General Motors and Mazda in the US to deliver seamless iPod integration across the majority of their brands and models.

    This makes it easy for iPod users to enjoy and control their iPod’s high-quality sound through their car’s stereo system. With the addition of these models, more than 70 per cent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration.

    Apple VP worldwide iPod product marketing Greg Joswiak says, “We are delighted that Ford, General Motors and Mazda will support iPod connectivity in nearly all of their new models. Now more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration, with General Motors alone making it available on all 56 of its models, representing millions of cars and trucks.”

    Ford and General Motors will feature iPod integration in the majority of their 2007 models in the US beginning later this year, while Mazda’s entire global 2007 lineup of cars and SUVs will offer iPod connectivity. iPod offerings for Ford, General Motors and Mazda provide drivers with outstanding sound quality while charging the iPod, while conveniently storing the iPod in the glove compartment. Seamless iPod integration also allows drivers to use their car’s multifunction controls to select their music using artist, album, playlist or shuffle songs, as well as to easily skip between tracks and playlists.

    Apple says that the iPod and iTunes are leading the digital music revolution, providing the best way to listen to music on the go, at home and in the car.

  • Janmat Shows Train Searchlight on Issues and Leaders

    WATCH DOG
    JANMAT, India’s first 24 hour Views channel carries on its crusade to have responsible politicians and leaders, cleaner politics and society and social reforms that improve the lives of the underprivileged.

     

    In the hard-hitting show ‘Watch Dog’, on air on Thursday 23rd February at 9.30 p.m., the JANMAT team focuses on criminals who dabble in politics and the growing political- criminal nexus. In the story of gang wars in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, the discussion is about the deaths of four political leaders including Raju Pal who got killed over a year in the ongoing political-criminal battle. Raju Pal died in January 2005, Shiv Sagar got killed in February, BSP Leader Niranjan Pasi and Samajvadi party Leader Mobin were murdered.

     

    Veiled political patronage makes it impossible for the police and administration to nab the murderers. As a city, Allahabad is in the grip of criminal politics and the citizens also are sucked into the vortex of crime. College and university students are often trapped in these gang wars. As the gang wars continue and Assembly elections knock on Uttar Pradesh’s door, the ongoing gang wars may turn into a bloodbath.

     

    AAP KA NETA

    Every Monday at 9.30 p.m., ‘Aap Ka Neta’ on JANMAT meets one Member of Parliament. The aim is to acquaint ourselves with our Parliament representatives and find some replies to thoughtful questions.

     

    On Monday, 27th February, catch Sandeep Dixit, Member of Parliament from New Delhi (East) and also son of Chief Minister of New Delhi Sheila Dixit.

     

    Involved in the social development sector before he joined politics, Mr Dixit schooled at Modern school and St. Stephens. Committed to social welfare, he joined the reputed NGO Seva Mandir in Udaipur where he served for several years. Later he founded his own NGO Sanket in Bhopal. In all, he has spent 15 years serving various social sectors and through his entry into politics he is a carrying across a familial legacy. After being elected a MP, Mr Dixit has initiated several development project in his constituency; among them is the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Hospital.

  • Nikhil crowned as ‘Airtel Super Singer’ on Vijay TV

    Nikhil crowned as ‘Airtel Super Singer’ on Vijay TV

    MUMBAI: The wait is over and Nikhil Mathew from Chennai was crowned as the Airtel Super Singer by popular singer S.P. Balasubramaniam. He was prized with a Maruti Swift car, and a trophy apart from the grand opportunity of singing for music director Harris Jeyaraj.

    Vijay TV launched Airtel Super Singer in the month of April 2006 with the motive of finding the one unique voice out of 6.5 crore Tamilians. The grand prize for the winner is an opportunity to sing for Music Director Harris Jeyraj in his forthcoming film.

    Auditions were conducted across the entire state of Tamilnadu targeting three major zones, viz., Kovai, Madurai and Chennai. The mode of entry of participants for the audition was through CD’s and cassettes, Airtel registration, and also on spot registrations.

    The judges’ panel for the initial ground auditions was constituted by personalities in the music industry such as, singers Malaysia Vasudevan, S.P. Sailaja, Jensi, Dr. Seergazhi Siva Chidambaram and music director D.Imman, Singer Malathi and singer Mahathi. These judges short-listed the candidates in various zones to proceed to the next level of the competitions held in Chennai, informs an official release.

    The next levels of competition saw the participants going through a series of extensive rounds testing their skills in music. These levels were judged by a special panel of judges constituting playback singers Anuradha Sriram, Srinivas and Unnikrishnan, who follow the progress of the participants through their journey in Super Singer. Singer Chinmayi anchored the show, the release adds.

