ITV

Tag: TV

  • Verizon, Intel bring online PC gaming to TVs

    Verizon, Intel bring online PC gaming to TVs

    MUMBAI: US wireless service provider Verizon and chip major Intel have collaborated to enable consumers to play popular PC games on their television sets through IntelViiv technology-based PCs.

    This makes the games more enjoyable and accessible than ever before.

    The companies will also market a version of PlayLinc, a new game messenger that provides a faster and more entertaining way to enjoy multiplayer games online. PlayLinc, which is free, provides a variety of features, including free private servers, VoIP integration and the ability for players to track when their friends are online and ready to join a game.

    Verizon director of new product development Colson Hillier says, “We’re creating a graphics-rich, ’big-screen’ game-playing experience for the entire family. The games that families now enjoy on their PCs will become larger than life, more fun to play and accessible in virtually every room of the house, through linkages between a family’s PC and their TV. This is an extension of Verizon’s commitment to provide customers with the content and service they want, whenever they want it, and however they want to receive it.”

    TThe Verizon Games on Demand service enables users to play popular PC games on their TVs through Intel Viiv technology-based PCs running Microsoft Windows XP* Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE). Using a wireless game controller and MCE remote control, consumers can play a broad array of games from the comfort of their favorite couch or easy chair, also referred to as the “10-foot view” of the television set. Consumers can access the service through the Media Center Edition menu system by selecting the service using their remote control.

    Verizon Games on Demand combines the power and flexibility of the Intel Viiv technology platform, featuring the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor, with the speed and reliability of Verizon’s broadband networks and the innovation of its growing online gaming services.

    Intel’s digital home group VP Kevin Corbett, said”Intel Core 2 Duo processors deliver exceptional PC gaming performance and are the foundation for Intel Viiv technology, which is helping to ignite new digital entertainment experiences. The combination of Intel Viiv technology and Verizon Games on Demand provides consumers with a wide selection of popular gaming experiences for both the PC and the TV, which adds a whole new dimension to online gaming.”

    Intel Viiv technology helps connect the PC to the TV and enables consumers to simplify, share and control their games, music and movies with the energy-efficient performance delivered by the Intel Core 2 Duo processor¹. The technology is widely supported by a number of PC and consumer electronics manufacturers, as well as content and service providers such as Verizon.

    Verizon Games on Demand features click-and-play access to PC games that appeal to many different gamers, including adults and children. The service was named a Popular Mechanics Editor’s Choice at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show. The service will feature:

    * 3-D navigation and launch via the MCE remote control

    * Schedule game downloading and prioritize or change the schedule for future game play

    * Click-and-play experience with no game installation process

    * Wireless gamepad controls that create a console-like playing experience

    * Ability to choose games based on rating, genre or other criteria

    * Automatic system check to ensure the PC has the necessary drivers and available memory, among other things, to run each game, along with automatic system updates

    * Accelerated game downloads to begin playing even before the download is completed

    * Graphics that Intel says makes casual game playing as exciting as sophisticated console gaming.

  • Epson launches the new all-in-one ‘EMP-TWD3’

    Epson launches the new all-in-one ‘EMP-TWD3’

    MUMBAI: Epson, which deals in data projectors, has announced the launch of the Epson EMP-TWD3. This is Epson’s first combo projector to feature a built-in DVD player with a pair of integrated stereo speakers.

    Designed as the home projector, the Epson EMP-TWD3’s cubical form factor is devoid of any unsightly wires typically found in a home entertainment set up. Based on the home entertainment all-in-one concept, the projector is even handy enough to be carried around, asserts an official release.

    The integrated optical disc player plays multiple video formats including DVD, Video CD and Super Video CD. It also spins audio CDs, MP3s and WMA files. For optimal sound reproduction, the two dynamic 10W speakers are rear facing and are fully capable of delivering rich natural sounds. The player also reads JPEG images and can present them as slide shows.

    Aside from just playing video and music data from disc sources, the Epson EMP-TWD3 has several ports which allow to connect external devices such as laptops and media devices such as tuners.

    The projector is fitted with a short focus lens capable of a 1.5X wide zoom, so it fits easily into smaller living spaces. It has a 1200 ANSI lumens, a high 1000:1 contrast ratio, and Epson-Twin Optimise Reflection Lamp (Epson’s E-TORL).

    Equipped with the new Epson Cinema Filter, the Epson EMP-TWD3 applies optical adjustments automatically to ensure precise colour re-production. The vertical and horizontal lens shift function allowing a shift of images without any distortion, even if the projector is not placed squarely to the screen, adds the release.

    The projector is available from October 2006 at a MRP of Rs. 99,400.

