RT Gets First Russian TV Channel Emmy News Nomination.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Russian television channel RT's coverage of the first visit to Russia by U.S. President Barack Obama in July 2009 is up for the top industry prize presented by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences,and major rivals for the Emmy include Sky News, Al-Jazeera English and TV Globo. "The 2010 International Emmy Award Nominees for News & Current Affairs offer a fascinating window into the human drama constantly unfolding around the world in conflict zones, politics or even daily life," said Bruce L. Paisner, President & CEO of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. "We congratulate them for their outstanding achievements in television reporting." Earlier in June RT was nominated for two Golden Nymph awards at the world's biggest annual Monte Carlo Television Festival. RT's "Mortal Motor City: Detroit on the Edge," a four-minute story on once booming center of U.S. auto industry, was running for the top prize in Best TV News Package category. Reaching the finals in Best 24-Hour News Program was "Nightclub Horror," RT's coverage of the tragic fire at the nightclub Lame Horse in the Russian city of Perm. Also in June the channel has won three gold awards and one bronze at the Promax/BDA World Gold Awards 2010 -- the industry's standard-setting competition in television design and marketing. Additionally, two gold awards went to the highly debated posters of RT's QUESTION MORE promotion campaign, which received widespread and heated coverage in the Western mass-media and Internet blogs. Major U.S. airports went as far as refusing to display RT's controversial images. In January the campaign was recognized as the Ad of the Month by the British Awards for National Newspaper Advertising. "Five years ago, when RT was being set up, we wouldn't have believed that we would be able to compete as equals against the best of world's TV news crews in such a short space of time. And this is what is happening now. Of course, we are happy and proud. We would like to thank the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its objective approach," RT's Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said. The 2010 Emmy International Television Awards will take place in New York on September 27.

ASMP Joins NDSA as Founding Member.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) is the newest founding member of the Library of Congress’ National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), an outgrowth of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). NDSA is a collaborative effort among government agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and business entities to preserve a national collection of significant digital content. The NDSA invited ASMP to join the Alliance as part of its process of identifying and recruiting institutions with shared commitment to digital preservation and access. ASMP’s membership responsibilities, which continue until the end of 2013, include serving the public good by ensuring long-term preservation of and access to high-value digital content. According to ASMP Executive Director Eugene Mopsik, “ASMP is pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of this important initiative, and to continue to share our commitment and dedication to digital preservation and access in this forum.” ASMP has been working with NDIIPP over the past year on its dpBestflow project, in which a team of experts and thought leaders were assembled to create guidelines for streamlining and improving the process, production and preservation of commercial digital artwork. According to the Society, founded in 1944, ASMP is focused in promoting photographers’ rights, providing education in better business practices, producing business publications for photographers, and helping to connect purchasers with professional photographers. ASMP has 39 chapters across the country and its members include many of the world’s foremost photographers.

Digital Radio Installed Base to Approach 200 Million by 2015.
Monday, August 16, 2010

According to a recent report titled “Digital Radio” from technology market research firm ABI Research, the digital radio market has just began to see consumer adoption in the US and Western Europe. By the end of 2010, about four million digital radios using iBiquity’s proprietary HD Radio technology will have shipped in the US. In Europe (led by Britain) governments have chosen the DAB standard and consumers have purchased nearly 13.5 million radio receivers. By 2015, the worldwide installed base of digital radio receivers, excluding handsets, is expected to reach nearly 200 million units. “Smartphones are expected to include digital radio receivers starting in mid-2011, driven by carriers’ desire to offer users premium audio content while limiting the use of scarce radio spectrum,” says ABI Research senior analyst Sam Rosen. “This concern is demonstrated by AT&T’s decision to stop offering unlimited data plans, due largely to high data usage in New York and San Francisco resulting from Internet radio sites such as Pandora.” Digital radio technologies, including satellite radio and Internet radio, are expected to reverse trends of decreasing listenership. Listeners will have access to niche programming targeted to narrower demographic segments and will respond to a more interactive user experience enabled by program guides and other enhancements. Broadcasters, in turn, will have a larger reach and the ability to provide better targeted and more interactive ads. “The US adoption of HD Radio began in the automotive sector, but finally extended into portable and home devices in 2010. The adoption of DAB radios in Europe has been led primarily by tabletop radio sales in the UK,” says Rosen. In addition to the US and the UK, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway all have significant broadcast infrastructure in place, with Australia, Germany and France to complete the majority of their infrastructure in 2011.

Blackmagic Design Acquires EchoLab.
Friday, August 13, 2010

Blackmagic Design today announced the acquisition of all assets of EchoLab Inc., one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of production switchers. EchoLab has over 35 years of experience in designing and building production switchers since 1974. For the thousands of people who use production switchers, ATEM will be instantly familiar. It uses the conventional M/E style of design that’s easy, safe and fast to use on even the most critical live production. ATEM also combines powerful features such as SuperSource, which is a separate multi layer engine with 4 x 2D picture in picture DVE’s and 4 x keyers that provide the same power as adding a whole extra multiple M/E switcher to the ATEM input. SuperSource can be called at any time, and connects into the switcher as an input. For connecting to the widest range of cameras, decks and computers, the ATEM 1 M/E model includes 8 SDI inputs that operate at SD, HD and 3 Gb/s SDI, plus 2 switchable HDMI/Analog video inputs. ATEM includes multiple SDI outputs for program, preview, and aux. outputs, plus an HDMI output for the multi-view monitoring output. The ATEM 2 M/E model includes 15 x SD, HD and 3 Gb/s SDI inputs, as well as 3 x switchable HDMI/analog inputs for a total of 18 video inputs. ATEM 2 M/E also includes two multi-viewer outputs, clean feed, aux., program and preview SDI outputs. All ATEM switchers include serial ports for camera and VDCP servers as well as genlock. “I have been using live production switchers since I was in school where we covered local theater, sports, racing and bands. I think it’s the most exciting way to do production because it’s all live and thousands of people are watching what you are doing! Production switchers need to be powerful while also being familiar and easy to operate. I think the ATEM switchers from EchoLab are the most exciting switchers I have ever seen, and it’s incredibly exciting to add these products and intellectual property to the Blackmagic Design family,” said Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design. “The ATEM switcher is a fantastic creative tool, and it includes powerful features not found in any other product. Since the acquisition, we have already dramatically expanded the engineering team working on ATEM. This fresh engineering team, which is a combination of new as well as experienced EchoLab staff, will allow us to move faster in adding new features to the ATEM product. It’s so exciting, I cannot sleep!” The ATEM production switchers will be demonstrated at the Blackmagic Design IBC 2010 booth #7.B25.

EPIX and Netflix Announce Exclusive Deal.
Thursday, August 12, 2010

EPIX and Netflix, Inc. have announced an agreement through which Netflix members can instantly watch an array of new releases and library titles from EPIX streamed over the Internet from Netflix. EPIX has subscription pay TV rights to new releases and movies from the libraries of its partners and will make these movies available to Netflix 90 days after their premium pay TV and subscription on demand debuts. Historically, the rights to distribute these films are pre-sold to pay TV for as long as nine years after their theatrical release. For Netflix, the agreement is a significant step in building the company’s streaming offer, adding many popular movie titles from some of the world’s leading studios. It adds meaningfully to a growing library of movies and TV shows that can be watched instantly on TVs via a range of leading consumer electronic devices capable of streaming from Netflix and on computers. The agreement allows EPIX to continue the distribution of popular content on a variety of platforms and preserve the premium television, subscription on demand and online window reserved for cable, satellite and telco television partners. “Adding EPIX to our growing library of streaming content, as the exclusive Internet-only distributor of this great content, marks the continued emergence of Netflix as a leader in entertainment delivered over the Web,” said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. “The EPIX deal is an example of the innovative ways in which we’re partnering with major content providers to broaden the scope and freshness of choices available to our members to watch instantly over the Internet.” Movies from the multi-year deal will begin streaming from Netflix on September 1 and include movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM.

New York State Files Antitrust Suit Against LCD Manufacturers.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo this week filed an antitrust action against several major technology companies for illegally fixing prices for liquid crystal display (“LCD”) screens used in computers, televisions, and cell phones. The lawsuit seeks to recover damages suffered from 1996 to 2006 by New York State and other public purchasers - local governments, schools, hospitals, and colleges, among others - that purchased computers and other goods containing the price-fixed screens. The suit, which seeks damages, restitution, and civil penalties was filed in State Supreme Court in New York County, and alleges that companies in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, and their U.S. counterparts, engineered a cartel that dominated the $70 billion market for LCD screens for approximately a decade. The alleged cartel - which includes LG Display, Hitachi, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba and others - ensured that LCD prices were set not by competition, but by detailed and explicit secret agreements among the competitors. New York State purchasers paid artificially higher prices for products containing LCD panels as a result of the illegal conspiracy. “Our investigation shows that an illegal cartel eliminated competition in the marketplace for LCD screens, made its own secret decisions to boost prices, and then took steps to make those high prices stick,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “As a result, hard-pressed New York cities, towns, schools, and hospitals spent hundreds of millions of dollars on LCD screens affected by the illegal conspiracy. My office is bringing this case to get those illegal overcharges back.”

According to the Attorney General, the lawsuit cites evidence that:

- Top-level executives, including CEOs, attended secret meetings on a regular monthly or quarterly basis to agree on minimum prices, price targets and increases, and prices to be charged to specific computer manufacturers;
- Companies exchanged production information and agreed to certain output levels;
- In order to cover up the conspiracy, companies coordinated their messages to their customers and manipulated media announcements in order to give the false impression that their agreed upon price hikes were due to supply and demand conditions; and
- Because of the cartel, conspirators were able to avoid competition and keep LCD prices artificially high to the detriment of computer manufacturers and consumers.

This case is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General John Ioannou and Geralyn J. Trujillo and Acting Chief of the Antitrust Bureau Richard L. Schwartz, under the supervision of Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Michael Berlin and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Maria Vullo.

Boeing to Build Three New Com Satellites.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Boeing this week announced that it has received a contract from Inmarsat to build three Ka-band satellites to add to Inmarsat's current mobile satellite services fleet. The fixed-price contract, with options, calls for three 702HP commercial spacecraft with 89 Ka-band beams that will operate in geosynchronous orbit with flexible global coverage. The new satellite series, called Inmarsat-5, draws on Boeing's four decades of experience gained from the production of more than 175 commercial communications satellites and its extensive expertise in Ka-band satellite communications systems. The Boeing satellites will provide Inmarsat with the ability to adapt to shifting subscriber usage patterns of high data rates, specialized applications and evolving demographics over a projected 15-year lifetime. In a separate arrangement, Boeing has also entered into a distribution partnership with Inmarsat to provide L- and Ka-band capacity to key users within the U.S. government. The Inmarsat-5 spacecraft will be compatible with the Ariane, Sea Launch, Proton and Atlas launch vehicles. Launch services will be procured by Inmarsat. "This contract represents a best-value solution that combines Boeing's unmatched commercial satellite heritage and Ka-band satellite communications experience to meet Inmarsat's satellite requirements," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems. "Boeing has produced more Ka-band satellite communications systems than any other manufacturer, and we are currently producing the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite series, which is the primary Ka-band system for the U.S. government. We are committed to a successful partnership with Inmarsat for this newest addition to their service fleet." Financial details were not disclosed.

Parade Announces First T-CON Designed to Meet New eDP v1.2 Spec.
Monday, August 09, 2010

Video display and interface IC supplier Parade Technologies Ltd., has announced that the company has released the world’s first video display timing controller (T-CON) IC that satisfies the recently updated VESA eDP v1.2 specification. Designed specifically to help accelerate DisplayPort adoption by system OEMs Parade’s new DP616 chip lowers total system cost and system power requirements by eliminating the need for an external voltage regulator. The DP616 is an eDP sink device that accepts video input from a CPU or GPU and converts it into mini-LVDS row and column video data for use by a display panel. The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) announced the version 1.2 upgrade of its embedded DisplayPort (eDP) spec last month. The DP616 is a one-lane main link T-CON that supports eDP link rates up to 2.7Gbps. The device supports all panel resolutions up to WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) with 18-bit color depth, and WXGA+ (1440 x 900) with 24-bit color depth. To significantly reduce total system power requirements, the DP616 incorporates an internal switching regulator. By eliminating the need for an external linear regulator—used in almost all panel designs to step down standard eDP supply voltage from 3.3 to 1.2 volts—the Parade DP616 reduces both the bill-of-materials cost and total system power requirements. Parade estimates that eliminating a discrete linear regulator from a panel design will reduce system power consumption by as much as 175mW. The DP616 also uses crystal-free technology, has an integrated color engine and supports the new dynamic backlight control capabilities that are part of the v1.2 spec. VESA’s eDP standard is replacing LVDS as the common standard for linking CPUs and graphic controllers with displays in mobile computers. The new v1.2 specification now supports higher data rates and other new capabilities that further reduce the number of interconnect wires required over the link. “Our first-generation eDP T-CON was very successful. Its widespread adoption enabled Parade to accumulate valuable OEM feedback to develop our second-generation device, which emphasizes total system cost reduction and power efficiency,” explains Jimmy Chiu, VP of Marketing at Parade Technologies. “As a key contributor to the DisplayPort effort, Parade was ready with our v1.2 device as soon as the new eDP spec was finalized.” The DP616 is sampling now, and production volumes will be available in 4Q10. The DP616 is expected to be available for $1.45 /ea. in high volume.

Phoebe Yang Named Senior Advisor to the Chairman on Broadband.
Friday, August 06, 2010

This week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the appointment of Phoebe Yang as Senior Advisor to the Chairman on Broadband. As part of the Office of the Chairman, Ms. Yang heads the core team managing the Commission’s broadband priorities, as set forth in Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan. According to the Commission, in this role, Ms. Yang works with other federal, international, state and local entities on advancing the Commission’s broadband agenda; and serves as the Commission’s primary point of contact to enable the use of broadband to promote key national priorities, such as improving heath care, education, and energy efficiency. She serves as the Commission’s representative to the Executive Branch inter-agency working group charged with implementation of the National Broadband Plan across the federal government and works closely with all the Commission’s Bureaus and Offices to advance the goals and recommendations of the National Broadband Plan. “Phoebe has played an absolutely critical role in creating the National Broadband Plan, and I am delighted that she will be staying to help me lead our continuing work to ensure that the enormous benefits of broadband are available and affordable to all Americans,” said Chairman Genachowski. Ms. Yang most recently served as General Counsel of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative at the Commission, in which role she was Chair of the Broadband Steering Committee. Her prior experience includes executive roles at Discovery Communications, as Vice President of Corporate Development and Vice President of Digital Media Operations and Strategy; and at AOL Time Warner as Vice President of International Strategy and Policy focused on China. She served under President Bill Clinton as Special Coordinator for China Rule of Law and practiced corporate law at Hogan & Hartson. She served as law clerk to The Honorable William Schwarzer (N.D., California). She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. She received her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she was President and Editor-in-Chief of the Stanford Law Review.

ASMP Files Brief in Defense of First Amendment.
Thursday, August 05, 2010

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), joined by the Alabama Press Association, has submitted an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief in support of defendant Daniel A. Moore in the case The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama v. New Life Art, Inc. and Daniel A. Moore in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. At issue is the extent to which artistic expression is protected by the First Amendment when trademarked images are used in artwork. Moore, an award-winning artist who is known for capturing great moments in sports history, was originally sued for trademark infringement by the University of Alabama in 2005. The University claimed its trademarks rights were violated by Moore's depiction of its player uniforms as well as by other images in his fine art prints and memorabilia of scenes from its football games. Though the District Court found that Moore's larger prints were protected by the First Amendment, it ruled that mini-prints, calendars and other items were not. Since that time, a legal battle has ensued in which both sides have appealed and the University has been joined by a number of other prominent universities in filing an amicus brief. According to ASMP General Counsel Victor S. Perlman, "The potential effect of this ruling is to limit the expression of every visual artist who takes a photo in which there is a logo and, thus, effectively to censure artwork." Further, Perlman says, "This decision applies trademark protection where it is not needed -- to an artist who is not using a trademark for trademark purposes." The Brief filed by ASMP urges the Court to protect Moore's art and argues that it passes the First Amendment test of having artistic relevance to its underlying expression and images which are not misleading in nature. Moore used the images in which the University claims trademark rights to faithfully and accurately depict historical plays and moments in Alabama football. The Brief argues that these works have been presented to the public without any intention to deceive and are, therefore, entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment. The brief was filed on behalf of ASMP by J. Michael Murray and Lorraine R. Baumgardner of Berkman, Gordon, Murray & DeVan, with Mr. Perlman of counsel.

Corning Invests in U.S. Manufacturing.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Corning Incorporated this week announced that its board of directors recently approved a capital expenditure of approximately $180 million to expand the company’s Harrodsburg, Ky., manufacturing facility. The expansion will provide additional capacity for Corning’s surging Gorilla glass business and entry into the growing thin-film photovoltaic glass market. “Growing demand for Gorilla glass is quickly consuming our available capacity,” James P. Clappin , president, Corning’s Precision Glass businesses, said. “We are on track to reach sales in excess of $250 million this year and sales could approach the $1 billion mark in 2011. We are making Gorilla glass manufacturing and technology investments today to meet the growing market need of the future,” he said. Gorilla glass is currently used or designed into more than 200 mobile devices and is planned for about 100 others. Gorilla glass is an ideal cover glass for smart phones, which today represent almost 60 percent of the global mobile phone market. “Gorilla glass is also an appealing solution for the emerging slate computing environment. It is highly damage-resistant and scratch-resistant. The optical quality and elegance of Gorilla glass also makes it a superb cover glass for the thin, edge-to-edge design of LCD televisions,” Clappin said. Corning also will build capacity in its Harrodsburg facility to begin producing specialty glass for thin-film photovoltaics. The company will use its proprietary fusion manufacturing process to produce the thin-film photovoltaic glass. According to Corning, the new specialty thin glass can greatly improve the solar module’s energy conversion efficiency and reduce weight while maintaining product strength and long-term reliability. “Thin-film photovoltaic technology is a rapidly advancing solution within the fast-growing solar energy industry and plays to Corning’s strengths in flat glass, materials science, and light management,” said Dr. Gary Calabrese, vice-president, science and technology and director, Photovoltaic Glass Technologies. “We have already generated significant customer interest in our innovative solutions,” he said. Corning’s Harrodsburg facility is currently undergoing its third major product transformation since opening in 1952. The facility originally manufactured various ophthalmic products, including photochromic glass. In the mid-1980s, the plant became the focus of its nascent LCD glass business, continuing to produce small-generation substrates until recently shifting into Gorilla and photovoltaic glass production. The facility has also excelled in its role as Corning’s glass-melting technology center, where engineers work closely with scientists at the company’s Sullivan Park Research and Technology Center to develop advanced fusion-formed glass for display, photovoltaic and other emerging applications. The Harrodsburg investments are included in Corning’s previously announced capital expenditure expectations for 2010 and 2011.

Researchers Melt Silicon in Reverse.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Like an ice cube on a warm day, most materials melt — that is, change from a solid to a liquid state — as they get warmer. But a few oddball materials do the reverse: They melt as they get cooler. Now a team of researchers at MIT has found that silicon, the most widely used material for computer chips and solar cells, can exhibit this strange property of “retrograde melting” when it contains high concentrations of certain metals dissolved in it. The material, a compound of silicon, copper, nickel and iron, “melts” (actually turning from a solid to a slush-like mix of solid and liquid material) as it cools below 900 degrees Celsius, whereas silicon ordinarily melts at 1414 degrees C. The much lower temperatures make it possible to observe the behavior of the material during melting, based on specialized X-ray fluorescence microprobe technology using a synchrotron — a type of particle accelerator — as a source. The material for the tests consisted of a kind of sandwich made from two thin layers of silicon, with a filling of copper, nickel and iron between them. This was first heated enough to cause the metals to dissolve into the silicon, but below silicon’s melting point. The amount of metal was such that the silicon became supersaturated — that is, more of the metal was dissolved in the silicon than would normally be possible under stable conditions. For example, when a liquid is heated, it can dissolve more of another material, but then when cooled down it can become supersaturated, until the excess material precipitates out. The findings could be useful in lowering the cost of manufacturing some silicon-based devices, especially those in which tiny amounts of impurities can significantly reduce performance. In the material studied, impurities tend to migrate to the liquid portion, leaving regions of purer silicon behind. This could make it possible to produce some silicon-based devices, such as solar cells, using a less pure, and therefore less expensive, grade of silicon that would be purified during the manufacturing process. “If you can create little liquid droplets inside a block of silicon, they serve like little vacuum cleaners to suck up impurities,” said team leader and SMA Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing MIT, Tonio Buonassisi. Buonassisi predicted in a 2007 paper that it should be possible to induce retrograde melting in silicon, but the conditions needed to produce such a state, and to study it at a microscopic level, are highly specialized and have only recently become available. To create the right conditions, Buonassisi and his team had to adapt a microscope “hot-stage” device that allowed the researchers to precisely control the rate of heating and cooling. And to actually observe what was happening as the material was heated and cooled, they drew upon high-power synchrotron-based X-ray sources at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California and at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. According to Buonassisi, this research could also lead to new methods for making arrays of silicon nanowires — tiny tubes that are highly conductive to heat and electricity. The material and its properties are described in a paper just published online in the journal Advanced Materials. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the Clare Booth Luce Foundation, Doug Spreng and the Chesonis Family Foundation, and some equipment was provided by McCrone Scientific.

