September 19, 2011
Volume XXXVI, Issue 8
Octoshape Enhances Ecrin's IP Video Contribution and Distribution Systems
Octoshape, an industry leader in cloud-based global streaming technologies, announced this week its integration with Ecrin Video & Broadcast's video contribution and distribution systems. The integration of these technologies facilitates point-to-point and point-to-multipoint contribution and play-out over the Internet as well as mass consumer distribution. French-based Ecrin supplies H.264 encoding systems that deliver content for broadcasters, IPTV, webTV, and mobileTV with crispness and vibrancy.
"Traditionally, the Internet has not been an option for delivering high-quality, contribution video," said Laurent Gros, Distributor Account Manager, Ecrin Video & Broadcast Systems. "With Octoshape's embedded technology, we can transport the video from point-to-point across the globe while also transmitting it to TV-scale consumer audiences."
Octoshape's Infinite Uplink replaces traditional satellite and video fiber systems with resilient video contribution over the Internet, drastically reducing the cost associated with distribution and increasing deployment flexibility. This functionality, combined with Ecrin's LiveStream Series solution set, opens up new markets traditionally served only by large satellite delivery providers.
"The combination of Octoshape's and Ecrin's technologies underscores the ever-increasing demand for global, converged broadcast and Internet video delivery," said Michael Koehn Milland, CEO of Octoshape. "This integrated solution finally enables content owners to deliver TV-like viewing experiences anywhere in the world, over a highly efficient and cost-effective IP-based network."
Streaming media innovator Octoshape provides the enabling technology required for content owners to deliver online video over best-effort public networks to the largest audiences and with the highest-quality viewing experience. The company is writing the next chapter of content delivery.
The Octoshape approach is more scalable and affordable than traditional CDN schemes, while providing feature-rich, high-quality viewing to the largest of audiences.
Abacast Refutes Industry Experts by Demonstrating Profitable Radio Streaming
Abacast, a provider of streaming and monetization software and services to the radio industry, announced that Neuhoff Media Decatur has not only covered their yearly streaming and SoundExchange royalty costs, but has become profitable in streaming after only one month of following the Abacast Digital Sales Program.
Neuhoff Media, a privately held company, operates 12 radio stations in Illinois and 3 television stations in Idaho. The Decatur, IL radio cluster, which consists of 5 stations in Decatur is the first cluster to launch the Abacast Digital Sales Program.
"Abacast provided a step-by-step program for digital sales, and we followed it directly," said Mark Hanson, General Manager, Neuhoff Decatur. "In a relatively short period of time, we were able to bundle the inventory for efficient selling, create real value for our advertisers, and get our AEs up-to-speed and bought-into the program. We became profitable on a yearly basis within one month. This is the best system I've seen by far, and the numbers clearly demonstrate that."
In only one month, Neuhoff Decatur sold 40% of their available advertiser packages, covering their annual streaming and royalty costs and achieving annual profitability from streaming. Because hard costs have been covered for the year, each additional sale directly adds to profitability. If Neuhoff continues at this pace, it will realize an 80% gross profit margin in streaming.
The Abacast Clarity Digital Radio System is used by Neuhoff to manage and traffic its digital ad packages. Clarity provides services for ad insertion, campaign management, affidavit reporting, ad trafficking, audience analytics, listener experience, streaming, and SoundExchange-compliant royalty reporting.
"Abacast has worked hard not only to provide services like the Clarity Digital Radio System for successful streaming operations, but also to create digital sales programs targeted at profitable radio streaming," said Rob Green, Abacast CEO. "Neuhoff's success with our Digital Sales Program mirrors what we are seeing with many of our other customers who are also rolling this program out."
Abacast is a digital radio service provider offering one of the most complete platforms of streaming, advertising, and analytics services available from a single vendor. Abacast Clarity Digital Radio System drives advertising revenue, builds listener loyalty, grows audiences, and delivers top-quality user experiences.
Abacast was founded in 2000 and has successfully served hundreds of radio industry customers and thousands of stations.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Within the past 12 months, there has been growing interest in the financial world for banks and insurance companies to utilize cloud computing in lieu of traditional ways of deploying dedicated and sometimes virtual servers for their documentation and internal infrastructures.
As technology advances into the 21st century, innovative methods to reduce costs, enhance company infrastructures, and improve organizations' web and data-controlled agility are being explored and established to manage, operate, and build stronger organizations.
The DCIA is pleased to partner with the World Research Group in launching the Executive Summit on Cloud Computing for Financial Services and Insurance Companies on October 25th in New York, NY.
This two-day conference will showcase the strategies and methods for determining whether to use cloud computing and how to do so in the most effective manner.
