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But analysts estimate that Sling has racked up fewer than 1 million subscribers since it launched in February 2015. Vue's numbers are harder to get a handle on, but it's not on the list of top 10 most popular online video services compiled by research firm Parks Associates. Neither service reports subscriber numbers.

From the article "Toyota Says New Technology Means Longer Battery Life" by Tali Arbel.

Marriott's change of heart in abandoning its practice of blocking use of personal Wi-Fi devices is an acknowledgment of the fact that it was an untenable position for Marriott in the face of legal challenges from the FCC as well as backlash from customers and technology behemoths like Microsoft and Google.

We caught up with Tejas Mehta, research analyst at Parks Associates. Mehta told us that although Marriott may have been spurred more by financial considerations than secur ...read more

There are also threats from rival solutions. Members of the defunct WiMedia Alliance, including Texas Instruments, continue working on alternatives. Some observers, such as Kurt Scherf, vice-president and principal analyst at Dallas-based consultancy Parks Associates, also foresee competition from enhanced versions of the popular Wi-Fi standard now used for wireless networking in hotspots.

From the article, "Home Entertainment Goes Wireless" by Neal Sandler

"The lead application is for doctors to look up information so they can be up-to-date with the latest [Food & Drug Administration] warnings and new drugs to help them write prescriptions," says Harry Wang, director of health and mobile research at Parks Associates in Dallas. "But in the future you'll see devices like the iPhone be a portal to a lot more medical information like patient records and lab results. They'll eventually be writing prescriptions directly from their phones ...read more

"Microsoft has a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade console, which is the cheapest of all three consoles. The entry-level Xbox is $50 cheaper than the [Nintendo] Wii and $200 cheaper than the [Sony] PS3," said Michael Cai, a video-game analyst at Parks Associates. "So if the majority of the units Microsoft sold were from that price point, then obviously it's not surprising. In this economy people want in-home entertainment -- but they also want cheaper entertainment."

Traditionally, Cai sai ...read more

National Geographic on Tuesday announced a new twist for the science and educational organization -- video games. National Geographic Games (NGG) will publish and develop games across major gaming console, handheld, online and mobile platforms. National Geographic also said it will work with premier game publishers and developers to create games based on its core themes and media properties.

"This is a combination of what I call the mainstreamization of video games," said Mich ...read more

Sony's virtual world is much more sophisticated than Microsoft's, according to Michael Cai, a video-game analyst at Parks Associates. Sony has been working on Home for years, and it's a more complex offering. While Cai doesn't think the virtual-world component will rise to become a major competitive differentiator over the short term, that could change.

"Because Sony took a step further with Home, the graphics are so advanced and you can do much more than just create an avatar ...read more