Blog articles from 06/2012

Innovations in wireless technology have made mobile Internet capabilities common and popular features on numerous portable consumer devices, including laptops, smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and e-book readers. Data usage has increased dramatically as a result of more devices and consumer use of bandwidth-intensive services and applications. Allot Communications, a provider of network optimization solutions to global mobile operators, reported global mobile data bandwidth usage soared...

This week, AT&T joins the dispute with AMC Networks over carriage fees; already in the battle? Dish Network. The U-verse TV service provider says it can’t/won’t/shouldn’t have to pay what it contends is an “excessive rate increase,” one that potentially will have to be passed on to viewers. AT&T says AMC—the network that carries shows like “Mad Men” and “Walking Dead”--is asking it to pay nearly double what it thinks other operators are paying, and...

Getting Over-The-Top Video Right whitepaper examines the market for home video entertainment and its rapid change. Consumers are watching an increasing amount of video on an increasing number of platforms. Connected CE is also changing video consumption on the TV. These changes are simultaneously lowering entry barriers and creating new requirements for companies aiming to offer a comprehensive home entertainment service. Download the whitepaper here .  The Trends in Digital...

Research estimates 2011 revenue from connected home and security monitoring services at $9.4B and will grow to $13.8B by 2016.Tom Kerber, will address this growing market, including opportunities, consumer demand, and future growth for bundled servicesat the Electronic Security Expo (ESX)on Tuesday, June 26th in Nashville, Tennessee. ESX is the only major, national trade event focused purely on the needs of installation, integration, and monitoring companies. ESX offers business,...

Ooyala has raised $35 million in new capital to standardize digital video experiences provided by multi-service operators and TV programmers worldwide on the Ooyala video streaming, monetization and discovery platform. Telstra Applications and Ventures Group, a subsidiary of Australia's largest telecommunications and information services company Telstra , led the Series E round, with prior investors Sierra Ventures, Rembrandt Venture Partners and CID Group participating in addition to...

Facebook has recently announced that it is phasing out Facebook Credits, which once had the potential to become the social network’s own currency. When Facebook Credits launched in 2009, the social network required game developers like Zynga to use Facebook Credits as a payment platform and even tried selling Facebook Credit gift cards on the shelves of stores like Target and Walmart. Industry analysts originally saw the potential for Facebook Credits to eventually become a...

Belgium is poised to enact a new Telecom Act that will require pay-TV operators to limit customer contract termination fees to the first six months of their deals, but Belgium’s Telenet is going a step further. The cable operator says that starting Oct. 1, it will allow most TV, broadband and telephony customers to cancel penalty free at any time, unless they subscribe to Prime, Sporting Telenet and its TV Plus package, which already are exempt from the new Telecom regulations....

Belkin  has made a surprise entry into the place-shifting arena with @TV Plus, a set-top box allowing you to stream video from your home TV to your tablet, smartphone, or laptop over WiFi or a 3G/4G cellular connection. This is a direct competitor to Slingbox, which was acquired by EchoStar a few years ago and has languished a bit while maintaining the dominant position in the niche place-shifting market.  Like the Slingbox, @TV Plus works with both standard...