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.

Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series

At Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft Corp. unveiled the next generation of Windows Phones, Windows Phone 7 Series.

With this new platform and the for the first time ever, Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone.

Every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone, while a special implementation of Bing search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant Web or local results, depending on the type of query.

Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people:

People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos.

Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step.

Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone.

Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user’s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video.

Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.

Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world’s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents.

Partners from around the world have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc. The first phones will be available by holiday 2010.

CONNECTIONS™ 2008 to Feature Keynote Address by HP PSG Chief Technology Officer Phil McKinney

HP Executive to Address Technology Innovation and Future of Content Consumption

Parks Associates and CEA® announced that Phil McKinney, vice president and chief technology officer of the Personal Systems Group at HP, will present the opening visionary keynote at CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase.

McKinney will address conference attendees at 4:30 p.m. on the first day of the event, which will take place June 24-26 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The keynote address is titled “20 Years into the Future” and will discuss the technological innovations that will define the media and entertainment landscape over the next two decades, as well as what issues businesses and consumers can expect as the physical and virtual worlds collide.

“The world of media and entertainment continues to undergo radical change, and will continue to do so over the next 20 years,” said Phil McKinney. “As people adjust to a world of always-on connectivity, and ubiquitous and personal content and devices, it is important to understand the challenges that will arise and what businesses are doing to help consumers respond to them.”

The CONNECTIONS™ executive conference and showcase provides high-level research, knowledge, and analysis to 800+ executives on the converging consumer technology and service industries. It provides the ideal venue to learn, network, share ideas, and gain a greater understanding of new business models, industry trends, and market forecasts.

HP SmartHome Tour at CONNECTIONS™

HP is simplifying consumers’ digital dilemmas.

Attend CONNECTIONS™ and take a tour of the HP SmartHome, located on HP’s Cupertino Campus. The HP SmartHome is a real-life home that demonstrates an affordable and compelling digital experience that showcases how consumers can easily enjoy their favorite digital media and manage life conveniences with complete personalization, using a range of products that are readily available in the market today.

HP believes passionately in making it simple and easy for consumers to adopt a high-def lifestyle as well as manage it – and enable consumers to experience their movies, photos, music and videos, as well as a world of Internet entertainment whether they are at home or on the go.

The HP SmartHome is built on the fundamental belief of using open standards and has partnered with some of the biggest industry brands to deliver an end-to-end digital experience. From distributed audio to lighting control to intelligent appliances - everything is seamlessly and easily integrated in the house.

With the HPSmartHome, HP is showing consumers how easy it is to start living the digital life.

CONNECTIONS Announces Keynote, Phil McKinney with HP

Parks Associates and CEA are pleased to announce Phil McKinney as a CONNECTIONS 2008 keynote speaker.

Currently, Mr. McKinney is the Vice President & Chief Technology Officer with the Personal Systems Group at Hewlett-Packard. CONNECTIONS, along with Parks Associates and CEA, look forward to having Phil McKinney as a participant.

Gaming Gets Connected

Summary information from Day 2: CONNECTIONS™ May 2007, hosted in Santa Clara, CA

This panel discusses new online gaming trends such as social/casual gaming, virtual worlds, game advertising, connected consoles, and their potential impact on the digital living industry.

Dr. Lars Buttler, CEO, Trion World Network, Inc.
Rick Howe, Executive VP, Sales & Marketing, Zodiac Interactive
Romain Nouzareth, Founder and CEO, Boonty
Julie Shumaker, Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Double Fusion, Inc.
John Welch, CEO, PlayFirst, Inc.
Moderator: Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, Director, Broadband & Gaming, Parks Associates

Specific Questions to Address:

• What are some of the key trends in the connected gaming industry? How can we unleash the real potential of broadband gaming?
• What justifies the tremendous interest in game advertising? What are the remaining roadblocks?
• What lessons have we learnt from the launch of this new generation of consoles? What are the impacts of connected consoles? Will consoles aggregate even more wealth, or will gaming revenue begin to shift away to other platforms?
• Have the entry barriers to gaming industry been lowered? What are the indications to content providers, service providers, and device makers?
• What are the promises of avatar/virtual-world types of games? Are they just a fad?
• What’s Game 3.0? What keeps the industry excited?

Michael Cai began the panel by introducing some key industry trends and figures.

• Many new business models have emerged on the PC platform and now are migrating to other platforms, including microtransactions, in-game advertising, multiplayer gaming, and casual games.
• Middle-market gamers are becoming increasingly important because they will account for the near-future growth of the market.
• Social gaming is becoming the norm, and gamers are looking for community, not just content.
• Consoles are becoming connected consumer electronics, threatening STB and CE manufacturers.
• There are 60 million households with set-top boxes, yet the platform has not received much attention in the mainstream gaming industry.

Panelists added their own observations of the industry.

• Internet connectivity is empowering the gamer audience and game developers — there wouldn’t be a Diner Dash success if not for the Internet.
• Advertising is very important as “0” is the best consumer price point
• Dedicated consoles are going away, and this current cycle may as well be the last.
• Innovations first happen on the PC because the PC platform is an open garden.
• Gaming needs to fit in with the consumer lifestyle. Wii is teaching the industry an important lesson.
• Although game advertising is promising, there are several hurdles.

In terms of STB gaming, Zodiac believes the industry will become stronger as the platforms become more robust and industry standards such as OCAP takes shape. STBs can support games like Wii Sports, and unique and currently popular add-ons like guitars and dance mats are possible. Zodiac is also introducing free ad-supported games to the STB platform.

Game advertising, although promising, still faces a few challenges, according to Julie Shumaker from Double Fusion.

• Advertising needs an open economy to thrive. The current state of industry is unhealthy. Platforms are fragmented and advertisers are forced to negotiate with multiple ad-serving companies for the same game. The process of buying ads is not simple enough.
• There’s a lack of standards in ad formats and impression accounting.
• There’s also a lack of games that allow the advertisers to not intrude the gaming experience that gamers already paid $50 for.

Advertising with casual games is a different story. For instance, Zodiac has games with natural break points for advertisers. Double Fusion believes casual games are important for advertising, but advertisers can get those eyeballs elsewhere, such as Reader’s Digest and Oprah. Video games reach the hard-to-get 18-34 male audience and are where big CPMs come from.

Casual gaming is big business according to the panelists. Playfirst has sold more than 1.5 million units of Diner Dash online, with 70% of sales to female adult gamers and another 1.2 million units on mobile phones. QQ from Tencent in China has more than 28 million peak simultaneous users.

For the future, gaming will be a combination of pre-programmed content and always-on, on-demand, and live events. There are already live events in virtual worlds such as Second Life, and as the audience grows, it could be viable advertising platform. Madden NFL already set the record with more than 1 million guys playing online together, and that’s bigger than some cable TV networks.

Many new companies are coming to the gaming industry, such as service providers, PC companies, and media companies. TV companies are coming to Trion World to check out their technologies. One of HP’s top five server customer is a big online gaming company. Service providers also want to stay competitive with gaming service offerings.