ShopSavvy Finally Comes To The iPhone

ShopSavvy, one of the popular Android applications, is finally available for the iPhone.

Developed by Dallas based Big In Japan, ShopSavvy is an app that allows you to use your device as a portable barcode scanner. A shopper can point his/her phone’s camera at any barcode and it will read it, do a product look up, and give product information, as well as, online or at nearby stores including pricing.

Do retailers hate this? Not at all. Retailers have actually been working with ShopSavvy to come up with ways to allow shoppers to make buying in their stores even easier. All of this information is on the Internet, now ShopSavvy just gives you easy access to it.

With the iPhone 3GS's auto-focus camera, the iPhone now had the ability to scan barcodes. ShopSavvy is available for free in the App Store.

For the full story, click here.

RedEye (Universal Remote System for iPhone & iPod touch): Now Most Popular Remote Control Fan Page on Facebook

ThinkFlood, maker of the RedEye personal remote control for iPhone and iPod touch, announced that two months after launching its Facebook fan page, RedEye is already the most popular remote control page on Facebook.

With over 2,000 fans and counting, RedEye's popularity towers over all other remote control-related Facebook fan pages including Bobby, Unify4Life, Control4, Crestron, Logitech Harmony One, Marantz, OneForAll Xsight, Philips Pronto, and Universal Remote Control.

RedEye fans receive product updates like this recent video demo of RedEye accelerometer gestures http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=506PyY-iK1I, and the latest remote control and home automation news from the MoreControl Blog (http://morecontrol.com/).

For more information, click here.

Telefónica Joins HomeGrid Forum Board of Directors

HomeGrid Forum, a global, non-profit trade group promoting the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union's G.hn standardization efforts, announced that one of the largest telecommunications service providers in Europe and Latin America -- Telefónica -- has been appointed to the organization's board of directors. This announcement confirms the growing importance and broadening adoption of G.hn as the next-generation global standard for wired home networking.

The G.hn standard is designed to deliver a unified technology for the wired home network that addresses key issues of service providers, electronics manufacturers, and consumers alike. Through one worldwide standard, G.hn will unify the networking of content and devices over any wire -- coax cable, phone, and power lines. G.hn enables service providers to deploy new offerings, including IPTV, more cost effectively; allows electronics manufacturers to provide powerful devices for connecting all types of entertainment, home automation, and security products throughout the house; and greatly simplifies consumer purchasing and installation processes.

The addition of Telefónica to the HomeGrid board is evidence of the increasing support from telecommunications carriers around the world. Telefónica's global reach throughout Europe and Latin America, along with their endorsement of the standard, increases the momentum for the adoption of G.hn on a global scale.

Telefónica joins a growing list of industry-leading organizations that are part of HomeGrid Forum. Global leaders in the service provider, computing, and consumer electronics industries also support the adoption of G.hn through their participation in the ITU-T.

For a complete list of HomeGrid Forum members, visit www.homegridforum.org.

International research firm addresses key market issues for the digital home at CONNECTIONS™ events, Smart Energy Summit, monthly Webcasts

Parks Associates announced the Premier Sponsorship Program and the 2010 event schedule, which includes CONNECTIONS™, the inaugural Smart Energy Summit, CONNECTIONS™ Summits in Europe and at CES, and monthly research Webcasts. The Premier Sponsorship Program offers opportunities for companies to participate at multiple events and receive customized benefits and additional recognition throughout the year.

Our conferences focus on core areas of growth and opportunity in energy management, entertainment platforms and services, home controls, mobile services, and advertising. Our events feature networking with key executives and the latest findings from our consumer and industry research. We developed the Premier Program so our sponsors have multiple opportunities to connect with our audiences and achieve maximum exposure as leaders in the digital living space.

Companies join the Premier Sponsorship Program by sponsoring different events throughout the year:

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase, June 8-10, Santa Clara, is the premier executive event focused on market developments and growth factors for advanced digital lifestyle solutions.

CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit, March 2010, Amsterdam, focuses on international and European consumer research, with sessions examining new digital platforms, consumer buying habits, and new business models and opportunities for TV operators, content developers, advertisers, and CE companies.

CONNECTIONS™ Summit at CES, January 7, Las Vegas, is the perfect start for CES, with sessions on trends, emerging business models and technologies, and growth opportunities for companies developing products and services for the digital home.

Smart Energy Summit, January 25-27, Austin, Tex., offers a unique combination of market research and real-world expertise in examining residential energy management and smart grid technologies.

Parks Associates’ monthly research Webcasts, hosted by the company’s leading analysts, feature the last data and insight on key digital living categories, including set-tops and connected CE, smartphones and mobile convergence, 3D TV and advanced video services, and future advertising strategies.

Current Premier Sponsor includes RedMere.

For more information about the Premier Sponsorship Program, visit www.parkspremier.com.

CONNECTIONS SUMMIT Speakers Announced

The CONNECTIONS SUMMIT will be held January 7, 2010, in Room S225 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The one-day event features commentary, insight, and debate on successful market strategies and deployment for “digital living” products and services.

Bill Ablondi, Dir., Home Systems Research, Parks Associates
Timo Bauer, SVP & GM Americas, NewBay Software
Joly Benoit, Dir., Connected Home Applications, Thomson
Tom Carroux, Director, Sales & Market Development, Irdeto
Susan Cashen, VP, Control4 Energy Systems
Steve Cashman, Chief Strategy Officer, Exceptional Innovation
Brian Chamberlin, Manager, Interactive Projects, NDS
Jayant Dasari, Research Analyst, Parks Associates
Chris Deutschen, Sr. Mgr, Innovation & Bus. Development, Direct Energy
Jaime Fink, CTO, 2Wire
Hope Fulgham, CEO/CMO, Piazza Advertising
Ted May, VP, Strategy & Business Affairs, Synacor
David Sandford, VP, Marketing & Product Management, TiVo
Kurt Scherf, VP, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates
Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates
Simon Tidnam, VP, Sales & Marketing, Hdlogix
Harry Wang, Dir., Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates
Heather Way, Research Analyst, Parks Associates
Paul Woidke, SVP and GM, Advanced Advertising, OpenTV

More info at:
http://www.parksassociates.com/events/connections/summit/2010/agenda/agenda.html

TV 2.0 – The Future of the Set-Top Box

Set-top boxes will grab the central role in media distribution within the home, and service providers’ digitalTV (DTV) strategies will drive the design of and demand for set-top boxes. Over the course of the next two years, competition in the TV service market will heat up substantially, ignited by the global digital transition and new video distribution channels like DTT, IPTV, and over-the-top video services. The battle in the DTV field will spread to the entire digital home services market, as incumbents and newcomers alike will market service packages to households, using video as the anchor for an expansive bundling strategy. Operators will increasingly leverage the set-top box as a platform to promote these multiplay strategies, and the device will also play a role as a home media server connecting multiple entertainment platforms.

http://www.parksassociates.com/events/connections/2010/about/research.html

Learn more about what happened at 2009 CONNECTIONS: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase.

HGI announces partnership agreement with Broadband Forum

The Home Gateway Initiative (HGI) announced that it has signed a liaison agreement with the Broadband Forum that will lead to close collaboration by both organizations on the development of standards and specifications for broadband networks worldwide.

The comprehensive agreement is designed to enhance the already active cooperation between HGI and the Broadband Forum. It allows each organization to provide input, and to release copyright on work-in-progress specifications to the partner organization as working documents are drafted. The result will be acceleration and strong alignment of key specification work within the industry that leads to improvements in the capabilities of customers’ broadband networks.

The areas of cooperation by these two groups will be centered on architectural and functional requirements for customer located broadband equipment. HGI’s mission to solve the service, feature and technology challenges in the digital home complements the Broadband Forum’s core competencies in end-to-end architecture and management. The groups agreed to cooperate in addressing quality of service (QoS), software modularity, IPv6, energy efficiency and testing.

