Cricket Turns It Up To 11, Launches Muve In All Markets
Cricket Wireless today announced that its Muve monthly music plan is now available in all markets where Cricket offers service. The new markets that can now take advantage of Muve include: Fort Smith, Jonesboro and Little Rock, Ariz.; Fresno, Merced and Visalia, Calif.; Macon and Savannah, Ga.; Boise, Idaho; Lincoln and Omaha, Neb.; Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.; Reno, N.V.; Fayetteville …

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Cricket Launches Affordable and Feature-packed LG Optimus C Smartphone
Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. , today announced the launch of the LG Optimus C Smartphone, the first Android device by LG to be included in Cricket’s dynamic line of phone offerings. Â

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Cricket Launches Muve Music in Las Vegas
Cricket Communications Inc., a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless services and a wholly owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc. , today announced the launch and availability of Muve Music in its Las Vegas market.

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News launches national sports network
NEWS Limited is launching a supercharged national sports reporting team based in Melbourne’s Herald Sun offices to bolster its sports coverage.

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Cricket launches no-contract $149 Android phone
IDG News Service – Cricket, a U.S. mobile operator that uses pay-in-advance monthly plans, will sell the Android-based Ascend smartphone for $149 without a contract when it hits stores in the next two weeks.

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Cool Maal launches official merchandise of Mahendra Singh Dhoni

STAR India PLUS has launched two weekly show targeting Indian nationals settled in North America. STAR India PLUS is a general entertainment channel of South Asian STAR TV group available on DirecTV and Dish Network. ICC Cricket World and Asian Variety Show (AVS) are expected new programming to be launched.
STAR India PLUS will launch ICC Cricket World on January 16th to offer Cricket news, best of cricket every week. AVS is to debut on February 7 with local events and Bollywood related news.
ICC Cricket World broadcast on every Saturday at 8:30 PM ET will offer STAR India plus Cricket fans in North America a weekly half hour episode exclusive with the latest cricket news, recent cricket action including all Tests, Twenty 20s and One-Day International matches, as well as exclusive off-field features and interviews.
Asian Variety Show broadcast on every Sunday at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT. produced in North America will be a magazine format show showcasing the best of Bollywood entertainment stories that includes Bollywood Music, movie previews, star interviews with a local focus and programming for Non-resident Indians.
David Wisnia, STAR’s Senior Vice President of Distribution, Sales and Marketing and head of STAR’s North American and European offices, said “Localizing STAR India Plus allows us the opportunity to take the next step in the natural evolution of our business. We are constantly in touch with our viewers and advertisers and as much as they are all excited about the current (Yeh Rishta, Bidaai) and new programming (Maha Music Muqabla, Pratigya) on our channel, there have been requests for more Bollywood news and cricket related shows.”
Ed Gold, State Farm Advertising Director, said “State Farm finds sponsorship of ICC Cricket World/AVS to be an effective way to connect with an important audience of Indian consumers. Just as we are there to help bring them programming that fuels their personal interests and passions, so we will ‘be there’ in their time of insurance need.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Dino Morea at the Launch of Cool Maal at Hotel ITC Parel, Mumbai

Available to over 120 million mobile internet subscribers across device types and networks.Unique ‘Call to Experience? and ‘Video Scorecard? features designed for indian conditions.Freemium? model enabled by immersive mobile advertising.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) and its licensing partner Global Cricket Ventures (GCV) announced a partnership with mobile internet pioneer July Systems, to launch an IPL mobile internet service, specifically designed for the Indian market. Almost every Indian with an internet enabled mobile phone, across income groups, educational backgrounds, handset types or networks, will for the first time have access to live ball-by-ball video updates, action replays, video score cards and much more. Users can access this service from their mobile phone by calling the MiX toll-free number 08 123 123 123 or by accessing m.iplt20.com.

Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, Indian Premier League, said, ?The IPL is the first sports league in the world to roll out a mass market, mobile internet service of this type and scale. We are pleased to partner with July Systems ?pioneers in mobile internet technology, as they have the operational experience of working with the world’s leading broadcasters, sports league and advertisers. I am certain IPL fans here in India will enjoy this real-time user interface now available on their very own mobile phones.?

This is an excellent initiative, which will help deliver the IPL real-time to cricket fans in the home market. The Indian market is absolutely key to the momentum of this exciting tournament, and GCV is very pleased to be partnering with July Systems which it believes will be instrumental in taking the viewing experience to the next level?

July Systems is pleased to partner with IPL in launching this path breaking sports experience on the mobile internet.We are on the cusp of a mobile internet revolution in India, and making the IPL mobile could be the tipping point.

July System’s MiX platform aims to catalyze the mobile internet eco-system by bringing together and delivering value to its key stakeholders – consumers, advertisers, media publishers, operators and handset OEMs.

For consumers: The service has been designed for the common man who may not have accessed the internet ever before. The consumers may not be aware of typing out URLs or navigating pages in a browser. A simple phone call is all that is required to get started.

Freemium, a combination of free and premium content, based pricing makes the service affordable to all users. A significant part of the IPL service including video content has been provided for free – subsidized by advertising. While certain premium sections are available at a nominal fee.

For Advertisers: With over 120 million mobile internet subscribers advertisers now have an immersive advertising platform to engage directly with a large audience pool. The mobile internet is also inherently more measureable providing good ROI for advertisers

For Operators: With declining voice revenues, operators can look to sustainable growth from mobile internet based data services. The key to this growth is compelling content and there is no bigger event that the IPL to propel this growth.

For Handsets OEMs: A rich media service like the IPL is a great reason for users to purchase mobile internet and video enabled mobile phones. Handset manufacturers can look forward to growth in their sales driven by such services.

IPL on MiX

During the television broadcast of the IPL, the phone number 08123123123 will be displayed on the TV screens. The IPL service is initiated by calling this simple toll free phone number, which results in a SMS being sent to the user, with the link to the IPL mobile internet service. Users click on this link to watch real-time video clips IPL videos on their mobile phone. The service has been designed to deliver international quality video experiences optimized for low bandwidth networks and for the vast array of handsets that are available in the Indian market. July Systems is also working with the telecom operators to provide inexpensive ?all you can eat? data access plans and easy ways to activate these plans.

Indian Premier League

The IPL 2010 is kicked off from March 12th with some high voltage action expected between reigning champions like Deccan Chargers ,Kolkata Knight Riders . IPL 2010 will be played over 45 days across India and will feature a grand total of 60 games, with the addition of a third place play-off. The league will also see the addition of four new home venues in the form of Cuttack and Nagpur for the Deccan Chargers, Ahmedabad for the Rajasthan Royals and Dharamsala for the Kings XI Punjab.