30 November 2010
Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) and Al Jazeera Childrens Channel (JCC) launched today the first series of books for preschoolers featuring the magical world of Fafa and her friends, at the first Doha International Childrens Book Festival, being held at the Qatar International Exhibition Centre till 4 December 2010.
Malika Alouane, Director of Programming of Al Jazeera Childrens Channel and Baraem TV stated: Today marks a new milestone in the life of JCC as we expand our contents footprint into the publishing industry. As an edutainment TV channel, we are committed to providing our viewers with safe and educational content across all platforms, and more importantly to encouraging them to develop their mental abilities and expand their vocabulary in Arabic and other languages. She added, We encourage mothers, care-takers, and nursery teachers to read to children in order to foster a love for reading.
Written by one of the UKs best childrens writers and beautifully illustrated, the Fafa and Friends books are a wonderful example of Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishings commitment to producing books of excellence in English and Arabic for the children of the region said Anne Renahan, Managing Editor at BQFP.
FaFa and her friends Moumou, Oti and Douka offer a daily set of segments on Baraem TV designed to add rhythm to childrens lives, provide caring advice on appropriate behaviour, and place them in a stimulating and educative environment full of new information to nurture their curiosity. FaFa and her friends are the central characters in the various adventures featured in the four illustrated books that will bring additional exploration to the readers.
The titles are part of BQFPs commitment to developing quality, original work in Arabic and English to inspire a love of reading at an early age. The series author, Sally Grindley, and illustrator, are in Qatar for the launch and are conducting workshops in the literary festival attended by children from independent schools and co-sponsored by the SEC.
25 November 2010
The entire 2010 AIBs is now available in a double DVD, complete with the shortlisted entries shown on the night to our packed gala dinner with guests from all over the world.
The two DVDs are available to order for a modest £6 (around 7.50) to cover AIB’s duplication costs, plus postage.
Order online here:
19 November 2010
Vizrt, a leading provider of content production tools for the digital media industry, announced today that it has entered into a terms sheet with Swiss company LiberoVision AG, a leader in the field of virtual sports enhancements.
According to the proposed terms sheet, Vizrt Ltd. shall purchase all of the issued and outstanding share capital of LiberoVision in three installments: 60% upon signing of the definitive agreement, 20% upon approval of the financial statements of LiberoVision for the year 2011 and 20% upon approval of the financial statements of LiberoVision for the year 2012. The consideration for the first 60% of the issued share capital of LiberoVision shall be CHF 6 million (approx. USD 6.12 million) and may be increased by an additional 1 CHF million (approx. USD 1.02 million) should the EBIT for the year 2010 of LiberoVision exceed CHF 1 million.
The consideration for each of the additional 20% of the issued share capital of LiberoVision shall be calculated as 20% of ten times the EBIT for the applicable fiscal year.
All installments shall consist of 80% cash and 20% Vizrt Ltd. shares. As part of the transaction the founders of LiberoVision are committed to continue their employment with LiberoVision for a period of at least two years.
The transaction is subject to a financial and legal due diligence to Vizrt’s satisfaction and the parties reaching a definitive agreement.
Martin Burkhalter, Chief Executive Officer of Vizrt said: “LiberoVision brings to Vizrt best of class additional capabilities to enhance sports broadcasts. Their products allow for live on-air review and analysis of events on the field, also from points of view not captured by cameras, a large and growing market. In creating a seemingly 3D environment for normal 2D broadcasts, this type of analysis provides yet another compelling way to tell a story, a key driver behind all our BG products. Efficiency, another key component, is provided in that LiberoVision’s technology does not require any additional in-stadium infrastructure.” “It is this ability to provide broadcasters with great additional functionality that makes such a strong case to content owners. It has always been our strategy to help clients increase the economic value of their digital assets and LiberoVision fits seamlessly with this strategy. Integration of both systems will allow us to take the combined offering to our existing customers and attract new ones.”
Dr. Stephan Würmlin Stadler, CEO for LiberoVision AG, stated, “Many of our clients who are already using Vizrt systems have indicated they would like to see the two systems more closely integrated. Combining our companies therefore seemed to most logical way forward.” “We bring to the table a technology that differs greatly from other providers in that other systems produce results that clearly look like virtual animations, like avatars. With our virtual instant replay technology, on the other hand, you know that the player is Lionel Messi, it feels like you are there on the field. That realism is due to LiberoVision’s patented image processing technology that transforms the camera feeds into 3D representations. Although certain great and complex technologies can achieve this in a way that is pixel perfect, it takes two days to do so. In our markets, no one is interested in two days. We can do it instantly.
“We see great opportunities in joining forces with Vizrt, as it will allow both organsiations to expand their product offering to a large and growing customer base. We at LiberoVision are very excited to pursue these opportunities as part of the Vizrt organisation, which has proven to be commercially very successful and, like us, is very driven by innovation, quality and customer requirements.”
LiberoVision currently offers two product lines. Libero Highlight provides realistic 3D replays that are indistinguishable from images produced by on-site television cameras. It enables the broadcaster to move the viewer’s perspective to areas not covered by the in-stadium cameras, such as over-the-shoulder of the quarterback.
Libero Offside was developed for instant offside analysis during soccer games. It is a dedicated application aimed at resolving offsides disputes during soccer games.
18 November 2010
Radio Azadi, RFE’s Afghan station, has launched an interactive SMS service that is connecting the station more directly with its audience, especially villagers in remote, inaccessible regions who are often cut off from news and information.
Thanks to a recent partnership between RFE and mobile service provider Etisalat, mobile phone users in Afghanistan can now subscribe to free SMS news updates and emergency alerts from Radio Azadi.
“The exciting thing is that it’s not just Radio Azadi sending news to subscribers,” says RFE Associate Director of Broadcasting Akbar Ayazi. “It’s our subscribers sending news back to us. Since the project launched less than a month ago, we’ve already received more than 5,000 text messages from people all around the country — this ‘citizen journalism’ is unique in Afghanistan.”
One recent text message to Radio Azadi, for example, came from Samandar Khpalwak of the Ghani Khel district of Nangarhar province, who complained that a local teacher’s training institute lacks a building. Another cell phone user from the Narkh district of Logar province texted that the followers of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Islamic Party are extracting money from locals by blocking roads and making violent threats.
Each morning and evening, Etisalat customers who subscribe to the free service receive news headlines from Radio Azadi in either Dari or Pashto. They also get SMS messages on their phones with breaking news and emergency alerts.
In addition to texts, Ayazi says subscribers will soon be able to send Radio Azadi photos and videos from their mobile devices. He says the station has launched a new weekly program in which many of the SMS messages it receives are read on the air.
Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Afghanistan has an estimated 57 percent penetration rate for mobile phone use — 17 million subscribers out of a population of 29 million.
About Radio Azadi
In the eight years since RFE launched Radio Azadi as part of an effort to help build a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan, the station has become the most popular media outlet in the country (Source: Intermedia). For more on Afghanistan, check out RFE’s new “Gandhara” blog.
10 November 2010
The latest of the AIB’s industry briefings has been published and is available online – follow the link below to see the 14 October edition.
To subscribe, e-mail your name, job title, organisation and e-mail details to register @ aib.org.uk (please remove the spaces).