Specifically, a series of sessions will cover multiple aspects of the utilization of cloud computing and the prevention of cyber-risks and complications in organizations' databases and infrastructures while using cloud computing strategies.
Attendees will learn how to identify and mitigate potential cloud computing risks and challenges, assess the benefits of utilizing cloud computing over traditional and virtual servers, select providers and products that fit a range of business models, understand how to protect an organization's information and infrastructure from cyber-risks, identify the steps to transition traditional or virtual server into a cloud, and build the most optimal business model and online relationship to the public through the cloud.
With multiple definitions of "cloud computing," the opening panel will ask our audience, and then our speakers, what comes to mind when they hear the term "cloud computing." The goals will be to remove any confusion about what is meant by this term and to produce the utmost opportunity to learn and gain knowledge from the proceeding sessions and discussions.
This panel discussion will enable attendees to identify the different types and definitions of the cloud and determine which may be right for their respective organizations; analyze and identify the public and the private cloud in order to be able to understand each software product; and determine how regulatory and compliance policies have impacted financial institutions' use of the cloud.
As the financial industry is quickly moving toward utilizing cloud computing within their data infrastructures, understanding the key approaches and challenges within the transformation is essential to achieve success.
In the opening keynote presentation, attendees will learn weaknesses of traditional IT approaches for delivering business services, key differentiators of cloud-based approaches for business services, what information exchanges are, and why they are central to modern business service delivery.
A new vision for business service ecology and its benefits will be articulated, along with how cloud architecture for information exchange supports the business service ecology, provides security, and operates in multiple dimensions.
New ways of formulating requirements - such as getting away from programming and embracing parameterization - as well as the definition and role of standards in information exchange will be covered along with the role of domain specific languages, controlled vocabularies, and, finally, things to think about when looking for cloud vendors.
While the benefits of cloud computing are clear, the recent security breaches reported by Google highlight just some of the attendant risks. Google notified users that it inadvertently shared private documents and spreadsheet materials with contacts that were never granted access to them. In response to cloud computing risks, The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), an industry watchdog, has filed an FTC complaint to investigate the privacy and security measures of Gmail, Google Docs, and Google's other "cloud computing" services.
Microsoft has now joined the bandwagon and called on US legislators to enact a "Cloud Computing Advancement Act". While it is unclear today whether cloud computing will become a ubiquitous IT utility that makes private networks technology obsolete, it is certain to continue expanding rapidly.
During another interactive panel discussion, the following will be discussed: risk of external exposure, IT savings vs. potential lawsuits, increased risk profile vs. potential benefits of moving to cloud, and how to not lose control over data.
With much hype and, inevitably, confusion, cloud computing often creates uncertainty for organizations that want to understand and determine if cloud solutions should be part of their business systems environment.
The focus of another presentation will be on a business-oriented discussion of key criteria and business drivers that can be used when evaluating potential cloud-based solutions.
During this session, attendees will gain insight on identifying techniques that help clarify the risks and benefits related to cloud-based solutions; how to use business criteria, including product time-to-market, business or solution maturity, information and/or provider risk to determine whether using cloud computing is a viable option; and the differences between capital vs. operating expense impacts and how it can affect an organization.
As financial institutions begin to utilize the cloud for their infrastructure and datacenter, it is difficult to determine which cloud provider, or hosting service, fits their needs best.
To establish a "Best-in-Class" cloud provider and service agents, yet another discussion will help attendees determine the key points for analyzing and selecting providers and service agents, identify the risks that can potentially be encountered, understand and establish what will ensure that a provider or service agent is familiar with the financial industry in regards to infrastructure, security, regulations, compliance and policy; and assess the ability and flexibility of removing oneself from one cloud provider in order to move to a more preferred provider or service agent.
As the healthcare world has been a leader within the cloud computing world, the public and private cloud are consistently growing and adopting new features that pertain to both the internal and external audience of the organization.
Another session will enable attendees to explore internal and external social networking, new and innovative techniques to reach out to clientele, plus strategies and tips to prepare organizations to utilize provider-to-provider data sharing. And there will be many additional valuable and stimulating keynotes and panel discussions over the course of this two-day conference.
Reasons to attend include: understanding the differences between private and public clouds, constructing and implementing the most effective disaster recovery plan for an organization, avoiding the dangers of and benefiting from the advantages of uploading applications to the cloud, learning how to work with and adhere to regulatory constraints and compliance requirements, analyzing and examining what needs to happen once an organization decides to migrate to the cloud, and determining what needs to be done after an organization enters the cloud.
For more information or to register, please contact the World Research Group toll-free by phone at 800-647-7600 or via e-mail at info@worldrg.com. Share wisely, and take care.
How Many Pages Are on the Internet?
