Tag: Samsung

NBCUniversal’s PictureBox gets UK relaunch

MUMBAI: NBCUniversal has started offering its movie video on demand (VOD) service PictureBox Films direct to consumers in the UK and Ireland following a redesign and rebrand of the platform.

With the relaunch, customers can directly access 60 films on their PC, Samsung Smart TVs and iOS and Android mobile devices for ?4.99 a month. Titles will be refreshed every week. The lineup includes The Eagle, The American, Bridget Jones‘ Diary, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Jarhead and The Bourne Identity.

PictureBox first rolled out in the UK in 2006 in conjunction with various pay TV partners and is still accessible via Virgin Media, TalkTalk, BT Vision and Top Up TV. The service is also accessible in Poland, Russia, Latin America, Brazil and Singapore via local platform providers.

June 17, 2013
Samsung supposedly working on CableCard video set top box

MUMBAI: Samsung is planning to bring to the market a new Smart Media Player set top box with a CableCard slot for traditional subscription video services and a broadband connection for over-the-top (OTT) streaming video services, according to a recent filing with the FCC.

The device is slated for a summer release, though no other launch details have been confirmed since the filing still has to meet FCC approval.

TiVo already makes a DVR set top box with CableCard that covers both traditional TV and OTT video, and actually requested the same allowance from the FCC previously, but the governing body has yet to make a ruling.

The FCC stipulated new rules in December 2012 that allows cable operators to add basic tiers to their all-digital systems. Samsung‘s proposed media player would apparently include a QAM digital tuner, but not an analog one. The company cites fall in demand now that cable operators are almost fully digital as its reason. Adding analog tuners to conform to the FCC rules would make the device more expensive because of power requirements and other factors.

Samsung hopes the FCC can expedite the waiver to enable the company to launch the box this summer. Since TiVo also petitioned for a similar change, it might give the regulatory body the chance to broaden the scope of the waiver so as to cover CableCard-enabled devices in one fell swoop.

Eager to get the device to market, Samsung issued a statement: “If Samsung cannot provide Smart Media Players to retailers by the end of the summer, it risks losing the opportunity to obtain any shelf space in 2013, including during the all-important holiday season. This would delay consumer access to the Smart Media Player until early in 2014, an unnecessary wait that would be unfair to consumers and serve no purpose.”

May 30, 2013
Havas Media swallows Simmtronics tablet account

MUMBAI: It’s another win for Havas Media India. Last night, the agency announced that it had been signed on to manage the media business of Simmtronics Semiconductors, the third ranked tablet maker in the world.

The Indian tablet market has been seeing some uber competition with the likes of Micromax, Samsung, Apple, doing battle to capture the rupee from the customer’s wallet. Simmtronics has kept a media spend of Rs 50 crore for Havas Media to help get its products and noticed by consumers.

Says Simmtronics managing director Indrajit Sabharwal: “We have very aggressive plans for the year and wanted a like-minded partner on board. It was a tough fight between equally competent agencies. Havas Media’s response, the understanding of our brief, the customized media solution recommended and their huge passion for our business was something we were looking for. We are pleased to have them as our partner and are sure they will contribute significantly to our business growth.”

“The Havas knowledge of the Mobile and Telecom industry was impressive. Moreover they have worked with prominent brands, know how to build a brand amid the clutter today and how to position it appropriately”, adds Simmtronics brand manager Smarth Bansal.

“It is a great win and further consolidates Havas Media’s position in India. It is also a very interesting category and we look forward to working with them,” says an ecstatic Anita Nayyar, CEO Havas Media Group India and South Asia.

Adds Havas Media India managing director Mohit Joshi: “The past two quarters have been good for Havas with many new business aquisitions. With this win, we are very hopeful of keeping up this momentum through this quarter as well.”

Simmtronics had recently announced a partnership with HCL subsidiary Digilife Distribution & Marketing Services Ltd (DDMS), a 100% subsidiary of HCL Infosystems, to further the distribution of its tablets in India. As part of that Digilife was assigned to reach out the tablets to teleshopping channels and chain stores across India, apart from other outlets.