DLNA Sees Surge in Certified Blu-ray Players.
Monday, August 02, 2010

The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) today announced that the number of DLNA Certified Blu-ray players has nearly doubled in 2010, bringing the total to 105. DLNA member companies, including: JVC, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony have all received certification for their Blu-ray players, continuing their commitment to help consumers easily manage, share and enjoy their digital content throughout their lives. The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), an industry-funded, non-profit corporation that compiles quarterly sales data on home entertainment, has been tracking the increasing popularity of Blu-ray players in the home. The DEG reports overall household penetration of Blu-ray compatible devices has now reached more than 18 million homes in the U.S. A recent Digitimes Research study found that global sales volume of Blu-ray players will increase to 40 million units in 2011 and further to 52 million units in 2012. According to the Alliance, devices such as Blu-ray players are helping to redefine the digital living room. They are no longer just devices for viewing optical media, but are becoming broadband media devices that are integrated with a number of video-on-demand services. "At Philips Consumer Lifestyle, we believe that freedom in sharing and accessing multimedia content in the home is very important. However, we also believe this only works when various products can easily communicate and connect to each other," said Jeroen Steenblik, senior marketing manager at Philips Consumer Lifestyle. DLNA Certified Blu-ray players adhere to DLNA Interoperability Guidelines and join the more than 7,500 DLNA Certified® products in an extensive range of device categories including: personal computers, mobile devices, televisions, digital cameras, network attached storage devices and printers.

FCC Launches Consumer Help Center.
Friday, July 30, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission has announced that consumers now have an easy-to-use, Consumer Help Center that puts them within one click of all the information they want from the FCC. The new portal launched this week at www.fcc.gov/consumers allows consumers to learn about different issues in telecommunications, make it easy for consumers to find out what’s going on at the FCC, get tips for making the best choices in purchasing communications devices and services, have their voices heard by filing comments on issues that interest them, and file a complaint when there are problems. “Our new Consumer Help Center makes it easy for consumers to learn about our work and take action,” says Joel Gurin, Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the FCC. “Here, in one place, consumers can do a number of things such as read about consumer issues, get practical advice for avoiding problems, file a complaint, comment on our rulemakings, or read what our FCC experts are saying in our Consumer Blog.” The Consumer Help Center is produced by the FCC’s Consumer Task Force, an inter-bureau group established by Chairman Julius Genachowski at the beginning of 2010. The Task Force has led several recent initiatives on major consumer issues. The Consumer Help Center includes:

- Everything consumers need to know about Bill Shock and
Early Termination Fees -- two common issues that affect wireless customers
- Savvy Traveler tips -- advice on making phone calls when travelling abroad
- Broadband Speed Test -- consumers can test the speed of their broadband service
- Fact Sheet Library – more than 150 consumer Fact Sheets on telecom subjects
- Links to additional resources on a range of issues, including privacy
- Links to file a complaint to the FCC or comment on our rulemakings
- Blog posts about consumer issues -- with consumer comments welcome
- News releases, statements, and FCC actions

The site is scheduled to be updated to include new FCC consumer initiatives as they are launched.

Internet-Enabled TV Trumps 3-D TV in 2010.
Thursday, July 29, 2010

While the consumer electronics headlines this year have been dominated by 3-D television news, the real story in 2010 is about Internet-Enabled TVs (IETVs), according to iSuppli Corp. Global shipments of IETVs—i.e., TV sets with built-in Internet capability—will amount to 27.7 million units in 2010. In contrast, 3-D set shipments will total only 4.2 million this year. While 3-D television shipments are set to soar in the coming years, iSuppli’s forecast shows the biggest near-term growth story is in IETV. “Despite aggressive promotions from the industry and intense consumer interest generated by the blockbuster Avatar and other titles, the 3-D TV market in 2010 will be limited to a small pool of enthusiastic early adopters,” said Riddhi Patel, director and principal analyst for television systems at iSuppli. “In contrast, IETV is entering the mainstream in 2010. This is because 3-D is still dealing with a number of barriers, including cost, content availability and interoperability, while IETV provides immediate benefits by allowing TV viewers to access a range of content readily available on the Internet.” Shipments of IETVs in 2010 will rise by a remarkable 124.9 percent from 12.3 million units last year. Significant growth will continue during the following years. All told, IETV shipments will expand at rates north of 50 percent for the next two years, and then continue to increase at solid double-digit rates until the end of 2014. By then, global IETV shipments are anticipated to reach 148.3 million units, accounting for 54 percent of the total flat-panel TV market. With IETV, Patel noted, viewers can connect to the Internet at all times by using their TV’s built-in feature, bypassing the need for a bridge device such as a set-top box, game console or Internet media adapter like Apple Inc.’s TV console. Such connectivity allows viewers to access content from a wide spectrum of providers—ranging from movie peddlers like Netflix and Amazon, to content aggregators such as Hulu, to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. At the same time, TV brands and manufacturers are working aggressively to create partnerships with the content providers in order to keep consumers interested and happy with continually updated material, Patel added. “The arrival of Internet-enabled TV models is part of the ongoing evolution and enhancement of TV sets,” Patel said. “Because innovation is a must in order to drive consumer adoption and replacement, the TV industry has embarked on a path of enhancing the consumer experience through interaction with their TV sets.” Among regions, North America and Western Europe will make up the largest consumption market for IETVs from 2010 to 2014. Japan will lay claim as the third largest market only until 2012, after which it will drop to fifth place, ranking behind both China and the collective area designated as Rest of Asia-Pacific—two distinct territories counted separately in the tallies.

Panasonic Introduces World's First 3D Consumer Camcorder.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Panasonic today announced the launch of the Panasonic HDC-SDT750, the world's first consumer 3D camcorder. In addition to shooting 3D, the SDT750 can record full 1080p High Definition (HD) in AVCHD, when the 3D conversion lens is unattached, and includes features such as a 3MOS system, a Leica Dicomar lens and a 12x optical zoom. To shoot 3D video with the new camcorder, the user needs to attach the 3D conversion lens that comes included, to record dynamic images. The 3D conversion lens records right-eye and left-eye images simultaneously through its two lenses, thus resulting in video that can be viewed in 3D. The right and left images (each with 960 x 1080 pixels) that enter through the lenses are recorded using the side-by-side method. The high-sensitivity 3MOS System has 7.59 million effective motion image pixels (2.53 megapixels x 3), so this advanced image sensor separates the light received through the lens into the three primary colors - red, green and blue - and processes each color independently. Adding to the quality, the SDT750 also features a large-diameter (46mm) F1.5 Leica Dicomar lens and Crystal Engine PRO, a high-speed processing unit - both components which contribute to the effectiveness of the camcorder's light gathering, increased sensitivity, and reduced noise when shooting, even in dim lighting. According to the company, users can play back 3D videos recorded on the Panasonic HDC-SDT750 on 3D-capable televisions. In addition, it is also possible to play 3D images recorded on SD Memory Cards by using an AVCHD compatible player. The Panasonic HDC-SDT750 will be available in October 2010 with a suggested retail price of $1,399.95.

Univision Radio Pays $1 Million to Resolve "Pay-For-Play" Investigation.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau this week released a Consent Decree entered into with Univision Radio, Inc. to resolve allegations that Univision radio stations or their employees secretly accepted payment from a record label in exchange for the radio stations giving more frequent airplay to the label’s artists, without making the disclosures to listeners required by section 507 of the Communications Act. In a companion criminal action, a federal district court has accepted the plea of Univision Services, Inc. to charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ"), based on the same facts. The FCC and the DOJ coordinated their respective investigations and enforcement actions. "Payola -- the idea of pay-for-play -- misleads the listening public," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "This agreement with Univision underscores the FCC’s focus on consumer protection and our commitment to ensuring that broadcasters play it straight with the public." As part of the FCC settlement and the DOJ action, the Univision companies will pay $1 million to the U.S. Treasury. The FCC-Univision Consent Decree also obligates Univision to implement certain business reforms and compliance measures designed to ensure future compliance with the Commission’s rules. Key provisions of the settlement include:

- General prohibition on Univision stations and employees exchanging airplay for cash or other items of value, except under specified conditions, and provided that such exchanges comply with sponsorship identification laws;
- Limits on the size of gifts, concert tickets, and other valuable items that Univision stations and employees can accept from record labels;
- Appointment of a Compliance Officer and regional Compliance Contacts responsible for monitoring and reporting company performance under the settlement; and
- Regular training of programming personnel on payola restrictions.

FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Michele Ellison stated, "Broadcasters play a critical role in educating and entertaining the public and along with that special role comes some fundamental obligations. We will continue to work with other government agencies, including criminal law enforcement authorities where appropriate, leveraging all the tools at our disposal to protect consumers and prevent them from being misled." The FCC’s Media Bureau concurred in the settlement, and the FCC’s Office of Inspector General coordinated with DOJ on the criminal proceeding.

Sony Develops Blue-violet Semiconductor Laser With An Output Of 100 Watt.
Monday, July 26, 2010

Professor Hiroyuki Yokoyama of the New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University and Advanced Materials Laboratories, Sony, have jointly developed a blue-violet semiconductor laser that could be used in large-capacity optical disc storage and for nano-fabrication. The new laser features a dramatically improved peak laser beam output level, which is almost 100 times higher than the output provided by the currently available lasers. The 405 nanometer laser is capable of generating optical pulses with a duration of just 3 picoseconds (1 picosecond = one-trillionth of a second), with an ultrahigh output peak power of 100 watts and a repetition frequency of 1 gigahertz. To achieve these impressive performance, Tohoku University and Sony have developed a proprietarily GaN-based mode-locked semiconductor laser as well as a new semiconductor optical amplifier. A mode-locked semiconductor laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits ultrafast optical pulses. It operates by sending optical pulses with an ultrafast duration in the order of picoseconds (or less) back and forth within the laser cavity. A semiconductor optical amplifier is an optical amplifier that can amplify the laser beam directly using a semiconductor. Although the structure is similar to that of a semiconductor laser, the beam-amplifying functionality is enhanced through antireflective fabrication of the laser facets. Until now, only solid-state lasers could offer such a high outputs. These lasers use solid crystals such as rubies as the laser medium and they were mainly used for leading-edge chemical research applications. However,the light source box of these laser units was bulky and more further engineering was required to ensure the stable operation of the laser. The high-output, ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser light source is capable of using a nonlinear optical process known as two-photon absorption (TPA), which occurs only as a result of high intensity optical pulses: When a substance interacts with extremely intense light, the substance does not always respond in proportion to the electromagnetic field of the light, thus creating a prismatic effect. TPA is the phenomenon of absorbing two photons simultaneously to excite the eigenstate corresponding to the resulting sum of photon energy. Using this phenomenon to focus light from an intense laser beam on a lens will result in an extremely high density of power in the vicinity of the focus point. When light from the laser beam is concentrated on the lens, it creates chemical and thermal changes in the vicinity of the lens focus spot which is narrower than even the diameter of the focus spot of the lens itself. It is anticipated that application of these properties will be possible in a wide range of fields such as three-dimensional (3D) nano-fabrication of inorganic/organic materials in the order of nanometers, and next-generation large-capacity optical disc storage. Sony tested the principles for applying this technology in next-generation large-capacity optical disc-storage by creating void marks with a diameter of approximately 300 nanometers at intervals of 3 micrometers on the interior of plastic material, and successfully read these marks with the laser beam. The research findings were published in the latest edition of the U.S. academic journal, ‘Applied Physics Letters’ (volume 97, issue 2).

Blu-ray Player Shipments to Exceed 62.5 Million in 2011.
Friday, July 23, 2010

Worldwide Blu-ray player shipments are expected to more than double between now and the end of 2010, and the numbers from ABI Research forecast continued growth next year, for a total of more than 62.5 million shipments in 2011. In North America standalone Blu-ray players are expected to reach almost 18% penetration among TV-owning households, up from just over 7% in 2009. As interesting as this estimate is, it is just part of a larger picture. According to industry analyst Mike Inouye, "The solid growth in Blu-ray player shipments highlights a trend within the wider consumer electronics market. Larger, fixed-location devices such as Blu-ray players and flat panel TVs are enjoying rapid adoption relative to many classes of small, portable devices. Specifically, portable gaming devices are leveling out, while we are seeing actual declines in shipments of portable audio players. Digital picture frames are showing only mild growth, and compact digital camera shipments are declining in North America and Japan, though they continue modest growth elsewhere." What is behind these shifts? "In addition to price declines, the greater growth potential of TV-centric devices may be due to some of the recent exciting innovations in TV technologies: larger, flatter panels, Internet connectivity, and 3D," says Inouye. "Aside from the economic/job environment it could be that dedicated portable device markets are simply maturing, or it could be due to the greater competition they face from smartphones and other multi-function portable devices." According to ABI Research, CE device vendors can improve their chances of success in this very competitive marketplace by, on one hand, continuing efforts to educate consumers about what they can do with the latest devices, and on the other by striving to keep the user-experience as seamless and painless as possible. Meanwhile, consumer purchases of Blu-ray titles increased 107% in major markets in Western Europe/Japan during the first half of 2010 while combined DVD/Blu-ray units sold were near par with last year, at (-) 1.2%. These are among the findings of the Media Control GfK International research firm, based on actual point-of-sale retail data for the first half of 2010. "The major retail markets for DVD & Blu-ray sales in Western Europe and Japan are showing positive signs of stabilization due to improving declines in DVD sales and growing consumer adoption of the Blu-ray format," said Brad Hackley, President of Media Control GfK USA.

LG Electronics and Toshiba Join ZigBee Alliance.
Thursday, July 22, 2010

Consumer electronics giants, LG Electronics and Toshiba have joined the ZigBee RF4CE Steering Committee. A global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions supporting energy management in residential, commercial and consumer electronics applications, the ZigBee RF4CE Steering Committee is focused on driving ZigBee RF4CE standardized solutions throughout the consumer electronics industry. First announced in March 2009, ZigBee RF4CE is a standardized specification for radio-frequency communications that enables faster, more reliable and greater flexibility for devices to operate from larger distances. It removes the line-of-sight and field-of-vision barriers in today’s IR (infrared) remotes. With its two-way communication, ZigBee RF4CE opens the door to a whole new set of capabilities and consumer experiences. The ZigBee RF4CE specification is designed for a wide range of consumer electronic products, including home entertainment devices. "We view ZigBee RF4CE as an industry-changing solution that dramatically improves upon the old infrared remote control user experience that is very limited in coverage, direction and data reliability," said Ho Jun Nam, principle research engineer at LG Electronics. "As new functionalities are being added to TV sets every day, we believe that ZigBee RF4CE will enable us to design low power interface devices that offer bi-directional communications, with agile response times and flexible human interface design to accommodate these new functionalities." ZigBee Remote Control™, made publicly available in December 2009, is the first ZigBee RF4CE based solution for consumer electronics and more applications for the consumer world are in development. "ZigBee RF4CE is helping CE manufacturers create products that not only work better, but also have features that bring a unique and new user experience to their consumer audience," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "The addition of LG Electronics and Toshiba to the steering committee is a testament to the growing influence that the ZigBee RF4CE standard is making on the CE industry." LG Electronics and Toshiba join Philips, Freescale Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Sony on the Steering Committee.

A*STAR Achieves World's Thinnest Metallic Lines.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Scientists from Singapore A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), University of Cambridge (UK) and Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea) have created metallic lines so thin and smooth that they can only be seen using powerful electron microscopes. At line widths of just 7 nm, their line width roughness , which are the variations in thickness along the line itself, stands at 2.9 nm, a value which is below the 2010 target of 3.2 nm and closer to 2011’s target line width roughness of 2.8 nm indicated in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. The ability to create such distinct lines and patterns on a sub-10 nm scale level is essential in the further miniaturisation of electronic components. Rough, undefined patterns and lines results in poorly made, energy-inefficient devices. The process is very delicate and precise because of the scale at which the work is done. For comparison, the width of the average human hair is 100 µm, which is about 14,000 times the width of a single 7 nm-wide metal line. "Our thin, unbroken and smooth lines are important in ensuring the efficiency of ever shrinking electronic devices and may lead to more powerful processors. Furthermore, our work shows that continuous metallic lines as small as 4 nm are possible to make", says Dr MSM Saifullah, a Research Scientist with IMRE. The method could be potentially used to make interconnects, the ‘highways’ that carry electrical pulses and data in extremely small integrated circuits (ICs). The smoother and uninterrupted ‘highways’ lead to faster data transfer rates and less energy wasted, in the form of heat. The novelty of the method was in the material and the technique that was used. The current "lift-off" approach for making metal lines at this scale requires more steps, uses more materials and results in rough, and quite often broken lines on a sub-10 nm scale. The researchers used an organometallic material which is made up of a metallic and an organic component. Using a combination of electron beam lithography and subsequent gas treatment, the researchers were able to easily chip away the organic portions in a uniform manner, leaving the desired metallic patterns, in this case, thin metal lines. "The published results is a testament to the cutting-edge nanotechnology research that is done in Singapore, where we push, and sometimes lead, the rest of the world", says Prof Andy Hor, IMRE’s new Executive Director, who took the helm of Singapore’s materials research institute in June 2010. The research on the metal lines is featured on the inside front cover of Issue 14 (July 2010) of the Advanced Functional Materials journal.

Registration Opens for 2011 International CES.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced that registration is now open for the 2011 International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, scheduled January 6-9, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The International CES attracts more than 120,000 of the top executives, retail buyers, content providers, entertainment executives, venture capitalists, engineers, government officials and media from more than 130 countries. Registration for the show is free to industry professionals through September 30. A registration fee of $100 will go into effect starting October 1, and the fee will be $200 effective 5:01 p.m. EST December 31. "The energy and buzz surrounding the 2011 International CES is already in motion, as we prepare for dynamic new exhibit areas that reflect the vibrant CE industry," said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, events and conferences, CEA. "The new Connected Home Appliances and Broadband Telecommunications TechZones are two of many new attractions at the 2011 CES, demonstrating why CES is the most powerful event in the world for conducting global technology business." Attendees, exhibitors and media can register and find more information about the show at www.CESweb.org.

Canon Unveils Latest VIXIA Camcorder.
Monday, July 19, 2010

Canon U.S.A., Inc., this week introduced the new VIXIA HF M32 Dual Flash Memory camcorder. Equipped with 64GB of internal flash memory, the new camcorder can record up to 24 hours of HD video and also includes an SD memory card slot that is fully compatible with latest generation SDXC memory cards. The new SDXC memory card specification increases storage capacity from 32GB up to 2TB and enhances data transfer speeds. Like its predecessors in the VIXIA HF M-series (VIXIA HF M31, HF M30, HF M300), the VIXIA HF M32 offers HD video in a compact and lightweight body. The VIXIA HF M32 retains Canon’s proprietary imaging technologies – a Genuine Canon HD Video Lens, HD CMOS Image Sensor and DIGIC DV III Image Processor – and like other VIXIA HF M-series camcorders, features a Touch Panel LCD and a host of features including:

Smart Auto: Makes shooting great video even easier by utilizing Canon’s DIGIC DV III Image Processor to intelligently detect and analyze brightness, color, distance and movement and automatically select the best setting for the scene being recorded.
Touch & Track: Enables users to select a subject on the Touch Panel LCD which will then be recognized and tracked. This sophisticated technology recognizes faces, objects, and even animals, ensuring the subject will always be in focus and properly exposed.
Relay Recording: Allows users to capture uninterrupted video when the primary recording media is full. The camcorder will continue to record a scene by switching from one memory source to the other as it fills up, so that a moment of action will not be missed.
Powered IS: In addition to Canon’s Dynamic SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization, Powered IS provides an even higher level of compensation for subtle hand movement at the telephoto end of the zoom range. This new enhancement can be engaged by pressing the Powered IS button on the LCD panel.
HD-to-SD Downconversion: Enables users to convert recorded HD video to standard-definition files while preserving the original HD video. These standard-definition files make it even more convenient to share video online or create a DVD.
Advanced Video Snapshot: Provides the flexibility of capturing two, four, or eight second video clips while recording or during playback.

