New Tata Sky Educational Services Ad featuring Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan is considered thinking man’s superstar. Known as Mr Perfectionist, he has starred in some of the most pioneering movies in Indian cinema like Lagaan, Tare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots . The last two movies, Tare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots have been strong critiques of the Indian educational system. Many were left with a tear in the eye watching the plight of a young boy in Tare Zameen Par, while almost anyone who has studied in a professional collage can relate to issue raised in the movie, 3 idiots.

Hence, I feel Tata Sky couldn’t have found a better brand ambassador to promote its educational services. The latest Tata Sky ads featuring Aamir Khan talk about Tata Sky educational services as “badaltey India ke badaltey classrooms”. With the same endearing twinkle in his eye, Aamir talks about a classroom that is free from rigid notions of uniforms and attendance, where a child’s mind can wander free to listen and create new stories, a classroom in their very home.

Education through Tv is a very novel concept to India and Tata Sky has been its pioneer. Parents always complain about kids watching too much TV. But a medium is never good or bad. It always depends on what use is made of it. TV is leveraged in a good way with kids can become a very useful teaching aid.

Tragedy of India has been the inability of our education system to think outside the box. Audio visual teaching aids are only available in only the crème of the schools. But what about children who don’t have access to these facilities at school? This is where Tata Sky educational services can play a useful part. Kids can use these services, thereby learning at home in a fun and interactive environment and parents have no reason to complain about children watching TV all day. It is a win-win situation for both. Kudos to Tata Sky for pioneering such a innovative concept as well as its promotion through these well executed Aamir Khan ads. This will sure appeal to all the parents out there. I will conclude by once again stating all what these Tata Sky educational services exemplify - “badaltey India ke badaltey classrooms”.

Check out this video of the new Tata Sky ad, which has been exclusively launched on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSMLJ-5VzAI

Tata Sky HD Explained

The launch of Tata Sky HD service has caused quite a buzz in this sector. I have been flooded by queries from you guyz about my perspectives on it. To be honest, I haven’t bought Tata Sky HD as I am awaiting the launch of Tata Sky+ HD which should happen soon. However, my friend Nihal just got it delivered and installed five days back. I have been discussing the Tata Sky HD service with him fairly extensively. So the information you see below is based on this discussion as well as some fairly extensive research done by me from official sources.

So what is Tata Sky HD? It is a set-top box that gives you High Definition (HD) TV - a new technology in the TV industry in India. This digital broadcasting system has higher resolution and enhanced picture and sound quality in comparison to a regular television service.

As a part of this service, Tata Sky HD offers channels like National Geographic HD and Discovery HD - available as part of the HD Gold pack. As an added bonus to sports viewers, they even added Star Sports in HD, for the duration of FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon. Over time, Tata Sky plans to add many more entertainment, movie & popular sports channels in HD format, in their HD Gold Pack. A unique feature of the Tata Sky HD service is blockbuster movies being shown in HD - starting with ‘Kites’ starring Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori. All HD channels are available in Mega Pack.

There are some things you need to know before planning to subscribe to Tata Sky HD. Your TV needs to be HD. Without High Definition TV set, you may be able to watch Tata Sky HD, However, there will be no improvement in the picture quality as compared to your current Tata Sky (SD) box. A change in TV Display settings on the box will be required to support HD feeds with non-HD TV set for down-conversion.

If you are planning to subscribe to Tata Sky HD, they have some great offers going on. It is available for Rs. 2599.

- All new subscribers activating Tata Sky HD can avail of the current offers - free installation + 2 months free subscription offer which includes 2 months free on the HD Gold Pack.

- All existing Tata Sky subscribers opting for a Tata Sky HD box avail of 1 year free subscription to the HD Gold Pack.

If you are an existing subscriber, there is no need for a new dish to be installed. An additional HDMi cable will need to be connected from the HD digicomp to your HD TV in order to view & enjoy the HD channels. This cable will be a part of the Tata Sky HD service. There is also a one year warranty available with the service.