May 21, 2013
Agnello Dias among Fast Company’s 100 most creative people in business 2013

MUMBAI: US-based Fast Company Magazine has named Taproot India co-founder and chief creative officer Agnello Dias as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2013.

Ranked 59th in the coveted list that covers famous personalities from across the globe, Dias has been described as ‘India’s most decorated (and progressive) adman,’ by the magazine.

This year’s list of 100 Most Creative People spans entertainment to medicine, fashion to technology, academia to social enterprise; companies from Foursquare to Samsung to Starbuck; locations from the Mideast to the sub-Sahara.

This year has been an outstanding year in terms of creative achievements for Taproot India. While the creative boutique walked away with over 18 metals at the Goafest this year, it was named creative agency of the year at the Adfest 2013, Thailand. Further, the Gunn Report 2012 ranked the agency as the number one creative agency in India.

Dias said, “I am quite thrilled on hearing this actually, because while buried in work one normally tends to use only the advertising and marketing fields as reference points. To have been noticed, let alone recognised, across all forms of creativity and business and that too globally, is humbling to say the least.”

“This is a fantastic recognition. Aggi is the only Indian advertising professional on this list. The entire Dentsu Network is truly proud of him,” Dentsu India Group executive chairman Rohit Ohri said, on Agnello’s inclusion in the coveted list of business leaders.

Fast Company magazine’s 100 Most Creative People in Business list come from diverse industries around the globe. Akin to the four prior years, the 2013 edition features only people who haven’t been on any previous lists or profiled in the magazine before.

Nate Silver, whose FiveThirtyEight.com blog on the New York Times website successfully predicted the results of the US Presidential elections have been ranked numero uno on the list.

Fast Company is a progressive business media brand, with an editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethical economics, leadership, and design.

May 16, 2013

Smartphone sales surge; Smartphone apps score over tablets

MUMBAI: Here‘s some food for thought. Even as Nokia is betting on its 1O5 $20 phone to ramp up its sales worldwide, IDC last week reported that sales of smartphones in Q1, raced ahead of sales of simple or feature phones for the first time in mobile phone history.

According to market research firm, International Data Corp (IDC), vendors shipped a total of 418.6 million mobile phones in Q1 compared to 402.4 million units in the first quarter of 2012 and 483.2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In the worldwide smartphone market, vendors shipped 216.2 million units in Q1 2013, which marked the first time more than half (51.6 per cent) the total phone shipments in a quarter were smartphones. The market grew 41.6 per cent compared to the 152.7 million units shipped in Q1 2012, but 5.1 per cent lower than the 227.8 million units shipped in Q2 2012.

The big trend in Q1 is the emergence of Chinese companies in the Top five smartphone vendors list. Huawei and ZTE hawked 9.9 million units and 9.1 million units each in Q1 2013.

Top Five Smartphone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, 2013 Q1 (Units in Millions)

Vendor	Q1 2013 Unit Shipments	Q1 2013 Market Share	Q1 2012 Unit Shipments	Q1 2012 Market Share	Year-over-year Change
Samsung	70.7	32.7%	44.0	28.8%	60.7%
Apple	37.4	17.3%	35.1	23.0%	6.6%
LG	10.3	4.8%	4.9	3.2%	110.2%
Huawei	9.9	4.6%	5.1	3.3%	94.1%
ZTE	9.1	4.2%	6.1	4.0%	49.2%
Others	78.8	36.4%	57.5	37.7%	37.0%
Total	216.2	100.0%	152.7	100.0%	41.6%

If one looks at the chart above, Samsung sold more smart handsets than the rest of the four in the top 5 combined.

Samsung‘s reign in the top five overall mobile phone shipment chart got stronger in Q1 with its share of shipments rising to 27.5 per cent. Nokia, however, saw its share dropping a quarter to fall to 14.8 per cent. Apple too reported single digit growth rates during Q1.

