Canal+ introduces prepaid cards for IPTV

French pay-TV provider Canal+ is offering parts of its programming free of charge to subscribers of the Orange TV and BBox IPTV platforms until December 1. The operator has also introduced prepaid cards for IPTV viewers.

The move is part of a big marketing push by the pay-TV operator to increase the number of subscribers to its main premium channels, Canal+, Canal+ Décalé, Canal+ Sport, Canal+ Family and Canal+ Cinéma. Orange TV as well as Bouygues Telecom’s BBox customers can watch eight hours a day of premium programming for free.

The Canal+ group has also introduced pre-paid cards for triple play subscribers to the IPTV services from Orange, SFR, Free, Alice, Darty and Bouygues Telecom. For €10 people have one week access to the five main channels from Canal+, or to the CanalSat thematic bouquet.

For the complete article, please click here.

Broadcom gets Gigle in home networking acquisition

Semiconductor firm Broadcom has agreed to acquire fellow chip company Gigle Networks for $75 million in cash--a deal that will have implications in the rapidly consolidating powerline home networking segment, as well as affecting the broader push toward home G.hn standard home networking.

Gigle, a privately-held company based in Barcelona, Spain, is a member of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, which promotes the HomePlug AV specification for home networking. However, the company also has been working in the G.hn arena and should help speed Broadcom’s advances into both of these segments.

Broadcom will look to incorporate Gigle’s HomePlug chips, which are also IEEE 1901-compliant, into set-top boxes, routers and residential gateways manufactured by its equipment vendor partners.

For the complete article, please click here.

Did Adaptive Rate Streaming Get Enough Attention during the OTT Spotlight in 2010?

As the end of 2010 draws closer, we’d like to take a few minutes to examine some of the technologies and trends that have significantly impacted the market in 2010.

You’ll notice that OTT has been a common theme throughout our blog posts this year – we have tackled issues ranging from the likelihood of traditional TV operators embracing OTT video as a service to how service providers can capitalize on advanced OTT technologies to enable new streams of business to the growing support for HTTP Live Streaming.

In addition to helping operators maximize the effectiveness of their existing bandwidth, ARS also offers many advantages over previous video delivery techniques over the Internet. For instance, it naturally supports home firewall transparency, and a wide variety of use cases — it can deliver video across a combination of wired and wireless networks, through any combination of home broadband devices and firewall devices.

In our opinion, this is extremely important because the protocols that we’ve been using for IPTV, in particular, don’t have those properties, and as a result they don’t work very well around the home. In comparison with previous video techniques used on the Internet, such as progressive download, we see both improvements in operational cost savings for the service provider and in the quality of consumer experience.

And the improvements to the quality of the consumer experience are tremendous. This is so important because user experience is perhaps the most important determinant of success for businesses that rely on video delivery. People don’t expect their video material to stop and start and for the audio to drop; they expect a very seamless, continuous experience, and they are not very forgiving of delivery issues. ARS provides that seamless experience even when conditions deteriorate sharply or if sharing of bandwidth occurs.

In partnership with Harmonic, we worked with Ben Schwarz to author a primer talking about the impact of ARS. You will find a high-level technical description that leads to the technology trade-offs of the different flavors of ARS (from Apple, Microsoft and Adobe). It is written as a guide to help operators make sound selection parameters and consider business implications based on those decisions. You can download the primer at www.verimatrix.com/HLS

We think ARS is one of the year’s most significant enabling technologies, and we’re excited to see what’s in store for 2011. What ARS advancements do you think we will see in 2011?

Sign up for our Authorized Access newsletters to stay informed on the latest news on revenue security, conditional access and digital TV developments.

-- Content submitted by Vermatrix

Panasonic Blu-ray Players Add Vudu Service

Panasonic announced it has added Vudu's HD movie streaming service to its line of Viera Cast-enabled Blu-ray Disc players, beginning on Nov. 24.

Vudu is a video-on-demand service offering instant streaming (no download time) of movies and TV programs through IPTV-enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players with no computer or cable/satellite TV service required, and no subscription or monthly membership fees.

