digiANALYSIS, BIZ + BITZ
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Gefen Has Connections in Europe—Gefen has expanded its presence in Europe to 20 countries—additional expansions are also possible in the future. Gefen Distribution GmbH now offers a full-service distribution and storage facility. This is a natural fit, as they offer direct shipping and have local customs control, enabling a timely delivery of audio/video enhancement equipment. A 12-member team services the European region with shipping, warehouse facilities, technical support, sales and marketing services. The company sees this as an opportune time to expand in an area where digital TV is rapidly developing—Munich, Germany
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Winning Wi-Fi Hotties—iPass Inc. provides services that unify the management of enterprise mobility and the company announced it has enhanced its twice-yearly Wi-Fi Hotspot Index to include enterprise 3G usage statistics. They also changed the survey’s name to the iPass Mobile Broadband Index. The new report includes H2 2007 statistics on global Wi-Fi Hotspot usage and adds new information on 2007 2.5G and 3G mobile data usage in the US. The full study is available at https://www.ipass.com/mobileindex. The iPass Mobile Broadband Index summarizes internal data collected by iPass and is intended to represent usage behavior across its base of more than 3,000 enterprise customers, including more than 400 of the Forbes Global 2000—Redwood Shores, California
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MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. has entered into an agreement with Celestial Movie Channel Limited. The latter will distribute their new Celestial Classic Moves on the MEASAT-3 MCPC video platform, starting in April of this year. “In 2006, we welcomed Celestial to our increasing bouquet of premium broadcasting customers on the MEASAT-3 satellite” said Terry Bleakley, MEASAT’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “This year, we are delighted that Celestial has shown their support of MEASAT by launching their third channel on the MEASAT MCPC platform”. Celestial Classic Movies presents Chinese movie masterpieces from the renowned Celestial’s Shaw Brothers library offering audiences access to some of the best Chinese films ever produced—Kuala Lumpur
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Replicators Realign With Licenses—MPEG LA, LLC has announced seven DVD Video disc replicators have become Licensees to MPEG LA’s MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License in conclusion of patent enforcement actions brought by MPEG-2 patent owners in the District Court Düsseldorf, Germany. The seven DVD disc manufacturers include CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH of Germany, East European Authoring and Encoding Centre Ltd. of Bulgaria, GEMA OD S.A. of Spain, GZ Digital Media a.s. of the Czech Republic, MAF Diskettes SrL of Italy, Megaus Sp. z.o.o. of Poland, and The Video Duplicating Co. Ltd. (VDC) of the United Kingdom. Plaintiffs in the cases against the seven DVD Video disc replicators included CIF Licensing, LLC; GE Technology Development, Inc.; Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV; Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Sony Corporation; Thomson Licensing S.A.; The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York; and Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. The MPEG-2 Standard is the core technology underlying the creation, transmission, storage and display of digitized moving images and sound tracks on which DVD and other digital technologies are based; and the DVD-Video Standard (DVD Specifications for Read-Only Disc, Part 3: VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS) requires DVD Video discs to contain information formatted in accordance with the MPEG-2 Standard—Chevy Chase, Maryland
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Delving Into Broadband Services—Research and Markets has added “Snapshots US Broadband Services 2008” to their analysis and research offerings. This overview provides 2007 year-end market size data, with 2008 estimates, 5 years of historical data and five-year forecasts. The Snapshots report offers an instant overview of the US broadband services market. The report covers cable modem, ADSL, SDSL & traditional wireline, fibre and others. Market volume is based on number of subscribers. The data is supplied in graphical and tabular format to ease interpretation and analysis. The Snapshots US Broadband services 2008 forms part of Snapdatas Telecommunications industry coverage. For more information visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c85657—Dublin, Ireland
digiCONTENT, CREATION + DELIVERY