  • Infomedia & Reed Business Information partner to launch Hotfrog.in

    Infomedia & Reed Business Information partner to launch Hotfrog.in

    MUMBAI: Infomedia India Ltd., special interest and directory publishing company has joined forces with the Australian business to business publisher Reed Business Information, and its online division, Catch, to launch Hotfrog.in in India.

    Hotfrog.in is a free business listings site where the content is driven by its users and is maintained and updated by its users. Users are able to update their listings with press releases announcing news for their business, as well as listing products and services and linking back to external websites, informs an official release.

    “Being India’s largest Yellow Pages and having healthy partnership with Reed Business Information, it was a logical step to launch an Indian-based site as it’s such a rapidly growing and vibrant online market,” Infomedia managing director Prakash Iyer said.

    “HotFrog is one of the most exciting new web developments which gives users control. We are happy and confident that with the strong database of Infomedia Yellow Pages, Hotfrog will reach out to the right target audience in Indiam,” said Catch managing director Andrew Dent.

    Hotfrog.in is the 10th Hotfrog site to be launched around the world and its is estimated that Hotfrog.in already has 450000 listings. Launched in Australia in May 2005, HotFrog.com.au currently has around 900000 businesses listed.

  • Zee Sports to telecast Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup ’06

    Zee Sports to telecast Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup ’06

    MUMBAI: Zee Sports will telecast live the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup, the 10-day, 12-team tournament, which will take place on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach from 2 to 12 November 2006.

    The participation of international players such as Frenchman Eric Cantona, legendary Spanish strikers Michel and Julio Salinas and Brazilian stars such as Romario, Junior and Zico has helped to expand television coverage to large audiences in over 170 countries worldwide, making Beach Soccer one of the fastest growing professional sports in the world and converting it into a major showcase for international commercial opportunity.

    The biggest names in beach soccer are now preparing to face each other on the Copacabana beach from 2 to 12 November. They include Portugal’s raft of stars – Alan, Madjer, Hernani and Belchior – brothers Federico, Santigao and Ezequiel Hilaire of Argentina and also the Japanese sharpshooter Takeshi Kawaharazuka.

    Since 2005, Beach Soccer has been a part of the Fifa family. In May 2005, the first Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup was staged on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

  • Bangla board sets $ 50 million reserve price for cricket rights

    Bangla board sets $ 50 million reserve price for cricket rights

    MUMBAI: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), which has issued a tender to sell marketing rights including those for television and the Internet for six years until 2012, has fixed a reserve price of $ 50 million for bids.

    This is a massive mark-up from the $11.75 million ESPN Star Sports paid last time round when it acquired the rights for a period of five years. Those rights expired in April last year.

    The BCB’s new tender invitation is for the period 1 November 2006 to 31 March 2012.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com earlier, ESPN India MD RC Venkateish had said that his network was certainly interested in renewing the rights.

    Among the rather tough clauses in the tender document the BCB has issued are:

    * Only firms experienced in using similar rights and having an annual turnover of $15 million will be eligible to participate in the tender.

    * All revenues will be shared between BCCB and the successful bidder in a ratio of 80:20 in favour of BCCB.

    $ 2 million deposit to be submitted before bids opened.

    * Production the responsibility of the bidder though there are allowable expenses against the winning bid (subject to the board agreeing) including production costs.

    * As the incumbent broadcaster, ESS will have the right to match any bid from a rival broadcaster if its bid is lower.

    Bangladesh is expected to play around 40 tests and over 100 one-day internationals during this period.

    The big question among more than one industry watcher is this – will any broadcaster bid even the floor price of $ 50 million let alone cross it?

  • MTV Networks appoints Mika Salmi as president of Global Digital Media

    MTV Networks appoints Mika Salmi as president of Global Digital Media

    MUMBAI: MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom has announced that Mika Salmi has been named President of Global Digital Media for MTVN. Salmi was formerly CEO of Atom Entertainment, the company he founded and which was acquired by MTVN in August.

    Salmi will work across MTVN’s growing portfolio of multiplatform brands to further develop and implement the company’s strategy of building an engaging universe of music, games, entertainment, networking and interactivity for its communities of targeted audiences. He will report directly to MTVN chairman and CEO Judy McGrath, and will become a member of her senior strategy team, asserts an official release.

    Commenting on Salmi’s appointment McGrath said, “I am incredibly pleased to have his talent and leadership experience on board to lead our digital media transformation, worldwide. With Mika’s guidance, our digital teams will continue the momentum we have today, to extend our brands across every platform while creating new business, and next generation applications across every device that engages our community. And he brings that upbeat entrepreneurial spirit that is a hallmark of the digital age.”

    “MTV Networks is an amazing global entertainment community reaching targeted audiences through all of its TV, online and mobile brands,” said Salmi.

    “What MTVN calls its ‘maniacal consumer focus’ will be the driving engine for our Global Digital Media strategy. We will engage consumers with an industry-leading digital experience through interactivity and community in all media including video, music and games,” he added.

