15th CONNECTIONS Conference Dates Announced

The fifteenth annual CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase will take place on June 28-30, 2011, at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The 2011 event focuses on entertainment and media platforms, content distribution, mobile applications and services, broadband and operator strategies, energy management solutions, advanced advertising initiatives, and connected CE.

Early sponsors for CONNECTIONS™ 2011 are Association Sponsor CEA and Affinegy, Allegro, iTOK, Rovi, and Sonic Solutions.

Parks Associates will also host CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 15-16, 2010, featuring the latest consumer research on digital living technologies around the world and analysis on new business models and opportunities for TV operators, content developers, advertisers, and CE companies.

CONNECTIONS™ Summit at CES, January 6, 2011, focuses on trends, emerging business models and technologies, and growth opportunities for companies developing products and services for the digital home.

Sonic Solutions, new CONNECTIONS 2011 sponsor

CONNECTIONS is proud to announce Sonic Solutions as a new 2011 Bronze Sponsor.

Sonic Solutions is powering the digital media ecosystem through its complete range of Hollywood to Home applications, services, and technologies. Sonic's Roxio products enable consumers to easily manage and enjoy personal media and premium Hollywood entertainment on a broad range of connected devices. A wide array of leading technology firms, professionals, businesses, and developers rely on Sonic to bring innovative digital media functionality to next-generation devices and platforms. Sonic Solutions is headquartered in Marin County, California.

Thank you Sonic Solutions for your continued support! We look forward to having you a part of the 2011 CONNECTIONS Conference.

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.

More than 100 industry executives lend insights at CONNECTIONS Conference

CONNECTIONS speakers will deliver insight and recommendations for new business models and opportunities in digital media/content, connected consumer electronics, broadband and value-added services, and home systems. View full agenda here.

Keynote Speakers
Joseph Ambeault, Director, Product Development and Management, Video Services, Verizon
Scott Birnbaum, Vice President, Samsung LCD Business
Wilfred Martis, General Manager, Retail CE, Digital Home Group, Intel Corporation
Mitch Singer, CTO, Sony Pictures Entertainment; President, DECE

