Wednesday, June 27, 2007

OpenTV Launches 'Rapid Porting Program'

Program to Focus on Faster Time to Market, Lower Porting Costs and Reduced Operational Expenses

SAN FRANCISCO, June 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTV) , a leading provider of solutions for the delivery of advanced television and cross platform interactive services, today announced the introduction of its new Rapid Porting Program (RPP) to provide rapid, high quality ports of OpenTV middleware to a wide range of chipsets and set top boxes.

The goal of the Rapid Porting Program is to bring together the silicon vendors, set-top box (STB) manufacturers, conditional access suppliers, and systems integrators to create full-feature set-top boxes that can be brought to market quickly. By fostering the development of pre-integrated and pre- tested drivers between specific chipsets and OpenTV's Core2(TM) and PVR2(TM) solutions, the Rapid Porting Program will offer significant benefits to network operators.

According to Alan A. Guggenheim, OpenTV's President and CEO, "OpenTV's Rapid Porting Program promotes cooperation among the partners and fosters targeted sales and marketing efforts with our common customers and prospects. The benefits of RPP include bringing solutions to market faster, lowering porting costs, reducing operational expenses and achieving faster issue resolution. No one in the industry is approaching the problem in this way and the response to this new initiative by manufacturers and operators has been positive and gratifying."

The initial launch of the program is focused on efforts with chipset and set-top box manufacturer partners. The charter partners for the program include Broadcom, Conexant, and NXP Semiconductors as well as Philips Consumer Electronics. OpenTV expects other partners to join as the program advances.

"The OpenTV Rapid Porting Program will speed up the introduction of Philips new high definition (HD) set-top boxes and HD digital video recorders (DVRs) into the market," said Philippe Alcaras, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Home Networks at Philips Consumer Electronics. "This new program also delivers on Philips' brand promise of Sense and Simplicity as it will simplify the HD launch for Philips and OpenTV operators and provide high quality innovative solutions to our customers."

"OpenTV's Rapid Porting Program will enable us to meet our customers' desire for fully integrated hardware and software solutions that allow them to accelerate the delivery of complete products based on our advanced HD-AVC SoCs," said Lewis Brewster, senior vice president and general manager of Conexant's Broadband Media Processing business. "We're pleased to be one of the first chipset vendors to support this program, and providing our customers with even greater levels of service and support."

"With its advanced set-top box solutions, NXP Semiconductors is powering developments in the CE market. Our technology allows STB makers to deliver premier products to the market more quickly and at mass market price points. By partnering with OpenTV, NXP can continue to provide revolutionary offerings to the operator market-complete system solutions that boast both state-of-the-art hard and middleware," said Guus Frericks, VP and General Manager, NXP Semiconductors, Business Line Set-Top-Box and Home Media Devices.

"OpenTV's rapid porting program is an ideal way for Broadcom and OpenTV to enable our customers and minimize time-to-market across the industry's widest array of high-performance HD and SD AVC/VC-1 set-top platforms that we each offer," said John H. Gleiter, Senior Director of Marketing for Broadcom's set- top box platforms. "We are excited about working closely with OpenTV and offering this combined solution to the marketplace."

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 88 million digital set-top boxes and digital televisions 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 Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG) is a global leader in healthcare, lifestyle and technology, delivering products, services and solutions through the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 121,700 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 27 billion in 2006, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, personal care and home appliances, as well as consumer electronics. News from Philips is located at http://www.philips.com/newscenter.

About Conexant

Conexant's innovative semiconductor solutions are driving broadband communications and digital home networks worldwide. The company has leveraged its expertise and leadership position in modem technologies to enable more Internet connections than all of its competitors combined, and continues to develop highly integrated silicon solutions for broadband data and media processing networks. Key products include client-side xDSL and cable modem solutions, home network processors, broadcast video encoders and decoders, digital set-top box components and systems solutions, and dial-up modems. Conexant's suite of networking components includes a leadership portfolio of IEEE 802.11-compliant WLAN chipsets, software and reference designs, as well as solutions for applications based on HomePlug(R) and HomePNA(TM). The company also offers a complete line of asymmetric and symmetric DSL central office solutions, which are used by service providers worldwide to deliver broadband data, voice, and video over copper telephone lines.

