I had breakfast this morning with some of the people at last nights Microsoft adCenter launch party. Jason Dailey - Lead Search Media Strategist in Microsoft's Digital Advertising Solutions group spoke on behalf of their team at the "As The World Searches" meeting hosted by Profectio.com.
It would appear from listening to all the speakers Martin Byrne - Yahoo! Search Marketing, Eric Morris - Google and Julie Batten - Non-linear creations that Canada needs to be educated into the virtues of SEM. As a country Canadians are very much online compared to other countries in the world (19.4 million users of Canadian Sympatico / MSN, 17.2 million users of Hotmail and 14.2 users of Windows Live Messenger. December 2006, ComScore Media Metrix).
however if the SEM agencies were to get together there would be a greater awareness of how powerful a tool search can be.
Good Luck to Susie Pashos of Bell Sympatico msn and Chau Le of Microsoft in making adCenter Canada a success.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Cell Phone Barcode Readers
According to a report in the Financial Times, some of the world’s leading mobile communications companies are to meet today to consider a plan that would help turn handsets into personal barcode readers – a move that could stimulate the first big mobile-driven advertising market. By pointing their camera phones at special 2D barcodes printed on advertisements or product packaging, users would be able to find out more information or instantly download coupons or other marketing offers, supporters of the plan say.
Though already common in
Monday, February 26, 2007
What is IPTV?
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered using the Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection.
For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand and may be bundled with Internet services such as Web access and VoIP. The commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access is referred to as a Triple Play.
Adding the mobile voice service leads to the Quadruple Play denomination. IPTV is typically supplied by a broadband operator using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet. This type of delivery is widely called TV over Internet or Internet Television.
In businesses, IPTV may be used to deliver television content over corporate LANs and business networks. Perhaps a simpler definition of IPTV would be television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional formats and cabling, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.
IPTV is moving rapidly towards mass-market adoption. The involvement of incumbent telecoms operators in most major markets by 2007 (France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, for example) will provide the marketing, word-of-mouth and - for the many conservative-minded television viewers yet to switch to digital TV - the credibility that could boost the market for all IPTV providers.
Several early IPTV deployments are now reaching subscriber figures where they must be taken seriously, including Telefonica in Spain, which has over 200,000 subscribers for its Imagenio television service (launched commercially November 2004). The Spanish company is predicting one million customers by 2008. France Telecom (launched December 2003) doubled its customer count during 2005, ending the year with 200,000 subscribers for its MaLigne TV service too.
The pace of deployment is accelerating: Telekom Austria launched its aonDigitalTV video-over-DSL service in Vienna in March 2006 and KPN in the Netherlands is preparing for a second quarter (2006) commercial launch. Deutsche Telekom is hoping to roll out its 100 channel broadcast TV (including HDTV) and VOD service late summer 2006 and BT has scheduled late summer/autumn for its hybrid DSL/DTT offering.
Competition is also increasing. Utility companies continue to launch television services but the main rivals to the big telcos are alternative broadband providers using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The second half of 2006 and 2007 will also see the expansion of incumbent telcos into territories outside their domestic markets - where necessary using LLU to compete with their peers on ‘leased’ networks.
France Telecom has already announced that it will launch IPTV in Spain, the UK and Poland this year, followed by the Netherlands (not to mention Mauritius, Senegal and the Ivory Coast). Meanwhile Telecom Italia - through its subsidiary HanseNet - is adding television to its existing telephone and DSL services in Germany, starting in Hamburg. Telecom Italia also launched television services in France (via Telecom Italia France’s AliceBox triple-play service) in January. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Online is taking IPTV to Hungary, with a planned commercial roll-out of TV-over-DSL in Budapest and other major cities later this year.
And to add further spice to this market, existing Pay TV operators from the satellite and cable world are buying into DSL. BSkyB bought UK DSL network provider Easynet in January (2006) to give itself a two-way network and exploit the “exciting opportunities that now exist to combine quality entertainment with significant high-speed connections.” Europe’s largest satellite TV provider has told investors that it intends to introduce IPTV some time after 2007. Meanwhile, UPC Austria (part of the pan-European UPC group owned by Liberty Global) has agreed to acquire the Austrian xDSL provider Inode - so establishing a national footprint, initially for high-speed data and voice.
All this activity is underpinned by network upgrades across the continent, with BT in the UK now committed to delivering ADSL speeds up 8Mbps from 5,300 telephone exchanges in the UK - putting broadband in reach of 99.6 per cent of the country. France Telecom and Telefonica, among others, are using ADSL2+ and Deutsche Telekom will deploy television services exclusively on VDSL, using the 50Mbps fibre/copper network being built by its fixed network infrastructure division, T-Com. T-Com expects VDSL in 40 cities by the end of 2007, putting 11 million homes within reach of the planned IPTV service.
So with high-speed networks available and expanding their reach, multiple service launches and growing subscriber figures, the big questions are how much market share IPTV providers can take from satellite and cable, and whether they can make money - if indeed, video revenues are their real motive rather than simply reducing churn on voice/data customers. Are there digital TV newcomers who will choose IPTV ahead of digital terrestrial - and are these the customers IPTV providers want? And can companies differentiate their services sufficiently from cable and satellite to tempt existing Pay TV subscribers away from them?
