NDS to Demonstrate its Über-gateway at the SCTE Show

There have been a number of announcements this year regarding cable operators' push toward deploying customer premise equipment that takes on the functionality of the residential gateway, set-top boxes, media server, and manager of remote user interfaces. So far, I've seen news from Liberty Global, and NDS is preparing to introduce its version at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo next week.

Demonstrations will include:

Secure end-to-end delivery of triple and quad play services from a single managed gateway device: featuring NDS’ Unified Gateway - an advanced media server that enables unified delivery of video, data and voice services in and outside of the home network from a single point-of-access. The Unified Gateway integrates residential gateway, home networking connectivity and optional DVR functions through a single home-based device. It helps MSOs to converge and launch new offerings with home network connectivity supporting a wide range of IP-enabled entertainment and communication devices.

Unified end-user experiences across multiple devices: using NDS Snowflake - an advanced user interface (UI) that provides an integrated portal for broadcast, DVR, on-demand and over-the-top programming. Snowflake UI enables high performance and unified experiences for the end user, on a wide variety of connected-devices, such as TVs, set-top boxes, DVRs, PCs, and smartphones.

More Set-top Box/Home Network Convergence: Netgem is Evaluating the Purchase of Pirelli

There are certainly synergies that exist between companies in the set-top box and residential gateway markets, and the acquisitions have followed, with a particular focus on the European market. First, there was NDS and Jungo back in late 2006. Pace Micro has been on a tear in 2010, acquiring both Bewan Systems and 2Wire. Of course, one cannot forget Technicolor, which brings requisite hardware, software, and content delivery to the table.

Now, Netgem has confirmed that it is evaluating the purchase of Pirelli Broadband Solutions. Pirelli Broadband Solutions specialises in products and platforms for the broadband connected homes and offices. Its business covers residential access gateways, hybrid IPTV set-top boxes , remote management and embedded middlewares.

50+ Executives confirmed for CONNECTIONS U.S.

The preliminary list of speakers for the upcoming CONNECTIONS™ Conference includes more than 50 executives from the top media, entertainment, controls, and energy companies around the world.

Speakers:

Seth Bailey, CEO, iTOK

Anthony Bay, CEO, MOD Systems

Gilles BianRosa, CEO, Vuze, Inc.

Kristen Bowring, Sr. Director, Emerging Business, Best Buy

Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist, Rovi Corporation

Alfredo Choperena, President, SimpleHomeNet

Albert Chu, VP, Marketing and Alliances, ACCESS Systems Americas

Chris Deutschen, Sr. Manager, Innovation and Business Development, Direct Energy

Gary Ellison, Chief Security Architect, Intertrust, representing Marlin

Greg Ennis, Technical Director, Wi-Fi Alliance

Jim Feuille, General Partner, Crosslink Capital

Jaime Fink, Technology and Strategy, 2Wire

Paul Fulton, GM, Prosumer Business Unit, Cisco

Dave Habiger, President & CEO, Roxio CinemaNow

Brian Henrichs, Chief Business Development Officer, Actiontec Electronics

Todd Hinders, Sr. VP, ExtendMedia

Richard Irving, Managing Partner, Pond Venture Partners

Fred King, Chief Operating Officer, PlumChoice

Ajay Luthra, Sr. Director, Motorola

Kevin Meagher, CEO, Intamac Systems

Andy Melder, VP, Business Development, Gigle Networks

Frank Mona III, Executive Director, Sales Execution, Consumer Home Services, AT&T

Malachy Moynihan, VP, Video Strategy, Cisco Systems

Robert O'Dell, President/CEO, SecurityCoverage

Steve Oetegenn, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Verimatrix

Nash Parker, Director, Emerging Technology & Media, Alcatel-Lucent

Len Rand, Managing Director, Granite Ventures

Yaron Raz, Dir, Video Solutions Marketing, BigBand Networks

Marty Roberts, Marketing, thePlatform, Comcast’s online video publishing subsidiary

Anthony Rodio, COO, support.com

Russ Schafer, Sr. Director, Global Product Marketing, Yahoo! Connected TV, Yahoo!

