Shruti Hassan to endorse Cornetto

FMCG company Hindustan Unilever has roped in singer Raghav Sachar and Shruti Hassan (daughter of Kamal Hassan) as brand ambassadors for its ice-cream brand Cornetto.The company in a statement said, “Kwality Walls has signed artist and singer Raghav Sachar and actress Shruti Hassan as the brand ambassadors of its flagship brand Cornetto.” Meanwhile, the company has also launched three new products under the Cornetto brand.

Cook with Waste !!!

In Ashirvad's Samayal Samayal today it was Sathyapriya who has been from the last week and K.R. Vatsala competing her in cooking.. The topic was to prepare food with waste products (Skin of the vegetables and fruits)... both the team really did well and I liked both dishes. As Devadarshini always says "mouth watering".. it was really so after the dishes were ready.. Sathyapriya team prepared "adabad rotti" with skin of lot of vegetables and apple skin raita.. K. R. Vatsala's team prepared kongu naattu pagoda with carot skin milk shake..



Finally its Satyapriya who had won this week even in the show and now she will be having her final round next week which would help her to win the dream kitchen.. Lets see how it goes..

Family Judges ;)

We have been seeing Unnikrishnan, Sujatha and Srinivas in the Airtel Super Singer 2008 show for quite long time and I even felt for other/new judges replacing these three.. it would be better to see what others say even.. but last few episodes we have been seeing Malini Yugendran referring them to "Family Judges".. quite interesting.. also If you had noticed during the quarter finals in the show.. Yugendran and Malini kept on saying "Final Quarter finals".. I donno when was the previous quarter finals took place and even pre quarter finals... is it bcos the show wen to quarter finals & got recall rounds and went back to round robin stage ???

Airtel with 16 Mbps broadband ???

Bharti Airtel has announced the fastest wireline broadband on DSL in India with a transfer rate of 16 Mbps. This service, powered by Airtel's Carrier Ethernet Network, will be initially available in the cities of Delhi NCR, Chennai and Bangalore with phased roll-out to additional cities of Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata. The company is offering two tariff plans of Rs 2999 and Rs 4999 per month with a transfer limit of 20 GB and 50 GB respectively.

Bharti Airtel telemedia services joint president K Srinivas said, "It gives us great pleasure to be able to introduce the fastest, wired broadband service on DSL. We will be able to offer 16 Mbps broadband to 70 per cent of the households in the three cities of Delhi NCR, Chennai and Bangalore." Airtel delivers its broadband service to customers through a fibre backbone of carrier ethernet network with last mile delivery on copper using ADSL2+ technology. This enables ultra high-speed broadband which is scalable and affordable. At present, Airtel is offering its services across 95 cities in the country with approximately 992,000 broadband customers as on 31 December, 2008.

Google & HT Media - Online Election Centers

Google India has partnered with HT Media to introduce online election centers for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Says Google India managing director Shailesh Rao, “Being an informed voter is a prerequisite for the healthy functioning of India’s democracy. While this is especially true during all elections cycles, we have, this year, observed many initiatives that have sought to promote access to election-related information in India.

"We have created these election centers to highlight some of the most important information available to voters in India,” he adds.
Developed in collaboration with non-government organisations, the online centres allow voters to study and analyse their candidates, constituencies and election-related issues. They also allow voters to confirm their voter registration status, find their polling location, view their constituency on a map and read relevant election-related news, blogs, videos, and quotations.

“General elections in India are always complex. Keeping that in mind, this election coverage not only gives you a comprehensive and broad brush of news stories, but also keeps you informed about all the issues that we face today," says Hindustan Times media editor-in-chief Sanjoy Narayan.

A IndianTelevision News

Orkut Community for Elections

With the election fever gaining pace across the country, Google’s social networking website Orkut has introduced a new community, ‘The voice of youth’, at orkut.co.in/loksabha2009. The new community will run public polls, relevant to the elections amongst users. The poll results will be available in real time and will be visible after the questions are answered. In addition to answering polls, users will be allowed to suggest various topics for polls. Voting on all the polls will close on 14 April.