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Interfering Interference—AirDefense offers anywhere, anytime wireless security and the company has just launched AirDefense Enterprise 7.3. This is a wireless intrusion prevention platform the features the first software-only Spectrum Analysis solution, which is used to examine the 2.4 and 5GHz frequencies. This brings to IT administrators a cost-effective, remote troubleshooting solution that identifies possible non-802.11 sources of interference. In addition, AirDefense’s updated Advanced Forensics tool gives administrators the ability to research wireless security and performance events over the course of weeks, months, or even years. The new Centralized Management Console (CMC), along with AirDefense’s new appliance models, provides unparalleled scale for even large organizations. Using Spectrum Analysis, interference sources can be ID’d before critical business services running over wireless networks are impacted. Potential sources of interference include Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, wireless cameras and microwave ovens. AirDefense’s Spectrum Analysis solution is supported on all AirDefense sensor models and does not require expensive, specialized hardware. As non-802.11 interference can be intermittent and difficult to pinpoint, troubleshooting often requires visits to the location where the problem occurs. Sending experienced wireless engineers to remote locations for troubleshooting is often cost-prohibitive. The Spectrum Analysis solution enables wireless engineers to troubleshoot interference issues remotely thus minimizing the number of times a physical site visit is required—Atlanta, Georgia
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SoC It To The Sound—ARC International has intro’d the newest addition to its ARC Sound Subsystem family—the ARC Sound 210E. This fully programmable, licensable solution enables system-on-chip (SoC) designers to build devices that achieve high-quality audio using a very low power budget. The AS 210E is multi-standard and supports a wide range of popular digital audio formats. The ARC Sound 210E Subsystem also supports the award-winning Sonic Focus audio post-processing software and incorporates the recently introduced ARC Energy PRO power management technology. The AS 210E Subsystem is ideal for the feature-rich portable multimedia player (PMP) market, which is one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer electronics industry. The new AS 210E Subsystem’s advanced Energy PRO power management techniques reduce power consumption by turning off the subsystem when no activity is registered. Energy PRO techniques can also conserve power by adjusting operating frequency to match the workload of the device. If enabled by MQX software, Energy PRO can manage power to the entire chip. Not only do these techniques lower the power consumption by over 25 percent when the device is in operation, but also cut power to almost nil when idle. The ARC Sound 210E Subsystem is completely pre-verified and pre-integrated. To reduce overall design effort and time to market, the AS 210E can be integrated in to the Cadence’s Low-Power Solution EDA flow leveraging CPF (Common Power Format). Available with the ARC Sound 210E is a library of software codecs for popular audio formats such as MPEG-2/4 AAC and Dolby Digital, among others—San Jose, California and St. Albans, United Kingdom
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Mouthwatering Media For Smaller Environs—FUZE Media Systems has debuted an entry-level whole-home media solution that’s targeted at vacation homes, condominiums, and apartments. The “Mini Edition” delivers the same ease-of-use, reliability, and whole-home functionality associated with a FUZE Media System—live & recorded TV, movies, music, photos, and more—but is specifically designed for residences with 2 to 3 TVs. The Mini Edition’s price and performance characteristics radically expand the market to which dealers can sell whole-home media systems. The FUZE Mini Edition comes standard with all necessary hardware and software for 2 video and 4 audio zones; a third video zone is offered as an option. The product works with EasyControl UPB, is FuzeTunes ready, and is 100 percent expandable and upgradable to a full FUZE Media System. The system’s server will come standard with 4GB memory, 750GB storage, and a 2.2GHZ processor. The solution will be available in Q2 2008—San Jose, California
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Online Side-Scroller—Outspark has unveiled Pi Story as the first title to join its rapidly growing virtual playground through the Outspark Publishing Platform. An exciting, free, online role-playing game for the PC, Pi Story will be available to the Outspark community during Q2 of 2008. Developed by NCONY, Pi Story is a 2D side-scrolling game featuring anime-style imagery, story-based gameplay and a suite of community features. Players create a character, battle through treacherous dungeons, and gather lost Pi on their quest to reunite a shattered universe. Community features in Pi Story include a party and guild system for cooperative gameplay, personal web diaries featuring text and photos, and a unique housing system that allows players to customize their own dwelling and also visit dwellings built by other players. Outspark and NCONY will release additional details about the game in the coming weeks and months as they work together to make the game part of Outspark’s virtual playground. The Outspark Publishing Platform makes it easy for talented game developers to connect with active players interested in great online gameplay and community—San Francisco, California
