CONNECTIONS Sponsor, Zilog and Micrel Announce Technology Partnership

Companies to Jointly Develop Subsystem Level Modules For Global Markets --

Zilog, a leading supplier of embedded solutions for consumer and industrial applications and Micrel, an industry leader in analog, high bandwidth communications, and Ethernet IC solutions, announced that they are working together on a technology partnership. The collaboration involves developing subsystem level module products targeted at motion sensor, TV remote and RF point-to-point cable replacement markets. Micrel is expected to provide the RF chips with Zilog supplying the microcontrollers and system software.

Zilog is a global supplier of application specific, embedded system-on-chip (SoC) and single board computer solutions for secured transactions, consumer electronics and industrial application and an industry leader in remote control and universal IR database solutions. From its roots as an award-winning architect in the microprocessor and microcontroller industry, Zilog has evolved to become a leader in production-ready and custom-built SoC solution sets.

Zilog is headquartered in San Jose, California, and employs approximately 500 people around the world, with sales offices in Asia, Europe, and North America.

For more information about Zilog and its products, visit http://www.zilog.com/.

CONN @ CES panel, Advanced Video Services: The Next Big Thing?

What role will advanced television and broadband video services play in defining the next generation of entertainment applications? On January 8th, 2009, Jayant Dasari, Research Analyst at Parks Associates will moderate the "Advanced Video Services: The Next Big Thing?" panel at the upcoming CONNECTIONS Summit at CES.

This presentation and panel discussion examines the worldwide pay television market, providing context for the competitive environment in major worldwide geographies and countries. It also focuses on consumer adoption of broadband video services, examining the use cases for “go-to-TV” services and products. This session includes consumer data from Parks Associates’ TV 2.0: The Consumer Perspective study, showing customer affinity and willingness to pay for advanced television features.

Confirmed speakers for this panel include: Charles Cerino, President, MoCA; Ed Forman, EVP, Products and Services, ActiveVideo Networks; Jean-Marc Harion, Vice President, Business Development, North America, Orange – France Telecom NA; John Reister, Chief IPTV Architect, BigBand Networks; and Marty Roberts, VP Marketing, thePlatform.

Sony running beta tests of Home Virtual World

While it’s not exactly a world like “World of Warcraft” or Linden Labs’ “Second Life,” Home is the most ambitious push by any console maker into creating a virtual world for gamers. It will live or die on whether it’s simple, fun, and deep enough for gamers who have plenty of other things they want to do — like play games. And the price is right: free for those who have a PS 3.

Read More at The New York Times

Interested in Parks Associates Perspective on Virtual Worlds and Social Media? Read our new white paper.

Verizon to bring FiOS TV to Comcast's hometown

Verizon Communications Inc. is bringing the fight over TV customers to the hometown of its biggest cable rival, Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company.

Verizon on Thursday asked Philadelphia's City Council to approve a 15-year video franchise agreement allowing it to offer fiber-optic TV service in the city. Councilman Darrell Clarke introduced an ordinance to give Verizon the right to run a cable TV service, a measure the council is expected to vote on by the end of the year.

New York-based Verizon said it could start offering FiOS TV in the first year after the deal goes into effect.

Read More at BusinessWeek

CONNECTIONS™ SUMMIT Announces Speakers for Research and Strategy Sessions at CES

Parks Associates research shows broadband penetration in U.S. is changing landscape of consumer electronics, new services, and content delivery--

International research firm Parks Associates today announced the speakers and preliminary agenda for the CONNECTIONS™ Summit at CES, to be held January 8-9, 2009, in Las Vegas. This information-packed, networking-rich event, hosted during the first two days of 2009 International CES, includes multiple panel discussions moderated by Parks Associates’ leading analysts.

The CONNECTIONS™ Summit will feature Parks Associates’ latest consumer and industry research, with expert analysis on future business strategies and revenue opportunities. Session topics include converging media, digital entertainment, customer support, social networking, GPS, gaming, consumer electronics purchase patterns, and digital photo frames.