For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand and may be bundled with Internet services such as Web access and VoIP. The commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access is referred to as a Triple Play.
Adding the mobile voice service leads to the Quadruple Play denomination. IPTV is typically supplied by a broadband operator using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet. This type of delivery is widely called TV over Internet or Internet Television.
In businesses, IPTV may be used to deliver television content over corporate LANs and business networks. Perhaps a simpler definition of IPTV would be television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional formats and cabling, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.
IPTV is moving rapidly towards mass-market adoption. The involvement of incumbent telecoms operators in most major markets by 2007 (France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, for example) will provide the marketing, word-of-mouth and - for the many conservative-minded television viewers yet to switch to digital TV - the credibility that could boost the market for all IPTV providers.
Several early IPTV deployments are now reaching subscriber figures where they must be taken seriously, including Telefonica in Spain, which has over 200,000 subscribers for its Imagenio television service (launched commercially November 2004). The Spanish company is predicting one million customers by 2008. France Telecom (launched December 2003) doubled its customer count during 2005, ending the year with 200,000 subscribers for its MaLigne TV service too.
The pace of deployment is accelerating: Telekom Austria launched its aonDigitalTV video-over-DSL service in Vienna in March 2006 and KPN in the Netherlands is preparing for a second quarter (2006) commercial launch. Deutsche Telekom is hoping to roll out its 100 channel broadcast TV (including HDTV) and VOD service late summer 2006 and BT has scheduled late summer/autumn for its hybrid DSL/DTT offering.
Competition is also increasing. Utility companies continue to launch television services but the main rivals to the big telcos are alternative broadband providers using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The second half of 2006 and 2007 will also see the expansion of incumbent telcos into territories outside their domestic markets - where necessary using LLU to compete with their peers on ‘leased’ networks.
France Telecom has already announced that it will launch IPTV in Spain, the UK and Poland this year, followed by the Netherlands (not to mention Mauritius, Senegal and the Ivory Coast). Meanwhile Telecom Italia - through its subsidiary HanseNet - is adding television to its existing telephone and DSL services in Germany, starting in Hamburg. Telecom Italia also launched television services in France (via Telecom Italia France’s AliceBox triple-play service) in January. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Online is taking IPTV to Hungary, with a planned commercial roll-out of TV-over-DSL in Budapest and other major cities later this year.
And to add further spice to this market, existing Pay TV operators from the satellite and cable world are buying into DSL. BSkyB bought UK DSL network provider Easynet in January (2006) to give itself a two-way network and exploit the “exciting opportunities that now exist to combine quality entertainment with significant high-speed connections.” Europe’s largest satellite TV provider has told investors that it intends to introduce IPTV some time after 2007. Meanwhile, UPC Austria (part of the pan-European UPC group owned by Liberty Global) has agreed to acquire the Austrian xDSL provider Inode - so establishing a national footprint, initially for high-speed data and voice.
All this activity is underpinned by network upgrades across the continent, with BT in the UK now committed to delivering ADSL speeds up 8Mbps from 5,300 telephone exchanges in the UK - putting broadband in reach of 99.6 per cent of the country. France Telecom and Telefonica, among others, are using ADSL2+ and Deutsche Telekom will deploy television services exclusively on VDSL, using the 50Mbps fibre/copper network being built by its fixed network infrastructure division, T-Com. T-Com expects VDSL in 40 cities by the end of 2007, putting 11 million homes within reach of the planned IPTV service.
So with high-speed networks available and expanding their reach, multiple service launches and growing subscriber figures, the big questions are how much market share IPTV providers can take from satellite and cable, and whether they can make money - if indeed, video revenues are their real motive rather than simply reducing churn on voice/data customers. Are there digital TV newcomers who will choose IPTV ahead of digital terrestrial - and are these the customers IPTV providers want? And can companies differentiate their services sufficiently from cable and satellite to tempt existing Pay TV subscribers away from them?
Internet protocol television (IPTV) is seen as a big future money-spinner for telecoms firms
Ericsson Bids $1.4B for Tandberg TV, Tops Arris
STOCKHOLM—Telecom equipment maker Ericsson on Monday offered 9.8 billion crowns ($1.38 billion) cash for Norway's Tandberg Television, topping an earlier accepted bid from Arris Group.
STOCKHOLM—Telecom equipment maker Ericsson on Monday offered 9.8 billion crowns ($1.38 billion) cash for Norway's Tandberg Television, topping an earlier accepted bid from Arris Group.
Ericsson, which in December paid $2.1 billion for network equipment vendor Redback, said it was bidding 106 Norwegian crowns ($17.23) for each Tandberg share.
The offer represents an 18.2 percent premium to Tandberg's volume-weighted average price over the last three months and is 10.4 percent above the 96 crowns offered by Arris, a U.S. communications technology company.
Analysts had long expected a counter-bid for Tandberg TV, saying the company had a strong foothold in a market revved up by fast-growing bandwidth and demand for television systems.
Shares in Tandberg, which offers a range of video and TV services over the Internet, shot up 11.5 percent to 111.75 crowns by 1235 GMT.
Ericsson shares were 0.6 percent higher at 26.05 crowns.
