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Tag: Microsoft

  • ALTBalaji partners with Microsoft and Eko India Financial Services to pilot a cloud coordinated content distribution network that saves cellular data

    ALTBalaji partners with Microsoft and Eko India Financial Services to pilot a cloud coordinated content distribution network that saves cellular data

    MUMBAI: Leading homegrown OTT platform, ALTBalaji has announced a consumer benefitting alliance with Microsoft and Indian fintech company, Eko India Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. The association will allow the digital SVOD platform’s subscribers to use Microsoft’s BlendNet technology to download and access ALTBalaji content without consuming large amounts of cellular data.

    BlendNet technology enables videos to be disseminated through a combination of cloud-enabled metadata systems. The file is then transferred onto the recipient’s mobile using peer-to-peer local Wi-Fi, after asking for the necessary permissions from the users. While the creation of this cloud plane might need a data network, the transfer of data will happen over local WiFi. Subscribers will be able to browse through all the content available within the app and get those files offline from nearby EKO retail stores, as well as from other users who have the same content that is being searched for. A subscriber on an average consumes 2-3 episodes per day using 1GB of their data, BlendNet will ensure that bulk data transfers happen locally increasing content consumption amongst its audience. Incase,  the consumer is in a remote region, then BlendNet will postpone the downloading of content till you come to a place where someone else has the same file nearby. This feature serves as a value proposition for ALTBalaji subscribers as they can now access their favourite content even in areas with low internet connectivity without adding any data costs over and above to the subscription cost which is an economical Rs 100 for 3 months and Rs 300 for the annual pack.

    Speaking on the technical association, Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO ALTBalaji and Group COO Balaji Telefilms said, “These technologies enable a large portion of the Indian population to bridge the digital divide and are enabling audiences from India’s heartland to access and participate in the digital revolution. At ALTBalaji it has always been our endeavour to reach out to the masses and enhance our users’ experience through such services, while being affordable. And through this pilot feature, we aim to attract more viewers to our platform from areas with not so good internet connectivity.”

    Dr. Sriram Rajamani, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India, said “It’s inspiring to see new solutions that enable end users across the socio-economic spectrum to access content and data in ways that are cost effective and impactful. Such technologies that combine the cloud with cheap, readily available and seamless connectivity for the end user have the potential to positively impact the lives of millions of people.”

    Meetul Patel, COO, Microsoft India, said, “Technological innovation is a great enabler towards a more digitally connected nation. Microsoft’s BlendNet is a great example of advanced technologies being used to make information and content accessible to all. It leverages the power of the cloud and intelligent edge networks to address gaps in connectivity and reduces the costs of content distribution. We are excited about this partnership which will help many more in India access and experience the benefits of digital content.”

    Commenting on the association, Abhinav Sinha, Co-founder and COO, Eko India Financial Services, said: "Eko is pleased to partner with Microsoft and ALTBalaji on this breakthrough project. It is always our endeavour to enhance brand, customer relationship via access to our platform and our vast network of merchants. This new technology by Microsoft, offered via ALTBalaji, enabled at our merchant outlets, would provide customers quick and direct access to content without consuming data. We believe this win-win partnership will be a welcome service to our business partners and customers. At Eko, we are committed to taking digital products to the masses and help everyone benefit from the digital economy.” 

    With 45 Originals as part of its vast and diverse, multi-genre content library, ALTBalaji continues to entertain audiences like never before. Shows like ‘Apharan,’ ‘Home’ ‘The Test Case’ ‘Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain,’ ‘PuncchBeat’ and the latest being ‘Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala’ have received adulation and accolades aplenty from across the length and breadth of the country.

  • Eros Now partners Microsoft to build next gen online video platform by leveraging Azure

    Eros Now partners Microsoft to build next gen online video platform by leveraging Azure

    MUMBAI: Eros Now, the digital arm of Eros International Plc announced a collaboration with Microsoft  to build a next generation online video platform on Microsoft Azure targeted at better consumer experience. The partnership will also help the latter to expand in the Indian market as it is one of Microsoft’s first forays into India’s crowded digital video space.

    “India is one of the fastest-growing digital entertainment and media markets worldwide, driven by the growth in online video content.  AI and intelligent cloud tools will be the next drivers of the media business and will impact everything from content creation to consumer experience.  We are very excited to work with Eros Now to redefine the online video watching experience for consumers,” Microsoft India president Anant Maheshwari said.

