STAR, HALLMARK CHANNEL, AUSTRALIA NETWORK and HBO HITS & FAMILY now on Dialog TV

Dialog TV, Sri Lanka’s leading Pay TV and only DTH service provider has completed adding new channels for the recently activated transponder. A total number of 18 channels have been launched. The much awaited new channel line-up includes the all important STAR bouquet, the Classic favourite HALLMARK CHANNEL, TEN SPORTS the rights holder for WWE programming, HBO Network’s latest additions and AUSTRALIA NETWORK which explores the culture and lifestyle of Down Under.

Newly launched English channels
* STAR WORLD
* STAR MOVIES
* HALLMARK CHANNEL
* HBO HITS
* HBO FAMILY
* AUSTRALIA NETWORK
* TEN SPORTS
* NEO SPORTS PLUS
* NEO SPORTS
* STAR CRICKET
* GOD TV
* NDTV 24/7

STAR Bouquet
The highly anticipated STAR bouquet which includes STAR WORLD and STAR MOVIES was added on 3rd August 2007. The addition of STAR bouquet was welcomed by all subscribers of Dialog TV as they have been waiting for it since the days of CBNSat.

Most of these channels especially STAR, HALLMARK CHANNEL and TEN SPORTS were available in Sri Lanka via other Pay TV platforms such as SatNet and Comet Cable. But if you're accessing the channles for the FIRST time, here's a brief sneak-peek as to what you can expect...

* STAR WORLD
Star World is the premiere English-language TV channel of the Cable network Star TV. The channel is probably the most popular Cable-Entertainment channel in Sri Lanka. It mainly brings U.S and British entertainment programming content to Asia. The channel distributes programs of leading American TV networks such as CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC and CW covering everything from Dramas and Soaps to Sitcoms, Talk shows and Reality shows. The current show-list of Star World includes Ellen, Grey’s Anatomy, Prison Break, Falcon Beach, The O.C., According To Jim, Desperate Housewives, The Apprentice, Scrubs, Bones, Law & Order, TNA Wrestling and many more. The channel carries exclusive live coverage of the hit reality show American Idol which has a wide audience in the country. And Star World is the home for many Award shows and Beauty pageants such as Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Miss World.
(Website)

* STAR MOVIES
Star Movies is the exclusive Hollywood movie channel of Star TV Network. The channel brings audiences across Asia the biggest blockbusters from Hollywood. The channel has acquired broadcast rights for many film production houses such as 20th Century Fox, Colombia Pictures, Universal, Disney, MGM, DreamWorks, Miramax Films, Canal Plus, Buena Vista and over 100 independent distributors. Star Movies has also been given official rights to broadcast live events such as The Academy Awards. The channel is well-known for airing the latest in movies and productions.
(Website)

* HALLMARK CHANNEL
Hallmark Channel specializes in family Entertainment. It’s a Classical Entertainment channel which mainly airs older TV productions and made-for-television movies along with past episodes and segments of present shows. It brings back a lot of memories from the 90’s with some of TV’s longest running shows such as ER, The Nanny and Walker Texas Ranger. The channel currently airs the day time talk show Oprah Winfrey Show which was previously on Star World. Hallmark Channel which broadcasts in over 100 countries across the globe is owned by Sparrowhawk Media. If you are in the mood for some quality TV, Hallmark Channel is the place.
(Website)

* HBO HITS & HBO FAMILY
HBO Hits and HBO Family are the latest additions of HBO Asia Networks. The channels have partnered with major Hollywood studios and distributors such as Columbia/TriStar, Paramount, Universal, New Line Cinema and Screen Gems. HBO Hits is completely dedicated to Hollywood blockbuster hits. The channel delivers US 100 box-office movies in the year they were released and hits that garnered Oscar/Golden Globe wins or nominations. The channel also features behind-the-scene footages, making of movies, Box-Office countdowns and gossips. HBO Family focuses on more family oriented movies. At late night HBO Family carries a segment called Nightwatch where more advanced content airs. Both channels are commercial free. The movies on HBO are scheduled at different timings. So that if you missed out the premiere of the movie, you can always catch a rerun.
(Website) (Website)