Conexant is a fabless semiconductor company that recorded revenues of $970.8 million in fiscal year 2006. The company has approximately 3,200 employees worldwide, and is headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif. To learn more, please visit http://www.conexant.com/.

About NXP

NXP is a top 10 semiconductor company founded by Philips more than 50 years ago. Headquartered in Europe, the company has 37,000 employees working in 26 countries across the world. NXP creates semiconductors, system solutions and software that deliver better sensory experiences in mobile phones, personal media players, TVs, set-top boxes, identification applications, cars and a wide range of other electronic devices. News from NXP is located at http://www.nxp.com/.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art, system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).

Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2006 revenue of $3.67 billion, and holds over 2,000 U.S. and 800 foreign patents, more than 6,000 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video and data.

Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at http://www.broadcom.com/.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Ground-Breaking Study Reveals Online Retail Sites Are More Impactful With Video

36% Of Consumers Surveyed Validate That Video Reviews Enhance Other Forms Of Product Information

ExpoTV’s Videopinions Reviews, A New, More Useful and Trusted Form of User-Generated Content, Poised to Reinvent and Complement Traditional Research Tools

NEW YORK CITY - More than one in three Internet users would find their number one method of product research more impactful if accompanied by video-based product opinions, according to a new study that has the potential to significantly impact the $130 billion e-commerce marketplace.

In ground-breaking research commissioned by ExpoTV, Socratic Technologies, a San Francisco-based research firm, found that when compared with their number one preferred method of researching products and services, 36% found VideopinionsSM reviews more influential.

"We knew from day one that video was the future of word-of-mouth," said Daphne Kwon, CEO of ExpoTV. "Consumer-generated video product reviews combine the best of all worlds by marrying the incredible power of the visual medium to convey vast amounts of information quickly with the authenticity of a word-of-mouth experience. Soon, no product research site will be complete without Videopinions Reviews."


By now it is an accepted industry and research fact that the majority of consumers value user-generated reviews and prefer sites that feature them. But the kind of honesty and true word of mouth that video product reviews provide delivers an increasingly compelling value proposition. The Socratic study shows that seven out of ten surveyed said they found Videopinions reviews an easy source of information to utilize.

"The point of the Socratic research findings isn't that Videopinions reviews will replace trusted tools currently available to consumers." said Bill Hildebolt, ExpoTV President. "Rather, it confirms both the very real appetite consumers have for product information and the incredible impact that a rich media interaction with other consumers can have on the research experience. We witness this daily through ExpoTV's content syndication with Smarter.com and Buy.com."

Research Methodology
The research was conducted by Socratic Technologies. 300 respondents with broadband connections were asked to select their preferred product research technique. Respondents were then shown a Videopinions product review. More than 1/3 of respondents confirmed that Videopinions enhanced their preferred product research tool.

About ExpoTV



Home to a fast-growing community of shopping influentials, ExpoTV's members have contributed more than 60,000 engaging and informative video-based consumer product reviews. These VideopinionsSM reviews demonstrate product benefits from a real-world consumer perspective in an easy-to-understand video format. Covering a broad range of categories including kitchen products, consumer electronics, entertainment and travel, ExpoTV's video review catalog is the largest in the world. Videopinions are distributed online and TV through ExpoTV's popular broadband Web site; via partnerships with the world's largest video portals including Yahoo! Video, AOL Video, Google Video, and YouTube; to leading e-commerce destinations like Smarter.com and Buy.com; and to 25 million digital cable homes, including subscribers to Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter. To experience ExpoTV, visit www.ExpoTV.com.