Vudu's service offers an extensive library of HD movies available for streaming to connected equipment, many of which are available at a $2 rate for a two-night rental. Additionally, many new releases are available on the service on the same day as they are released as DVDs.

For the complete article, please click here.

CONNECTIONS US - Now accepting speaker submissions

Interested in Presenting Your Company's Vision at CONNECTIONS 2011?

Submit today to be a speaker at the 2011 CONNECTIONS U.S Conference in Santa Clara, California.

CONNECTIONS addresses critical business issues pertaining to the converging entertainment, media, and service markets for consumers. The CONNECTIONS audience is 550+ top executives, media, and thought leaders in the digital living markets. Presentations include information and analysis on the following subjects: New Business Models; Case Study; Consumer Trends, Factors, or Research; Challenges/Opportunities; Technology Trends; Standards/
Interoperability Issues.

Event Topics include:

• ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORMS & VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
• MOBILE
• NEW MEDIA AND DIGITAL CONTENT
• CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
• HOME SYSTEMS & CONTROLS
  

Accepting submissions for this event until January 31, 2011.

Vidiator - Company Highlight

Vidiator have made a major product transition from being focused on mobile streaming (typically this means RTSP to mobile devices) to investing their resources and mobile video experience into delivering a converged HTTP streaming platform. This change has been very successful.

They now truly have a great product.

Vidiator believes they are the strongest player in the market because they offer all essential parts of the mobile video distribution from encoding to delivery. For example, they offer integration software that ensures HTTP streaming can be used with proper tracking and billing methods. Their flexible product and the fact that they go onsite and build large systems and ensure high class support to their customers, makes them unique in the business.

They are really excited to be releasing the 6th generation of our Xenon platform in the next few months. It contains delivery of iPhone, Flash and Silverlight in HD. Vidiator has a unique encode once for all formats approach where our customers can save a lot of hardware in converged solutions using our method.

Their company mission is to ensure service providers can deliver an excellent and consistent user experience on any device and network.

Oxygen Audio debuts car stereo with iPhone interface

French electronics manufacturer Oxygen Audio will introduce an audio system at CES 2011 that uses an iPhone as the head unit interface. The O'Car audio system physically integrates an iPhone by snapping it to the front of the audio deck. A cantilever swivels the phone horizontally or vertically, and angles it in any direction.

Using the iPhone as the software platform, you'll be able to use your favorite app-du-jour for traffic information and navigation or whatever new technology comes to the market--as long as it goes to your phone. A downloadable app controls the entertainment system, offering AM/FM/RDS radio, 4 by 55 watt amp and subwoofer control, and also provides seamless app multitasking.

The single DIN head unit, which will retail for $299 in first quarter of 2011 (although there's a chance European markets will get it before Christmas), is equipped with hands-free calling Bluetooth capabilities and an external speaker. While you won't be able to access programs on your phone using voice commands, the O'Car app will automatically dim audio programs for voice prompts if you're using turn-by-turn directions or receiving or making phone calls, said Oxygen Audio spokesman Gregory Borchardt. And should you decide to switch devices, the aftermarket manufacturer is developing adapters for Androids.

For the complete article, please click here.

Irdeto's Company Highlight Continued

We feel that Irdeto is the strongest player in the market because of our ability to offer end-to-end solutions that truly meet our customers’ needs in a rapidly changing market place. Our technology is amongst the best on the market, and the flexibility of our solutions allows operators to obtain real value from the delivery of content to consumers.

For example, in the last year the Apple iPad has emerged as the hot device for “anytime, any place” premium content consumption. To the pay-TV operator, this is an opportunity to extend its brand and value as a content provider to the users of this new generation of devices. We have been one of the first in the market to help our customers realise this opportunity with the Irdeto Broadband solution, which has helped many operators around the world to maximise the value of their content via secure content delivery to any device platform, including the iPad and iPhone.

However, the same promise of “any time, any place, any device” video consumption that presents a huge opportunity for operators also presents a significant challenge when it comes to meeting studio requirements for securing premium content over the Internet for playback on portable devices. The popularity of the Apple platform, combined with the lure of premium content such as HD movies, creates an attractive target for the hacker community. In this environment, content protection becomes critical to the ongoing financial viability of a streaming video service. To combat the ongoing threat of digital piracy in this new video ecosystem, Irdeto’s Cloakware Platform utilises a Security Lifecycle Management approach to protecting digital assets throughout their economic life.

