Category: USA

SBC sign $400m Microsoft IPTV/TVIP Deal

SBC, the largest supplier of DSL connections in the USA, has announced a deal to spend $400m (~€307m, ~£215m) with Microsoft over the next ten years to purchase their Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) software. SBC has been testing Microsoft’s IPTV platform since June 2004 and they now intend to start field trials in mid-2005 and plan commercial availability in late 2005.

The Microsoft product, whose official name is a bit of a mouthful – Microsoft TV IPTV Edition, provides comprehensive security including subscriber and end-to-end digital rights management (DRM), enabling the content to be taken on to the portable devices that support Microsoft’s DRM.

In the first quarter of 2005, construction is due to begin on the SBC “Project Lightspeed”, the company’s initiative to deploy fibre closer to customer locations, providing significant amounts of bandwidth. It is expected to reach 18 million households by the end of 2007.

Microsoft have, of course, had enough opportunity to get TVIP software right. It has been estimated that Microsoft has spent up to $20Bn pursuing their ambitions of being the supplier of choice for TV software for the next-generation of Set Top Boxes (STB’s). We briefly used Microsoft’s TVIP service at IBC this year and found it pretty impressive.

This is the second major TV announcement for Microsoft this month following the Comcast deal.

As the world moves to IP-delivered content, and the source of that content becomes significantly less important, the power that sits with the broadcaster today becomes transferred to the owner/supplier of the box that is used to access the content – the gatekeeper. It is likely that there will normally only be one gatekeeper per household. The race is now on for companies to establish themselves in that role.

SBC
Microsoft IPTV

AtomFilms And CustomFlix: DVD compilation service

When I first used CDuctive in 1998, I was hugely excited. Using a Web browser, you could preview and select music tracks from different artists, pick the order of the tracks, pay for it and have it posted to you. The disks would arrive a short while later with a professionally printed cover, listing the selected tracks. I was so impressed with the idea, I thought the service was worth investing in.

These days the idea doesn’t seem that revolutionary. Indeed it appears a little old-fashioned, having been outdated by music downloads.

Today, AtomFilms and CustomFlix are announcing that they’ve got together to offer the video equivalent – DVD compilations of short films. Using CustomFlix’s Build-Your-Own DVD™ service (isn’t it amazing what you can trade mark these days), purchasers are able to choose up to 10 pieces, initially from a selection of 125 of AtomFilms’ shorts. There are a couple of limits – there cannot be more than a total of 90 minutes of footage onto one DVD and each video clip can be up to a maximum of 30 minutes long. In the same way that CDuctive worked, the disc’s content and packaging reflects the selected films. The disc then arrives in the post.

It’s a good idea, a DVD duplication service combined with a content company, opening the market to those who don’t have sufficient bandwidth to view films online. Posting DVD’s is a very efficient method of bandwidth delivery. 4.7Gb of data transfer costs a lot more than the price of an envelope and a stamp.

They label it a “major step forward in the distribution of on-demand”, which is stretching the concept of on-demand a little – with that logic anything you buy or rent is now on-demand.

After a quick look, it is encouraging to see that it looks like the service is deliverable outside the US. An advantage, I assume, of the contracts signed by AtomFilms for the original material being delivered via the Internet – by definition they are likely to have global distribution rights.

What is not clear is why there are only 125 films initially offered. Is it that Atom doesn’t have rights to physically distribute the other material or perhaps the material isn’t held, or even available in DVD quality?

It’s hardly worth mentioning because it’s too obvious, but clearly when broad-broadband is universal, online distribution will significantly reduce the demand for services like this. We’re not there yet, and clearly many parts of the world are far from close to that, so this service does have the ability to last a while.

There are advantages of buying it on DVD, over the future online delivery methods. The purchaser will own the DVDs content, free to play it on the device of their choosing and it will be DVD resolution, not a version compressed for download. If you go looking for CDuctive, I’m sad to see that it looks like it faded away – but that was six years ago.

CustomFlix
Atomfilms

Utilities Switch On Broadband Over Powerlines

Broadband over Powerline (BPL) is an emerging technology that may shake up the competitive world of broadband Internet and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. It offers high-speed access to your home through the most unlikely path, a common electrical outlet, allowing you to plug your computer into any electrical outlet in your home and instantly have access to high-speed Internet.