Top Five Total Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, 2013 Q1 (Units in Millions)

Vendor	Q1 2013 Unit Shipments	Q1 2013 Market Share	Q1 2012 Unit Shipments	Q1 2012 Market Share	Year-over-year Change
Samsung	115.0	27.5%	93.6	23.3%	22.9%
Nokia	61.9	14.8%	82.7	20.6%	-25.1%
Apple	37.4	8.9%	35.1	8.7%	6.6%
LG	15.4	3.7%	13.7	3.4%	12.4%
ZTE	13.5	3.2%	16.2	4.0%	-16.5%
Others	175.4	41.9%	161.1	40.0%	8.9%
Total	418.6	100.0%	402.4	100.0%	4.0%

What does the surge in sales mean for those of us in entertainment? Clearly, that mobile phone users are seeking more and more out of their handsets. They have simply moved beyond being just devices to be used as a long-distance talking tool.

Kantar Media‘s latest proprietary TGI Clickstream study, with data collated from October 2011 to September 2012, has revealed that the smartphone is the device that consumers prefer as their pocket companion, even though tablets sales have been climbing crazily worldwide .Says Kantar Media‘s TGI International head Geoff Wicked: “There‘s no denying that more and more people are purchasing tablets for both business and personal use, but the fact remains that there are a billion smartphones on the planet, and tablet sales are still in their millions. While tablets will continue to become both more accessible and more sophisticated, the smartphone is still considered the all-round communications device that stays with a user for nearly 24 hours a day.”

Kantar Media has been running a showcase theatre session at the Festival of Media Global, which is ending today Montreux, Switzerland.

According to the Kantar Media study, social networking is the most popular type of smartphone app, with 37 per cent of smartphone web users surveyed saying they had downloaded a social networking app in the past twelve months. While this was the second most popular kind of tablet app, just half that amount (18 per cent) of tablet web users surveyed had downloaded a social networking app in the past twelve months.

The biggest gap was evident across health and diet apps, which were downloaded by 11 per cent of smartphone web users but just 3 per cent of tablet web users – a difference of more than triple. The smallest gap was for property apps – downloaded by 4 per cent of smartphone web users and 3 per cent of tablet web users.

Music, the fourth most popular type of app across users of both devices, was downloaded by more than double the amount of smartphone web users compared with tablet web users (25 per cent vs 11 per cent). Obviously, who wants to carry a clunky tablet with her when she is jogging around Central Park in New York or taking a walk in Lodhi Gardens in New Delhi. Similar results were revealed for mapping apps, which are the fifth most popular across both user types, but are downloaded by 22 per cent of smartphone web users compared with 11 per cent of tablet users.

Mobile apps downloaded October 2011 to September 2012 (% of smartphone web users)	Tablet apps downloaded October 2011 to September 2012 (% of tablet web users)
Social networking – 37%	Entertainment (games, digital books etc) – 19%
Entertainment (games, digital books etc) – 32%	Social networking – 18%
Music – 25%	News/weather – 15%
News/weather – 27%	Music – 11%
Maps – 22%	Maps – 11%
Shopping – 18%	Shopping – 10%
Lifestyle – 11%	Lifestyle – 8%
Health and diet – 11%	Sports – 7%
Sports – 18%	Health and diet – 3%
Property – 4%	Property – 3%
Other practical apps – 20%	Other practical apps – 10%
Other – 12%	Other – 4%

April 30, 2013

Olive Crown Awards 2013 crowns Grey Worldwide as ‘Agency of the Year’

Mumbai: IAA Olive Crown Awards has crowned Grey Worldwide as ‘Agency of the Year’ for the year 2013.

Organised by the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA), the Olive Crown Awards were launched in 2011. They celebrate excellence in communicating sustainability or ‘green’ advertising.

Cheil’s Samsung Printers ‘Minus 1 Project’ was awarded as the Campaign of the Year while Kewal Kiran Clothing took away the Client of the Year award. Meanwhile, Padmashree Kartikeya Sarabhai was honored with the Green Crusader of the Year Award, an award which is presented to one unique individual who has dauntlessly fought our battle for going green.

The event saw many marketing and media heads and other industry leaders gracing the occasion like Colors CEO Raj Nayak, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment MD and CEO Neeraj Roy, Piyush Pandey, JWT South Asia CEO Colvyn Harries and Madison World chairman Sam Balsara. Praful Patel, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises was the chief guest.

