European share of worldwide connected CE market approximately 40%

CONNECTIONS Europe to address connectivity, convergence as sales of connected consumer electronics double between 2009 and 2013--

CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit released the preliminary agenda for its upcoming executive conference, November 4, 2009, which will feature consumer research and expert analysis on the role of connected consumer electronics (CE) and related services in the connected home ecosystem.

The event, titled The Roadmap for Connected Consumer Electronics and hosted by international research firm Parks Associates, will take place in Amsterdam at the Mövenpick Hotel. The Summit features insight into European and global consumer markets from expert analysts and high-level executives representing the top international players in the markets for advanced digital products and services.

The sale and installation of home network-enabled consumer electronics products will more than double between 2009 and 2013 to more than 100 million units annually. The European market will be particularly strong in such categories as connected TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, network-attached storage, alternative set-top boxes, and whole-home DVRs. Sales and installations of such products in Europe will grow from 20 million units in 2009 to almost 40 million by 2013.

CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit will quantify demand and address the challenges and opportunities created as these Internet-capable devices are added the network in order to share content and expand interactive services. Rob Timmer, Senior Director Net TV, BU TV, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, will deliver the event’s Keynote Address.

Summit Sessions
Connected Europe: Trends and Numbers
Defining the New Video Experience
Evolution of the “Digital Furnace”: Residential Gateways and Set-top Boxes
Business Models for On-Demand Lifestyles
Enabling Technologies: Connecting It All
Wrapping It Up – Predictions for the Next Five Years

Deadline for speaker submissions is August 28, 2009.

Visit http://www.connectionseurope.com/ to submit or to register for the event.

HGI to host its 1st Test Event

The first ever test event to assess Quality of Service (QoS) and Multi-session support in both Home Gateway products and reference designs is to be held by the Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) in France next month.

The HGI Test Event builds upon two key pieces of technical work within HGI. The first is the QoS architecture, fully described in the recently published QoS White Paper, HGI-GD013-R2. The second is HGI’s Requirements for Multiple Flows, currently an HGI working draft document (HGI-RWD010-R3).

The event, which will run from September 28 to October 2 in Lannion (Brittany, France), will enable each vendor to choose the tests that they wish to participate in. Each participating vendor is allocated an entire day to complete the tests with the assistance of the host lab personnel. Test results will be reviewed and validated between the vendor and the HGI auditing team. Vendors will be free to publish their validated test results, and/or share them with Service Providers, whilst the HGI management committee will publish an anonymous summary of the test results.

The HGI, founded in 2004 by nine telecom operators, is shaping the next generation of internet and voice services. Starting from use-cases and service needs, the HGI sets requirements for Home Gateways, infrastructure devices, and the home network. The HGI now has members from across the globe, representing the entire spectrum of players in the broadband home area.

For further information, please visit www.homegatewayinitiative.org.

Convergence Trends Drive Need for Improved Search & Discovery of Media

Followers of Parks Associates and their research have seen the explosive growth forecast for several significant consumer trends including home media storage, connected entertainment devices, cloud based media services, and ultra-portable touchscreen netbooks, MIDs and smartphones. eyecon, a sponsor of the upcoming CONNECTIONS Europe, operates at the intersection of these converging trends.

For the first time, eyecon will publicly demonstrate its iPhone and iTouch media experience browser at the International Broadcasters Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam, Sept 11th – 15th. The eyecon client enables users to discover, search, access and preview their media on their iPhone while also directing playback to connected televisions and digital audio systems.

eyecon’s media experience application includes an independent control point that automatically discovers and indexes all of a users movies, TV programming, music and photo libraries, whether stored locally or made available as a web service. It also discovers and indexes any connected home media players including TVs, digital picture frames and sound systems using standards like DLNA and UPnP. With the thin-client interface, consumers gain access to and control of their media wherever it resides, from wherever they’re at, and a unified controller for playback on any manufacturers connected players.

eyecon will be demonstrating it media experience browser in the Mobile/IPTV Zone at IBC, Hall 12, booth 203. Interested CE Vendors, Service Providers and Content Publishers can schedule a demo by contacting Bill Correll bcorrell@eyecontechnologies.com, VP Marketing.