The combination of our Broadband and Cloakware solutions is a world-leading offering that is enabling our customers to take advantage of the opportunities presented by technological advances. We are striving to ensure that we will continue to provide the best solutions to meet industry needs now, and in the future.

Content submitted by Irdeto.

Radialpoint - CONNECTIONS Europe Company Highlight

Radialpoint’s mission is to partner with leading consumer technology providers (CTP’s) to address and monetise consumer technology needs & frustrations in the digital home.

Radialpoint has a number of core strengths – a white label approach to digital home services which allows large consumer technology providers to fully leverage their brands, a collaborative proposition development unit, 15 years of experience in delivering to the needs of the CT and the careful evolution of a technology platform which is now able to integrate into a variety of different technical landscapes.

Perhaps Radialpoint’s greatest strength is how we uniquely incorporate all of the above to deliver successful programs for big brands with high expectations.

In the last 12 months, Radialpoint has successfully launched 2 new Premium Support & Digital Home Services propositions with Internet Service Providers in the UK and the US.

One of the big challenges for ISP’s offering Premium Support propositions is around understanding and effectively communicating where the standard operator support ends and the chargeable support begins; when does something become out of scope, how is this best communicated, what is the alternative customer proposition and how/when should it be sold?
These projects have further strengthened Radialpoint’s understanding of the above, and specifically how consumers feel about Premium Support services in the context of being ‘extended support’ propositions for an ISP.

Interestingly, we’ve seen that the model of recurring monthly fees for Premium Support Subscriptions is beginning to remove a headache for some customers. The idea of setting up complicated new technology doesn’t need to be a barrier to purchase any more – quite the opposite in fact. The insurance of having a trusted IT advisor can actually drive purchases of new products and services (from the ISP or elsewhere) that might otherwise have been seen as just too difficult; “I’ve got someone who can help me with that….”

Probably the most interesting thing we’ve seen at Radialpoint in 2010 is around the incredibly positive effect that Premium Support Services can have on Net Promoter Scores (which is effectively a benchmark of customer satisfaction, measured by an advocacy score). But this does stand to reason. The proliferation of new networking and technical devices coming into the home has simply increased the consumers need for reliable help. What is absolutely clear is that whoever can help the consumer make sense of this new technology will create meaningful new relationships that deliver genuine customer advocacy, whilst converting support costs to profit.

For more information about what Radialpoint’s DHS Platform and Premium Support Services could do for your business, contact one of the Radialpoint team.

CONNECTIONS Europe 2010 - BESTv

The biggest challenge/obstacle for BESTv is ...

Over-the-top (OTT) and hybrid broadcast-OTT services are starting to come on the radar of many broadcasters and pay TV operators as a means for service diversification and potential new revenues. As a leading platform- and service provider for these non-linear and hybrid services, Bestv is often faced with the learning curve that the traditional broadcasters and operators have to go through to understand the implications of the new services. This learning curve can be steep, as the implications of the new broadcasting paradigm are profound and touching many areas of the business, including user experience, back-office systems, business processes, business models, and partnerships. Bestv addresses the uncertainty and facilitates rapid learning of the broadcasters and operators by allowing them to deploy Reference Solutions for new services including 3D TV, Push VOD, content recommendation and personalized advertising and by showing the business implications of each.

BESTv's strongest player in the market...

In the relatively new and unchartered waters of new non-linear television services, Bestv has been able to carve out a niche with an enabling platform that not only is most complete in the market in terms of performance, stability and features but also is the only one that is mass market deployed. The further expansion of the Bestv feature set, the underlying approved patents and the current rapid international expansion allow Bestvto consolidate this leadership position.

BESTV's greatest asset...

The rigor of our people in supporting broadcasters and pay TV operators migrate to the new television scenario and the flexibility of our solutions to support this transition.

And their mission is to to enable Premium Television for all! Thank you Giuseppe Flores d'Arcais for participating at the 2010 CONNECTIONS Europe Summit!

