29 July 2011
Vizrt Ltd. announced today that it has signed a contract with both The Independent and the London Evening Standard, two major UK newspapers.
The new license deal includes an upgrade for The Independent from version 4 to version 5 and a new system for the Evening Standard, including Engine, Content Studio and In-page edit. The deal will be implemented through Vizrt’s London partner, First Clarity.
Martin Burkhalter, CEO for Vizrt, stated, “This deal does add one very big name to our stable of publishing customers. In both cases, the need for traditional publishers to reach new audiences has driven their web strategy and we are very pleased that our products form a crucial part of the execution of this strategy.”
About Vizrt:
Vizrt provides real-time 3D graphics and asset management tools for the broadcast industry – from award-winning animations & maps to online publishing tools. Vizrt’s products are used by the world’s leading broadcasters and publishing houses, including: CNN, CBS, Fox, the BBC, BSkyB, ITN, ZDF, Star TV, Network 18, TV Today, CCTV, NHK, The Globe and Mail, Times Online, The Telegraph, and Welt Online. Furthermore, many world-class production houses and corporate institutions such as the Stock Exchanges in New York and London use Vizrt systems.
28 July 2011
Eurosport, the official pan-European Olympic broadcaster since 1992, marked the official Olympic one-year countdown today by unveiling its unparalleled programming offer across its multimedia platform leading up to, and including, the Games in London 2012.
The one-year countdown will be featured on Eurosports TV channels throughout July 27th with a series of vignettes from top Olympic athletes, past and present, including messages from LOGOC Chairman and Olympic gold medallist Sebastian Coe, triple-jump World record holder Jonathan Edwards and womens No.1 tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki.
On Eurosport.com there will be an Olympic section and dedicated news stream with the days top stories from in and around London.
Let the Games begin…
Sporting expertise and expert commentary is Eurosports DNA, and Eurosport is delighted to welcome Olympic gold medal winning athletes Pieter Van Den Hoogenband and Maurice Greene to its Olympic consultants line-up.
Demonstrating its commitment to Olympic sports all year long, Eurosport kicked off its countdown to London 2012 with coverage of the FINA World Swimming Championships in China, which will be followed by the IAAF World Championships 2011 from Korea as well as the FISA World Rowing Championships from Slovenia, UCI World Road Cycling Championships in Denmark, and many others.
During the Olympic Games in London, the 12th consecutive Olympics to be broadcast by Eurosport, there will be 75 Eurosport journalists and production staff on site, bringing over 380 hours of high definition (HD) broadcast.
The channel is committed to 10 hours of live coverage each day. As well as all the live sporting action, Eurosport will produce magazine shows and news flashes in the run up to the Games and during the event itself to bring viewers all the Olympic passion and emotion direct from London venues.
These include Pool Talk looking at the lives of elite swimmers as the Games approach, Photo Finish, an in-depth review of track and field, Olympic Legends, Olympic Breakfast, Olympic News Flash and Olympic Finish Line.
As the leading pan-European multimedia broadcaster, Eurosport is committed to bringing round-the-clock Games coverage online and on mobile. Complementing the TV offer on Eurosport.com, Eurosports network of 11 language sites, there will be comprehensive multimedia coverage, including a breaking news and live results service, calendars and graphics, features on Olympic sports and athletes, interviews and social media functionalities. There will also be a web and mobile streaming service available on Eurosport Player in certain territories.
Diversity of sports coverage is key to the Eurosports offer for London 2012. Unlike national channels, Eurosports coverage is pan-European, bringing the best coverage from the best events, regardless of national boundaries.
Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Eurosport Chairman & CEO, said: As an official Olympic broadcaster for two decades, Eurosport is delighted to announce its diverse and exciting programming line-up for London 2012, which will include superb live coverage in HD. The year to go date outlines the calendar of events we will broadcast to enable fans to follow the stories and see the qualifications of athletes across many sports in the Olympic programme.
Thanks to our sporting expertise and Olympic savoir-faire we will bring some of the most comprehensive and qualitative coverage to Eurosports TV channels and Eurosport.coms online and mobile operations – to make this the most connected and accessible Olympics ever on our platform.
Eurosport has the power to bring everyone in Europe together on its multimedia platform for London 2012 showcase. All sports, all emotions, all athletes, all nations, all fans, across all media devices … Together for London 2012.