Excerpted from CNN Tech Report by John Sutter
It seems like an answerable question, right?
But no one really knows how many websites or individual web pages make up this seemingly infinite digital universe that is the Internet.
Kevin Kelly, a founder of Wired Magazine, has written that there are at least a trillion web pages in existence, which means the Internet's collective brain has more neurons than our actual gray matter that's stuffed between our ears.
"The web holds about a trillion pages. The human brain holds about 100 billion neurons," Kelly writes in his 2010 book "What Technology Wants."
"Each biological neuron sprouts synaptic links to thousands of other neurons, while each web page on average links to 60 other pages. That adds up to a trillion 'synapses' between the static pages on the web. The human brain has about 100 times that number of links -- but brains are not doubling in size every few years. The global machine is."
Wild, huh?
Well, at long last, an answer may be coming.
A group called the World Wide Web Foundation - appropriately founded by Tim Berners-Lee, who pretty much created the Internet - is on a quest to figure out, with some degree of certainty, how big the Internet really is.
With a $1 million grant from Google, the foundation plans to release the results of its online forensic search, called the World Wide Web Index, early next year, the foundation's CEO, Steve Bratt, said in a recent interview.
Here's how the foundation described the project:
"The Web Index will be the world's first multi-dimensional measure of the web and its impact on people and nations. It will cover a large number of developed and developing countries, allowing for comparisons of trends over time and benchmarking performance across countries."
Bratt stressed that it won't answer every question people have about the Internet, but he hopes the index, which will be presented as a series of annual reports, will go a long way toward filling in some of the gaps.
"We want to be really careful about what will happen (as a result of the Web Index) because we just don't know," he said. "But this will be probably the best opportunity to quantify" the web.
So, what kind of tools does one use to try to measure the Internet? Certainly not yard sticks and rulers, right?
Bratt said the Web Foundation will conduct surveys of Internet users, interview relevant people and try to gather data from Internet service providers (ISPs), national governments, and search engines such as Google to come up with its findings.
In addition to looking at how big the web is, the group wants to use data to tease out the role social media sites had in sparking revolution in the Middle East this year. And it wants to find out what kinds of websites people all over the world are looking at; what websites exist; and how Internet trends differ from country to country and region to region.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) digs into some similar questions, publishing reports on the number of Internet users in various countries and how fast connections are around the world (South Korea is by far the fastest, in case you were wondering. The United States is super-slow in comparison).
Bratt said the Web Foundation's work will supplement, not replace, what the ITU does.
The foundation is starting work on the Web Index soon and is still seeking funding for the project, he said. The first of five annual reports will be available early next year, the group says.
Cloud Computing Is the Future of Telecom
Excerpted from CIO Report by Michael Hugos
As the traditional land-line phone business migrates into the new mobile wireless smart-phone world, it is causing some telecom companies to lose their way and stumble while other telecom companies are seeing the opportunity to create whole new futures for themselves.
One such company that is creating a whole new future for itself is KT. It was formerly known as Korea Telecom but is now moving far beyond telecommunications, thus its name is now just KT.
I spoke about doing business in the cloud in Seoul last week at the Smart & Cloud Show and met some influential people who are guiding development of cloud computing in Korea. One such person was Hong-Jin Kim, a Senior Executive Vice President of Service Transformation at KT. He talked about how Koreans spend more time at work than their European or US counterparts and still they earn less. He presented ideas from work of the Korean National Information Society Agency. In collaboration with Korean companies they are building "Smart Work Centers" using cloud computing and related technologies to restructure the way work is done, increase productivity and income, and create new jobs.
Korea is encouraging what they call "smart work." By this they mean using cloud and smart devices to restructure company business and operating models so employees can work out of distributed work centers that are closer to their homes and they can operate more collaboratively with customers and suppliers. A handful of smart work centers are already in operation and more will be opening every year.
Companies can rent space at smart centers where their employees in that area can work. This cuts down on time wasted commuting to and from work and cuts down on traffic congestion and carbon emissions as well. Mr. Kim also talked of the need to create more new small and medium businesses that can create new jobs especially for young people entering the workforce who need an opportunity to get their start.
In a conversation at dinner he drew an analogy between power companies and telecom companies. They both have wide distribution networks, he said, but the power companies also have a product (electric power) that they make and deliver over their distribution networks. So they make money on both operating their network and on making and selling their product.
He went on to say that at present, many telecom companies only operate their networks; they don't have a product to sell and this hurts their profitability. He said KT has a wide distribution network they are upgrading and expanding and now they want to have a set of products that they can make and deliver to customers over their network.
