12 October 2011
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST), a leading provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries, and NovelSat, a high-end manufacturer and developer of the pioneering 3G-Sat modulation technology, NS3, announced today that live testing of its NS3 modulation solution resulted in a 26% data rate increase over DVB-S2. NS3 achieved a rate of 8.25 Mbps compared to DVB-S2srate of only 6.54 Mbps, over a 3 MB carrier. This remarkable achievement should have an impact on the industry, especially for small data terminals as well as for Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) services. For certain applications, such capacity boost can be translated into usage of a much smaller antenna, namely around 35% smaller antenna diameter, for similar data rates.
“RRsat is proud to be an early adopter, as exemplified by our use of this advanced technology, and is excited about the potential benefits NS3may have for our customers, said Ziv Mor, CTO of RRsat. In addition to the potential data rate and bandwidth advantages, RRsat may now be able to provide higher levels of reliable and robust service while allowing its customers to use smaller antennas.
“It has been very helpful working with RRsat, a company with a well-earned reputation for assisting and encouraging companies with innovate products and services. RRsats guidance and live testing of NS3 with its impressive roster of first tier customers provided us with the kind of real-time situation needed prior to market launch, said Itzik Wulkan, NovelSat CEO. For commercial companies to governmental organizations, we have, with RRsats assistance, been able to see firsthand how the NS3 implementation can improve service value. We are thrilled with the opportunity to extend the impact of these tests further through our new partnership with RRsat.
12 October 2011
One hundred VOA-trained citizen journalists will fan out across the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming weeks in a pioneering social media project that will enhance news coverage of the November presidential election and provide a grassroots forum for key issues facing the country.
The citizen journalists, who are being trained by VOA project coordinators working throughout the French-speaking country, will use inexpensive mobile phones to post photos, videos and stories directly to special Facebook and Twitter pages set up for the project.
The Chief of VOAs French to Africa Service, Idrissa S. Dia, says the contributions of the citizen journalists, which are already being posted on the social media sites, will supplement the work of professional reporters to create a vibrant news-gathering and news-sharing community.
Dia says, These reports and observations from around Congos 11 provinces will create a true national conversation about topics that matter most to people, their families and their country, including the electoral campaign, the presidential election on November 28 and the issue of gender violence.
In addition to providing training and technical assistance to the citizen journalists, VOAs French to Africa Service will provide professional and editorial guidance and curate the social media sites. The 100 Citizen Journalists project is a partnership between VOA and the U.S. State Department, which funded the program.
VOA French to Africa can be heard on AM and FM affiliate stations around the Democratic Republic of Congo, on shortwave and on the Internet.
11 October 2011
Vizrt Ltd., a leading supplier ofproduction tools to the digital media industry, announced today that Astana Media Center (AMC), a state-of-the-art media complex currently being built in Kazakhstan, has entered into a substantial and important multimillion-dollar contract with Vizrt.
Covering 24 floors in the heart of Astana, the country’s second largest city, AMC will serve as a base for numerous TV channels, including all of Kazakhstan’s national TV and radio stations, as well as many other prominent, non-state owned operations.
Martin Burkhalter, CEO of Vizrt, said: “Having built such a visually impressive building, the Astana Media Center naturally wants its TV channels to look just as breathtaking when they go live. The fact that they’ve chosen Vizrt’s broadcast graphics tools to achieve this is a huge compliment.”
Once up and running, numerous Viz Engines will provide the center with a full-scale Vizrt product offering. Viz Content Pilot will deliver graphics to a range of displays within the media center. Viz Artist will enable designers to build complete virtual sets and complex 3D animations. Viz Trio will be used as character generator (CG) for live events. The Astana Media Center will also house a complete Viz Virtual Studio.
The customer is expected to go on-air before the end of the year. Revenues will be recognized for Q3.
10 October 2011
Providing accurate scores, results and goal alerts from live matches across a range of major team and individual sports, the free app is one of the most comprehensive results apps in Europe.
With a fully customizable desktop, the app gives fans a 100 per cent personalized service catering to their every sporting need. Users can choose to follow events from major leagues and competitions around the world, including football, rugby, tennis, volleyball, handball, ice hockey and basketball.
Alternatively, users can follow their favourite European teams or tennis players such as Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray during the entire season.
Simple, fast and functional, LIVESCORE offers purists all the essentials, including goal alerts, profiles, rankings, standings, substitutions, yellow and red cards – all the incidents and talking points available at a glance.
Key features:
– Goal alerts for football, rugby and tennis
– Results, live scores and rankings
– Standings, fixtures and calendars
– Fully customizable desktop
LIVESCORE has been developed to cater for the needs of today’s sports fans, journalists and purists. In a recent survey 89% of users for Eurosport’s news app said their preferred functionality was the live scoring updates, prompting Eurosport to develop a specific app.**
“LIVESCORE enriches and gives a new dimension to our mobile offering as well as taking the Eurosport brand into new and exciting areas,” says Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Eurosport Chairman and CEO. “Fans, journalists and sports fanatics across Europe will love the app which is fully customizable and will cater to their every need.”
The app is the latest innovative multi-lingual app from the Eurosport Group. Others include a news app for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android and the Eurosport Player app, providing streaming access to Eurosport and Eurosport 2 channels.
6 October 2011
Leading video file sharing site Dailymotion is part of a select group of entertainment leaders to unveil new services powered by Kinect for Xbox 360. Through this, how users experience TV and entertainment from a single device will transformed in many new ways.
Online video platform Dailymotion is among the top 30 most visited websites in the world, reaching a dedicated audience of 114 million monthly unique visitors. It combines the creativity of the internet with the quality of traditional broadcasting to provide an innovative way of watching, publishing and sharing video content online.
The services Dailymotion provides will be rolled at Christmas alongside others from the worlds leading entertainment brands through Xbox 360s online service, Xbox LIVE. Through Xbox LIVE, users will be able to connect to the vast library of videos on Dailymotion using the Kinect for Xbox 360.
Luc Dumont, Senior Vice President of International Content at Dailymotion, said:
Dailymotion provides users with the best online viewing experience no matter what digital devices they are using, and enables them to browse through a huge range of free localized and global packages from music, film, news, sports or Dailymotions own content. We are confident that this will continue to grow our audience across the globe and proud to bring our unique service to Xbox LIVE members to help usher in a more personal, social and effortless form of experiencing TV and entertainment.
