Blog articles from 08/2010

Marvell's acquisition of the intellectual property and assets of DS2 has rolled up the last of the big independent powerline networking chipset vendors. First, CopperGate acquired the HomePlug assets from Conexant (and then itself got purchased by Sigma Designs), and Atheros purchased Intellon. It's a trend that signifies the importance of well-integrated networking solutions that may leverage at least a couple of networking technologies, including Wi-Fi and "no-new-wires."...

Join Parks Associates on August 26 at 1 pm CENTRAL for the HomeGrid Forum sponsored webcast, Connected TV Outlook, and learn more about how the key technology trends behind developments in this space. Kurt Scherf , VP, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates will present analysis and forecasts from Parks Associates examining the following: -- Analysis on key business and technology drivers for connected TV devices -- Consumer appetite & drivers for the purchase &...

I had an interesting call with Western Digital yesterday regarding their WD TV Live Plus product, one that we categorize as a Networked Digital Video Player. They indicate that recent sales numbers actually have them leading this category for the U.S. market. They note that they're even beating the vaunted Roku Digital Video Player . After years of hand-wringing about how (or if) digital media adapters would sell (which they really didn't until it was determined that streamed...

Parks Associates is supporting the Music & Advertising from September 15-16 in Chicago, IL . Join Billboard and Adweek in Chicago to explore how the worlds of music and advertising are intertwined, and examine how big brands, artists and music supervisors are benefiting from working together during captivating keynotes interviews, informative case studies, and interactive panel discussions. More Info

One of the key takeaways from our 2010 CONNECTIONS™ conference was a note that we would expect to see more activity in developing security solutions for devices beyond the PC. I have made note of some of the interesting activity in this space this year, particularly with companies such as Mocana being more active in developing security solutions for smartphones. Today's news that Intel is buying McAfee for a is a reflection on the heterogeneity of IP devices, and Intel's own...

There are more indications that TV Everywhere is going to mean more than just having programs available on the computer; it's going to encompass many consumer electronics platforms. Take, for instance, the announcement yesterday from Clearleap and RCDb , where a Blu-ray player can receive premium video-on-demand content. Then, look at Cablevision's Tom Rutledge (COO), who indicated that the company is already trialing IPTV applications to bring video to Web-enabled devices such as...

Today, Verizon announced the development of an app that will allow streaming of FiOS TV to Apple iPads. Verizon's app further expands the growing TV Everywhere trend as well as the number of companies providing video content to the iPad platform. However, before you plan on watching reruns of Top Shot at the office, you may note that Verizon plans for the service to only be available inside the home for FiOS customers.

Today's Wall Street Journal indicates that Google has been in touch with broadcasters such as ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC to encourage them to work with the service by sharing data about their online video websites to make it easier for Google to capture data for searching and to provide their video in a quality that will be high-quality enough for a television screen. So far, the broadcasters are not biting, according to the article. They have the same fears that the television service...