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  • HealthNet's New Venture Venyu Targets SMB Storage and Security


    Amerivault and Network Technology Group Inc data storage providers are to join forces to create Venyu Inc.

    The new venture will provide commercial grade, customizable solutions for data storage with disaster recovery, writes Samantha Sai for storage-biz.news.

    Both Amerivault and NTG are owned by HealthNet Services Inc (PHNS).

    The two entities joining forces were purchased by HealthNet Services for a combined USD $167 million.

    Venyu will be based out of Baton Range and will be a wholly owned subsidiary of PHNS.

    It will provide data backup, disaster recovery and managed data center services to small and medium sized businesses.

    Its progressive portfolio also includes online data backup, physical and virtualized recovery solutions, managed hosting, SaaS, and co-location services.

    Scott Thompson, CEO of Venyu, said it would address client concerns about security and privacy, including focusing on providing solutions and progressive ways to safeguard mission critical data against disaster.

    He said the company aimed to provide secure, reliable and scalable backup and storage solutions that require minimal maintenance, leaving clients free to pursue their business.

    "We’re focused on virtual disaster recovery," he said. "If you have five servers, we will take a snapshot of the data residing on them and keep a virtual instance of them in our own facility."

    Thompson said Venyu is also focused on handling increasing volumes of customer data and is looking for ways to service customer needs in this arena.

    "We’re not really as far along as we need to be storage-wise, I think. SSD [solid-state drive] is coming along, but I want to know what is the next fundamental thing that we’re going to do in the storage arena to help this problem, because the volumes of data that we’re talking about – tape can’t do this.

    "You can’t get this done on tape. I don’t care how large the jukebox is. The exponential growth of data that we’re talking about is not going to be able to be managed on tape. We have to do this through disk of some kind whether solid state or rotational."

  • Belkin Flywire Delayed, Price Rises


    The launch of Belkin’s FlyWire has once again been delayed – this time until August.

    First announced at CES 2008, the initially promising-sounding wireless device streams 1080p HD content from multiple HDMI inputs to HDTV televisions using the 5GHz band.

    So the Flywire hub can be used to wirelessly connect devices such as Blu-ray players, receivers, video-game consoles, and set-top boxes to HDTVs and projectors.

    The company claims its device offers whole-home range that penetrates walls or windows. An IR backchannel allows users to control AV devices hidden behind cabinet doors or in other rooms.

    Automatic frequency hopping is designed to reduce conflicts with Wi-Fi or other signals.

    Originally due for release in the US in January, this has now shifted back to the end of the summer.

    Along with the release changes, Belkin has raised the price of the FlyWire from USD $1,000 to $1,500.

  • Enciris Launches Low-cost HD Compression Solution


    Enciris Technologies has unveiled HD video compression technology aimed at solving problems with reducing bandwidth and storage requirements.

    The LT-100 is a Windows Media Video/ VC-1 HD video acquisition and compression board.

    France-based Enciris says it has been designed to meet the needs of demanding real time true HD acquisition and compression.

    A company statement said that the proliferation of HD video in all market segments has created a significant need for this type of compression technology.

    It adds that specialized, high performance dedicated hardware for real time compression is the only solution due to the massive computational requirements.

    "The low cost of the LT-100 now allows high quality HD compression to be used in product/ projects that previously would have been prohibitive," said the statement.

    "It is a perfect solution for the demanding needs of medical, surveillance, internet, broadcasting, videoconferencing, and video gaming applications."

    Enciris said the LT-100 captures video from both analog and digital HD and SD video sources including DVI, RGB, component, S-video and composite.

    An HD/SD-SDI option is also available.

    Additionally, the LT-100 can function as a HD compression coprocessor for video supplied by the host via PCI or USB.

    The LT-100 will compress HD Windows Media Video (WMV/ VC-1) up to advanced profile level 3 with resolutions from 176×144 to 2048×2048 pixels.