  • Disney Consumer Products adds MusicIP’s ‘MyDJ’ technology to it’s portable media player range

    Disney Consumer Products adds MusicIP’s ‘MyDJ’ technology to it’s portable media player range

    MUMBAI: MusicIP, music search engine has announced that Disney Consumer Products has licensed MusicIP’s MyDJ embedded technology, which allows users to find the music they want to hear and to create instant playlists with a single button, to power the ‘MixIt!’ feature on its Disney Mix line of portable media players for kids.

    MyDJ does a musical scan, playing samples from the musical zones on the device, creating instant playlists of similar songs. Because MyDJ acts on the musical patterns within each track, instead of metadata, it creates fresh and interesting playlists with songs from every corner of a listener’s collection, informs an official release.

    Disney Consumer Products vice president Global electronics Chris Heatherly said, “With the Disney Mix line of media players, we are making digital music more accessible for kids than ever before. Most players on the market today, are just not intuitive to kids. MusicIP’s technology lets us make it magically simple for kids to surf their music collections and make playlists in a fun, innovative way that is fresh in the marketplace.”

    MusicIP’s patented MyDJ embedded navigational technology can work within all portable, home, auto and mobile devices, utilizing new or existing user interfaces.

    Launched in 2005, the Disney Mix Stick has established Disney among the top 10 best-selling flash-based MP3 players at U.S. retail, according to The NPD Group. In September, Disney announced two new Disney Mix branded products including the Disney Mix Max which plays videos in addition to music. MyDJ will be supported across the entire line of Disney Mix players, adds the release.

  • Nickelodeon US plans ‘SpongeBob marathon’ on 9 November

    Nickelodeon US plans ‘SpongeBob marathon’ on 9 November

    MUMBAI: Nickelodeon US will be launching a 24-Hour SpongeBob marathon on 9 November at 8 pm, featuring viewers’ top 100 cartoon picks, leading to the Best Day Ever special premiering on Friday 10 November at 7:30 pm and the network premiere of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie at 8 pm.

    For five weeks leading up to Best Day Ever (beginning 5 October), Nickelodeon had invited kids to vote for their favorite SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons on a new super-site www.nick.com/bestdayever. Kids were encouraged to choose their 10 favorites by viewing clips from multiple SpongeBob SquarePants episodes.

    In the initial weeks of the launch of the super-site, it had already received almost 2.8 million streams and 3.8 million votes. The top 100 will appear on-air, in the order that the fans choose, during the 24-hour marathon leading up to the premiere of Best Day Ever, according to an official release.

    Drawing out the suspense further, the All-Time Favorite SpongeBob Pick will air immediately following Best Day Ever.The online super-site also includes an original themed SpongeBob game and exciting new broadband content on the new innovative TurboNick 2.0 site.

    “One of the many reasons our viewers love SpongeBob so much is for his unending optimism and ability to look at the bright side of things, which is exactly what Best Day Ever is all about,” said Nickelodeon Television executive vice president and general manager Tom Ascheim.

    “We’ve received a tremendous response from almost 4 million fans who have voted online for their favorite SpongeBob episodes and we’ll reward them with our biggest SpongeBob event ever,” he added.

    Kicking off on Thursday 9 November at 8 pm, the marathon hosted by sea-loving Patchy the Pirate (Tom Kenny — voice of SpongeBob) will feature Patchy cruising around Manhattan on a grand party boat, counting down the top SpongeBob episodes.

    As the premiere draws near, Patchy will be joined on the boat by hundreds of partying fans, and in classic New Year’s Eve tradition, the ‘SpongeBob’ will drop, bringing the countdown to the Best Day Ever special at 7:30 pm. Patchy will also be joined throughout the marathon by Nickelodeon stars and other celebrity SpongeBob fans who will reveal the details of what would be their own best day ever.

    In the Best Day Ever special, SpongeBob is determined to have the perfect day. His ideal day starts with doing what he loves best — working at the Krusty Krab, going to meet Sandy for a little Ka-Ra-Tay, jelly fishing with Patrick and topping it all off with Squidward’s highly-anticipated clarinet recital. But to his great disappointment, the day does not go at all as he planned. Each of his friends seems to be having a different problem, so naturally he sets out to help them. In doing so, every activity on his perfect day agenda is spoiled.

    As SpongeBob realizes that he sacrificed his whole day to help others, his friends rally around him with their heartfelt thanks. Brimming with happiness and friendship, SpongeBob realises that he had his best day ever after all.

    SpongeBob SquarePants’ Best Day Ever is also available as a CD featuring all-new, original music including the Best Day Ever song. The album presents an entirely new SpongeBob story as it introduces the work of the animated band SpongeBob & the Hi-Seas whose debut record is being previewed on Bikini Bottom’s WH2O, adds the release.