Europe and Hybrid Set-tops

The market for set-top boxes (STBs) in Europe has gotten a major boost from the transition to digital services. Terrestrial television is still a major source of video for viewers in major Western European markets, including France, Italy, Spain, and the U.K., where over 40% of television viewership rely on terrestrial services.

Healthy adoption rates of DTT (digital terrestrial television) in Europe, where Spain in particular has been at the forefront, are opening new markets for STBs. These aren’t standard STBs but hybrid receivers capable of receiving signals from multiple sources and providing access to paid content. The most popular STB version so far offers a mixture of IPTV and DTT, which European telcos have been employing to offer low-cost television service for consumers not interested in bundling pay television with other services.

As noted in the Parks Associates report Set-top Boxes: Outlook, the growing presence of the STB is an important step in the development of the digital home ecosystem, as this device is evolving into the primary point of entry for television services, and service providers worldwide are upgrading equipment within their installed bases to support advanced digital television services.

Sony Unveils Amazon eReader Rival

Sony unveiled the wireless Reader Daily Edition (the 3rd member of its reader family), that could be the strongest competitor to Amazon.com's Kindle. Sony was first to indroduce a digital/electronic reader; however, Amazon has dominated the market since introducing the 2007 Kindle.

Although higher priced at $399 ($100 more than the basic Kindle), the Sony Reader Daily Edition has a touch-sensitive screen and accessibilty to a large range of sources including one million free public domain books from Google. In addition, Sony is partnering with OverDrive Inc. to let users enter their Zip Codes and library card number to see what e-books are available from their local library. Current Kindle users are largely limited to Amazon's online bookstore.

"The Reader Daily Edition gives consumers wireless access via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network to Sony’s eBook store from just about anywhere in the U.S. Book lovers will be able to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines when and where they want. There are no monthly fees or transaction charges for the basic wireless connectivity and users still have the option to side load personal documents or content from other compatible sites via USB." (Sony, 082509 Press Release)

Ikanos Communications Completes Acquisition of Broadband Access Product Line From Conexant Systems, Inc.

Ikanos Communications, Inc., a leading provider of advanced broadband semiconductor and software products for the digital home, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Broadband Access product line from Conexant Systems, Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ikanos purchased Conexant's Broadband Access product line for approximately $54 million in cash, excluding transaction costs, and the assumption of certain employee and facility related liabilities. Simultaneously, Ikanos received an investment of $42 million, excluding transaction-related expenses, from Tallwood Venture Capital, a leading investment firm focused on the semiconductor industry.

For the full press release, click here or visit http://www.ikanos.com/.

NuMobile, Inc. Announces $1 Million Southeast Asia Mobile Computing and Smartphone Contract

NuMobile, Inc. has announced entering into a three-year contract to provide mobile Internet services to business travelers in Southeast Asia. The contract is the result of a recently announced partnership NuMobile entered into to market software solutions to the smartphone and mobile computing market in Southeast Asia. The three-year contract is anticipated to generate $250,000 in revenue for NuMobile in the first year of the contract and approximately $1 million over the life of the contract.

NuMobile recently announced a corporate name change that represents a milestone event in its overall strategy to build a portfolio of security and software solutions for the smartphone and mobile computing market.

NuMobile recently released an on-demand Webcast presenting the Company's sales pipeline anticipated to deliver $1 million in first year revenue.

To learn more about NuMobile, please visit www.numobileinc.com. For the full press release, click here.

Service providers boost subscriber satisfaction with bundled services and connected home strategies

A new white paper from Parks Associates finds households with bundles and home network solutions supplied by their service provider are more satisfied with their broadband service and more receptive to value-added services.

Broadband providers can achieve 15% higher customer satisfaction through connected home strategies that include service bundles and value-added services such as premium technical support.

Broadband Services: The Turning Point, the new white paper from Parks Associates, reports subscribers with a triple-play bundle exceed the national average for satisfaction with broadband services. Premium entertainment services, premium technical support, and provider-deployed home networks also have an immediate and positive impact on customer satisfaction and create a foundation for future service enhancements and higher ARPU.

