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  • Major US Broadcaster Networks Claim 53% Of Free Online TV


    The major US broadcasters are evolving into multi-platform TV distribution networks in a "land-grab" attempt to replicate their traditional channels business online.

    So much so that the online web-based TV services of the four major US TV networks – together with Hulu, the joint venture between NBC Universal, News Corporation and Disney – accounted for 53 per cent of an ad-supported US online TV market, according to a report from Screen Digest.

    The online TV market generated USD $448m in revenues in 2008.

    The remaining share of revenues was made up of the online video services of major sports leagues, video services from traditional online portals, and direct services from other major channel groups and content owners.

    The report goes on to state that the combined dominance of the leading broadcaster-supported platforms – ABC Full Episode Player, CBS Audience Network, NBC.com and Fox.com – will drive the total ad-supported model for the distribution of online entertainment programming, news, sports and events in the US to more than USD $1.45bn in revenues by 2013.

    In contrast, third party platforms such as YouTube, Joost and other portals, which have no direct vertical affiliation with major rights holders, nor direct access to premium content rights, will struggle to aggregate ad-supported movies and TV shows.

    The Hollywood Studios and major rights holders will continue to limit such deals, instead preferring to build their own syndicated ad-supported online video services – such as Crackle, developed by Sony Pictures, and the CBS Audience Network.

    The report said this is a trend that will gather momentum. As a result, third party ad-supported video platforms may have to:

    • diversify into new forms of their own original programming
    • exit the content aggregation business and offer technology and advertising solutions to the content-owners’ and broadcasters’ own services
    • settle on the low-margin business of becoming affiliates of the player-platforms distributed by the content rights holders themselves

    According to Arash Amel, author of the report: "With better targeting and increased ad inventory, online TV services could be generating per-viewer revenues comparable to an average TV broadcast viewing in as little as three years.

    "However, based on the current online ad strategies implemented, it will account for 2.2 per cent of all US TV advertising revenue by 2013, but definitely won’t be generating enough to offset the USD $2bn we expect total US TV advertising to have declined by during in that period."

    Amel said the challenge now is to maximize the ad-supported online video business model, see how new forms of short form and traditional long form content can drive growth, and explore more advanced methods of video advertising while there are still revenues from the traditional business to support the transition to multiplatform.

    He said that in this regard, the next few years will be critical.

  • HD Models Taking Over PVR Market


    The personal video recorder (PVR) market is continuing to grow, fueled by high-definition models.

    Global PVR shipments exceeded 25 million in 2008, with HD PVRs making up nearly 75 per cent of the total, according to In-Stat.

    Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst, said demand for HD units has increased dramatically recently.

    "Over the past 18 months, HD PVR product unit shipments have not only surpassed SD PVR product unit shipments, they now account for nearly three-quarters of all PVR product shipments," he said.

    Research by In-Stat also found:

    • Multi-room or "whole home" PVR service has become available in an increasing number of cities in the US over the last year
    • On a regional basis, growth of PVR products is much stronger in Asia Pacific and Europe, compared to the more mature North American market.
    • Over a quarter of US survey respondents were extremely or very interested in multi-room PVR capability

  • Panasonic makes Tsuyuzaki new CTO


    The executive who helped Panasonic develop its Blu-ray discs and 3D FullHD TV technologies has been named as the new chief technology officer of Panasonic Consumer Electronics North America.

    Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, Panasonic’s Hollywood Laboratory managing director, is replacing Paul Liao who is leaving the company to be the new CEO of Cable Television Laboratories.

    Tsuyuzaki has served in the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory as managing director since 2005.

    Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, chief technology officer of Panasonic Consumer Electronics North America

    While in the post he directed the company’s next-generation entertainment R&D activities in the US, including the development of the Blu-ray Disc format and 3D FullHD TV technologies.

    Tsuyuzaki is well known in Hollywood studio circles, furthering Panasonic’s ties with the software and creative communities.

    He is regarded as the consumer electronics industry’s chief champion of Blu-ray.

    A participatant in various panels, conferences and seminars with his studio counterparts, he has talked up the format in both the trade and the consumer media.

    He also masterminded several big Blu-ray Disc promotions.

  • Service Transparency Vital Between Legacy Networks and LTE

    INTERVIEW: Telecom carriers are beginning to deploy IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) technology in their networks instead of buying VoIP equipment.
    VoIP.biz-news spoke to Mavenir Systems, a provider of converged voice and messaging solutions, about the opportunities and challenges faced in delivering next generation communications.