Intel, Rovi, Best Buy, and other industry leaders participating at executive summit at CES 2011

Parks Associates announced the sessions and preliminary list of speakers for its upcoming CONNECTIONS™ Summit at CES, January 6 at 2011 International CES in Las Vegas. This event provides consumer data and analysis of business and marketing strategies for operators, CE manufacturers, utilities, and communications companies delivering connected devices and advanced services and applications to consumers.

At CONNECTIONS™ Summit at CES, we will look beyond the headlines and announcements to see what consumers will be doing with these devices and how they will change their video, entertainment, and communication habits.”

Parks Associates will host CONNECTIONS™ Summit in the South Hall Convention Center, Rooms S206-207, during the first day of CES. Preliminary list of speakers:

Sean Besser, VP, Business Development, Rovi Corp.
Tom Bottorff, Sr. VP-Regulatory Affairs, PG&E
Kris Bowring, Senior Director, Platform Lead, Best Buy
Matt Carinio, Senior Business Analyst, LEVEL Studios
Chris Deutschen, Senior Manager, Direct Energy
Wynn Grubbs, VP, Sales and Marketing, PlumChoice
Dave Habiger, President and CEO, Sonic Solutions
Brian David Johnson, Futurist and Director, Future Casting and Experience Research, Intel Corporation
Shashidhar K, Global Practice Director, HCL Technologies
Chris King, Chief Regulatory Officer, eMeter Corporation
Woo Seung Lee, Team Manager, Media Business Planning Department, Korea Telecom
Scott Levine, VP, General Manager – Mobile, Blockbuster, Inc.
Joel Marshall, EVP, Steelhead Advertising
Steve McKay, CEO, Entone
Andy Melder, VP Business Development, Gigle Networks
Sean Miller, President, iTOK
Steve Oetegenn, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Verimatrix
Lawrence M. Oliva, Director of Tariffs, Programs, and Services, Southern California Edison
Rick Schwartz, Senior Product Manager, Consumer Software, PacketVideo (PV)
Edgar Villalpando, SVP, Marketing, ActiveVideo Networks

For information about CONNECTIONS™ Conferences, visit www.connectionsconference.com.

ng Connect Program - Company Highlight at CONNECTIONS Europe

Laureen Cook represented the ng Connect Program at the 2010 CONNECTIONS Europe Summit in Amsterdam on November 15th.

Their strongest player in the market...

Mobile broadband networks are enabling virtually every type of business to connect with their customers and with other businesses in new and exciting ways. Through extensive research into emerging markets and the development of novel solution concepts, ng Connect is working to accelerate the delivery of applications, services and devices over next generation networks, such as LTE. ng Connect is comprised of over 50 companies from a multitude of industries including founder Alcatel-Lucent, industry leaders like Samsung, HP and Atlantic Records, and innovative start-ups including FISHLABS, SIGNEXX, and Total Immersion. We are the first and only consortium bringing together such a diverse group of industries with the sole focus on advancing the adoption of next generation services.

New products...

Applications for next-generation mobile technologies encompass a great variety of industries - from media companies, to consumer electronics manufacturers, to others you may not have expected, such as automotive. Take the retail industry for example – thanks to next generation wireless, retailers and advertisers can now work together to deliver rich media and enable relevant purchases right from a connected device, such as a digital kiosk or a mobile phone. Through ng Connect’s Solution Concept the LTE/4G enabled 2-Way Video Kiosk shoppers would be able to interact with a real person via a video conference chat while on the sales floor and get additional information on products before making their next purchase. ng Connect now has more than 14 solution concepts in a wide variety of industries including e-healthcare, automotive, e-learning, gaming, entertainment and so much more.

Mission...

The ng Connect Program was founded on the premise that the rollout of new technologies, such as LTE, can open the door to an enhanced user experience only if new applications, content and devices can take advantage of the features and capabilities of these new technologies as they are rolled out.

Traditionally the members of the digital media value chain have operated in loose association with other members of that value chain. This isolation or "working in silos" against their own business plans often resulted in a less than optimal end user experience once all the parts of the digital media value chain were strung together. Disparate business models resulted in a failed business case for one or more members of the chain. This effectively hindered new services coming to market, achieving mass scale adoption and positively contributing to profits. ng Connect’s mission is to accelerate the time to market and drive the adoption of next generation services so that everyone in the value chain benefits.