The VIXIA HF M32 is compatible with Eye-Fi SD memory cards, which makes it easy to wirelessly transfer video content and photos to a computer or sharing site. Eye-Fi SD memory cards feature a built-in Wi-Fi that uses a wireless network to effortlessly transfer photos and videos directly from the camcorder. The VIXIA HF M32 Dual Flash Memory camcorder is scheduled to be available in September for an estimated retail price of $999.99.

Sony Expands Silicon Tuner Module Lineup.
Friday, July 16, 2010

Sony has announced that the company will begin to ship samples of its lineup of silicon tuner modules, which incorporate Sony's silicon turner IC that conform to worldwide broadcast systems. According to the company, in light of the market's transition from coil to silicon tuners, Sony is launching 40 small, high-performance silicon tuner modules, which incorporate its proprietary radio frequency circuit technology. Sony has developed different types of silicon tuner modules including antenna switch models, loop-through function,demodulator models for digital broadcasts, and dual tuner models. By using the new silicon tuner modules, LCD TV and Video recording equipment manufacturers can realize improved production efficiencies. For example, they can reduce the number of necessary components as well as implement common global design for both hardware and software. The modules have been designed to withstand ingress noise from peripheral circuits because it uses Sony's proprietary radio frequency circuit and simulation technologies. In addition, spontaneous-emission noise can be minimized, which simplifies product development. Sony claims the silicon tuner modules are also eco-friendly with low power consumption (40% less than Sony's conventional coil tuner) and standby mode (50mW). In addition, they are immediately compatible with new broadcast systems such as, "DVB-T2" (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial 2). Sony started mass production of silicon tuner modules in 2008 and has cumulatively produced more than 10 million modules (as of June 2010).

Warner Bros. and Netflix Announce Expanded Agreement.
Thursday, July 15, 2010

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and Netflix, Inc. today announced an expansion of the companies' existing streaming content agreement. The new agreement adds a slate of catalog TV shows available to watch instantly at Netflix and extends the existing license for catalog movies through 2011. As part of the deal, Netflix has acquired streaming rights - for a period of four years - to all 100 episodes of the Golden Globe Award–winning drama series "Nip/Tuck." (Separately, "Nip/Tuck" will air simultaneously in a linear pattern on the cable network Logo via an off-cable syndication deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.) As part of its deal, Netflix has also acquired streaming rights to the series "Veronica Mars," "Pushing Daisies" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," among others. "Our Netflix streaming relationship is a good example of the opportunities the digital space provides to make content available in new ways at appropriate points in the product lifecycle," said Thomas Gewecke, president, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. "This agreement establishes an additional stop on the economic chain for our library content while providing consumers with more convenience and choice." Earlier this year, Netflix and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced an agreement under which new release titles on DVD and Blu-ray will be made available to Netflix subscribers after a 28-day window, giving Warner Bros. the opportunity to maximize the sales potential of those titles along with an extended revenue share period and Netflix the benefits of reduced product costs, significantly more units and better in-stock levels four weeks after street date. The agreement announced today does not alter the previous arrangement with regard to the 28-day window for new release titles.

Experts Discover Heavenly Solar Music.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Musical sounds created by longitudinal vibrations within the Sun's atmosphere, have been recorded and accurately studied for the first time by experts at the University of Sheffield, shedding light on the Sun's magnetic atmosphere. Using state-of-the-art mathematical theory combined with satellite observations, a team of solar physicists from the University have captured the music on tape and revealed the harmonious sounds are caused by the movement of giant magnetic loops in the solar corona - the outermost, mysterious, and least understood layer of the Sun's atmosphere. These giant coronal loops have also been observed to undergo periodic (oscillatory) motion, which can be thought of as someone plucking a guitar string (transversal oscillations) or blowing the wind-pipe instrument (longitudinal oscillations). With the length and thickness of the string fixed, the pitch of the note is determined by the tension of the string and the tone is made up of the harmonics of the modes of oscillation. In this sense, the solar atmosphere is constantly pervaded by the music of the coronal loops. The coronal music also provides scientists with a unique and unprecedented tool to study the magnetic solar atmosphere, as the motion of these loops is determined by their local surroundings. This technique is known as solar magneto-seismology and is very similar to the seismology methods used by geologists studying earthquakes. The discovery was presented by the University experts to an audience of MPs both from the House of Commons and the House of Lords at the House of Commons Marquee, as well as and senior scientists representing prestigious institutions such as the Royal Society, after being selected by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. The next step for the team will be to develop cutting edge numerical modelling that will be able to give further insight into the sub-resolution properties of coronal loops, i.e. on spatial scales that are not even observable with the latest high-resolution satellites available to scientist. Click below to hear audio of a 'kink': a transverse oscillation similar to a guitar string being plucked.

CompactFlash CF5.1 Specification Released.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The CompactFlash Association (CFA) announced the key development goals for a the new CF5.1 specification. The CF5.1 work group was formed in December 2009 to add functionality to the recently released CF5.0 specification based on the PATA (Parallel ATA) interface while maintaining backward compatibility. The CF5.1 work group met and agreed upon the key development focus issues, which include adding an Ultra DMA mode supporting 167 MB/s. CompactFlash card slots are commonly used in digital cameras, video cameras and other electronic platforms including embedded systems, single board computers, data recorders, heart monitors, defibrillators, and slot machines. Some of the key proposed CF5.1 development focuses include:

- Ultra DMA 167 Mode: Enables the development of higher performance cards while providing backward compatibility.

- Sanitize: Provides an efficient NAND Block Erase of the entire user data area to return the CF card to "fresh" state before reuse or repurposing. Leverages a command defined in INCITS T13 ACS-2.

- Provide Trim Before Write Attribute Protocol:Provides an incremental performance increase by optimizing device physical allocation (allows improved internal data organization).

- Mandatory Write Caching: An enhancement for certain Video Performance Guarantee profiles to improve write performance of CompactFlash cards.

- Operating Temperature Range: n optional card capability to report the operating temperature range of the card. This allows card/camera combinations to enable use in extreme temperatures

Currently, the highest performance CompactFlash cards are capable of 600x or 90MB/sec throughput performance using the current Ultra DMA 133. This new proposed Ultra DMA 167 mode along with 48-bit addressing defined in the CF5.0 specification will enable the development of CompactFlash cards with up to 33% more throughput performance. The new CF5.1 specification is expected to be formally released later in 2010.

4K Video Comes to YouTube.
Monday, July 12, 2010

Last week at the VidCon 2010 conference, YouTube announced support for videos shot in 4K, meaning that the video giant now supports original video resolution from 360p all the way up to 4K. In December of last year, YouTube announced support for 1080p, or full HD. At 4096 x 2304 pixels, 4K is over four times the size of 1080p. To give some perspective on the size of 4K, the ideal screen size for a 4K video is 25 feet; IMAX movies are projected through two 2k resolution projectors. To see video on the site shot in 4K, please check out the videos in this playlist; each one was created by a filmmaker with access to a 4K camera. (Be warned: watching videos in 4K, even on YouTube, will require ultra-fast high-speed broadband connections). According to YouTube, to view any video in a source resolution greater than 1080p, select "Original" in the video quality pulldown menu.

X-Rite to Ensure Color Quality at IFT10.
Friday, July 09, 2010

X-Rite Incorporated will demonstrate for the first time its deep toolbox of solutions to ensure the color quality of produce and foodstuffs at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo 2010. The X-Rite team will show how its instruments and quality control software can be used to measure and monitor the color of a variety of food, ranging from raw fruits and vegetables, prepared foods such as french fries, and foodstuffs made continuously in high-speed production settings such as pasta, chocolate, juices, spreads and baked goods. "Food growers and processors know that the color of their products play an extremely important role in the purchasing decisions of consumers," Annacone said. "As the world's leading designer and manufacturer of color measurement systems, X-Rite now is introducing advanced technologies used in such industries as digital graphics and small appliance manufacturing to the agricultural and the food processing industries." For instance, X-Rite has the only system approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that food processors use to measure acceptable tolerances of orange juice color from a set standard, Annacone said. The system uses X-Rite's Color i5 benchtop spectrophotometer and Color iQC software package to accurately and quickly measure whether liquid orange juice meets the USDA standards. Kenneth Phillips, product manager for Non Contact Industrial Markets, said another X-Rite solution, its VeriColor Spectro spectrophotometer, can be used to monitor subtle shifts in the color of products as varied as baby foods and biscuits. In addition to spectrophotometers, X-Rite will be demonstrating customized color matching cards and other standards that operators can use to quickly determine whether the color of foodstuffs is acceptable. The IFT10 Annual Meeting & Food Expo to be held in Chicago from July 17 to 20, 2010.

Blackmagic Design Micro Videohub is Now Shipping.
Thursday, July 08, 2010

Blackmagic Design today announced Micro Videohub, the world’s smallest 16 x 16 SDI router with 3 Gb/s SDI, auto switching SD, HD and 3 Gb/s SDI formats, full SDI re-clocking, USB, ethernet and serial router control is now shipping. Micro Videohub is only 1 rack unit and less than an inch deep. It includes advanced features such as 3 Gb/s SDI, auto switching SD, HD and 3 Gb/s SDI, as well as full SDI re-clocking at an affordable price. Micro Videohub is perfect for customers who need an incredibly tiny router that also meets tough broadcast technical requirements for performance as well as reliability. Micro Videohub, like all Blackmagic Design Videohub routers, allows for a range of flexible control options. These include the free Videohub software control panels for easy to use icon-based push button control from any computer. Software control is ideal for video editors and designers who are already working on computers and prefer control from their desktops. Videohub routers also support the new Videohub Smart Control hardware control panels, for routing with a push of a button. Videohub Smart Control can be installed under each monitor or deck, so routing is incredibly fast. Micro Videohub also includes a standard serial router control port, that lets system integrators interface to computers for automated routing control systems and integration into broadcast play out servers. The serial router control port uses industry standard protocols, so is easy to use. For developers, the USB interface can also be used, combined with Blackmagic Design’s Videohub SDK for Windows and Mac, so full control of router crosspoint switching is possible. “Now we have a professional router that’s perfect for small facilities or broadcast trucks!”, said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “No other router is so small and so affordable, so I think Micro Videohub is going to help more people than ever to get the advantages of a professional SDI routing switcher in their facility!”

HDBaseT Alliance Announces Incorporation, Finalized Specification.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010

HDBaseT Alliance, the cross-industry alliance formed to promote and standardize the HDBaseTTM technology for whole-home distribution of uncompressed high definition (HD) multimedia content, announced its formal incorporation. The Alliance also announced the finalization of the HDBaseT 1.0 base specification. According to HDBaseT, the development of this cohesive specification is set to transform the digital media ecosystem, allowing consumers to enjoy premium content through unparalleled, uninterrupted HD distribution ‒ without the tangle of cables currently required. HDBaseT enables a network of sources — such as digital video recorders (DVR), Blu-ray disc players, game consoles, PCs and mobile devices — to be connected directly to displays in multiple locations. For instance, a DVR can be connected to several TVs throughout the home, allowing users an independent yet fully compatible experience. HDBaseT LAN based technology makes it possible to cut out the assortment of cables for audio, video, connecting CE devices and even the power source. This form of networking, whether it is done by daisy chaining devices or through star topology, can be applied in both the consumer home and in B2B cases such as digital signage networking. “HDBaseT Alliance’s creation of a unified specification based on HDBaseT technology will raise the bar as the most technologically advanced, unmatched solution for optimum digital media distribution,” said Ariel Sobelman, president and chairman of the HDBaseT Alliance. “HDBaseT technology is poised to become the unrivaled next-generation home networking transport to meet the ever-changing trends in the digital media market.” The finalization of the HDBaseT specification paves the way for HDBaseT embedded products to hit the market. The HDBaseT Alliance anticipates products with embedded HDBaseT technology to be available in the second half of 2010, with the majority of adoption taking place in 2011. The specification will also be available for licensing within the second half of 2010. The Alliance is founded by LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Valens Semiconductor, all of which comprise the HDBaseT Alliance’s Board of Directors.

Home Control to Jump to Nearly 20% by 2014.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010

According to a new report from market research firm Parks Associates, home automation is the next big thing and market penetration could be as high as 20 percent by 2014. To do so however, the home controls market must focus on individual applications, such as entertainment and energy management, to overcome current inhibitors and boost its penetration beyond the present 6% of U.S. households. The firm’s report, Home Systems: Home Controls – Analysis and Forecasts finds low consumer awareness and a shortage of affordable installation services currently hinder widespread adoption. The entry of well-known players, including ADT, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Schlage, will help grow this market, but players should focus their value proposition on specific, easily understood applications in order to build consumer awareness and lay the foundation for future expansion. “Three applications will drive adoption of control systems over the next five years: energy management, entertainment systems and content control, and remote home self-monitoring,” said Bill Ablondi, director, home systems research, Parks Associates. “Consumers see the value in these areas, which, once established, can serve as the base for expanded control systems in the home.” For example, as entertainment controls for home theater and audio systems become more affordable, penetration will expand from 5% of U.S. households to 17% by 2014. These systems can then be expanded to integrate lighting, window treatments, and security controls, a strategy that will help push penetration of control systems overall to almost 20% of households by 2014.

Microsoft Unveils InstaLoad Battery Installation Technology.
Friday, July 02, 2010

The Microsoft Corp. today announced a new technology aimed at improving the battery installation process called InstaLoad battery installation technology, which allows users to easily install a battery without regard to positive and negative polarity. According to the Redmond giant, never again will people have to squint to see battery installation diagrams — the device simply works regardless if the battery is installed positive-side-up or positive-side-down. Unlike existing electronic solutions designed to address battery-polarity installation, InstaLoad is a mechanical invention that does not drain battery power or require expensive electronic circuitry. InstaLoad battery contacts can be cost-effectively designed into most battery compartments, as it usually requires replacing existing battery contacts with the patented InstaLoad contact design. The technology is compatible with popular off-the-shelf batteries used in products such as flashlights, toys, battery chargers, lighting and most other battery-operated consumer electronic devices that use CR123, AA, AAA, C or D size batteries (disposable or rechargeable) or similar barrel-type battery form factors. Ideal for devices that require frequent battery swap-outs, or are used in less-than-ideal environments, industries that could greatly benefit from this type of timesaving technology based on their environments include law enforcement, military, construction, outdoor sporting and camping. In addition, users of devices with multiple batteries and frequent battery swap-out — including battery chargers, digital cameras, camera flash units and toys — could also benefit. InstaLoad is a patented battery contact design now available for license by third-party device suppliers, with companies like Duracell already lining up to endorse the technology for use in their own products. “Duracell Smart Power is all about making the lives of consumers easier and more efficient as they depend on battery power for the mobile devices that keep them organized and connected while away from the grid. After evaluating Microsoft’s InstaLoad technology, Duracell is excited about the possibilities of incorporating this simplified battery installation technology into future Duracell products, delivering a better experience for our consumers” said Dan McCarthy - Director, Global Marketing, Duracell. A royalty-free license program for accessibility products is also available to provide an additional usability benefit for battery-operated accessibility devices that are designed for people with hearing, vision or learning disabilities. “Microsoft is pleased to offer a royalty-free license program to suppliers and manufacturers for this class of accessibility devices,” said Rusty Jeffress, corporate vice president, Specialized Devices & Applications, Microsoft. “We believe the InstaLoad feature can make a difference in the lives of those people who need and use these products on a daily basis.” More information about the Microsoft InstaLoad technology and Hardware IP Licensing program is available here.

Chairman Genachowski Names Douglas Sicker as Chief Technologist.
Thursday, July 01, 2010

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski this week announced Douglas C. Sicker as Chief Technologist of the Commission. Dr. Sicker will reside in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis and will advise the agency on technological issues. “I am delighted that Dr. Sicker is returning to provide the FCC with his broad and deep knowledge about the communications networks and technologies of today and tomorrow,” said Chairman Genachowski. “His technical expertise will help the FCC pursue policies that spur investment, create jobs, promote innovation, and advance our nation’s global technology leadership.” Currently Dr. Sicker is Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a joint appointment in the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program. He recently served on the Omnibus Broadband Initiative working on matters related to research and development. Prior to this he was Director of Global Architecture at Level 3 Communications, Inc. Before that, Dr. Sicker was Chief of the Network Technology Division at the Federal Communications Commission. He is a senior member of the IEEE, as well as a member of the ACM and the Internet Society. He has chaired and served on the program committees of numerous technical conferences including IEEE, DySPAN, ISART and TPRC. After leaving the FCC, he was the Chair of the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council steering committee, an FCC federal advisory committee that focuses on network reliability, wireline spectral integrity and Internet peering and interconnection. Dr. Sicker also served on the Technical Advisory Council of the FCC. His research interests include network and wireless systems, network security, and telecommunications policy. Dr. Sicker has research funded through the NSF, DARPA, the Internet Society and the Federal Aviation Administration. Dr. Sicker holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

SD Association Defines High-Speed Performance Symbols.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The SD Association has announced two new high-speed performance symbols for the fastest SDXC and SDHC devices and memory cards. The first symbol identifies products with bus- interface speeds up to 104 Megabytes per second for greater device performance. The second symbol identifies SD memory cards and products with a performance option allowing real-time video recording. According to the Association, with more than 2.5 billion SD memory cards in the market today, the new high-speed performance capabilities will co-exist with earlier SD memory cards still used by consumers, as those cards are still interoperable with the newest host devices. New SD memory cards and devices bearing the following new performance symbols may now begin entering the marketplace:

The new Ultra High Speed (UHS) symbol can be found exclusively on SDXC and SDHC products. SDXC or SDHC products with the UHS-I symbol offer the fastest bus-interface speeds available today, capable of supporting data transfer speeds up to 104 Megabytes per second. UHS-I quadruples the existing maximum possible speed of 25 Megabytes per second. UHS bus interfaces are backwards compatible. SDXC UHS-I and SDHC UHS-I memory cards achieve greatest performance when paired with a UHS-I device and allow consumers to record HD resolution videos, plus perform other simultaneous recording functions.

The new UHS Speed Class symbol can be found exclusively on SDXC UHS-I and SDHC UHS-I products. UHS Speed Class 1 designates SD memory cards and products with a performance option designed to support real-time video recording. This symbol will be found on SDXC UHS-I or SDHC UHS-I memory cards. Consumers can realize the full potential of recording real-time broadcasts and capturing videos using a digital video camera by pairing their devices with UHS Speed Class 1 memory cards.

The existing Speed Class symbols for non-UHS SD, SDHC and SDXC products are Class 2, Class 4, Class 6 and Class 10. They refer to the minimum write speed performance of the memory card. The symbols may be found on memory cards and devices, including video and digital cameras.

“The world-leading SD memory card standard has increased the value, usefulness and longevity of consumer electronic products by allowing consumers to easily upgrade their devices to meet their needs and budgets,” said Paul Ritchie, executive director of the SD Association. “The new high-speed symbols are designed to make it easier for consumers to take advantage of the massive storage and incredible speeds offered in SDXC and SDHC products.” For greatest performance, users should pair their devices with the corresponding SD memory card. The Association has created two videos to show best uses for the variety of SD memory cards available today; to view, visit www.sdcard.org/videos. The Association also offers an online resource, www.sdcard.org/cardchoice, for users to explore the variety of SD memory cards types for new and existing devices.