About Socratic Technologies
Socratic Technologies, Inc. is a leader in the science of computer-based and interactive research methods since 1994. Headquartered in San Francisco, it is a research-based consultancy that builds proprietary, interactive tools that accelerate and improve research methods for the study of global markets. Socratic Technologies specializes in product research for the business-to-business and consumer products sectors.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Clearwire Wins Spotlight Award

Successful Inaugural Eos Awards Highlights Industrys Best

NXTcomm 2007

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NXTcomm, the only venue where the business and technology of communications, information and entertainment meet taking place this week in Chicago, today announced Clearwire Corporation the winner of the Spotlight Award, an award signifying the best of the 2007 NXTcomm Eos Excellence of Achievement Awards.

Judged exclusively by members of the media, the Spotlight Award honors the exhibiting company that has developed the most promising new technology or provided the best new network services and strategic support. All 12 Eos Awards winners were considered for the Spotlight Award.

Clearwire Corporation won the Spotlight Award for its Clearwire Wireless Broadband service. It was selected as the winner for the companys wireless high-speed Internet service that is simple, fast, portable, reliable and affordable. Customers are free from traditional landlines and cable connections by using Clearwire to connect to the Internet through licensed or secured spectrum. This is accomplished via radio signals transmitted from a tower to a small, wireless modem, which easily connects a users computer to the Internet. With its simple plug-and-play installation customers can be on the Internet within minutes of set up. The companys wireless high-speed Internet service is now available in a total of 38 markets in the U.S. covering approximately 8.9 million people more than 400 municipalities across 12 states. The company also serves international markets in Ireland, Belgium and Denmark.

Our inaugural Eos Award competition was a great success with contestants representing a broad range of categories, said Wayne Crawford, NXTcomm Executive Director. Its an exciting time for the industry with so many new technologies being introduced. This award gives us an opportunity to highlight the best. We look forward to continuing this tradition at next years show.

Eos Award winners were honored for best new technology or enterprise solution in twelve categories covering the entire range of wireless, broadband, and next-generation technologies and services for both public and enterprise networks. The winners and finalists will be recognized during a special reception on Wednesday, June 20.

NXTcomm, being held this week at Chicagos McCormick Place, brings together top executives from every segment of the global industry to exhibit, explore new business opportunities and buy the latest technologies driving the converged communications and entertainment industry. Showcasing hundreds of new and innovative products, the NXTcomm exhibit floor reflects the dramatic changes in the industry. The show also features a broad range of educational programming.

NXTcomm, the new industry venue co-owned by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom) that will feature the business and technology of communications, information and entertainment, comes to Chicagos McCormick Place June 18-21, 2007. NXTcomm will unite the premier information and communications technology (ICT) industry supplier and technology companies with the worlds leading communications and entertainment companies that are together driving broadband-based innovation around the world. For more information, go to http://www.NXTcommShow.com/.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Microsoft's new IPTV brand: Mediaroom

Microsoft has re-branded its IPTV offerings once again: Mediaroom is the fourth brand after WebTV, Microsoft TV and the recent Microsoft IPTV. Analysts say the new branding is a sign that Redmond does not want to go unnoticed by consumers any longer, and is perhaps looking to take its IPTV offerings outside the "walled garden" approach of set-top boxes and telcos. While the company's plans for Mediaroom have not been specifically laid out, one can infer from Microsoft's executives that a slightly different approach is forthcoming.

Corporate VP for Microsoft TV Division, Enrique Rodriguez said that "there are several reasons why we felt a new brand is instrumental to our success and the success of our customers. With personal media sharing and new Web-based applications, Microsoft brings the consumer television experience to a new level that goes beyond the TV set. With Microsoft Mediaroom, consumers get the best in TV plus all their media in one place, for a truly personalized multimedia experience. With the capability for more connected entertainment experiences, we felt the time was right to introduce a brand that reflected this next generation of television."