Irdeto Spokesperson to Define the Business Imperative, Challenges and Opportunities for Delivering Content Anytime, Anywhere and on Any Device

Irdeto spokesperson, Christopher Schouten, will illustrate why the evolution of broadband presents opportunities and challenges for operators and the importance of effective content lifecycle security to protect premium content. During the “Extending the Video Experience to Multiple Screens Evolution” panel at Connections Europe 2010, he will advise on the potential to extend brand value as content providers and operators explore new distribution opportunities across multiple platforms and devices, including mobile.

Schouten will argue that operators must address five key areas in order to implement a viable and sustainable business model that will successfully deliver video content on multiple devices:

1. How content from different sources can be managed and distributed efficiently and in real time to provide the best consumer experience.

2. How user rights can be centrally controlled and synchronized with the operator’s existing subscriber management system to provide a true “any time, any place, any device” experience.

3. How the stringent content security requirements of Hollywood studios and other premium content creators can be met, and maintained, over the economic life of the content when it is delivered over broadband and stored on portable devices and in unsecure environments.

4. How to overcome the challenges of protecting premium content through effective content lifecycle security.

5. How content can be monetized easily through online billing, end-to-end management systems with minimum effort and longevity of security systems.

Christopher is a specialist in Broadband, Digital TV and digital media technologies, especially related to content security and user experience. Christopher joined the company in 2001 and has held various positions in marketing and product management. Christopher’s focus is on enhancing the consumer experience of digital television by enabling pay-TV operators to offer highly personalized and tailored content to each individual.

Speaker Highlight: Deepak Kataria, HCL

I will be an invited panelist representing HCL ERS at Connections Europe 2010 in Amsterdam Europe, participating in a discussion on Mobile Broadband: Devices, Strategies and Consumer Demand. My co-panelists are executives from ALU, Ruckus Wireless, ng Connect, Vidiator and the event is being moderated by President of Park Associates.

This will be an interesting mix of view points from a Tier 1 OEM, a Media Platform Provider, innovative wireless technology provider, a next gen ecosystem player and us a premier system integrator and value-added engineering service provider. This panel discussion is one of several that are being conducted under the broader conference theme of monetizing connectivity and user experiences.

My panel topic is very timely and proposes to discuss tremendous growth of mobile broadband fueled by consumer demand and its impact on device manufacturers, mobile operators, other value chain partners and consumers themselves.

Clearly mobile broadband has taken off in the consumer space. 3G/HSPA and emerging 4G technologies such as LTE are enabling a wide area environment for high speed Internet access. No longer are you required to be tethered to a fixed broadband connection or be connected through a hot spot - LTE promises to enable higher than "DSL-like speeds" anywhere over the air ! The ubiquity of high speed access coupled with the ease of use of mobile devices such as through touch screen, widgets and other innovations fostered by device manufactures has escalated demand for unrestricted 24/7 Internet access.

Capitalizing on this opportunity, device manufacturers have also made a disruptive entry into the service delivery value chain by offering innovative apps and services and which can be downloaded from their app stores for a price. Service delivery from a bring privileged prerogative of the mobile operator until a few years ago, now has fierce competition from likes of:

* iPhone App Store

* Android App Market

* Blackberry App World

* Windows Mobile Marketplace

* Palm App Catalog

* Nokia Ovi Store

Device manufacturers call their devices "SMART" phones since they now control both the device and service side of the delivery chain, relegating the intermediate mobile operator to the role of a bit provider. While the mobile operator has seen a significant increase in traffic volume over their networks and have invested significant capex for base stations and backhaul equipment to support high bandwidth pipes, they are seeing themselves being "disintermediated" from the revenue value chain. The revenues from flat fee unrestricted date usage models for bandwidth access are simply not enough to keep up with declining ARPUs from voice minutes and additional upgrades needed in the network to keep up with traffic growth. Recall the consequences when a major mobile operator in the US underestimated data usage and paid heavy price for meeting performance while a device brand got away with little or no impact.