ICANN Approves Chinese Internationalized Domain Names.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Millions of Chinese language users will soon be able to access the Internet using Chinese script following a decision today by ICANN’s Board of Directors to approve a set of Chinese language internationalized domain names. “This approval is a significant change for Chinese language users worldwide,” said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN. “One fifth of the world speaks Chinese and that means we just increased the potential online accessibility for roughly a billion people.” The new IDN country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and the associated organizations approved by the Board are:

- CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center)
- HKIRC (Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited)
- TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center).

The ICANN board also voted to allow the application for the controversial .XXX top-level domain (TLD) to move forward. The ICM registry applied for the .XXX sponsored top-level domain as a potential community site for the adult entertainment industry. The Board approved a detailed set of next steps for the application, including expedited due diligence, negotiations on a draft registry agreement, and consultation with ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee.
The decision in effect agreed with a non-binding majority decision of the Independent Review Panel. In February two of the three members of the IRP said the board should reconsider its 2007 decision to reject ICM’s sTLD application. ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush said, “The board reached a carefully considered decision, paying close attention to the findings of the Independent Review Panel, and to the extensive public comment on our proposed action." “Today’s decision is a validation of ICANN’s transparency and accountability,” said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer. The board asked the ICANN staff to conduct an expedited review of the ICM application to ensure that it is still current and that there have been no changes that might alter the validity of the application. The board decision also allows consultation on the top-level domain with ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee. The next ICANN meeting will take place in Cartagena, Colombia, 5-10 December 2010.

FCC Releases New Local Telephone Competition Data.
Monday, June 28, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission for the first time has released comprehensive information about subscribership to interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. Interconnected VoIP service represents an important and rapidly growing part of the U.S. voice service market and the new data will provide the Commission with a comprehensive picture of that market going forward. Interconnected VoIP service enables voice communications over a broadband connection and allows users both to receive calls from, and place calls to, the public switched telephone network, like traditional phone service. Providers of the service include companies like Vonage as well as cable and telephone companies that own their own networks. The new information released today is included in the FCC’s Local Telephone Competition report, which also includes information about more traditional telephone lines provided in previous reports. Because interconnected VoIP subscribers were not comprehensively included in earlier data collections, certain of the report’s summary statistics are not directly comparable to the statistics for earlier dates.

Report highlights include:

- At year-end 2008, there were 141 million traditional switched access lines in service and 21 million interconnected VoIP subscriptions in the United States, or about 162 million wireline retail local telephone service connections in total. Of these, 97 million were residential connections and 65 million were business connections.
- Of the 162 million total connections, 48% were residential switched access lines, 39% were business switched access lines, 12% were residential VoIP subscriptions, and 1% were business VoIP subscriptions.
- Of the 162 million total connections, 45% were residential lines and 28% were business lines owned by incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), while 15% provided non-ILEC residential service, and 12% provided non-ILEC business service.
- Of the 97 million wireline residential connections, 74.5% were ILEC switched access lines, 19.5% were non-ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions, 5.8% were non-ILEC switched access lines, and 0.3% were ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions.
- Of the 65 million wireline business connections, 70.1% were ILEC switched access lines, 26.8% were non-ILEC switched access lines, 2.7% were non-ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions, and 0.4% were ILEC interconnected VoIP subscriptions.

The report can be downloaded from the Wireline Competition Bureau Statistical Reports Internet site at www.fcc.gov/wcb/stats.

3D Product Revenue Exceeds $55 Million in the U.S.
Friday, June 25, 2010

3D TV and 3D Blu-ray standalone player revenue in the U.S. has exceeded $55 million in the first three months since the launch of these products in February, according to market research company The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service. “3D TV and Blu-ray players are seeing steady growth even as major product line launches are slated for the coming months,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at NPD. As more consumers adopt 3D, the industry can help foster a 3D ecosystem similar to that of HD.” One inhibitor to adoption of 3D TV at home is the need to wear special glasses when watching 3D TV. These glasses can add significant cost and work only with their brand of television. Only 10 percent of consumers surveyed in The NPD Group’s Analyst Poll of NPD Panelists cited “looking silly” as a main concern of the glasses, whereas 41 percent cited not having enough glasses on hand for everyone watching the set. “3D TV will be a premium home entertainment experience in 2010,” said Rubin. “Many consumers have already shown that they are willing to use special glasses to obtain the effects, but want to preserve the social aspect of the group television viewing.”

IEEE Launches New High-Rate Ethernet Standard.
Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has announced the ratification of IEEE 802.3ba 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet, a new standard governing 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s Ethernet operations. An amendment to the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard, IEEE 802.3ba, the first standard ever to simultaneously specify two new Ethernet speeds, paves the way for the next generation of high-rate server connectivity and core switching. The IEEE 802.3ba standard, ratified June 17, addresses challenges such as the growing number of applications with demonstrated bandwidth needs far exceeding existing Ethernet capabilities by providing a larger, more durable bandwidth pipeline, according to IEEE. Collaboration between the IEEE P802.3ba 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet Task Force and the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector Study Group 15 is intended to ensure that these new Ethernet rates are transportable over optical transport networks, the organization said. John D’Ambrosia, chair of the IEEE P802.3ba Task Force and director of Ethernet-based standards at Force10 Networks, said through a statement that IEEE 802.3ba would eliminate bottlenecks caused by the growth of bandwidth-intensive applications more powerful server architectures by providing a scalable architecture for meeting current bandwidth requirements and laying a solid foundation for future Ethernet speed increases. "This is truly a forward-looking standard that will spur innovation at every point along the Ethernet value chain, as well as providing the essential architecture needed to facilitate greater broadband connectivity on a global scale,"said David Law, chair of the IEEE 802.3 Working Group. "IEEE 802.3ba ensures that we can meet today’s needs while preparing for the next generation of emerging technology developments." IEEE 802.3ba remains compatible with existing IEEE 802.3 installations, IEEE said. The new standard is also expected to generate concrete benefits, such as lowered operating expense costs and improved energy efficiencies, by simplifying complex link aggregation schema commonly used in today’s network architectures, according to IEEE.

"WORM" Card Stores Data for 100 Years.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Flash memory card maker SanDisk today announced its new 1GB “write once read many” (WORM) cards are shipping to Japan’s police force. Using the SanDisk SD WORM card, law enforcement officers can create unalterable, permanent photographic records that serve as resources during investigations or as potential evidence during trials. In Japan, where there is no statute of limitations for certain serious crimes, the ability to retain evidence for many decades is a must. Traditionally, forensic images have been stored on 35mm film, which degrades over time, is slow, inconvenient and increasingly difficult to procure. In comparison, digital storage on the SanDisk SD WORM card offers a fast, convenient and readily available alternative. According to SanDisk, the SD WORM card meets the new archival demands for mobility, long-term preservation, data integrity and ease of use. SanDisk's proprietary SD WORM controller technology instantly protects any files written to the device, preventing the alteration or deletion of stored data. The card stores files safely for up to 100 years, as shown by accelerated data retention internal testing, and delivers a lower total cost of ownership compared to other archival media. The company said Japan's police force is one of the first major agencies to adopt this solution, and other law enforcement organizations around the world are qualifying the product as its features are universally valued for securing digital evidence. "Tamper-proof storage protects law enforcement officers by guaranteeing the legitimacy of evidence that we collect and deliver to the district attorney," said Jim Shirk, Captain, Twin Cities Police Authority, Larkspur, California. "An unalterable and highly reliable archive eliminates the chance of accidentally deleting a crucial file, and ensures that evidence is accessible over a long period of time. Adopting this type of storage as our standard archiving media is a necessary step in maintaining a modern and effective police force." Any SD-compatible device can read SD WORM cards, but only hosts with SD WORM-compatible interfaces can write to the card. SanDisk is currently working with leading makers of imaging, audio and video recording devices to implement SD WORM compatibility. Beyond forensic image archiving, SanDisk expects its SD WORM technology to be widely adopted in crucial applications such as audio recording and long-term retention of legal documents and medical files.

Forum Established to Promote SD Cards Embedding Wi-Fi.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Toshiba today announced the launch of an industry forum to promote a new SD card that integrates Wi-Fi wireless communication with data storage capabilities. The "Standard Promotion Forum for Memory Cards Embedding Wireless LAN" (provisional name) has been founded by Toshiba and Singapore-based Trek 2000 International Ltd.. According to Toshiba, as digital cameras achieve huge rates of market penetration, the need for quick and easy way to share photographs has grown. The new card offers an solution that brings new capabilities to the already very popular SDHC format. The card is designed to bring Wi-Fi functionality to digital still cameras that have an SDHC slot. Once in a camera, a card can recognize and communicate with the same type of card in another camera (on a one-to-one basis), and users can exchange photographs quickly and easily. It also allows users to upload and download photographs to and from a server without any need for a cable connection or transfers of the memory card. The new card is compliant with the SD memory card standard, supports IEEE 802.11b/g and has an 8-gigabyte capacity. It can transfer both JPEG and RAW images, the two most widely used digital formats. Toshiba said the company seeks to enhance and expand its memory business by proposing new applications for NAND flash memories. Toshiba and Trek invite digital camera manufacturers and other interested parties in promoting the card and exchanges of technical information toward establishing standard specifications.

MIT Researchers Boost Lithium-Ion Battery Output.
Monday, June 21, 2010

Batteries might gain a boost in power capacity as a result of a new finding from researchers at MIT. They found that using carbon nanotubes for one of the battery’s electrodes produced a significant increase - up to tenfold - in the amount of power it could deliver from a given weight of material, compared to a conventional lithium-ion battery. Batteries, such as the lithium-ion batteries widely used in portable electronics, are made up of three basic components: two electrodes (called the anode, or negative electrode, and the cathode, or positive electrode) separated by an electrolyte, an electrically conductive material through which charged particles, or ions, can move easily. When these batteries are in use, positively charged lithium ions travel across the electrolyte to the cathode, producing an electric current; when they are recharged, an external current causes these ions to move the opposite way, so they become embedded in the spaces in the porous material of the anode. In the new battery electrode, carbon nanotubes - a form of pure carbon in which sheets of carbon atoms are rolled up into tiny tubes - "self-assemble" into a tightly bound structure that is porous at the nanometer scale (billionths of a meter). In addition, the carbon nanotubes have many oxygen groups on their surfaces, which can store a large number of lithium ions; this enables carbon nanotubes for the first time to serve as the positive electrode in lithium batteries, instead of just the negative electrode. To produce the powerful new electrode material, the team used a layer-by-layer fabrication method, in which a base material is alternately dipped in solutions containing carbon nanotubes that have been treated with simple organic compounds that give them either a positive or negative net charge. When these layers are alternated on a surface, they bond tightly together because of the complementary charges, making a stable and durable film. Lithium batteries with the new material demonstrate some of the advantages of both capacitors, which can produce very high power outputs in short bursts, and lithium batteries, which can provide lower power steadily for long periods, chemical engineering student and team researcher Seung Woo Lee says. The energy output for a given weight of this new electrode material was shown to be five times greater than for conventional capacitors, and the total power delivery rate was 10 times that of lithium-ion batteries, the team says. This performance can be attributed to good conduction of ions and electrons in the electrode, and efficient lithium storage on the surface of the nanotubes. In addition to their high power output, the carbon-nanotube electrodes showed very good stability over time. After 1,000 cycles of charging and discharging a test battery, there was no detectable change in the material’s performance. The findings, by a team led by Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Yang Shao-Horn, in collaboration with Bayer Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering Paula Hammond, are reported in a paper published June 20 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The lead authors are chemical engineering student Seung Woo Lee PhD ’10 and postdoctoral researcher Naoaki Yabuuchi. Lee says that while carbon nanotubes have been produced in limited quantities so far, a number of companies are currently gearing up for mass production of the material, which could help to make it viable for large-scale battery manufacturing.

Chief Announces Product Partnership with SurgeX.
Friday, June 18, 2010

AV industry mounting solutions maker Chief, has announced a partnership with SurgeX, the leading supplier of professional AC power conditioning and surge elimination products for the professional audio, video, broadcast and multimedia marketplace. "We are excited to have SurgeX as our new partner," said Steve Durkee, Vice President, Chief Commercial Products. "SurgeX has a great track record of providing unmatched protection technology and will enable us to help our customers protect and control power anomalies that can adversely affect equipment and system performance in any installation. Bundling SurgeX’s surge elimination products with our Raxxess Series Racks is an excellent way to add value for our customers, " added Durkee. SurgeX is the leading manufacturer of AC power conditioning and surge elimination products, offering a complete line of AC power solutions for protection, power conditioning, and control of sensitive electrical and electronic equipment. The company’s patented Advanced Series Mode® protection technology is the only product line in the market that absorbs and eliminates surges, rather than using shunt mode surge suppression. SurgeX technology is A-1-1 Certified, is completely non-sacrificial, eliminates surge energy without producing harmful side effects such as ground contamination or common-mode disturbances, and protects AV equipment from AC surges and electrical transients that can disrupt sound quality and digital performance. "The SurgeX products will be a great addition to Chief’s new line of Racks, said Shannon Townley, SurgeX’s Senior Vice President of Sales. "By offering a fully integrated solution to the marketplace we expect customers to save valuable installation time, and enjoy the benefits of the best-bundled power and surge elimination rack solution that’s available today, " added Townley.

FCC Releases Analysis for Nationwide Mobile Public Safety Broadband Network.
Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission this week released a comprehensive white paper which provides the capacity analysis behind the National Broadband Plan recommendations for the deployment and operation of a nationwide 4G wireless public safety network that allows first responders to seamlessly communicate across geographies and agencies, regardless of devices. The white paper, titled: "The Public Safety Nationwide Interoperable Broadband Network, A New Model For Capacity, Performance and Cost", shows that the 10 MHz of dedicated spectrum currently allocated to public safety will provide the capacity and performance necessary for day-to-day communications and serious emergency situations. One study cited in the white paper shows that 10 MHz of spectrum can yield the same capacity as over 160 MHz if the correct technology, architecture, and devices are used. "Our goal is to bring true interoperable mobile broadband communications to America’s first responders," said Jamie Barnett, Chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB). "The FCC study shows how we can maximize capacity, performance, reliability and resiliency of public safety broadband communications even in the most extraordinary emergencies when life-saving response efforts are underway and communications demands are at their peak." For the worst emergencies, the FCC has devised an innovative concept of priority access and roaming across the commercial broadband wireless spectrum that will make at least 50 or 60 MHz of additional spectrum immediately available to public safety. The white paper describes how 10, 20 or even 30 MHz of additional dedicated spectrum may not be sufficient to support public safety broadband communications in a major emergency, and how the priority access and roaming exceeds the public safety spectrum that would otherwise be available. Moreover, it provides public safety with dependability and back up support, which does not exist with a purely dedicated network. Barnett noted, "The key is capacity. Spectrum is only one factor. This plan provides extraordinary capacity to public safety, first with a dedicated network, backed with first-in-line privileges for public safety. This plan is like providing public safety with its own expandable, high speed lane, and it is a cost- effective investment in a national asset. Merely allocating an additional 10 MHz to public safety would be like building a separate, stand-alone highway system, and one so expensive that it would not even reach every community in America for years."

CEDIA and HDMI Explore Joint Opportunities for CEDIA Members.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Leaders from the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) and HDMI Licensing, LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface technology, have agreed to work together to clarify and simplify HDMI integration through a series of educational training seminars aimed at increasing CEDIA members’ knowledge of HDMI technology, its capabilities, and applications. CEDIA recently surveyed its membership to get a better perspective on the issues and concerns members have relating to HDMI implementation and how it affects their business. According to the survey, 66 percent of participants stated that 90 to 100 percent of their installations include HDMI technology. However, many respondents also reported issues. Through this new relationship, CEDIA and HDMI, LLC will work together to provide educational opportunities for CEDIA members on the best practices of HDMI system design and implementation. "The results of this survey point to the reason why CEDIA leadership is committed to working with HDMI Licensing and CEDIA members to improve these issues," said Utz Baldwin, CEDIA CEO. Developing a training program and delivering solutions that address interoperability issues are two main priorities of the relationship. CEDIA and HDMI, LLC are planning to deliver joint training seminars in major U.S. markets including Los Angeles, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; Denver, CO; Chicago, IL; Houston/Dallas, TX; and New York, NY. At the Sunnyvale and New York locations the technician training seminars will be held in conjunction with the adopter and developer focused HDMI Technology Seminars, allowing the program to bridge the gap between product design and the implementation in the home. The dates for all locations are still pending. "Both organizations see the value of building reciprocal training programs and technical references to help CEDIA members succeed in their HDMI installations. We are eager to work with the HDMI organization and provide CEDIA members with a viable solution to help their businesses."

X-Rite Brings New Emphasis on Color Management to SkillsUSA.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Color management, measurement and communication technologies company X-Rite has announced that it has been chosen by SkillsUSA Competition to help introduce new color management and measurement skills to the Graphic Communications Competition on both regional and national levels. The Graphic Communications Competition will be one of 96 hands-on skill and leadership competitions, and will include an end-to end real-life production contest during which students will be asked to preflight a job and create production-ready files that match a provided sample. They will then have to demonstrate their pressroom operation skills including offset lithographic press preparation, plate installation and make-ready. Ultimately they will have to produce a four-color job on a two-color press. Other elements of the Graphic Communications Competition include production planning, finishing, an oral professional assessment and a technical knowledge test. Patrick Klarecki, Interim Director at the School of Design and Manufacturing Professor of Printing Management at Ferris State University explains: "This year, we are placing a whole new emphasis on color management. Historically, students had to prepare a 4-color job to be printed on a 2-color press, and that was it. When I came back from the international competition last year, there was a great deal of emphasis being placed on color management and color measurement during prepress and make-ready. It quickly became obvious that the European and the Asian education systems were somewhat further along in the teaching of color measurement by the numbers, even at the high school level. With X-Rite’s assistance, we are now able to introduce these concepts into the offset press operation for the first time here in the national American competition. Now, not only will the student have to run a press, but we are going to ask them to take density readings, L*a*b* color space readings and plot variances every 100 sheets, while the press is running." As a major sponsor of Graphic Communications Competition, X-Rite has donated seven 528 spectrodensitometers for use during the competition. In addition, X-Rite will present a seminar for the educators to help them develop curricula featuring fundamentals of color management and the use of color measurement tools. X-Rite will also award prizes to secondary and post secondary medal winners including: an i1XTreme package for gold medal winners, ColorMunki Design packages for silver medalists and ColorMunki Create packages for bronze medalists. All participants will also receive X-Rite ColorChecker Passports to help them continue to hone their color measurement skills long after the competition is over. This year’s national SkillsUSA Competition will return to Kansas City June 21-25, 2010 for its 46th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference, a showcase for technical education students from across the United States. More than 14,000 students, teachers, educational leaders, and representatives from more than 1,100 national corporations, trade associations, businesses and labor unions will attend the event.

Cablevision Announces Acquisition of Bresnan Communications.
Monday, June 14, 2010

Cablevision Systems Corporation and Bresnan Communications, which is majority owned by Providence Equity Partners, today announced a definitive agreement under which a newly-formed subsidiary of Cablevision will acquire Bresnan in a transaction valued at $1.365 billion. Bresnan is the nation's thirteenth largest MSO with cable operating systems in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah that pass more than 630,000 homes and serve more than 300,000 basic subscribers. Cablevision President and CEO James L. Dolan said: "We believe the acquisition of Bresnan is an excellent opportunity to leverage Cablevision's strong management team and build shareholder value. Bill Bresnan was a cable legend and was close to so many in the industry, including the Dolan family. The Bresnan team has built an impressive cable business that performs well financially, and we look forward to working to enhance those systems further." Upon completion of the Bresnan transaction, Cablevision will gain advanced cable systems serving more than 300,000 basic subscribers through the delivery of high-quality services, including digital television, high-speed Internet and voice, across an upgraded fiber-optic coaxial network. For Bresnan, the transaction highlights its success in developing this market-leading telecommunications company. Financially, Cablevision expects that Bresnan will be acquired by a newly-formed, unrestricted subsidiary of Cablevision with standalone financing. The subsidiary is expected to be financed using non-recourse debt of approximately $1 billion and an equity investment by Cablevision of less than $400 million. "Since the early days of our industry, the Bresnan name has stood for exceptional performance and an unflinching commitment to customers, colleagues and community," said Jeffrey S. DeMond, Bresnan's President and CEO. "I could not be more proud of our team's accomplishments, nor more appreciative of the support of our great partners. Bill Bresnan would have agreed, and I speak for the entire family of Bresnan employees in expressing our confidence that Bresnan will enjoy continued success as part of the Cablevision family of companies." The completion of this transaction, which the company expects to happen in late 2010 or early 2011, is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

Largest Taiwanese LCD Producer Indicted in LCD Price-Fixing Conspiracy.
Friday, June 11, 2010

A federal grand jury in San Francisco returned a superseding indictment against the largest Taiwanese thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display panels (TFT-LCD) producer and seller, its Houston-based American subsidiary, and six of its executives for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices of TFT-LCD panels, the Department of Justice announced today. The indictment, returned last night and filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charges that AU Optronics Corporation participated in a conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels sold worldwide from Sept. 14, 2001, to Dec. 1, 2006. AU Optronics Corporation, its American subsidiary, AU Optronics Corporation America, and six AU Optronics’ executives, each a resident of Taiwan, participated in the conspiracy at various times during the alleged conspiracy time period. TFT-LCD panels are used in computer monitors and notebooks, televisions, mobile phones and other electronic devices. By the end of the conspiracy period, the worldwide market for TFT-LCD panels was valued at $70 billion. Companies directly affected by the LCD price-fixing conspiracy include some of the largest computer and television manufacturers in the world, including Apple, Dell and Hewlett Packard. Charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act, the maximum penalty for the conviction of a Sherman Act violation is 10 years in prison, a $1 million fine for individuals and a $100 million fine for corporations. The maximum fines may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. As a result of this ongoing investigation, six companies have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to pay criminal fines totaling more than $860 million. Additionally, including today’s indictment, 17 executives have been charged to date in the department’s ongoing investigation. Charges are the result of a joint investigation by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office and the FBI in San Francisco.