    Using Microsoft Azure and Azure Media Services, Eros will develop a new, intuitive online video platform. The new platform will provide seamless delivery of content for its consumers across geographies and languages, supported by a robust infrastructure including Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN).

    Eros will work to create new interactive voice offerings for consumers, powered by Azure AI tools, including OTT app video search experiences and voice search for video content across 10 Indian languages.

    “The online video market has brought a paradigm shift in the way technology is used and will be used to enhance the customer journey and user experience. We at Eros Now have been the earliest movers in the adoption of technology which is a core strength of the brand. The objective and the goal of this collaboration is to ensure we become the primary innovators for the video business and a gold standard for the others to follow. We have immense respect for Microsoft as a company to help us innovate and pave the path for the next generation of online video,” Eros Digital CEO Rishika Lulla Singh said.

    To increase consumer satisfaction and loyalty, Eros will create an engine to deliver personalised content recommendations for consumers by leveraging its own user data, combined with Azure AI, analytics, Cloud Data Warehousing solutions and Azure Media Services.

    Microsoft, Corp said, “As an innovator in on-demand video, Eros Now has been transforming the way millions of people access and consume content. By using our combined expertise across technology and media, we have an opportunity to build on that foundation and re-imagine entertainment for the rapidly growing audience of digitally-connected consumers in India," Rishika Lulla Singh executive vice president Peggy Johnson said.

  • Disney enters 5-year production, post-production deal with Microsoft

    Disney enters 5-year production, post-production deal with Microsoft

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Studios (Disney) has entered a five-year deal with Microsoft to move key parts of its movie-making and distribution processes to the cloud. Under the new partnership, the initial focus will be on moving some of the studio’s editing to the cloud.

    According to a report from Variety, Disney’s StudioLab, an internal innovation incubation lab, will lead the deal. The ultimate goal is to use Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform all the way “from scene to screen”.

    “There are tons of benefits of being in the cloud,”  Walt Disney Studios chief technology officer Jamie Voris said as quoted by Variety. He also added that cloud-based editing will allow Walt Disney Studios to more easily collaborate across multiple locations. He explained that working collaboratively on the same project in the cloud will also cut down the need to store and administer many different copies of a file.

    “It really feels like we are at the tipping point for cloud in media and entertainment,” said Microsoft US president Kate Johnson. "We like to think of us as the platform cloud for media and entertainment,” she added further. Disney opted for Microsoft because other cloud competitors weren't as focused on the media space. 

  • Jio and Microsoft announce alliance to accelerate digital transformation in India

    Jio and Microsoft announce alliance to accelerate digital transformation in India

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, and Microsoft Corp. are embarking on a unique, comprehensive, long-term strategic relationship aimed at accelerating the digital transformation of the Indian economy and society. This 10-year commitment combines the world-class capabilities of both companies to offer a detailed set of solutions comprising connectivity, computing, storage solutions, and other technology services and applications essential for Indian businesses and will span the broad Reliance Industries ecosystem including its existing and new businesses.

    In combining efforts, Jio and Microsoft aim to enhance the adoption of leading technologies like data analytics, AI, cognitive services, blockchain, Internet of Things, and edge computing among small and medium enterprises to make them ready to compete and grow, while helping accelerate technology-led GDP growth in India and driving adoption of next-gen technology solutions at scale.

    As part of this new agreement:

    1. Jio will provide its internal workforce with cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools available with Microsoft 365 and will migrate its non-network applications to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

    2. Jio’s connectivity infrastructure that aims to connect everyone, everything, everywhere will promote the adoption of the Microsoft Azure cloud platform within its growing ecosystem of startups, as part of Jio’s cloud-first strategy.

    3. Jio will set up datacenters in locations across India, consisting of next-generation compute, storage and networking capabilities, and Microsoft will deploy its Azure platform in these datacenters to support Jio’s offerings. The initial two datacenters, which can house IT equipment consuming up to 7.5 MW of power, are being set up in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. These are targeted to be fully operational in calendar year 2020.

    4. Jio will leverage the Microsoft Azure cloud platform to develop innovative cloud solutions focused on the needs of Indian businesses. Through these Jio-developed solutions:

    Indian startups will have access to efficient and affordable cloud infrastructure and platform services, enabling them to develop innovative products and services faster and more cost-effectively.

