January 13, 2014
Volume XLVI, Issue 9
Octoshape Dazzles at CES
Cloud-based streaming technology leader Octoshape announced two new customers and several major milestones during this week's 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) , where CEO Michael Koehn Milland and his senior executive team demonstrated Octoshape's competitive differentiation to delegates from around the world.
Comigo, the creator of a comprehensive multi-screen TV platform, and Octoshape are partnering to deliver an end-to-end TV solution for network operators, offering revolutionary social and interactive features and capabilities combined with a superior TV viewing experience.
The Comigo-Octoshape solution leverages Octoshape's patented suite of multicast technologies, including multi-path and multi-source capabilities, which enable true TV-viewing experiences on an array of broadband devices.
LiveRelay also selected Octoshape to serve as the infrastructure for its new social media platform, which targets connected television viewers in the United States.
RelayTV offers the unique ability to communally and remotely channel surf and communicate. While viewing the same show in different locations, audiences can talk and text each other through their TVs.
Octoshape finished 2013 with more than 100 million users, representing a 100% increase over 2012. The company doubled its size across all key metrics, including customer base and revenues, and experienced major growth across all three product lines focusing on operator, enterprise, and over-the-top (OTT) multi-screen video distribution solutions.
In 2013, the company expanded its footprint into new markets across Latin America, including Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, while continuing to grow sharply in APAC, Europe, and the United States.
In addition to broadcasters and direct satellite TV service providers, Octoshape intensified its focus on global telecom and ISP relationships as it expanded its customer and partner group with several major operators, such as Deutsche Telekom, Telekom Malaysia, Datco, and Grupo ICE, among others.
"Achieving a sustained 100% growth year-over-year is a significant accomplishment," said Michael Koehn Milland, Octoshape CEO. "Not only does this characterize the explosive growth of online video and the OTT market as a whole, but it also shows that the deep investments we have made across product, sales, and operations are starting to yield results. We expect our growth to further accelerate in 2014."
Talking Cloud at the Consumer Electronics Show
Excerpted from MSPmentor Report by Michael Brown
It wasn't just about the latest gadgets - this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas had an entire all-day track dedicated to discussions about the cloud! On Wednesday, January 8th, delegates could attend a conference within CES totally dedicated to cloud computing. Here's a summary of a few presentations:
Who's Connecting What to the Cloud? Presented by Robert Stevenson, Chief Business Officer & VP of Strategy at Gaikai, this keynote examined how cloud computing should be defined in a given context. He also explored the key economic considerations, as well as prospects for sustainability of the cloud-enabled delivery phenomenon. MSPs and other techies tend to get caught up in the nitty-gritty details of the cloud, so it was nice to get a broader perspective.
Where Are There Problems Connecting to the Cloud? MSPs, this one would have been particularly interesting to you, as Sam Rosen (ABI Research) took a look at the bottlenecks standing in the way of faster and wider adoption of cloud-based services among connected-device end-users. He also addressed which participants in the distribution chain need to change in order for the cloud to succeed.
Consumer Drawbacks: Privacy, Reliability, Security Issues by Reza Rassool of Kwaai Oak. Another topic near and dear to the MSPs in the cloud-based file sharing arena. Although this track had a consumer angle, a lot of promising topics were covered, including: What happens when a cloud platform is subjected to an avalanche of traffic such as happens when a celebrity tweets to a large fan base or a President, on national television, calls on viewers to visit a website? How does traffic vary? How is page load time affected? How does the cloud platform scale? What strategies are needed to ensure that the cloud? I'm interested to find out.
Consumer Benefits: Ubiquity, Cost, Portability Improvements. Presented by Joshua Danovitz, the VP of Innovation at TiVo, this final keynote examined how cloud-based solutions can be applied to popular entertainment bringing advantages to users over older methods of online distribution. We tend to focus on the cloud as it relates strictly to business, so it was interesting to get a perspective from someone outside that space.
Although most of the focus in Las Vegas was on the latest gadgets (and rightly so), it was nice to see the cloud get some attention at an event as big as CES.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Congratulations to President & CEO Gary Shapiro and the entire Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) team for a phenomenally productive, highly attended, and decidedly upbeat 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Traffic at the DCIA Exhibit Booth was brisk and our CONNECTING TO THE CLOUD (CTTC) Conference within CES opened to a standing room only (SRO) audience and provided delegates with a valuable and stimulating experience.
Delegates fortunate enough to be able to attend personally previewed coming developments in this vital topic area for 2014, and were able to gauge the impact of these advancements on their own businesses as well as network with industry leaders.
The archival webpage for CTTC is now available online with the solo presentations by Robert Stevenson, Chief Business Officer & VP of Strategy, Gaikai; Sam Rosen, Practice Director, TV & Video, Consumer Electronics, ABI Research; Reza Rassool, Chief Technology Officer, Kwaai Oak; Allan McLennan, President & Chief Analyst, PADEM Group; Saul Berman, Partner & Vice President, IBM Global Business Services; Mikey Cohen, Architect & Principal Engineer, Netflix; and Joshua Danovitz, VP of Innovation, TiVo.
There are also CTTC Mobile Apps, a Photo Album, and the Conference Brochure.