Panasonic to Launch the World's First Ultra-Large Full HD 3D Professional Plasma Displays.
Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Panasonic Corporation announced today it will start taking orders for its professional-use ultra-large Full HD 3D plasma display panels (PDPs) on July 1, 2010. The displays include the world's largest 3D plasma display - a 152-inch model, as well as 103-inch and 85-inch models. According to Panasonic, to develop the new professional models, the company has advanced its unique technologies employed in its VIERA Full HD 3D plasma televisions that were launched in the consumer market this year. The technologies include an industry-highest native contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1 for excellent black reproduction; a high speed driving technology to achieve the PDP's full moving picture resolution and a crosstalk reduction technology; a crucial requirement for producing clear and crisp 3D images. Panasonic said the newly-developed ultra high-speed drive technology achieves clear and highly detailed 3D video even on the ultra-large panels, while also, the newly developed built-in "professional quality engine" has doubled the color reproducibility with 30-bit processing in comparison to conventional models. Offering a variety of 3D system solutions that will lead to the creation of new businesses, Panasonic continues to fulfill the needs of professional users such as corporations, stores, amusement facilities, educational institutions, art galleries and museums. Panasonic aims to accelerate 3D-based innovation within the global professional markets, in order to lead a 3D industry revolution by creating a new home viewing environment and a new video industry based on its 3D technologies. Shipments of the new displays will start first in the Japanese and American markets in autumn this year followed by other countries soon thereafter. The company will also put these new models on display at InfoComm 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada, from June 9-11.

Gefen Implements Fast Switching Technology on HDMI v1.3 Products.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Connectivity solutions provider Gefen this week announced that all its HDMI v1.3 products are now capable of using new Fast Switching Technology (FST). According to Gefen, this proprietary new technology emerged to better handle HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content protection) handshaking, which in the past could take up to ten seconds in transition when switching between sources. With FST enabled, those ten seconds have been reduced to nearly no delay when switching sources, with high definition video appearing on the screen or display immediately with no latency. "This new FST was initiated based on our customers’ feedback to speed the switching time between HDMI input sources, and make the overall system more user friendly," explained Hagai Gefen, president and CEO, Gefen. "Though cutting down ten seconds may not seem like a long time, it was presenting challenges to installers when switching from component-based connections to HDMI, and now we have the perfect solution." FST is currently being implemented on all current and newly developed Gefen products using HDMI specifications.

WHDI Demonstrates 3D and Lays Out Standard Roadmap.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010

WHDI LLC, the organization responsible for managing and licensing the WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) standard today announced the technical features that will be included in upcoming versions of the WHDI specification. Significantly, WHDI LLC will release a WHDI 3D specification update that will document WHDI support for all 3D formats required by the HDMI 1.4a specification. This release is targeted for Q4 2010. Currently, WHDI is the leading global standard for the wireless distribution of HD (full 1080p/60Hz) video, enabling the ability to connect HD sources (STBs, Blu-ray players, PCs, mobile devices, game players, etc.) to TVs throughout and across the home. A recent industry report from West Technology Research Solutions (WTRS), a leading wireless industry analyst, stated that WHDI technology will grow from nearly 70% of the 2010 market share for wireless video products to over 75% of the 2015 market. This contrasts sharply with other technologies that could be used for wireless video such as WiDi, WirelessHD and WiGig, where WTRS projects marginal uptake in the wireless video market. The WHDI specification currently supports a high-quality, wireless link which can deliver uncompressed 1080p/60Hz in a 40MHz channel in the 5GHz unlicensed band, conforming to worldwide 5GHz spectrum regulations. Range is beyond 100 feet, through walls, and latency is less than one millisecond. WHDI supports HDCP revision 2.0, providing superior security and digital content protection.

Following the 3D update, the next version of the WHDI standard, "WHDI 2.0," will include the following:

- Full 3D support (in addition to all HDMI 1.4a required 3D modes, WHDI will support the next generation 1080p 60Hzx2 3D format)
- Support for the next generation 2Kx4K HD format with four times the resolution of 1080p (4,096 x 2,160 pixels)
- WHDI-Wi-Fi integration and same channel co-existence
- Mobile device integration through reduced power consumption and footprint

"WHDI will continue to evolve to enable products to bring the latest technologies and the highest quality home entertainment experience to the consumer," said Leslie Chard, president of WHDI LLC. "WHDI is the only standard that combines the low latency required for gaming and other interactive applications with multi-room distribution." To showcase the 3D capabilities, AMIMON Inc., demonstrated 3D HDTV using the current release of the WHDI technology at the Computex show last week in Taipei, Taiwan. The WHDI 2.0 specification is targeted for release in Q2 of 2011.

MultiTouch Delivers World’s Largest High-Definition Multi-Touch LCD.
Monday, June 07, 2010

MultiTouch, Ltd., developer of the world’s first modular multi-touch LCD screen for large-scale displays, and Riolab, a leading interactive display production firm, have collaborated on the largest multitouch display ever produced for a World’s Fair. The Wall of Chile (Muro de Chile) for the Chilean Pavilion at the Expo 2010 Shanghai China features a 4-meter-long (13’) and 1.2-meter-high (4’) display wall that enables visitors to access more than six hours of high-definition video and thousands of photographs from historical archives, including satellite, natural, and terrestrial images that detail Chile’s culture and character. More than 400 authors and hundreds of public and private institutions directly contributed to the wall, which features a large map of Chile as the 16.5 Megapixel main interface, and then offers headshots of 36 people for access to further information. Images and text are uploaded to the Wall of Chile web site, and appear in a grid at the bottom of the screen and are automatically updated every 24 hours. Designed by Francisco Arevalo and his team in Santiago, Chile, with technical integration led by MultiTouch CTO Tommi Ilmonen, the Wall of Chile was developed over a four-month period. The MultiTouch Cell product, a 46-inch stackable LCD display, was programmed using the MultiTouch Cornerstone software, which enables dynamic integration of applications. "The vision of a global interactive experience shared by thousands of people, with information dynamically updated, is what the MultiTouch system was developed to nurture," said Petri Martikainen, CEO of MultiTouch Ltd. "Working with Riolab, we have implemented a global collaborative display that is the first true massive real-time multitouch installation of its kind for the Wall of Chile presentation." MultiTouch will demonstrate its MultiTouch Cell product at the Infocomm 2010 convention in Las Vegas, from Wednesday, June 9 through June 11 in Booth #N402 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The wall will appear at the Chilean Pavilion through October 31, 2010. See the Wall of Chile video.

Consumer Electronics Industry to Grow.
Friday, June 04, 2010

According to a recent report from market research firm Research and Markets, the global consumer electronics industry is set to witness phenomenal growth in the near future after the moderation of tough economic conditions. The prospective growth in the consumer electronics industry could be attributed to revolutionary technological developments. The digital technology revolution has enabled the industry to make profit from the growing interaction of digital applications, such as camcorders, DVD player/recorder, digital camera, etc. With these technological advancement, the global consumer electronics industry generated revenue of around US$ 694 Billion in 2008. The report, "Global Consumer Electronics Market Forecast to 2013" has predicted that the global consumer electronics industry will grow at a CAGR of around 5% during 2010–2013. During this time period, we expect that 3D TV will experience the highest CAGR of around 118% as manufacturers begin to implement 3D as a standard feature in their HD flat-panel product lines. The report also found that the American region (mainly the US) is driving the global consumer electronics industry, closely followed by the EU. However, the growth pattern will change in future, with the emergence of Asia Pacific as the major contributor for the industry due to increase in demand from the developed countries. For instance - India is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 19% during 2010-2013. The firm also expects that the continuous development of digital technologies will add new features and improve quality of electronic devices. Moreover, the connectivity and mobility also play a vital role in accelerating the industry growth rate as younger generation is fascinated by such features. These factors indicate that the consumer electronics industry has bright future ahead, particularly in countries like China and India where the economy is moving at a fast pace.

Panasonic Establishes 3D Innovation Center in Japan.
Thursday, June 03, 2010

Panasonic Corporation announced it establishes a Panasonic 3D Innovation Center in Japan today to accelerate the development of its 3D business, a technology that is expected to create a whole new video culture and industry. This center will serve as a contact point for customers related to the 3D business by coordinating the various departments within the Panasonic Group, in order to provide said customers with optimum solutions in this business. Through this initiative, Panasonic aims to achieve growth in its network AV business, one of the company's key business fields, and contribute to the expansion of the 3D industry as a whole. In this year said to be the "First Year for 3D" and with the commercialization of a series of 3D products for consumer use, Panasonic foresees the expansion of 3D technology not only within the audiovisual field, but also into a diverse range of industries that will include healthcare, education, and arts. Panasonic expects 3D technology will, like IT technology, serve as a key structural element expanding within a wide range of social infrastructure. With such a trend, the industry will require a wide range of End-to-End technology solutions ranging from 3D contents to device solutions. To acknowledge the movement, Panasonic's 3D Innovation Center will make use of the technologies and know-how cultivated up to now for a swift and targeted contribution. This center will exercise the comprehensive strengths of the Panasonic Group to the greatest, properly applying corporate resources and building an organizational structure in aims to supply total solutions to its 3D customers including corporations, other organizations, and specialists. It is scheduled to become fully operational on July 12th of this year, focusing its current activities within Japan.

Specifically, the center will focus on the following three key areas:

1. Total coordination of the 3D business, from contents production to device solutions, to help customers create and maximize their business opportunities

2. Supply a production/communication/viewing workflow for 3D contents to realize a high-quality, comfortable viewing environment

3. Innovation in both software/hardware and systems through above activities, and also targeted marketing innovation for the benefit of the customer

Following the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory Advanced Authoring Center for the authoring and recording of 3D Hollywood movies onto Blu-ray Discs which was founded in 2009, the company has also developed the world's first Twin-lens Full HD 3D camcorder to enable economical but highly-efficient production of 3D videos. The cameras will go on sale this autumn. According to Panasonic, through the activities of the center, the company will continue to promote innovation within the 3D industry in order to expand its own 3D-related business, as well as to contribute to the development of the electronics industry as a whole.

Kodak Introduces Two New VISION3 Films.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Kodak announced today the addition of two new films to its VISION3 family of motion picture products, reaffirming the company's commitment to film. The stock additions include a medium-speed, tungsten-balanced color negative camera film, and a color intermediate film optimized to work with digital post production technologies. KODAK VISION3 5213/7213 is a 200-speed, tungsten balanced film. According to Kodak, it features extended latitude, enabling cinematographers to record more details in highlights, and delivers finer grain for natural-looking images in the darkest areas. The emulsion is optimally designed for both controlled interiors and challenging high-contrast exteriors, and is available in all formats (65 mm, 35 mm, Super 16 and Super 8). Cinematographers who have tested the film report that it records cleaner whites and deeper black tones, offers enhanced latitude, and provides richer color saturation and natural skin tones. The new 5213/7213 stock joins the KODAK VISION3 500T 5219/7219 and 250D 5207/7207 camera negative films. The new intermediate film provides an improved bridge between KODAK negative films and KODAK print films. KODAK VISION3 Color Digital Intermediate Film 5254/2254 is designed for use with contemporary film recorders – both laser recorders and numerous CRT recorders that are still widely used in the marketplace. The imaging characteristics of this new intermediate film enhance the speed and efficiency of DI post production while rendering noticeably sharper images that more faithfully represent the intentions of filmmakers. KODAK VISION3 technology, introduced in November 2007, offers increased exposure latitude and color detail with noticeably reduced grain, especially in the brightest highlights and darkest shadows. The product line also produces cleaner film-to-digital transfers for post production. “Our customers demand the very highest image quality, and these new Kodak films help them achieve their creative visions better than any other image capture medium today,” says Kim Snyder, president of the Entertainment Imaging Division, and vice president of Eastman Kodak Company. “Our actions continue to demonstrate that Kodak remains committed to motion picture film, with more advances on the way.”

4 Out of 5 Americans Don't Know Their Broadband Speeds.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Today the Federal Communications Commission released the results of a survey on the consumer broadband experience. The survey found that 80 percent of broadband users in the United States do not know the speed of their broadband connection. The survey is part of the agency’s overall broadband speed initiative, which involves several bureaus and offices and is being coordinated by the Commission’s Consumer Task Force. Through the initiative, the agency will also measure the actual speeds that consumers receive and compare them to the speeds that broadband providers advertise. The survey found that no demographic group had good awareness of their home broadband speed (the survey asked specifically about download speed). But there were some demographic differences. For example, 71 percent of men do not know what speed they’re getting, while the figure is 90 percent for women. With respect to age, 73 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 do not know their home broadband speed, while the number goes up to 88 percent of people age 65 and over. Most Americans are satisfied with the broadband speed they are getting. Fully 91 percent of broadband users say they are “very” or “somewhat” satisfied with the speed they get at home. The comparable number for mobile broadband, which is not yet technologically capable of thesame speeds as home broadband, is 71 percent satisfaction. As a point of comparison, 92 percent of cell phone users are very or somewhat satisfied with their cell phone service overall. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, “Speed matters. The more broadband subscribers know about what speeds they need and what speeds they get, the more they can make the market work and push faster speeds over broadband networks.” Today, the Consumer Task Force announced a new initiative that will help the FCC determine the broadband speeds consumers are getting in their homes, a key recommendation in the National Broadband Plan. the FCC is asking today for 10,000 volunteers to participate in a scientific study to measure home broadband speed in the U.S. Specialized hardware will be installed in the homes of volunteers to measure the performance of all the country’s major Internet service providers across geographic regions and service tiers. Anyone can register as a volunteer for this national test at www.TestMyISP.com. Volunteers will be able to track the performance of their own broadband service, as well as providing valuable data for the FCC, Internet service providers, and the public at large.

Corning Unveils Next-Generation G-2000 Green Laser.
Friday, May 28, 2010

Corning Incorporated this week introduced its new Corning G-2000 green laser at the Display Week 2010 conference. According to Corning, the G-2000 green laser demonstrates the industry’s highest commercially available performance in optical power, efficiency, and bandwidth. As a result, it is well suited to meet the demands of the growing market for portable microprojection devices. Advancing from the company's first commercially deployed synthetic green laser for microprojection - the G-1000 - the G-2000 green laser is 30% brighter, 60% more efficient, and offers 20% better bandwidth than its predecessor. As microprojection moves toward mass adoption in the consumer electronics industry, performance requirements are becoming increasingly demanding. Device makers want projectors with brightness of greater than 10 lumens, wide-video graphics array (WVGA) resolution or better, and at least two hours of battery life. Generating 80mW of optical power enabling up to twenty lumens projection the G-2000 green laser meets the demands of future devices. “The microprojection market presents a very large opportunity for our customers. That’s why the development of a winning light-source solution — one that is bright, small, and easy on a battery – is so important,” said Thomas Mills, general manager, Green Lasers, Corning New Business Development. “The G-2000 is brighter, faster, and more efficient than any other green laser commercially available today. With these benefits, it can provide our customers a much needed competitive edge over alternative solutions, like LED-based projectors.” The Corning G-2000 green laser is currently being sampled by customers. Commercial production is estimated to begin later in 2010.

Sony Develops 'rollable' OLED Display.
Thursday, May 27, 2010

Sony announced today that it developed a super-flexible 80 μm-thick 4.1-in 121 ppi OTFT-driven full color OLED display which can be wrapped around a thin cylinder such as a pencil. According to the company, to create the display, Sony developed OTFTs with an original organic semiconductor material (a PXX derivative) with eight times the current modulation of conventional OTFTs. This was achived due to the development of integration technologies of OTFTs and OLEDs on an ultra-thin 20 μm thick flexible substrate (a flexible on-panel gate-driver circuit with OTFTs which is able to get rid of convetinal rigid driver IC chips interfering roll-up of a display) and soft organic insulators for all the insulators in the integration cuircuit. By combining these technologies, Sony successfully demonstrated the world's first OLED panel which is capable of reproducing moving images while being repeatly rolled-up - around a cylinder with a radius of 4 mm - and stretched. Sony said it will proceed with the development of the solution / print based process which manufactures display devices from organic materials that are easily dissolved in common solvents. This process requires fewer steps, and consumes materials and energy more efficiently - thus has a smaller environmental footprint - compared to the conventional high temperature vacuum semiconductor process which use inorganic, silicon materials. Sony also said it will continue to improve the performance and reliability of its new flexible organic displays because the application of these developments are expected to yield thin, light-weight, durable and mobile devices with enhanced form-factor. Sony will unveil the results of this development on May 27 at "SID (Society for Information Display) 2010 International Symposium" in Seattle, WA (May 23-28).

Nitro's Free Release to Challenge Adobe's Solution.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010

In an effort to break the global dominence of Adobe System's Acrobat software, San Francisco based Nitro PDF Inc. this week announced the release of Nitro PDF Reader, a free PDF viewer that also offers free PDF creation. According to the company, users of Nitro PDF Reader can add comments, annotations and markups for digital collaboration, fill and save PDF forms, stamp signatures, extract text and images, and type text directly onto the PDF file. "Nitro PDF Reader aims to revolutionize the PDF reader category, second only to web browsers in world popularity, with class-leading functionality and a ground-breaking user experience," said Chris Dahl, Nitro's CTO. "This was the next logical step for Nitro as we continue to amass the largest user base of free PDF software outside of Adobe and the technology we've developed for our premium products. This is our vision to provide a no-strings-attached, truly free PDF reader that does everything we believe users want and nothing they don't." While Nitro is already selling professional PDF software that competes with Adobe, the reader released on Tuesday is the first free offering to let users do more than simply read and print such files. The Nitro Reader interface is instantly familiar for Microsoft Office users, with visual representations of tasks and tools. The product also offers users customizable security
controls, including the option to completely disable JavaScript and individually manage PDF files' interactivity with and access to the Internet. Features include:

- 100% compatibility with other leading PDF readers and editors, including the Adobe Acrobat family of products.
- Context-intelligent UI and tools to allow navigation panels to appear only when relevant to the PDF file opened,
and move/select tools know when user is selecting text or images.
- Fill-in and save forms to easily bypass the process of filling, printing and then scanning for electronic delivery or archival.
- PDF File Creation from any existing software, using customized and preset output controls from within Nitro PDF
Reader or instant, one-click drag-and-drop creation onto the desktop icon.
- Typing tool to easily type text directly on any page, anywhere in a PDF file.
- Premium collaboration tools for comment and review, using sticky notes and text markup capabilities such as highlight, cross out or underline, reply to individual annotations and comments and sort individual users' contributions.
- Sign PDF files inapplication
without the need to print and password-protect multiple users' signatures.
- PDF Preview for email clients that integrates a preview window in Microsoft Outlook (Vista and later) to instantly view the content of PDF attachments without saving and opening the file.
- Snapshot tool that copies a selected area on any page directly to clipboard to easily repurpose any PDF content
for only what is needed.
- Disable JavaScript functionality to prevent unauthorized access to your computer via malicious coding in PDF
files.
- Restrict web access capability that allows a list of specified web sites to interact with PDF files opened or
completely restrict internet activity from within all PDF files.