Those who wish to know more about the Tata Sky HD service can check out the following link:

http://www.tatasky.com/hd/index.html

Watching Fifa World Cup on Tata Sky

There is one question, I am asking currently asking each one of my friends- Did you watch the Spain vs Switzerland match yesterday. It was match that typified the phrase David vs Goliath. One on hand was Spain, the reigning European champion and bookies favorites to win the world cup and one the other, Switzerland, an name which conjures images of pristine alpine hills and chocolates rather than baying crowds of football fans.

Yes, despite these strong disparities, last night saw, what most commentators agreed was the “biggest upset of this world cup”. Most the viewers, including me just couldn’t believe it. Spain’s pain was clear, It failed to score off of 24 shots -- eight of which were on goal despite having a preposterous amount of possession. It would be wrong to say Switzerland were lucky, they played really well. They had a plan and stuck to it, with fantastic results. This world cup has seen some fantastic action and several unsung teams have played fantastically well. South Africa held its own against Mexico in the 1-1 tournament opener; South Korea showed itself a well-oiled side against the hopelessly bad Greeks in a 2-0 win; the U.S. stifled England's creative juices; North Korea punched above its FIFA World Ranking of 105; and Chile had a tidy 1-0 win over Honduras.

I am enjoying all this action on my Tata Sky connection in the best possible sound and picture quality. The new 41 inch TV which I bought makes it even better. I am planning a big party for the finals, Will keep you all posted.

To those, who still haven’t been able to enjoy the world cup in full glory, there is some good news. Tata Sky has a 2 month free offer wherein you can purchase a Tata Sky or Tata Sky+ digicomp and get ESPN and Star Sports free for two months. Do check out the offer details:

http://www.tatasky.com/offer-fifa.html

Tata Sky offers ‘Special Summer Bonanza for Kids

According to a news article in the Business Standard, Tata Sky has introduced a 'Special Summer Bonanza' that includes a new host of activities for children on Actve Wizkids, an interactive service by Tata Sky.

Actve Wizkids service shall have theme based weeks like the Mahabharat Week featuring historical and mythological tales from the Mahabharat; Art & Craft Week to develop and enhance their skills with a range of art and craft workshop; Witty Stories Week featuring well-known tales of Akbar & Birbal, Tenaliram, Mulla Nasruddin that showcases the stories about witty historical characters. In addition, they have lined up a range of children’s movies like Bal Ganesha 2, Dashawarar, Ghatotkack, Cyberion etc on Fun Flix available on Actve Wizkids.

There is something for Tata Sky+ subscribers too! They have already launched a popular service called TVOD (True Video-on-Demand) which allows subscribers to start viewing the unique content like the adventures of the young Belgian reporter in Tin Tin and Charlie Chaplin etc, on demand, at any time of their choice, absolutely free.

To read the news article in detail, check out the following link:

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/tata-sky-offers-%5Cspecial-summer-bonanza%5C-for-kids/95087/on

Tata Sky Plus and the new entrants in PVR/DVR space

With the launch of Airtel TV Digital recorder and Big TV HD DVR, the competition in the PVR/DVR market is up like never before. Airtel and Big TV have attempted to enter the Tv recorder space, but I feel that Tata Sky Plus being the pioneer of this segment in India still is a far superior compared to its rivals.

It is important to remember that Tata Sky is a combination of two big brands the Tata group and the Sky network. Sky network is a universally accepted global leader in the PVR/DVR space. My inference being that the technology of Tata Sky Plus has been tested globally. This is not I can personally say about Airtel Tv recorder or the Big Tv DVR.

Then come the features, while Airtel recorder offers mobile recording, Tata Sky Plus offers mobile as well as internet recording. Big TV DVR is High Definition (HD) but Tata Sky Plus is soon launching its own HD service too. Also, most feedback I have received from blog readers is that the user interface of Tata Sky is far superior to that of Airtel Recorder as well as Big TV DVR.

Thus, summarizing the above, despite of launch of new entrants like Airtel TV Recorder and Big TV HD DVR, Tata Sky Plus still hold its strong commanding position in the PVR/DVR space. Plus it’s economical too at just Rs. 5,999! So while you might evaluate other brands , I would still recommend Tata Sky Plus to you in terms of its features, quality of services as well as value for money.