Combining the technological principles of radio, wireless networking and modems, the technology can be used to send data over power lines and into homes at speeds equivalent to DSL and cable. In Singapore, Pacific Internet is one of two ISPs trialling the technology in conjunction with Singapore Power. The Singapore trial is currently sustaining connection speeds of 2.2Mbit/s – faster than Telstra ADSL. Elsewhere in the world, power lines are running at 4.5Mbit/s, and ultimately the technology supports speeds of up to 10Mbit/s. It also allows utilities to tap existing infrastructure cheaply, fill market gaps in underserved regions and benefit from plummeting equipment costs.

For instance, the city of Manassas in Virginia has signed a deal with local utility Communication Technologies to extend broadband services across the city’s powerlines to 15,000 residential and commercial locations for less than $30 (£16) a month. Revenue is then shared between the city and the utility, as long as they adhere to powerline radiation-emission restrictions and follow consistent and repeatable measurement guidelines set out by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

It’s not all been going smoothly for the new technology though. The two test plants near Rochester, NY, both pulled the plug on their setups when the cost analysis came in. There was a major interference issue on BPL also, but the final argument was decided due to the money.

Vaio U: Sony’s Tiny Tablet Media PC, US Launch

Sony VGN-U750P1The latest addition to Sony’s VAIO range of personal computers is really, really different. The VAIO VGN-U750P (around US$2,000) is a palmtop computer that also goes under the more firendly name of the Vaio U and weighs considerably less than the average laptop (167x108x26mm, 550g), yet boasts a fully fledged Intel-based environment running Windows XP Professional SP2 as opposed to the specialised platforms powering other handhelds, such as Palm OS, Windows Mobile or even Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.

Empowering you to actually work and view photos and video on the move – rather than simply manage e-mails and calendars – the diminutive system boasts a 1.10GHz Intel Pentium M processor, 512MB of system RAM, an accommodating 20GB hard disk drive (4,200rpm), as well as an Intel 855GM graphics card with 64MB of shared video RAM. In addition, it has a touch-sensitive, 5in. colour display with XBrite LCD technology that has a relatively high native resolution of 800×600 pixels (16-bit colour depth) and can output to an external VGA display, courtesy of an add-on port replicator. Of course, similar to any handheld worth its money it’s heaviliy connected, there’s also built-in 100Mbit/s Ethernet and 802.11b/g connectivity, as well as single FireWire and Memory Stick ports, four USB 2.0 ports and a CompactFlash Type II card slot for importing files or digital photos from a variety of digital cameras.

Sony has thought about productivity, too. Utilising proprietary software, the VAIO VGN-U750P supports handwriting recognition and other features similar to those found in Tablet PCs, such as a virtual keyboard and a multi-point navigational stick to control the system. There are also a few dedicated buttons to perform frequently-used commands, and thumb controls let you change the display orientation on the fly, from landscape to portrait mode and back. You can also connect the supplied foldable keyboard for ‘rapid’ text input on the move, or hook up the bundled headphones with remote control capabilities for audio and video playback.

It’s encouraging that Sony is actually releasing this after the many rumours that it had been shelved.

www.sony.com

DVR Wireless Kit for Police from Avalon RF

Avalon Rugged Police Tablet PCDesigned for law enforcement, perimeter security and long-range video links, AValon RF’s new wireless range includes receivers, transmitters, remote display units (RDUs) and a variety of specialised antennas. The company’s technology provides broadcast quality, interference-free video links over the frequency spectrum of 56MHz to 2.5GHz, allowing security personnel to use a rugged PDA and Tablet PC to wirelessly view video from remote cameras while driving in a patrol vehicle.

For instance, the AValon ICV04 is a four-channel video recorder that lets you record streaming audio and video on an internal hard disk drive at 30fps. It is designed to fit under a vehicle seat and receive commands through a remote control, a computer, or a remote smart display. Recording is triggered manually or automatically by an external signal, such as a siren, flashing light activation, or code 1-2-3 in a police patrol vehicle. The recorded streaming video can be read via a USB port or archived on a standard CD-RW media.