* AUSTRALIA NETWORK
Australia Network (formerly ABC Asia Pacific) is the place for everything Australia. The channel explores the rich cultural diversity of Down Under. On Australia Network you can watch a variety of programs including the latest regional news & current affairs, home-made documentaries, business reports, Australian dramas & soaps, lifestyle programs, sports and children programming. The list of Aussie dramas includes the highly popular Home & Away, medical series All Saints, Stingers and more. The channel also carries live coverage of events from around the region.
(Website)

* TEN SPORTS
Ten Sports is the most popular sports channel in Asia reaching an estimated 48 million homes in the Sub-continent, Middle East, Europe & Asia. As mentioned above, Ten Sports is the only pay network in the territory which holds exclusive rights for WWE events. The WWE content are being aired on a regular basis. Ten Sports also airs popular Magazine shows such as Gillette World Sports and Rally World. Ten Sports distributes hundreds of hours of sports content via satellite multiplex to broadcasters around Asia.
(Website)

* NEO SPORTS PLUS
Neo Sports Plus is a 24-hour Sports oriented Entertainment channel launched by Neo Sports Broadcast Ltd. The channel broadcasts Live Sports events, Magazine shows and Reality shows. Neo Sports Plus carries a variety of sports. It also has some of the best motor sports action in the form of V8 Supercars and Superbike World Championship respectively.
(Website)

* NEO SPORTS
Neo Sports is a channel dedicated to Cricket programming. The channel has exclusive rights to broadcast all cricket matches played by the Indian cricket team and domestic games. The channel showcases various cricket related programming, interviews, analysis and other shows around cricket.
(Website)

* STAR CRICKET
Star Cricket which is a part of the ESPN-STAR sports bouquet is a 24 hour cricket channel targetting the audiences of South-east Asia. The channel is set to carry live cricket coverage from around the world with a showcase segment of feature content on cricket including reality shows, archival programming and magazine shows.
(Website)

* GOD TV
God TV is a religious channel which mainly caters to the rapidly-growing Christian community. GOD TV broadcasts material that inspires you including a range of programmes presented by leading pastors and evangelists. God TV also features worship from Australian Hillsong Church and gospel music sessions. The channel reaches a potential viewing audience of 387 million people in more than 200 nations and territories from its broadcast headquarters in Israel. God TV is operated by The Angel Foundation.
(Website)

* ISLAM CHANNEL
Islam Channel is the first English language Islamic-focused satellite channel available globally. Islam Channel provides innovative and exciting programming that personalizes Islamic themes as well as entertains the Muslim viewers of all ethnic backgrounds.
(Website)

* NDTV 24x7
NDTV 24x7 is the largest English language news channel from India. It mainly airs news and current affairs related to India. Apart from the news bulletins, the channel also produces documentaries and special reports on important news items.
(Website)

Current status
Now Dialog TV currently has over 50 channels. With the recent addition of STAR pack, Dialog TV has an impressive line-up of channels. With the addition of STAR MOVIES, Dialog TV now has a complete Movie package with 7 dedicated channels including the full HBO pack and ZEE STUDIO. And Dialog TV receives the original/Hong Kong feed for all the Movie channels. So you’ll end up watching quality movie content free of commercials!

Future plans
Dialog TV will introduce functions such as Pay Per View and VOD (Video On Demand) sometime soon. HDTV operations are reportedly being tested. A complete EPG is also expected. More channels are likely to come aboard after the activation of Transponder 4. A new package for a higher rental is likely to come out.

Accessing the channels
You must have got access to all the channels by now. The newly launched channels have allocated to different packages. If you have the premium package (1400/=) you should receive all the channels. God TV is only available upon request. If you’re interested in viewing the channel, give the Customer Care a buzz and get it activated.

The subscribers of Dialog TV should be happy about the present channel line-up as they have introduced most of the expected channels especially STAR bouquet and HALLMARK CHANNEL. One of the channels which have been left out was FASHION TV. The channel was on the test mode along with some other channels but disappeared from the line-up after a couple of days. Even the promotional broachers made available by Dialog TV prior to the launch stated that FASHION TV will be introduced. However, it may return along with Transponder 4. It should be mentioned that the channel was previously available on CBNSat.