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Song Revelations—The time has come, and artists and record labels are now empowered with a new critical mass media utility from SongNumbers.com. Fans can now preview, listen to, and share, as well as purchase content made available by record labels and bands. The patent-pending SongNumbers utility is quite simple to use: Artists assign a phone number from the SongNumbers.com website that anyone with a cell phone can call and then preview their music. At anytime during the call, fans can press #1 to instantly purchase that song! There’s no complicated software, no players to install, no DRM issues—in fact, fans, family and friends can effortlessly purchase your music, anytime, anywhere, 24/7, armed with only their cell phone. AT&T and Alltel are carriers currently available in the U.S You can try out the LIVE demo number at 515.862.1000—Austin, Texas
- A Smaller Look—Tessera Technologies, Inc. has made their OptiML UFL solution available for licensing. This image enhancement solution enables camera phone and webcam module manufacturers to meet the increasing demand for mobile devices that provide better quality images, in smaller form factors and at lower costs. The technology uses a combo of advanced lens design and embedded processing technology to improve low-light performance of a camera module by increasing the amount of available light by as much as 250 percent. This is accomplished without degrading the field depth or other performance factors. Higher-quality images for cameras in mobile devices are possible without the need for any mechanical parts—such provides an alternative to current solutions that require moving parts which are larger, slower, more expensive and less reliable. The OptiML UFL solution offers a unique fast lens design, which enables an F number (F/#) that is significantly lower than a standard lens, without sacrificing the camera module’s close-range focus capability. This greatly improves indoor image capture where low-light situations generally occur—San Jose, California
- A Smaller Look—Tessera Technologies, Inc. has made their OptiML UFL solution available for licensing. This image enhancement solution enables camera phone and webcam module manufacturers to meet the increasing demand for mobile devices that provide better quality images, in smaller form factors and at lower costs. The technology uses a combo of advanced lens design and embedded processing technology to improve low-light performance of a camera module by increasing the amount of available light by as much as 250 percent. This is accomplished without degrading the field depth or other performance factors. Higher-quality images for cameras in mobile devices are possible without the need for any mechanical parts—such provides an alternative to current solutions that require moving parts which are larger, slower, more expensive and less reliable. The OptiML UFL solution offers a unique fast lens design, which enables an F number (F/#) that is significantly lower than a standard lens, without sacrificing the camera module’s close-range focus capability. This greatly improves indoor image capture where low-light situations generally occur—San Jose, California
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A Tiger In Your PS2—THQ Inc. is now shipping El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera to retailers throughout North America for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. The game follows Manny, the youngest member of the famous Rivera family, as he uses his El Tigre powers to save Miracle City from Mikla, the Prince of Doom. Based on the animated TV series on Nickelodeon, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera is rated E for everyone. Players race against the clock in fast-paced, platforming levels based on environments from the TV show that include Miracle City, Calavera Mesa, Old Cemetery and AzTech Ruins. Fans of the show can play as El Tigre, Frida or Black Cuervo in order to rescue the kidnapped Rivera family members. Players can collect points by gathering tokens, defeating enemies and completing levels within the bonus time-limit in order to unlock additional content, defeat bosses and advance the story. This title marks the first appearance of Mikla, the Prince of Doom, a new villain created specifically for the video game by the show’s creator. In addition to the PlayStation2 system version of the game, this game is also available for Nintendo DS—Agoura Hills, California
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Blackberry Harvesting—Logo Vision Wireless(LV)/Movidity develops basic codec and streaming technologies for mobile clients. These codecs permit specialized mobile user interactive control of transmission, display and media content. The company has just announced they have expanded their applications for the BlackBerry wireless solution from Research In Motion. Several LV products run on the BlackBerry 8700, BlackBerry 8800, BlackBerry Pearl 8100 and BlackBerry Curve 8300 series smartphones. The LV solution includes interactive mobile video dbms and user generated content at www.movy.tv, enterprise mobile video (MMES), camera phone streaming (MC2) and large-scale live MultiFeed surveillance (MLSS). The generic LV Player is a highly optimized, downloadable java midlet, providing optimized video decoding on a BlackBerry smartphone or uses the embedded player. The LV Linux server technologies provide dynamic adaptive bitrate encoding of live or archived multimedia—Toronto, Ontario
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