CONNECTIONS 2010 Wrap Up

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase concluded last week following multiple sessions focused on value-added services, new platforms and distribution models, and digital media consumption. Industry leaders affirmed consumer demand for online video and proliferation of connected CE are driving the shift to multiplatform access within the home.

The conference featured keynotes from Sony, Samsung, Verizon, and Intel and research from Parks Associates, including the following insights, as noted in The Viodi View and The Urban Network:

• Annual U.S. revenues for online video from PCs and mobile devices will exceed $1.8 billion by 2014.

• Limited audience reach, the lack of a single-source measurement standard, and lack of format standards are major factors that could impact the growth of online video.

• The total addressable U.S. market for online video is approximately 170.5 million users in 2010 and will grow to 220 million by 2013.

• Consumers are still cautious in their purchasing, and according to Tricia Parks, CEO, Parks Associates, “No company can let its guard down.”

• 3D is here to stay. By 2014, one-third of homes will have a 3DTV, according to data presented by Samsung.

• Energy is moving from a commodity to a service, thanks to the ongoing expansion of the smart grid in the U.S.

• According to Cisco’s Ken Wirt, 91% of all Internet traffic by 2013 will be video bits.
  

In his CONNECTIONS™ keynote “Entertainment in a Connected World,” Mitch Singer, CTO, Sony Pictures Entertainment; President, DECE, discussed current efforts by the DECE to establish a standard for distributed content.

In his keynote “TV Technology in the New Age of Consumer Buying,” Scott Birnbaum, VP, Samsung LCD Business, detailed the evolution of the television and the trends toward thinner, more artistic and eco-friendly set designs.

In his keynote “The Connected Home: Turning SciFi into Non-Fiction,” Joseph Ambeault, Director, Product Development and Management, Video Services, Verizon, discussed the significant potential of the connected home due to the convergence of devices and services.

Wilfred Martis, General Manager, Retail CE, Digital Home Group, Intel, discussed the Era of the Smart TV, plus the need for players to act quickly in this rapidly changing market, in his keynote “Smart TVs: Ready for Primetime,” which also featured Anthony Soohoo, SVP, Entertainment, CBS Interactive.

Archived videos of the keynote addresses are available at www.parksassociates.com/connvideo.