Paul Handeland, analyst at ABG Sundal Collier in Oslo, said Ericsson's deep pockets would probably scare off Arris, but that other systems operators, such as German giant Siemens or France's Alcatel-Lucent, may be interested. "Tandberg TV is trading above the bid price due to market belief in either a bumped-up bid by Ericsson or a potential competing bid ... possibly from the likes of Siemens or Alcatel-Lucent," Handeland said. Ericsson said it had bought 11.7 percent of Tandberg shares and that owners of another 13 percent had signed on to its bid. Swedish holding company Industrivarden said it sold its 7.4 percent stake in Tandberg to Ericsson, while Norwegian conglomerate Orkla sold it a 3-4 percent stake. "IPTV for cable and telecom operators is the biggest networked multimedia opportunity going forward," Ericsson Chief Executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said in a statement. "Ericsson and Tandberg Television is a strong combination with a unique ability to offer complete IPTV solutions." Tandberg had revenues of $350 million in 2006 and made an operating profit of $56 million. "Strategically it is sensible, and raising exposure to the IPTV segment is something they have talked about," said one analyst, who added that the price was reasonable. In mid-January, Arris bid $1.2 billion in cash and stock—or 96 crowns per share—for Tandberg, an offer that Tandberg TV's board recommended to shareholders. Tandberg said it would review Ericsson's offer. Its Chief Financial Officer, Fraser Park, declined to say if he thought the Ericsson bid was friendly or hostile, but said the company would maintain contact with Arris.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
eWorld Interactive, Inc. Set to Acquire Mojo Mediaworks to Bring Leading Content to the People's Republic of China
SHANGHAI, CHINA, Feb 20, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) --
eWorld Interactive, Inc. (the "Company", "eWorld") (OTCBB: EWIN) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire Mojo Mediaworks Limited ("Mojo") and its subsidiaries. Mojo Mediaworks Limited, currently operates in the USA, China and Philippines, engages in self-developed contents tailored for the China and Philippines Markets in the form of casual online games (Slingo), Interactive TV/SMS Game show (Slingo Interactive Games show) and contents sourced from international developers and other Hollywood majors such as the CBS Paramount TV reality drama (America's Next Top Model - China version) and mobile games (America's Next Top Model Mobile Games). Mojo Mediaworks Co., Ltd. will create "integrated cross media platforms viewership" bundles, in a fully interactive manner and deliver that to advertisers and broadcasters for revenue generation. Mojo holds a 7 year licensing agreement for the Slingo branded suit of games for S.E. Asia. Slingo is one of the most popular online games with an exciting combination of the best features of bingo and slots. Slingo holds the distinction of being "One of America's most played online games" with over 3 billion games played according to AOL Urc/Slingo.com.
eWorld CEO Guy Peckham stated, "We are delighted to begin working with such a top-notch team that has demonstrated time and time again the ability to bring great programs and games from abroad into the China market. Mojo's connections to leading producers in Hollywood and beyond will ensure a steady stream of exciting and new content creating a rich experience for users on our www.eworldchina.cn platform." The Mojo acquisition will have an immediate impact with the creation of China's Next Top Model which follows the format of the hugely successful American reality series "America's Next Top Model" launching in Q2 of 2007 and the launch of the Slingo platform in China.
"This is a natural fit for content and distribution in China. The eWorld platform will allow Mojo's unique programming to reach millions of users in the near term. eWorld's team have a long history of success in internet gaming in China and we look forward to working together with them to extend that success into the social networking space," concurs Mr. Kin Mak from Mojo.
About eWorld:
eWorld are the developers of eworldchina.cn, an online community focused on entertainment content provided by both leading professional content producers and amateur content produced by users of the website. The online platform allows users to create and define their own personal space in the community then interact with and within the community on multiple levels. Users can interact user-to-user, user-to-group, user-to-club, user-to-community and through voting and rankings. These users then have access to and can interact with entertainment content provided by leading partners and affiliates producing music, television, film, gaming and more. The Company creates circular interaction among its website users and the content programming consumers thus continuously involving the audience. Revenues are derived through a combination of advertising sales, sponsorships and promotions, subscriptions and services fees as well as revenue sharing deals with partners and affiliates.
Contacts: eWorld Interactive, Inc. Guy Peckham CEO 1-38-1613-5001 Website: www.eworldchina.cn
MOJO MEDIA WORKS LICENSES OPENTV PARTICIPATE
First deployment to drive interactive games and gaming business in the Philippines
OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ GM: OPTV), one of the world’s leading providers solutions for the delivery advanced television and cross platform interactive services, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement for its OpenTV Participate™ system with Mojo Media Works (Mojo), a Shanghai-based content provider and interactive entertainment operator with operations in mainland China and the Philippines.
OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ GM: OPTV), one of the world’s leading providers solutions for the delivery advanced television and cross platform interactive services, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement for its OpenTV Participate™ system with Mojo Media Works (Mojo), a Shanghai-based content provider and interactive entertainment operator with operations in mainland China and the Philippines.
Mojo, whose first project with OpenTV is the launch of an extensive multiplatform interactive games and gaming business in the Philippines, will use the OpenTV Participate system as the backbone of its operations. The initial service will involve the management and distribution of the U.S. gaming format Slingo™ via kiosks in boutiques around the country. SMS TV services will be deployed shortly afterwards followed by other platforms such as Web, WAP, and J2ME Mobile applications in the future.
