Cloud Media tops CONNECTIONS 2011 Agenda

Parks Associates released the preliminary agenda for the 2011 CONNECTIONS Conference, featuring the core topic areas of mobility and communications, entertainment and content, connected consumer electronics, and cloud-based value-added services.

The three-day event, June 28-30 at Santa Clara, Californina, offers a unique mix of market research presentations, trending data, insight from industry leaders, and discussion of the current strategies and future challenges in providing connectivity and technology services for consumers.

Cloud media is an important topic at this year’s CONNECTIONS due to the challenges for this market in reaching its tremendous potential. Parks Associates research finds consumers are highly interested in the cloud concept, notably the prospect of having anytime, anywhere access to their media. However, less than one-third of U.S. broadband households see the value of the digital locker concept specifically for music, photo, or video content, due in large part to current fragmentation of the market.

For more information, visit www.connectionsus.com.

HCL Launches ACETM SmartCare(c) Solution

HCL Technologies Ltd., is a leading global IT services provider. Recently, HCL launched ACTIVE CARE EXCELLENCE (ACE) SmartCare Clinical Decision Support solution.

ACE SmartCare is a patient-centered, real-time care management solution. This treatment dramatically improves patient care as soon as patients arrive at the hospital. This vehicle of care is provided through automated, continuous clinical surveillance and care measures delivered via alerts to physicians. This efficient delivery system of care and compliance also results in significant savings for health care provider organizations.

SmartCare is an extremely customizable mobile device-enabled solution, which features unified messaging through voice, data alerts and notifications, across clinical environments. SmartCare provides the ability to plug in to an EMR clinical IT system, which decreases the Providers' delivery time to their patients.

Please click here to read the full article.

Sony Ericsson will tilt more toward U.S., China

According to Sony Ericsson's Chief Executive, Bert Nordberg, the company is open to joint ventures in China's gaming industry, and plans to sell its Xperia Play (their new cellphone-and-videogame device), in the country. Mr. Nordberg, declined to give a timeline for the device's launch in China, but said the handset maker will need at least three months to make preparations.

In recent years, Sony Ericsson, a 50-50 joint venture between Sony Corp. of Japan and Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson of Sweden, has struggled with losses and falling market share in the competitive smartphone race. Its focus now is on higher-end devices, like Xperia Play, running on Google Inc.'s Android OS, in a bid to improve its margins and raise its share of global market revenue. The company unveiled Xperia Play at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona last month.

Xperia Play is a crossover of PlayStation Portable gaming console and a cellphone. This is the first attempt in years by a major manufacturer to combine cellphone and full gaming capabilities in the same product. Mr. Nordberg said he expects the device to reach U.S. stores early April, using network operator Verizon Wireless, and then Western Europe. China is on track to become the company's biggest market for mobile phones around 2013-14, as Sony Ericsson ranked fifth in smartphone sales in China in the fourth quarter, according to Beijing research firm Analysys International.

To read the full article, please click here.

CONNECTIONS US - Now accepting speaker submissions

Interested in Presenting Your Company's Vision at CONNECTIONS 2011?

Submit today to be a speaker at the 2011 CONNECTIONS U.S Conference in Santa Clara, California.

CONNECTIONS addresses critical business issues pertaining to the converging entertainment, media, and service markets for consumers. The CONNECTIONS audience is 550+ top executives, media, and thought leaders in the digital living markets. Presentations include information and analysis on the following subjects: New Business Models; Case Study; Consumer Trends, Factors, or Research; Challenges/Opportunities; Technology Trends; Standards/
Interoperability Issues.

Event Topics include:

• ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORMS & VALUE-ADDED SERVICES
• MOBILE
• NEW MEDIA AND DIGITAL CONTENT
• CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
• HOME SYSTEMS & CONTROLS
  

Accepting submissions for this event until January 31, 2011.

CONNECTIONS™ Europe to examine new business strategies for connected CE, value-added services, and digital entertainment

Parks Associates will host top executives from the digital content, value-added services, mobile and connected CE, and advanced video and entertainment industries at CONNECTIONS™ Europe Summit: Monetizing Connectivity and User Experiences, November 15-16, 2010.

The two-day summit takes place at the Mövenpick Hotel in Amsterdam and offers insights into new business strategies and product plans to reach an increasingly connected population.

The agenda includes the following sessions:

• Service Providers and the Connected Home

• Broadband Value-Added Services: Customer Satisfaction and Technical Support

• Mobile Broadband: Devices, Strategies, and Consumer Demand

• Next-Gen Video Services: Personalization and Flexibility

• Consumers and Connected Consumer Electronics

• The Landscape for Connected Devices

• Content Delivery and Control for Connected TVs

• Extending the Video Experience to Multiple Screens

• Value-added Services & the Video Ecosystem

• Controlling the Experience

• Mobile Video: The Cloud, the App Store, & the Connected Home

Convergence of Content, Platforms, + Entertainment among the Key Themes at CONNECTIONS U.S. 2011

Parks Associates announced the topics and the call for speaker submissions for the 15th annual CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase. The international research firm will host the executive conference on June 28-30, 2011, at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

The CONNECTIONS™ audience includes over 550 executives, media, and thought leaders gathered to discuss the future of the digital lifestyle, network with partners in the digital living markets, and examine ideas, technologies, and business issues critical to the converging entertainment, media, and service markets for consumers.