SPEAKERS:

Fazal Ali, Senior Director, Product Management, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies
Glenn Broderick, Executive Director, Gaming, AT&T
Scott Brown, Director, Marketing, Cisco
Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist, Macrovision
Chenyi Chiu, Strategic Program Manager, HD-PLC Alliance
Robert Eisses, President and CEO, Icron Technologies Corp.
David Foote, CTO, Hitachi USA
Ed Forman, EVP, Products and Services, ActiveVideo Networks
Noam Geri, Co-founder, Vice President, Marketing & Business Development, AMIMON
Jean-Marc Harion, Vice President, Business Development, North America, Orange – France Telecom NA
Ben Huang, Director of Product Management and Marketing, TV Business, Microsoft Corporation
H.P. Jin, President, CEO and Co-Founder, TeleNav
Stephen Joe, President/CEO, D-Link Systems, Inc.
Doug Jones, Chief Architect, Cable, BigBand Networks
Fred King, VP, Sales & Marketing, PlumChoice, Inc.
Aslam Khader, Chief Product Officer, Ensequence
Kazuhiro Kitagawa, Vice-Chairman, PUCC
Art Lancaster, CTO, Affinegy
Michelle Leyden Li, GM of Home Control, Zilog
Jeremy Lockhorn, Director of Emerging Media, Avenue A Razorfish
John Marshall, Chairman of WirelessHD, WirelessHD LLC
David McCall, VP, PC Strategic Business Unit, CSR
Patrick McDevitt, Vice President, Global Engineering, Tele Atlas
Andy Nix, Co-Founder & Director, ProVision Communications
Rajat Paharia, Founder & CEO, Bunchball
Susan Panico, Senior Director of PLAYSTATION Network, Sony Computer Entertainment America
John Reister, Chief IPTV Architect, BigBand Networks
Ron Richards, Director of Marketing & Product Management, Revision3
Marty Roberts, VP Marketing, thePlatform
Anthony Rodio, Chief Operating Officer, support.com
Eric Smith, Chief Technology Officer, Control4
Bill Stanley, Director, Operations Solutions, Telcordia
Mike Talley, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Customer Care, 2Wire
Steve Tranter, VP, Interactive and Broadband, NDS
Evan Tree, Chief Products Officer, Logitech
Mark Vena, Vice President, PC Business Unit, Synaptics, Inc.
Bruce Watkins, Founder, President/COO, Pulse~LINK, Inc.

CONNECTIONS™ Summit also features a networking mixer on Friday evening, January 9, at the Hilton Hotel, open to all Summit attendees, speakers, and analysts.

Event registration is available through the CES Partner Program at http://www.cesweb.org/.

Vudu CEO Mark Jung has left the company

Vudu, the online TV box, has lost its second senior executive in the last three months: first the CFO, layoffs, and now CEO Mark Jung has left after exactly a year, we have confirmed from the company.

Reported by PaidContent.org

Parks Associates finds mobile broadband operators face challenges in managing traffic and user control

Refined business models will control network use and yield more revenue --

The tremendous growth of mobile broadband usage, with annual growth rates of 200% in parts of North America and upwards of 800% in parts of Europe, will create future challenges for service providers if not properly managed.

A new custom study from Parks Associates, Mobile Broadband in North America and Europe: Change is Key to Continuing Profitability, found that many carriers rely on outdated business models, excessive pricing or flat-rate billing, to manage traffic. Excessive pricing slows growth and invites cutthroat competition. Flat-rate carriers charge a single rate for unlimited service, which does not effectively monetize traffic. Both models are unsustainable given current growth trends.

The custom study, conducted by Parks Associates on behalf of Camiant, a global provider of policy control for the wireless, fixed, and cable industries, included interviews with executives at major mobile broadband providers in Canada, Europe, and the U.S. The study determined adoption and usage of mobile broadband and carriers’ capabilities with respect to network and user control.

Denissov and Camiant’s VP of Business Development Randy Fuller will present the study findings during a free webcast on Wednesday, November 12, at 12 p.m. ET.

CONNECTIONS Sponsor, Control4 Selected by Home Theater Specialists of America to Offer Sophisticated Home Control Solutions

Control4 is the platform for today’s digital life. The company makes everyday life easier by providing one-touch control of electronic systems for both new and existing homes and hotels. By allowing leading consumer electronics products and home systems to easily work together, Control4 provides effortless entertainment, comfort, convenience and peace of mind to owners everywhere.

Control4's affordable and easy-to-use software and hardware products enable home theater and television control, multi-room music, temperature control, security integration and smart lighting, through a range of on-site and over-the-web remote control technology. The company delivers both wired and wireless solutions that can be installed in existing properties as well as new construction.