There is still a lack of Entertainment, Music, Lifestyle and Business channels in the line-up. So they should at least consider adding the channels which are already available in other local platforms. These channels include Channel V International, Dubai One, Fashion TV, Sky News, Bloomberg Television and local channels ETV and Art TV.

EPG (Electronic Program Guide)
EPG is available for selected channels. Press the EPG key on the Remote Control to access the channel bar which displays simple EPG information including the time and program titles. Press INFO key and it will pop out a bigger textbox displaying a full description – Time, Program Title, Genre and Sypnosis. Use the Forward and Backward buttons to navigate through items.

STAR Struck
A commercial named STAR STRUCK which promotes the STAR bouquet on Dialog TV has been released to local media. You can access them here…
Print: http://bayimg.com/BafNiAABG
Radio: http://www.zshare.net/audio/3053789c3f32c6/

Pay Dialog TV bills Online
You can now pay your Dialog TV bills online using your Credit Card at payeasy.lk, a portal powered by Sampath Bank.

Problems and Issues
On the other hand, several issues occur when using Dialog TV. Here’s a lowdown of some of the current issues that you have to deal with.
1. Rain fade – Satellite beam/signal gets lost when raining.
2. Most of the important channels such as HBO and VH1 have been given low band-with which resulted in low quality pictures.
3. The present EPG is inaccurate and contains lot of errors.
4. Low picture quality most of the time comparing to other DTH providers in the territory.
5. Audio and Video comparison on certain channels.
5. Channels go off air without any prior notice / Channels get stuck sometimes.
6. Customer care has not been informed about new developments.
7. Channel activation and package transfers are not being handled on Weekends/Public holidays.
8. The Website doesn’t include proper information / No E-Mail newsletters.
9. An additional decoder (Set Top Box) has been priced at Rs.9000/-
10. The user/subscriber has not been given the opportunity to select channels by genre (Movies, Entertainment, Sports & etc).
I suggest you consider these issues in case you’re thinking of purchasing a Dialog TV connection. Hope the problems will be sorted out soon. And please note that some of the issues such as Rain Fade are common when it comes to Ku-Band Satellite transmissions.

Channel Line-Up
The whole channel line-up has been rearranged from yesterday onwards. The channels have smoothly allocated by Genre making it more easier to access. All the movie channels have been moved to Transponder 1. The new channel order can be viewed here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dialog_TV_channels

Sources
Log onto the following sources for more information on Dialog TV…
Dialog TV Official Website: http://www.dialogtv.com/
Channel line-up & frequencies: http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/dialog.html
Regular updates and scans on Channel band-with: http://www.satcodx3.com/0450/eng/

In the meantime, Comet Cable which is one of the pioneers in the local Pay TV industry has announced digital plans together with 60+ channel expansion. Suddenly, Sri Lankan Pay TV industry looks very promising. It has finally become one of the fastest growing businesses in the island of paradise. As the days progress, more operators both local and foreign are likely to commence operations in the country. That probably means we’ll have more options to choose from!

Last updated: Oct 30, 2007

Live Earth kicks off today

The much anticipated 7.7.07 is finally here. People all across the planet earth get ready to embark upon a 24 hour 7-continent concert series called LIVE EARTH that will bring together more than 150 musicians to inspire a global movement to combat the global warming….