    The maximum compression frame rate is 240 frames per second at lower resolutions. At 1080p the LT-100 can compress 30 frames per second.

    All standard HDTV resolution are supported including the acquisition of 1080p60. The LT-100 can simultaneously acquire uncompressed video for preview purposes or occasional snapshots.

    Designed for low latency applications, the LT-100 outputs compressed video within only a few milliseconds of acquisition.

    Drivers for WindowsXP/Vista and Linux are included. Under Windows, DirectShow is fully supported.

    A cross platform SDK is also available for Windows and Linux application development.

    Mac OS X support will be available soon. Available as a combination PCI/USB board, the LT-100-VC1 can be either placed in a PCI slot or be connected via USB 2.0.

    It is ideally suited for OEMs and system integrators. The LT-100-SDI is an optional HD/SD-SDI daughter card. A USB only module, the LT-100-VC1U, is also available which includes a 140x100x40mm enclosure.

    The LT-100-VC1US is the USB module with the HD/SD-SDI option. A hardware decompression feature will be offered Q3/2009 free of charge via firmware upgrade.

  • SUN Direct Launches HD DTH Service In India


    Sun Direct has announced the launch of India’s first HD broadcast on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform.

    The service provider has built up a subscriber base of three million since its launch in December 2007, making it India’s second largest DTH provider.

    Tony D’Silva, COO of Sun Direct, said that to keep viewers engaged it was necessary to constantly change offer new and exciting options.

    "In the coming fiscal year we look forward to occupy the pole position," he said.

    "We have added more customers than any other DTH player in the last one year and in the coming days we will be adding more innovative features, services and channels in our offerings."

  • Torrent Offers Magnetic Solution To HDMI Connector Problems


    Torrent     has released a magnetic connector that aims to overcome the frustrating problem of loose HDMI cable connections.

    The start-up says that with the help of a sliding sleeve its MagLoc connector gives a five-fold improvement in the HDMI connection strength.

    It suggests this will ensure optimal connectivity – while sparing users the headache of trouble shooting for the source of HDMI connector disconnection problems.

    No release date has yet been given, although Torrent’s initial product lines are slated for availability this Spring.

  • Codima Adds Belgian Market As European Expansion Continues


    Codima has announced that it has established operations in the Benelux market as part of its continued expansion into Europe.

    The Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg operation is the company’s fourth European roll out in 2009.

    In March, Codima announced the launch of operations in the French market.

    Its new Benelux offices will be based in Brussels, with the local multi lingual team offering sales, marketing and technical support services to new and existing resellers throughout the Benelux region.

    The global provider of best practice software tools for VoIP and IT Asset Management offers a real time end-to-end solution for VoIP readiness and call quality assurance in VoIP networks.

    Christer Mattsson, Codima’s CEO, said that its Benelux team will work to propel its software solution for managing business critical IT networks cost efficiently into a market looking to invest in cost reducing software.

    The densely populated Benelux region has one of Europe’s highest broadband penetrations in addition to being an early adopter to IP telephony technology.

    "Our Benelux team excels in product knowledge and markets insights, and will deliver real value and first class support to resellers from day one," he said.

    "In Benelux, we see a growing demand for software tools to reduce IT costs and improve Quality of Service in existing networks, hence our local presence is vital to accelerate market penetration and expand into new market segments."

    The Codima Toolbox also encompasses a set of tools to discover, map, ping and monitor any IT network.

    The solution uses Microsoft Office Visio to visualize entire networks and network problems – useful functions when preparing for VoIP installations and when securing documentation for network auditing and legal requirements.

  • Verizon's Hub To Get App Store – And Multi-touch Controls


    Verizon is creating an application store for its Hub home phone service as part of plans to broaden its market.

    The move follows the trend among mobile makers such as Apple, RIM and Palm to open up to third-party apps.

    It comes less than three months after the launch of the product – which offers connectivity through any broadband connection and provides unlimited VoIP calling for USD $35 per month.