We are especially grateful to our panelists who provided a range of viewpoints from diverse backgrounds to fully examine our subject matter.
Verizon Digital Media Services presented "Millennials, Online TV, and Gaming: Now and Tomorrow" featuring Jonathan Perelman, GM Video & VP Agency Strategy, BuzzFeed; Adam Ostrow, Chief Strategy Officer, Mashable; Michael Schneider, CEO, Mobile Roadie; and Jason Baptiste, CMO, Onswipe; moderated by Daniel Dan Cryan, Senior Director of Digital Media, IHS / Screen Digest.
Andy Gottlieb, VP, Product Management, Aryaka; Melody Yuhn, CTO, CSS Corp.; Larry Freedman, Partner, Edwards Wildman Palmer; David Hassoun, Owner & Partner, RealEyes Media; Jay Gleason, Cloud Solutions Manager, Sprint; and Grant Kirkwood, Co-Founder, Unitas Global explored "The Impact on Telecommunications Industries of Cloud Computing."
"The Impact on Entertainment Industries of Cloud Computing" was discussed by Jay Migliaccio, Director of Cloud Platforms & Services, Aspera; Brad Winett, Regional Sales Manager, DataDirect Networks; Venkat Uppuluri, VP of Marketing, Gaian Solutions; Mike West, Chief Technology Officer, GenosTV; George Dolbier, CTO, Social & Interactive Media, IBM; Kurt Kyle, Media Industry Principal, SAP America; and Adam Powers, VP of Media Technology & Solutions, V2Solutions.
The closing panel drew upon the preceding sessions to more deeply analyze "The Impact on the Consumer Electronics Industry of Cloud Computing" with Melody Yuhn, CTO, CSS Corp.; Michael Elliott, Enterprise Cloud Evangelist, Dell; David Frerichs, President, Media Tuners; Russ Hertzberg, VP, Technology Solutions, SoftServe; Guido Ciburski, CEO, TCUAG; and Greg Kopotic, Senior Digital Marketer, Western Digital.
Top program topics included case studies on how cloud-based solutions are now being deployed for fixed and mobile CE products - successes and challenges; the effects on consumers of having access to services in the cloud anytime from anywhere - along with related social networking trends.
Also featured were the ways that broadband network operators and mobile Internet access providers are helping manage - and spur - the migration to interoperable cloud services.
Some in traditional entertainment industries find this technology overwhelmingly threatening and disruptive - others see enormous new opportunities; and the value proposition for CE manufacturers will also continue to evolve substantially to providing cloud-based value-adding services - rather than conventional hardware features. Share wisely, and take care.
What CES 2014 Is Really About: Your Connected Future
Excerpted from ReadWrite Report by Dan Rowinski
You're at the doctor's office for your annual check-up. At the end of the physical, the doctor gives you a prescription to take to the pharmacist and a smartwatch. The doctor tells you that she wants to monitor your heart rate and activity for the next several weeks to determine a baseline of your health and fitness.
If the doctor is concerned with your heart, she might also give you a sensor that is injected into your bloodstream. She says that this sensor can alert you to a possible heart attack two weeks before it actually happens.
Then you go home, in a car that drives itself, while you catch up on the work you missed while at the doctor's appointment.
At home you open the door and use your smartphone to turn on the lights in your home, set the TV to record the next episode of "Downtown Abbey," and preheat the oven.
"Play Beethoven's 5th Symphony," you say to nobody in particular. Moments later, the familiar notes are blasting through your house. You sit down on the sofa — perhaps the only thing in the house that doesn't have its own data connection — wave your hand at your television to turn it on and say, "Call Tim." In a minute you are video-chatting with your husband who is at a conference in Chicago.
You eat dinner, watch that episode of "Downton Abbey," and go to bed. While you are sleeping the smartwatch that the doctor gave you monitors your breathing and sleep rhythm and uploads the data to a personal secure cloud that only your physician can access.
A few weeks pass. Eventually, the doctor calls and says, "Don't worry. Everything is OK. The sensors say that your heart is just fine. See you next week."
All of this may sound like a weird version of science fiction. It's not. This is the future you.
The sensor that can be injected into your veins to monitor your bloodstream is already a reality, sort of.
"We are doing a clinical trial in San Diego of a sensor that will get injected into your bloodstream and tell you two weeks before you have a heart attack," said Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs in a panel discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. (Actually, the research is intended to "validate" use of the biosensors; actual proof that they can actually predict heart attacks is most likely years away.)
The smartwatch that monitors your heart and fitness activity? That exists in a variety of forms. FitBit and the Nike FuelBand are the most prominent, but companies like Intel have created new watches that function without need to connect them to a smartphone.
The new Intel smartwatch, announced by CEO Brian Krzanich at the CES keynote presentation on Monday, even has a "smart geo-fencing" feature that can keep track of where you are and what you are doing. Say your grandmother is ill and starting to suffer from dementia. She often loses her way and becomes confused to her surroundings. A smartwatch, like the one that Intel announced, could keep track of her and give you an alert if she leaves the grounds of the nursing home where she lives.
