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TV technology companies upbeat on digital India

Published

13 years ago

November 6, 2012

MUMBAI: Television technology companies are upbeat on India as a market with the government having mandated digitisation. But the challenge is that cable operators have to be educated on the kind of infrastructure they need to build and the investments which would be required.

This was a view expressed by several exhibitors at the television technology trade exhibition Scat India. NDS India country head, GM Jayant Chagrani said that the company is pushing its hosted solution which was specially developed for the country. It is a low capex entry level solution and NDS will take care of the backend completely.

“We are targeting smaller operators who will be a part of the second and third phase of digitisation. We have received a good response at Scat. It offers scalability by being able to upgrade to a full Videoguard system with features and revenue generating services like DVR. We have a market share of over 40 per cent.”

Conax sales director Amit Khera said that the company has a 33 per cent market share and wants to maintain and build on that. “What we are seeing is that in the first phase operators are running around for survival. In the second phase there will be more time as operators will take things seriously. The mindset that the government will delay things is no longer present. Our aim is to give the right products at the right prices.”

Gospell international business department manager Horace Hao said that the company is taking part in tradeshows to create awareness. It is having demos and is also visiting clients. “We provide a turnkey solution that offers convenience. Our products include headends and set top boxes. India offers excellent potential”.

Catvision which offers digital headends among other products expects to sell 20 headends next year. Catvision GM Manoj Thakur said, “In addition to cable operators, we also work with five star hotels. The challenge is that the smaller cable operators are not educated enough about digitisation. We have to educate them. We have dealers across India.”

Saibaba Enterprises sells products for networks and cable TV including switches and converters. Now the company is focussing on digital headends under the DBC brand name. Vishal Katara notes that the company has distributors in every state. “We see good potential here. Technically and sales wise we have an edge. We have a good support team which means that there is no language barrier.”

Optilink, which offers networking hardware, cable TV hardware and an end to end solution, is looking at targeting smaller operators with the second phase of digitisation due next year. The company‘s CTO Piyush Dedhia said that the company, which had focussed on large cable operators so far, will also look at smaller operators in the next six months and will come out with products for them. “We have a situation though where cable operators ask about set top boxes but do not understand the technology like conditional access. Operators to an extent are afraid as they do not know about digitisation and the future. We will be doing seminars among other things to market our products and to educate about the digitisation process.”

Customer relationship management solutions provider Gaps Technologies, which recently launched its service, has received several inquiries from cable operators. “We offer a CRM solution for managing subscribers. It allows cable operators to save time when it comes to handling customer issues. Any business needs a communication centre and cable TV is no different. Our product can also be adapted and customised depending on an operators requirement,” said Gaps Technologies MD and CEO Suhel Faridi.

JainHits is positioning itself as the first direct to network solution for cable operators. The companyâ€™s national sales head Jeet Narayan Singh said that the offering is not only cost effective but also better than DTH. “There are 60,000 small cable operators in the country who want an inexpensive solution. It costs Rs. 1.5 million. We will help cable operators remain independent by growing their business. Our service starts in mid December. When we talk to operators they are concerned about the quality of service. The options here are limited.”

System integrator CNet, which offers end to end solutions, plans to have a 10-15 per cent share by 2015. The companyâ€™s head sales, marketing Arun Kaushik said, “The challenge is that cable operators donâ€™t know where the market is. They need to understand that the business model for digitisation must be long term. We help them achieve that objective. We have 27 service centers across the country. We also have three different models for our solution. These are low cost, medium cost and premium top of the line. This allows us to address everybody.”

Applications

Moltbook, the AI-only social network, sparks hype, doubt and fear

Published

2 weeks ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Moltbook, a Reddit-style social platform built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents, has emerged as the latest obsession in Silicon Valley, drawing intense attention for its explosive growth and surreal bot-driven interactions.

The platform hosts more than 100 communities where AI agents post, argue and joke about topics ranging from governance theory to esoteric “crayfish debugging” concepts. Within days of launch, Moltbook recorded tens of thousands of posts, nearly 200,000 comments and more than 1 million human visitors observing the activity.

Yet the numbers and the autonomy are under scrutiny, as per media reports. A security researcher has suggested as many as 500,000 accounts may trace back to a single address, raising doubts about Moltbook’s membership claims. Many posts could also be the result of humans instructing their AI tools to publish content, rather than bots acting independently.

The platform runs on agentic AI, powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot. Unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, these agents are designed to perform tasks on users’ devices, from sending messages to managing calendars, with minimal human input. Once authorised, they can interact freely on Moltbook.

Some tech figures have hailed the platform as a glimpse of a post-human internet. Head of crypto custody firm BitGo Bill Lees, called it evidence that “we’re in the singularity”.

Academics are less convinced. Petar Radanliev, an AI and cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford, said the idea of agents acting independently was “misleading”, describing Moltbook instead as automated coordination within human-set constraints. Columbia Business School assistant professor David Holtz, dismissed the spectacle as “thousands of bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves”.