    Small and medium businesses in India will have access to a range of cloud-based productivity, collaboration and business applications including Office 365, enabling them to compete more effectively in the Indian marketplace.

    Large companies will be able to accelerate their own digital transformations by leveraging new Jio solutions that can work with Microsoft offerings already in use today within many large enterprises.

    The partner ecosystem in India will have the opportunity to leverage Jio’s new offerings to serve the unique needs of their customers and rapidly grow their businesses.

    5. Jio will be executing on its vision of integrated speech and computer vision solutions for Indian customers by working together with Microsoft to develop solutions that support major Indian languages and dialects, which will promote the adoption of technology across all cross-sections of Indian society.

    “Jio is delighted to partner with Microsoft in our efforts to further deepen the use of technology on scale to all Indians,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries. “This is a unique and first-of-its-kind partnership that brings the capabilities of two large companies focused on creating significant value to Indian enterprises — small and large. By working together to develop innovative and affordable cloud-enabled digital solutions built around Jio’s world-class digital infrastructure and Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, we will accelerate the digitization of the Indian economy and make Indian businesses globally competitive. This will be a showcase to the world to demonstrate tech-enabled value creation that is both exponential and inclusive.”

    “We have an incredible opportunity to apply advances in technology to help organizations across India innovate and grow,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “The combination of Jio’s leading connectivity and digital solutions with Azure, Azure AI and Office 365 will bring powerful tools and platforms for compute, storage, productivity and more to millions of businesses in the country.”

  • Prasar Bharati CEO on convergence and public b’casting

    Prasar Bharati CEO on convergence and public b’casting

    MUMBAI: Prasar Bharati’s CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati, while dwelling on convergence and its relevance to India’s pubcaster, opined that it was important to understand the changes happening in terms of media consumption and distribution to evolve and plan for the future ahead.  

    “As a public broadcaster, we really have to face these forces of convergence if we have to transform ourselves for the next decade and beyond. Historically, our work force was trained to operate in the world of broadcast engineering and now they have to make the shift to digital and information technology,” Vempati said, adding why it was important for his colleagues to think “digital first” in terms of creation, packaging and presentation.

    Dwelling on the convergence happening at various levels of the Indian media and entertainment sector, Vempati said it was happening at three levels — at the consumer consumption level, platform and distribution level and regulatory level.

    “The convergence at the consumer level is way ahead of both the platforms and regulatory frameworks,” he stressed while delivering an address at the CII Big Picture Summit 2019 at New Delhi yesterday.

    According to Vempati, while the industry debated convergence and its pros and cons, the consumer was embracing the trend without a fuss, adapting to the various ways of consumption of the media.  

    Analysing the effect of these changes from a pubcaster’s point of view, he said Prasar Bharati was looking at the immediate outcome of the transformation on how content is discovered, measured and, more importantly, monetised.

    Without mincing words, he admitted that the content industry was today kind of trapped in a binary outlook where content monetisation was restricted to either advertising revenue or driven by subscription.

    Giving an example of consumer embracement of convergence, Vempati said Prime Minister Modi’s `Mann Ki Baat’ (Thoughts from the PM) was a prime example of convergence of technology. It is heard not only on All India Radio, which remains a primary source of dissemination of such messages but also consumed online and on traditional television.

    Dwelling on the reach of media — electronic and online — Vempati said, on one hand, there was linear TV, which is measured with set sample panels, and on the other hand there was the digital platform where measurement happened real time. On the issue of audience measurement, he said, TRAI has recently issued a consultation on how there was a need to re-think audience measurement. “So, I think there is another area of transformation that is likely to happen in the near future,” he added.

    On the topic of audience measurement and its fallout on ad revenues for TV channels, Vempati said experience has highlighted that the consumer wants a more flexible pricing model, especially when popular programmes like cricket matches are telecast by private sector TV channels, which demand that the consumer pays to watch.

    There is a need to look at a combination pricing model, which enables consumers to watch popular programmes, including sporting events, at a comparatively lower price or on FTA platforms like Doordarshan.

    “As a public broadcaster one of the greatest learning for me has been that if you have quality content there is an audience for it,” Vempati said giving an example of Rajya Sabha TV, a parliamentary news channel that is not actively marketed and promoted, but has over a million followers online.

    The pubcaster has not spent a dime advertising it anywhere and it is not even measured by BARC India, but on YouTube Rajya Sabha TV has a following that’s legion simply because of quality content it produces, Vempati said.