    Anitha was announced as the viewer’s choice, as she had got the maximum number of votes and awarded a trophy and a Laptop. The jury award was given to Somya Mahadevan who participated in the show and was given a trophy and an E-Go electric bike. Sowmya has had classical music training for the past 5 years. She is a student of Meenakshi College, Kodambakkam.

  • Ten Sports to air WWE’s Great American Bash

    Ten Sports to air WWE’s Great American Bash

    4th August: WWE’s Great American Bash is set to explode on to TV screens across the country when Ten Sports airs exclusive coverage on Sunday, 6th August 2006 at 6.30 pm.

    The highlight of the evening is sure to be Rey Mysterio’s defence of the World Heavyweight Championship against King Booker. The diminutive Mysterio is the most unlikely of Champions and is bound to face a stiff challenge from the experienced and much larger Booker. But Mysterio has faced up to just as daunting challenges before and prevailed and his agility and speed will undoubtedly force the challenger to dig deep if he is to claim the title.

    The evening gets underway with WWE Tag Team Champions Brian Kendrick and Paul London taking on The Pitbulls. The Champions will have reason to worry as both have been defeated by the Pitbulls in individual match ups in recent weeks and they will have to rely on their superior teamwork to get them through.

    Next up will be United States Champion Finlay who faces the challenge of William Regal and this is followed by Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms up against Matt Hardy.

    The fourth match up on the card sees something completely new for WWE with the introduction of The Punjabi Prison Match between Undertaker and The Great Khali.

    The structure these two fighters have to find a way out of is made up of two imposing bamboo prisons and only a perilous exit out and they have to escape whilst fending off their formidable opponent.

    It’s a four way Bra and Panties match next with Ashley, Kristal, Michelle McCool and Jillian battling against each other to the delight of all the male fans.

    After six months away Batista will be looking to unleash his wrath on Mr Kennedy. The animal of the ring will have added frustration built up as he was originally expecting to fight Mark Henry, the man who caused his forced absence all those months ago.

    And then to wrap things up it’s the battle for the Heavyweight World Championship when King Booker hopes to finally get his hand on the coveted belt.

    ABOUT TEN SPORTS: Only launched in April 2002, Taj TV’s Ten Sports is watched by more viewers than any other sports channel in the sub-continent and is available in nearly 50 million cable/ satellite households worldwide. Ten Sports is the world’s biggest producers of cricket. The Channel broadcasts cricket from Sharjah, the West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Morocco throughout the Indian sub-continent and Asia, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. Other cricket properties broadcast by Ten Sports in certain territories include internationals from India, the World Cup 2003 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2004.

    FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TEN SPORTS PROGRAMMES, CONTACT:

    Murtuza Madraswala – Taj Television India Pvt Ltd, 403 Manish Commercial Complex, Dr. A.B. Road, Mumbai, India. Tel no: +91 22 6662 3101; Fax no: +91 22 6662 629; Email: murtuzam@tajtv.com or visit www.tensports.com

  • Alfred Haber to distribute Madonna’s London tour

    Alfred Haber to distribute Madonna’s London tour

    MUMBAI: Alfred Haber, who founded Alfred Haber Distribution (AHDI), has announced that the company has been selected as the international distributor for the two hour Madonna: The Cconfessions Tour Live From London, which will premiere on US broadcaster NBC on 22 November.

    The special was taped this summer at Wembley Arena in London, UK during Madonna¹s worldwide sold-out 25-city Confessions Tour. It marks the first-ever broadcast network programme by this international musical icon.

    Haber says, ” 2006 has definitely been the Year of Madonna. With her top-rated Confessions On A Dance Floor album, her sold-out Confessions World Tour and now her first-ever U.S. Network special, we are delighted to be offering this musical superstar to her fans around the world.”

    The concert special will feature songs from the artist’s albym Confessions On A Dance Floor which debuted at No. 1 in 29 countries and has sold over eight million copies around the globe.
    The broadcast will also include some of Madonna’s greatest hits from her career, including Future Lovers, Like A Virgin, Music, Erotica, La Isla Bonita, Ray of Light and Live To Tell.

  • ‘Ghoom’ to premier on MTV on17 June

    ‘Ghoom’ to premier on MTV on17 June

    After a successful few weeks at the box office, ‘Ghoom’, MTV’s first film will premier on the channel on June 17, 2006 at 8 pm. Produced under the banner of MTV Fully Faltoo Films, this 45-minute comedy-action flick will have you rolling on the floor – we promise!