Our panel will examine how mobile operators can leverage their network resources to drive revenue growth. What type of business models they will have to adopt to sell more value-added services on top of access services ? Who are the value chain partners ? Which data applications will have a broad appeal and help operators differentiate their offerings ?

I plan to present the perspective of HCL ERS which has visibility into these issues by virtue of our work with leading device manufacturers, telecom OEMs, value-added service providers and mobile operators as well as draw upon our initiatives in adjacent vertical industries.

Posted on behalf of HCL.

ActiveVideo Urges Network-Based Platform to Speed Adoption of Web Video on TV

The president and CEO of ActiveVideo Networks called on the media, entertainment and CE communities to agree on a single, unified platform for the delivery of Web video to the television. ActiveVideo’s Jeff Miller outlined how “Platform Chaos” – the fragmentation of countless video devices and technologies -- must be overcome in order to accelerate the rollout and monetization of compelling interactive and Web-to-TV services.

Encouraging all facets of the industry to “join the cloud,” Miller talked about how the scramble to develop competing, proprietary solutions has created confusion and complexity that impacts the ability of content developers and consumers to connect. Miller stressed that placing intelligence in the network cloud, instead of in the CE device or digital set-top box, would enable developers to write content once and deploy universally to any device, and would relieve consumers of the challenge of identifying, purchasing and integrating new equipment for their home theater systems.

According to Miller, adoption of a solution such as ActiveVideo’s CloudTV™ would provide a common platform that would lift restrictions on the number and types of applications available, as well as the ability to port content across multiple devices. In a cloud-based system, Web-based applications, social media, user interfaces and other content is processed in the network and streamed to any device.

For more information, visit www.activevideo.com.

Final list of speakers at CONNECTIONS Europe

CONNECTIONS Europe is less than a week away!

Parks associates is very excited about the speaker lineup.

Romain Waller, Senior VP, Connect, Technicolor, will present the morning keynote “Reshaping the Digital Home Opportunity with Next Gen Media Devices Delivery” on November 16.

The agenda features speakers from the following companies:

Accedo Broadband Acetrax ActiveVideo Networks Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) Alcatel-Lucent Alticast Bestv Cisco Cloudberry Associates Dell Deutsche Telekom AG Ericsson AB Femto Forum France Telecom-Orange Labs F-Secure Gigle Networks HbbTV HCL America IBM Institut fuer Rundfunktechnik GmbH IP Vision Irdeto Juniper Networks

Latens Systems Lilli Group Ltd. Limelight Networks Nagra-Kudelski NDS ng Connect Omnifone Oregan Networks Ltd Philips Radialpoint Ralink Technology Rovi Corporation Ruckus Wireless ruwido Samsung Electronics Europe Verimatrix Veveo Vidiator Virgin Media Visiware Widevine Zeitera

Sponsors are Accedo Broadband, ActiveVideo Networks, Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), Gigle Networks, Latens, PacketVideo, ProVision Communications, Radialpoint, Ralink Technology, Virgin Media, and Zeitera.

Visit http://www.connectionseurope.com to register.

CONNECTIONS™ Europe to examine new business strategies for connected CE, value-added services, and digital entertainment

Parks Associates will host top executives from the digital content, value-added services, mobile and connected CE, and advanced video and entertainment industries at CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit: Monetizing Connectivity and User Experiences, November 15-16, 2010.

The two-day summit takes place at the Mövenpick Hotel in Amsterdam and offers insights into new business strategies and product plans to reach an increasingly connected population.

The agenda includes the following sessions:

• Service Providers and the Connected Home

• Broadband Value-Added Services: Customer Satisfaction and Technical Support

• Mobile Broadband: Devices, Strategies, and Consumer Demand

• Next-Gen Video Services: Personalization and Flexibility

• Consumers and Connected Consumer Electronics

• The Landscape for Connected Devices

• Content Delivery and Control for Connected TVs

• Extending the Video Experience to Multiple Screens

• Value-added Services & the Video Ecosystem

• Controlling the Experience

• Mobile Video: The Cloud, the App Store, & the Connected Home

Company Highlight: Irdeto's biggest challenge

The biggest challenge for Irdeto is helping our capitalize on the opportunities that new technology and consumer trends mean to their business. The key hurdle for operators and content providers is meeting the increasing consumer demand for personalised content anytime anywhere on any device. We at Irdeto call this the Media 3.0 environment. Creating an offering that meets these needs will be key to success in the coming year.