    Prototype Screen for Verizon’s Hub

    A further development to widen the appeal of the Hub will see Verizon removing the condition that Hub buyers have to be Verizon Wireless customers.

    The application store will launch later this year, although no specific date has been given.

    Initially targeted at families looking to use a phone and access limited Internet services on their kitchen counter, the Hub attempts to close the gap between wireless and wireline services.

    Verizon sees the applications market attracting new types of customers with an array of software suited to their own interests, such as Internet radio.

    A prototype of a smaller, sleeker Hub product – similar in looks to a digital picture frame – has been developed. It comes with a much skinnier cordless phone handset.

    The company is also working on multi-touch controls for future devices, another trend popularized by Apple’s iPhone.

    All these developments are moving the Hub in the right direction.

    Whether consumers will be convinced enough to pay USD $199 for the Hub and $34.99 a month in service fees is another matter.

  • MobiTV Readies European Expansion As Momentum Grows

    INTERVIEW: Anders Norström, managing director of MobiTV Europe, talks about the company’s expansion plans and the growing consumer appetite for mobile TV

    While the uptake of mobile TV has been a slow process, it finally appears to be gathering pace.

    MobiTV, founded in 1999, was the first to bring live TV to mobile devices and remains at the forefront of a field that is becoming increasingly competitive.

    It is firmly established in North America where it was first rolled out via carriers such as AT&T, Cingular and Sprint.

    Now the California-based pioneer of mobile TV is looking to broaden its reach and is in the process of developing its services for the European market.

    Anders Norström, managing director of MobiTV Europe, told smartphone.biz-news that he strongly believed there is now a mass market for mobile TV – something backed up by his company’s rapidly growing subscriber numbers.

    It now offers content and primetime channels to over 6 million subscribers on more than 350 handset models on its managed mobile media service.

    In February it added the iPhone to the list of supported handsets (although Apple approval is still pending).

    Anders Norström, managing director of MobiTV Europe

    "The last million only took a couple of months. It’s really taken off," said Norström.

    MobiTV’s Media Distribution Platform has shown it’s able to deliver live streaming and on demand video content.

    In March, it was used in CBS Sport’s NCAA March Madness app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, which provided live streaming video and audio over a wi-fi connection from the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

    The massive popularity of MobiTv’s live airing of Barack Obama’s inauguration to its subscribers is another indicator of the way things are moving, according to Norstrom.

    "It was a huge usage of this kind of service. It’s really coming on," he said. "The network is becoming better, devices are becoming so much better and the back-end technology is so much better.

    "So we have an increased end user experience."

    Expansion Into Europe

    Norström said the US is currently MobiTV’s main market, followed by South America.

    But he said Europe is the next target. The company is currently in discussion with different customers and carriers.

    "Hopefully by the end of the summer we will be deploying our first services," he said.

    "The European market is huge. There are very good networks and really good content."

    The approach and strategy taken in Europe will be slightly different to that across the Atlantic, according to Norström.

    In the US, carriers are more interested in total managed services whereas in Europe he said media carriers often want to run them in-house.

    So MobiTV is giving them the opportunity to have either, or to begin with a managed service and transfer to their own network once they are up and running.

    Since there are very few pan-European channels – Bloomberg and MTV, being examples – Norström said most content was specific to countries and made in the local language (German, Italian, French etc).

    He said Tier 1 carriers largely did their own content deals, adding: "But we have contacts in the content and industry and can help them – we are an enabler."

    Hybrid Services In Future

    Looking ahead, Norström said the type of content likely to be made available on mobile TV services would be mixed between TV, video on demand and live broadcasts.

    It would also comprise hybrid services, which combine broadcast and unicast video on demand – a mix of content and technology.

    He said in the US this will take the form of joint ventures, providing free-to-air DVB-H/ATSC-M/H services as well as the unicast/VOD solutions.