The new software is available now and can be downloaded for free at www.nitroreader.com

World’s First 3D TV Terrestrial Transmission is on the Air.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Broadcast Australia has become the first to broadcast three-dimensional television (3D TV) signals terrestrially over the air. The trial 3D TV service was switched-on in Sydney by Broadcast Australia and in Brisbane by TX Australia at 12am May 19. The landmark 3D broadcast service launches a two-month trial undertaken by Nine Network Australia and SBS Corporation. The service will be turned-on progressively in seven major Australian cities over the next few weeks. As transmission partners in these cities, Broadcast Australia and TX Australia will deliver to Australian fans up to 15 matches from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, plus three rugby league matches from the 2010 State of Origin Series between NSW and Queensland, live in 3D. In a fast-tracked engineering project, Broadcast Australia has modified several of its broadcast transmission systems to support the 3D TV signal, which is encoded using the latest MPEG-4 compression standard and utilises a side-by-side ‘frame compatible’ 3D transmission technique. These systems have been integrated into Broadcast Australia’s Network Operations Centre (NOC) in Sydney, for 24-hour monitoring and control of the 3D signal. The spectrum used for the trial is one of the ‘unassigned’ UHF channels in each city—in Sydney, it is the same channel vacated on 30 April 2010 by Broadcast Australia’s ‘niche TV’ trial service. “Broadcast Australia is thrilled to be involved in this trial and to broadcast the first-ever 3D TV content via terrestrial means,” said Broadcast Australia’s Managing Director Graeme Barclay. “We applaud the ACMA’s decision to grant the temporary license to Nine and SBS jointly, allowing Australia to help demonstrate the future possibilities for new broadcast technology platforms. It is this sort of innovation that highlights the need to reserve new broadcast spectrum for new broadcast services in the Government’s forthcoming spectrum plan.” The first live 3D free to air TV broadcast will take place on 26 May, when the first State of Origin match is scheduled to be played in Sydney. This will be followed by two more State of Origin matches and up to 15 World Cup soccer matches until the trial ends in mid July.

FCC Unleashes 25 MHz of Mobile Broadband Spectrum.
Monday, May 24, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted rules that will make available 25 megahertz of spectrum for mobile broadband service in much of the United States, while protecting adjacent satellite radio and aeronautical mobile telemetry operations. According to the FCC, mobile broadband promises to be a significant contributing factor for economic growth and job creation in the 21st century. To promote mobile innovation and investment, the National Broadband Plan recommends that the Commission make 500 megahertz of spectrum available for broadband use in the next 10 years, including 300 megahertz for broadband use in the next five years. The Report and Order adopted amends the Wireless Communications Service (WCS) rules to immediately make 25 megahertz of spectrum available for mobile broadband services. The existing WCS rules constrain operations to fixed services, but the Commission found today that those rules can be revised to allow mobile broadband services without risking harmful interference to neighboring operations. To provide certainty for licensees while maintaining high-quality satellite radio services to the American public, the Commission adopted rules permitting the use of terrestrial repeaters by Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) licensees at the same time. The Commission also adopted enhanced build-out requirements for WCS licensees, to ensure that the promise of mobile broadband is realized. These requirements are designed to spur investment that will promote the deployment of innovative mobile broadband services across the country.

Together, the Orders establish a regulatory framework for the co-existence of WCS and SDARS licensees in the 2.3 GHz frequency band in the following manner:

- Mobile and portable broadband devices: Mobile and portable station power levels are permitted up to 250 mW average equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) per 5 megahertz in WCS Blocks A and B and in the portions of WCS Blocks C and D that are separated by 2.5 megahertz from the SDARS band edges; duty cycle limitations and automatic transmit power control (ATPC) will apply; out of-band emissions (OOBE) requirements on WCS mobile and portable devices are also relaxed.
- WCS base and fixed stations: Base and fixed stations in WCS Blocks A and B are permitted to operate with up to 2 kW average EIRP per 5 megahertz but stations in the C and D blocks remain limited to the 2 kW peak EIRP level currently specified in the Rules; WCS base and fixed stations’ OOBE are also relaxed; a notification process with SDARS and coordination process with aeronautical mobile telemetry (AMT) users are also established.
- Performance requirements for WCS licensees: For mobile and point-to-multipoint services, WCS licensees must serve 40 percent of a license area’s population within 42 months, and 75 percent within 72 months. For fixed point-to-point services, WCS licensees must construct and operate 15 point-to-point links per million persons in a license area within 42 months, and 30 links within 72 months, together with a minimum payload capacity to ensure that the spectrum is used intensively. Licensees will not be required to satisfy submarket construction requirements.
- WCS Coordination with Flight Testing Service: In those license areas where WCS licensees must coordinate with aeronautical mobile telemetry receive sites to serve a significant percentage of a market’s total population, alternative requirements apply for mobile and point-to-multipoint services. Specifically, affected licensees must serve 25 (rather than 40) percent of the population within 42 months, and 50 (rather than 75) percent within 72 months.
- SDARS terrestrial repeaters: Permanent rules are established for the operation of SDARS terrestrial repeaters. Repeaters operating up to 12 kW average EIRP will be authorized under a blanket licensing regime. The Commission also denies petitions for reconsideration of the 1997 SDARS Order filed by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturing Association (CEMA) and the Cellular Phone Taskforce.

Sony and Google Announce Google TV.
Friday, May 21, 2010

The Sony Corporation and Google Inc. have announced an alliance to provide a range of new entertainment experiences that combine Google’s open-source Android OS platform with Sony's line of consumer electronics for the home, mobile and personal product categories. As the first step in this collaboration, Sony will introduce “Sony Internet TV,” the world’s first TV to incorporate the "Google TV" platform. Through an easy-to-use interface, consumers will be able to search and access content from their TVs and across the Internet – a rich Internet experience on consumers’ TVs. According to Google, the two companies are also exploring extending the alliance in connection with Sony’s wide range of entertainment assets to establish new forms of cloud-based user experiences. “The combination of Sony’s industry-leading product design, engineering and development expertise with the flexibility and growth potential of Google’s innovative, open-source Android platform will provide consumers with a world of new and exciting Internet user experiences. Through this alliance, Sony will deliver new levels of connectivity and Internet integration across our range of assets and product categories,” said Howard Stringer, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Corporation.“Sony Internet TV” is scheduled to first launch in the U.S. the Fall of 2010 with the lineup featuring both a standalone TV model and set top box-type unit incorporating a Blu-ray Disc drive.

Panasonic Raises Dual-wavelength Laser Production Output.
Thursday, May 20, 2010

Panasonic has achieved the cumulative sales quantity for its dual-wavelength high-power laser for DVD recorders to 300 million units in April, 2010. The production of dual-wavelength high-power laser started the first time in the industry in June 2006. Now, under the favorable demand of the personal computers, Panasonic said that it would increase monthly production to 25 million units (300 million annually) for the latter half of this fiscal year. According to Panasonic, the dual-wavelength high-power laser has been highly reputed for its quality and stable supply. The device offers several advantages in comparison to the use of single wavelength lasers as it combines two laser wavelengths, an infrared beam (with a wavelength of 780 nm, for CD use) and a red beam (with a wavelength of 650 nm, for DVD use), in a single chip. As result, light source point adjustment is unnecessary, the optical pickup system can be simplified, and the number of peripheral parts can be halved. These benefits helped dual-wavelength lasers capture a high share of the total market for DVD recorder pickups and achieve the sales of 300 million units in the four years since production started. In fiscal 2010, production will be doubled to 25 million units per month to meet the market demands supported by the robust business of personal computers in the BRICs markets. This volume represents more than 80% of the projected total market size for DVD recorder pickups. Panasonic said it hopes that this production plan will fulfill customers' demands and contribute to the steady growth of the laser disc market.

DuPont and Dainippon Screen Develop Printed OLED Technology.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010

In an effort to bring together the elements needed – materials, technology and equipment – to mass produce OLED displays, delivering higher performance at a lower cost, DuPont and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd., have announced a strategic alliance to develop integrated manufacturing equipment for printed organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. OLEDs are displays in which pixels are created using thin films made of emissive organic materials. Compared with liquid crystal displays (LCDs), OLEDs can have much higher contrast ratios, lower power consumption (because pixels draw power only when they are in use), faster response time, and eliminate the need for the backlight and color filter. Small-size active matrix OLED displays have recently become available from several manufacturers, but the current high-cost of manufacturing limits market adoption, and constrains OLED manufacturing for large size displays. The companies are developing integrated coating and printing equipment for the fabrication of OLED displays from solution, an approach which is unique in the industry and can significantly reduce manufacturing costs for OLED displays. DuPont brings to the alliance its distinctive small molecule-based OLED solution materials and proprietary process technology from which excellent performance has been obtained in testing. Dainippon Screen has developed a unique printing technology, called nozzle printing, in which the OLED materials can be printed accurately at very high speed. The goal of the partnership is to develop integrated OLED printing and coating equipment that will significantly reduce the production costs of flat panel displays, with the aim of extending OLED technology to large size displays and making them cost-competitive with LCDs. The companies have been working together over the past three years to jointly develop nozzle printers as an efficient method for printing OLED displays from solution. The first production scale printer is currently being constructed. "The flat panel display market is about $100 billion annually and growing. DuPont is applying its science to make possible more vivid displays that are lower cost than current LCD displays,” said David B. Miller, group vice president, DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies. “We are excited to combine our strengths with Dainippon Screen’s unique printing technology to bring to market the core technology that will enable improved high definition televisions and other flat panel displays."

Plasma TV Sales Show Continued Staying Power.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

While dismissed by many as a technology on its last legs, Plasma TV Q1 2010 sales results once again proved the skeptics wrong. Quixel Research’s Q1 2010 USA Large Area Display Report revealed that unit sales of Plasma TVs grew 14% from Q1’09 to Q1’10 or a larger volume increase than the LCDTV 40”+ category for the same time period. “Plasma TV sales are still strong because they provide a great value, and when consumers do a little homework, they understand that Plasma TVs offer picture quality that is just as good and sometimes better than LCDTVs,” stated Tamaryn Pratt, Quixel Research’s principal. “It also helps that almost all the Plasma TVs available today are offered by top tier brands and for many consumers that seals the deal.” The overall Large Area Display category was up 7% in units year to year, with LCDTV 40”+ volumes increasing 6% for the same time period. Typical seasonal decline and a recessionary marketplace were the primary contributors to the 32% Q2Q unit shortfall for the Large Area Display category in Q1’10. From Q4’09 to Q1’10, LCDTV volumes were down 24%, Plasma TV volumes were down 46% and MicroDisplay Rear ProjectionTV volumes were down 21%. Revenues for the Large Area Display category were off 32% Q2Q but had a softer landing Y2Y with a 13% declined from Q1’09 to Q1’10. Increased sales of 55” and 60” models were the fuel for the LCDTV category and overall Large Area Display category in Q1’10. Sales of 55” LCDTVs were up close to 600% Y2Y and down only 7% Q2Q. Signaling a major shift, 55” LED models outsold 55” CCLF models for the first time during the quarter.

Next Generation WirelessHD Standard Now Available.
Monday, May 17, 2010

The WirelessHD Consortium has announced immediate availability of the WirelessHD 1.1 specification. First announced this January at the Consumer Electronics Show, this next generation WirelessHD specification enables HDTVs, Blu-ray disc players, PCs and portable devices to transmit, share and display content in billions of colors with 60 GHz wireless lossless A/V support as well as instantaneously transfer large multi-gigabyte media files among a variety of devices. According to the Consortium, this update ensures WirelessHD technology will continue to extend its utility and evolution ahead of future consumer demands. Supported by more than 45 global technology industry leader, products implementing WirelessHD 1.1 technology will be backward compatible to those products using WirelessHD 1.0 technology.

The WirelessHD 1.1 specification includes the following updates:

- Optimized architecture to handle multi-gigabit data rates for A/V streaming and file transfer
(Wireless Personal Area Networking or WPAN) at lowest link power.
- Highest data rates: The next generation specification increases the data rate to 10 – 28 Gbps, an unprecedented level of wireless bandwidth. This will support the demands of future high definition display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Color and high frame rates, as well as high speed data applications.
- 3D over WirelessHD: The new specification will define common 3D formats and resolutions for WirelessHD-enabled devices.
- 4K resolution support enables devices to support HD resolution four times beyond that of 1080p. This feature allows the WirelessHD interface to transmit content at the same resolution as many digital theaters.
- WPAN Data support: Connected devices that include this feature supports sync’n go file transfers for portable and fixed devices. This new specification also provides for IP connectivity for Internet access and networking of WirelessHD devices.
- Portable device support: The scalability of WirelessHD technology has been extended to support lossless video streaming in low-power portable devices such as portable media players, netbooks and smartphones.
- HDCP 2.0 content protection over WirelessHD: In addition to DTCP, both the current and future versions of WirelessHD will include support for HDCP 2.0 content protection. WirelessHD is the only standard to support both streaming and copying of multimedia content.

“We’re pleased to bring an outstanding second generation specification to market with significant feature enhancements and power efficiencies,” said John Marshall, Chairman of the WirelessHD Consortium, “Enhanced video support and added data support makes WirelessHD technology the best option for wireless video area networking (WVAN) and wireless personal area networking (WPAN) applications.”

Hitachi Maxell Achieves 50TB Tape Media Capacity.
Friday, May 14, 2010

Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. and Tokyo Institute of Technology today jointly announced the collaboratively development of ultra high capacity tape media featuring a capacity of over 50 TB per standard tape cartridge. The joint team demonstrated a world-record areal density of 45.0 Gb/in2 in linear formatted perpendicular magnetic recording media. This technology enables a capacity of more than 50 TB per standard tape cartridge - 33 times larger than the capacity of the latest available LTO Ultrium 5 data cartridges. The coating type media, which is made by coating the magnetic powder on the base film, is commonly used for archive in public libraries, public records offices and the long-term storage. In order to increase the capacity of these type of media developers had to create an ultra-thin film with magnetic particles sized below 10nm. This was very difficult to achieve using coating methods. Hitachi's super-high density nanometer-sized magnetic film was developed by combining Maxell's tape medium design/evaluation technologies and a new thin-film formation method (Facing Targets Sputtering method), developed by associate professor Shigeki Nakagawa and team at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The method allowed Hitachi to make a large-capacity magnetic tape with ultra-small magnetic particles (less than 10nm). As a result, the areal recording density of the new tape medium reached the 45.0 Gb/in2. Using this film in typical data tape cartridge media offers a capacity of 50TB per cartridge or even more. Hitachi confirmed a linear recording density of 531 kbpi and a track pitch of 300 nm without cross-track interference using a newly designed tester. Hitachi will present these developments at the 9th Perpendicular Magnetic Recording Conference (PMRC 2010; May 17 - 19, 2010, Sendai, Japan).

Sharp Develops 3D HD Video Camera Module for Mobile Devices.
Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Sharp Corporation has developed a 3D camera module for mobile devices capable of capturing high-definition (720p) 3D video images, what the company claims is an industry first. 3D images are composed of two views taken using two cameras that simultaneously capture separate images for the right and left eyes. Consequently, a 3D camera requires peripheral circuitry to apply image processing to the two images, for example, to adjust color or to correct positioning between the images from the two cameras. Manufacturers have thus been pursuing designs that reduce the size and weight of 3D cameras and seeking ways to shorten their development period. The current 3D camera module developed by Sharp incorporates functions to process the image data output by the left and right cameras, including Color Synchronizing Processing to adjust color and brightness, Timing Synchronizing Processing to synchronize the timing of the video signals, and Optical Axis Control Processing to correct positioning. In addition, Fast Readout Technology rapidly transfers video data from the image sensor, enabling 3D images to be captured in high-resolution HD mode. Further, in developing this camera module, Sharp applied high-density mounting technology nurtured over long years of experience in camera module development to achieve a compact form. Embedding this camera module in mobile devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, and smartphones will contribute to the development of a wide range of new, innovative communications tools. In the future, Sharp will be opening up new 3D markets based on 3D display technologies, including small/medium-size and large-size 3D LCDs, as well as on 3D input device technologies such as 3D camera modules. The company said it will start shipping samples of the new module in July. Mass production of these modules will begin within 2010.

CBS, FOX Rejoin NAB - NAB Again Unified.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

CBS Corporation and FOX Broadcasting have rejoined the National Association of Broadcasters, the companies announced this week. The announcement also includes the return of CBS's 29 television stations and 130 radio stations into NAB membership, as well as the 27 owned-and-operated Fox Television Stations and the MyNetworkTV programming service. As the primary advocacy organization in Washington for over-the-air broadcasters, NAB represents the interests of thousands of local radio and television stations, and now the following television networks: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ION Media Networks, Telemundo, and Univision. In regards to the announcement, Jack Abernethy, Chief Executive Officer of Fox Television Stations, commented: "The interests of our industry, our company and our viewers are best served by speaking with one voice on Capitol Hill, at the FCC and in the Courts. We look forward to working with Gordon Smith and the other member companies of the NAB toward our common goal of enhancing the enduring values of over-the-air television." "As the media landscape evolves ever more rapidly, over-the-air broadcasting faces a number of clear opportunities and some significant challenges," said Martin D. Franks, Executive Vice President for Planning, Policy and Government Affairs, CBS Corporation. "One of the very best ways to address these issues is through a resurgent NAB under Gordon Smith's leadership. We look forward to adding CBS's voice to NAB's efforts to preserve and enhance broadcasting on behalf of the public we serve." As part of today's announcement, Franks and Abernethy will serve as CBS and FOX's members of the NAB Board of Directors. "Today is a great day for broadcasting, for NAB, and for the tens of millions of Americans who rely every day on CBS, FOX and other broadcast programming for highly-valued content," said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. "Both CBS and FOX currently have superb advocacy arms in Washington. We are delighted by their vote of confidence in the NAB team, and we look forward to presenting a seamless display of broadcast unity inside the Beltway. Our challenges are many, but the mission of free and local broadcasting remains a worthy cause."

Media-Control GfK Releases 2009 Home Video Results & 2010 Forecast.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Global media and entertainment tracking service Media Control GfK, announced today the release of its 18 Territory 2009 Year End Summary and 2010 Home Video Forecast Report. "Despite global declines in DVD sales, the local economies of the international markets were not all down in 2009," said Brad Hackley, President of Media Control GfK USA. The report notes that 33% of the international territories experienced either positive or flat DVD & Blu-ray annual revenue performance in 2009. Germany and Sweden led all territories, followed by Switzerland and Australia. However, other leading markets, the U.K. and Japan, mirrored the U.S. with double-digit sales declines from the prior year. Other notable findings from the report estimate the number of Blu-ray units sold through to consumers is expected to increase this year on average nearly 70% across the key international markets. Media Control GfK's 2009 Year End Summary and 2010 Home Video Forecast Report provides estimated unit sales and gross consumer spending on DVD, Blu-ray, UMD & VHS for 18 territories. Media-Control GfK will release its International 3D and VOD forecast later this year.

FCC Approves Secure Transmission of Recent Movies to Consumers.
Monday, May 10, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying it was "in the public interest," has approved a request by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) to permit recent movies to be sent directly to American households over secure high definition transmission lines from their cable or satellite providers prior to their release on DVD or Blu-ray. "This action is an important victory for consumers who will now have far greater access to see recent high definition movies in their homes. And it is a major step forward in the development of new business models by the motion picture industry to respond to growing consumer demand," said Bob Pisano, President and Interim CEO of the MPAA. "We deeply appreciate the recognition by the FCC that recently released movies need special protection against content theft when they are distributed to home televisions." Specifically, the issue before the FCC was a request by the MPAA for permission to use selectable output control (SOC), which would allow televisions with digitally secure interfaces to receive high- definition content from a cable, satellite or IPTV provider, before its release on DVD or Blue-ray. Using SOC protects content because during the broadcast it essentially disables non-secure, analog outputs to avoid illegal circumvention and distribution of copyrighted material. In its order, the FCC said: "On balance, this limited waiver will provide public interest benefits - making movies widely available for home viewing far earlier than ever before - without imposing harm on any consumers." "The first, and best way to view movies will always be in movie theaters - and nothing can replace the pleasure this brings to millions and millions of people all across our country and the globe," Pisano said. "But for those people unable to make it to the theater and interested in viewing a recently released movie, thanks to the FCC, they will now have a new option. For other consumers who prefer standard, linear, on-demand or DVD or Blu-ray options, these services will be unchanged."