This demand is a result of changing viewing habits. As consumers spend more time simultaneously using TV and Internet in the home, content providers have the opportunity to tailor future media recommendations to the consumer’s individual content preferences.

Social networks are starting to replace traditional electronic programming guides as consumers lean toward engaging with personal contacts that they trust for content discovery and recommendations. Operators must maximise the opportunities presented by peer-influenced viewership, particularly in today’s competitive market where new Internet-enabled content platforms like Google TV, YouTube and others provide the consumer with a social and interactive viewing experience. Doing so will enable them to further monetise their assets by helping consumers make the bridge between their connected social life and TV viewing habits.

At the same time as becoming more reliant on social tools to discover content, consumers are transitioning from owning physical media and digital assets to owning rights to use digital content resident on their web, PC, portable media device, etc. A vital part of creating a profitable Media 3.0 environment is ensuring that users can access all their content across multiple platforms. This means that the traditional model of running broadcast and broadband departments as separate entities will no longer be viable.

We believe that a meaningful operator strategy for delivering content across multiple devices means a unified approach over a single infrastructure for all screens. This contrasts with most operator approaches today, where the rush to be the first to offer content over multiple devices has seen a siloed strategy for each internal division across the broadcast and new media or broadband departments.

Irdeto is committed to helping our customers overcome this challenge by ensuring that content delivered to multiple platforms is secure, assures content monetisation and protects revenue streams. This in turn, gives operators the flexibility to develop new solutions, such as social content discovery tools, that help secure loyalty in the existing customer base and attract new subscribers.

Irdeto's VP of Broadband and Media 3.0 Strategy, Christopher Schouten will be speaking on Extending the Video Experience to Multiple Screens panel at 11:30 AM on November 16th at the CONNECTIONS Europe Summit in Amsterdam.

Best Buy to open online store in U.K.

The US electricals giant Best Buy will launch an online shop in the UK within the next fortnight to take the fight to its rivals Currys, Comet and Argos on to the web.

Best Buy, which opened its first UK store in May and now has five, will deliver across the UK, but not in the Channel Island or the Isle of Man. The electricals retailer will offer thousands of products online, including all those available in its stores, as well as additional lines.

The online move by Best Buy – which first revealed its intention to enter the UK market with the £1.1bn acquisition of 50 per centof Carphone Warehouse in May 2008 – will shake up the lucrative online consumer electronics market which is populated by the high street stalwarts, as well as the online specialists, such as Amazon, Dixons and Play.com.

For the complete article, please click here.

Apple opens iOS update to developers

Apple has started notifying members of its iOS developer community that version 4.2 of the company’s mobile operating system has hit GM status.

iOS 4.2 is the next incremental update to iOS 4, Apple’s latest major version of the operating system powering iPhones, iPod touches, iPads, and now even the Apple TV(second generation).

Apple itself promised back in September that iOS 4.2 would drop sometime in November for iPhone, iPod touch and, most notably, for iPad users who will soon get a bunch of new features that only iPhone and iPod touch users have been enjoying since the initial iOS 4 launch.

Since iOS 4.2 will bring all the existing features of iOS 4.1 to the iPad, plus the new ones Apple touted during the Sept. 1 keynote, upcoming additions specifically targeting the iPad include:

- Multitasking
- Folders
- AirPlay wireless music, movie, and photo streaming
- Printing support over wireless networks
- Game Center for multiplayer and social gaming
- Unified and improved Mail inbox
- Search text within Safari
- Enhanced enterprise support
- Accessibility enhancements
- Keyboard and dictionary enhancements

For the complete article, please click here.

New CONNECTIONS 2011 US Gold Sponsor- Affinegy

CONNECTIONS U.S is proud to welcome Affinegy as a 2011 event sponsor.

Affinegy provides advanced software that makes it simple and secure for consumers to lead a Digital Lifestyle. Our Digital Lifestyle Networking platform allows broadband service and solution providers to deliver a frustration-free experience to their end customers. That dramatically reduces support costs, reduces churn, and increases value-added service revenue opportunities.