This was the first year when IAA Olive Crown Awards witnessed pan-Asia participation.

Olive Crown Awards 2013 chairperson and ED & CEO Draftfcb Ulka M.G. Parameswaran said “We saw an almost 45 per cent increase in the number of entries this year alone and our Awards Jury consisting of veterans like Sonal Dabral, Pops Sridhar, Vinod Rao, Chax, Ramki and Charles Victor were of the opinion that the quality has also seen a dramatic improvement over the years”.

IAA India chapter president and RK Swamy BBDO chairman Srinivasan Swamy said, “There has been widespread acceptance for these awards as corporates see the green message as a key differentiator in a competitive environment. And going green is no longer a luxury but an essential part of doing business. We are delighted to see that clients are roping in agency partners to help them build green awareness for their brands”.

A total of 35 Awards were handed over at the event hosted by former Miss World, Daina Hayden. The Award Function was opened by a performance in Indian Fusion music by Raghu Dixit Project, the Bangalore based band. Midcourse was a laser pyrotechnic show was followed by a comic include by ‘A Slice of Ham’.

Click here for winner list

April 2, 2013
Smart connected device market up 29% in 2012: IDC

MUMBAI: Worldwide shipments of smart connected devices grew by 29.1 per cent in 2012, crossing one billion units shipped with a value of $576.9 billion.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Smart Connected Device Tracker, the market expansion was largely driven by 78.4 per cent year-over-year growth in tablet shipments, which surpassed 128 million in 2012.

Looking specifically at the results for the fourth quarter of 2012, the combined shipments of desktop PCs, notebook PCs, tablets, and smartphones was nearly 378 million and revenues were more than $168 billion.

In terms of market share, Apple significantly closed the gap with market leader Samsung in the quarter, as the combination of Apple‘s iPhone 5 and iPad Mini brought Apple up to 20.3 per cent unit shipment share versus 21.2 per cent for Samsung. On a revenue basis for the fourth quarter, Apple continued to dominate with 30.7 per cent share versus 20.4 per cent share for Samsung.

Going forward, IDC expects that tablet shipments will surpass desktop PCs in 2013 and portable PCs in 2014. In 2013, worldwide desktop PC shipments are expected to drop by 4.3 per cent and portable PCs to maintain a flat growth of 0.9 per cent. The tablet market, on the other hand, is expected to reach a new high of 190 million shipment units with year-on-year growth of 48.7 per cent while the smartphone market is expected to grow by 27.2 per cent to 918.5 million units.

From a regional perspective, the smart connected device volume in emerging markets grew by 41.3 per cent in 2012 with the tablet volume growing by 111.3 per cent and smartphone volume by 69.7 per cent year over- year. Mature markets, on the other hand, grew by 15.6 per cent and saw a huge plunge in the PC market in the year 2012.

By the end of 2017, IDC predicts that the tablet and smartphone markets will have a huge growth potential in the emerging markets. During this time, tablet unit shipments are expected to increase by a factor of three with a shipment value of $125 billion dollars while smartphone unit shipments are expected to double and reach a shipment value of $462 billion dollars. Portable PCs, on the other hand, will show a moderate single-digit growth while desktop PCs are expected to consistently decline year over year with almost no growth in 2017.

IDC‘s Worldwide Smart Connected Device Tracker research analyst Megha Saini said, “In emerging markets, consumer spending typically starts with mobile phones and, in many cases, moves to tablets before PCs. The pressure on the PC market is significantly increasing and we can see longer replacement cycles coming into effect very soon and that, too, will put downward pressure on PC sales.”

Looking forward, IDC predicts the worldwide smart connected device space will continue to surge with shipments surpassing 2.2 billion units and revenues reaching $814.3 billion in 2017. IDC Program VP for clients and Displays Bob O‘Donnell said, “Consumers and business buyers are now starting to see smartphones, tablets, and PCs as a single continuum of connected devices separated primarily by screen size.

“Each of these devices is primarily used for data applications and different individuals choose different sets of screen sizes in order to fit their unique needs. These kinds of developments are creating exciting new opportunities that will continue to drive the smart connected devices market forward in a positive way.”