Daniel Scheinman, SVP & GM, Cisco Media Solutions Group, Cisco Systems

Rick Schwartz, Sr. Product Manager, PacketVideo

Loren Shade, VP Marketing, Allegro Software Development Corporation

Gene Sheridan, CEO, BridgeCo

Melissa Simpler, CEO, Affinegy

Peter Smyth, CEO, RedMere

Dean Takahashi, Digital Media Lead Writer, VentureBeat

Steve Tranter, VP Interactive and Broadband, NDS

Edgar Villalpando, SVP, Marketing, ActiveVideo Networks

Nate Williams, CMO, 4Home

Ken Wirt, VP, Consumer Marketing, Cisco Systems

Mark W. Young, VP, Strategy & BD, Mobile, Comcast Interactive Media

Tania Yuki, Director, Cross Media and Video Products, comScore

For the most up to date list of speakers, please click here.

BlackArrow Raises $20 Million in Financing, NDS lead investor

BlackArrow, a leading worldwide provider of advanced advertising solutions for New Television platforms, announced it has closed $20 million in Series C financing. The round was led by strategic investor NDS Group - the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, and included existing investors Cisco Systems, Comcast Interactive Capital, Intel Capital, Mayfield Fund and Polaris Venture Partners.

This financing provides new capital to expand product development and accelerate the deployment of the BlackArrow Advanced Advertising System to programming networks and on-demand television content providers across North American and international markets.

BlackArrow and NDS also announced the formation of a strategic alliance to offer an integrated suite of advanced advertising solutions and services. As part of its strategic investment, NDS will have a seat on the BlackArrow board of directors.

NDS creates proven technologies that enable leading pay-TV operators and content providers to generate revenues from digital content on more than 70 of the world’s leading pay-TV platforms. NDS’ security, enabling technologies and interactive applications are deployed on over 100 million devices worldwide - across set-top boxes, PCs and other media devices. BlackArrow’s multiplatform campaign management and ad decisioning services align with NDS’ advanced advertising platform, NDS Dynamic™, which provides solutions to identify, measure and engage audiences - thus creating the framework for the alliance.

CONNECTIONS Europe features Technicolor keynote & executives from ADB, HbbTV, IBM, NDS, Omniphone, OpenTV and more

The speakers for CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit: Monetizing Connectivity and User Experiences, announced today by Parks Associates, offer unique executive insight into business strategies for digital content, value-added services, connected CE, and advanced video devices and services. International research firm Parks Associates will host the Summit on April 27, 2010, at the Mövenpick Hotel in Amsterdam.

Benoit Joly, Vice-President, Home Network & Applications, Technicolor, will present the opening keynote. Other speakers:

-- Jonathan Beavon, Director, Segment Marketing, NDS

-- Paul Bristow, VP Strategy, Middleware & Consumer Experience, ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast)

-- Ronald Brockmann, Managing Director, Europe, ActiveVideo Networks

-- Rob van den Dam, Global Telecom Sector leader IBV, IBM

-- Klaus Illgner-Fehns, Managing Director, HbbTV

-- Trond Neergaard, Founder and Managing Partner, Cloudberry Associates

-- Steve Oetegenn, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Verimatrix

-- Rolf Uwe Placzek, CEO, Acetrax

-- Kurt Scherf, VP, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates

-- Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates

-- Andrew Wajs, CTO, Irdeto

-- Olivier Wellmann, VP, Product Management, OpenTV

-- Speaker TBA, Omnifone

For information or to register, visit http://www.connectionseurope.com.

CONNECTIONS SUMMIT Speakers Announced

The CONNECTIONS SUMMIT will be held January 7, 2010, in Room S225 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The one-day event features commentary, insight, and debate on successful market strategies and deployment for “digital living” products and services.