The OpenTV Participate system will allow Mojo to manage their entire business centrally with controlled access available for local boutique managers and cashiers. Mojo will use OpenTV Participate’s single account login and centralized loyalty and CRM modules, allowing them the ability to build an ongoing relationship with their customers from their very first day of operation. OpenTV will also create special engines for Mojo’s unique TV gaming formats as well as provide the powerful OpenTV Participate participation TV module for live TV, web, and SMS-based participation.
David Turnaroff, CEO of Mojo Media Works and a U.S. entertainment industry veteran, says, “We looked far and wide for the right system to manage our vision for the business which uses TV as the primary funnel and multiple platforms as the means of interactive participation. Nothing came close to the power, flexibility, and product features of the OpenTV Participate system, which is effectively our cross platform strategy in a box. Our confidence in the OpenTV Participate product has been enhanced by the highly capable product team whose knowledge adds significantly to our ability to deliver our business plan.”
“We are delighted to be working with Mojo Media Works and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership,” said Mike Ivanchenko, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific at OpenTV. “Mojo is precisely the kind of forward-thinking client the OpenTV Participate system was designed for, and we are excited that they plan to use the full capabilities of the system in such an ambitious way.”
About OpenTV
OpenTV is one of the world’s leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company’s software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit www.opentv.com.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
OpenTV Selected by Numericable, France's Largest Cable Operator, for Advanced Digital Television Services
Customer Services to Include High Definition, Video on Demand, and PVR
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (Nasdaq GM: OPTV), a leading provider of enabling technologies for advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, today announced that YPSO / Numericable, the leading cable broadband operator in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, has selected OpenTV as a key technology partner for the roll-out of its advanced digital television services.
Enabled by OpenTV's latest generation of middleware, OpenTV HTML Browser(TM), OpenTV PVR2(TM), and OpenTV Core2(TM), YPSO / Numericable will be able to select the best STB manufacturers and provide its subscribers interactive TV, PVR, video on demand (VOD), and high definition services. These services will be integrated with the Kudelski Group (SWX Swiss Exchange: KUD) solution set also selected by YPSO / Numericable, which includes solutions from Nagravision, Quative, and Lysis.
Pascal Dormal, Director of Business Development, Altice Group said, "YPSO and Altice have selected OpenTV solutions with integrated PVR, HD, and HTML because it is the most advanced middleware platform in the market. OpenTV provides unmatched portability and a proven track record in supporting the commercial deployment of advanced digital television services such as high definition, personal video recording, and video on demand."
Ben Bennett, OpenTV's Senior Vice President and Managing Director for OpenTV EMEA, said, "OpenTV is extremely proud to be selected as a strategic partner of YPSO / Numericable. This opportunity validates OpenTV's continued leadership position in deployment of its advanced digital television solution for the European broadband industry and we look forward to continuing our long term leadership presence in the French digital television arena."
About OpenTV
OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com/.
About YPSO / Numericable YPSO / Numericable offers video, digital and analog, data and voice to 9.5 million homes in France. YPSO / Numericable has been constituted through the acquisition of Est Videocommunication, France Telecom Cable, TDF Cable, NC Numericable, UPC France and Noos, Coditel Brabant and Coditel Luxembourg. For more information, please visit http://www.numericable.fr/.
About the Kudelski Group
The Kudelski Group (SWX: KUD.VX) , is a world leader in digital security. Its technologies are used in a wide range of applications requiring access control and rights management, whether for securing transfer of information (digital television, broadband Internet, video-on-demand, interactive applications, etc.) or to control and manage access of people or vehicles to sites and events. The Kudelski Group is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur- Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information, please visit http://www.nagra.com/.
Website: http://www.opentv.com/Website: http://www.numericable.fr/
Website: http://www.nagra.com/
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Viacom lands video deal with Joost
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc.., engaged in a public battle with top Internet online video service YouTube, said on Tuesday it has agreed to offer its videos to Joost, the Internet video service created by the founders of Skype.
Hundreds of hours of programming from Viacom's MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures movies studio and BET Networks will be available to Joost users for free.
The deal comes amid a public quarrel between Viacom and Google Inc.'s YouTube over protecting copyright owners material.
Failing to reach a distribution deal, Viacom in February demanded the removal of over 100,000 video clips from YouTube that were uploaded by users without the company's authorization.
Top media companies Viacom, News Corp. and General Electric's NBC Universal have discussed launching a competitor to YouTube, but sources said earlier that differing interests have stalled plans.
Traditional media companies are courting online users as viewers split their leisure time surfing the Web and digital media devices like Apple Inc.'s iPod.
Joost, which uses Internet peer-to-peer file sharing technology to deliver videos, was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis and launched in January.
Warner Music Group and TV production company Endemol have also signed deals with Joost.
Friday, February 16, 2007
OpenTV (Strong Buy) Powers NBC's Live Interactive Events on 'Heroes'
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTV) , a leading provider of enabling technologies for advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, today announced that its OpenTV Participate(TM) solution is powering live, web (PC) based interactive services for the current series of NBC's hit primetime show, "Heroes."
