Blog articles from 04/2011

ESPN has recently made its flagship cable sports network available live on Apple Inc.'s mobile devices for subscribers to pay-TV service from Time Warner Cable Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Bright House Networks. Customers of those providers can download the free software from Apple's App Store, confirm their subscription, and view ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com on their iPad, iPhone or iPod just as shows appear on a regular TV but without commercials. ESPN's new App can...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Affordable Care Act"), passed in the spring of 2010, has some favorable provisions for health insurers. The law, after its full enactment in 2014, will require near universal coverage, resulting in a net addition of 35-40 million members to the existing insured pool. Private health insurers will benefit from enrolling low-risk populations, e.g., people who opt out of an employer-sponsored insurance plan due to belief that they...

Broadband World Forum Asia 2011 , co-located with IP&TV Forum Asia - has today announced the launch of a free show floor seminar programme. The Broadband Enablers programme will provide visitors with a free opportunity to discuss the latest technology innovations from service providers and operators at the Seminar Theatre located on the Broadband World Forum Asia exhibition floor. Featuring presentations such as Adding Value to a Commodity Product: Assessing which applications...

Gaming on social networks has quickly become the most visible category of online games. Currently, more than 250 million people play games like Zynga's CityVille and FarmVille on Facebook every month, and both game developers and marketers have taken notice. Big brands such as McDonald’s and 7-Eleven have carried out cross-promotions with existing social games. In addition, the social gaming industry has improved user monetization. While early entrants often missed...

Parks Associates is supporting the Game Investment Conference in Austin, TX on April 13th. The Game Investment Conference will provide answers by bringing together leaders from the game industry and investment community to share their perspectives on current strategic trends, the challenges facing the market and how investors can navigate an increasingly complex market. Pietro Macchiarella , Research Analyst will be presenting during the session, "Social Games"...

Three weeks after booting the Opera Mini web browser from its app store, GetJar and Opera have come to an agreement that again allows the browser to be featured among GetJar’s offerings. The dispute began when Opera announced it was launching its own app store, accessible directly from the Opera Mini browser, thus becoming a direct competitor to independent app-store giant GetJar. While details of the settlement between the parties have not been released, the version of Opera Mini now...