Control4, the leader in IP-based home control and entertainment systems, announced a strategic relationship with Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA), a national association of home theater experts with 62 members and aggregate annual sales volumes exceeding $500 million. Control4’s complete line of home automation products is now available to all HTSA’s members.

HTSA offers its members not only a combined buying power but also a whole directory of professionals available to provide advice on sales, product selection, installation techniques and marketing programs including demand and lead generation. HTSA’s Suite of Services gives members options to choose from when it comes to television commercials, store signs, truck graphics and expert advertising consultation. This unique access provides members with helpful resources that are tailored for individual stores.

Control4’s platform replaces on average four remotes in the home. In addition to the popular home theater control, the company offers convenient and sophisticated home control integration solutions including: multi-room music, lighting, temperature control, security integration and more.

Visit www.control4.com for more information.

KPN sees strong growth

Dutch telco KPN has reported a growth of 69% as subscribers for its IPTV service reached 700,000 in Q3.

KPN estimates it now has a 21% share of the Dutch digital television market. The telco's total revenues for the Q3 hit E3.652 billion, up 20% from the same period of last year, while net profits fell 0.6% by the same comparison to reach E353 million.

For more information about KPN, click here.

TeliaSonera reaches 450,000 IPTV subs in Q3

Scandinavian telco TeliaSonera added 23,000 IPTV customers in the third quarter of this year across all regions to bring its total to 450,000, with over half of its IPTV customer base in Sweden paying to receive the service.

In Sweden, the push for IPTV resulted in a rise of more than 100,000 new subscriptions year-on-year to reach 320,000, however the company reported no growth on a quarter-on-quarter comparison in the country. TeliaSonera had a total of 839,000 digital TV subscribers across all regions, including its cable TV operations in Denmark.

Net sales by the Broadband Services division fell 1% year-on-year to reach SEK 11,063mn (US$ 1,376mn) in the third quarter of 2008, however growth in voice and IP traffic, and higher sales of IP-based services, "did not fully offset the decline in traditional fixed voice", according to the company. The total number of broadband subscribers across all regions reached 2,405,000 by the end of the third quarter of this year, up 26,000 from three months previously. Broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) for the three months to September was SEK 275, up slightly from SEK 273 in the same period of 2007.

“Third quarter performance was good with growing sales and strong EBITDA, driven by Mobility Services and Eurasia," said Lars Nyberg, President and CEO of TeliaSonera . Sales in Broadband Services were essentially flat in absolute terms, but there is a considerable change in the underlying product mix, which puts pressure on margins. Improving operational efficiency remains one of our top priorities.

"We are in a period of global financial turmoil and it is very difficult to project how long it will last. However, TeliaSonera has a strong balance sheet and operates in a relatively non-cyclical industry. Therefore, we see no immediate effects of changing customer behavior in our operations. Regulatory intervention, intense competition and customer migration remain the primary challenges.

"Total net sales across all operations for the third quarter of this year rose 4% relative to the same period of 2007 to reach SEK 25,817mn, while net income fell 13% by the same comparison to reach SEK 5,411mn.

Stockholm-headquartered TeliaSonera is active in North and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, and has IPTV operations in a number of countries including Sweden, Norway, Lithuania and Estonia.

CONNECTIONS Sponsor, Macrovision Continues Expansion of European Patent Licensing with COMAG

Global sponsor, Macrovision announced that COMAG Handels AG has entered into a patent license agreement for interactive program guides (IPGs) in its consumer electronics products. The multi-year agreement includes a patent license allowing COMAG to incorporate IPGs in certain retail set-top boxes and other consumer electronics devices distributed throughout Europe.

Macrovision is focused on providing a uniquely simple digital home entertainment experience by delivering solutions to businesses to protect, enhance and distribute digital goods to consumers across multiple channels. Macrovision's technologies are deployed by companies in the entertainment, consumer electronics, cable and satellite, and online distribution markets to solve industry-specific challenges and bring greater value and a more robust user experience to their customers. The result of deploying Macrovision's solutions is a simple end user experience for discovering, acquiring, managing and enjoying digital content. Today, Macrovision provides connected middleware, media recognition, interactive programming guides, copy protection and rich media, data and metadata on music, games, movies and television programming.

Macrovision is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with numerous offices across the United States and around the world including Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. More information about Macrovision can be found at http://www.macrovision.com/.