March 30, 2013
Cricket SA launches lovecricket app on Mxit

MUMBAI: Cricket South Africa (CSA) has launched its first mobile-only community, lovecricket, on Mxit, South Africa‘s largest mobile social network.

The app gives fans match details, player profiles, match scores, news, polls and an opportunity to have their say.

CSA Acting CEO Naasei Appiah commented, “As a mobile app, lovecricket, expands on our social media success by giving more people the chance to become part of the conversation. Mxit™s natural inclusivity – because it works across feature and smart phones – made it the perfect platform for us to keep increasing awareness and growing our fan base.”

Mxit is a downloadable social chat application that works on over 3 000 mobile devices from a standard Nokia to a high-end Samsung.

Mxit CMO Vincent Maher commented, “The scoring functionality is an important part of this app. Getting background information on players or games is great but the real engagement and excitement will be built by giving fans the sense that they are right there at the stadium. Once the real time scoring is added I cant‘ imagine a better mobile way to stay close to a game.”

March 2, 2013
Samsung launches TVC for Galaxy Grand

MUMBAI: Samsung has launched a new television commercial as a consumer connect initiative to showcase Galaxy Grand, the recently introduced Dual SIM Smartphone in India.

The TVC has been created by Leo Burnett.

The campaign is focused on creating a work life balance between personal and professional lives of youngsters.

The TVC creates synergy between the consumers and the features of the Galaxy Grand by showcasing aspirations, passions and hobbies of an ambitious and confident individual.

The TVC has been conceptualised to depict the Galaxy Grand’s Dual SIM feature wherein the professional is able to enjoy personal moments such as biking, moments with friends, mountaineering.

The TVC begins with a young male professional aspiring to live a Grand life by travelling on bike to see mountains kiss clouds, sky changing colours to every possible shade. He wishes to capture his memories with big screen experience and stay connected with his friends. Next thing one knows, he mentions about reserving special place to watch movies. A super appears in the foreground that reads: “Samsung Galaxy Grand”.

The TVC encourages younger generation to capture personal moments through technology purchase of the right Smartphone in spite of budgetary constraints and highlights top-end hardware and software features with a very attractive price of Galaxy Grand.

The TVC has been produced by Billoo Sandhu of Cutting Edge Pictures while it has been directed by Julien Trousselier.

March 1, 2013
Samsung Galaxy Grand aims at mid-segment in new campaign

NEW DELHI: A new television commercial by Samsung Electronics as a consumer connect initiative to showcase Galaxy Grand, the recently introduced Dual SIM Smartphone in India, aims at the mid-segment by bringing fore fun, style and passion of everyday moments of a user.

The advertisement is conceptualised and designed by Leo Burnett and aired across Hindi and English entertainment and movie channels starting 16 February.

Strongly focused on creating a work life balance between personal and professional lives of youngsters, the TVC creates synergy between the consumers and the features of the Galaxy Grand by showcasing aspirations, passions and hobbies of an ambitious and confident individual.

The TVC has been conceptualised to depict the Galaxy Grand’s innovative Dual SIM feature wherein the professional is able to enjoy personal moments such as biking, moments with friends, mountaineering.

The TVC begins with a young male professional aspiring to live a Grand life by travelling on bike to see mountains kiss clouds, sky changing colours to every possible shade. He wishes to capture his memories with big screen experience and stay connected with his friends. Next thing you know, he mentions about reserving special place to watch movies. A super appears in the foreground that reads: ‘’Samsung Galaxy Grand”.

The TVC encourages younger generation to capture personal moments through technology purchase of the right Smartphone in spite of budgetary constraints and highlights top-end hardware and software features with a very attractive price of Galaxy Grand.

Creatives List

Client: Samsung India Electronics Ltd
Agency: Leo Burnett
Creative: Sainath Saraban, Sumit Negi
Account management: Ravpreet Ganesh, Ankur Bora, Rohan Bharel
Account planning: Megha Deorani
Production house: Cutting Edge Pictures
Director: Julien Trousselier
Producer: Billoo Sandhu
Executive producer/Associate producer:
Director of photography: Daniel
Music director: Rupert
Post house: After Post

February 19, 2013