FRANCE 24 has launched a new application exclusively developed for the iPad.
Accessible on the App Store, FRANCE 24s application is free and allows users to tailor their approach to the news, choosing from a variety of innovative functions.
iPad users can enjoy the live broadcast of FRANCE 24s three channels as well as watch the latest newscast (updated every half hour), business report, world weather forecast and sports flash. The application also offers them a wide range of videos available on demand in three languages (magazines, debates, special reports).
In addition, an innovative mapping tool allows users to find news according to their location thanks to FRANCE 24s automatic and geographical referencing of news articles and videos.
Building on its multimedia strategy FRANCE 24 was the first international news channel to broadcast live on the iPhone FRANCE 24s iPad application will evolve in the coming weeks to include more features and new services.
FRANCE 24s application was developed by the LAB, FRANCE 24s Multimedia Studio, in cooperation with Backelite.
The 2010 AIBs – the international media excellence awards – are officially open for entry.
2010 is the sixth year of the AIBs which are now firmly established as one of the most important celebrations of success in international TV, radio, mobile and online broadcasting.
The 2010 AIBs attract entries from all over the world. Broadcasters and independent production companies in every continent have been successfully nominated over the last five years, and the 2010 AIBs are set to attract more entries than ever before.
Full information is available on the AIBs micro website.
As cell phone technology improves and more people rely on their phones for access to a variety of information, the problem of formatting that information has increased. Web pages must look good on both a full size computer screen and on the small screen of a mobile device. Traditionally, this process has required a significant amount of extra work for a publisher.
Vizrt, based in Bergen, Norway, offers software for Web publishing and content management, and has teamed up with Mobiletech, another company based in Bergen, Norway and one of its preferred partners for mobile content delivery, to provide a simple process to modify Web content so that it will display properly on all devices. At the center of this technology is the Escenic Content Engine, a high-performance content management platform, which now has an add-on that lets users easily publish content to both the Web and mobile devices without having to worry about picture size, fonts or how the layout will look on a specific device.
The Escenic Mobile Solution, a complete, cross-channel content management system, handles text, images, video and audio to create a mobile Web site optimized for each device.
Mobiletech will join Vizrt in booth SL5408 at NAB2010 in Las Vegas. They will have demonstrations of Escenic Mobile Solution on multiple mobile devices, along with a demonstration of the Mobile Widget Pack, an extension of Escenic Mobile Solution.
When a URL is requested, the device making this request is analyzed and Escenic Mobile Solution knows whether it is a mobile device, desktop device or tablet, said Jon Arne Sæterås, product director for Mobiletech. Then the device is redirected to a mobile optimized site, and Escenic Mobile Solution chooses the optimal presentation template.
Its easy to create one layout for the Internet and another for mobile devices. The content can be the same for both types of displays, or it can be modified to make viewing easier.
Based on templates, the Escenic Mobile Solution provides scalability and flexibility. It also eliminates the need to create different content for different devices. It contains a database with information for more than 10,000 mobile devices and is constantly being expanded to include new mobile products. Its often updated before new devices go on sale, said Christian Løverås, business development manager for Escenic.
The database provides a device filter and template configuration, which makes the content and layout device-aware. The user concentrates on creating content and the Escenic Mobile Solution takes care of the formatting for all devices. It will optimize and format pages to support the full capabilities of the viewing devices using the configuration data for each device.
An included template and a widget toolkit allow developers to create more advanced features on the mobile Web site. To further enhance mobile content, the Escenic Mobile Solution contains functions for filtering content, image conversion and markup optimization.
euronews, Europes leading international news channel, has signed its first distribution agreement with the telecommunications group Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan. This contract enables the 24-hour distribution of three of the channels nine services (euronews in English, French, and Spanish) via the ADSL MOD multimedia on demand platform. Since April 1, 2010, approximately 700,000 Taiwanese users are able to receive euronews on channel 120.
In Asia, approximately 5 million homes receive euronews (South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam).