Microsoft spokesperson Jim Brady also mentioned to ScreenPlays magazine that the new Mediaroom delivery model uses XHTML on the client side, one reason for the browser-oriented model was to open up the platform to the applications market for IPTV to developers. "Some new apps will be driven by passions and social networking and recommendation. We just don't know what's going to happen," Brady said.

Interestingly, neither Microsoft nor its longtime IPTV partner Alcatel joined the recently formed Open IPTV Forum, which counts AT&T as its most prominent U.S.-based member.

Monday, June 18, 2007

A Wider Area for Wide-Area Data Services

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), announced June 14, 2007 the expansion of global operations to Central Europe. The Riverbed Central Europe offices, located in Zurich, will be headed by Gerard Bauer, managing director for Central Europe at Riverbed®. Riverbeds expanded presence in these markets is in response to growing recognition by distributed organizations of the importance of accelerated application performance.

The Central European market is characterized by multi-national organizations. With branches and remote offices located worldwide and 24-hour operations, these organizations require remote office application performance that Riverbed and its award-winning Steelhead® appliances can provide, says Bauer. With the opening of Riverbeds office in Zurich, we are now better able to serve our Central European customers and partners.

Riverbeds WDS solutions allow remote employees to collaborate as if they were local and reduce the delay and inefficiencies created by distance and time. Today, more than 2000 organizations worldwide have selected Riverbed and deployed the companys Steelhead® appliances at sites ranging from oil rigs in the South China Seas and submarines in the Atlantic to remote offices and headquarters sites in Vladivostok, Osaka, Seoul, London and New York City. Riverbed recently released the 4.0 version of its Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS), which is the first WDS solution to securely accelerate encrypted data transmitted via SSL without breaking the trust model.

Centralized IT infrastructure for global operations is becoming more and more important, said Marcus Chambers, vice president for EMEA at Riverbed. But without a powerful and reliable WDS solution, this is very difficult to accomplish while ensuring that employees located across the country or on the other side of the world get the performance they need for their important business applications. As a result, many companies are turning to solutions from Riverbed.

About Riverbeds Steelhead Appliances

Riverbeds 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, Riverbeds 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 worlds largest corporations with offices around the globe to small companies with a couple of sites that are just miles apart. To learn more, view Riverbeds demo: www.riverbed.com/pr/jack.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the expected demand for Riverbeds products and services, and statements relating to Riverbeds ability to meet the needs of distributed organizations and grow its business in Central Europe. 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 Riverbeds business are set forth in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on April 27, 2007. 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.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Amazon Grocery Beta

  • More than 22,000 non-perishable items--and growing every day
  • All items eligible for free shipping
  • Great everyday prices on your favorite brands
  • Shipped to your door, just like any other Amazon.com purchase
  • Learn more
  • Sunday, June 03, 2007

    Ads confirm Apple iPhone 6/29 sale date

    NEW YORK -- Apple Inc.'s highly anticipated iPhone will be available June 29, according to TV commercials broadcast Sunday night and posted on the company's Web site.

    The combination cell phone, media player and wireless Web-surfing device will retail for $499 and $599, depending on configuration. It will be offered exclusively by AT&T Inc.'s wireless division, formerly known as Cingular.

    The iPhone, which sports no keypad but instead a touch-sensitive screen, was unveiled with great fanfare in early January by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He said it would appear in stores in June but gave no specific date.

    Sunday night's ads showed off several of the gadget's features and ended with the pronouncement that the phone will be available "Only on the new AT&T" and "Coming June 29." One aired on the CW network before a 7 p.m. broadcast of "7th Heaven."

    Apple and AT&T spokespeople did not immediately return phone calls.

    In recent months, the company's stock has been served by speculation and excitement over the iPhone. Shares of Apple's stock rose May 25 after a media report said that the iPhone would go on sale June 20. Neither AT&T nor Apple would confirm or deny that date at the time.