19 May 2009
As reported in the Tehran Times online, Irans English-language news channel Press TV will establish a non-stop Arabic TV channel to show films and series in the near future.
The primary budget has been prepared and now we are collecting films and TV series in Persian for dubbing into Arabic, Press TV Managing Director Mohammad Sarafraz said. The exact date of the launch has not been set.
The channel will not produce very many films or TV series. We are selecting appropriate programs for dubbing and there will be also film review sessions which will be attended by film experts and critics, he said. Sarafraz went on to say that Press TV tries its best to reveal a true picture of the West by producing well-researched and thought-provoking documentaries about it. No specific budget is dedicated to film production at the Press TV but we are trying to increase it in the near future, he said. He went on to say that sometimes, documentaries have greater impact than feature films and they can more effectively transfer concepts to the audience.
Press TV is an English language international television news channel which is funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Tehran in 2007.
18 May 2009
Pixelfantastic, the London-based HD film and video production and post production company that specialises in working with high profile music artists such as Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Take That, Mika and many other famous names, has just released a suite of effects plug-ins for Quantels eQ, iQ, Pablo and sQ Edit Plus creative systems.
The initial release includes 12 plug-ins which cover a range of everyday needs from timecode burn in, counters and timers to an instant camcorder viewfinder effect, progressive picture stretch and pause. Unlike many other plug-ins which are sold as sets, the Pixelfantastic plug-ins are available for individual purchase, meaning users only need to purchase the specific plug-in they require.
Plug-ins can be downloaded from Pixelfantastics website at www.pixelfantastic.com.
Pixelfantastic offers free demos of all plug-ins, which allows Quantel artists to download fully working trial versions to ensure that the effect is exactly what they want before buying. A full list of the plug-ins with brief descriptions can be found at the end of this News Release. Pixelfantastic will be adding further plug-ins to the range over the coming weeks and months.
We have developed these plug-ins to meet our own need to automate everyday tasks such as making countdown timers and burning in timecode for copy protection in our own eQ suite, said Barrie Williams, Pixelfantastic MD. Theyre all about time-saving, while producing the highest possible quality results on screen Weve also concentrated on making them fast and easy to set up, using the pen to interact directly with the image on-screen to give users really fine control.
Quantel Director of Marketing, Steve Owen, said, Pixelfantastics new plug-ins are a welcome and really useful addition to the 1000+ that are already available from our other partners. Its great that Pixelfantastic are prepared to share the benefits of their day-to-day experience with other Quantel owners around the world.
18 May 2009
As reported in the GSMA Mobile Business Briefing, India – the world’s fastest-growing mobile market – has seen a lot of contract activity recently, with both state-owned incumbent operators and greenfield players awarding deals. Newcomer Unitech Wireless – soon to be majority-owned by Telenor – confirmed it has awarded five-year deals to Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei. Dow Jones Newswires reports that both deals are valued at US$150 million each, although Alcatel-Lucent’s contract is focused on GSM/EDGE networks in Kerala and Orissa circles whilst Huawei has been awarded a managed network services deal.
Elsewhere, TeleGeography reports that new operator SSTL (Sistema Shyam) has inked a seven-year deal with ZTE for the provision of network equipment and infrastructure. SSTL is aiming to complete its pan-Indian rollout by the third-quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, Alcatel-Lucent and MTNL today announced the commercial launch of the operator’s first IP-based mobile next generation network (NGN) to offer enhanced services to residential and enterprise customers in Mumbai.
18 May 2009
media140 microblogging event: London 20 May
Discuss and debate the future of realtime news
The event will bring together journalists, bloggers, social media advocates and publishers to share and discuss the effects and impact of twitter and other social media tools on mainstream media.
The AIB are attending this event and will be reporting back to members.
14 May 2009
The BBCs Director of Future Media and Technology, Eric Huggers, has revealed plans for the next-generation of its online video service, the iPlayer, which include increased functionality and recommendation possibilities.
Huggers told members of the Broadcasting Press Guild that the new service would be as much a “you player as an iPlayer”, with a recommendation engine that would learn from previous user experience; a new playlist functionality, which enables a programme of interest to be stored for later viewing; the ability to follow items of interest, be they programme, actor or topic related, as well as the ability to trawl for TV content.
On 8 May the BBC announced the launch of CBeebies iPlayer. The specially designed child-friendly BBC iPlayer offers children six years old and under the chance to watch many of the programmes they love, at a time which suits the whole family.
Designed to be a shared and flexible online experience with parents, the new service follows the launch of the popular CBBC iPlayer last year for six to 12-year-olds. Through the CBeebies website, the service provides a dedicated place on the internet for the BBC’s youngest viewers to view BBC children’s programmes on demand. The service is designed to restrict inadvertent access to non-children’s programming and puts children’s viewing priorities first. Most programmes will be available to view for a week after broadcast with some available for up to 13 weeks as “series catch ups”.
The award-winning BBC iPlayer has received over 414 million requests to view BBC television content (TV streams and downloads) since its launch in 2007.
13 May 2009
According to the Shanghai Daily, China Mobile plans a huge CNY31 billion (US$4.59 billion)investment in Shanghai until 2011. This is mainly for the construction of its TD-SCDMA network and 3G preparation for the World Expo taking place in 2010.
