Mobile Support for Turner Classic Movies

A new app, which will be available on multiple devices, provides info on advanced schedules, fan commentary, classic film-related widescreen video content, TCM’s movie blog, and photo galleries, with posters, artwork, and publicity stills. It’ll be available for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android mobile devices.

The first phase brings the TCM mobile device app to iPhone, itouch, Blackberry, and Android mobile devices. 

The elements include:

- A complete schedule of movies playing on TCM, with full-month views up to two months in advance, personalized to each fan’s time zone

- An optimized version of the TCM Movie Database, with synopses, credits, trivia, detailed background information from the American Film Institute film catalog and fan comments

- Video content, including movie clips, trailers and TCM promos, all presented in their original aspect ratios, including widescreen content that maximizes the landscape-view option found on some devices, such as the iPhone and itouch

- Photo galleries for films playing on TCM

- An optimized version of TCM’s MovieMorlocks movie blog

- Articles by TCM staff members writing about the history and making of films on TCM

The TCM app is available now in the U.S. for $2.99 from the iTunes app store or at http://itunes.com/apps/tcmmobile.

It’ll be available in the Blackberry App World and Android Market in February.

Photo courtesy: Turner Broadcasting System

Film Awards App for iPhone

The free app lets users read bios, watch previews, and vote for their favorite award-nominated films and stars right on their iPhone or AT&T U-verse TV screen. Telecom company AT&T has launched its Film Awards Interactive App on the App Store.

“The Film Awards Interactive App is perfect for fans who want to use their iPhone or U-verse TV to quickly access the latest information about awards, their favorite actors and films,” said G.W. Shaw, AT&T executive director of U-verse marketing. 

“This is another innovative and exciting app available from AT&T, and a great example of how we continue to enhance the entertainment experience across screens and devices.”

From iPhone or U-verse TV, the app lets you view a list of films nominated for this season’s film award shows; view movie trailers for nominated films; read biographies; and cast your vote for your favorite nominated films, actors, actresses, and directors and see instant results from other app users.

Soon after an award show airs, the app will also give iPhone users inside access to red carpet photos of their favorite TV celebrities that they can email to friends.

Similarly, Turner has introduced a new app, which will be available on multiple devices. It provides info on advanced schedules, fan commentary, classic film-related widescreen video content, TCM’s movie blog, and photo galleries, with posters, artwork, and publicity stills. It’ll be available for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android mobile devices. (Read: Mobile Support for Turner Classic Movies)

The Film Awards Interactive App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

All U-verse TV customers can access the app on channel 95.

Next Three Generations of 3D TV

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has today (Jan. 14) released its roadmap for the developments taking place in 3D TV systems. An ITU study group says that the future systems will be able to mimic the way our eyes and brains perceive the visual world.

ITU’s new roadmap would see 3D TV technology rolled out in three successive generations (technically known as profiles).

First generation: ‘Plano-stereoscopic television’ – calls for two views to be delivered to viewers’ TV sets. 

Wearing special glasses similar to those used to watch 3D cinema, viewers will be able to see depth in the picture, although the view will remain the same when they move their heads (in real life, our view changes when we move our heads).

Second generation: Will provide for multiple views, with head movement changing the view, for a viewing experience that more closely mimics real life.

Third generation: Will feature systems that record the amplitude, frequency, and phase of light waves, to reproduce almost completely human beings’ natural viewing environment. These advanced systems are some 15-20 years away, believes ITU.

“This new ITU report establishes a clear framework for the development of new types of systems that will totally change the way we experience broadcast and multimedia content,” said Valery Timofeev, director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau. 

“It maps out an exciting vision that won’t just change the look of entertainment, but open up a whole range of exciting new possibilities in sectors from education and healthcare to traffic management.”

According to ITU, the new 3D TV technologies being developed under ITU will also have major implications for the film and television production sector, as content will need to be filmed using special new equipment.

Boycott Bollywood

Confession: I’ve stopped watching Bollywood (loose term for Indian film industry) movies.

Reason: Movies that Bollywood makes are terrible. Most are torture on cinemagoers.

