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Tag: content-providers

  • Dark Knight To Be Warner Bros' First BD-Live Release


    The Dark Knight is likely to be the biggest Blu-ray release of the year – if not ever.

    So it’s appropriate that Warner Bros has decided to make the Batman tale its first BD-Live capable release.

    The studio will offer standard and limited edition releases when it hits stores on December 9.

    The standard version will include the 153-minute feature film spread across a BD-50 dual-layer disc with 1080p/VC-1 video (2.40:1) and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio.

    Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround dubs and subtitles are also provided in English, French-Quebec and Spanish.

    Extras included on the first disc also include Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene, a version of the film containing behind-the-scenes vignettes with director Christopher Nolan and his team discussing the planning of the film, the use of IMAX photography, the stunts, and more.

    The second disc will feature all-HD extras including featurettes and a collection of six episodes from Gotham Cable entitled Gotham Tonight.

    BD-Live content has not been revealed but Warner said a digital copy will be included in both releases.

  • Comstar Launches Stream-branded HDTV


    Russian telecomms operator Comstar-UTS has fully launched Stream-branded HDTV services in Moscow in the upgraded sections of the MGTS network.

    It has also introduced a package offering broadband internet access at speeds of up to 20Mbps.

    The Comstar-UTS HDTV package offers three channels – MelodyZen, Voom TV and Luxe TV – and costs R200 (USD $8) a month to receive.

    On top of this, it is also offering a new HD VOD service, with movies costing R100 (USD $4) each.

  • HD Drives Freesat Sales to 100K in Five Months


    The UK’s free-to-air satellite service Freesat has racked up 100,000 sales since its launch in May.

    Freesat said high definition coverage of major sporting events over the summer played a key role in encouraging people to buy HD set-top boxes.

    Co-owned by the BBC and ITV, Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television.

    It is taking on competitor Sky by offering free TV channels, including some HD ones, once customers pay for a Freesat receiver.

    There are now around 120 TV and radio channels and Freesat said that its early success was greatly boosted by BBC HD and ITV HD offering free HD coverage of Euro 2008, FA football, Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.

    The service expects to have 200 channels available by the end of 2008 – including subscription-free high definition channels from the BBC and ITV- and 230 by early 2009, with around 30 channels added each month.

    Freesat is promising a packed HD Christmas schedule and November will see the launch of Freesat+, the first digital television recorder (DTR), from Humax.

    Earlier this month, ITV director of group development and strategy Carolyn Fairbairn replaced Tim Davie as chairman of the Freesat.

  • AT&T To Boost HD Line-up With MPEG-4


    AT&T is to continue growing its high-definition channel line-up in the US with the help of increasingly efficient MPEG-4 compression.

    The telco’s U-verse TV service currently delivers MPEG-4 video in the range of 6 to 8 Megabits per second.

    The use of improved video compression will allow that to be reduced to 5 Mbps, with the expectation that further improvements are likely.

    Earlier this month, AT&T launched Total Home DVR, initially in San Francisco, which lets U-verse TV deliver five simultaneous HD streams: two live and three from the DVR.

    John Donovan, AT&T’s CTO, said efficiency gains would allow it to support more simultaneous IPTV streams, upping the live HD streams to three and the recorded HD streams to four in 2009.

    MPEG-4 equipment is allowing IPTV service providers some help against their cable TV competitors, who mostly use MPEG-2 compression.

    Speaking at an investment conference, Donovan noted that video now exceeds 40 per cent of AT&T’s total IP backbone traffic whereas three years ago it was negligible.

    “If you download one HD video movie, it’s the equivalent of 35,000 rich-content web pages, or 2,000 songs,” he said. “So it’s very, very dramatic.”

    The growth in broadband data is driving the telco’s content-distribution network services, which replicate Internet content.
    AT&T will invest $70 million this year tripling CDN storage and server capacity, according to Donovan.

  • SDK For Android Developers Released


    The Software Development Kit (SDK) for developing applications for Android and its new app market has been released and is available for downloading.

    While it won’t remain static, developers can rely on the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) in the SDK, and can update their applications to run on Android 1.0-compatible devices.

    The Android Market beta is also to be launched with the T-Mobile G1, providing developers with a way to distribute their applications on that and later devices.

    It remains to be seen how developers will respond to Android since, unlike Apple’s strictly supervised apps, those for the open source market will have to support multiple handsets.

    Meanwhile Gadgetell has an interesting piece on how Google and T-Mobile plan to protect the network from malicious apps.

  • Microsoft Delays Windows Mobile 7


    Microsoft is not expected to complete a final build of its Windows Mobile 7 operating system until the second half of 2009.

    ZD Net Asia said the software maker has informed some of its partners that it has had to delay the much anticipated update to its cell phone operating system.

    The report describes the delay is a significant blow for Microsoft, which has been counting on the next version of WinMo to enable devices that better rival Apple’s iPhone.

    It points out that the delay also comes as competition steps up in the smartphone market.

    Google is preparing to launch the G1, first phone running its Android operating system, while Apple has its updated iPhone 3G, and new models are also debuting from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.