Broadband Services: The Turning Point examines the evolution of broadband services and provides primary consumer data of U.S. broadband households, including current penetration of bundled services, consumer interest in a variety of broadband value-added services, and the impact of VAS on customer satisfaction.

Parks Associates’ upcoming project Broadband, Communications, and Entertainment Bundles examines the consumer selection process for communications and entertainment services.

NBC utilizes Facebook for "Community" Premiere

NBC's pilot, Community, a smart comedy series will make its premiere on online with Facebook (not NBC.com and not NBC-owned Hulu). If you want a sneak peek at the new sitcom, you have to become a fan of it on Facebook.

According to NewTeeVee, "this is the first network programming premiere that the social network has hosted. Facebook is already exerting itself as a personal video sharing platform — extending that influence into premium content should have the folks at Hulu HQ concerned. Sure Hulu has Facebook Connect, but that’s still one step removed from putting the show right where people are already interacting and sharing what they like. Additionally, with Facebook, as opposed to other sites, the fan additions, comments and reviews are from real people."

Beginning September 17th, Community is about a band of misfits who attend Greendale Community College.

Improved Wireless Technology Lets Users Connect a Notebook or Desktop Computer to Faster Wireless Network

D-Link Introduces Wireless 150 Home Networking Based on 802.11N Technology for Affordable High-Speed Internet and File Sharing...

D-Link, the end-to-end computer networking solutions provider for consumer and business, is now shipping a Wireless 150 Router and USB Adapter based on Draft 802.11n technology. D-Link® Wireless 150 home networking greatly improves the speed of wireless signals up to four times faster than standard 802.11g, offering better reception and expanded coverage for sharing high-speed Internet, files and printers.

The D-Link Wireless 150 Router (DIR-600) is an ideal solution for affordably connecting multiple computers over a secure Wi-Fi network. When paired with the D-Link® Wireless 150 USB Adapter (DWA-125), users can easily connect a notebook or desktop computer to the wireless network with an available USB port for sharing Internet access and more.

For more information about D-Link, visit http://www.dlink.com/.

For the full press release, click here.

Sempra Energy Foundation Sets $1 Million Environmental Challenge for Southern California

If you had $100,000 what would you do to "green" Southern California? That is the challenge that the Sempra Energy Foundation has posed to non-profit organizations with an environmental focus.

Those chosen will receive between $25,000 and $100,000, as part of a new $1 million Environmental Champions Awards program created to recognize the environmental efforts of Southern California organizations.

Non-profits can submit their applications at http://www.sempraenergyfoundation.org/ from now until Sept. 4 in one of three categories: natural resource protection and conservation; environmental education; or environmental health.

For the full press release, click here.

CONNECTIONS Call-For-Papers Extended

Are you interested in speaking at our upcoming CONNECTIONS events? If so, you have been granted some extra time to complete your online submission form. The original August 15th deadline has now been extended to Friday, August 28th.

CONNECTIONS Europe will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands on November 4, 2009. CONNECTIONS Europe focuses on digital lifestyle solutions in Europe and around the world.

Topics include: Internet video and the TV experience; Cloud computing and advanced TV and communications services; residential gateway or set-top box?; the impact of 3D TV; the three-screen ecosystem; the interface for online and user-generated content; and the companies best positioned to lead the connected home ecosystem.

The CONNECTIONS Summit at CES will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on Thursday, January 7, 2010.

There is a dual form to make the process easier for you to submit to both events.

CONNECTIONS Submission Form: http://www.parksassociates.com/events/connections/splash/dual-cfp.htm

Facebook’s Search Toolbar Gets More Muscle

Facebook is expanding to allow searches for anything on its site, including products, movies, etc. Testing has been taking place over the past couple months and asking users to share their status updates with everyone, not just their confirmed friends.

The improved search feature will help Facebook compete against Twitter over which site can provide the best picture of what people are thinking and doing in real-time. To recap, Facebook acquired the social media tracker FriendFeed, enhancing its ability to let users pull their activity on sites such as YouTube and Flickr onto Facebook.