This got me to thinking of a situation in Chicago where I live and the traditional telecom provider, AT&T, is being squeezed out by a competitor, Comcast. Comcast created a distribution network originally for delivery of cable TV, and now they are using it to deliver other products such as Internet access, movies, video-on-demand (VoD), and lately, phone service.
AT&T spent the last 20 years buying up other telecom companies after the breakup in the 1980s of the former nationwide telecom company known as AT&T. It did this in order to recreate a seamless and wide-reaching network. But just as it completed its acquisitions it began to see the value of its network decrease because it isn't using its network to deliver other non-telecom digital services that customers (like me) want.
Comcast combines its cable distribution network with the ability to produce content and services to deliver over this network. It offers a package of digital products and services - TV, movies, Internet access, and telecom service. My company is switching to Comcast for phone service now and we'll leave AT&T behind because it can't offer a complete package of services. We already use Comcast for TV and Internet access so Comcast can offer us a better deal on the telecom. It looks like AT&T is going to fade away as the traditional land-line phone business and dedicated telecom devices fade away (a smart0phone is not a dedicated telecom device; telecom is just a service that runs on the device).
As I consider this example it seems to me that telecom providers around the world need to actively promote awareness of cloud computing and explain the benefits of cloud computing so as to create demand for products that they are potentially well suited to make and deliver over their networks. I mean products such as all sorts of software-as-a-service applications (SaaS apps) and all sorts of platform-as-a-service packages (PaaS pacs).
It further occurs to me that as the present wild exuberance of SaaS app start-up companies and PaaS providers starts to mature and the inevitable market shakeout happens, telecom companies (if they can make the transition from the old traditional telecom business model) will be in a great position to benefit from this shakeout which will be happening in the next few years. They can acquire proven SaaS and PaaS companies and deliver those products over their networks. This is how successful telecom companies will continue to grow after the traditional phone business disappears.
I think Mr. Kim and KT have already figured this out. Maybe they could give AT&T a call and explain the idea.
Cloud and Broadband to Drive Economic Growth
Alcatel-Lucent believes cloud is truly the convergence of IT with the network, and will be essential in enabling the proliferation of new devices and services, supporting economic growth.
Likewise broadband, which is now acknowledged as a key driver in the growth of GDP.
So what is the new role for vendors and service providers, as the industry moves from connecting people to connecting machines?
Please click here for a video featuring R Robert Vrij, EVP and President Americas Region, Alcatel-Lucent.
18-34s: Some Watch Traditional TV, Most Favor Streaming
Excerpted from Media Daily News Report by Steve McLellan
A new TV viewing study from media and marketing consultant Altman Vilandrie & Co. and online survey firm Research Now has found that just one-third of young adults 18-34 in the US now watch TV shows during their normal broadcast time on a regular basis.
Their preference: on-demand services like Netflix and Hulu, where they can access programs and movies when and where they want.
The finding is in line with a broader study completed recently by Swedish tech firm Ericsson that found on-demand viewing was on the rise and viewing to scheduled TV programming was declining across 13 countries across Europe, Asia, and North and South America.
But the Altman study also found that as viewers become more accustomed to controlling TV time, they also want more control over how they access programs. Increasingly, the device of choice is the smart-phone.
Nearly half of young TV viewers say they would prefer their smart-phone or other device over their remote to control their TV. Eleven percent of smart-phone owners ages 18 to 34 watch TV shows and movies on a mobile phone daily, per the report.
"Instead of the age-old argument about who holds the TV remote, families will soon be squabbling over whose smart-phone is controlling the TV," stated Altman Vilandrie & Co. Director Jonathan Hurd, who oversaw the research project. "Consumers are removing the shackles of the traditional primetime TV lineup and creating their own personal networks of preferred programming and viewing times."
The study also found that 20% of consumers say they spend less on cable TV than they used to because online video meets their needs. This so-called "cord-shaving" is up 15% from last year, the survey found.
And 24% of 18-34s have "seriously considered" dropping cable service because online video meets their needs. However, only 3% to 4% of all consumers say they have actually "cut the cord" or cancelled their cable service because of online video.
Some 60% of 18-34 year-olds watch online videos at least once a week, the survey results showed.
Research Now fielded the online survey with more than 1,000 US consumers in July.
Consumers Cut Pay-TV Service for Web-Based Programming
Excerpted from USA TODAY Report by Mike Snider
In July, the Benediktssons of Chandler, AZ, declared their independence from cable television.
After watching their monthly bill steadily increase to $90, the family dropped their pay-TV subscription. But they didn't totally cut the cord.
Instead, they kept their Internet service from Cox Communications and use it to connect to Netflix for movies and TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy. "We decided to start trimming where we could, and the cable bill was low-hanging fruit," says Baldur Benediktsson, 44, a website content manager.