The new 'two screen' interactive services, which are created, scheduled, managed and analyzed using OpenTV Participate's production tools, are being synchronized with the "Heroes" broadcast each Monday night across all continental US time zones. Audiences are invited to interact with the broadcasts by entering live polls and offering their own predictions on the outcome of the storylines, all with real time statistics fed directly to their PCs. NBC is also able to use the OpenTV Participate system to create and manage sponsored polls and questionnaires as well as advertiser brochure requests.
The OpenTV Participate system deployed for "Heroes," which is hosted for NBC by OpenTV at its data center, makes use of one of OpenTV's proprietary technologies designed to enable seamless live updates to be pushed to very large numbers of simultaneous PC users. During the series, NBC creative teams have complete control over the creation and management of all events with detailed analysis of all activity available at producers' desktops during or after the show. Data from all transactions, including data from sponsor calls to action, are stored in a secure database which can be queried for trend and retention analysis using OpenTV Participate's built in CRM tools.
Jon Dakss, NBC's Director of ITV Technology Product Development, said, "The OpenTV Participate solution presented NBC.com with important new options for live two screen interactivity and we felt that a show like 'Heroes,' which has an audience that is seeking out a rich, multi-platform viewing experience, was the ideal show to try it on. The product is also flexible enough for us to experiment with timings and event types during the series, allowing us to explore new ideas on-the-fly."
Arik Faingold, General Manager and CTO for the OpenTV Participate product, said, "The OpenTV Participate team has dedicated significant resources towards enabling seamless cross-platform interactivity on a mass scale and in a single, business-oriented system. We are therefore delighted that NBC has chosen to use OpenTV Participate for such a high-profile primetime show."
About OpenTV
OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com/.
About NBC Universal
NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.
Website: http://www.opentv.com/Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Riverbed Announces Systems Integration Agreement With HP
Agreement Aligns Riverbed’s Value to HP Network Solutions
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), announced an agreement to make its WDS solutions available worldwide as part of the HP portfolio of networking services. The terms of the agreement enable Riverbed’s complete family of WDS solutions, including its Steelhead® appliance and Interceptor™ product lines, to be integrated with HP networking services.
”Riverbed can now access HP’s broad market reach, technical competence and strong customer loyalty to extend the value proposition we provide to customers,” said Dave Peranich, senior vice president, worldwide sales at Riverbed®. “Strengthening our companies’ existing relationship, this agreement builds a foundation for faster time-to-market with the integrated solutions.”
Riverbed’s wide-area data services (WDS) solutions enable distributed organizations of all sizes to overcome a host of severe problems, including poor application performance and insufficient bandwidth at remote sites. By speeding the performance of applications between distributed sites by five to 50 times, and in some cases up to 100 times, Riverbed’s award-winning Steelhead WDS appliances enable companies to consolidate IT, improve backup and replication processes to ensure data integrity, and improve staff productivity and collaboration. To learn more, view Riverbed’s demo: www.riverbed.com/pr/jack.
“Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances complement HP’s branch office consolidation and data center replication solutions,” said Brian Brouilette, vice president, technology services mission critical, networking and education services at HP. “As a result of this agreement, HP customers can get complete network design, implementation, and support services for their Riverbed products.”
Friday, February 09, 2007
Microsoft files with FCC for wireless device, Zune iPhone?
Microsoft submitted a filing to the FCC for a prototype of a wireless device that could be used to talk over the Internet (VoIP), which would make it an Internet Phone, or I-Phone. The filing is similar to the one Apple filed ahead of its iPhone unveiling, except Microsoft is not going the cellular route with what many believe to be its Zune phone. Microsoft chose OFDM technology, which Sprint and privately-held Clearwire have tested and deployed. Microsoft claims the device will be used for "consumer broadband access and networking." Sufficiently vague.
The announcement makes the iPhone saga that much weirder. Here's a potential music phone (Zune-phone), which everyone expected to weakly compete with Apple's iPhone. Unexpectedly, Microsoft goes the VoIP route. Meanwhile, Apple is fighting Cisco's trademark of "IPhone" by arguing that a VoIP phone and a cellular phone are effectively different things. A VoIP-enabled Zune certainly won't drum up the fanfare Apple has with its iPhone, but it just might give Apple's trademark lawyers a headache.
The announcement makes the iPhone saga that much weirder. Here's a potential music phone (Zune-phone), which everyone expected to weakly compete with Apple's iPhone. Unexpectedly, Microsoft goes the VoIP route. Meanwhile, Apple is fighting Cisco's trademark of "IPhone" by arguing that a VoIP phone and a cellular phone are effectively different things. A VoIP-enabled Zune certainly won't drum up the fanfare Apple has with its iPhone, but it just might give Apple's trademark lawyers a headache.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Facebook and Comcast's Ziddio Partner to Create User-Generated TV
Companies Enable Users to Speak Out on Personal and Life Topics Through Video, to Be Documented in TV Series 'Facebook Diaries'
PALO ALTO, Calif. and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Facebook, the Internet's leading social utility, and Ziddio.com, a national
multiplatform user-generated video site recently launched by Comcast
Interactive Media, today announced a partnership that will allow Facebook
users to create and share user-generated videos and give them the chance to
become part of a new television series titled "Facebook Diaries."