NEC Develops Super-Fast Video Content Identification Technology.
Friday, May 07, 2010

The NEC Corporation announced today the development of a video content identification technology that the company claims detects illegal copies of video content uploaded to the Internet in a matter of seconds. This technology generates a fingerprint (video signature) to identify video content then compares video signatures to the signatures of original content in order to detect copies or altered versions. Therefore, altered video content, such as caption overlays, camera captured copies and analog copies, can be quickly and accurately detected. NEC's video content identification technology features the following:

- Accurate detection of copied or altered video content:
Video signatures are extracted for each frame based on differences in the luminance between sets of sub-regions on a frame that are defined by a variety of locations, sizes, and shapes. Video signatures represent a unique fingerprint that can be individually detected frame by frame. This technology is capable of accurately detecting video content with that was created with such, editing operations as analog capturing , re-encoding and caption overlay, which was conventionally very difficult to detect.

- A high detection rate and low false positive rate for all video contents:
By estimating confidence of signatures generated from each frame and using the confidence for sequence identification, the technology achieves a high detection rate with a very low false positive rate. These technologies achieved an average detection rate of 96% at a very low false alarm rate of 5ppm (5 in one million) through tests conducted by the international standardization organization.

- Detection of short video scenes:
Due to the high identification capability of signatures, the technology is capable of accurately detecting video scenes as short as 2 seconds (60 frames), which was formerly impossible when using conventional methods.

- Compatibility with home PCs:
By designing a compact signature size of 76 bytes per frame, the storage memory required for the matching process is minimized. As a result, a home-class PC can match approximately 1,000 hours of video in 1 second.

This new technology enables content holders and service providers to automatically detect illegal copies and prevent illegal upload of video content on the Internet by registering original video content. These developments are expected to significantly reduce the time and cost of manual content inspections as well as improve the scale and accuracy of content assessment. The technology has been approved by the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 as the MPEG-7 Video signature tool, international standard for video identification.

Deluxe Chooses DaVinci Resolve.
Thursday, May 06, 2010

Blackmagic Design Inc. today announced that Deluxe Digital Media, a subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, has purchased and installed the company’s high-end Linux GPU-based DaVinci Resolve system at its Sherman Oaks facility. Deluxe Digital Media is one of the leaders in providing digital technology to the worldwide film industry. Deluxe provides a wide range of digital workflow solutions from HD telecine dailies to video mastering and is among the top companies offering telecine and digital cinema services. The Resolve will provide the ability to color correct in the 4K environment, and will be added to their existing suite of Resolve 2K systems. Resolve also handles real time grading of raw RED files. The addition of the new Resolve upgrade will allow Deluxe’s Sherman Oaks facility to improve workflow efficiency and productivity between projects working within different resolutions. "Our relationship with Blackmagic and their products has been excellent. The Resolve has allowed us to significantly enhance our flexibility and provide services we did not offer previously," said Gray Ainsworth, Sr. Vice President of Operations for Deluxe Digital Media.

TV One Backs Up Product Line with New 5 Year Product Warranty.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Video, audio and multimedia processing equipment maker TV One has announced that the company has extended the previous 2 year product warranty to a new limited product warranty of 5 years on Corio2 based products in the C2, 1T-C2, CX, A2, or S2 series. Dan Gibson, Vice President of TV One states, "The Corio2 product line has a track record with field proven results, and a solid reliability factor, and we now want to extend to our customers this 5 year warranty to further enhance the value of our products and to demonstrate our commitment to customer satisfaction." TV One also has increased the One Task product line (1T series) and all LCD monitors with a 3 year limited warranty. According to TV One, the new warranty periods are effective immediately.

Consumers Consider Axing the Coax.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010

According to a recent Yankee Group survey, consumers are beginning to consider over-the-top solutions, gaming consoles and other connected devices not only as supplements, but as viable alternatives to pay TV subscriptions. Yankee Group predicts that in the next 12 months, 1 in 8 consumers will cut or reduce their pay TV service and get their video elsewhere. The explosion of connected consumer devices that function as part of the video ecosystem is creating a new threat for pay TV operators. Like the concern over cord-cutting in voice services—and more recently with data services—video service providers in North America and Western Europe are facing consumers potentially cutting off pay TV service in favor of over-the-top (OTT) options. Admittedly, this is a small phenomenon now, but a number of recent transactions and news items point to a shift in consumer thinking and a rise in what the group calls "coax-cutting." We believe we will see a gradual shift toward more potential coax-cutters due to the following trends:

- The introduction of connected TVs in 2010 and beyond
- The escalation of pay TV prices as operators continue to wrestle with higher programming fees
- The increased proliferation of connected consumer devices that can function as set-top boxes (STBs)

The report is a result of Yankee Group’s Anywhere Consumer surveys conducted throughout 2009.

Shure Marks 85 Years of Professional Audio.
Monday, May 03, 2010

Used by the likes of Elvis Presley, Martin Luther King Jr., and every U.S. President since Lyndon Johnson, Shure Incorporated has enjoyed an 85-year history as an industry leader and the premium choice in professional audio. Founded in 1925 by Sidney N. Shure as a one-man company - Shure Radio Company is born in downtown Chicago Illinois. Today, the Company offers an award-winning product portfolio that puts professional-grade audio products into the hands of performers, system designers, and content creators at all levels of experience and in a wide variety of applications. "We’re honored that our customers and channel partners have helped us to achieve 85 years of success in the professional audio industry," said Sandy LaMantia, President and CEO of Shure Incorporated. "The Company’s history of success is a tribute to our founder, S.N. Shure. His dedication to quality and service is evident in every Shure product and every Shure Associate." With a steady stream of new products, Shure has maintained its unparalleled commitment to innovation. The recently-introduced Beta 27 Supercardioid Condenser Microphone and KSM313 and KSM353 Ribbon Microphones deliver studio sound quality while living up to the rigors of live performance. For recordists who need to connect professional-caliber microphones to the USB port on their computers, the PG27USB and PG42USB Condenser Microphones offer "Plug and Play" simplicity with built-in zero latency headphone monitoring and monitor mix control. The new Shure PSM®900 Personal Monitor System sets a new standard for sound quality, RF performance, and ease of use. The PSM900’s awesome performance is enhanced by the new SE425 and SE535 Sound Isolating™ Earphones, whose state of the art speaker technology and innovative detachable cable design provide stunning clarity and improved fit and comfort. The SRH Professional Headphones have garnered rave reviews from sound engineers and audiophiles alike, praising their audio accuracy and user-friendly design.

DEG Creates 3D Working Group.
Friday, April 30, 2010

Industry-funded nonprofit home entertainment advocate Digital Entertainment Group, has announced the creation of a 3D Working Group to promote the latest developments in 3D home entertainment. Currently the Working Group includes representatives from DEG members Microsoft, Panasonic Consumer Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony Corporation, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Entertainment Group. According to DEG, the 3D Working Group’s efforts will embrace all of the 3D compatible products and content that will soon be available via a number of platforms, including Blu-ray 3D, cable, satellite and the Internet. This will enable both retailers and consumers to better understand each platform’s benefits, while creating a united messaging strategy that properly positions and promotes 3D at home. The new Working Group will coordinate consumer messaging with the DEG Communications Committee and create consumer education materials, including a glossary of 3D terminology. Additional initiatives will include helping to merchandise 3D at retail and exploring potential connectivity issues and audio enhancements with other industry groups. "The opportunities for 3D entertainment at home are virtually endless," said Kris Brown, Chair, DEG 3D Working Group and Vice President, Worldwide High Definition Marketing, Warner Home Video. "We have a full agenda working with key industry companies in support of 3D and look forward to having our team help deliver the excitement of 3D to consumers." To help drive this concept, the DEG will host a special 3D Forum on June 2 in Los Angeles. It will focus on the key factors affecting 3D development, distribution and deployment over a variety of consumer electronics and IT devices.

HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion.
Thursday, April 29, 2010

Technology giants HP and Palm, Inc. have announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors. According to the companies, the combination of HP’s global scale and financial strength with Palm’s unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP’s ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected mobile device markets. Palm’s unique webOS will allow HP to take advantage of features such as true multitasking and always up-to-date information sharing across applications. "Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices," said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. "And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market." Under the terms of the merger agreement, Palm stockholders will receive $5.70 in cash for each share of Palm common stock that they hold at the closing of the merger. The merger consideration takes into account the updated guidance and other financial information being released by Palm this afternoon. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Palm’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close during HP’s third fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2010. Palm’s current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company.

Renesas Enters Blue-Violet Laser Market.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Renesas Electronics this week announced the company's first blue-violet semiconductor laser diode with a wavelength of 405 nm and a new structure incorporating an optical waveguide into the semiconductor device, which enables high power output. According to the company, the new blue-violet semiconductor laser diode, part number NV4A61MF, can be used for Blu-ray disc recording and playback, and features a new inner-stripe structure in which the optical waveguide that substantially influences the quality of the laser diode is incorporated into the semiconductor. In this new structure, the optical waveguide is fabricated on a gallium nitride (GaN) substrate with approximately ten times improved accuracy and 20 percent increased heat dissipation compared to the conventional devices, in which the optical waveguide is formed on the surface of the laser chip. With this innovative structure, the new device provides offers high optical power output of 350 milliwatts (mW) suitable for 8x Blu-ray disc recording even at temperatures of up to 85°C. The current and optical output characteristics also provide excellent linearity from the low-output range through the high-temperature, high-output range. The new structure also reduces laser noise (output fluctuation) that occurs during playback to less than one third of the company's existing devices, realizing 5 decibel per hertz (dB/Hz) improvement. The Blu-ray disc drive market has been expanding rapidly as Blu-ray recorders achieved widespread adoption and increasing numbers of Blu-ray disc drives being incorporated in flat-screen TVs and PCs. The market is expected to grow continuously, with sales of 100 million units in fiscal 2011, growing by 150 percent from the previous year. Of these, the number of recorders, which require high output lasers, is expected to amount to 30 million units. The new NV4A61MF blue-violet laser diode is currently available for samples, priced at US$20 per unit. Mass production is estimated to begin in August, 2010 and is expected to reach 1,000,000 units per month by second half of CY2011.

FCC Announces Launch of Spectrum Task Force.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has announced the launch of a Spectrum Task Force to advance the FCC's spectrum agenda and promote collaboration across the agency. Julius Knapp, Chief of the Office of Engineering Technology, and Ruth Milkman, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, will co-chair the cross-agency working group. "To lead the world in mobile, the FCC must ensure that our nation's spectrum is being put to its highest and best use," said FCC Chairman Genachowski. "Maximizing this essential 21st century resource will create jobs, drive economic growth, and encourage innovation and investment. The FCC's National Broadband Plan lays out a comprehensive roadmap for promoting greater spectrum efficiency and flexibility, and ensuring sufficient spectrum for broadband. The Spectrum Task Force will keep us on this charted course." The Spectrum Task Force will play a critical role in the execution of the spectrum recommendations in the National Broadband Plan, including long-term spectrum planning. The Task Force will include the Chiefs of the Enforcement, International, Media, and Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureaus, as well as the Chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

IBM Research Creates World's Smallest 3D Map.
Monday, April 26, 2010

IBM scientists have created a 3D map of the earth so small that 1,000 of them could fit on one grain of salt. According to IBM, the scientists accomplished this through a new, breakthrough technique that uses a tiny, silicon tip with a sharp apex - 100,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil - to create patterns and structures as small as 15 nanometers at greatly reduced cost and complexity. This patterning technique opens new prospects for developing nanosized objects in fields such as electronics, future chip technology, medicine, life sciences, and optoelectronics. To demonstrate the technique's unique capability, the team created several 3D and 2D patterns, using different materials for each one as reported in the scientific journals Science and Advanced Materials:

- A 25-nanometer-high 3D replica of the Matterhorn, a famous Alpine mountain that soars 4,478 m (14,692 ft) high, was created in molecular glass, representing a scale of 1:5 billion.
- Complete 3D map of the world measuring only 22 by 11 micrometers was "written" on a polymer. At this size, 1,000 world maps could fit on a grain of salt. In the relief, one thousand meters of altitude correspond to roughly eight nanometers (nm). It is composed of 500,000 pixels, each measuring 20 nm2, and was created in only 2 minutes and 23 seconds.
- 2D nano-sized IBM logo was etched 400-nm-deep into silicon, demonstrating the viability of the technique for typical nanofabrication applications.
- 2D high-resolution 15-nm dense line patterning.

The core component of the new technique, which was developed by a team of IBM scientists, is a tiny, very sharp silicon tip measuring 500 nanometers in length and only a few nanometers at its apex. The tip, similar to the kind used in atomic force microscopes, is attached to a bendable cantilever that controllably scans the surface of the substrate material with the accuracy of one nanometer—a millionth of a millimeter. By applying heat and force, the nano-sized tip can remove substrate material based on predefined patterns, thus operating like a "nanomilling" machine with ultra-high precision. "Advances in nanotechnology are intimately linked to the existence of high-quality methods and tools for producing nanoscale patterns and objects on surfaces," explains physicist Dr. Armin Knoll of IBM Research – Zurich. "With its broad functionality and unique 3D patterning capability, this nanotip-based patterning methodology is a powerful tool for generating very small structures." The company said potential applications range from the fast prototyping of nano-sized devices for future computer chips to the production of well defined micron-sized optical elements like aspheric lenses and lens-arrays for optoelectronics and on-chip optical communication. Learn more by watching the video.

AJA Announces Ki Pro Support for Avid Systems.
Friday, April 23, 2010

Professional video interface and conversion solutions maker, AJA Video Systems announced that it has collaborated with Avid to enable the AJA Ki Pro portable digital video recording device to record high-quality Apple ProRes 422 QuickTime files that are directly compatible with Avid Media Composer and Symphony systems via the Avid Media Access (AMA) architecture. The AJA Ki Pro is a portable, rugged tapeless video recording device that records high-quality Apple ProRes 422 QuickTime files onto computer-friendly media. It connects production directly with post by enabling filmmakers, broadcasters, video professionals and prosumers to skip the process of re-rendering to an editing codec by providing immediate access to full raster edit-ready files directly from camera. Through its AMA plug-in architecture, Avid enables users to connect the AJA Ki Pro media to Mac-based Media Composer and Symphony systems to view, edit and play back ProRes QuickTime files with access to all clip metadata.

With Ki Pro compatibility, Avid Media Composer and Symphony customers will be able to:

- Record hours of pristine Apple ProRes 422 QuickTime media to a removable storage module with built-in FireWire800 for immediate editing and file access on OS X
- Record natively to Apple ProRes 422, ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes 422 (Proxy) and ProRes 422 (LT) for full raster 10-bit 4:2:2 HD/SD
- Bridge proprietary compression schemes by recording to edit-friendly Apple ProRes 422
- Connect any digital camera via SDI or HDMI, or any analog camera with multiple input options
Convert in real time from SD to HD, or 720 to/from 1080, in full 10-bit quality
- Extend client review capabilities with simultaneous recording to camera and Ki Pro
- Extend productive life of existing cameras and embrace future workflows with powerful conversion capabilities
- Use built-in wireless 802.11 and Ethernet for complete control via a web-browser or iPhone
- Leverage new capabilities planned for summer 2010 including support for 8-channel embedded SDI audio, gang recording with multiple Ki Pro devices via web-based UI and RS 422 device control

"Opening up the Avid workflow to read native ProRes QuickTime files directly through the Ki Pro gives our customers access to new ways of working that increase productivity and reduce costs," said David Colantuoni, senior product manager, Avid. "AJA Ki Pro is a great option for new workflows and empowers our customers to have more flexibility across their project pipelines." AJA Ki Pro support within Avid systems is planned for availability in June 2010. The AJA Ki Pro has supported direct recording of Apple ProRes 422 QuickTime files within Apple Final Cut Pro since its release in 2009.

Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs Achieves Industry First: 300 Megabits per Second.
Thursday, April 22, 2010

Paris based lcatel-Lucent today announced that its research arm, Bell Labs, has successfully demonstrated a technology that boosts the transmission speeds achievable over just two digital subscriber lines (DSL). In a lab test of "DSL Phantom Mode", Bell Labs achieved downstream transmission speeds of 300 Megabits per second (Mbps) over distances up to 400 meters (or 100Mbps at 1km). At its core, DSL Phantom Mode involves the creation of a virtual or "phantom" channel that supplements the two physical wires that are the standard configuration for copper transmission lines. Bell Labs' innovation and the source of DSL Phantom Mode's dramatic increase in transmission capacity lies in its application of analogue phantom mode technology in combination with industry-standard techniques: vectoring that eliminates interference or "crosstalk" between copper wires, and bonding that makes it possible to take individual lines and aggregate them. "We often think of the role innovation plays in generating technologies of the future, but DSL Phantom Mode is a prime example of the role innovation can play in creating a future for existing solutions and injecting them with a new source of value," said Gee Rittenhouse, head of Research for Bell Labs. "What makes DSL Phantom Mode such an important breakthrough is that it combines cutting edge technology with an attractive business model that will open up entirely new commercial opportunities for service providers, enabling them in particular, to offer the latest broadband IP-based services using existing network infrastructure." According to Bell Labs, further research is being conducted to refine deployment models and determine a specific set of customer premises equipment (CPE)-models compatible with the DSL Phantom Mode technology.

Samsung Begins Production Of 20nm-class MLC NAND Chips.
Monday, April 19, 2010

Samsung Electronics today week announced the industry’s first production of 20 nanometer (nm) class NAND chips for use in Secure Digital (SD) memory cards and embedded memory solutions. According to Samsung, this technology will allow the introduction of 32 gigabit (Gb) MLC NAND and will expand the company’s memory card solutions for smart phones, high-end IT applications and high-performance memory cards. Mr. Soo-In Cho, president, Memory Division, Samsung Electronics, said "In just one year after initiating 30nm-class NAND production, Samsung has made available the next generation node 20nm-class NAND, which exceeds most customers requirements for high-performance, high-density NAND-based solutions." He added, “The new 20nm-class NAND is not only a significant step forward in process design, but we have incorporated advanced technologies into it to enable substantial performance innovation.” Samsung’s 20nm-class MLC NAND has a 50 percent higher productivity level than 30nm-class MLC NAND. The write performance of a 20nm-class-based, eight gigabyte (GB) and higher density, SD card is 30 percent faster than the 30nm-class NAND and it delivers a speed-class rating of 10 (read speed of 20MB/s, write speed of 10MB/s). By applying cutting-edge process, design and controller technology, Samsung also has secured reliability levels comparable to 30nm-class NAND. The company said it is now shipping SD card samples to customers, that are built with 20nm-class 32Gb NAND, and will expand production later this year. Memory cards based in the 20nm-class will be available from 4GB through 64GB densities.

Hitachi Doubles Life of Li-ion Battery.
Friday, April 16, 2010

Hitachi Ltd. has developed a positive-electrode material that can double the life of the company's industrial lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery using a manganese positive-electrode material. According to the company, the life of the battery was extended by replacing part of the manganese contained in the positive-electrode material with another element to stabilize the crystal structure and adding an acid-resistant composite oxide (an oxide that contains more than one metallic element) to the positive-electrode material to reduce the elution of manganese into the electrolyte. Hitachi prototyped a battery cell with the new positive-electrode material and concluded that it is possible to realize a battery whose capacity decreases at half the rate and whose life is twice as long (more than 10 years) compared with the company's existing battery cell. The material is expected to be used for storing electricity at renewable energy-based power plants such as wind-power plants as well as for supplying electricity to electric motor-driven construction machines, which can reduce CO2 emissions. This time, Hitachi prototyped the battery cell in collaboration with Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery Co Ltd. Li-ion rechargeable batteries are used mainly for consumer electronic devices such as mobile phones and mobile PCs. And many of them use a positive-electrode material composed mainly of cobalt (Co), which is a scarce resource. As an increasing number of Li-ion batteries are used for applications other than consumer electronic devices (e.g. electric hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles), the procurement of cobalt will become an issue. Therefore, Hitachi had an eye on manganese, which is abundantly available, as one of the candidates for a positive-electrode material composed mainly of a metal element other than cobalt. The company has been researching, for example, a lithium-manganese spinel material (LiMn2O4, which has a spinel structure. Though LiMn2O4 features a high operating voltage and is suited for storing electricity, its capacity lowers due to charging and discharging. It is possible to stably supply the new positive-electrode material at a low cost because it is composed mainly of manganese. Hitachi plans to enhance the performance of the battery cell by further improving the new positive-electrode material and the composition of the electrolyte in the aim of expanding its business of storage battery-related products.