He and his wife, Kristin, also use a Roku set-top box (STB_ to stream programs to their living room TV. A pair of rabbit-ear antennas receive local over-the-air digital TV signals displayed on 23-inch and 27-inch computer monitors that double as HDTVs.
Cable TV, he says, "gave us too much service for too much money, and we really didn't need it at all."
Lots of other viewers out there feel the same way. Nearly every pay-TV provider is leaking subscribers.
The nation's largest cable company, Comcast, lost 238,000 TV subscribers in the second quarter of this year; and No. 2 Time Warner Cable lost 130,000. Satellite TV provider Dish Network lost 135,000 subscribers. Its larger competitor, DirecTV, added 26,000, but that's down from the 100,000 it added in the second quarter last year.
Obviously, one of the primary drivers of cord cutting is the nation's economic woes. The unemployment rate is stuck at 9.1%, and US economic growth slowed to 1% in the most recent quarter. "People that are unemployed or underemployed have to cut their expenses," says Norm Bogen, Analyst at market research firm In-Stat, "and one of the things they can cut is their pay TV."
But there's also tumultuous change going on in the TV business. The number of US homes with traditional TVs has dropped slightly, from 115.9 million to 114.7 million, says research firm Nielsen. Yet, total TV viewing is on the rise, because more viewers are watching Internet-delivered video on a PC, tablet computer, or smart-phone, Nielsen says.
As Internet video options evolve, an increasing number of pay-TV customers are dropping their service or sliding to a lower tier of service - and using the web to get their entertainment content. Some, like the Benediktssons, are adding antennas to watch local channels live via free, over-the-air digital TV signals. "The lock over the consumer that the cable companies once enjoyed has been blown to pieces," says Michael Greeson of market strategy firm The Diffusion Group.
For years, consumer advocates have argued for a la carte programming options for consumers on the theory that paying for only the cable channels you wanted - instead of a package of a hundred-plus channels - would be cheaper. Cable companies never budged.
Now, consumers have the technology to cobble together their own programming packages. But it's not all in one place.
"If you drop pay TV, you've got a couple places to go to get what you want," Bogen says.
For instance, a home with broadband connectivity can get current TV episodes from major networks on websites such as NBC.com, while older episodes are available at video destinations such as Amazon.com's On Demand video service. Many newer smart TVs let viewers bypass the computer with built-in apps for Netflix, Hulu and Vudu, a Wal-Mart-owned video-rental website, which has new movie releases such as Rio, along with classics from the Criterion Collection, and TV series The Walking Dead and Weeds.
Videogame systems have emerged as programming hubs, too. Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 can be used to access Hulu and Netflix; the PS3 also gets Vudu, while the Xbox 360 has ESPN on Xbox Live. Even Nintendo's Wii streams Netflix, which has more than 25 million subscribers.
With three game systems, a Roku and an iPad, "we can pretty much watch our shows in any room in the house," says Derek Doss of McDonough, GA. "What we have been missing on shows that aren't covered by Hulu and Netflix, we just hook up the laptop to the TV and watch on the network's Internet site."
McDonough and others are impressed with digital TV reception. "We seem to have no problem receiving all of our local channels," says Katie Syroney of Cincinnati. She and husband Jeff truly cut the cord on their $100 monthly Time Warner Cable bill by switching to Clear, a wireless 4G Net service that costs $35 per month. They use it to connect their Roku to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora's music service.
Even though some consumers are cutting, or at least shaving down, the cord, that's not necessarily all bad news for cable companies. Comcast, for instance, added 144,000 broadband customers and, as remaining video customers spend nearly $140 per month, saw video revenue increase 10%.
Pay-TV companies are adapting to the new digital world order in other ways, too. Last month, Time Warner Cable began giving rebates to customers for the full price of a $300 Slingbox, a set-top box that lets them access home TV programming on any Net-connected computer. The offer is only available to the company's best broadband customers who pay at least $99 monthly.
In May, Comcast added on-demand movies to its free Xfinity app for iPhones and iPads; the standard app, also available for Android devices, lets subscribers watch live TV shows and movies. Similarly, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers can access ESPN on portable devices, too.
By constantly upgrading its features, Comcast aims to "make you more satisfied with the service," says Comcast's Jennifer Khoury. "And if you are satisfied with the service, why would you go to another provider?"
Other new free features recently out include Cox TV Online, which delivers live content to computers, and HBO Go for watching shows such as Game of Thrones and True Blood on iPads, iPhones and Android phones, as well as computers.
DirecTV is developing an app for moving programming stored on DVRs onto the iPad (available in some markets by year's end) and another for streaming live content to the iPad.