  • NBC gives the game of ‘The Office’ a Flash make-over

    NBC gives the game of ‘The Office’ a Flash make-over

    MUMBAI: Mobile games are closing the gap to traditional computer games with the launch of a new technology that enables richer mobile experience.

    US broadcaster NBC has announced that The Office Games has produced a flash-enhanced game for its series of six mini-games, based on Verizon Wireless’ new Flash Lite for Brew technology.

    NBC says that the new The Office Games feature cleaner graphics, enhanced sound and quicker relay times and can be played on select Get It Now-enabled phones. As had been reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, Indiagames had developed NBC’s The Office Games to be played at the office or at home.

    With shorter play times, Verizon Wireless says that its customers will find the intuitive array of games easy to navigate and simple to play — which is good for a break, after a stressful meeting or on an awkward phone call. The games feature the characters from the television series participating in a selection of cubical game-play including Wasteketball, Paper-Football (Hateball), Table-Top Golf, Office Paper War, Chair-Racing and more.

    Indiagames VP US Sean Malatesta says, “We are proud to bring the comedy of The Office to Verizon Wireless using the incredible Flash Lite technology. It truly has been a great partnership indeed. These games are so addictive — and the new graphics make them even more fun!” .

    Indiagames is striving to bring high-quality CG games to mobile. With increased mobile phone screen sizes, Indiagames has begun to rollout a series of graphically driven games, similar to desktop games, but made for mobile. The new high-resolution graphics for NBC’s The Office Games are closer to those seen in traditional video games — with clean transitions during score updates and between games. Similarly, the maneuverability has been enhanced to capitalize on player reaction times.

  • Al Jazeera Intl to go live from 15 November; no govt ok yet for India feed

    Al Jazeera Intl to go live from 15 November; no govt ok yet for India feed

    MUMBAI: After a number of delays, Doha-based Al-Jazeera Network has set the launch of its English news and current affairs channel AL Jazeera International for 15 November.

    The launch of the channel had earlier being deferred from April to September on account of series of constructions and technical glitches at its four centres in London, Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Washington.

    The Indian feed continues to remain in the realm of uncertainities.

    The English offshoot of the often controversial (at least to Western eyes) Al Jazeera Arabic language channel will kick off its inaugural broadcast from its headquarters at 12 GMT. The announcement of the launch coincides with the 10-year anniversary of Al Jazeera.

    To be beamed off Pas10, Al Jazeera International has already set up shop in India with a bureau headed by Anmol Saxena, who has been in the business of television for some years now.

    The Indian operation has been dogged by delays in government permission, which has also resulted in other aspects of the business of TV not being put in place.

    For example, though Al Jazeera is said to be negotiating with a senior distribution personnel in India for the channel talks haven’t been finalised as government permission is yet to come as of today, according to information available with Indiantelevision.com.

    In all probability, the distribution activity would be outsourced in India to a company that is headed by a person who has done similar work in various media organisation.

    Meanwhile on 15 November, the international channel will provide 12 hours of live news plus interview programmes and in-depth features and analysis from the world’s hot spots over a 24 hour day.

    According to an official release, the channel will be positioned to reverse the information flow from South to North and to provide a voice to under-reported regions around the world.

    With broadcast centres strategically placed in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, and supporting bureaux worldwide, Al Jazeera International aims to be a new force in the global English speaking media with the ability to seek out and cover different perspectives of news through on-the-ground reporting wherever news is made.

    Al Jazeera Network director general Wadah Khanfar said: “We are extremely proud of what Al Jazeera has achieved over the past ten years. Al Jazeera today is an international media organisation. Al Jazeera International will build on the pioneering spirit of Al Jazeera and will carry our media model, based in the South, to the entire world.”

    He added: “The launching of the English Channel offers the chance to reach out to a new audience that is used to hearing the name of “Al Jazeera” without being able to watch it or to understand its language. The new channel will provide the same ground-breaking news and impartial and balanced journalism to the English speaking world.”

    “It has been a fantastic endeavour to build this TV channel over the last two years with the support of the Al Jazeera network. Everyone involved in the project deserves credit,” said Al Jazeera International MD Nigel Parsons, adding, “We will extend the Al Jazeera spirit into the English-speaking world.”

    Al Jazeera’s English language website, aljazeera.net/english is being re-launched with the launch of the English language channel to reflect the channel’s look and feel and editorial content.

    It will showcase Al Jazeera International’s agenda setting editorial mission and will provide constantly updated coverage of news events from around the world, along with in-depth analysis and background.

    It will provide RSS feeds, live streams and downloadable clips from the channel, as well as interactive discussions and polling. Programme and presenter information as well as weather reports, live business data and sport will also be available via the website, informs the statement.