Facebook acquires FriendFeed

Facebook, the popular social networking website, announced on Monday that it has acquired social aggregator FriendFeed with no financial terms publicized.

Launched in October 2007, FriendFeed was created by four former Google employees. There were responsible for creating gmail and google maps. And, now they will be joining Facebook in senior engineering and product roles.

Among other differences, FriendFeed’s news feed design is in real-time, where users have to manually refresh on Facebook.

FriendFeed cant wait to start on new innovations for Facebook's 250 million global users.

Verimatrix Focuses on Revenue Security for Pay-TV Operators

Verimatrix enhances the value and security of pay-TV networks with advanced software-based technologies designed to address the challenges facing the pay-TV industry of today, and anticipate the challenges of tomorrow. The Verimatrix 3-Dimensional Content Security approach provides a framework to enhance operator competitiveness and the consumer experience in the new world of pay-TV.

VCAS 3 -Verimatrix will be unveiling the profile of its next-generation Video Content Authority System (VCAS™ ) platform that broaden the domain of traditional conditional access. The core value proposition for VCAS 3 shifts beyond content protection alone towards the broader perspective of revenue security. The initial release of VCAS 3 supports emerging video delivery formats and new consumption models through a single content authority architecture.

Verimatrix sets the standard for content and revenue security solutions for pay-TV networks, with a global customer base of premier service providers. The Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS™ ) offers a suite of independently audited, next-generation solutions and is consistently ranked as the global leading IPTV content protection solution.

For the full press release, click here.

PGA Live Streaming iPhone app released

Only $1.99 for the new PGA iPhone/iTouch application that went live last Friday. The new PGA application has been released right before the Aug. 13-16, 2009 PGA Championship.

Users can have live streaming video; in addition, they can receive up-to-the-minute scores and personalized alerts on select players.

Although sponsored by ING Groep NV, this is the first non-free golf application which includes more premium features and enables users to be alerted when players begin or complete their rounds or make a birdie or a double-bogey.

Golf fans can also log on to on to PGA.com for a live video coverage and interact via Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

Twitter, Facebook, Google Attacked

On Thursday, August 6th, an online attack silenced Twitter for most of the day; although, full service appeared to be restored by evening. In addition, Facebook and Google fended off similar attacks.

Analysts characterized the disruption as a denial-of-service attack, in which hackers overwhelm a Web site by sending it a deluge of junk requests, and one suggested the attack might have originated in Russia or Georgia.

For the full New York Times article, click here.

French Company, Publicis in lead to acquire Razorfish

Publicis Groupe, a French advertising company, is leading the competition to purchase Razorfish, Microsoft's digital advertising agency. Japan's largest advertising firm, Dentsu is also bidding for Razorfish. No deals are finalized yet. However, Dentsu made a higher offer from the Publicis $500-600 million bid. Publicis negotiations also include a buyer's commitment to purchase hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising on Microsoft's digital properties.

As an attractive target for advertising holding companies, Razorfish could help bolster their digital expertise, to grab ad revenue as it transitions from traditional media to the Internet.

Razorfish has created online pitches for companies such as Levi Strauss & Co., Mercedes-Benz USA and MillerCoors.

Microsoft acquired Razorfish as part of its 2007 aQuantive acquisition for $6 billion. Its estimated that Razorfish could go for $400 - 700 million.

For more about this topic, read the full article on the The Wall Street Journal.

D-Link Earns 'Compatible With Windows 7' Logo for 7 of Its 802.11N Routers

Testing Ensures Compatibility, Reliability and Quality User Experience

D-Link, the end-to-end computer networking solutions provider for consumer and business, announced that seven of its 802.11n routers have passed Windows 7 Logo testing, qualifying them for the "Compatible with Windows 7" Logo program.

Slated for release in October 2009, Windows 7 is an upcoming version of the Microsoft Windows operating system for use on personal computers. Windows 7 is intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and hardware that are compatible with it predecessor Windows Vista.

The Windows 7 Logo program is designed to help companies develop systems and devices that have been tested to ensure that they meet Microsoft Corp. standards for Windows 7, with the shared goal of improving usability for the customer.