Official Concerts and schedules

CITY - LOCAL TIME - EDT
Live Earth Sydney - 11:10 a.m. 7/7 - 9:10 pm 7/6
Crowded House / Jack Johnson / Wolfmother / Eskimo Joe / Missy Higgins / Sneaky Sound System
Live Earth Tokyo - 12:00 p.m. 7/7 - 11:00 p.m. 7/6
Linkin Park / Rihanna / Xzibit / Ayaka
Live Earth Shanghai - 7:00 p.m. 7/7 - 7:00 a.m. 7/7
Sarah Brightman / 12 Girls Band
Live Earth Hamburg - 2:00 p.m. 7/7 - 8:00 a.m. 7/7
Chris Cornell / Enrique Iglessias / Katie Melua / Shakira
Live Earth London - 1:30 p.m. 7/7 - 8:30 a.m. 7/7
Genesis / Damien Rice / Duran Duran / Metallica / Red Hot Chilli Peppers / Foo Fighters / Madonna / Beastie Boys / James Blunt / Keane / Snow Patrol / Razorlight / Pussycat Dolls
Live Earth Johannesburg - 6:00 p.m. 7/7 - 12:00 p.m. 7/7
UB 40 / Joss Stone
Live Earth New York - 2:30 p.m. 7/7 - 2:30 p.m. 7/7
The Police / Roger Waters / Bon Jovi / Dave Mathews Band / Keith Urban / Kelly Clarkson / Smashing Pumpkins / KT Tunstall / John Mayor / Taking Back Sunday
Live Earth Rio de Janeiro - 4:00 p.m. 7/7 - 3:00 p.m. 7/7
Lenny Kravitz / Macy Gray

The Sydney leg of 'Live Earth' has already been started. Tribal leaders with white-painted bodies and shaking eucalyptus fronds were the first of more than 150 performers at the nine concerts, 24-hour series to raise awareness about climate change. The newly reunited 80’s Pop outfit Crowded House is also scheduled to perform at the Sydney concert. 'Live Earth London' is probably the most talked about concert music-wise as the line-up includes some of the biggest names in the industry such as Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Gray, Duran Duran, Damien Rice, Foo Fighters, Keene, Snow Patrol, Razorlight and Kasabian. This is a must see, if you are an Alternative music fan…

Organizers say the series of concerts will be as green as possible, with a tally of energy use being kept. In addition to these official concerts, there are over 8000 'Live Earth Friends' events happening worldwide.

Live Earth will be beamed worldwide, from eight continents (New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, and Hamburg) by the Intelsat using its industry-leading network of Satellite and terrestrial facilities in standard and high definition, across multiple media channels – Radio, TV, Internet and Wireless channels.

People in Sri Lanka will be able to catch this monumental event through the following Media outlets.
Radio: YES FM 7.7.07 @ 4.30pm (SL)
TV: VH1 7.7.07 @ 2.30pm (SL)
Online: MSN @ http://www.liveearth.msn.com/

YES FM to air LIVE EARTH

The seventh month of the year 2007 has just arrived. And something very important is taking place on the seventh day of this month. It’s none other than the much-anticipated Live Earth. People from every corner of the world will get together to find an answer for the climate crisis...

YES FM has acquired the broadcast rights to air Live Earth in Sri Lanka. YES FM will join an international movement that will bring together more than 150 artists and two billion people worldwide in an effort to combat the climate crisis.

::LIVE EARTH::
Live Earth is a 24-hour 7-continent series of 9 concerts taking place on 7.7.07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to inspire a global movement to 'Answer the Call' and combat global warming. Official concerts will be staged at the following venues…

• Live Earth New York at Giants Stadium
• Live Earth London at Wembley Stadium
• Live Earth Sydney at Aussie Stadium
• Live Earth Rio de Janeiro at Copacabana Beach
• Live Earth Tokyo at Makuhari Messe
• Live Earth Shanghai at Oriental Pearl Tower
• Live Earth Johannesburg at the Cradle of Humankind
• Live Earth Hamburg at HSN Nordbank Arena
• Live Earth Istanbul at Inonu Stadium

Some of the artists confirmed to perform at "Live Earth" include Dave Mathews Band, Smashing Pumpkins, Bon Jovi, David Gray, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Duran Duran, Madonna, Damien Rice, Snow Patrol, Linkin Park and KT Tunstall. The concert series will kick off with the Australian leg. The newly re-formed Crowded House along with a host of homegrown acts will take the centre stage.

Live Earth will reach the worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms – Radio, TV, Internet and wireless. Live Earth is the first ever international concert event to be broadcast completely in High Definition and will be seen in more than 100 countries.