    While no major update to its core operating system is expected ahead of Windows Mobile 7 other improvements are likely to take place before then, including an improved browser that brings the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 6 onto Windows Mobile.

    That update should allow Windows Mobile phones to display rich Web pages, including those that are home to Flash content and Ajax applications.

  • Apple Clamps Down On Rejected iPhone Apps


    Apple is to block developers’ abilities to distribute iPhone applications outside of its iTunes App Store.

    Developers were previously allowed to distribute apps directly to users by binding the software to the serial number of their iPhone.

    The move is certain to add to the growing disquiet from application developers unhappy with Apple’s unclear and seemingly arbitrary approvals policy.

    A number of apps, including Podcaster, NetShare, Murderdrome and MailWrangler, have received rejection letters from Apple despite following official guidelines.

    Among those affected by the latest decision is Almerica, the creator of a podcast download and playback tool known as Podcaster.

    It was initially rejected by Apple because the application duplicated the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.

    So it began using a method that created ad hoc licenses for the utility as an impromptu distribution tactic, an approach that left out the App Store entirely and consequently left Apple out of its 30 per cent revenue from each sale.

    The new restriction is being seen as a risky precedent and one that could lead to legal activity if Apple’s attempts to control any and all sales channels of software to iPhone and iPod touch owners falls foul of monopoly legislation.

    Apple is also trying to prevent developers whose applications are rejected from discussing the reasons by issuing a non-disclosure agreement with the refusal notice.

    The situation is in stark contrast to T-Mobile’s G1, which as the first official Google Android phone operates an open source policy for applications and OS development/modification.

  • TV3 stops HDTV transmissions


    Catalan public broadcaster TV3 has halted its HDTV transmissions via digital terrestrial.

    The broadcasts were the first of their type in Spain.

    The decision to end the HD broadcasts was taken to allow Valenciano channel Canal9 to have access to bandwidth as part of an agreement between both the governments of Catalunya and Valencia.

    TV3 HD was regarded as the prime HDTV over DTT project in Spain since its launch in April 2007.

    Another public broadcaster, Aragón TV, is continuing its HD transmissions.

  • New Mobile TV Channel for Nokia Smartphone


    Nokia is to start a mobile TV channel in the UK specifically for its new N96 smartphone.

    Users of the new handset, which was launched earlier this month, will be able to access a service called Capsule N96 from the beginning of October.

    This will allow users to download ‘mobisodes’ of exclusive entertainment and lifestyle programming for free.

    Lasting 96 seconds, the mobisodes will cover a variety of subject areas, including motoring, fashion, comedy and technology.
    Capsule N96 will initially run until the end of November, at which point Nokia will review the service.

    While the channel will be optimised for the N96, the service is to accessible via any Nokia phone capable of supporting the content.

    Although mobile TV has never really taken off outside of Asia, this could change with the increasing use of high-quality screens on smartphones.

    Earlier this month, Nokia announced that the BBC’s iPlayer application was to be available on the N96 – the first time it has been available via mobile.

    Also scheduled for an October, it allows N96 users to download BBC television programmes for up to seven days after being broadcast.

  • The Future is 3-D HDTV

    DreamWorks CEO says 3-D will transform movie watching.

    Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dream Works, believes that 3-D HDTV is the future of the TV and movie industries.

    Fittingly he made his comments in a speech that was beamed by satellite across the Atlantic and displayed in glorious 3D HDTV at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2008 in Amsterdam.

    In what was described as the world’s first live transatlantic broadcast in Stereoscopic 3D, Katzenburg told over a 1,000 delegates that the technology is the “most exciting thing to happen to the visual experience in 70 years”.

    As well as laying out his vision for 3D, Katzenberg entertained the 3-D glass-wearing audience with 3-D HDTV clips from the animated Kung Fu Panda, which has been released in theaters, and Monsters vs. Aliens, set for a spring 2009 release.

    “I believe this is the future,” he said. “Not only my future, but all of our futures.”

    Katzenbugh said that 3-D is being seen as a means of enticing people away from their home screens and into cinemas.
    “The theater experience, in many ways, has been trumped by the home experience,” he said.

    “This is a chance for them to leap back ahead, and make it a growth business again … It’s a chance to bring people back to movie theaters who stopped going.”

    While there are only an estimated 2,500-3,000 3-D-capable theaters in North America, Katzenberg said this was expected to change.

    He forecast that up to 80 per cent of theater attendees would be able to see Shrek 4 in 3-D when it opens in 2010.
    Video games are expected to be a driving force in 3-D viewing in the home.

    Barrie Woolston, commercial director at Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions division, which broadcast the 3D transmission, said digital cinema was an important new medium and demand for alternative content was growing rapidly.

    “Live 3D High Definition broadcasts add an exciting new dimension to the audience experience and present significant opportunities for live event organisers and exhibitors,” he said.

    “The big screen is the perfect showcase for the 3D experience and this demonstration has highlighted its enormous possibilities for driving revenues across an exhibitor’s network.”