Thursday, 17th July 2008

DID YOU KNOW?

Chelsea coach Phil Scolari is giving the club's current dart champions John Terry and Joe a run for their money insofar as playing with darts is concerned. According to The Sun, Scolari joined the players' arrows sessions and is storming up the table, leaving aces John Terry and Joe Cole behind. A Chelsea source revealed: "Phil picked up the darts for the first time and was absolutely brilliant. "He was saying he had never played before and the lads were amazed by his natural talent." News.WebIndia123.com, 16th July 2008


SPORTS SHORTS

* Star has announced several key appointments to enhance its programming and content function. Jyotsna Viriyala has been named vice-president, programming, Star World India and Star Movies India. Viriyala joined Star from Media Content and Communication Services (India), where she was assistant VP, overseeing research, business strategies, operations and on-air promotions. Televisionpoint.com, 16th July 2008

* DISH Network plans to roll out more high definition video channels received a boost with the successful launch of its EchoStar XI broadcast satellite. DISH needs to roll out more HD channels to be able to compete with larger rival DirecTV Group as well as cable and phone companies' video services. The company's HD plans were set back in March when a satellite launch by SES Americom failed to reach its intended orbit following its launch on board a Russian Proton Breeze-M launch vehicle. Advanced-television.com, 16th July 2008

* Barcelona have agreed to sell Ronaldinho to AC Milan for $33.38 million, according to Spanish media reports. The deal between the Spanish and Italian giants was struck late Tuesday after a day of intense negotiations between Barca president Joan Laporta and Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani. Laporta confirmed the deal by telling the expectant media that "Ronaldinho has our permission to go to Milan tomorrow and undergo medical checks". News.WebIndia.com, 16th July 2008

* The Tour de France was hit by doping again when Moises Duenas Nevado of the Barloworld team became the second Spaniard to test positive for the blood-boosting erythropoietin (EPO). The French-Anti Doping Agency (AFLD) said that Duenas Nevado, who joined Barloworld two years ago, had failed a dope test after last week's fourth stage, a time trial in Cholet. The 27-year-old was immediately withdrawn from the race by his team and was detained by police in Tarbes, in Southwestern France. Police said he would be detained until Thursday morning. Reuters, 16th July 2008


MORE NEWS

Indonesia/New Media: Telco Selects BNS to Deliver Turnkey IPTV Platform

Indonesian telco PT. Multi Kontrol Nusantara (MKN) has selected Hong Kong-based IP solutions provider BNS to design, procure and deliver a turnkey IPTV service platform.

The new platform will enable MKN to deliver standard- and high-definition video services, including multicast, VOD, network PVR, time-shift TV, eShopping, games and more. The network's infrastructure will be built on a core fibre backbone, metro ethernet and broadband access technologies, and will support the delivery of multimedia services to residences, office buildings and hotels in the country.

MKN will receive equipment from BNS's network of global partners to cover all major components of the platform, including video encoder, ingestion system, streaming server, content security, middleware and IP set-top box. Through its Content 360 division, BNS will also supply a content strategy and roadmap that will enable MKN to offer unique content specifically relevant to the Indonesian market. IPTV-News.com, 16th July 2008

China/General: Room Reservations up in Beijing as Olympics Draws Closer

Hotels in Beijing have witnessed a rise in hotel reservations as the host city's tourism is being boosted by a influx of visitors with less than a month left for the Olympics starting Aug 8. The Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA) indicated that the city-wide booking rate of guest rooms in March had gradually increased by three percent over the same period, which was expected.

"By the end of May, 77.6 percent of five-star hotel rooms had been booked, which was our expectation," Xiong Yumei, deputy director of BTA, told journalists at a press conference in the Main Press Centre (MPC) here Tuesday. Xiong also said that the Games were expected to attract between 400,000 and 450,000 overseas visitors, in addition to the athletes and home visitors from across the country. Officials of BTA are confident that the accommodation and reception capacity in Beijing could meet the diversified demands during the Games.

According to Xiong, more than 115 top hotels with favourable location advantages will be designated reception sectors for the Olympic related service. For visitors and spectators, more modest tourist hotels and some special "homestay" rooms will be offered. The "Olympic homestay program", which was launched early this month by the BTA, was referred to the 598 evaluated and selected families who will provide 726 guest rooms and receive more than 1,000 tourists from home and abroad.

With this program under the way, many foreign visitors have shown their interests in it. According to BTA, a Japanese travel agency has purchased 200 tickets for the Games and is negotiating about the "homestay" issues for their clients. News.WebIndia123.com, 16th July 2008