The future of computing is not just the ability to get push notifications to devices you wear on your wrist, answer a phone call, or take a picture. It is about gathering and using data to make your life better, easier, and more productive. The machines should make life less complicated. Companies like Intel and Qualcomm are leading the charge in innovation by building the platforms, processors and tools that will fundamentally alter how people live their lives.
For instance, take the new "Edison" chip from Intel. The chip is essentially its own smart computer that can be implanted into just about everything. When Krzanich announced it at CES this week, he showed it off with a baby's version that could monitor how the child was breathing, its temperature, and even the position it's laying in.
This may sound kind of creepy, but baby monitors are already an essential item for every new parent. Chips like Edison and its progeny will create the next generation of systems for our everyday lives.
If we are talking about the once and future definition of "mobile computing," we look at a world where our smartphone becomes a hub that can control everything around us. Processes and behaviors can become automated and we use the smartphone to monitor and control everything from our homes to our cars.
"I just want my machines to coordinate with my other machines and leave me out of it," John Donovan, AT&T's Senior Executive Vice President of Technology and Network Operations, said at CES this week. "The mobile phone will be the remote control of your life."
"We are very, very pleased to see the trend of the smartphone leading us to growth in other industries," said new Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf in a question-and-answer session at CES. "We will drive it in tiers. Across device types and price points."
What Mollenkopf meant is that the explosive growth of smartphones is now informing the next generation of computing. The same processors that make smartphones so smart are now turning up in consumer products like smartwatches, thermostats, home appliances and more.
For instance, ARM-based processors power gadgets like the Nest thermostat that can learn if you are home and automatically change the temperature for you.
Even legendary science fiction author Isaac Asimov could not have predicted how intelligent ours systems will eventually become. We are driving computers everywhere, into every aspect of our lives.
The effect of this is not easily quantifiable because the scope and impact is massive. A few years ago, bloodstream sensors or smartwatches seemed like crazy pie-in-the-sky topics among geeks sitting at the pub.
Today, this is a reality that will rapidly become the norm.
Cloud-Enabled CES Announcements
Excerpted from the WHIR Report by David Hamilton
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is an annual showcase of the latest gadgets and services designed to transform the way we work and play. Of course, not all these visions of the future hit their mark, but these consumer technologies often give us a sense of where cutting-edge tech meets real world consumers.
Some industry voices claimed that cloud services providers have had very little presence at CES, but the truth is that cloud services are at the heart of many of the new product announcements from CES 2014.
Simple.tv is a DVR box that records TV from over-the-air to an attached drive. Recorded video can then be accessed via tablet, phone, PC, or TV. At CES 2014, the company showed off new cloud functionality that would allow Simple.tv to record and stream from the cloud, further untethering TV watchers from the limitations of traditional TV.
Even devices primarily designed for physical media are becoming cloud-connected. The LG Smart TV Blu-ray Disc Player, for instance, can now stream movies and digitally record TV, limiting the need for a secondary device for streaming and recording video.
Professional wrestling, once a staple of premium cable or satellite subscriptions, will now be available to stream online through a $9.99 per month subscription starting February 24th. It will be interesting to see if other premium, event-driven television such as sports broadcasts introduce online-streaming-only options going forward.
Netflix, which has come to be one of the most popular streaming services, said that it will be streaming this year's TV season of House of Cards in the higher-than-high 4K resolution. Upping the resolution will provide content for new 4k TVs, and possibly make 4k productions more common.
Sony also announced a streaming video service to deliver live television, video-on-demand content, and DVR functions to make it easier to watch across different devices later this year.
Introducing Internet connectivity to devices such as toothbrushes, fridges, beds, and crockpots has been the subject of jokes around technology taken to excess.
But everyday devices like cars might be entering the information superhighway with Ford adding capabilities that allow smartphone apps to read data from the car, such as speed and fuel consumption via the Smart Device Link API.
Google is also pushing the Open Auto Alliance as a means of bringing Android compatibility to General Motors, Audi, Honda, and Hyundai cars starting in 2014.
Some services are already allowing processor-intense gaming to move to the cloud. But mainstream game maker Sony will likely be introducing many new gamers to streaming gaming with the coming launch of PS Now, which will offer some of the company's back-catalog of its games via a new cloud delivery platform
10 Big Highlights & Trends Seen at CES 2014
Excerpted from NDTV Report
Here are some of the highlights and trends seen at CES in Las Vegas, which ended Friday.
1. Wearables
From connected socks and bras to baby clothing, wearable technology with the ability to transform computing was an overriding theme at the huge electronics fair. There was no showing of Google Glass, but other connected eyewear and apps for Glass were prominent, as was the first-ever "wrist revolution" zone.
2. The Internet of Things
A connected toothbrush, basketball, and tennis racket showcased the many uses of embedded technology in everyday objects.
3. Televisions
The major manufacturers showed off their biggest displays, including "ultra HD," curved screens, and interactive features. The tech and entertainment industries unveiled new partnerships to deliver high-definition content which can benefit from the format.
4. Automobiles
A record nine automakers were at CES, highlighting the importance of technology in the vehicle. A fully self-driving car was not part of the show, but driverless parking was demonstrated. And General Motors announced some cars would have 4G Internet connections.