Sony launches "Road to Zero" Environmental Plan.
Thursday, April 15, 2010

Sony Corporation this week announced its "Road to Zero" global environmental plan. The plan, which includes a long-term goal of achieving a zero environmental footprint by 2050, uses backcasting methods to set specific mid-term environmental targets for the next five years in line with that goal. Sony's definition of zero environmental footprint is not only limited to the neutralization of carbon emissions, but also extends to waste and use of finite materials such as oil-derived virgin plastics. Targets are based on four environmental perspectives - climate change, resource conservation, control of chemical substances and biodiversity - across all product lifecycle stages, from research and development to recycling. The mid-term targets will be implemented globally across the Sony Group beginning in fiscal year 2011 (April 2011), and will extend through the end of fiscal year 2015 (March 2016), at which time new targets for the following 5 years will be set.

Specific mid-term targets include:

- 30% reduction in annual energy consumption of products (compared to fiscal 2008)
- 10% reduction in product mass (compared to fiscal 2008)
- 50% absolute reduction in waste generation (compared to fiscal 2000)
- 30% absolute reduction in water consumption (compared to fiscal 2000)
- 14% reduction in total CO2 emissions associated with all transportation and logistics (compared to fiscal 2008)
- 16% reduction in incoming parts packaging waste (compared to fiscal 2008)
- Increase of waste recycle ratio to 99% or more
- 5% reduction in utilization ratio of virgin oil-based plastics in products (compared to fiscal 2008)
- Assessment of impact of resource procurement and facility construction on biodiversity, and promotion of biodiversity programs such as groundwater cultivation
- Minimization of the risk of chemical substances through preventive measures; reduction in use of specific chemicals defined by Sony; and promotion of use of alternative materials

"We are fully committed to putting our innovative spirit and technological expertise to use to help solve environmental challenges," said Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President of Sony Corporation. "From the development of new materials and energy-efficient technologies, to the introduction of better processes in manufacturing and production, we will work aggressively to meet the ambitious targets we are setting for ourselves and, at the same time, establish a model for others in our industries to follow. Sony's fiscal year 2015 targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and power consumption per product were reviewed and approved by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a renewal of the company's Climate Savers Programme commitments. Sony has been a member of the WWF Climate Savers Programme since 2006. The Programme was organized by WWF International to mobilize companies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Matrox Introduces First Four-Channel 3G SDI Cards for Mac.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Matrox this week at NAB 2010, booth SL3920, demonstrated the new Matrox Multi input/output cards which, according to the company, bring a new level of channel density to Mac Pro and Apple Xserve systems. In a single PCIe slot, a Matrox Multi card provides up to four independent inputs or outputs with up to 16 embedded audio channels per SDI stream. User-selectable combinations of 3G, HD, SD, and Dual Link are supported. The Matrox Multi cards are designed to let users get the most from the valuable expansion slots in Apple systems and eliminate the expense of multiple systems in many applications. The features of the Matrox Multi cards make them the ideal choice for capture/playout servers, clip and still stores, character generators, graphics/production servers, and automation/master control units. The Matrox Multi cards are supported by the Matrox Software Development Kit (SDK) for Mac.

Key features of Matrox Multi cards for Mac:

- Single-slot, 3/4 length PCI-e x8 card fits into Mac Pros and Apple Xserve systems
- Video inputs: up to four multi-rate 3G/HD/SD SDI or two 3G level B, or two Dual Link, or two video + key
- Video outputs: up to four multi-rate 3G/HD/SD SDI or two 3G level B, or two Dual Link, or two video + key
- 10-bit hardware scaling engine supports up to four HD streams or eight SD streams
- 16 embedded audio I/O channels per SDI stream
- 4 unbalanced analog audio channels for monitoring
- Support for SDI ancillary data - ATC, AFD, CC
- Analog blackburst reference input (tri-level or bi-level) with loopthrough
- Automatic video bypass and A/V watchdog support
- Auto-detection of input video resolutions
- Onboard live video mixer with zero frame delay
- One analog LTC input
- RS-422 port for device control

The Matrox Multi is available in three different versions: Matrox Multi-Ingest - four-channel 3G/HD/SD input card, Matrox Multi-I/O - simultaneous, independent two-channel input and two-channel output 3G/HD/SD card, and Matrox Multi-Playback - four-channel 3G/HD/SD output card. Matrox Multi cards along with the SDK are available to developers now. Shipments to end users will begin in June 2010.

Sennheiser Announces 416 Price Drop.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010

This week at the NAB Show, Sennheiser announced that the company has dropped the price of its famous MKH 416 short shotgun condenser mic by more than $200.00. Featuring excellent directivity and compact design, high consonant articulation and feedback rejection, the MKH 416 is a superb all-round microphone for film, radio and television, especially for outside broadcast applications. With a great new price and free shipping from Markertek, there's never been a better time to pick up this industry legend.

Markertek is at NAB Show 2010.
Monday, April 12, 2010

Markertek is at the NAB Show this week showing off what's new from us as well as some of the biggest names in the industry. We've brought our VPTR Series Mobile Video & Audio Production Trailer to the show, booth C5343, and new must-have solutions from Sescom, TecNec and Delvcam. If you can make it to NAB 2010, stop by and say hello, we would love to see you!

Samsung Unveils CMOS Sensor for Full-HD Webcam.
Friday, April 09, 2010

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it has expanded its line of CMOS image sensors to include two new CMOS image sensors – the S5K6A1 and the S5K5B3 - for use in notebook computers and other devices requiring video capture. According to the company, Samsung’s new 1.3Megapixel (S5K6A1) and 2.1Megapixel (S5K5B3) imagers were developed with a strong emphasis on high-performance, real-time high-definition (HD) images at up to 30 frames per second (fps) at full resolution for internet video/image sharing and high quality VGA resolution for applications requiring video conferencing. “HD capable imagers are fundamentally changing the way consumers interact with their computers, making webcams a ‘must have’ feature in today’s notebooks and personal computers for high definition multimedia usage,” said Dojun Rhee, vice president, System LSI marketing, Samsung Electronics. “With an industry attachment rate of over 70 percent, we are fully committed to supporting this market segment with our advanced CMOS image sensors to provide consumers with quality images for video conferencing and sharp HD images.” The new imagers sensors support multiple platforms architectures and controllers with both parallel and MIPI interfaces. Using an embedded solid state auto focus enhanced depth of field (EDoF) function, the S5K5B3 imager is also designed to allow bar codes and business card reading without needing mechanical autofocus support, which is more costly and a larger module form factor. Samsung has already started shipping samples of the new CMOS sensors, and plan to begin volume production in the second quarter of 2010.

HP Labs Proves Existence of New Basic Element for Electronic Circuits.
Thursday, April 08, 2010

This week, HP announced that researchers from HP Labs, the company’s central research facility, have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering. This scientific advancement could make it possible to develop computer systems that have memories that do not forget, do not need to be booted up, consume far less power and associate information in a manner similar to that of the human brain. In a paper published in today’s edition of Nature, four researchers at HP Labs’ Information and Quantum Systems Lab, led by R. Stanley Williams, presented the mathematical model and a physical example of a “memristor” – a blend of “memory resistor” – which has the unique property of retaining a history of the information it has acquired. Leon Chua, a distinguished faculty member in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department of the University of California at Berkeley, initially theorized about and named the element in an academic paper published 37 years ago. Chua argued that the memristor was the fourth fundamental circuit element, along with the resistor, capacitor and inductor, and that it had properties that could not be duplicated by any combination of the other three elements. Building on their groundbreaking research in nanoelectronics, Williams and team are the first to prove the existence of the memristor. “To find something new and yet so fundamental in the mature field of electrical engineering is a big surprise, and one that has significant implications for the future of computer science,” said Williams. “By providing a mathematical model for the physics of a memristor, HP Labs has made it possible for engineers to develop integrated circuit designs that could dramatically improve the performance and energy efficiency of PCs and data centers.”One application for this research could be the development of a new kind of computer memory that would supplement and eventually replace today’s commonly used dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Computers using conventional DRAM lack the ability to retain information once they lose power. When power is restored to a DRAM-based computer, a slow, energy-consuming “boot-up” process is necessary to retrieve data from a magnetic disk required to run the system. In contrast, a memristor-based computer would retain its information after losing power and would not require the boot-up process, resulting in the consumption of less power and wasted time. Another potential application of memristor technology could be the development of computer systems that remember and associate series of events in a manner similar to the way a human brain recognizes patterns. This could substantially improve today’s facial recognition technology, enable security and privacy features that recognize a complex set of biometric features of an authorized person to access personal information, or enable an appliance to learn from experience.Williams is the founding director of HP Labs’ Information and Quantum Systems Lab, which is focused on turning fundamental advances in areas of mathematics and physical science into technologies useful for HP. For the past 12 years, Williams and his team have conducted primary scientific research into the fundamental limits of information and computing, which has led to a series of breakthrough discoveries in nanoelectronics and nanophotonics.

Photron to Launch High Speed Broadcast Camera.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Emmy-award-winning high speed imaging systems manufacturer, Photron USA has announced that the company will demonstrate the new Fastcam BC2, a high quality, high definition, high speed video camera designed specifically for the broadcast market. Applications include television broadcast, commercials, sports OB, and big-screen motion picture production. Drawing on knowledge gained from over thirty years experience in high speed imaging technology, including Academy and Emmy awards for technical achievements, and providing full 1080 HD resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) at frame rates up to 2,000 frames per second (fps), the Photron Fastcam BC2 HD has been engineered to provide what Photron calls high quality, artifact free images, and set a new standard in high speed digital imaging. Andrew Bridges, Director of Sales and Marketing for Photron USA announced "From the 12-bit four mega pixel (2,048 x 2,048 pixels to 1,000 fps) advanced CMOS sensor to the camera's dual 'always live' HD-SDI outputs, the BC2 HD has been engineered to meet the requirements of a very demanding industry that has been forced to compromise for too long." The BC2 HD is compatible with Sony HD viewfinders, ARRI Matte boxes, and is available with industry standard PL and B4, Nikon F and Canon EF lens mounts, an ARRI broadcast tripod plate, and Photron's rechargeable battery packs/belt. The company plans to unveil the new camera at NAB Show 2010, April 12-15, booth # SL1514.

NAB Session Addresses Impact of Next-Generation EAS on Broadcasters.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010

The NAB Show has announced the participants in a session titled "Putting the Final Touches on Next-Generation EAS." A joint presentation of the show's Broadcast Management Conference and Broadcast Engineering Conference, the session kicks off with opening remarks by Damon Penn, Assistant Administrator of the National Continuity Programs (NCP) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The panel discussion, lead by moderator Larry Walke, associate general counsel, NAB, will make clear the important role that broadcasters play in Emergency Alert Systems (EAS). The session will also elaborate on whether station responsibilities could change as the government implements the next generation of EAS. FEMA is rolling out a new Common Alerting Protocol that will allow the same warning message to be delivered for many different warning systems, and the FCC is exploring a new process of required annual nationwide EAS testing. Attendees will learn more about these developments and what the impending changes could mean for broadcasters. Penn's opening remarks will focus on the implementation of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and its impact on the EAS and broadcasters. Penn began serving in his current position in September 2009 when he joined NCP after retiring from the U.S. Army as a Colonel. His military career included senior staff positions, leadership of an advisory team in Iraq, and brigade and battalion commands. Penn's association with FEMA began in 2004 when he served as the Defense Coordinating Officer (DCO) for Florida. There he was part of the FEMA emergency response team, responsible for all Department of Defense assets, providing millions of pounds of relief supplies and other forms of support to assist the Florida emergency management effort. He also served as the DCO the following year in support of Mississippi's efforts during hurricane Katrina. According to NAB, the session will also feature initial remarks by Rear Admiral (Ret.) James Barnett, chief, FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. Panelists for the session include Antwane Johnson, FEMA division director and program manager; Suzanne Goucher, president and CEO, Maine Association of Broadcasters; Thomas Beers, chief, FCC Policy Division and Wade Witmer, FEMA deputy division director. The session takes place Wednesday, April 14 at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.

Blu-ray Disc Association Announces 128GB BDXL Specification.
Monday, April 05, 2010

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) today announced two new media specifications that use Blu-ray Disc technology to provide targeted functionality for commercial and consumer applications. The BDXL specification, which is targeted primarily at commercial segments such as broadcasting, medical and document imaging enterprises with significant archiving needs, will provide customers with write-once options on 100GB and 128GB capacity discs and rewritable capability on 100GB discs. The discs reach these capacities by incorporating three to four recordable layers. A consumer version of BDXL is also expected, particularly in those regions where BD recorders have achieved broad consumer acceptance. “Professional industries have expressed a desire to find optical disc solutions that enable them to transition away from magnetic media for their archiving needs,” said Victor Matsuda, Blu-ray Disc Association Global Promotions Committee chair. “Leveraging Blu-ray Disc to meet this need provides professional enterprises with a compact, stable and long term solution for archiving large amounts of sensitive data, video and graphic images using a proven and widely accepted optical technology.” The Intra-Hybrid Blu-ray Disc (IH-BD) incorporates a single BD-ROM layer and a single BD-RE layer so as to enable the user to view, but not overwrite, critical published data while providing the flexibility to include relevant personal data on the same physical disc. This allows for consumer specific applications where combining published content with related user data on a convenient, single volume is desirable. Both the ROM and the RE layers on IH-BD discs provide 25GB of capacity. Because both BDXL and IH-BD are specially designed formats with specific market segments in mind, newly-designed hardware is required to play back or record BDXL or IH-BD media. However, because the new media specifications are extensions of current Blu-ray Disc technology, future BDXL and IH-BD devices can be designed to support existing 25GB and 50GB Blu-ray Discs. The specifications for the new BDXL and IH-BD are expected in the next few months.

Sharp Develops 3D Touchscreen LCD.
Friday, April 02, 2010

Osaka based, Sharp Corporation has developed a 3D touchscreen LCD that can switch between 2D and 3D modes. Users can view 3D images without the need to wear special glasses, making the LCD ideal for mobile devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, and smartphones. According to the company, the newly developed 3D display which features the industry's highest brightness uses a parallax barrier system to display 3D images. This parallax barrier, which has a series of vertical slits, is incorporated into an ordinary LCD to control the path of light reaching the right and left eyes, thus creating a sense of depth. However, the conventional 3D LCD with this system had difficulty in displaying high quality images in 3D mode. Sharp said it significantly improved image quality by achieving both high brightness and low crosstalk thanks to advances in CG-Silicon technology and optimization of the parallax barrier. Advances in CG-Silicon technology have shrunk the wiring width within the LCD panel, allowing more light to pass and doubling the brightness (to 500 cd/m2, the industry's highest) compared to conventional models. Additionally, optimizing the parallax barrier design has increased the efficiency of light, thereby dramatically reducing crosstalk. Also, the thickness of the LCD module is about the same as conventional 2D displays even though it is a touchscreen display. As 3D images can be displayed in both portrait and landscape screen orientations, it is ideal for sophisticated mobile devices such as smartphones. The company has also developed a non-touchscreen 3D LCD and is scheduled to start mass production in the first half of fiscal 2010.

Father of GPS Inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Thursday, April 01, 2010

Joining the likes of world renowned inventors Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, to name a few, Roger L. Easton is recognized by the National Inventors Hall of Fame for pioneering achievements in spacecraft tracking and timing and navigation technology (TIMATION) that led to the development of critical enabling technologies of the NAVSTAR-Global Positioning System (GPS). At the award ceremony hosted by Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, David Kappos, March 31, 2010, at the Department of Commerce Herbert C. Hoover Auditorium, Washington, D.C., Roger Easton received the NIHF Medal of Honor for TIMATION, U.S. Patent 3,789,409, the critical system enabling modern GPS. “Roger’s career contributions and his keen ability to develop new, bigger ‘problem sets’ from his experiences are what impressed me most,” said long time colleague and current Director of NRL’s Naval Center for Space Technology, Pete Wilhelm. “His leap in vision led to the United States’ first satellite tracking network and patent of synchronized timing of spacecraft which became the fundamental basis for GPS.” Beginning at NRL in 1943 as a research physicist, Easton worked on the development of radar beacons and blind landing systems at the Lab’s Radio Division. Early in his career, Easton collaborated with electrical engineer Milton Rosen to write NRL's Project Vanguard proposal for a scientific satellite program for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) — an unprecedented international effort to advance scientific studies of Earth that extended from July 1, 1957 through December 31, 1958. In March 1955, the Eisenhower Administration announced the selection of Vanguard and approved a plan to orbit a series of instrumented Earth satellites. The Vanguard -1 satellite was launched into orbit on March 17, 1958. To provide a means for determining the space satellite’s orbit, Easton and his colleagues proposed, designed and built the first satellite tracking system. It was called MINITRACK, because it minimized the weight and power requirement of the satellite transmitter, which only needed to transmit a signal of a few milliwatts due to the very high sensitivity of the MINITRACK interferometer antenna design. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit, the United States could not track non-radiating satellites or determine if other launches occurred. Easton solved this problem by extending MINITRACK to actively follow unknown satellites orbiting Earth. Under his leadership, with sponsorship through the Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, now referred to as DARPA, the Naval Space Surveillance System (NAVSPASUR) became the world's first system to detect and track all types of Earth-orbiting objects, thus contributing to America's national security and sense of well-being during the Cold War. “After seeing how well the very sensitive MINITRACK interferometer antenna field at Blossom Point, Md., detected and measured reflected 108 MHz radio frequency energy off the metallic shell of the Sputnik satellite, Roger quickly put together a proposal to build a new interferometer antenna system which, in a very short time frame, became the United States’ most capable system for what we today call ‘Space Situational Awareness’ or SSA,” said Wilhelm. Easton conceived the idea of using satellite-carried precise atomic clocks for passive ranging. Starting in 1964, he conducted research, carried out space-based experiments, and published his findings that accurate, reliable and instantaneous satellite navigation could be achieved with passive ranging, circular orbits and a constellation of space-borne high-precision clocks synchronized to a master clock, the primary features of modern GPS. Today, GPS is a constellation of Earth-orbiting satellites providing precise navigation and timing data to military and civilian end-users around the globe. Easton, as a scientist and engineer at NRL, developed his concept for a time-based navigational system with passive ranging, circular orbits, and space-borne high precision clocks synchronized to a master clock. The U.S. Patent Office received his submittal, "Navigation System Using Satellites and Passive Ranging Techniques," and on January 29, 1974 it was assigned U.S. Patent 3,789,409. Two years after leaving Federal service in 1980 and retiring to Canaan, New Hampshire, he was elected to two consecutive terms in the State Assembly, ran for Governor in 1986, and served three terms on the Board of the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative. In 2005 Easton was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President George W. Bush for his development of Time Navigation and Navigation Technology Satellites that formed the technological basis for modern GPS. The National Inventors Hall of Fame honors the women and men responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible. Each year, the Selection Committee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation selects inventors for induction from those nominated by peers and the public for contribution to the nation’s welfare and progress of science and useful arts. The Selection Committee includes representatives from leading national scientific and technical organizations. Prior to this year’s induction ceremony, 405 inventors have been inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame since its formation in 1973.

U.S. Households Using PCs and Game Consoles to Extend Online Video to TV.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010

International research firm Parks Associates finds consumer interest in Web-on-TV applications is so strong that households are making their own connections via PCs and game consoles. From 2008 to 2009, the number of U.S. households using Web-connected game consoles increased by 64%, and the number connecting a PC to a TV increased by 36%, according to the firm’s latest report Digital Lifestyles: 2010 Outlook. “Many households are working with devices they already have to get the connected-TV experience, which shows strong future demand for connected TVs, Web-enabled Blu-ray players, and networked digital media players such as Apple TV and Roku,” said Kurt Scherf, VP, principal analyst, