A user can write notes or prepare a sketch with this electronic pen and then convert it in real-time images into a smartphone, computer or laptop using the receiver provided with it, the company said in a statement.

Eliminating the need to have a mobile device or laptop while taking notes, this Rs6,999 device has in-built memory that can store several A4 size pages in one go. The device also allows the user to sync or transfer the files later.

“Electropen 4” also has a microphone that allows the users to record the high quality audio while taking notes.

The device, which also comes with wired connectivity, has a Li-Polymer rechargeable battery. It is in black colour.

Reuters

Picture source: Alamy

Picture used for illustrative purposes alone

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Then came the Nokia 1100 in 2003 — a sturdy affair with an inbuilt torch—which quickly became the best-selling consumer electronics device of its time.

It was the Golden Age of Nokia—with hardly a competitor in sight.

Inevitably, though, the age passed, and Nokia devices, with their “indestructible” bodies and long-lasting batteries, disappeared after ruling the Indian market for several years.

But they left behind two key legacies: a brand with great recall value, and a wide and surviving sales network.

With market buzz suggesting that the 3310 is set to make a comeback—perhaps as early as May—the brand recall and sales network can only help.

The relaunch will be accompanied by some Android-based phones like the Nokia 6 — to be launched in China on February 26 — and the Nokia 8, to be showcased at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which begins on February 27.

Are the ever-evolving, 4G-conscious Indian smartphone consumers likely to embrace an upgraded 3310, which is expected to cost a little over Rs4,000?

“We have to understand that, in India, we still have people who don’t have a mobile phone. And if Nokia, with its adequate distribution network, is able to tap that near-edge market, the 3310 has the potential to do wonders and become a leading handset,” Faisal Kawoosa, Principal Analyst, Telecoms, CyberMedia Research (CMR), told IANS.

“There is still enough of India that can consume it. After all, in India, three of the top 20 handsets that are deployed are still from Nokia,” Kawoosa added.

Mobile handset shipments touched 265 million in 2016 with feature phones making up about 59 per cent of the overall market. It is a strong reaffirmation of the fact that it would take quite a bit longer for India to become a smartphone-only market.

“Two-thirds of the Indian market is still feature phones, and among feature phones, 3310 was the king. It is going to be a niche product but we have no reason to believe it cannot be successful,” Jaideep Mehta, Managing Director, IDC South Asia, told IANS.

According to Tarun Pathak, Senior Analyst, Mobile Devices and Ecosystems at New Delhi-based Counterpoint Research, one of the biggest challenges for the new Nokia would be to live up to its legacy.

“Users will not look at Nokia as a start-up, but rather as a billion dollar company of the past. To convert this challenge into an opportunity, Nokia needs an impressive start. I think the new Nokia should differentiate its products from the experience perspective rather than mere specifications and target the mid-end smartphone segment,” Pathak told IANS.

After acquiring Nokia for $7.2 billion in 2013, Microsoft soon realised it had made a huge mistake and sold off the company’s phone-making business to Apple’s supply-chain partner Foxconn.

Nokia announced last year that it had licensed Finnish company HMD Global to produce Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets.

HMD has reached agreements with both Microsoft and Nokia for the use of the Nokia brand and some design rights. HMD is planning to spend some 400 million euros to market the Nokia brand for the next three years.

When it comes to smartphones, people would expect the same reliability from Nokia as they did with their feature phones.

“People who started their mobile phone journey with a Nokia are over 30 years of age. So, the biggest challenge for Nokia to succeed in smartphones would be to connect with teenagers and youth who drive smartphone sales, either by being the primary users or by influencing their elders to take a decision,” Kawoosa explained.

For Nokia to make some inroads in the smartphone segment, it needs to leverage the wide base of users who have actually experienced using a Nokia—and somehow ensure today’s buyers are influenced by them.

“Say, something like ‘offers for parents to gift a Nokia smartphone to their children’ to pass on the trust to the next generation,” Kawoosa suggested.

Nokia has to keep it simple. It’s known for its hardware and that is where it should be playing, the experts said.

“Launching products like the 3310 is more likely a strategy to bring alive the emotions and connect that users had with Nokia as a brand in the past. It is a good strategy to start with. And India will be a critical market as close to 145 million feature phones will be sold in the country in 2017,” Pathak said.