And as the fall TV season nears, the online TV landscape is shifting. Fox recently began delaying availability of episodes of its new shows on Hulu by eight days for anyone who isn't a pay-TV subscriber. That means hit series such as "House" and "Bones" won't be available immediately.
"What these 'TV Everywhere' services actually do is reinforce the tethering to some type of subscription," says PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) consultant Howard Homonoff.
Meanwhile, Netflix has increased the prices for its DVD rental and streaming plans. Originally, unlimited DVDs (one checked out at a time) and streaming cost $9.99; each now separately costs $7.99 monthly, or about $16 for both. And Showtime will quit allowing streaming of first-run episodes next year; Starz recently began holding those back for 90 days.
Pay TV is not going away. In fact, total spending on TV subscriptions, PwC projects, will increase from about $75 billion in 2010 to $99 billion in 2015. Cable homes will drop slightly, and homes with Internet TV services such as Verizon FiOS and AT&T's U-verse are expected to grow, the firm estimates.
Customers may be cutting the cable, "but they are not getting rid of the TV experience," says Jeff Weber, Vice President of Video Product and Strategy at AT&T, which added 400,000 U-verse subscribers in the first six months of 2011. "They want even more content and more control in what they watch."
To that end, U-verse has added a multiview feature that lets viewers watch four channels of their choice simultaneously, and the U-verse Mobile feature that lets customers watch programs on portable devices. Says Weber, "It's almost the opposite of cord cutting."
Also expected to rise is spending on Netflix and other for-fee Internet content - from about $244 million to $1.1 billion in 2015, PwC estimates.
About 13% of adult broadband users who subscribe to a pay-TV service expect to cancel in the next six months - but only 1.5% say they definitely will, says the Diffusion Group's Greeson, citing research that the firm has yet to make public.
Least likely to cancel? Diehard sports fans and lovers of premium channels such as HBO and Showtime, who want to watch first-run episodes of "True Blood" or "Dexter" before friends and co-workers divulge plot twists. Nearly 70% of broadband homes put themselves in that category, says Bogen, so for now, "They are not likely to cut their service."
But as many as 29% might cut back on their service in the next six months, Greeson estimates. Eventually, the shifting TV landscape will produce a Net-based programmer that competes with current pay-TV services. "When that happens," Greeson says, "maybe we will start to see more people want to so-call cut the cord."
TELUS Customers Use their Xbox 360 as Digital Television Box
TELUSand Microsoft are bringing a North American premiere to Canadian homes, enabling the Xbox 360 to directly access TELUS' Optik TV service. The Xbox 360 is a first-class home entertainment and gaming system that Optik TV customers can now use as a digital set-top box (STB) to enable PVR Anywhere features, such as scheduling the recording of up to three shows simultaneously on one PVR unit.
The Microsoft Mediaroom software that powers Optik TV now also supports delivery of Optik TV to the Xbox 360 to provide great functionality for watching television anywhere in the home, as well as all the gaming benefits customers already know. "We are blazing a trail as the first provider in North America to offer this innovative capability with Xbox 360 and Optik TV. The integration of the Optik TV service, powered by Microsoft Mediaroom, with the Xbox 360 will deliver increased flexibility and enhance our customers' entertainment experience," said TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle.
"We continue to offer the latest and greatest technologies available for home entertainment systems through this industry-leading capability that Canadians are receiving first." With this announcement, all the features of TELUS' popular Optik TV service now become available directly via the Xbox 360 console.
This means that customers of Optik TV can use an Xbox 360 as a digital set top box to watch any of Optik TV's over 400 digital channels, including over 50 in HD; watch any shows they have recorded on their Optik HD PVR digital box; use PVR Anywhere to record up to 3 live shows simultaneously from any room; pause a recorded program in one room and pick it up from the same spot in a different room; get PVR functionality from any TV when watching recorded programs - pause, replay, rewind, fast-forward.
"With Microsoft Mediaroom, the Xbox 360 offers an unmatched entertainment experience for the entire family - and one that today gets even better for Optik TV customers," said Greg Barber, Senior Director, Home Entertainment and Devices, Microsoft Canada. "By providing easy access to Optik TV directly via the Xbox 360, TELUS is uniting the best in TV with the best in gaming to raise the bar in Canada for in-home entertainment."
With the Xbox 360 console, Optik TV now delivers the ultimate integration of gaming and entertainment on one platform. In addition to being able to watch recorded shows and schedule recordings, subscribers can also use the Xbox 360 console to access digital photos and digital music libraries on the TV via their home wireless network and connected Windows PC.
TELUS recently began offering Optik TV, which offers never-before-seen functionality and features over 400 channels, including over 50 in High Definition (HD). Optik TV features the best PVR experience with PVR Anywhere, only from TELUS in Western Canada.