5. Smartphones
If the smartphone was already the center of personal technology for many, it has now become the foundation for many innovations at the show. Apps leveraging the computing power of the smartphone and linking to the cloud were numerous. And the show saw the introduction of some powerful new "phablets," as well as bendable displays.
6. Robotics
For play, work or entertainment, robotics took up an increasing amount of floor space. Robots designed to teach children programming as well as "telepresence" robots were showcased.
7. Drones
Grabbing a lot of attention were a handful of exhibitors of personal drones to be used as toys, or for professional photography and cinematography.
8. 3D Printing
Advances in 3D printing technology on display at CES suggest this technology is ready for the masses. Singapore-based Pirate 3D introduced its Buccaneer home printer that sells for $497.
9. Smart Homes
Home appliance titans LG and Samsung added their might to a trend of letting people command and even exchange text messages with stoves, washing machines, vacuums, and other household equipment for tending to the demands of daily life. Another new twist at the show came from makers of Internet-enabled door locks.
10. Intuitive Computing
Technology firms want to get rid of the mouse and touchpad. New computer and gaming hardware at the show was imbued with software that recognizes gesture, voice, and even eye movements as people are freed to interact with devices naturally instead of having to click on icons or use touchscreens.
5 Things You Missed at CES: Gaming
Excerpted from San Jose Mercury Report by Michael Corones
1. Cloud-Based Gaming
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gaming consoles have both sold millions of units since they were released in November 2013, but the future of gaming may be in the cloud.
This week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony announced that a beta version of PlayStation Now (PS Now) will be released in the US later this month, with a full roll-out expected this summer. PS Now will allow users to stream games from current and past PlayStation versions to tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs, as well as gaming consoles. It will be similar to current movie, TV, and music streaming services.
Additionally, NVIDIA announced its GRID gaming-as-a-service (GaaS) architecture, a similar concept that renders 3-D games in cloud servers, encodes each frame instantly, and streams the result to any device with a wired or wireless broadband connection.
In both cases, gamers can pick up games where they left off, on the device of their choice. User experience will be the key to broad adoption, as things like latency must be overcome.
2. Retro Gaming
People have emotional attachments to the games they played as kids, so it's not surprising that companies have tapped into that sentiment with things like Nintendo-based smartphone covers and accessories. The Internet Archive recently released classic DOS and Windows games, and this week at CES, Retro-Bit was showing off the Super Retro Trio, a single console that lets users release their inner Zelda by playing original Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis cartridges.
3. Everything at Your Fingertips
Gaming consoles, Roku-like set-top boxes (STBs), Smart TVs, and tablets can all stream movies and music (and soon games), but the apps and navigation experience can be hit-or-miss. The Snakebyte Vyper rather ingeniously combines the best of these worlds with an "all-in-one entertainment hub" solution consisting of an integrated 7-inch Android tablet, gaming console, and Smart TV.
The Vyper will retail for $200 when it becomes available at the end of January, and for an extra $50 you can add a Bluetooth wireless game controller. It boasts an "AirMouse" remote control with a full QWERTY keyboard on the back. (The demonstration of the remote ran circles around my experience with my Samsung Smart TV remote.)
4. Vivid Visuals
Ultra high-definition TVs were the talk of last year's CES. This year the sets, also known as 4K TVs, are becoming more affordable, and even though Netflix announced that it will film all future original series in 4k, there is skepticism that enough programming will be available to justify the purchase. However, these same dropping prices make 4K an excellent bet for even more insane gaming experiences.
This week Asus announced the ROG Swift PG278Q, a 27-inch gaming monitor meant to integrate with NVIDIA's new G-Sync gaming technology, and Lenovo announced the Y50, a 15.6-inch 4K gaming laptop. Expect to see this trend to continue.
5. Physical Meets Virtual
Most video gaming experiences are purely virtual affairs, confined to remote controls, video screens, and one's imagination. However, Sphero integrates the physical and virtual worlds with a suite of games centered around their app-controlled smart balls.
Both Android and iOS users can use their phones to guide the smart ball through mazes, have it keep them company on a run, play clubless mini-golf, or play any number of augmented reality games. And because Sphreo also offers a multi-platform SDK, developers can create games of their own with limitless possibilities.
CES 2014: Sony's Kaz Hirai Talks Cloud TV
Excerpted from USA TODAY Report by Edward Baig
Sony CEO Kaz Hirai touched on Sony's plans for a cloud-based TV service, 4K TVs, and other topics in a roundtable meeting with a small group of reporters following his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). USA TODAY tech columnist Ed Baig was among those present. Highlights from the exchange, edited for space and clarity:
Q. Can you elaborate on the cloud TV service?
A. We're really just trying to bring a new experience of TV viewing - that combines live TV but make it seamless so that you're also accessing other streamed content as well.
We always talk about it as an industry but we've never really been able to bring that together. I think we have the opportunity of doing something unique.
We're trying to build a relationship with all the people that have the content we're looking for. Sitting down with them to talk about our vision, get them on board.
I'm not exactly sure what drove (Intel) but at least from my perspective, you look at the installed base of just the PlayStation 3, which obviously is a pretty compelling number (at) 25 million in the US. And it reaches a demographic that perhaps may not sign up for other services.
