RoxioNow Platform to Power Instant Access to Hollywood Movies on New Range of Connected HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc Players

Sonic Solutions announced that Haier, one of the world's largest home appliances and consumer electronics manufacturers, has chosen the RoxioNow platform to provide its customers convenient, trouble-free access to a broad library of Hollywood entertainment. As part of the agreement, entertainment services powered by the RoxioNow platform will deliver movies and TV shows over the web to a new line of Haier-branded Blu-ray Disc players and HDTVs.

The RoxioNow platform serves a broad range of premium content, including new movies and next-day TV programs, to a growing, multi-manufacturer ecosystem of home and mobile electronics including PCs, connected TVs, set-top DVRs, Blu-ray Disc players, smartphones, and mobile media devices. The platform enables retailers and consumer electronics companies to participate in the entertainment supply chain, add value to product offerings and form ongoing relationships with customers.

RoxioNow powers digital entertainment delivery for a range of companies including Best Buy, Blockbuster, Dell, HP, Kmart, Lionsgate, and Sears, and is available on a broad variety of consumer electronics devices.

Symantec Helps MobiTV, Inc. Deliver Mobile Experiences

Symantec Corp. announced MobiTV, Inc., a leading provider of technology solutions that deliver media over wireless and broadband networks, relies on Symantec information security and management software suites to automate IT processes, consolidate multiple security technologies and reduce email storage space.

MobiTV's end-to-end managed service platform enables the delivery of 100 television and video channels from more than 50 content providers, including NBC, ABC, ESPN Mobile TV, Disney Channel, FOX News, COMEDY CENTRAL and Bravo to its subscribers. The company's subscriber base has tripled over just the past two years to nine million, and its IT infrastructure was feeling the strain.

MobiTV worked with Symantec partner Blue Chip Tek, Inc. to implement Altiris Service and Asset Management Suite from Symantec for incident, asset and inventory management, as well as Altiris Client Management Suite and Altiris Server Management Suite for system provisioning and patch management. With the help of Blue Chip Tek, the configuration of policies and implementation of the different Altiris technologies took less than two weeks. Asset, inventory and patch management policies map to the company's IT governance polices, including Control Objectives for Information Related Technology (COBIT) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Additionally, MobiTV has a centralized management console that provides a consolidated view across all of its different systems.

Prior to Altiris Server Management Suite and Client Management Suite, the process for client and server deployments was a manual process, consuming valuable IT staff time. With standard images and remote control capabilities, the time for client and server provisioning has been reduced 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Immediately following the endpoint management deployment, MobiTV worked with Blue Chip Tek to migrate from its existing endpoint security solution, which consisted of several disparate point products, to Symantec Protection Suite Enterprise Edition, an integrated set of data security and management solutions that creates a protected endpoint, messaging, and Web environment that is secured against today's complex malware, data loss and spam threats, and is quickly recoverable in the event of failure.

MobiTV also implemented Symantec Enterprise Vault email and content archiving software to establish a reliable, effective means of moving information from expensive storage to lower cost storage. The reduction in email storage was immediate. MobiTV eliminated 40 percent of its email storage using the single-instance archiving and data compression technologies in Enterprise Vault, an estimated nine terabytes over the past four years. In addition, migration from tier-one storage to less-expensive SATA disk shaved nearly 50 percent from email storage costs.

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Sonic Announces 'Total 3D' Initiative

Sonic Solutions announced a broad program to support the "next big thing" in home video — the arrival of 3D in the home — with new professional and consumer solutions for the creation, publishing, and playback of 3D digital video content. Sonic is unique in its focus on "Hollywood-to-Home" solutions that enable the growth of new video formats, and Sonic's new 3D offerings will help to fuel the availability and consumer adoption of 3D video. Sonic has developed tools that allow Hollywood studios to encode video, author interactivity, and format titles for release over the internet and in the new Blu-ray 3D format.

The RoxioNow entertainment platform serves a broad range of premium content, including new movies and next-day TV programs, to a growing, multi-manufacturer ecosystem of home and mobile electronics including PCs, connected TVs, set-top DVRs, Blu-ray Disc players, smartphones, and mobile media devices. RoxioNow already powers digital storefronts on 3D-enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players and is primed to deliver 3D content once titles become available for online distribution.

Blockbuster tests new store in Nev.

Blockbuser has made the Reno area the first major test market for its new look and expanded offerings. To reach the rentals, you’ll have to get past the game center with an array of Wii and Xbox accessories, high-definition TVs and mobile media devices, interactive games ready for play in leather chairs, and expanded snack racks with a cafe kiosk offering eats and drinks.

The key is convenience, selling not just the movie or video game but the means to watch it, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said last week at a store in Reno.

And especially with the economic downturn, he said, the more his stores can offer, the better chance it has of getting an edge on the competition.

“We’re selling convenience,” Keyes said after giving Reno Mayor Bob Cashell and other business leaders a tour of the store.

“Why send someone to Wal-Mart when you can bring it in here where they’re already getting the movies,” Keyes said. “There’s so much talk now about ‘community’ in business. This is community here, the ultimate community.”

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