    This is necessary for 3G carriers, which are short-cut by DVB-H, and want to be involved in the "action", according to Norström.

    MobiTV is also now offering localised services on top of its standard platform.

    Personalised Services "Essential"

    These include Mobi4Biz, a version of MobiTV aimed at the financial market which was launched recently for BlackBerry Bold handset owners on the AT&T network.

    Norström has no doubt that this more vertical, personalised approach to mobile TV is essential.

    "That is the way to go. We are starting to have some overflow of information, as happened on the Internet, with mobile channels," he said.

    "How many do we really watch? If you have 30 0r 40 channels on a mobile, does it really make sense?"

    Norström said MobiTV will aggregate the information by category – sport, childrens’, business, fashion and so on – and provide a back-end solution.

    Interactivity will also become an important ingredient of mobile TV, especially when it comes to ads.

    Last year, MobiTV did adverts for BMW that were tailored to choices viewers made while viewing.

    Personalised ads is something that Norström said will become part of a bundled package in the future.

    Interactive ads allow a profile of users’ interests to be created and allow advertising to be targeted based on individuals’ preferences.

    "It should be happening fairly soon in the US," he said. "But we are region agnostic and it will also happen in other markets."

    Too Soon For Ad-supported Model

    However, while advertising – and especially the targeted variety – has great revenue potential, Norström said MobiTV would not be moving to an ad-supported model any time soon.

    "For quite some time more it will be a pay model," he said. "It is realistic that some content will be ad-supported but it will not be the main model."

    Network overload is a common concern whenever mobile internet is mentioned, but Norström said he didn’t believe it was a problem at the moment.

    He said that even if it did become one, there were technological solutions available to ease the impact of congestion.

    These will undoubtedly be required if the way in which the iPhone has vastly increased data traffic levels is anything to go by.

    Especially as the Apple handset has spurred other mobile makers, such as Nokia, to replicate the iPhone’s end user experience.

    "We will see an increase in data traffic, but we are fully prepared for that," said Norström.

    Growth Affected By Downturn

    What is also certain is that the global economic downturn will have an impact on the growth of wireless video.

    But Norström said that, so far, there had been no increase in churn.

    "In the US, it seems people are getting rid of their fixed lines and keeping their mobile devices as the means of consuming content as well," he said.

    "But the economic situation will slow down the increase in subscription numbers."

    That may be so but improvements in handsets and technology are making the outlook for mobile TV look increasingly bright.

    Proof of this comes from growing subscribers – but also from the entry of the likes of Qualcomm in the US and Orange in France into the market.

    A healthy development – and one MobiTV appears well placed to deal with.

  • Nokia's Q1 Profit Drops 90% – But 5800 Smartphone Shines


    Nokia’s first-quarter profit plunged 90 per cent as the Finnish handset maker showed its vulnerabilty to the current economic difficulties.

    The world’s leading mobile manufacturer posted a net profit of just EURO €122 million (USD $161m), compared with EURO €1.22 billion (USD $1.58bn) in the year-ago period.

    One bright note was sales of Nokia’s first touchscreen S60 smartphone.

    The company revealed today that it has sold 2.6 million 5800 XpressMusic devices in just one quarter of availability.

    Overall, however, the company’s sales fell 27 per cent to EURO €9.28bn (USD $12.2bn) for the quarter, down from EURO €12.7bn (USD $16.77bn) in the first quarter of 2008.

    Handset sales were down 33 per cent to EURO €6.19 (USD $8.17bn), although the company did sell more phones than some analysts had predicted.

    Nokia shipped 93.2 million devices, down sequentially from the 113.1 million units it shipped in the fourth quarter of 2008 and down 19 per cent from the 115 million it sold in the year-ago quarter.

    Nokia’s market share remained steady at 37 per cent.

    While the Finnish giant’s result are hardly impressive, it isn’t alone in suffering from the downturm.