Bill Ablondi, Dir., Home Systems Research, Parks Associates
Timo Bauer, SVP & GM Americas, NewBay Software
Joly Benoit, Dir., Connected Home Applications, Thomson
Tom Carroux, Director, Sales & Market Development, Irdeto
Susan Cashen, VP, Control4 Energy Systems
Steve Cashman, Chief Strategy Officer, Exceptional Innovation
Brian Chamberlin, Manager, Interactive Projects, NDS
Jayant Dasari, Research Analyst, Parks Associates
Chris Deutschen, Sr. Mgr, Innovation & Bus. Development, Direct Energy
Jaime Fink, CTO, 2Wire
Hope Fulgham, CEO/CMO, Piazza Advertising
Ted May, VP, Strategy & Business Affairs, Synacor
David Sandford, VP, Marketing & Product Management, TiVo
Kurt Scherf, VP, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates
Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates
Simon Tidnam, VP, Sales & Marketing, Hdlogix
Harry Wang, Dir., Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates
Heather Way, Research Analyst, Parks Associates
Paul Woidke, SVP and GM, Advanced Advertising, OpenTV

More info at:
http://www.parksassociates.com/events/connections/summit/2010/agenda/agenda.html

CONNECTIONS EU: Defining the New Video Experience

The consumer video experience is incorporating more than just television and movie content. This CONNECTIONS Europe panel identifies the near- and long-term roadmap for the shape of television, video, and entertainment consumption from both CE and service perspectives: New services as supplements to the core video experience; Integrating mobile, online, and PC content into the three-screen ecosystem; The emergence of 3D video and gaming solutions; Cloud services to the set-top box; and Visual networking – bringing social networking to the TVisual networking – bringing social networking to the TV.

Panelists include:
Ronald Brockmann, Managing Director, ActiveVideo Europe
Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist, Rovi Corporation
Patrik Nilsson, Director, Adobe
Geof Todd, Director of Sales & New Business Initiatives, NDS

Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates will be moderating this interactive session.

New services, experiences, options for advanced TV, video, and multimedia a key focus at CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase

Parks Associates has announced the speakers in the Content and Services track at CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase, which features a keynote from Verizon and sessions focused on the future of the set-top box, Web TV, advertising, and interactive services.

Parks Associates research shows the number of broadband households worldwide now exceeds 400 million. In addition, more than 200 million households have a data network, and 73 million have a residential gateway.

Joseph Ambeault, Director, Product Development and Management, Video Services, Verizon, will deliver the opening keynote, FiOS TV: Changing TV for Good, on June 3 at 10:00 a.m.

TV 2.0 – The Future of the Set-Top Box, June 3 at 11:15 a.m., discusses changes in the set-top and its impact on other CE and networking devices. Speakers include:

Seale Moorer, CEO, Exceptional Innovation
Mike Noonen, SVP, Sales and Marketing, NXP Semiconductors
Jan Steenkamp, Founder Member, Head Market Development, Irdeto
Steve Tranter, VP Interactive and Broadband, NDS
Derek Turner, Senior Product Mgr, TV, Video & Music Business, Microsoft

WebTV: Extreme TV Makeover?, June 3 at 1:30 p.m., examines the online video space and its impact on traditional TV services as well as opportunities to distribute Web content throughout the home. Speakers include:

Ajay Dugar, Executive Director, Paramount Digital Entertainment
Pankaj Gupta, Manager, Market Management - Service Providers, Cisco
Wilfred Martis, Dir., Platform Strategy & Planning, Digital Home Grp, Intel
Avner Ronen, CEO & Co-Founder, Boxee
Edgar Villalpando, SVP, Marketing, ActiveVideo Networks

Interactive Services: Engaging the Consumer, June 3 at 2:30 p.m., examines the worldwide pay television market and consumer adoption of broadband video, including willingness to pay for advanced television features. Speakers include:

Sean Besser, VP, Business Development, Macrovision
Jeff Bonin, VP, GM, Alticast
Brandon Brown, CEO, Zodiac Interactive
Vibha Rustagi, CEO & President, itaas, Inc.

Multimedia on Mobile Devices, June 4 at 11:15 a.m., discusses emerging mobile multimedia applications and future business strategies. Speakers include:

Jackson Gates, Director, Business Development, Pandora
Brian Johnson, SVP, Americas and Asia Pacific, mBlox, Inc.
Craig Lee, VP Marketing, Ortiva Wireless
Rick Schwartz, Product Manager, DLNA, PacketVideo
Scot Zarkiewicz, CEO, SingleClick Systems

To view the full press release, click here.