    Emphasising how technology and pubcasting can merge to deliver useful services, Vempati gave the example of a pilot project undertaken by Doordarshan in Bengaluru, in association with private sector players like Microsoft, to deliver to government-run schools educational programmes on DD’s digital terrestrial network that was lying under-utilised.

    “It’s a great example of convergence and transformation,” Prasar Bharati CEO said, adding that it also meant regulatory framework had a lot of catching to do as policy-makers viewed broadcasting and telecom services in silos, which is not the case now.

  • Twitter appoints Rahul Pushkarna as head of content partnership, APAC

    Twitter appoints Rahul Pushkarna as head of content partnership, APAC

    MUMBAI: Rahul Pushkarna has been appointed as head of content partnership, APAC at Twitter. He confirmed his appointment through Twitter.

    Before this, Pushkarna worked with Sony Pictures Entertainment as director, sales development, Asia. Pushkarna was also the head, digital distribution and licensing, India and Southeast Asia at 21st Century Fox before Sony.

    Previously, he has also worked with Microsoft, NBC Universal Media and HSBC.

  • Star India, Microsoft, Anil Kumble redefine fan engagement with real-time bat stats

    Star India, Microsoft, Anil Kumble redefine fan engagement with real-time bat stats

    MUMBAI: With the support of Star India and Microsoft, Anil Kumble’s technology startup, Spektacom Technologies, introduced the latest cricketing innovation – the power bat on 11 October 2018. The technology is powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud platform using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) services. The technology provides players, coaches, commentators, fans and viewers with a completely new and unique way to engage with the sport and help improve their game.

    The Power Bat is a unique concept whereby a lightweight, Azure Sphere-powered sticker is stuck on the shoulder of the bat — a form factor that is completely unobtrusive.  

    Microsoft has been working closely with Spektacom and its founder Anil Kumble, former Indian captain, to incubate and launch the product, as part of its Scale up program. Star India has used the technology successfully in recent series to provide real-time statistics and insights straight off the oval.

    Microsoft executive VP Peggy Johnson said, “We’re excited to be a part of the work Spektacom and Star India are doing to enhance the cricket experience for fans, players and coaches. We’ve already seen the impact that connected devices have had in other industries, and we believe that with the advancements in our AI and cloud services, this is just the beginning of what’s possible for not only cricket but all sports.” 

    Star India senior vice-president Sanjog Gupta said, “All analytics are tools for storytelling and stories are what we engage fans with, more the stories, deeper the engagement. This technology can be used for other sports like football, kabaddi and maybe even other racket sports or where a bat is involved.

    In a live match, as soon as the batsman hits the ball, data on different parameters (speed on impact, twist on impact and quality of the shot — percentage proximity of the ball’s contact to the sweet spot of the willow) are captured in a new unit of measurement titled Power Speks. Microsoft’s Azure Sphere ensures that the data is securely captured and processed.

    As the stats will be detailed, every fan will get to see the analysis as the feed will not only be restricted to Star Sports Select but will also be on all the Star Sports channels.     

    Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta said, “Star India has always strived to redefine and elevate experiences for sports fans. From multi-language feeds and Select Dugout to VR and Watch n’ Play, the coverage of Vivo IPL demonstrates our commitment toward creating new benchmarks in how technology is deployed to deepen fan engagement. The Power Bat promises to be another step in the same direction, and we look forward to the partnership with Anil Kumble (Spektacom) and Microsoft in bringing it to our broadcasts.”

    Kumble said, “Our vision is to bring sports closer to fans through interesting ways of engagement using real-time sports analytics. At the same time, it is important that the technologies used are seamless and do not disrupt the game or obstruct the players. With Microsoft, we have been able to create a secure and effective solution, and with Star India, we have a partner that can stimulate and excite fan engagement.”

    Microsoft believes in leveraging its technology and its people to help sports teams and organisations solve their toughest challenges. By leveraging the company’s intelligent cloud and productivity solutions, sports organisations worldwide are connecting with fans, optimising team and player performance, and managing their operations in new, innovative ways.

  • LinkedIn crosses 50 million user mark in India

    LinkedIn crosses 50 million user mark in India

    MUMBAI: For all the tech giants, India is becoming a high potential market very fast. Microsoft-owned professional networking platform LinkedIn has crossed the 50 million user mark in the country. The company which rolled out in 2009 had only 3.4 million users then, whereas now India is the second largest market globally.