Q. When does it happen?
A. We're going to deploy it here in the US this year.
Q. Will you be competing with cable companies?
A. We're going to talk about the partnerships that we are developing at the appropriate time. We're not trying to compete with the cable operators. I think what we're trying to do is resolve the biggest hurdles that a lot of consumers have — and that is watching live TV on one device, watching streaming video on another device. And we just want to try and make it convenient for customers to access all kinds of different content.
If we're talking about watching live television then it might be competitive, but again what we're trying to do is not compete with the cable operators we're trying to bring convenience to our customers. If it were a problem for the content holders, I don't think they'd be speaking to us.
Q. Can you elaborate on the PlayStation Now cloud-based gaming service?
A. We're going to talk more in detail about the subscription service itself and rates at a future time. We want to certainly start out with PS3 titles, obviously first- and third-party titles. The more the merrier. We're going to try to get the best titles people are looking for and those will be the priority.
Q. What is your grand vision for wearable computers?
A. We see wearables first and foremost as an enhancement to our smartphone business. The jury is still out on what kind of wearable products really get traction. You only have two wrists, you only have one head; I always call it the real estate business. And once you secure somebody's right wrist, for example, then they'll usually stick with it.
Q. Sony's 4K camcorder?
A. As with any consumer products, the pricing is going to become more and more affordable. As compared to last year the weight is considerably smaller. From a form factor standpoint, that is pretty much within camcorder territory.
Q. When does 4K TV go mainstream?
A. I don't think a lot of people are going to make a decision to go out and buy 4K TV just based on what they are hearing. We need to provide instances where the consumers are actually able to have to have the product explained to them and what the value proposition is and have their questions answered. That proper explanation happens at Sony stores, but should also happen at other retailers in the US.
It's not whether it's 4K or Hi-Def, but it goes to the heart of some of the restructuring that we've done within the TV business over the last several years where we took losses down from close to $2 billion two years ago to about $700 million last fiscal year. We're heading in the right direction at a pretty good clip.
If and when this commoditization of 4K TVs comes along - and at some point it will - we need to have an organization that is working as efficiently as possible with the lowest cost and the highest quality we're known for. It's not about 4K adoption but making sure we are strong as a company to withstand the turbulence you're going to see in the electronics business.
It's not going to happen next year or the year after. We're talking about a longer haul, 5 years, 7 years. It took a long time for color TV to become mainstream and HD. Same with 4K, same with 3D.
Q. Curved TVs?
A. We actually launched a curved screen TV, not 4K but just normal HD in the US and a couple of other markets. Some people actually like it very much. I personally think it's a great experience because you do have that feeling of being a little bit more surrounded. It's not for everyone. But again it's part of giving consumers a choice. Personally I like it. After you watch curved TV for awhile and then you just watch a flat panel, it looks like 'what's wrong with this panel?'
Q. The furniture shaped 4K "Ultra Short Throw Projector" that can project content onto a wall?
A. This is a pretty interesting idea. And some other people had the same idea of turning a part of the house into this screen.
Q. How can Sony get bigger market share in the US phone market?
A. After the Sony Ericsson joint venture was dissolved, and we started launching especially the Xperia Z, there have been a lot of weeks where we outsold our competitors from down in Cupertino in Japan. Among consumers who really know how to pick and choose their devices, we gained a lot of good market share. And we've done that in markets we have been strong in.
I've always said that the US and Chinese markets are such big markets, we don't want to just go in there and start small and then just leave it that way. So as we make our effort in the US market starting with T-Mobile, now it's the first wave of really making a commitment to the US market.
If the track record that we've had in Japan and other territories is any indication of the consumer's acceptance, then as we start our big push into the US market, my expectation is that we'll see more market share grow.
TiVo Unveils Cloud-Based Network Digital Video Recorder
Excerpted from TheNextWeb Report by Kaylene Hong
TiVo, best known for its range of digital video recorders (DVRs) that let users save cable television and content distributed through streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, showed off a Network DVR (NDVR) cloud television prototype at CES today.
As its name suggests, the NDVR is built on a network of content, which is aimed at making cross-device viewing more efficient, and in turn easily enable social discovery and sharing. Media content is typically stored in a subscriber's set-top box hard drive on DVRs, but an NDVR means media content is stored in the service provider's servers, or in this case, the cloud.
The TiVo NDVR is therefore an extension of its DVR with a cloud service, which lets users easily find, consume and share content via the cloud through the TiVo user interface. Viewers can even share recorded programs with an authorized user.
TiVo is also intending to add new features, such as allowing for co-viewing experiences through social networks and recommendations across different content libraries.
The NDVR won't only be beneficial for consumers. TiVo is planning to let operators and programmers manage content rights, come up with multi-screen policies and create various tiers of network personal video recording features. For example, operators using TiVo's NDVR could offer a premium service with more catch-up and save options.