    Equally, the results were better than widely expected, which led to shares in the company rising by 8 per cent.

    Nokia sold 13.7 million converged (S60) devices, down from 14.6 million in Q1 2008 and 15.1 million in Q4 2008, of these 5 million were Nseries and 3 million were Eseries.

    Nokia’s industry outlook sees similar device volumes and market share for Q2, but expect overall conditions to improve in the second half of the year

    Olli-Pekka Kallasuvo, Nokia CEO, said:

    "In what has been an exceptionally tough environment, we continue to invest in a focused manner in consumer Internet services delivered across our broad portfolio of mobile devices. Combined, these solutions will drive our future growth. As an example in Q1, I am especially pleased with the performance of our first mass market touch product, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Together with Comes With Music, it is a great example of Nokia providing solutions that consumers value.

    Regarding the health of the overall mobile device market, the inventory already in the sales channels decreased substantially during Q1 due to extensive destocking by operators and distributors. This adversely impacted our sales volumes in the quarter. However, it has also resulted in the demand picture becoming more predictable as we enter the second quarter."

  • Meru Unveils Video-Over-Wireless Infrastructure


    Meru Networks has introduced what it says is the first wireless LAN solution optimised for delivering high-quality video over the new generation of IEEE 802.11n networks.

    The company’s Video Services Module (ViSM) is designed to address video-delivery issues specific to 802.11n networks – which are susceptible to unpredictable loss rates that can negatively impact video quality.

    The module applies application-aware optimisation techniques to web streaming and real-time multicast video, underlying technologies that enable a broad array of video applications, from wireless projection, IPTV and event simulcast to videoconferencing, telepresence and video surveillance.

    Vaduvur Bharghavan, Meru’s chief technology officer, said video-based applications are becoming pervasive in schools, health-care institutions and other enterprises because they boost productivity significantly for a relatively low cost.

    But he said high-definition video delivery over wireless is especially challenging because it combines the high bandwidth requirements of heavy data traffic with the delay sensitivity and loss characteristics of voice traffic.

    Vaduvur Bharghavan, Meru’s chief technology officer

    "And while 802.11n dramatically increases available bandwidth, it also increases per-transmission error rates," he said.

    "For multicast applications this translates to lost portions of video; for web video streaming it can mean stalled video or the loss of voice-video synchronization."

    Bharghavan said the power of the ViSM lies in its unique virtualized WLAN architecture, which gives every client device its own dedicated wireless ‘port’.

    "With Meru’s Virtual Port, each client gets its own copy of the multicast application traffic, delivered at the highest possible data rate and unaffected by the transmission or power-save behaviour of other clients," he said.

    "In other vendors’ legacy micro-cell solutions, which force all clients to share the same wireless resource, some clients will always suffer in terms of the timely delivery of multicast frames when other clients require buffering of traffic, thus causing multicast video delays for every client."

    The ViSModule works by using several mechanisms to deliver video traffic based on application and user characteristics.
    The company says this allows scaling to large numbers of concurrent video sessions without appreciably degrading user experience.

    • Application-aware prioritization: synchronises the voice and video components of a video stream, adapting the delivery of each frame based on its importance to the application. Higher-priority MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 marked frames are transmitted with greater assurance of reliability and timeliness.
    • User- and role-based policy enforcement: provides granular control over application behaviour (e.g., a teacher can be assigned higher priority than a student).
    • Seamless video-optimised handoff: proactively reroutes the multicast delivery tree to prevent lost video frames during a transition between access points, and ensures zero-loss for mobile video.
    • Multicast group management: optimises delivery to only those virtual ports whose clients are members of the multicast group, reducing network waste both wirelessly and on the wired network.
    • Graphical visualisation: reveals which clients are running which applications (data, voice, video) to aid in monitoring network-wide application performance.

    ViSM is available in June as an add-on module to Meru’s System Director software. For a network with 100 wireless access points, the module is priced at USD $7,995.