    “Our members-first, localised approach has helped us cross the 50-million mark in India. We are at the beginning of an exciting journey, as we democratise opportunity for every member of the Indian workforce,” LinkedIn country manager and international product head Akshay Kothari said.

    The company has doubled its user base in the last four years on the platform. In future, the company will continue to focus on students, career starters, and professionals, beyond knowledge workers.

    For localisation of the platform, the company took several initiatives. In 2016, it launched the LinkedIn Lite website targeted for areas where internet connection is slow. The company has come up with an app version of LinkedIn Lite for Android users also.  

  • Prime Focus Technologies and microsoft forge a pivotal partnership to lead the Media & Entertainment industry to the cloud

    Prime Focus Technologies and microsoft forge a pivotal partnership to lead the Media & Entertainment industry to the cloud

    MUMBAI: Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) has partnered with Microsoft to further strengthen its flagship CLEARTM Hybrid Cloud-enabled Media ERP Suite. CLEAR handles 1.5 M hours of content, and its extensive domain knowledge combined with Microsoft’s powerful Azure Cloud Services will create an intelligent, media-savvy cloud solution. The depth and breadth of this collaboration is designed to create new revenue streams for PFT by enabling it to develop new products and services for the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry. PFT selected Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud hosting platform to best implement CLEAR across geographies with extreme reliability, scalability, performance, and global accessibility powered by Microsoft.

    “We are seeing an explosion in the creation and consumption of media across platforms around the world. PFT has been offering global media brands the platform to manage their value chain from development to distribution to archiving. By leveraging Azure, PFT’s is positioned to deliver even more innovative, scalable solutions through Microsoft’s global, secure, reliable cloud infrastructure and advanced AI services”, said Meetul Patel, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft India.

    With traditional revenues shrinking and costs increasing on the back of digital endeavours, this partnership will enable content owners to quickly and easily leverage the efficiencies, flexibility, and agility that the cloud provides-made possible by PFT’s flexible approach to virtualising business processes, content supply chain, and vision to build a connected enterprise. Microsoft Azure also enables innovation by the companies around new media workflows, new operational capabilities and, new business opportunities.      

    The foundation of the alliance begins with the immediate migration of all consolidated data storage to Azure for uninterrupted service, before the migration of core CLEARTM Media ERP to Azure coupled with Microsoft’s Cognitive Services. In addition, the companies will work in close cooperation on the overall go-to-market approach, which will help clients migrate to the cloud easily and more cost-effectively.

    “Increasing accessibility and time to market for content creators is a necessity in today’s fierce and rapidly developing M&E industry. Our flagship product, CLEARTM Media ERP on Microsoft Azure will help M&E companies manage the content supply chain efficiently and create more time for the creative process by truly tapping into automation by CLEAR and agility of Azure,” said Ramki Sankaranarayanan, Co-founder and CEO, PFT.       

    Combined with a full spectrum of capabilities and extensive media services available through 42 Azure regions across the globe-more than any other major cloud provider—Azure is exceptionally positioned to meet the needs of media enterprises and creative professionals around the globe. CLEAR allows M&E organizations to manage workflow orchestrations across the entire content supply chain on one system. It lays the foundation for streamlining content operations and helps M&E players enhance efficiencies across core processes like Acquisition, Review and Approval, Cataloguing, QC, Mastering, Distribution, Promos, and Localization. This exclusive capability by PFT will usher in extreme transparency across the content lifecycle, help automate business processes and lower Total Cost of Operations for M&E enterprises.

  • Millionlights to provide open source education via YuppTV

    Millionlights to provide open source education via YuppTV

    MUMBAI: Millionlights, a content provider, has struck an alliance with YuppTV, an OTT provider, to foster open source education.

    Participants would be able to learn through the Millionlights exclusive TV channel on OTT platform YuppTV. On the Millionlights portal, participants can also access the channel on YuppTV through mobile, TV and desktop.

    Millionlights will offer access to their premium content which includes – live lectures, webinars, career guidance, and latest tech reviews etc. Certification will help learners to advance their skills and prepare for jobs in today’s digital world.

    Millionlights CEO Akshat Shrivastava said, “The partnership is a step to strengthen our capability to reach millions of users who do not have access to the best educational content.”

    Millionlights has partnerships with Microsoft, RedHat, CompTIA, Saylor and other leading Indian and foreign universities for their content.