    Research firm Infonetics recently forecast a 74 per cent increase in IMS equipment sales in 2009, while standalone VoIP purchases have dropped by a third in the past year.

    The analysts report seeing "a noticeable shift" away from stand-alone VoIP networks to IMS in the core network.

    Someone well placed to talk about this shift is Payam Maveddat, VP of marketing at Mavenir Systems.

    His company provides a converged voice solution that enables operators to make the transition to a single all-IP voice core network based on IMS for any mobile access, including 2G, 3G, WiMAX and LTE (Long Term Evolution).

    Most operators believe that IMS will be the core switching infrastructure – with the impending arrival of LTE and Rich Communication Suite (RCS) big drivers for IMS.

    Both require IMS at the core.

    Market Challenges

    Maveddat told voip.biz-news that the challenge for a small company like Mavenir is dealing with dominant equipment vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent.

    "It’s unfortunate that when large equipment vendors go in and discuss this ‘grand vision’, they never talk about the changes that reside from having two separate domains on networks – IMS and legacy," he said.

    Maveddat said this is probably done deliberately since equipment vendors often have a vested interest in driving sales for the circuit side of their businesses.

    "There are enough challenges and technical difficulties with new technology, so the last thing that appears on the radar of trendsetters is ‘how can I connect with my old infrastructure?’" he said.

    But with IMS implementation in networks, operators need to look at the alternatives, according to Maveddat.

    "That’s where Mavenir walks in – and we are gaining traction," he said.

    Non-Standardised Products

    However, while many companies are used to buying standardised products that is not possible in the IP world.

    "The good news is: there are choices. The bad news is: there are choices," said Maveddat.

    "Since there are no standardised products, companies have to look at innovations. That’s been very challenging."

    Maveddat said Mavenir’s converged voice solution enables carriers to move their services from narrowband to IP-based access for broadband deployment as it is being rolled out.

    He said four carriers – including three Tier 1s – in Asia, Europe and the US are using its converged voice solution.

    "This tells us our strategy has been accepted and validated. Carriers want to use our services," he said.

    Voice and Messaging

    Maveddat said there is currently a great deal of discussion about voice and messaging on LTE.

    This centers around the fact there is 18-20 years worth of investment in mobile switching infrastructure with a very unique set of services, which are globally accessible.

    "With GSM, wherever you go, you pretty much get the same set of services," he said. "If you roam nationally or internationally, you have a seamless experience and can expect to get services exactly the way you want."

    So when it comes to the business case for deploying LTE, Maveddat said operators such as T-Mobile in Europe have a big problem with voice and messaging.

    He said unless there is service transparency between legacy environments and LTE, the adoption of the 4G mobile broadband standard will be seriously challenged.

    "So what we at Mavenir provide is the ability to anchor all your services in one core and enable the user to move between a broadband and narrowband environment," he said.

    "They do not see any service disparity."

    Mavenir has 150 employees spread between its headquarters in Texas, offices in China and Bangalore, India and regional support centers in Europe.

    Its IMS Centralized Services (ICS) allow mobile operators to connect and deliver IMS services to any device by connecting the IMS core to 2G, 3G, UMA Macro, Pico and Femto cells.

    This will enable carriers to transition the voice core to all-IP, eliminating the need for legacy MSCs.

    Maveddat said carriers that provide a purely mobile service, with no fixed infrastructure, are often interested in fixed mobile convergence services – without offering IMS.

    For them, the value of Mavenir’s solution is that they can offer incremental services – for example, providing a fixed line service in addition to mobile, with functions such as ring-back and, soon, text messaging.

    "The advantage they have here is that for a very low investment in infrastructure, they can get customers using a mobile service and provide unlimited calling from home," he said.

    "Subscribers will think twice before changing mobile operator, which helps with churn."

    Once operators have enough traction and consumers are adopting IP devices, Maveddat said the next stage is offering a complete stand-alone telephony service.

    Mavenir’s service enables the IMS core to be connected to GMS legacy networks.

    "It’s a changing game. Not only do we make it simple but we have a fast time to market and technology that works," he said. "The business case is improved for operators to launch the same set of services."

  • Varisys Boosts Storage Range


    Varisys has added to its range of storage products with two new high performance boards intended for use in harsh environments.