22 July 2011
Download the AIB’s media pack
for all our publications – print and online –
here.
20 July 2011
twofour54 intaj today launched the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions first Stereoscopic 3D lab, making it the only facility of its kind in the Middle East to offer dedicated facilities, equipment and expert support across the third dimension.
Wayne Borg, Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer at twofour54 said: The new 3D lab is an exciting addition to twofour54 intajs existing facilities. The introduction of this facility will help support the opportunities that Stereoscopic 3D is opening up to content producers across a wide range of media and entertainment platforms.
It is clear that 3D has had a massive impact on the entertainment industry recently four of the top grossing US films in 2010 were filmed in 3D; however, there are significant other media business opportunities that our new 3D lab can support, such as advertising, computer-generated imagery (CGI), animation, corporate videos, events and even industrial and medical applications. Launching this type of facility is another example of how twofour54 actively responds to market demands from across the region for facilities and expertise that meet international standards, he concluded.
The new lab has been designed to become a hub for all stereoscopic 3D activities in the region; providing end-to-end production solutions in stereoscopic 3D from cameras, rigs, specialist AVID edit suites, Baselight colour grading through to finished productions and a specialised Research & Development Centre.
In addition to the state-of-the-art facilities and services, the new lab will provide a range of training solutions in conjunction with media training academy twofour54 tadreeb. The programmes on offer have been designed to comprehensively train both students and production professionals in the latest 3D techniques using the very latest in high-tech equipment and will be delivered by twofour54 tadreebs highly trained instructors.
Hasan Sayed Hasan, Head of twofour54 intaj said: In developing our new 3D lab, we selected a core set of hardware and software that are considered to be the industry standard tools for Stereoscopic 3D production. We also ensured that the facilities brought in provide flexibility to the 3D content producer; for example, the Element Technica Quasar rig was used exclusively for the 3D telecasts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and can be utilised with a wide range of cameras and in different configurations. The editing and finishing tools from AVID, Filmlight, and the 3D Plug-ins offer also a wide range of tools for various types of productions.
The new lab will cover four key areas of activity:
1. R & D Centre & Testing Platform
2. S3D Commercial Hub providing a multitude of S3D services
3. Training
4. Production
20 July 2011
Release on TRA web site:
In accordance with its policy of encouraging and maintaining competition in the Telecommunication and Information Technology sector in the UAE, in order to reach optimized services provided to users, the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) has granted on 18 July 2011 a new broadcasting satellite transmission service license to MZ Intaj FZ LLC twofour54.
Speaking on the issuance of the new license, H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim said: Granting this new license comes in line with TRAs efforts to develop the telecommunication sector, and encourage as well as promote competition among operators in order to reach to the best possible level of optimized services provided to users. We are confident that the new licensee has the abilities and required technologies to enrich our telecommunication sector in the country.
The license signing ceremony took place at TRA Head office in Abu Dhabi. H.E. Director General signed the license on behalf of the TRA side, while Mr. Tony Orsten Chief Executive Officer of twofour54 signed on behalf of MZ Intaj FZ LLC.
MZ intaj FZ LLC (twofour54), in accordance with the license issued to it, and from its base in Media Zone Authority Abu Dhabi, will provide both full time and occasional satellite uplink services for broadcasting purposes and TVRO (Television receive only) downlink satellite services. Twofour54 customers will be companies located in and carrying out business in the Media Zone Authority Abu Dhabi.
The UAE telecommunication sector has witnessed recently rapid developments that granted a leading regional position. We are looking forward, in a systematic and well examined manner,to increase the number of licensees who enjoy the ability of providing quality services that contribute in improving the performance of the telecommunications sector, especially in the satellite field, and in a way that ensures fair competition among licensees that comes inline with the telecommunication sector level we have reached in the UAE. Al Ghanim added.
On the other hand, Mr. Tony Orsten CEO twofor54 commented on the signing ceremony: Our goal is to establish Abu Dhabi as a regional centre of excellence for the Arabic media industry. That means we need to provide the highest possible standards in terms of facilities and services. Our cooperation with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of UAE and the granting of this licence means we are only one of a handful of organisations able to provide transmission services to our clients, which is great news for the content creation community we are building at twofour54. We would like to thank the team at the TRA for the support they have given us throughout this process.