Beginning in March, the companies will kickoff a program that includes
contests asking users to submit short video segments about their lives.
Throughout the contests, Facebook users will be encouraged to upload, view,
share and rate the videos. Selected videos will be featured prominently
online on Facebook and Ziddio.com and on television including Comcast's ON
DEMAND service.
Submitted videos will also form the basis for the new television
series, "Facebook Diaries," to be produced by R.J. Cutler, the
Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer of TV shows, including
"American High" and "30 Days." Cutler will choose from the best submissions
and weave them together to produce ten half-hour episodes that will air
online and on television.
"Video sharing is extremely popular among Facebook's 16 million users,"
said Owen Van Natta, chief operating officer, Facebook. "Through our
partnership with Comcast, we are making it even easier for the Facebook
community to share video content in a trusted online environment and giving
them the opportunity to tell their stories on TV."
"Ziddio has leveraged Comcast's powerful reach in broadband and
television to create a nationwide site that elevates the world of
user-generated videos to a cross-platform experience," said Amy Banse,
president, Comcast Interactive Media. "We are excited to connect this
phenomenon with the Facebook community and bring Ziddio to its unique
demographic."
"Everyone has a story to tell and 'Facebook Diaries' is a really new
and exciting way for people to share their experiences," said producer R.J.
Cutler. "The concept is a fresh spin on entertainment and programming, and
I think it's truly groundbreaking. Facebook and Comcast are terrific
partners for this and I can't wait to get started."
Once the contests launch in March, Facebook users can begin uploading
video by joining the Ziddio-sponsored group on Facebook or through Ziddio
at http://www.ziddio.com. To join Facebook, people can authenticate into a
school or work network, or they can join a regional network by registering
at http://www.facebook.com.
Ziddio is a new multiplatform user-generated site launched last year by
Comcast Interactive Media. The site brings together premium networks and
partners to host co-branded contests with unique prizes and the chance for
users to showcase their content across multiple platforms -- online, on
Comcast's ON DEMAND service and on linear networks.
About Facebook
Founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook helps people
better understand the world around them by developing technologies that
facilitate the spread of information through social networks. The site has
over 16 million registered users in over 47,000 geographic, work-related,
collegiate, and high school networks, and according to ComScore's
MediaMetrix report, Facebook ranks as the seventh-most trafficked site in
the United States. Facebook is privately held and headquartered in Palo
Alto, Calif.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is
the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications
products and services. With 24.2 million cable customers, 11.5 million
high-speed Internet customers, and 2.5 million voice customers, Comcast is
principally involved in the development, management and operation of
broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.
Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment
Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, AZN Television,
PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets and Comcast
Interactive Media. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast
Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey
team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose
arenas in Philadelphia.
About R.J. Cutler
R.J. Cutler is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer,
director, filmmaker and president of Actual Reality Pictures, which
specializes in the development and production of non-fiction projects for
film and television. Over the course of his career, Cutler has garnered
numerous awards and nominations including an Emmy for creating, directing
and executive producing American High (PBS & Fox) and an Oscar nomination
for the highly-acclaimed documentary The War Room. Cutler's previous
projects include: THIN (HBO), 30 Days (FX), Oh Baby, Now What? (A&E),
Black.White (FX), Flip That House (TLC), Freshman Diaries (Showtime), The
Residents (TLC), American Candidate (Showtime), Military Diaries (VH-1),
Bound for Glory (ESPN), A Perfect Candidate, Making Dazed (AMC) and The War
Room. He also produced the nightly National Public Radio series Heat, which
won the 1991 Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
Facebook(R) is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. Other names may
be trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Comcast Corporation
PALO ALTO, Calif. and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Facebook, the Internet's leading social utility, and Ziddio.com, a national
multiplatform user-generated video site recently launched by Comcast
Interactive Media, today announced a partnership that will allow Facebook
users to create and share user-generated videos and give them the chance to
become part of a new television series titled "Facebook Diaries."
Beginning in March, the companies will kickoff a program that includes
contests asking users to submit short video segments about their lives.
Throughout the contests, Facebook users will be encouraged to upload, view,
share and rate the videos. Selected videos will be featured prominently
online on Facebook and Ziddio.com and on television including Comcast's ON
DEMAND service.
Submitted videos will also form the basis for the new television
series, "Facebook Diaries," to be produced by R.J. Cutler, the
Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer of TV shows, including
"American High" and "30 Days." Cutler will choose from the best submissions
and weave them together to produce ten half-hour episodes that will air
online and on television.
"Video sharing is extremely popular among Facebook's 16 million users,"
said Owen Van Natta, chief operating officer, Facebook. "Through our
partnership with Comcast, we are making it even easier for the Facebook
community to share video content in a trusted online environment and giving
them the opportunity to tell their stories on TV."
"Ziddio has leveraged Comcast's powerful reach in broadband and
television to create a nationwide site that elevates the world of
user-generated videos to a cross-platform experience," said Amy Banse,
president, Comcast Interactive Media. "We are excited to connect this
phenomenon with the Facebook community and bring Ziddio to its unique
demographic."
"Everyone has a story to tell and 'Facebook Diaries' is a really new
and exciting way for people to share their experiences," said producer R.J.