Speakers & Panelists
Cedric Arnaud-Battandier, VP, Strategy & Corporate Development, Technicolor
Seth Bailey, CEO, iTOK
David Barclay, Director Energy Management, OpenPeak
Anthony Bay, CEO, MOD Systems
David Bercovich, Vice President of Business Development, AlertMe
Savinay Berry, Vice President, Granite Ventures
Gilles BianRosa, CEO, Vuze, Inc.
Stephen Blum, President, Tellus Venture Associates
Jeff Bonin, Vice President of Business Development, Alticast
Kris Bowring, Senior Director, Emerging Business, Best Buy
Paul Brody, Global Lead, IBM Electronics Industry Strategy Practice, IBM Global Business Services
William C. Brown, Assoc. VP Technology and GM, Service Provider Business Unit, North America, D-Link
Mike Buckingham, Director of Marketing, SmartLabs, Inc.
Thomas Carpenter, VP Operations and Digital Chief of Staff, Epix
Susan Cashen, Vice President Marketing, Control4
David Chechelashvili, Head of Gaming and Retail, XpanD, Inc
Alfredo Choperena, President, SimpleHomeNet
Matthew Choy, Marketing Director, Rsupport Inc.
Albert Chu, Vice President, Marketing and Alliances, ACCESS Systems Americas
Jim Denney, Vice President, General Manager, Product Marketing, TiVo Inc.
Gary Ellison, Chief Security Architect, Intertrust Technologies, representing Marlin
Greg Ennis, Technical Director, Wi-Fi Alliance
Jim Feuille, General Partner, Crosslink Capital
Martin Flusberg, CEO, Powerhouse Dynamics
Paul Fulton, General Manager, Prosumer Business Unit, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Dwight Gibson, VP & GM Connected Home Solutions, Ingersoll Rand
Alexandre Giess, Head of Digital Home - Group Marketing North America, Orange/France Telecom Group
Alex Glass, Vice President, Global Operations, thePlatform
Wynn Grubbs, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, PlumChoice, Inc.
Dave Habiger, President & CEO, Sonic Solutions (Roxio)
Brian Henrichs, Chief Business Development Officer, Actiontec Electronics
Todd Hinders, Senior Vice President, ExtendMedia
Scott Hublou, Co-Founder, SVP of Products, EcoFactor
Richard Irving, Managing Partner, Pond Venture Partners Ltd.
Kanaan Jemili, Vice President of Product Management, DivX, Inc.
Michael Kostainsek, Senior Partner, Account Director, MEC (WPP’s Group M)
Douglas Light, Sr. Vice President of Global Sales and Business Development, Widevine
Steve Linke, Associate Director Consumer Electronics, Verizon Wireless - Open Development
James Lopez, General Manager, Digital Video Surveillance, Logitech
Ajay Luthra, Senior Director of Advanced Technology, Motorola
Letha McLaren, Vice President of Energy Products, iControl Networks
Kevin Meagher, CEO, Intamac Systems
Andy Melder, Vice President Business Development, Gigle Networks
Amir Mobini, President and CEO, Zenverge
Frank Mona III, Executive Director, Sales Execution, Consumer Home Services, AT&T
Kevin Morgan, CTO, Arxan Technologies, Inc.
Malachy Moynihan, VP, Video Strategy, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Macario Namie, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Jasper Wireless
Richard Nesin, Executive Director, HomePNA Alliance
Robert O'Dell, President/CEO, SecurityCoverage, Inc.
Amy Oehler, Senior Manager, Business Development Direct Energy, Direct Energy
Nathan Ota, Solutions Product Marketing Manager, Consumer Solutions, Trilliant
Sean Parham, Executive Vice President & CMO, 2Wire, Inc.
Nash Parker, Director of Emerging Technology & Media, Alcatel-Lucent
Tony Perucca, Senior Director, comScore, Inc.
Tom Pollard, Director of Product Management, Verimatrix Inc.
Drake Pruitt, SVP Business Development, Ascent Media Group
Yaron Raz, Director of Video Solutions Marketing, BigBand Networks
Terri Richardson, Business Integration Manager, Navic at Microsoft
Anthony Rodio, COO, Support.com
Russ Schafer, Senior Director, Global Product Marketing, Yahoo! Connected TV, Yahoo!
Daniel Scheinman, SVP & GM, Cisco Media Solutions Group, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Rick Schwartz, Senior Product Manager, PacketVideo (PV)
Loren Shade, VP Marketing, Allegro Software Development Corporation
Gene Sheridan, CEO, BridgeCo, Inc.
Charley Shoemaker, Director, Product Management, Nielsen Online, The Nielsen Company
Howard Simons, Director of Sales Research, West Division, Comcast Spotlight
Melissa Simpler, CEO, Affinegy
Peter Smyth, CEO, RedMere
Kurt Stammberger, Vice President Marketing, Mocana
Mark Studness, Director E-Commerce, Verizon
Dean Takahashi, Digital Media Lead Writer, VentureBeat
Jim Theberge, Product Management Director, Rovi Corporation
Steve Tranter, VP Interactive and Broadband, NDS
Daren Tsui, CEO, mSpot, Inc
Edgar Villalpando, SVP, Marketing, ActiveVideo Networks
Dr. Kenneth Wacks, Member, GridWise Architecture Council, U.S. Department of Energy
Ian Walsh, VP Business Development, ProVision Communications
Nate Williams, CMO, 4Home
Ken Wirt, Vice President Consumer Marketing, Cisco Systems, Inc.
Tom Woods, VP, User Experience, Rovi Corporation
Mark W. Young, Vice President, Strategy & BD, Mobile, Comcast Interactive Media
Dan Ziegler, Regional Director, Latens Systems

Parks Associates Moderators
Farhan Abid, Research Analyst, Parks Associates
Bill Ablondi, Director, Home Systems Research, Parks Associates
Pietro Macchiarella, Research Analyst, Parks Associates
Tricia Parks, Founder and CEO, Parks Associates
Kurt Scherf, Vice President & Principal Analyst, Parks Associates
Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates
Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates
Heather Way, Research Analyst, Parks Associates

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.

Sonic Solutions sponsors CONNECTIONS U.S.

Parks Associates is excited to welcome Sonic Solutions as a new CONNECTION 2010 sponsor.

Sonic Solutions is powering the digital media ecosystem through its complete range of Hollywood to Home applications, services, and technologies. Sonic's Roxio products enable consumers to easily manage and enjoy personal digital media content and, through Roxio CinemaNow, access premium Hollywood entertainment on a broad range of connected devices.

A wide array of leading technology firms, professionals, and developers rely on Sonic to bring innovative digital media functionality to next-generation devices and platforms. Sonic Solutions is headquartered in Marin County, California.

For more information about Sonic Solutions, visit www.roxio.com.

Embracing New Connectivity Applications: Entertainment, Control, Home Networking, and Communications

Evolution in digital technologies has created new opportunities to expand core products and services beyond their original intent. Companies in the home connectivity value chain – including appliance and device manufacturers, equipment vendors, service providers, and content owners – must deliver on the promise of simple and elegant next-generation solutions to realize these mass-market opportunities. This CONNECTIONS Europe panel, which will take place on 29 August at 14:00, discusses the next steps in home connectivity and service evolution, emphasizing a futuristic vision balanced with real-world development.

Confirmed speakers for this panel include:
Jens Hofmeister, Director, Product Management, Linksys Division, Cisco; Michelle Leyden Li, General Manager, Home Control, Zilog; John Newman, VP, European Operations, Roxio Division, Sonic Solutions; Stephen Reeder, Managing Director, Europe, ActiveVideo Networks; and Steve Harvey, Director, Business Development, Global Events & Digital Health Research, Parks Associates as the moderator.