The live broadcast on YES FM will commence on 7.7.07 at 4pm onwards. The station will allow access to the full event including all 9 concerts. Tune into 89.5 in Colombo, 88.2 in Kandy & Down-South and 101 Islandwide. VH1 will carry the official Cable television coverage of the event. And Live Earth concerts will also be streamed live worldwide by MSN at http://www.liveearth.msn.com/

A full list of concert lineups, locations and more, including detailed information about the campaign, is now available at the official Live Earth Website
http://www.liveearth.org/

Paris Hilton on Larry King Live

Paris Hilton gave her much anticipated first post-jail interview to CNN’s Larry King Live on Wednesday. I was lucky enough to catch it on Cable TV. And I found the whole interview pretty interesting. She was dressed in a white lace sweater and looked so different. I guess she has changed her attitude a lot.

Quotes from the Interview with Larry King:

LARRY KING: Why are you doing this interview?
PARIS HILTON: I consider you an icon and I really respect you and it's an honor for me to be here today.

KING: What have the last two days been like?
HILTON: Some days, overwhelming. You know, I've been confined for 3½ weeks in a little cell so it's just overwhelming to be out and be free again.

KING: How well were you treated?
HILTON: I went up to L.A. County. All the sheriffs there were very professional. I was treated like any other inmate, no better, no worse.

KING: You were in confinement 23 hours a day?
HILTON: Yeah. It was pretty difficult, just -- the cell was like 8 by 12. So I was alone the entire time.

KING: Do you have television in the cell?
HILTON: No.

KING: What do you do with the hour you get out?
HILTON: For the hour I got to shower and call my family. You only have an hour so you try to make the most of it.

KING: Have visitors?
HILTON: Saturdays and Sundays for a half an hour. My family came, my friends.

KING: Do you have to wear special clothes?
HILTON: I wore the orange jumpsuit just like everyone else. It was a very traumatic experience, but I feel like God does make everything happen for a reason. And it gave me, you know, a time-out in life to really find out what's important and what I want to do, figuring out who I am. And I'm -- even though it was really hard, I took that time just to get to know myself. I have a new outlook on life.

If you missed the show, you can follow the transcript of the full interview here…http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/27/king.hilton.transcript/index.html

Paris Hilton’s hour long appearance on Larry King drew 3.2 million viewers, nearly triple the show’s average audience.

Paris Hilton was released from Los Angeles county jail early Tuesday after being sentenced to 45 days in jail for driving on a suspended license. Her jail term was later cut almost in half for good behavior. In total she has served 23 days behind bars. The new season of her hit reality show ‘The Simple Life’ now airs on E!.

Watch the Interview
PART 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSCrSdq0xTM
PART 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMC3qQurC8o
PART 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhcbZGvxScI
PART 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLBsbCCP2rc

The End of an Era….One Tree Hill: Season Finale airs tonight

One Tree Hill ends its fourth season. The final episode will premiere tonight in the US on CW Network. It’s gonna be the end of an era as the kids are graduated from the high school after four years of existence.

I’ll have to wait at least two more days to stream or download the episode from i-Tunes. I can’t wait to see it. Since I have followed the show from the beginning, it has become a part of my life. And it’s the best teen drama alive! It’s going to be a very emotional finale as we say goodbye to the life of Tree Hill High. Most of the former characters are likely to appear on tonight’s season finale specially Rachel and Shelly. And it will be great to see Rachel after sometime.

According to the OTH fan sites, the Season 4 DVD will hit shelves somewhere in September. After tonight's finale, the show will go on hiatus until next season. But big changes are ahead for Season 5 where the show jumps four years into the future. Season 5 will focus on characters lives after college.

Episode 21 (Season Finale) – All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
Dan must face the harsh consequences of his decision to murder Keith as Karen and Haley's pregnancies complicate the lives of Nathan and the graduating seniors of Tree Hill High. Lucas wrestles with his post-high school options, and Peyton and Brooke prepare to spend the summer in Los Angeles together.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPLeMzxoh5g

Dialog TV to introduce new channels this month

Sri Lanka’s trend setting Cable/Satellite TV provider Dialog TV (known as CBNSat for most of us) is now in the process of introducing their new set of channels. According to reports, the launch will take place during the month of June. I’m under the impression that it will happen towards the latter part of the month as they have a lot of things to be sorted out before the launch such as channel deals, packaging structure, system upgrade and even the EPG. Dialog TV is yet to release an official statement regarding the whole process.