Parks Associates is accepting speaker submissions in five core areas:

Entertainment Platforms & Value-Added Services
Customer and Technical Support
Service and Device Management
Set-top Boxes and Residential Gateways
Applications as Drivers
Broadband Value-added Services
New Roles and Functions for Devices
Virtualized Services and Applications/Software
Digital Music “Cloud Locker” Services
Internet TV Services
Video-on-demand

Mobile
Mobile Entertainment
Encoders and Content Management for Mobile Video
Mobile Internet Devices
Smartphones
Web Devices and the Cloud
Convergence in Voice Services: FMC/Femotcell/Voice beyond Commodity

New Media and Digital Content
Social Media
Content Management: DRM
Emerging Business Models for Digital Media Monetization
TV Advertising Technologies
Contextual and Behavioral Ad Targeting
Online Video
Publishing Content for Three Screens
Cloud Encoding
Content Storage

Consumer Electronics
Connected TVs
3DTV
Home Networking Requirements
Gaming
Retail Experience
User Interfaces
Shifting Content

Home Systems & Controls
Home Area Network
Service Providers - Home Management and Controls
Appliances & Smarter Energy Management
Wireless and Powerline Controls
Entertainment Networks & High-end Media Servers

CONNECTIONS™ panelists present information and analysis with content including new business models, technology trends, case studies, challenges/opportunities, standards/interoperability issues, and consumer research. CONNECTIONS™ runs multiple tracks focused on targeted topics so that the event maintains its unique perspective on current Digital Living areas while looking forward to the next wave of innovation and consumer adoption.

For more information, visit www.connectionsconference.com .

New White Paper, "European Mobile Market: Beyond Price-based Strategies"

Parks Associates has released a new white paper, "European Mobile Market: Beyond Price-based Strategies."

This new white paper examines challenges for mobile carriers in Europe and strategies to sustain ARPU and expand their base of postpaid users.

• Regulations, Competition, and Churn

• Evolving Beyond Price-based Strategies

• Examples of New Strategies: Vodafone, Telefonica, T-Mobile, & Orange

• The Road Ahead - Evolution of Carrier Strategies

To download this white paper, complete this online form.

Other recent white papers include Google TV- Searching for Success and Consumer Attitudes and the Benefits of Smart Grid Technologies.

Call Facebook friends for free with Vonage App

Vonage has introduced two apps that allow you to make free phone calls to your Facebook friends nationally and internationally. The apps, called Vonage Mobile for Facebook, are available free for the iPhone and Android phones.

The app is very simple to use. Load it and sign in as you do for Facebook. You will be asked what information you want to allow your friends access to, and you will probably at this point receive the message “Less than 5 of your friends have Vonage mobile for Facebook.” It then suggests that you invite some.

Calls can be connected over Wi-Fi or over 3G, although using 3G will use your data minutes. Connections made over Wi-Fi are free – and you save voice minutes even on local calls.

To read the full NY Times article, click here.

Number of smartphone users to quadruple, exceeding 1 billion worldwide by 2014

The demand for smartphones is creating a demographic shift among users, who will exceed 1 billion worldwide by 2014, stimulating demand for more entry-level models that offer mainstream solutions such as mobile email and social networking applications, according to Parks Associates’ Smartphone: King of Convergence.

This new report includes consumer data from Parks Associates’ primary study Mobile Convergence: Platforms, Applications, and Services. This consumer survey finds only 30% of current smartphone users are the stereotypical young and tech-savvy aficionados.

The other user segments exhibit more mainstream demographic attributes and more divergent usage patterns. One such segment, dubbed “pragmatists,” consists of budget-conscious, middle-aged users who prefer mobile email service over Internet access. Another group is keen on the smartphone’s communication features, ranging from mobile Internet to social network access.

Smartphone: King of Convergence tracks smartphone sales and market shares and analyzes carrier strategies, new mobile applications and services, and mobile technology trends. Mobile Convergence: Platforms, Applications, and Services is a survey of U.S. mobile consumers about ownership and attitudes regarding mobile devices and services.

For more information, visit http://www.parksassociates.com/mobile.

Google buys Admob for $750 million

Google took one step closer to digital media domination by snapping up the mobile advertising Admobfirm for a cool $750 million.

Admob helps firms advertise on mobile web sites, as well as providing the technology for serving said adverts on mobiles. It also works with applications for in-applications advertising.

The deal represents a bit of a bargain for Google, but it is counting on the mobile advertising market to grow.

Last month, Google announced that its mobile searches increased 30 per cent quarter over quarter in the third quarter. In August Admob sent out its 100 billionth mobile ad.

The deal is Google's third largest acquisition behind its 2008 purchase of Doubleclick for $3.1 billion and its 2006 buyout of YouTube for $1.65 billion.

For the full article, click here.