About euronews
Launched in January 1993, euronews covers world affairs from a European perspective. euronews is broadcast 24 hours a day, simultaneously in nine languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. At the end of 2010, euronews is launching its tenth language: Persian (Farsi).
euronews presents a complete news bulletin every half hour, followed by in-depth programmes: business, europe, sport, a review of press headlines from Europes major dailies, and the weather forecast.
euronews feature programmes cover a wide range of topics including science, cinema, fashion, new technologies, and space. euronews is broadcast all over the world, reaching 318 million households in 153 countries by cable, digital satellite and terrestrial distribution. The channel is also available on mobile operators (3G, VOD), on ADSL/High Speed Internet networks, and live on board the aircraft of international airlines. Viewers can watch euronews on their PDAs and live on the Internet in Europe on RealNetworks Superpass. euronews and no comment TV are also available on YouTube and Dailymotion.
Indias Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni today said a lot of broadcast media issues would be resolved if the media houses stringently followed the Cable Regulatory Act of 1995, DailyIndia.com reports.
“I don’t think regulatory bill means that there is going to be censorship on every programme. I go on reminding everybody that each one of you has signed the Cable Regulatory Act of 1995 which has a very defined programme code and a defined advertising code. If we keep that at the back of our minds, a lot of problems would be resolved,” she said.
Speaking at a meeting of broadcasting CEOs in New Delhi, Ms Soni said the media sector in India had grown considerably, even at a time when the world was recovering from economic downturn.
“Despite economic downturn in year 2008-2009, this is one sector, at least in India, which grew. Grew, in the sense that broadcasting grew at a higher rate along with print. This was reconfirmed when we had an international conference of magazines sections in New Delhi and newspapers section in Hyderabad,” she said.
She also said that countries across the world had seen negative figures, while in India it had grown from three percent to almost six percent in the magazine sector.
Ms Soni said the different fields of the broadcasting sector were projected to grow from 13 percent to 19 percent by 2014. (Source: ABU website)
The adoption of two technologies over the past few years has enabled vast numbers of ordinary citizens to report on events that they witness and to have their reports published where millions can find them.
The first key technology is that of mobile phones. Even simple mobile phones can be used to send voice or text messages to sites that collect news updates. With increasing number of phones with inbuilt cameras and with internet access, more and more users are able to send photos and videos of unfolding events directly to popular websites.
The second technology is the emergence of social networking sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Flickr which depend on user generated content (UGC) and encourage comments and sharing. They also promote the use of tagging, which defines the key words in stories, allowing the most popular topics to be highlighted and others to search for subjects of particular interest. Comments, sharing and tagging mean that the most popular reports spread like wildfire while the mass of reports become a huge searchable library.
How should professional broadcasters respond to this new world with growing numbers of citizen broadcasters and journalists? Are they a threat or do they represent an opportunity?
The AIB believes that they represent an opportunity but require broadcasters to adapt to the new reality of how stories are being broken and news reported.
For example, broadcasters can use the new technologies themselves to make sure that their own staff are equipped to report quickly. For example, companies such as AIB member ProSkope have software that allows reporters to use their mobile phones easily to submit material for reports, improving the flexibility and speed of reporting.
But broadcasters also need to monitor social networking sites to check for breaking stories and to connect with those who are reporting on the spot. Guy Degen was in Georgia when asked by Deutsche Welle to report on opposition demonstrations and he used Twitter to make contact with those who were actively “tweeting” about the unrest.
Professional broadcasters also have the authority and responsibility to put the news in context and validate the authenticity of citizen reports. This is where software like Ushahidi is valuable in mapping stories that come in and making it easier to cross-reference reports. Ushahidi has been used in the covering natural disasters such as the Haitian earthquake and also by Al Jazeera in their reporting on the War on Gaza.
We are only just seeing the start of the flowering of citizen broadcasting. But already the tools can help professional broadcasters, whose role of reporting with authority and providing context becomes increasingly important.
Please contact the AIB if you want to comment on this article or would like further information.