“People still remember the reliability and sturdiness of the devices. There is no doubt that it will help Nokia gain some foothold in the market as a new entrant,” Mehta said.

IANS

Picture source: Alamy Image

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But, for an international over-the-top (OTT) content player vying to create a space and make it big in the Indian market, providing local content is equally important, said David Croye, Founder and CEO at JustWatch, told IANS in an e-mail interview.

“If an OTT player wants to get big in India, providing Hollywood content alone can only be the start… local content is more important in India than in most other countries,” Croye said.

“When we looked at our visitors, we were pretty amazed to see that we already had over 500,000 visits from India. They were mostly coming from search engines and were trying to find where they could watch a movie or TV show online,” Croye added.

With JustWatch, viewers in India can easily compare the different legal OTT catalogs, such as Netflix, Hotstar, among others, as well as choose which service provider would be best for them.

However, internet infrastructure may prove to be a major challenge for JustWatch to establish business in the Indian market, according to the JustWatch CEO.

“The internet infrastructure is still not fast enough when it comes to broadband access. So it will take a few years more until most people will be able to stream in high definition (HD) format,” Croye said.

“Thus, temporary downloads of streams and optimisation of the content for mobile devices is really important. JustWatch is built mobile-first and optimised for loading speed,” Croye noted.

JustWatch app, which is currently online in 25 countries and has over 25 million users since its launch last year, is available on both Google Playstore and Apple store.

While JustWatch aims to make viewing content less annoying and more valuable for users, as an international aggregator it also aims to make movie marketing a lot more efficient for advertisers.

“As the demand for streaming movies is huge and we want to bring more transparency to the market… our business model is to help movie studios advertise their content to the right audience,” Croye said.

In order to do this, JustWatch collects anonymous user data on movie taste and purchase behaviour through its website justwatch.com and apps in many countries worldwide.

The corresponding anonymous user profiles are used to run highly targeted and efficient video advertising campaigns on mainly YouTube and Facebook for movie releases in cinemas, home entertainment and VOD.

“We always try to have a good mix between international VOD platforms like Netflix, Amazon Video and iTunes as well as local providers like Hotstar, Hooq and Voot,” Croye said.

“We already have a long list of smaller Indian providers we want to show on JustWatch in the future. In the weeks after the launch we will listen to user feedback and look at the data to decide which providers we will add next. We plan to add at least 5-10 additional OTT providers over the coming months,” Croye added.—IANS

Image:

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Filmmakers are tapping advances in digital technology to resurrect characters after a performer dies, most notably in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” The film, in theaters now, features the return of Grand Moff Tarkin, originally played by a long-dead actor.

The trend has sent Hollywood actors in the here-and-now scrambling to exert control over how their characters and images are portrayed in the hereafter.

“Celebrities are increasingly involved in making plans to protect their intellectual property rights,” said Mark Roesler, an attorney and chairman of CMG Worldwide, an agency representing celebrity estates. “They understand that their legacy will continue beyond their lifetime.”

Roesler said at least 25 of his clients are engaged in actively negotiating the use of their or their loved ones’ computer-generated images in movies, television or commercials. Employment contracts govern how they can be used in a particular film or commercial, while a performer’s will can address broader issues.

Some actors or heirs worry that overexposure will tarnish a celebrity’s image, Roesler said. Some explicitly rule out posthumous depictions involving sex or violence, while others focus on drugs or alcohol.

“We have seen people address marijuana,” he said. “We’ve seen liquor addressed.”

California law already gives heirs control over actors’ posthumous profits by requiring their permission for any of use of their likeness. As technology has improved, many living actors there are more focused on steering their legacy with stipulations on how their images are used – or by forbidding their use.

Robin Williams, who committed suicide in 2014, banned any use of his image for commercial means until 2039, according to court documents. He also blocked anyone from digitally inserting him into a movie or TV scene or using a hologram, as was done with rapper Tupac Shakur at Southern California’s Coachella music festival in 2012 – 16 years after his murder.

Virtual characters have been used when an actor dies in the middle of a film production, as when Universal Pictures combined CGI and previous footage for Paul Walker’s role in 2015’s “Furious 7” after Walker’s 2013 death in a car crash.