Says Google India product manager Vihari Komaragiri, “In this election, more than in any previous one, young people are going to make a difference - either by voting in more numbers or by getting engaged in the democratic process. And internet is providing them a powerful platform to do just that. Social networks have become a mirror of the real world and this community will reflect what is important to all of us and will help highlight the voice of the nation.” Apart from polls, the community also has state-wise chat rooms, wherein users can debate issues specific to particular state.

Chithirai Thirunaal..

April 14, 2009

These are the programs set to ROCK the Vijay TV this Tamizh New Year.. Dont miss any of them..

8.00 AM - watch Dindugal I. Leoni moderate a debate on “Who are considered as real heroes in elections — the contestant or the voter?” in Sirappu Pattimandram.

9.00 AM - watch Koffee with Anu Season 2 featuring Dayanithi Maran and Vairamuthu.

10.00 AM - is Neeya Naana with Gopinath as anchor. The topic is ‘Do all Tamils know to read and write their mother-tongue?’

11.30 AM - actor Vijayakanth speaks about his latest release ‘Mariyadhai’ in ‘Captainukku Mariyadhai’.

12 noon - watch ‘Maathi Yosi’ in which singers will dance and dancers will sing.

1.00 PM - is ‘Ayutha Ezhuthu’ where leading anchors of Vijay TV such as Deepak, Kavitha and Ramya come together with TV celebrities Uma Padmanabhan, Jayashri, Sivakarthikeyan and Pandi to participate in fun-filled activities.

Do not miss the curtain raiser of upcoming releases

2.00 PM - ‘Kungumapoovum Konjumpuravum’
5.30 AM - ‘Ananda Taandavam’
6.00 PM - ‘Pasanga’ at 6.00

3.00 PM - Veteran actor, artist, orator Sivakumar expresses his love for Tamil literature in ‘Sivakumarin Kamban En Kadhalan.’ The actor sums up Ramayanam through 100 verses of Kamba Ramayanam, which he recites and supplements with a commentary, in two hours. All without a scrap of paper for reference.

Find Vijay here..

Vijay Narayan, the contestant of the Super Singer 2008 show who will be into his wild card round in show.. Here is his blog page.. Check here

Wild Card (a.k.a Recall ) Round

Being said that it will be Wild card round in the Airtel Super Singer 2008 show.. I really donno whether its Wild card or Recall round.. i gues both has same meaning ;).. just my thoughts on few ppl who will be in Wild card or what would happen if they get selected.. just for fun...

Vijay Narayan
This guy has a very good musical talent & I wish him to become a music director.. the way he innovates lot of things in the super singer stage shows his capabilities.
Well it will be good if he selects for the finals but I dont think whether he will be a problem for Ravi, Renu or Ajeesh.

Ranjani
Ranjani had been doing well always and she doesnt stand in waiting list contenstants usually.. she sings really well and moves to next round easily.. now even she had not done badly but just others were lil too good than her.
It will be a good competition if she is selected for the finals but I wonder if Vijay TV will bring her back ;)

Prasanna
This entertainer will be on the top list of re-entry to the show.. definitely bcos of his singing capabilities and fan following which would definitely increase the TRP of Vijay TV. Musically not so strong he is always seemed to be weak when it comes to Carnatic music.
Prasanna will be a very good competitor for Ravi,Renu and Ajeesh & it will make lot of his fans to be happy

Raghini Shree
No wonder this girl can even get into the competition.. She is good in a set of songs & for long time we have been seeing very bad performances of hers. I dont think she will be a godo competitor in the show & others would outperform her for sure unless judges boasts her..
We cant say anything with Raghini and Vijay Tv.. No wonder if she comes to the show with the support..