Both groups will meet regularly to discuss projects and priorities for industry standards in these and other areas. Both organizations bring a unique focus on a set of related problems, and are stronger by working together.

By jointly identifying goals, sharing work in progress, and avoiding duplication of efforts, our member companies receive better value for their investments of resources in our respective efforts. The industry has important issues to solve, and this agreement helps significantly.”

Together, the two groups represent over 200 companies, and over 30 service providers, including Arcor, AT&T, Belgacom, Bell, BT, Cable & Wireless, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Embarq, Fastweb, France Telecom, KDDI, KPN, KT, Magyar Telecom, NTT, OTE, Portugal Telecom, Qwest, SingTel, Swisscom, Telecom Italia, Tata Teleservices Ltd, TDC, Telecom Slovenije, Telecom New Zealand, Telefonica, Telekomunikacja Polska, Telekom Austria, Telekom Malaysia, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Telkom SA, Telstra, Telus and Verizon.

Orange VP delivers Keynote at CONNECTIONS Europe Nov '09

Pierre François Dubois, Vice President, Very High Broadband and Digital Home Products, Technocentre, Orange presented the keynote presentation at the CONNECTIONS Europe Summit held November 4, 2009 in Amsterdam.

They not only provide the customers with broadband and other services, they have offers for the connected home. They have invested massively in LivePlug and Wi-Fi. In addition, they have invested in specific devices – Liveradio (access to more than 4,000 Web radio stations), digital photo frame, and partnership with La Cie on NAS device. Unik relies on UMA solution that enables handover from mobile and GSM. It was in 2005, a growth milestone, where the triple-play offer was the flagship offer. There is opportunity for Orange to increase its share of households budget in multimedia and IT, which is becoming more and more digital.

What are Orange customers willing to pay for in terms of additional services? Customers’ expectations have moved. The perceived value is moving from access to terminals. From demand for services to demand for fewer boxes, connection of all screens, share emotions and content with friends. Customers want to keep it simple and reliable and customer care is key.

The Digital Home is about how to give access to content and applications to individuals through available screens. Today, triple-play includes one room, one device, and one function. The Digital Home includes content and applications that can follow one at home and away and be instantiated on any available screen. The industry is moving to fulfill these expectations: connected devices opportunities from flat screen HDTV to Connected TV and application stores and user interfaces.

In conclusion, Orange believes that technology has to fade behind services, for the benefit of everyone. They are working to provide new packages for the digital home. Residential gateways operated by telcos are the cornerstone to provide customers with a seamless and full experience of the digital home.

AMIMON and Maxim Team Up on WHDI

AMIMON Inc., the market leader in wireless High Definition semiconductor solutions, and Maxim Integrated Products, the industry leader in innovative analog and mixed-signal silicon solutions, announced their collaboration to provide WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) solutions. The companies will offer a joint reference design based on Maxim's WHDI RF chipset MAX2850/MAX2851 that interfaces directly to the AMIMON WHDI baseband chipset AMN 2120/2220.

The WHDI standard enables a new era for the digital home providing robust uncompressed 1080p/60 Hz HD content wirelessly and enabling true in-home multi-room connectivity.

The AMIMON-Maxim WHDI chipset solution can be embedded into CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, notebooks, A/V receivers, Blu-ray DVD players, set-top boxes (STBs), game consoles, DVRs, PCs and HD video accessories/dongles, allowing wireless streaming of uncompressed HD content.

Engineers and developers interested in additional information on the AMIMON-Maxim WHDI solution should contact AMIMON at info@amimon.com.

Companies interested in additional information on Maxim's MAX2850/MAX2851 chipset should contact Maxim Integrated Products at MAX2850@maxim-ic.com.

For the full press release, click here.

"Connected Europe: By the Numbers," follow up from CONN EU Amsterdam

Kurt Scherf, VP of Research and Principal Analyst of Parks Associates presented "Connected Europe: By the Numbers" at the CONNECTIONS Europe Summit held November 4th in Amsterdam.