But “Rogue One” broke new ground by giving a significant supporting role to a dead star. A digital embodiment of British actor Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, reprised his role from the original 1997 “Star Wars” film as Tarkin.

Walt Disney Co recreated Tarkin with a mix of visual effects and a different actor.

A Disney spokeswoman declined to comment on whether Princess Leia would appear in films beyond “Episode VIII,” set for release in 2017. Fisher had wrapped filming for the next “Star Wars” episode before she died. She suffered a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles.

Fisher had been expected to play a key role in the ninth installment of the sci-fi saga, due for release in 2019.

Fisher’s attorney, Frederick Bimbler, did not return requests for information on any stipulations the actress may have made about use of her image.

Disney bought “Star Wars” producer Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion. The two new films since released have sold some $2.7 billion worth of tickets and boosted sales of toys and other related merchandise.

Disney would need to negotiate “re-use fees” with Fisher’s estate to resurrect her character for future films, said Mark Litwak, an entertainment attorney in Los Angeles.—Reuters

Image: Alamy

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The new services, which complement the ministry’s mandate and functions, are available through its web site and official application available across all smart shops, as well as via smart devices like smartphones and tablets, the ministry said.

The UAE is the first Arab country to connect its trademarks systems with the International IPAS system, which is responsible for trademarks at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, WIPO, said Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri. “The addition of these new services is expected to add a new dimension of excellence to the trademark process.”

The new services, he noted, provide an integrated intelligent system of high quality services for trademark holders and facilitate the procedures to help preserve their rights and facilitate the completion of the transactions related to it.

The move enhances the confidence of the business environment in the country and contributes to achieving the Ministry’s goal of protecting intellectual property rights and creating a conducive environment for research and development, innovation and creativity, which are key pillars of UAE Vision 2021, he further noted.

“The launch of this new set of smart services is part of our ongoing efforts to promote the concept of smart government–pushing towards the smart shift of government services in

various sectors and the aim to reduce the number of customers coming to the offices of the Ministry by 80 per cent, which are in support of the directives of the wise leadership to implement a smart government initiative at the federal level,” he said.

The Ministry of Economy is keen on implementing best-in-class applications and promoting the protection of intellectual property, which is evidenced in the launch of these 13-new trademark related services, Minister Al Mansouri explained.

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Under the agreement, the two organisations will cooperate in promoting a culture of innovation and supporting SMEs.

The Hamdan Innovation Incubator will provide member entrepreneurs with relevant solutions and programmes in cooperation with the company.

The company has lawyers and administrative staff specialised in intellectual property rights, patents, industrial models and trademarks.

The MoU was signed by Saeed Al Marri, Deputy CEO of Dubai SME, and Maria Farouq Irfan Khan, the executive director of United Trademark and Patent Services.

Hamdan Innovation Incubator seeks to encourage citizens to come up with local creative inventions, and the new co-operation will help achieve Dubai’s strategy for supporting SMEs and empowering nascent businesses to turn prototypes of their inventions into businesses, Al Marri said.

Through co-operation with the Hamdan Innovation Incubator, the company seeks to expand its presence in Dubai and increase clientele, Khan noted.—WAM

Image: hi2.ae

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The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which removed Alibaba from its annual list four years ago, included the company’s online platform Taobao in its latest release, saying it is not doing enough to curb sales of fake and pirated goods.

“The Taobao.com e-commerce platform is an important concern due to the large volume of allegedly counterfeit and pirated goods available and the challenges right holders experience in removing and preventing illicit sales and offers of such goods,” the agency said.

Although inclusion on the blacklist carries no penalties, it deals a blow to Alibaba’s reputation after the company has struggled to improve its image and boost international sales.

China’s largest online retailer said it is “disappointed” by the decision, saying it has improved policing of the goods for sale on its platforms.

“In 2016 alone, we proactively removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than in 2015,” Alibaba Group president Michael Evans said in a statement. “The decision ignores the real work Alibaba has done to protect IP rights holders and assist law enforcement to bring counterfeiters to justice.”

He suggested the “current political climate” in the United States may have more to do with USTR’s decision.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly accused China of stealing intellectual property, part of what he calls the country’s economic war against the United States.

However, Alibaba and its Taobao site has long been accused of providing a platform for the sale of counterfeit goods.

Alibaba was suspended from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition watchdog in May.—AFP

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