Blog articles from 09/2011

The 2012 Storage Visions Conference is proud to announce that Micron will be a Platinum sponsor and that Ken Brady from Turner Studios will be a Keynote speaker. Both the sponsorship and the keynote highlight the conference theme of “Heavy Storage for Thin Clients.”  The Eleventh Annual Storage Visions Conference will be held at the Riviera Hotel Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 8 & 9, 2012 by the Entertainment Storage Alliance. Note that the speaking...

Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices, wholesale and partnerships at AT&T Mobility talks about whether consumers are really using 3G to connect their tablets, whether multi-device rate plans are on the horizon, and when we will see more affordable LTE-enabled tablets. Mr. Lurie has talked about multi-device plans for devices before, but isn't sure when they will become a reality. He feels the concept is good, but complex and that it depends a great deal on the carriers, because...

U.S. 65+ population will increase by 48% in 2005-2020. The oldest age group (85+) will increase by 43%. In the next five years, technology's role in improving wellness and independent living will expand, creating business opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs and established companies. In this whitepaper , Parks Associates' analyst Harry Wang provides perspectives on the U.S. independent/assisted living industry:

Best Buy Co. recently lost investors due to signs that their big-box strategy is failing to capture cost-conscious shoppers who are shifting more of their spending to online rivals. The electronics chain reported a 30% drop in quarterly profit and saw its stock decline after sales at its U.S. stores, open at least 14 month, dropped for the fifth-consecutive quarter. Its shares, which reached their lowest level since December 2008 in Tuesday trading, fell 6.5% to $23.35. While Best Buy...

The digital revolution is changing the way people view traditional television shows and Internet video by evolving how programs are delivered to consumers. The revolution is also changing how shows are made and who makes them. Netflix Inc. , for example is about to produce its first original show, and Google Inc.'s YouTube is getting ready to launch a series of channels to host programs. Diablo Cody is hosting a new talk show that began as a home video posted on YouTube, and is now...

France is one of the top Western European nations in number of broadband subscribers, with over 21 million at the beginning of 2011, and French consumers are seeking high-speed connections and Wi-Fi connectivity within their homes. DSL is the dominant access technology in a highly competitive broadband market, with incumbent telco France Telecom, under the Orange brand, leading in broadband market share. Iliad and mobile operator SFR have grown to become important players in the...

Passed in the spring of 2010, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes provisions that almost certainly will harm the medical device industry. The most immediate and harmful provision of the Affordable Care Act is a medical device excise tax of 2.3% on medical device revenues, scheduled to go into effect in 2013. The tax is estimated to generate $20 billion in tax revenue annually and is to be levied on the total revenues of a company, regardless of whether the company is...

Parks Associates is supporting GridWeek from September 12-15 in Washington D.C. Tricia Parks, CEO, Parks Associates is also participating as a panelist during the session, "The 'Personal' Grid" on Tuesday, September 13 from 10:30 AM to 12 PM. Broadly recognized as the most important annual gathering for Smart Grid, is the only event with a proven history of attracting the complete diversity of global Smart Grid stakeholders to define strategies for energy business, policy,...