Now one PVR is all clients need to watch and record shows on any TV in the home with a digital box, record up to three shows at once, or pause a program in one room and pick it up from the same spot in another room.
Optik TV also offers Picture-in-Picture browsing, onscreen Call Display, HD Video On Demand and HD Pay Per View, so clients can order movies and live events from the comfort of their couch. TELUS is currently offering a free Xbox 360 for clients who subscribe to High Speed Internet on a two year term.
For clients who take advantage of this offer, they will experience TELUS' impressive High Speed Internet with built-in home Wi-Fi, as well as benefit from a free Xbox to use as a digital set top box with Optik TV. Customers with an Xbox 360 can now subscribe to Optik TV by visiting TELUS.com/optiktv and turn their gaming platform into a STB.
Sorenson Upgrades Enterprise Transcoding Solution
Excerpted from Post Magazine Report
San Diego, CA based Sorenson Media is at the IBC show with Squeeze Server 1.5, an upgrade to its enterprise transcoding solution. Squeeze Server was introduced last Spring. The latest update adds optimized performance for all three leading adaptive bit-rate streaming platforms: Adobe Dynamic Streaming, Apple HTTP Adaptive Streaming, and Microsoft Smooth Streaming.
The new release is geared for high-volume encoding, allowing users to create multiple renditions and output media to wherever it needs to go. The adaptive bit-rate support streamlines enterprise workflows by automatically transcoding each individual video file into multiple, chunked segments in a full array of bitrates, organizing these segments into a folder, and delivering them to the specified destinations for playback on any device.
Files can be input from almost anywhere, including FTP, SFTP, HTTP, Local, LAN, and URI's for S3 and Azure Blobs, and output to the same locations. The software solution integrates easily into any Windows-based cloud environment.
Version 1.5 will ship with just under 50 presets. APIs will allow developers to further control video quality and maximize throughput with automated workflows. Each subscription to Squeeze Server includes a complementary account for the Sorenson 360 online video platform.
Cinegy Working with Deluxe on Cloud-Based Solution
Excerpted from Post Magazine Report
Cinegy is collaborating with Deluxe on MediaCloud, a new services business from Deluxe that will build cloud-based broadcast platforms founded on managed service models. MediaCloud will provide and manage a new generation of media services designed to deliver transformational benefits to media companies.
MediaCloud will optimize Cinegy's technology as a highly scalable cloud-based content management platform, using existing IT technology and the company's software transcoding tools.
The Deluxe offering will deliver improved controls, resilience and business tools to enable greater revenues to be exploited from media assets. MediaCloud will also enable improved collaboration across media businesses, both within and outside an organization.
Liberty Global Begins Field Trials of Video Platform Horizon
Excerpted from SmartBrief Report
Liberty Global has unveiled a video-delivery platform that it says will reinvent television by combining the interactivity of the Internet with cable television and personalized content.
The technology, dubbed Horizon, is undergoing fields trials in the Netherlands and is expected to be commercially available next year.
Horizon has a 3D user interface and will enable consumers to access content on next-generation devices. Sixty content providers - including YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter - have signed up to develop applications for the platform.
Intel Invests $24 Million in Software Companies
Excerpted from eWeek Report by Jeffrey Burt
Intel is investing more than $24 million in software companies that touch on areas that the giant chip maker is particularly interested in, including cloud computing.
In all, Intel Capital - the vendor's investment arm - will spread the money among seven software makers.
The investments, announced September 8th, highlights Intel's ongoing interest in building out its software capabilities, and importance of tightly integrating software into its hardware platforms.
"The best computing experiences unite leading-edge hardware with amazing software," Arvind Sodhani, President of Intel Capital and Intel Executive Vice President, said. "These investments in best-of-breed software vendors play an integral part in Intel's software strategy by fueling the creation of compelling and unique user experiences across devices. They also demonstrate our stage-agnostic approach to investing in support of this ecosystem."
Intel over the past few years has been aggressive in building out its software capabilities in a number of areas, including security, mobility, embedded computing, and cloud services. For example, Intel last year bought security software vendor McAfee for $7.6 billion, a move designed to enable the chip maker to integrate greater security capabilities into its processors. Intel officials said greater security will become increasingly important as they grow the company's presence in mobile devices.
In March, Intel bought SYSDsoft, which makes wireless networking software, particularly in the area of 4G LTE (long-term evolution) connectivity. The move was made as Intel looks to drive its technology into the lucrative and highly competitive smart-phone and tablet markets, which currently is dominated by chip designs by ARM Holdings and its OEM partners, including Qualcomm and Nvidia.