Kurt discussed the scope of Parks Associates research in the digital home and particularly in Europe. The past 18 – 24 months have brought strong development of connected CE devices such as TVs and Blu-ray players – large percentage of these devices are now connected. The role of the service provider is critical with providing the links to content and serving as gateway to premium content (BBC iPlayer, Verizon’s OTT offerings).

Residential Gateways are becoming increasingly important, with the other 50% of installations featuring an RG. For consumers, advantages are monitoring and basic applications. The presence of an RG rates highly with customer satisfaction with service provider services. Important RG services include the following: support, security, warranty services, and online backup. There are large opportunities for service provides who offer total home network support.

Things to watch in the Connected CE space include: the role of service providers in driving home network architecture; cloud media and home content brought together; design of user interfaces; integration of web services; role of CE companies at offering services; and evolution of content protection.

Google buys Admob for $750 million

Google took one step closer to digital media domination by snapping up the mobile advertising Admobfirm for a cool $750 million.

Admob helps firms advertise on mobile web sites, as well as providing the technology for serving said adverts on mobiles. It also works with applications for in-applications advertising.

The deal represents a bit of a bargain for Google, but it is counting on the mobile advertising market to grow.

Last month, Google announced that its mobile searches increased 30 per cent quarter over quarter in the third quarter. In August Admob sent out its 100 billionth mobile ad.

The deal is Google's third largest acquisition behind its 2008 purchase of Doubleclick for $3.1 billion and its 2006 buyout of YouTube for $1.65 billion.

For the full article, click here.

MTS Allstream Selects Actiontec Electronics for High-Speed DSL Products

Actiontec Electronics announced that two of its DSL solutions have been selected to power MTS Allstream Inc.'s ("MTS Allstream") high-speed residential DSL service. A wholly owned subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services, MTS Allstream is one of Canada's leading national communication solutions providers.

Actiontec Electronics has shipped more than 17.5 million Internet access devices across the globe. Since launching its initial DSL modem to the market, Actiontec has continued to stay in the forefront of industry standards, DSL and home networking technologies. The company's experience in modem design and supply-chain process delivers great value and affordability to carriers and access providers.

MTS Allstream selected Actiontec's GT724WG 54 Mbps Wireless DSL Gateway and the GT701D USB/Ethernet DSL Modem. The GT724WG combines a full-rate ADSL2+ modem, a 4 port Ethernet switch and 802.11g wireless gateway in a sleek, easy-to-use package. Support for the ADSL2/2+ standard can triple the available bandwidth from 8 Mbps to 24 Mbps -- giving bandwidth-hungry consumers the speed needed to enjoy fast downloads, online entertainment, high quality video streams, and online gaming. The gateway also includes an Internet firewall with four user-configurable protection levels, as well as WEP security to protect the home network from outside threats.

With an ENERGY STAR adapter and small footprint, the green GT701D helps customers reduce their energy bills and protect the environment. The compact device combines a full-rate ADSL2/2+ modem with a router capable of networking two computers via wired ports, or more through a switch or hub.

Thomson WiFi 802.11n broadband gateways comply with newly ratified IEEE Standard

Thomson, a worldwide leader of services to content creators, has welcomed the formal ratification of the 802.11n wireless technology standard by IEEE. Its new generation of WiFi-enabled cable gateways are fully compatible with the ratified standard.

In 2009, the company launched a new range of 802.11n gateways, certified by the WiFi alliance as draft 2.0, allowing service providers to offer multiple services to the networked home including high quality video over wireless. This new ratification by the IEEE guarantees that future home networking equipment will be compliant with these devices.

Levering its expertise in the WiFi alliance for xDSL gateways, Thomson has developed a range of Wireless “n“ products in conjunction with DOCSIS 3.0 or EuroDOCSIS 3.0, resulting in a very fast and convenient solution for cable operators. The company’s product portfolio includes the TCW770 DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS 3.0 wireless cable gateway and TWG870 wireless Voice gateway for the European market as well as the DCW775 DOCSIS 3.0 wireless cable gateway and DWG875 DOCSIS 3.0 wireless Voice gateway for the U.S. market.

For the full press release, click here.