Beyond hype, security worries loom large. ESET global cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore, warned that granting AI agents access to emails, private messages and files risks prioritising efficiency over privacy. Andrew Rogoyski of the University of Surrey said high-level system access could lead to serious damage, from erased data to compromised company accounts.

Even OpenClaw’s founder Peter Steinberger, has felt the darker side of attention, with scammers hijacking his old social media handles after the platform’s rebrand.

For now, Moltbook remains a strange digital zoo: part experiment, part spectacle, where AI agents banter about philosophy, productivity and, occasionally, their fondness for their human operators.

Applications

Apple appoints Avtar Ram Singh as head of international marketing

Published

2 weeks ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Apple has handed a bigger global brief to a long-time insider. Avtar Ram Singh has taken over as head of international marketing for the App Store, Apple Arcade and the Apple Games app, deepening his remit across one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as head of international marketing, App Store, Apple Arcade and Games App at Apple,” Singh said while announcing the move.

The promotion crowns nearly seven years at Apple, where Singh has led services marketing across Southeast Asia and India and previously served as head of marketing for Southeast Asia content and services, business lead for Apple Podcasts in the region and interim marketing lead for the App Store internationally.

His new portfolio spans three pillars of Apple’s services push. The App Store, which Apple positions as a safe and trusted discovery platform, now attracts more than 850 million average weekly users globally. Since 2008, developers have earned over $550 billion on the platform.

Apple Arcade, the company’s gaming subscription service, offers unlimited access to a catalogue ranging from brain teasers to big-name franchises. The recent addition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Arcade Edition brings a AAA PC title to iPhone, iPad and Mac from 5 February.

Then there is the Apple Games app, unveiled at WWDC as a unified destination for games from the App Store and Arcade. It aggregates titles in one place, surfaces personalised recommendations, tracks events and achievements, and lets users compete with friends or connect controllers for a console-like experience.

Singh arrives with a hybrid background in strategy, data and creativity. His career spans digital and social media marketing, business intelligence, content, editorial and analytics across culturally diverse markets. He has worked on brands including P&G, Accor, Audi, UBS, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, Pizza Hut, HBO and Singapore Airlines-linked businesses such as Scoot.

Before Apple, Singh led strategy at Falcon Agency, focusing on performance marketing and ROI-driven digital frameworks. He earlier ran the social practice at Publicis Singapore, where he oversaw operations, business development and regional social strategy for multinational clients. His career also includes roles at Ogilvy-linked Circus Social, Rocket Internet ventures Lazada and Zalora, and research firm IDC in Bangkok, where he analysed technology markets and won early awards for collaboration and client retention.

At Apple, he has been close to several service launches and expansions, including Apple Fitness+ in Singapore, Apple Creator Studio, global podcast subscriptions and new App Store marketing tools.

The timing is notable. Apple’s services business has posted record years, and gaming is becoming a sharper battleground as platforms chase engagement and recurring revenue. Singh’s brief sits at the intersection of content, community and commerce.

In a market where attention is scarce and loyalty scarcer, Apple is betting that sharper storytelling and smarter marketing can keep users inside its ecosystem. Singh now holds the megaphone. The real test will be how loudly the world listens.

Applications

Cloud nine in the capital Bharathcloud plugs Delhi into its AI plans

Published

2 weeks ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bharathcloud is bringing its cloud closer to power. The Hyderabad-based sovereign AI cloud services provider has opened its Delhi office, marking its formal entry into North India and setting the stage for its next phase of growth.

The expansion comes as India’s digital transformation fuels rising demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, driven by wider adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and data-heavy applications. With the new office, Bharathcloud plans to onboard more than 100 employees in 2026, strengthening its workforce to support customers across government, enterprises, MSMEs and social sectors.

The Delhi presence is expected to sharpen the company’s engagement with organisations seeking secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud platforms that comply with India’s data sovereignty requirements. It also positions Bharathcloud closer to policy, public sector and enterprise decision-makers in the region.

Founded in Hyderabad, Bharathcloud offers AI-ready cloud infrastructure including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, zero-trust security architecture and multi-level data protection frameworks. Its platform supports AI and ML workloads, blockchain application migration from hyperscalers and distributed data management, with an emphasis on reliability, low latency and operational continuity.

“With the Delhi expansion, we are positioning Bharathcloud to engage more closely with AI-driven enterprises and technology hubs in North India,” said Bharathcloud co-founder Rahul Takallapally. He added that the move would help nurture local cloud and AI talent while accelerating the adoption of secure and resilient AI infrastructure across sectors.

The company currently operates in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai, employing over 200 people and serving more than 1,500 clients across manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, IT and media. Aligned with national initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Bharathcloud continues to focus on building indigenous AI-cloud infrastructure to support data localisation and the country’s growing appetite for next-generation digital solutions.

With its Delhi office now live, the company is signalling a clear intent: to make sovereign, AI-ready cloud infrastructure not just an alternative, but a mainstream choice for India’s north as well as its tech capitals.