    The VTS2 also provides high-density storage in standard form factors. It is now available in a conduction-cooled assembly that provides VME users the ability to add mass storage into a rugged system.

    Utilizing either single or dual, 1.8 or 2.5" Solid-State or regular Hard Disk Drives, Varisys said the VTS2 is easily customizable to meet exact project requirements in terms of cost memory size and performance.

    Using solid-state disk technology up to 640GByts of storage can be mounted on the VTS2.

    The VMS2 (PMC hard drive carrier) is an IEEE P1386.1 compliant PMC module that allows either a 1.8 or 2.5" hard disk drive to be used to build a compact and robust mass storage solution for embedded systems.

    Ruggedization options include industrial temperature operation, conduction cooling and conformal coating.

    The VMS2 offers various factory options including the ability to use either a standard rotary drive or a solid-state drive in either 1.8" or 2.5" form factor.

    Solid State drive technology permits up to 320GBytes on a single PMC site.

    Varisys said its storage products are ideally suited for RADAR, SONAR, medical imaging and telecommunications applications.

  • Adaptec Introduces Greener More Efficient RAID Controllers


    Adaptec has announced the availability of its Series 5Z Unified Serial (SATA/SAS) RAID controller family.

    The company said these high-performance controllers integrate an industry first – a flash-based Zero-Maintenance Cache Protection module that provides data center managers with a single controller solution for data protection in the event of both power loss and drive failure.

    Designed to replace a current generation of Lithium Ion battery-based cache back-up devices, the Adaptec RAID Series 5Z is an integrated solid state solution designed to "significantly reduce" annual data center operating costs and environmental impact.

    The controllers offer an integrated, maintenance-free design, eliminating the need to monitor battery charge levels or shut down servers for battery replacement.

    Scott Cleland, director of marketing, Adaptec, said that as enterprise storage demands skyrocket, there is an enormous need for feature-rich, maintenance-free data storage I/O solutions that work to lower overall IT costs and provide significant environmental advantages.

    "For both SATA and SAS drives, the Adaptec Series 5Z family not only delivers the performance, scalability and power efficiency that our customers demand, but with Zero-Maintenance Cache Protection, it offers a simple, maintenance-free solution that provides a critical layer of data protection that is often overlooked," he said.

    All three Adaptec Series 5Z controllers are available now priced at the following MSRPs: Adaptec RAID 5405Z (USD $785), Adaptec RAID 5805Z (USD $965), Adaptec RAID 5445Z (USD $1,045).

  • WD Launches Dual-Drive Network Storage System


    WD has unveiled its newly redesigned My Book World Edition II dual- drive network storage system in capacities of up to 4 TB.

    The company said the double protection of two Mirrored (RAID 1) drives and continuous backup software, makes the storage system extra-safe for users to back up and store the data and digital media.

    The new dual-drive system joins the recently introduced My Book World Edition and is compatible with PC and Mac computers.

    According to a July 2008 report by research firm Parks Associates, the number of households worldwide with data networks will grow from around 170 million in 2008 to 240 million by year-end 2012.

    The firm also reports that the average broadband household will see its digital media storage need grow to nearly 900 GB by year-end 2012.

    In addition, consumers indicate that the most important feature for a network-attached storage (NAS) device is the amount of available storage.

    With its massive 4 TB capacity, WD is hoping the My Book World Edition II network storage system will serve this rapidly growing need for home data storage.

    The new network storage systems are available now in 2 TB and 4 TB capacities, MSRP with 4 TB is GBP £599.99 and 2 TB is GBP £369.99.

    The new My Book World Edition II network drive features:

    • Automatic, continuous backup for all the computers on your network;
    • Dual-drive system that mirrors valuable data for extra safe data
    • protection;
    • Centralised storage and sharing for all of your family’s digital
    • content;
    • Streaming to any connected PC, Mac or DLNA certified game console or
    • media player;
    • Easy remote access to all your data from anywhere, anytime;
    • Works seamlessly on networks with both Windows and Mac computers;
    • Ability to centralise and stream music collection to a Mac or Windows
    • PC using iTunes software;
    • USB 2.0 port to turn any USB drive into an instant network drive or
    • extra capacity for the My Book World Edition II;
    • Cooler, quieter, eco-friendly design with drives using WD GreenPower
    • Technology(tm) which run cooler, quieter and consume up to 33 percent less
    • power;
    • User serviceable;
    • Capacity gauge to see at a glance how much space is available on your
    • drive;
    • High-speed data transfer with Gigabit Ethernet; and,
    • 3-year limited warranty.