Their unique solutions have been architected from the ground up to easily connect, secure and manage Digital Lifestyle Networks. Spanning – for the first time – both emerging devices and previously installed, networking gear in the consumer home. This capability gives end consumers unprecedented control of their Digital Lifestyle environment, and provides our customers and partners with powerful intelligence for tailoring value-added services to consumer needs.

With over 5 million consumer Digital Lifestyle Networks deployed via relationships with some of the world’s largest broadband service providers, the reach of our solutions is rapidly growing, and continues to accelerate via our emerging customer channels across the Digital Lifestyle ecosystem.

For more information, please visit http://affinegy.com.

Logitech unveils wireless solar keyboard K750, does away with batteries for good

When Logitech first introduced wireless peripherals, we'd be lucky if our alkaline cells lasted a week, but these days the firm's low-power mice can go months on a charge. Now, the company's taken the next logical step, and made a solar keyboard.

With an ultra-slim 1/3-inch profile and a full slate of laptop-style chiclet keys, the Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 isn't your average rack of buttons to begin with, but the ambient light solar panels installed on the top of either side should mean you'll never need to plug it in to recharge.

The company states its low-power integrated circuits can theoretically run for three months even if you leave it in a dark desk drawer. It uses the same 2.4GHz Nano Unifying receiver as several other Logitech wireless products, meaning you'll only need a single one of your netbook or set-top-boxes' USB ports.

For the complete article, please click here.

CONNECTIONS Europe features service providers, wireless solutions providers, CE and content management experts

The composition of the connected home will shift dramatically in the next five years, with connected consumer electronics and mobile devices (mainly smartphones and tablet computers) comprising 80% of the seven billion connected nodes worldwide by 2015. This changing landscape is the main focus of the CONNECTIONS™ Europe conference, November 15-16 in Amsterdam.

CONNECTIONS™ Europe sponsors include the companies leading the development and deployment of new solutions to enhance the digital lifestyle.

Accedo Broadband is a leading provider of applications for IPTV and Connected TV.

ActiveVideo Networks intelligently streams Web-infused television to any STB or Web-connected CE device.

Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) provides set-top solutions to the worldwide digital television industry.

Gigle Networks provides System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated circuits and complete system solutions for multimedia home networking.

Latens is leading the way in IPTV and fully DVB®-compliant software Conditional Access and Middleware.

PacketVideo’s software facilitates the sharing and enjoyment of media wherever it is stored, by converging devices, applications, and services.

ProVision Communications delivers high-quality video reliably over wireless and works with leading pay-TV service providers and CE manufacturers.

Radialpoint helps the world’s largest ISP, Retail, OEM and other Consumer Technology Providers meet and monetize the growing consumer need for technology advice and assistance.

Ralink Technology Corporation is a leading innovator and developer of wireless chipset solutions recognized for superior throughput, extended range, low-power consumption and consistent reliability.

Virgin Media is the U.K.'s first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next-generation ultrafast Internet access of up to 50 MB.

Zeitera is leading the emerging market for intelligent content recognition solutions and will demonstrate advanced content recognition technologies and different applications for interactive television, advanced advertising, and immersive social networking.

For more information, visit http://www.connectionseurope.com.

Microsoft raises bet on motion-sensing tech

Microsoft has acquired Canesta, which designs microchips that it says enable computers to see images in three dimensions, according to the privately-held Sunnyvale, California-based company.

The purchase comes as Microsoft prepares to launch its Kinect motion-controller next month, hoping to spark sales of its xBox video game consoles. Buying Canesta, whose technology focuses mainly on consumer applications, suggests Microsoft is already eyeing more and better movement-recognition products down the line for its video game system as well as other applications. Kinect’s camera-based system, built into cameras, lets players control games with body and hand gestures, letting gamers ditch the hand-held controllers they have been tied to for decades.

Honda has invested $5 million in Canesta to develop 3-D technology to help drivers park their cars and avoid collisions.Hitachi is using Canesta’s technology to create a television controlled by hand gestures instead of a remote control.

For the complete article, please click here.