Nuance's Connected Cloud Adopts a High Profile at CES
Excerpted from Opus Research Report by Dan Miller
Nuance Communications launched a number of new products and partnerships at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Collectively, the recently launched products and services provide a blueprint for how Nuance speech processing technologies — automated speech recognition (ASR), natural coupled language understanding and voice biometrics — in conjunction with other emerging pattern recognition and hands-free technologies — are defining the state-of-the-art user interface as made manifest for mobile devices, wearables, automobiles, and home electronics.
One day prior to CES, Nuance issued a press release debuting a set of Connected Cloud Services designed to make it easy to transform those devices and apps into "intelligent personal assistants."
The Nuance cloud expressly showcases how "artificial intelligence, contextual dialogue, customized and expressive text-to-speech, always listening wake-up capabilities, voice biometrics, content delivery, and chat bot capabilities" creates a more human-like conversation and experience for users of the variety of technologies.
The Cloud Services announcement was quickly followed by a number of product and service launches by Nuance partners and customers.
Chinese mobile device and infrastructure OEM ZTE showcased a new "car mode" for its Android-based devices. ZTE had already integrated Nuance-based voice recognition with its mobile devices to support hands-free operation.
Now the two have collaborated to add voice biometrics as well, resulting in a highly-personalized mobile virtual assistant that is optimized for in-car use. The handset can be tuned to recognize only the voice of its owner.
In addition, the new ZTE handsets are optimized to support hands-free activities in relatively noisy automotive environments, including natural language, voice-based entry of navigation instructions to find points of interest (POIs).
At CES, Nuance is successfully making the point that using a passphrase or "voiceprint" as mechanism for personalizing goes well beyond mobile devices.
In a separate announcement, the company showed how its Dragon TV "platform" has incorporated voice biometric-based user authentication to recognize individual speakers, as well as their preferred channels, programs and entitlements.
This approach has the potential to solve the "shared account" quandary, whereby the "recommendation engines" on Netflix, TiVo, or other content management platforms are addled by the fact that multiple users, with disparate tastes from differing age cohorts are sharing a single account.
Now, an individual can say a selected "wake-up phrase" like "Hello, TV!," and see personalized channel menus, appropriate movies and content suggestions, or other user-specific preferences.
On the PC, notebook, and laptop front, Nuance, in partnership with Intel announced the next generation of Dragon Assistant for Intel RealSense technology.
RealSense is the tradename for the core platform from Intel's Perceptual Computing business unit. Dragon Assistant is already installed on 2-in-1, tablets, Ultrabooks and Notebook devices from Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo, and will be available on those from Asus and Toshiba in early 2014.
Nuance's Connected Cloud Services figure prominently in its support of a natural language virtual assistant for wearable devices; in this case a "TrueSmart" Android smartwatch made by Omate, which raised over $1 million through crowdsource specialist Kickstarter in 2013, illustrates their shared vision for Dragon Mobile Assistant for wearable devices.
The Dragon Mobile Assistant — thanks to the Nuance Connected Cloud, enables people to speak to their watch in order to make calls, send emails or text messages, set reminders, manage their calendar, search the Web, and update social media.
By making so many announcements at CES, Nuance showcases how a combination of cloud-based and embedded resources are required to provide truly conversational access to the features and functions that people expect from their gizmos, gadgets and automotive electronics.
It also demonstrates how the new wave of voice-enabled services will rely on cooperation and collaboration between core technology providers and go-to-market partners. 2014 looks like the year that these technical visions and partnerships will come to fruition.
Western Digital Offers Personal Cloud to Consumers
Excerpted from Trefis Report
Western Digital launched My Cloud, a personal cloud storage drive, earlier this quarter to expand its Network Attached Storage (NAS) offerings beyond enterprises to individual customers.
My Cloud, a backup and unified storage solution for a single user or for a family to store data "in house", is accessible across all devices including laptops, personal computers, tablets and smartphones across platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows.
Additionally, the company expanded My Cloud brand to include a high performance four-bay cloud storage system, targeting professionals and small work-groups that require massive amounts of digital data.
Over the last few years the number of PC and laptop units shipped have steadily declined, largely due to an increased dependence on cloud storage as well as competition from tablets.
The personal cloud platform provides a perfect opportunity for storage companies to increase spending from the consumer side. Additionally, the cloud storage segment of storage companies is no longer restricted to enterprise storage solutions.
We have an $80 price estimate for the Western Digital which is slightly below the market price. The personal cloud should help the company increase sales in the consumer sector by helping users transition from regular hard drives to the personal cloud, but may not provide a significant upside to our estimate.
Personal Cloud is a relatively new concept in the world of storage as it offers consumers a choice to access data saved at a common place, from all personal devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This is different from regular cloud storage since the stored data drive is present "in-house" or physically present with the user.
Compared to publicly available cloud storage options such as Dropbox and Skydrive, the personal cloud offers a significantly greater storage space to users. Unlike Dropbox and Skydrive which have paid subscriptions beyond a few gigabytes (GB) of storage and limitations on the size of data files to be stored, there are no storage charges or limitations on data usage for the personal cloud.
In a lot of cases, users end up making multiple accounts on Dropbox to get as much free space as possible, but all their data cannot be synced or accessed all at once.
Additionally, the restriction on the size of files (300 MB in case of Dropbox) in free accounts makes it nearly impossible to store a lot of media files such as movies or videos.