  • SanDisk 32GB Flash Card Handles HD Video


    SanDisk is offering a new Extreme SDHC card which it claims is the world’s fastest 32GB card – with both the capacity and I/O speed to handle HD video clips.

    With a sustained write speed – up to 30 megabits-per-second – the company said it is fast enough to capture a storehouse of up to 160 minutes of full HD (1920×1080) video at a 24Mb/s data transfer rate.

    According to SanDisk, the card also is compliant to the SD Association’s new Class 10 specification, which exceeds requirements for today’s high-definition (AVCHD) video recording.

    Susan Park, SanDisk director of Retail Product Marketing, said a memory card’s write speed plays a crucial role in the overall system of the camera when taking pictures in rapid succession.

    "If a card cannot process data quickly enough, then the burst-mode shooting may pause unexpectedly as the card catches up to the camera," she said.

    Burst-mode bottlenecks can lead to missing an important shot, especially at sporting or other fast-motion events, according to Park.

    "The market for entry to mid-level DSLR cameras is growing," she said. "This card’s 32GB of storage and fast read/write speeds enable DSLR users to shoot without worrying about storage or speed limitations."

    The SanDisk Extreme SDHC 32GB cards will begin shipping worldwide to major retailers in August.

  • IT Execs Doubt Virtualization is Data Recovery Remedy


    Separate backup data center locations are not being used by many companies to provide the complete data-recovery system, according to research.

    Instead they are relying on failover to separate storage arrays and servers within the same physical building.

    Market researcher Harris Interactive said this is the Achilles heel of many virtualized IT environments.

    Three-quarters of IT executives surveyed believe virtualization by itself can play a major role in an enterprise disaster recovery plan.

    But they said it in no way represents a complete answer to a DR strategy, according to a "State of Disaster Recovery" survey released by Harris.

    While many IT decision-makers say they have deployed virtualization in a production setting, survey data indicated that most have not yet utilized it in a disaster-recovery situation.

    A full-fledged disaster-recovery system using virtualization replicates the system and all its data to an off-site location away from the main enterprise data center.

    In the event of the main data center going offline and out of action, virtual machines replicated at the backup location continue to keep the workloads running smoothly, with little or no latency in daily production.

    However, many companies are not able to deploy separate backup data center locations to provide the complete data-recovery system, relying instead on failover to separate storage arrays and servers within the same physical building.

    Seventy-four per cent of survey respondents indicated that virtualization can play a major role but is not a total solution for disaster recovery plans.

    One-quarter of IT respondents said they would never include virtualization technologies in their disaster recovery plans.

    Sixty per cent of respondents said they have virtualization in place now as a recovery tool from unplanned outages; only 29 per cent said they have used it successfully.

    Eight per cent said they used virtualization but that it didn’t work to their satisfaction.

    Another 29 per cent of IT decision-makers say they have deployed virtualization but not yet used it as a tool for disaster recovery.

    The survey said that over the next two years, half of IT decision-makers say they will be looking into virtualization as an option for managing unplanned outages and disaster recovery.

    About a quarter of IT executives say they will be looking into cloud computing and grid networking as potential options.

    The survey was commissioned by SunGard Availability Services, which provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, information availability consulting services and business continuity management software to more than 10,000 customers in North America and Europe.

  • Vuzix First With Wrap-Around Specs for iPhone 3GS


    Vuzix has announced the first wearable display glasses compatible with the new iPhone 3GS.

    The iWear AV310 gives users the virtual equivalent of a 52”, 16:9 widescreen display as if viewed from a distance of nine feet.

    Vuzix says the specs are compatible with both 2D and stereoscopic 3D video.

    David Lock, director of Vuzix’s European operations, recently told smartphone.biz-news that the company’s new Wrap glasses would transform the whole video eyewear from "geek to chic".

    Certainly the AV310 wouldn’t be a problem to wear in most situations.

    Weighing just 4 oz, the specs are worn like regular glasses.

    As well as being compatible with the new Apple handset, Vuzix says they also support all audio/video devices with composite video-out.

    A single removable AA battery gives up to 11 hours of viewing.

    The AV310 retails for USD $249.95.