In addition to the new channels, there are two more transponders waiting to be launched. One has already been activated. Refer the link http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/dialog.html. The frequency for the newly activated transponder is 11498V. They will also introduce PPV (Pay Per View) facilities for the first time in Sri Lanka.

Talking about upcoming channels, it was revealed that a lot of premium channels will be available on the new line-up. It is highly likely that the channels will be allocated to the existing packages. But they might introduce a new packaging structure for future subscribers. At the moment, the new channel list includes the all important STAR bouquet, TEN SPORTS which is the exclusive broadcaster of WWE events, classic favourite HALLMARK CHANNEL and HBO’s latest additions HBO HITZ & HBO FAMILY.

Here’s the confirmed list of upcoming channels…
English Channels....
* HBO HITZ
* HBO FAMILY
* STAR WORLD
* STAR MOVIES
* HALLMARK CHANNEL
* TEN SPORTS
* AUSTRALIA NETWORK
* NEO SPORTS PLUS
* NEO SPORTS
* NDTV 24X7
* DW-TV
* GOD TV
* STAR CRICKET
Other languages...
* STAR PLUS
* STAR GOLD
* STAR VIJAY
* SET
* SET SAB
* SR TV

Every single title that I mentioned above will be available on the new line-up for sure. And also there’s a rumour going on indicating that Fashion TV will be included again. The channel was dropped from the line-up due to the Cable TV controversy occurred last year. With the launch of all these superior channels, Dialog TV will be the first operator in Sri Lanka to introduce HBO Network’s new additions HBO Hitz & HBO Family. The channels were only available in four territories. Unfortunately, there’s no sign of a music channel coming abroad. But hope they will consider adding a channel like Channel V International for the sake of music lovers. The channels Disney and Toon Disney which have been signed up by CBNSat last year won’t be available in the new line-up.

I believe DTV will update their customers as to how things work when everything is ready. So keep your fingers crossed. I can’t wait to see the new channels on the menu!!!

Dialog TV recently added Al Jazeera, the 24/7 news network headquartered in Doha Qatar. Al Jazeera is also available via FTA on AsiaSat 3S. Dialog TV currently has over 30 channels including HBO, VH1, AXN, ZEE Café and Zone Reality.

Dialog TV Website
http://www.dialogtv.com/

Last updated: July 28, 2007 / 2.45pm

American Idol - Season 6 concludes

The finale of American Idol’s sixth season was held last night at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre. The seventeen year old Jordin Sparks from Arizona was crowned as the winner of this year’s American Idol. She became the youngest contestant in American Idol history to ever win the title.

Last night, Singer Jordin beat out fellow beatboxer Blake Lewis to become the sixth American Idol. She had even received the majority of a record 74 million votes. Jordin now contributes to the throne that Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantacia, Cariie Underwood and Taylor Hicks built.

On the finale, Jordin and Blake kicked off the performance segment with a duet of the Beatles classic “I Saw Her Standing There”. Next up was a guest performance featuring Gwen Stefani. She performed her new single “4 In The Morning” via satellites from her “Sweet Escape” tour. Then the original American Idol or I should say the most successful winner up to date, Kelly Clarkson returned to the idol stage to sing her new single “Never Again”. After that, the season’s top six male and female finalists made appearances separately. The fourth season winner of American Idol, none other than Carrie Underwood performed a stunning cover of “I’ll Stand By You” making it one of the best moments of the finale night. And she was honored legendary music mogul Clive Davis for reaching nearly six million sales of her debut album “Some Hearts”. Finally, Billie Joe Armstrong and the band Green Day took the night to another level by performing their rendition of “Working Class Hero”. One of the signature moments was that Blake teamed up with veteran rapper Doug E Fresh on stage. The finale was lasted for approximately two hours and ten minutes.

In my opinion, Jordin is a great singer with soul. But Blake has the potential to sell many records. Coz Jordin is not a kind of person who’s gonna stick to the industry for a while……

SLT IPTV within 6 months...