Cutler. "The concept is a fresh spin on entertainment and programming, and
I think it's truly groundbreaking. Facebook and Comcast are terrific
partners for this and I can't wait to get started."
Once the contests launch in March, Facebook users can begin uploading
video by joining the Ziddio-sponsored group on Facebook or through Ziddio
at http://www.ziddio.com. To join Facebook, people can authenticate into a
school or work network, or they can join a regional network by registering
at http://www.facebook.com.
Ziddio is a new multiplatform user-generated site launched last year by
Comcast Interactive Media. The site brings together premium networks and
partners to host co-branded contests with unique prizes and the chance for
users to showcase their content across multiple platforms -- online, on
Comcast's ON DEMAND service and on linear networks.
About Facebook
Founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook helps people
better understand the world around them by developing technologies that
facilitate the spread of information through social networks. The site has
over 16 million registered users in over 47,000 geographic, work-related,
collegiate, and high school networks, and according to ComScore's
MediaMetrix report, Facebook ranks as the seventh-most trafficked site in
the United States. Facebook is privately held and headquartered in Palo
Alto, Calif.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is
the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications
products and services. With 24.2 million cable customers, 11.5 million
high-speed Internet customers, and 2.5 million voice customers, Comcast is
principally involved in the development, management and operation of
broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.
Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment
Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, AZN Television,
PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets and Comcast
Interactive Media. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast
Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey
team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose
arenas in Philadelphia.
About R.J. Cutler
R.J. Cutler is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer,
director, filmmaker and president of Actual Reality Pictures, which
specializes in the development and production of non-fiction projects for
film and television. Over the course of his career, Cutler has garnered
numerous awards and nominations including an Emmy for creating, directing
and executive producing American High (PBS & Fox) and an Oscar nomination
for the highly-acclaimed documentary The War Room. Cutler's previous
projects include: THIN (HBO), 30 Days (FX), Oh Baby, Now What? (A&E),
Black.White (FX), Flip That House (TLC), Freshman Diaries (Showtime), The
Residents (TLC), American Candidate (Showtime), Military Diaries (VH-1),
Bound for Glory (ESPN), A Perfect Candidate, Making Dazed (AMC) and The War
Room. He also produced the nightly National Public Radio series Heat, which
won the 1991 Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
Facebook(R) is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. Other names may
be trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Comcast Corporation
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Riverbed Technology, Inc. Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2006 Financial Results
- Quarterly Revenues Increase by 37% Sequentially and 219% Year-Over-Year
- Over 300 New Customers Added
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), today released financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2006.
Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2006 were $33.8 million, which represents a sequential increase of 37% from the immediately preceding quarter and a year-over-year increase of 219% from the fourth quarter of last year. The net loss on a GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $2.4 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $3.1 million, or $0.16 per share, in the third quarter of 2006 and a net loss of $4.7 million, or $0.43 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2005. Riverbed’s fourth quarter of 2006 GAAP results included $4.8 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses.
Excluding the impact of stock-based compensation in all periods, assuming preferred shares were converted as of the later of their issuance or the beginning of the respective periods, and including dilutive shares in the fourth quarter of 2006, the non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $2.4 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $1.0 million, or $0.02 per share, in the third quarter of 2006 and a non-GAAP net loss of $4.2 million, or $0.09 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 were $90.2 million, a 293% increase from $22.9 million in the prior year. The GAAP net loss for the full year 2006 was $15.8 million, or $0.59 per share, which compares with a GAAP net loss of $17.4 million, or $1.85 per share, in 2005.
”Our early and rapid success in the WDS market is testament to our innovative technology, strong competitive position and the business-critical need for wide-area data solutions,” noted Jerry Kennelly, Riverbed® president and chief executive officer. “As market acceptance and understanding of the capabilities of WDS grows, the Global 2000 are embracing our solutions to overcome the competing demands of globalization and IT centralization.”
”The fourth quarter of 2006 marked the first quarter in which Riverbed was profitable on a non-GAAP basis, demonstrating the operating leverage in our model,” said Randy Gottfried, Riverbed chief financial officer.
2006 Highlights
Riverbed’s focus on delivering industry-leading performance, scalability, and simplicity to distributed organizations of all sizes was reflected in a number of key business initiatives and milestones.
- Initial public offering—Riverbed successfully completed its initial public offering, raising $87.5 million, net of underwriting discounts and other transaction expenses. Riverbed’s IPO was the best performing IPO of 2006 as reported in the Wall Street Journal.
- Industry recognition—Riverbed’s Steelhead® Appliance product family was recognized for its excellence by many well-respected trade publications in 2006, including InfoWorld (the Best WAN Accelerator of 2006 and 2007), Byte and Switch (WAN Optimization), Network Computing (Well-Connected Award, Remote Office Solution), and eWeek (Excellence Award, Top Products of 2006, and Top Five Storage Developments of the Year). In addition, Gartner positioned the company in the Leaders quadrant in the "WAN Optimization Controller Magic Quadrant" published in October 2006 and authored by Andy Rolfe and Joe Skorupa. This report positions vendors in one of four quadrants based on the companies' vision and ability to execute on that vision.