When the movie world has reached the distant moon Pandora (thanks to James Cameron’s AVATAR), Bollywood is still tottering in the company of “idiots.”

Another Reason: Bollywood has, in fact, become a family-run fiefdom full of “their fathers’ sons and their mothers’ daughters.” Here real art and creativity can’t survive. So it’s your mistake if you expect too much from Bollywood films.

So my dear countrymen (and women), if you’ve some respect for creativity, then “Boycott Bollywood.”

Your Friend
Rakesh Raman

For Rumor LG Goes High with Brooke Shields

From ‘59 Feet Above the Bright Lights’ LG Mobile Phones and Sprint celebrated the launch of the new LG Lotus Elite and LG Rumor Touch. Model and actress Brooke Shields hosted the party held at the private residence of Phil Maloof of the Maloof Companies and Maloof Productions and Music in Las Vegas, NV. Watch the video

The action took place Thursday, Jan. 7 at the glass enclosed property that sits atop The Palms Casino and Resort and is said to be the highest private residence west of the Mississippi.

Those who attended the event included event host Brooke Shields, MTV “The City” star Whitney Port, Gilles Marini, Cheryl Burke, and Sabrina Bryan. 

“As a model and actress, personal expression is very important to me,” said Brooke Shields. “When LG Mobile Phones and Sprint approached me to host an event that celebrates two of their most expressive and boldly designed phones, it seemed a natural fit.”

LG Rumor Touch is the new release in the Rumor series, which first launched in 2007. With the release of LG Rumor Touch, consumers will now have access to the touchscreen technology, says LG.

And LG Lotus Elite is new in the Lotus Series. The handset is updated with a touch user interface.

The red LG Lotus Elite will be available January 10, 2010 in all Sprint retail channels including www.sprint.com for $99.99 with a new two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate. LG Lotus Elite will be available in black on February 14, 2010. 

And LG Rumor Touch will be available in the first quarter of 2010.

Disney Plans Digital 3D Movies for Home

The Walt Disney Studios plans to start releasing Disney Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray Disc beginning in 2010 with Disney’s A Christmas Carol and a special 3D Showcase Disc. This Disc is a compilation of upcoming 3D product, footage, and trailers from Disney’s 3D content library.

Disney’s new Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray will be made available in coordination with hardware manufacturers’ upcoming release of new 3D home entertainment systems.

The 3D-enabled Blu-ray release of Disney’s A Christmas Carol, expected to be available in fourth quarter of 2010, will represent the studios’ debut title that will launch a new premium line-up of Disney Digital 3D movies for the home. 

Disney’s A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey, will be a multi-sensory, three-dimensional hi-def home entertainment experience that captures the essence of the classic Dickens tale. 

Re-envisioned by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Best Director, Forrest Gump, 1994), Disney’s A Christmas Carol will be offered as digital 3D home video presentation.

The new 3D Showcase Disc is now available for manufacturers to start placing orders so they may bundle with their 3D hardware, says Disney.

Photo courtesy: Disney

Watching TV in the Cloud

The software behemoth Microsoft has introduced Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0, the next version of its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) platform. It’ll enable television service operators to provide their TV services to more subscribers – both inside and outside the home, using a single cloud-based infrastructure. 

Mediaroom 2.0 is scheduled to be available for operators to start testing beginning next month (Feb. 2010). 

Microsoft says it can be deployed by operators as their entertainment cloud powering the delivery of a complete television service, including cloud digital video recording (DVR), on-demand features, interactive applications, and access to both operator-hosted content and externally hosted content such as Internet TV. 

The operators’ service can be consumed by their subscribers on multiple screens including the TV (with Mediaroom set-top box), Windows Media Center, Web browsers (for Windows-based PCs and Macs), Xbox 360, and compatible smartphones.

Also new with Mediaroom 2.0, service providers will be able to offer their existing on-demand TV service to their broadband customer base using their existing set-top box inventory, thereby expanding their service footprint beyond the reach of their IPTV network. 

The same on-demand service can also be enjoyed on Windows 7-based PCs using Windows Media Center, as well as on Xbox 360. 