Other features of the neat device include four video/audio inputs for a wireless LC618M lapel camera (or MX416 microphone), windshield camera, back seat camera and a trunk camera, VITC time/date stamping on all recorded video, support for up to 1 hour of recording on a 400MB Dataplay CD, and a USB 2.0 interface-to-vehicle computer/gateway. It utilises standard 12-volt powering and comes in ruggedised enclosure.

AValon RF

AudioFeast: 100+ Radio Channels on your Music Player

AudioFeast, the first to market with a portable Internet radio service for MP3 players, mobile devices and PCs, has made another major announcement that should greatly entice consumers to embrace online music.

The company’s new portable music service lets you listen to Internet and terrestrial programming on your portable digital audio player, including over 100 channels of commercial-free, digital quality music. The company also announced a strategic collaboration with iRiver America, manufacturer of portable digital audio devices, to deliver AudioFeast compatibility with iRiver’s iFP-700 series and iFP-800 series Flash-based MP3 players.

The service differs from online music stores, such as Napster and iTunes, by allowing customers to subscribe to a wide range of programming that is automatically refreshed on a portable device. They gain easy access to a library of music without incurring the effort and expense of having to find, purchase and download each and every song. To encourage consumers to try out its new experience, AudioFeast has created a free Basic Service, which comes with 60-minute channels of music, news, sports and entertainment programming.

With around 70 media partners, AudioFeast has licensed a selection of news, sports, drama, comedy, business and entertainment channels, along with a variety of hobby and niche programming options. A sample includes: A&E, Bloomberg Radio, BBC Radio, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, NPR, SportsNews Radio and The Wall Street Journal Radio Network. As the service expands in the coming weeks, another 100 channels of music will be added, including pop, jazz, electronica, trance, R&B, rock, alternative, classical genres and more, according to the company.

“Our goal is to re-ignite the passion consumers once felt for radio. By expanding and improving consumer entertainment options, we can continue to fuel consumer adoption of the MP3 player,” said Tom Carhart, chief executive officer at AudioFeast. “Our research shows that Internet listeners have an especially deep passion for specific and established programming, and an equally strong desire to make that content portable. Now for the first time they can enjoy their favourite shows anytime, anywhere for one low price.”

However, the service will face competition from companies like Audible, who have been selling downloadable audio books for a long time; the fast growing band of individual and small companies who are offering audio content for download (sometimes called podcasting); and the growing number of audio players that have built-in FM tuners, allowing users to listen to popular radio stations for free.

:SP:We have seen, and continue to see downloadable audio, for playback on portable music players as a significant distribution path for audio content. We feel people will eventually tire of listen to every album that has ever been recorded, and look to using their commute time into the work to catch up on their chosen work subject or hobby.

AudioFeast

FCC Rules VoIP Outside State Regulations

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled that US states are now barred from imposing telecommunications regulations on Internet phone providers, treating Voice Over IP(VoIP) calls no differently than any other application on the Internet.

The significance of the ruling is that US states cannot subject VoIP providers to their rules – the difference between a draconian and very light regulatory environment for the carriers. However, FCC Chairman Michael Powell and two of the four FCC commissioners suggested that states still have a role to play – namely to protect consumer interests.

Of course, Internet phone service providers were pleased with the decision. Vonage, for example, had postponed plans to expand into several rural areas while it awaited the FCC action. It can now ramp up those plans again and expects to announce it has entered those new markets in the next two to three months, according to a company representative.

The ruling will come as very bad news to the four regional Bell operating companies, which had a near-monopoly lock on local phone services until Internet phone providers came onto the scene. In a statement, BellSouth Vice President Jonathan Banks urged the FCC to “create a similar regime for all IP-enabled networks and services.” He describes the FCC’s decision as a “critical step towards encouraging the deployment” of such services nationwide.

Cable providers, such as Time Warner Cable, most of which now sell VoIP plans, fear that they’ll be left out of the ruling because their services run over privately owned and operated networks, not the public Internet. “In a perfect world, it would be great in just one proceeding to deal with all the issues, but we can’t do that here,” said FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy. “It would be a mistake to be on sidelines and try and deal with these other regulatory framework issues.”

However, a tougher FCC ruling would have hurt projections that VoIP services will expand from the 1 million homes foreseen at year’s end to about 10 million by the end of the decade. As traditional phone carriers see more local calls flow over the Internet rather than their own more expensive networks, they have been adding their own VoIP-based services to lure business customers away from those companies that specialise in Internet phone technology.