The D-Link® Xtreme N® Wireless Router (DIR-655) was the first router on the market to receive Windows 7 certification, with more models expected to past testing soon. The following D-Link® routers have already been tested for compatibility and have qualified to display the Windows 7 logo on their packaging by the end of Q3: DIR-855 Xtreme N® Duo™ Media Router; DIR-825 Xtreme N® Dual Band Gigabit Router; DIR-655 Xtreme N® Wireless Router; DIR-628 RangeBooster N® Dual Band Router; DIR-615 Wireless N Router; DIR-600 Wireless 150 Router; and DGL-4500 Xtreme N® Gaming Router.

For more information, click here.

AT&T & Apple Being Investigated By FCC On Google Voice App

Because AT&T rejected Google’s voice application for the iPhone, the Federal Communications Commission has opened an investigation into the telco giant as well as Apple.

Was is rejected because it duplicates an app that already comes with the iPhone? However, AT&T stated they do not manage or approve applications for the App Store.

The FCC has sent a letter to all three companies involved: AT&T, Apple and Google. To view these letters, click here.

TANDBERG Employees Use Video Conferencing to Work from Home in Observance of Virginia’s “Statewide Telework Day”

Almost two metric tons of carbon emissions saved and 100 hours of increased productivity realized in just one day

Today, about half (75) of TANDBERG’s Virginia-based employees observed Virginia’s “Statewide Telework Day” by working from home, eliminating almost two metric tons of carbon emissions and saving almost 100 hours of productivity by not sitting in traffic.

In his proclamation of Statewide Telework Day, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine called upon state agencies and employers to explore ways to lessen environmental impact, such as reducing travel associated with in-person meetings through the use of video conferences and teleworking.

TANDBERG fully embraces its own video conferencing and telepresence technology to support its telework program by providing employees with video conferencing systems in the office, their homes and on their laptops. That way, no matter whether they need to work from the road or home, they can always meet face-to-face with colleagues, customers, and partners.

Visual communications is paying off for TANDBERG, where in the last year its global employees have on average made 75,000 video calls each month. Replacing unnecessary business travel with “in-person” video calls has effectively saved the company over 21,000 metric tons of carbon emissions, over $45 million, and about 38,250 productivity hours in the last year. Additionally, TANDBERG employees telework one day a week on average, effectively reducing the company’s overall environmental impact from commuting by 20%. The company also has conducted an internal audit of its carbon footprint to identify and address additional operational areas for improvement.

For more information about how video conferencing and telepresence can help enhance telework programs, please visit http://www.tandberg.com/. To view this press release, click here.

NETGEAR Offers Free Gift to Digital Entertainer Elite Customers

Claim your free iTunes voucher, iPod Shuffle or Logitech Dock when you purchase NETGEAR's award-winning EVA9150

Leading networking and multimedia vendor, NETGEAR, is offering a promotion entitling customers to either a Pounds Sterling 50 iTunes voucher, 4GB iPod Shuffle or Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus Dock when purchasing the Digital Entertainer Elite (EVA9150).

By incorporating the latest video, audio and wireless technologies, the EVA9150 is an ideal solution for serious media enthusiasts looking for an unparalleled living room multimedia experience. The powerful and flexible digital media player enables digital content, including videos, MP3s, digital photos and online content such as YouTube videos, to be streamed over a home network to a high-definition home entertainment system. The addition of a 500GB hard drive (easily upgradable), makes the EVA9150 the world's largest capacity home video jukebox on the market.

In a recent Computer Shopper review, the EVA9150 was awarded the coveted 'Ultimate' award logo. By the publication's own admission, this accolade is reserved for only the best products on the market. In the review, the EVA9150 was awarded the full five stars and praised for its 'excellent and easy to use interface'. The review's verdict highlighted that: 'With a large hard disk, dual-band Draft-N WiFi, an excellent interface and the most comprehensive format support we've ever seen, it earns our Ultimate award'.

This promotion is effective immediately and will run until September 30th 2009. The claim form can be downloaded here.