Service providers also can offer subscribers access to their on-demand programming remotely using a range of Web browsers running on Windows-based PCs and Macs and, in the near future, on compatible smartphones, says the company.

Mediaroom 2.0 also adds support for Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Smooth Streaming for the access and delivery of on-demand content. 

This, according to Microsoft, enables viewers to get high-quality playback experience, because IIS Smooth Streaming adapts the video stream to the user’s network connection to enable optimum video quality.

In addition, support for Microsoft PlayReady preserves the service providers’ ability to secure their content libraries and monetize consumer experiences.

Coming: Attack of the Movies 3D

Majesco Entertainment Company, which provides video games for the mass market, has announced Attack of the Movies 3D. Claimed to be the first-ever 3D shooter designed exclusively for Wii, the game transports players to six fantastic movie-themed worlds.

Players will battle large alien space cruisers, shoot underwater monsters, join the resistance against the machines and more. 

Packaged with four pairs of 3D glasses to support four-player multiplayer action, and featuring classic enemies culled from the annals of film history, this inspired 3D shooter jumps right out of your television and into your living room, explains the company.

“We all dream about being the hero in our favorite action movies,” said Gui Karyo, executive VP of Operations for Majesco. “Attack of the Movies 3D lets you live that experience out with a realism and dimensionality previously only found in movie theaters.”

In Attack of the Movies 3D, players become an integral part of movie scenes they can typically only watch.

Each scene features genre-based ultimate weapons to engage enemies, including zombie-slaying shotguns, automatic laser cannons, and more. 

In addition, branching paths, changing enemy attack patterns, unique areas and environmental challenges ensure that players never experience the same fight twice.

Developed by Panic Button Games, Attack of the Movies 3D is expected to release Spring 2010, according to the company.

Goby Geek – the Comic Character

As technology has become a veritable backbone for the smooth functioning of companies and governments alike, the spotlight is right on the tech managers. They are expected to deliver magical answers to all intractable problems.

But are they able to keep pace with the fast-changing tech world around them? Or are they usually at sea in the sea of look-alike offerings? Can they cut through the clutter to find the right solutions for their organizations? Can’t say.

But in all this confusion, Goby enters the scene as a geek – as another tech manager or information officer. He offers to highlight the burning issues in the information world – in a serious yet hilarious way.

I had conceived the Goby Geek character about a couple of years ago. But was not able to give the right treatment to my idea. Then recently I discussed it with a friend, Yogesh, who is a versatile artist – cartoonist and illustrator. He liked the concept and instantly offered to support me in this endeavour to create a comic strip on Goby Geek. And there we go.

Goby Geek is born. It’s live now on my global tech site: My Techbox Online. And, yes, Goby is eager to meet you all. Let’s go and meet him there – at his new home.

Rakesh Raman

Online Campaign for EMI Music’s Greatest Hits

Exclusively for iTunes, the two-week campaign features popular hits collections from Capitol and Virgin, Including David Bowie, Radiohead, Steve Miller Band, George Harrison, John Lennon, Duran Duran, and more. 

EMI Music has launched a specially-priced “Greatest Hits” album campaign online, featuring many of popular music’s top hits collections for $7.99, exclusively on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com).  

The campaign features the following:  

• The Band: Greatest Hits (Capitol/EMI)
• David Bowie: Best Of Bowie (Virgin/EMI)
• Duran Duran: Greatest (Capitol/EMI)
• George Harrison: Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison (Capitol/EMI)
• Heart: Greatest Hits 1985-1995 (Capitol/EMI)
• Huey Lewis and The News: Greatest Hits (Capitol/EMI)
• John Lennon: Lennon Legend (Capitol/EMI)
• Pat Benatar: Greatest Hits (Capitol/EMI)
• Poison: The Best Of Poison: 20 Years Of Rock (Capitol/EMI)
• Radiohead: Best Of Radiohead (Capitol/EMI)
• The Steve Miller Band: Greatest Hits 1974-’78 (Capitol/EMI) 

The two-week “Greatest Hits” campaign, according to EMI Music, will continue through January 11, 2010.