Intel executives also say the company will continue developing the open-source MeeGo mobile operating system, despite ex-partner Nokia's decision to ditch MeeGo and adopt Microsoft's Windows Phone OS. Intel officials this week also disputed news reports that they were planning to give up on the Linux-based operating system.
Among the companies receiving money in the latest round of investments is DynamicOps, of Burlington, Ma, whose operations virtualization technology enables businesses to quickly grow their traditional IT infrastructure into on-demand and public cloud services. Using the company's Cloud Development Kit, enterprises can create cloud services. DynamicOps also dovetails with Intel's CloudBuilder initiative to offer a cloud software ecosystem that's optimized for the Intel architecture.
Denver, CA based IP Commerce offers a platform-as-a-service (PAAS) solution for such retail tasks as managing payments, security, underwriting risk, network connectivity and integration. enLighted, of Sunnyvale, CA, offers software for commercial energy management environments, while Guavus sells software for industry-specific analytics workloads.
Two other vendors use the cloud in the gaming field. San Francisco, CA based Swrve New Media offers real-time personalization software lets groups involved in the design, production and marketing of social games to test and adjust their games in a cloud environment. Gaikai, of Los Angeles, CA offers a cloud gaming service that streams 3D video games directly to web browsers.
Revolution Analytics sells software and services based on the open-source "R" project for statistical computing through its Revolution R Enterprise offering.
CSC Gets 10-Year Contract worth up to $900 Million
Excerpted from Bloomberg Business Week Report
Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) said Friday that it received a 10-year contract worth more than $900 million from a US-based global multi-brand commercial products manufacturer for information technology and infrastructure managed services.
The Falls Church, VA technology services provider did not disclose the identity of the manufacturer.
Under the terms of the agreement, which was effective on September 1st, CSC said it will provide IT services including service desk, end-user support services, network services, data center services, distributed computing services, and security services.
US Cloud Computing Firm to Offer 250 New Posts with Expansion
Excerpted from Independent Report by Ralph Riegel
A cloud computing firm is to create 250 new jobs as part of a major expansion of its Irish operation.
US company VMware confirmed it would recruit 250 IT and finance graduates for its Cork plant as Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton signaled that further major job announcements were in the pipeline.
A further 40 new retail jobs are to be created at two new outlets in the MahonPoint Shopping Centre in Cork.
Electronics giant EMC yesterday hosted students that are doing a master's degree in cloud computing -- with the company's Cork vice-president Bob Savage saying it represented the biggest revolution in global computing since the Internet.
Cloud computing offers companies huge cost savings and radically enhanced flexibility for their technology.
VMware started operations in Cork in 2006 and, by 2012, will employ 750 staff in Ireland.
Coming Events of Interest
NY Games Conference - September 21st-22nd in New York, NY. The most influential decision-makers in the digital media industry gather at this event, now in its third year, to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of games and connected entertainment. Lively debate on timely cutting-edge business topics.
OMMA Global - September 26th-27th in New York, NY. The semi-annual gathering of MediaPost insiders featuring the most up-to-the-minute news, information, and ideas about the hottest online sectors - mobile, social, video, direct, display - presented for easy access and consumption.
Digital Music Forum West - October 5th-6th in Los Angeles. CA. Top music, technology, and policy leaders come together for high-level discussions and debate, intimate meetings, and unrivaled networking about the future of digital music. Digital Music Forum is known worldwide.
Digital Hollywood Fall - October 17th-20th in Marina del Rey, CA. Digital Hollywood (DH), the premier entertainment and technology conference in the country, once again welcomes the Variety Summit, which has been co-located with its past three DH events.
Executive Summit on Cloud Computing for Financial Services and Insurance Companies - October 25th-26th in New York, NY. This two-day conference will showcase the strategies and methods for determining whether to use cloud computing and how to do so in the most effective manner.
Future of Film Summit - November 7th-8th in Los Angeles, CA. An exclusive group of industry thought-leaders discuss the current state of the industry, and how film and transmedia deals will be struck in the coming years. This is a unique opportunity for creatives, producers, buyers, and film financiers.
Streaming Media West - November 8th-9th in Los Angeles, CA. Attended by more than 2,500 executives last year, SMW covers the entire online video ecosystem from content creation and management, to monetization and distribution. The number-one place to come see, learn, and discuss what is taking place with all forms of online video business models and technology.
World Telecom Summit 2011 - November 9th-11th in Singapore. The 2011 program will focus on topics that demonstrate innovation across the telecommunications industry, both on a commercial and technical level, to improve profitability and quality of next generation technologies and customer experiences.
Future of Television - November 17th-18th in New York, NY. Top television and digital media industry executives discuss the increasing importance digital media for the future of the television industry. Topics include viewer trends; programming for non-traditional platforms including online video, VoD, HD, IPTV, broadband and mobile. |