     

    ‘Ghoom’, with its wickedly twisted comic plot has a stellar cast comprising Sumeet Raghavan known for his role in ‘Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’, Ajay Gehi of ‘Maqbool’ fame, Gaurav Kapoor, who’s done shows like ‘Dil Kya Chahta Hai’ along with Benika and Purbi Joshi. With talent like that, the plot is far from simple – it’s a laugh-a-second rollercoaster that is packed with hilarious detailing round every corner with incredibly funny cops-and-robbers chases, absurd wardrobe changes and silly romantic scenes … need we go on?

     

    ‘Ghoom’ is about this super-cop (read as blooper-cop) who wants to nab a gang of 5 biker thieves, who also double up as pizza delivery guys, to hide their real vocation. Being the fast-ones-on-fast machines, they always escape our super-cop. So, bullying someone (who is as fast as them), into joining him seems the only option left for our super-cop, to be able to foil their next robbery. Thus enters this mechanic, who turns out to be a bigger idiot than the cop. The mega robbery (that’s supposed to happen at a well known dance bar) finally turns into a riot of idiotic incidents.

     

    So, watch out for ‘Ghoom’…only on MTV! Enjoy!

  • Bharti Airtel among the top 10 best performing companies in the world according to BusinessWeek IT 100 list

    Bharti Airtel ranks ahead of Motorola (Rank 11), Google (Rank 13), Microsoft (Rank 37), Hewlett Packard (Rank 44), and Oracle (Rank 51)

    New Delhi, June 25, 2006: Bharti Airtel Limited has created history by being ranked among the top 10 best performing companies in the world in the globally renowned BusinessWeek IT 100 list. Bharti Airtel, which is described by BusinessWeek in the report as a “highly innovative company”, improves its ranking to 10 from last year’s ranking of 19.

     

    Bharti Airtel is the only Indian company in the top 10 list. Bharti Airtel has ranked ahead of companies like Motorola (Rank 11), Google (Rank 13), Microsoft (Rank 37), Hewlett Packard (Rank 44) and Oracle (Rank 51)

     

    Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Limited said, “It has always been our endeavour to create a world-class organization that provides best in class services. We are proud to be up there with the very best in the world. This has been made possible by the unrelenting efforts of the entire team at Bharti Airtel.”

     

    The companies selected by BusinessWeek were ranked on four criteria: return on equity, revenue growth, and shareholder return (given equal weight), and total revenues (which was weighted).

     

     

    About Bharti Airtel Limited

     

    Bharti Airtel Limited is one of India’s leading private sector providers of telecommunications services with an aggregate of over 23.29 million customers as of end of May ‘06, consisting of more than 21.86 million mobile customers. The Company was the first private operator to provide mobile services in all the 23 circles in India. The Company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 15 circles. The Company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance services. The Company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The Company is a part of the consortium, which jointly owns and has developed the next generation undersea cable system SEA-ME-WE-4. The Company provides reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers by leveraging its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. For more information, visit http://www.bhartiairtel.in

     

    For further information, please contact:
    Deeba Ali/ Niraj Sharma / Garima Misra
    Rediffusion | DYR – Public Relations
    M: 9810509973/ 9810093472 / 9899163353

  • Comcast SportsNet garners 16 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award nominations

    Comcast SportsNet garners 16 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award nominations

    MUMBAI: Comcast SportsNet bagged 16 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award nominations. The awards recognise excellence in news, programming and individual achievement in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

    “I am extremely proud of everyone here at Comcast SportsNet. As a regional sports network, we are honored to be nominated for Overall Station Excellence. This nomination is a true testament to the depth and versatility that our staff, here at the network, demonstrates every day on the air and behind the scenes,” said Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia senior vice president and general manager Stephanie Smith.

    Comcast SportsNet was nominated for Overall Station Excellence, a new category as well as “SportsNite” for Outstanding Sports – Regularly Scheduled Daily or Weekly Program, which captured the honor the past two years. Comcast SportsNet also received nominations for Philadelphia 76ers game coverage in the Outstanding Live Sports Coverage/Series category as well as numerous nominations for Craft Achievement.

    The Emmy Awards will be presented on 9 September at the Mid- Atlantic Awards Gala in Philadelphia. All entries are judged outside the chapter’s region by panels of television industry peers with expertise in a given category who are working in comparable television markets across the country.

  • Sify slashes call rates to Gulf

    Sify slashes call rates to Gulf

    Mumbai, India, May 17, 2006 Sify Limited (Nasdaq: SIFY), a leader in Consumer Internet and Enterprise Services in India with global delivery capabilities announced new Internet call rates for Gulf from the Sify Talk Net phone services at iWay and Telecenters.