On a slightly different note, Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell said on Tuesday he planned to stay at the agency, possibly through 2007 when his term expires, now that President Bush has been re-elected. Powell, the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, became a commissioner in 1997 and was elevated to chairman in 2001 by Bush. “It’s been one of my great privileges to serve under his leadership and right now that’s what I plan to continue to do,” Powell told reporters. “I’m happy where I am for the moment”, although he also stated that he plans to stay “no later than 2007.”

US FCC

Paid Music Downloads up 150%

New findings from TEMPO reveal that in July of 2004, more than one-third (35 per cent) of American downloaders aged 12 and older had paid a fee to download music or MP3 files off of the Internet, roughly a 150 per cent increase over levels witnessed in late 2003 (compared to 22 per cent in December 2003). This translates into roughly 20 million people within the current US population (according to 2000 US Census figures). The report highlights the evolving role the PC has in music exploration, listening, and purchasing behaviours.

“In the past year, we’ve witnessed the high-profile launches of many new online music services and download stores. Combined with the RIAA’s ongoing campaign to curb file-sharing, this has prompted many increasingly digitally-dependent consumers to experiment with the legitimate online methods of music acquisition currently available,” said Matt Kleinschmit, Vice President for Ipsos-Insight, and author of the TEMPO research.

Thus far, adult downloaders aged 25 to 54 are most likely to have paid to download digital music (40 per cent among 25 to 34 year olds; 46 per cent among 35 to 54 year olds). Interestingly, downloaders aged 12 to 17 were the least likely of all American downloader age groups to say they have paid for digital music (16 per cent), perhaps reflecting the lack of non-credit card based payment methods available on current fee-based services.

Apple Computer, a driving force in online music, has announced that users have downloaded more than 150 million songs from its iTunes Music Store, marking another major milestone for the online music business. iTunes users are now downloading more than 4 million songs per week, a rate of over 200 million songs per year. Apple also sells iTunes gift cards in the US at Best Buy retail stores. “Crossing 150 million downloads marks another major milestone for the online music business,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Applications.

In another move to push online sales, Napster UK, a subsidiary of Roxio, was the first to launch the UK’s first ever digital music pre-paid cards. Available through the Dixons Group, the pre-paid cards are available as gifts or for those without a credit card, giving music fans a unique code that they can redeem against subscriptions or purchases of tracks from Napster’s catalogue.

Napster and Virgin Radio also launched the nation’s very first online music chart on national radio. The Napster Online Music Chart on Virgin Radio counts down the Top 20 tracks taken each week from Napster’s catalogue of over 1 million songs. The chart is not just based on permanent downloads, but also registers full-length streams and subscription downloads, helping to make it a relatively comprehensive assessment of online music tastes (albeit from a single source).

Ipsos-Insight

Vonage & Linksys Connect on VoIP WiFi Router

Vonage Voip Linksys WRT54GP2Linksys’ consumer and small-business oriented Wireless-G Broadband Router is unusual in the way that it offers four devices in one box: a Wireless-G access point, built-in 3-port switch to connect wired Ethernet devices, router so that multiple users can securely share a single cable or DSL Internet connection, and two standard telephone jacks (each operating independently) for carrying Voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls. It also comes with Vonage’s Internet telephony service, so you can start making high-quality low-cost phone calls over a broadband connection out of the box – even when you’re browsing the Internet.

With the added Vonage service, US-based users should get low domestic and international phone rates, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Voicemail, Call Forwarding, Distinctive Ring, and lots of other available special phone features. You can also choose any free local dialling US area code, regardless of where you live, add a virtual phone number in any area code, or even a US-wide toll-free number. Vonage offers price plans ranging from $15 to $50 a month, depending whether you want primarily local or long distance calls, how many inclusive minutes you want, and whether you are a consumer or business buyer.

“Recognising the need for residents and small businesses to have myriad of options when setting up their networks, Vonage is excited to partner with Linksys to continue to lead the way in transforming how people communicate,” stated Jeffrey A Citron, chairman and CEO of Vonage Holdings Corp. “More importantly, the Wireless-G Router bundled with Vonage’s service is the next step in modernising an archaic telecommunications network. No longer will people be stuck in the past and tied down to communications systems that fail to offer true mobility.”