Furthermore, when the personal cloud storage is accessed on the same network where it is physically present, it uses intranet, which is generally much faster than accessing data via the Internet. The personal cloud is a one-time investment that provides a unified backup for all the data that a single user or a family might require. It is available in capacities of 2-4 terabytes (1 terabyte = 1000 gigabytes).
There has also been skepticism by the general public about stored data on public clouds. This came into greater perspective with the revelations made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the NSA monitoring public data.
The personal cloud is likely to make users feel more secure about their data, and storage companies intend to capitalize on that sentiment.
With an aim to provide ease of use to end users and cut down storage costs, Western Digital launched its My Cloud drives earlier this quarter.
Buying a 2-4 terabyte (TB) drive accessible from multiple devices for $150-$210 is significantly cheaper than paying $40 per month to Dropbox for 500 GB of storage. However WDC's My Cloud has been preceded by Seagate's Central and Toshiba's Canvio Personal Cloud drive, with Lenovo's Beacon Cloud Storage now following suit.
Given the competition in this segment already, prices of the personal cloud should stay low.
The personal cloud is a logical alternative to fast declining external hard drives. The gains in revenues from personal cloud are likely to be at the expense of regular external and internal hard drives as well as solid state drives for PC and laptops.
However, My Cloud could give stiff competition to the Seagate's wireless drives, which are in concept similar to the personal cloud.
Wireless drives provide a unified storage and backup option for users just like the personal cloud but are only accessible over the same network and cannot be accessed devices via the Internet.
Seagate has invested in wireless drives as well as Seagate Central, the personal cloud. The higher flexibility offered by the personal cloud should cut down demand of Seagate's 1TB wireless drives.
Like SanDisk's wireless storage solutions, the personal cloud could also reduce the number of users paying a premium of about $100 for a memory expansion of 32/64 GB on tablets or smartphones.
Make Money from Talking Toothbrushes & Cloud Computing
Excerpted from MoneyWeek Report by Ed Bowsher
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is currently underway in Las Vegas. It's arguably the most important event in the technology calendar, so I always try to keep an eye on what's going on.
The theme I keep seeing this time round is Internet connectivity. Rory Cellan Jones sums it up well on the BBC website: "Just about every new gadget at CES this year is either connected directly to the Internet or talks to it via a smartphone."
This is the "Internet of Things' — where everything from your headphones to your toothbrush is online. By 2020, apparently, there could be 50 billion devices connected to the Internet worldwide. That works out at six devices for every man, woman, and child.
Today, even as a reasonably affluent Brit, I currently have only three "connected" devices. So there's clearly plenty of potential for growth here.
But how can you profit from it?
When I said your toothbrush might be connected to the Internet in the future, I wasn't joking. "Connected" toothbrushes, earphones, and loads of other wearable devices are among the gadgets on display at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. It also looks like cars will become more and more connected, too.
As Cellan Jones says, "We've gone through an extraordinary revolution over the last five years, but sometimes when you're in the middle of fundamental change it is hard to spot."
In other words, we're seeing the rapid development of the "Internet of Things" where a wide range of objects and goods are linked to the web. The main point of all this connectivity is to collect and analyze data.
That data might be used to give us feedback to help improve our own performance (even at toothbrushing), or to give companies a better idea of what we might buy from them, or to help to automate lots of day to day jobs.
But how can you profit from this as an investor?
One company that could benefit is Intel. A few years back, it was undoubtedly the world's top chipmaker. However, the company didn't respond fast enough to the rise of smartphones and tablets. As a result, there's a perception that Intel will gradually but terminally decline as PC sales continue to fall.
I think that perception is probably wrong. Intel's boss, Brian Krzanich, made it very clear at CES that he wants to have a strong position in the Internet of Things.
For example, lntel showed off its new Edison chip, a PC on a chip, which is designed to ape the success of the Raspberry Pi chip/computer. Among other things, this enables the more technically-minded to do clever things with their various gadgets — a bit like a kit computer.
Intel has also developed a smartwatch, which, unlike most rivals, isn't linked to a smartphone. So you can directly link from the watch to the web even if you don't have a smartphone with you.
And best of all, because it's an unpopular tech stock, the valuation doesn't look too stretched. Intel is trading on a price/earnings ratio of 13 and has a dividend yield of 3.5%.
CES: Hardware Firms Must Work Harder to Give Cloud "Wow" Factor
Excerpted from v3.co.uk Report by Alastair Stevenson
Widespread cloud adoption will not occur until hardware manufacturers create new innovative ways for laymen to take advantage of its benefits, according to Sony Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai.
At a CES keynote on Tuesday, Hirai said that while the cloud does offer several benefits, current manufacturers are not doing enough to showcase the technology's strengths to the general public.
"Even though the cloud promises a connected future it's not a wow in itself. It needs a connected experience, one where people can feel and see it through a device, hear the sounds and are amazed at the technology and what if offers — when you realize what it can do for you," he said.
"In an enterprise that makes things, we must first and foremost make a connection with people. It's not just technology or services, but emotional value, emotional involvement, it's about the power to instigate an emotional response — to make people go wow."