    The new call rates to the Gulf are priced at Rs.4.99 per minute for Riyadh and Jeddah, Rs.5.99 per minute to Kuwait, Rs 6.99 to Bahrain and Dhahran and Rs 8.99 to The UAE and the rest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Call rates to China & Russia have also been slashed to Rs4.99/min across India.

    Mr. Sushil Luniya, Vice President, Access Media, Sify Ltd said, “As pioneers in Net Telephony, our objective has been to make it affordable and give a higher quality user experience. The lower call rates are a testimony to that”.

    With these new rates, Sify now offers the most economical prices for Internet calls from India. The user experience at an iWay & Telecenter is truly world-class with an easy to use pay phone booth including billing and display mechanism.

    Sify offers International Voice services across 1700+ Sify iWay cyber cafes in India. Each cafe has an air-conditioned Net phone booth, which provides both privacy and comfort to the caller. The Sify Talk International Net phone call service user experience is one of a kind as Sify manages all calls over its MPLS based network for clarity of voice and reduced latency- at half the cost of an ISD call enabling users to now speak more often, as well as longer.

    About Sify Limited:

    Sify is among the largest Internet, network and e-Commerce services companies in India, offering end-to-end solutions with a comprehensive range of products delivered over a common Internet backbone infrastructure. This Internet backbone reaches 171 cities and towns in India. A significant part of the company’s revenue is derived from Corporate Services, which include corporate connectivity, network and communications solutions, security, network management services and hosting. A host of blue chip customers use Sify’s corporate service offerings. Consumer services include broadband home access, dial up connectivity and the iWay cyber café chain across 153 cities and towns. The company’s network services, data center operations and customer relationship management are accredited ISO 9001:2000.

    For more information about Sify, visit www.sifycorp.com.

    Forward Looking Statements:
    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Sify undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements.

    For a discussion of the risks associated with Sify’s business, please see the discussion under the caption “Risks Related to Our Business” in the company’s report on Form 6-K for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 which has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and is available by accessing the database maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.

    For further information please contact:
    Mr. David Appasamy
    Investor Relations
    Sify Limited
    91-44-2254 0770 Ext. 2013
    Email: david_appasamy@sifycorp.com

    Mr. Fauzan Rahim
    Image Manager
    Perfect Relations – Mumbai
    Ph: 91-22- 2436 7155 / 039
    Email: frahim@perfectrealtions.com

  • ‘Barnyard’ uses Sun Technology for computer-generated animation

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon Movies‘ computer-animated movie Barnyard, distributed by Paramount Pictures, features complex computer-generated animation that required unique and creative solutions from Sun Microsystems Inc.
     
    The film is Nickelodeon‘s most challenging animated film to date and features vast landscapes with vivid details, realistic shading and lighting, and scenes that incorporate more than 200 characters that move with surprising fluidity.


    Leveraging a rendering farm based on Sun Fire servers and Sun StorageTek data management systems, Barnyard‘s artists were able to quickly identify incomplete scenes, make necessary edits, and manage finished shots. The complex scenes were executed using 64-bit computing solutions from Sun that revolutionised how computer-generated imagery (CGI) is created and managed.


    “With a state-of-the-art computer-animated movie like Barnyard, a seamless interaction between the technology and artist is essential to make the characters come to life. Sun raised the bar by providing the only solutions that met this challenge and exceeded business expectations,” said Barnyard executive producer Aaron Parry.


    “We were thrilled that Sun was able to come up with a solution for us. Steve Oedekerk had some very specific and complex ideas that he wanted to see up on the screen, and Sun was integral in helping Steve and his team realize them,” said Barnyard executive producer Julia Pistor.


    Sun provided a 620-node server farm and storage solution that was crucial in the completion of the complex animation required. The solution is based on Sun Fire x64 enterprise servers powered by AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect Architecture, and 100-terabyte Sun StorageTek 3510 and 3511 FC arrays and a Sun StorageTek tape library for online storage and backup of shot files and other movie assets.


    Sun Customer Ready Systems helped migrate the production from its previous 32-bit render farm, and then configured, assembled and tested the new Sun render farm for the production. In addition, Sun provided continuous on-site consultation and support to the Barnyard production team.


    Barnyard‘s producers believe their Sun solution may represent the first time a studio has relied entirely upon 64-bit technology to render a full-length animated movie.


    “Animated movies are evolving rapidly, demanding more and more lifelike characters and scenes that are challenging artists, directors and the technology industry to create better CGI in faster and easier ways. Sun is excited to meet these challenges with our expanded product line and range of service offerings,” said Sun‘s x64 product line business driver Pradeep Parmar.