- Product innovation – Riverbed expanded its product line both at the high- and low-ends of the market, providing customers with the speed, scale and simplicity needed to meet the demands of a decentralized workforce and centralized data. The company began shipping the next generation of the Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS™), version 3.0, as well as the Interceptor™ appliance and eight new Steelhead appliances that deliver high scalability and acceleration for up to one million simultaneous connections at 4 Gbps throughput. In addition, the company introduced two new smaller-scale Steelhead appliances that meet the needs of small remote offices and large-scale deployments.
- Expanded patent portfolio — Riverbed was awarded a patent on its core WDS technology. This system patent is the foundation for Riverbed’s proven technology for speeding application performance by 5X to 50X and in some cases up to 100X and addresses the limitations of geography for global businesses.
- New customer growth—Riverbed rapidly grew its customer base in 2006. In January, the company announced its 500th customer and by end-of-year had over 1,600 customers.
- Customer Wins—Riverbed expanded its success with customers to global brands, announcing Liz Claiborne, Hilton Grand Vacations, Asiana Airlines, the UK Royal Navy and LG Electronics.
- Global Expansion—Riverbed expanded its presence in 2006, establishing additional offices worldwide.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Consolidates IT Infrastructure With Riverbed Steelhead Appliances
Improves Data Security and Reduces Operational Costs and Overhead
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), today announced that Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has deployed Riverbed’s Steelhead® appliances. The company has designed and is deploying a centralized file server environment that supports four offices and over 5,000 users. Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances are the core enabling technology for this initiative, which allows Mitsubishi Motors to improve data security and reliability, reduce operational costs and resources, and improve application performance.
Mitsubishi Motors became an independent company in 1970 when the automobile division was spun off from Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, producing cars, trucks and buses for over thirty years. In 2003, the company was reborn again as the new Mitsubishi Motors, a manufacturer specialized in passenger cars. Mitsubishi Motors has 10 offices in Japan and 11 sites located outside of the country, including design centers in the United States, Australia and Germany and production centers in Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and the Netherlands.
With this project, Mitsubishi Motors centralized file servers at four sites in Japan and consolidated that infrastructure into their data center. This consolidation eliminates the need for file servers and tape backup in the remote sites, ensuring that data was more secure and significantly reducing costs and operational overhead. In order to move forward with the project, the company needed to ensure that the performance of critical applications did not suffer performance degradation. Riverbed’s reseller partner, Netmarks, recommended that the company consider Riverbed’s Steelhead appliance as a solution that would enable IT consolidation without affecting user performance.
Mitsubishi Motors selected Riverbed® over the competition because the company’s solutions delivered the best performance for the broad set of applications and protocols important to Mitsubishi Motors, including NFS. The company has implemented the Steelhead appliances at four sites in Japan with over 5,000 users, enabling Mitsubishi Motors to eliminate over 50 servers and move critical data into its protected data center. The Steelhead appliances have reduced WAN traffic by over 90%, while delivering LAN-like performance to end-users located at the remote sites.
“Accessing file servers across a WAN was thought to be impossible due to the effects of latency — regardless of how much bandwidth is available. But with Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances, we are now able to consolidate our file servers, while ensuring performance that is nearly equal to that of local area networks,” said Yasuhiro Nishikawa, Expert of IT Planning & Control Dept., Corporate Affairs Office, at Mitsubishi Motors Corp. “Installation of Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances can substantially reduce operational management costs, and centralized management can enhance security levels.
About Riverbed’s Steelhead Appliances
Riverbed’s wide-area data services (WDS) solutions enable organizations with more than one office to overcome a host of severe problems, including poor application performance and insufficient bandwidth at remote sites. By speeding the performance of applications between distributed sites, by five to 50 times and in some cases up to 100 times between enterprise datacenters and remote offices, Riverbed’s award-winning Steelhead WDS appliances enable companies to consolidate IT, improve backup and replication processes to ensure data integrity, and improve staff productivity and collaboration. Steelhead appliances have been deployed in organizations ranging from the world’s largest corporations with offices around the globe to small companies with a couple of sites that are just miles apart. To learn more, view Riverbed’s demo at http://www.riverbed.com/pr/jack.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the expected demand for Riverbed’s products and services, and statements relating to Riverbed’s ability to meet the needs of distributed organizations, grow market share or grow the market as a whole. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include our ability to react to trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate; our ability to anticipate market needs or develop new or enhanced products to meet those needs; the adoption rate of our products; our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with our distribution partners; our ability to compete in our industry; fluctuations in demand, sales cycles and prices for our products and services; shortages or price fluctuations in our supply chain; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; general political, economic and market conditions and events; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. More information about these and other risks that may impact Riverbed’s business are set forth in our Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC, including the “Risk Factors” section in our final Prospectus dated September 20, 2006, and in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on October 31, 2006. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
About Riverbed
Riverbed Technology is the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS) solutions for companies worldwide. By enabling application performance over the wide area network (WAN) that is orders of magnitude faster than what users experience today, Riverbed is changing the way people work, and enabling a distributed workforce that can collaborate as if they were local. Additional information about Riverbed (Nasdaq:RVBD) is available at www.riverbed.com.
Riverbed Technology, Riverbed, Steelhead, RiOS, Interceptor, and the Riverbed logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Riverbed Technology, Inc. All other trademarks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
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