“By providing customers with both the hardware and service they need to make high-quality phone calls over their broadband connection, customers get a better overall value and user experience,” said Mike Wagner, Linksys director of worldwide marketing. “Marketing the product and service together enables us to educate more customers about the benefits and cost savings VoIP can provide.”

Other key features of the Wireless-G Broadband Router (54 Mbps), with the oh-so-catch name of Linksys WRT54GP2, include support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), along with a range of voice compression algorithms with echo cancellation, DTMF tone detection and generation. It can also handle FSK and DTMF caller ID, and FSK voicemail. There’s also 256-bit encryption and support for both Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and the router can serve as a DHCP server, has a built-in SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most known Internet attacks, supports VPN pass-through, and can be configured to filter internal users’ access to the Internet.

US buyers will also get a $50 rebate slip that they can use against the Vonage service after their initial 90 days of service.

:SP: Vonage are pushing hard to expand their VoIP offering. They are spending large amount of money on advertising in the US (rumoured to be around $88m), and now, with this tie-up with Linksys, taking it directly to consumers who are buying broadband equipment. The support for both WiFi and SIP leaves the door wide open for expanding in to wire-free calling too.

Vonage Linksys WRT54GP2

Comcast turns on Microsoft’s TV software

Microsoft’s new TV software, which includes an interactive programme guide (IPG), will support advanced digital cable services, including the launch of dual-tuner digital video recorders to 1 million customers. The move is expected to further attract consumers to video-on-demand (VOD) services.

The announcement is the first major US deployment of Microsoft’s Foundation Edition software. With the launch of dual-tuner DVRs supported by Foundation Edition, Comcast customers will be able to record their favourite programmes digitally using an on-screen interface that Microsoft says is easier to use and navigate compared to the TV Guide Interactive software which dominates the US cable market. Viewers also can pause and rewind live television broadcasts, build a customised list of recordings by using the DVR’s repeat-recording capability to record multiple episodes of favourite shows, as well as record high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasts.

As part of the change, for an extra monthly premium, Comcast will start offering set-top cable boxes with built-in digital recording capabilities and hard disks for storing recorded television – effectively giving the cable box the same functions as stand-alone devices such as TiVo. The price for existing digital-cable customers will be an additional $9.95 per month on top of their current bill. For current high-definition subscribers, the price to upgrade to the digital recording box will be $4.95 per month.

Microsoft TV Foundation Edition software will be available immediately on new advanced digital set-top boxes with dual-tuner DVR technology. The software will be automatically downloaded in phases to all other set-top boxes in Washington state over Comcast’s digital network in the next few months.

“Comcast is a leader in providing new products on our unparalleled two-way digital platform, and we are always looking at new ways to bring our customers more value, choice and control,” said Len Rozek, senior vice president of Comcast’s Washington market. “The Microsoft software will help our customers get an amazing cable television experience. As Comcast continues to roll out advanced video products – such as VOD, HDTV and DVRs – it’s crucial to deliver a user experience that allows customers to easily navigate the many choices they have to find what they want, when they want it.”

Foundation Edition 1.7 helps cable companies maximise revenues by providing a better, more integrated customer experience and better merchandising opportunities for premium TV offerings and managed content services. It gives multiple service operators the opportunity to up-sell new and existing services, whilst striving to improve consumer satisfaction and retention. It also provides consumers with easy access to interactive games and information portals such as local weather, sports and news.

Enhancements to the software include a ‘smart’ progress bar that appears during playback and shows how much of the programme remains and how much buffer space is left, a channel mapping feature that lets you record a series even when it moves from one channel to another, and smart series options that let you record a specific number of episodes, skip rebroadcast episodes and reruns, set priorities for programs in case episodes conflict, and input the start and end times of programs. In addition, buffering lets viewers record the entire show they’re watching even if they don’t start recording until halfway through the program. Knowing Microsoft, there’s also the opportunity somewhere down the road for Media Center PCs to connect to Comcast video services, as well. And if the company manages to strike a deal with other digital TV providers, such as BSkyB, most of us will have Microsoft software in our living rooms as well as our workplaces.