SLT, Sri Lanka’s number one communication provider recently obtained media broadcasting license to introduce IPTV services. With the noticeable growth of Cable TV industry in Sri Lanka, the plans for IPTV have also been on the cards for sometime now. SLT which owns about 60% of the island’s communication infrastructure is now able to provide the long-awaited IPTV services….

IPTV is expected to take customer experience beyond that of plain TV by integrating multimedia communication technology into the television experience. IPTV customers can use their TV’s to communicate and interact with friends and family through a variety of media, such as voice, instant messaging, video and picture sharing. SLT plans to offer affordable and competitive pricing for the TV packages using IP technology on wire line connectivity along with other value added services.

SLT IPTV services will pioneer the IP based TV broadcasting service in Sri Lanka as it being the most popular entertainment media in the world. It will revolutionize the delivery of TV programmes beyond any doubt. In order to deliver DVD quality video on MPEG 4 format IPTV requires an ADSL service of 2 mbps bandwidth.

SLT customers will be able to enjoy entertainment services delivered to their home via the same SLT wired connectivity. IPTV enables SLT, the country’s only wire line service provider to offer real-time TV broadcast programming, video-on-demand and other advanced services over broadband connections to televisions.

It is also revealed that a Decoder costing around $100 would be delivered for the subscribers to be used with the existing TV set. The SLT is yet to decide on a rental for this service and it is likely that IPTV would be billed on a usage basis.

According to the latest press release, the company assures to offer services within less than six months. But as usual it is most likely that the first stage of process will be restricted to Colombo and its suburb and then will move on to major cities like Kandy & Galle.

It will be great to see SLT IPTV having additional services such as Video On Demand, Pay Per View, EPG and etc. Coz none of the Cable/Satellite TV operators were able to provide these functions to their subscribers. One of the key features of a tool like VOD is that a subscriber has an opportunity of watching a programme that was already aired a few hours ago. And functions like Pay Per View allows subscribers to purchase different kind of material such as Live Events, Movies, Concerts, Award Shows, Beauty Pageants and even adult content through the On-Screen interactive panel.

GILMORE GIRLS comes to an end...

The hit TV series Gilmore Girls will be in history by tomorrow. The original network The CW will air its final episode tonight (May 15) completing the shows’ seven season pop culture phenomenal!

The story of Gilmore Girls revolves around the relationship between a single mom Lorelai and her daughter Rory living in Stars Hollow. And it explores family, relationship, lifestyle and numerous cultural issues. Like all the other shows of this kind, music played a big part in Gilmore Girls. Its ever so popular theme song titled “Where You Lead” was performed by Carole King & her daughter Louise Goffin. Main characters were always keen revealing their musical tastes. Lot of major bands made guest appearances on the show. Apart from DVD releases, a dedicated soundtrack entitled “Our Little Corner Of The World – Music from Gilmore Girls” was also released.

I have been a huge fan of this show from the beginning. I’m glad to say that I followed the whole series. I have got myself DVD’s for most of the seasons. So I was kinda sad to hear about the cancellation.

In the meantime, the CW has released a statement regarding the show…
“Announcing the final season of Gilmore Girls is truly a sad moment for everyone at The CW and Warner Bros. Television. This series helped define a network and created a fantastic, storybook world featuring some of television’s most memorable, lovable characters. We thank Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dan Palladino, Dave Rosenthal, the amazing cast led by Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as well as the producers, writers and crew for giving us this delightful gem for the past seven years. We would also like to thank the critics and Gilmore fans for their passionate support and promise to give this series the send off it deserves.”

True... this is one of the most memorable shows I have ever seen. And I should note that Sri Lanka also had a huge following for this particular show. Most of my friends adore it…

So I hope you’ll enjoy the series finale. It’s gonna be an unforgettable one….

If you find it difficult to get your hands onto this episode, make sure you check this post again. Coz I will be able to update the post in a couple of days with some links (Download/Streaming)

Series Finale (Trailer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTmi_d3i8gg

.

Updated (5/18/2007).....

GILMORE GIRLS (Series Finale)
Download

http://rapidshare.com/files/31573562/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/31573586/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/31573597/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/31571355/Gilmore.Girls.S07E22.HDTV.XViD-NoTV_.part4.rar