Ajeesh all the way :)

With the Ilayaraja round getting over.. i.e. semifinals of the Airtel Super Singer 2008 show.. Ajeesh emerged to be the champion with the end of round. I guess it will be really tough choice to know who will win the title & get a chance to sing in Yuvan Shankar Raja's music.. Ajeesh proved that he is really a very very good singer.. in fact I liked his singign only after his performances starting from top 22 contestants.. He has been absolutely consistant in his singing & most of the rounds he had bettered all other contestants.. I think he deserves the Super Singer title but looking at Ravi I wish both get the title ;)

I have become fan of Ajeesh these days and I hope u guys even think the same.. there were rumours 2 months back that Ajeesh had already got a chance to sing in A.R. Rahman's music and since the show is on the way he will do the justice once his contract ends with Vijay TV.

Now watch Sun Direct HD..

Sun Direct, the direct-to-home (DTH) service provider owned by the Maran family and Astro Group of Malaysia, has become the first player to launch high definition (HD) services in India. HD TV is considered to be one of the world's best digital broadcast platforms, which offers higher resolutions than the traditional television system. Tony D'Silva, chief operating officer, Sun Direct says that the company has always believed in offering new technology to its consumers. A case in point is that Sun Direct was the first DTH player to offer its consumers MPEG 4 technology, which provides enhanced audio and sound quality.

D'Silva says, "We believe that in the constantly changing viewership dynamics and taste, to keep the viewer continuously happy and engaged, we need to offer them new options. HD is another first from the Sun Direct stable." D'Silva claims that Sun Direct has 3 million active users and aims to add another three million by 2010. It currently has a market share of 30 per cent and wants to increase this to 40-45 per cent by the end of 2010. The company plans to spend around Rs 150 crore on marketing activities this year to help them achieve their target.

HD services can only be available on HD TV sets, which are manufactured by companies such as Samsung and LG. An estimated 1.5 million HD TV sets are sold in the Indian market as of now; Sun Direct wants to tap 20 per cent of those consumers by the year end.
Sun Direct's HD set top box will be available to consumers for Rs 10,000. Consumers, who are already using the existing Sun Direct set top box, can exchange it for the HD counterpart. Since the availability of HD content is limited, Sun Direct has launched two movie services in this format. The first one is the Tamil and Telugu movie services, where consumers can order HD movies for a fee. A similar Hindi movie service will also be introduced soon.

Dish TV launches direct-to-car satellite TV system

Dish TV, the direct-to-home (DTH) venture of the Essel Group, has introduced its latest offering, their direct-to-car (DTC) satellite television system. The unit comes in two models with a price tag of Rs 79,000 and Rs 1,49,000 and can be fitted on a car, bus or any sports utility vehicle. Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV, says that the new service is for all those who need to stay connected with the world — they could be people with interest in stock markets, sports, politicians, celebrities and businessmen.

He says, "Demand and enquiries for our mobile DTH units have been overwhelming from states such as Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, among others. We are pushing our mobile DTH units very aggressively." The DTC is similar to the standard Dish TV setup one can install at home, and it provides all the same television channels that we have become hooked on to, all in the comfort of your car. The only notable difference between what one gets in their car and their home is an antenna specially designed to work in moving vehicles.

At the heart of the system is a specialized antenna which is mounted on the vehicle's roof that is designed to automatically track the Dish TV satellite regardless of the vehicle's orientation and speed of travel. The company currently has two types of unique antennas, the Speed Ray and the T5, which differ vastly in their capabilities. The T5 is the entry-level antenna which is an aerodynamically designed 'tub' that magnetically latches on to the roof. Inside the tub, the antenna apparatus can change direction and angle using electric motors to maintain 'line-of-sight' to the satellite. This 8 kg antenna can only be used in the Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh region and it has the ability to receive 70 channels. The larger and heavier (25 kg) Speed Ray antenna is more high-tech than the T5 and looks flat and sleek like a wide surfboard mounted on roof rails. It is also more potent in its abilities, being able to work all over India receiving almost 100 channels.