Hirai highlighted the benefit of devices equipped with advanced imaging and data-capturing technologies as a key way companies could showcase the strengths of the cloud.
"Technology is a tool that can change the world. It gives the ability to see things differently, to provide tech that will help people live longer and lead better lives," he said.
"With our advanced sensor technology we're seeing things in new ways. Data can now be sensed and captured even when it cannot be seen by the human eye, this creates a range of possibilities."
He said the technology has the potential to revolutionize core industries, such as agriculture and healthcare. "In agriculture, this technology promises the ability to sense CO2 levels, soil levels, and cross reference it to find ways to improve crop yields. Advanced image sensors can also capture data from a blood vessel, to see bloods sugar levels, to help doctors consistently monitor patients.
"Medical data, with the individual's permission, can then be shared with a doctor. This would make it so doctors can communicate with patients without the individual needing to visit the physical office."
Hirai is one of many technology leaders to highlight the benefits of advanced imaging technology.
Intel Executive Vice President Mooly Eden unveiled the company's new RealSense 3D camera earlier at CES. The camera is designed to be integrated into tablets, laptops, and PCs, and will let users capture, stream ,and edit 1080p 3D images and video in real time.
The comments come during a dark period for the cloud industry. Industry analysts estimate that business and consumer trust is at an all-time low since 2013's PRISM scandal.
The PRISM scandal broke when ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden leaked classified documents to the press, proving that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was siphoning vast amounts of web user data from numerous technology companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, and Facebook.
Numerous experts have predicted that the PRISM scandal would cause billions of dollars of damage to the cloud industry in 2014.
Speakers for CLOUD COMPUTING EAST 2014
TheDCIA&CCA will present CLOUD COMPUTING EAST (CCE:2014), a strategic summit for business leaders and software developers, in Washington, DC from Tuesday May 13th through Wednesday May 14th.
As one of three tracks within CCE:2014, gCLOUD (The Government Cloud) will thoroughly examine the ways that local, state, and federal governments can improve services and protect citizens with cloud-based tools. It will also address liabilities and challenges that need to concern government agencies regarding cloud-based services, countering NSA-fallout gloom with energized and confident approaches that overcome the concerns raised by the Snowden scandal.
Topics will include: the explosion of data, advances in security and reliability, and options for redundant storage; challenges to natural resource management, transportation, and utility grid monitoring; and the impact of cloud services on law enforcement and emergency responsiveness.
The hCLOUD (The Healthcare Cloud) will explore progress being made by the healthcare industry in adopting cloud-based solutions to become more efficient, collaborative, and interactively connected. It will also address liabilities and challenges that need to concern healthcare organizations regarding cloud-based services.
Topics will include: managing private patient records; collecting clinical research data; big-data imaging, remote patient monitoring, and more.
Speakers will include representatives of hospitals, clinics, multi-physician practices, and solutions providers to discuss how cloud computing is serving every part of the healthcare system.
The fCLOUD (The Financial Services Cloud) will discuss the ways that financial transactions and currency exchange, domestic banking and insurance services, as well as efficient investment decision-making are all being impacted by cloud computing. It will also address liabilities and challenges that need to concern financial services organizations regarding cloud-based services.
Topics will include: international financial activities impacted by cloud computing; how banks and insurance companies are migrating to the cloud; and private equity and hedge fund investor use of cloud computing; and more.
Speakers will include business and technology leaders from the financial services industry and executives and innovators from the cloud computing solutions-provider sector.
Please contact Don Buford, CEO, or Hank Woji, VP Business Development, at the CCA to learn more about attractive conference exhibition and sponsorship opportunities.
To review conference topics and apply to join the speaking faculty for this event, please click here. If you'd like to speak at this major industry event, please contact Marty Lafferty, CEO of the DCIA, at your earliest convenience.
Coming Events of Interest
CCISA 2014 – February 12th–14th in Turin, Italy. The second international special session on Cloud Computing and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and its Applications within the 22nd Euromicro International Conference on Parallel, Distributed, and Network-Based Processing.
Cloud Computing Conference for DoD & Government - February 19th-21st in Washington, DC. This 5th annual CCCDG seeks to build on the success of last year's event and refine its scope by addressing the newest developments in cloud computing for the public secttor.
CLOSER 2014 - April 3rd-5th in Barcelona, Spain. The Fourth International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science (CLOSER 2014) sets out to explore the emerging area of cloud computing, inspired by recent advances in network technologies.
NAB Show - April 5th-10th in Las Vegas, NV. From broadcasting to broader-casting, NAB Show has evolved over the last eight decades to continually lead this ever-changing industry. From creation to consumption, NAB Show has proudly served as the incubator for excellence — helping to breathe life into content everywhere.
Media Management in the Cloud — April 8th-9th in Las Vegas, NV. This two-day conference provides a senior management overview of how cloud-based solutions positively impact each stage of the content distribution chain, including production, delivery, and storage.
CLOUD COMPUTING EAST 2014 - May 13th-14th in Washington, DC. Three major conference tracks will zero in on the latest advances in the application of cloud-based solutions in three key economic sectors: government, healthcare, and financial services.
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