Whichever antenna one chooses, it plugs in to a standard Dish TV set-top box inside the car through an RF cable, which is connected to a LCD screen for the video and the car's audio system for the sound. Dish TV also provides a separate IR receiver for the remote control which can conveniently be placed anywhere in the car. The LCD screen setup however, is not provided by the company and it's up to the customers' discretion to choose what make and size is best suitable.

Apart from a Rs 300 monthly subscription, the estimated cost of T5 system is around Rs 79,000 while that of the Speed Ray is Rs 1.5 lakh, both of which include the cost of the set-top box. For a clear reception of the signal, there should not be something too close to the car blocking the antenna in the south-east direction.
This means that in the tight confines of tall buildings or tall trees, the reception is intermittent at best, but when the road opens up even slightly, signal reception is not an issue - be it through rain or shine, whether stationary or moving at highway speeds. It's not difficult to imagine that such a system gaining popularity with people who spend a lot of time on highways in chauffeur driven cars, or even with tour operators for that matter. This system ensures that one will never have to miss another cricket match, or even any important business news while on the road.

Courtesy - Televisionpoint.com

Rasigan Express Starts April 14 !!!

Vijay Awards are back again.. for the 2008 year. I felt its been quite long time the awards had come and now its back. Rasigan Express the vehicle that will go around the whole state from April 14 to April 24, 2009 will meet public and get their votes for the awards. Be ready.. get ready to vote for your best actor/actress..

Mumtaj @ Boys Vs Girls.

Actress Mumtaj who has not been seen in films for quite sometime is making her entry in the TV with the Boys Vs Girls program. She will join actor Srikanth to judge the performances of Boys and Girls team. I donno wat had happen to Namita who appeared in the show judging for few weeks and then she is not there for sometime.. I think Mumtaj would be in the show just for this week and might be Namita or some other actress would be in the show. Having said that, this week is the 10th competitive round in the show and I never thought its been these many weeks so soon :) Good that the show is getting stronger... from the promo it looks like Mumtaj makes entry with her dressing never before this way ;) and she even says "paavam" in her style...

Samayal Neram !!!

With the Vijay TV started to concentrate on the noon and day time shows... its with a cooking program "Samayal Neram" that will attract many of the housewives for sure.. I have noticed that not many regional channels had given a good samayal program and Vijay TV has been exceptional in it.. the way Samayal samayal is going this new show Samayal Neram will be hit for sure.. But I guess how long will the show be there in the channel ;)

How is it going ???

Vijay TV has targetted the noon space for the first time with an intelligent talk show for women. An all-woman show that talks about women. ‘Ini Oru Vidhi Seivom’, which began this Monday, is an one-hour interactive programme where women are invited to talk on issues that affect them on a day-to-day basis. The show hopes to awaken people’s conscience and set them thinking. Well-known faces of the small screen Revathy Sankaran and Devadarshini are in the show as moderators.

Semifinals..

It was semifinals in Airtel super Singer 2008 this week..the show had become very much interesting after the judges started rating for each song being performed by the contestants.. in fact the show went to the peak with Unnikrishnan was silent judge ;).. The round being aptly named "Ilayaraja Round" in the semifinals of the show..
With the top 5 contestants RAvi, Renu, Ajeesh, Vijay and Ranjani fighting for the final spot.. it was Ajeesh who ROCKED the whole week to become the top performer and now being ranked 1. Ajeesh is followed by Renu and Ravi and these 3 are now selected for the final round.. Prasanna is surely missed in this round.. it would have been better if he had been there..

Back now..

I was not having internet access last 1 week and unable to post anything in here..felt very bad for that but now I am back..in fact I dint even saw any of the programs last week in our Vijay TV.. heard that Airtel Super Singer 2008 had a very good week and in fact Neeya Naana was also had some interesting talk. I will watch them in some sites and will post comments on them.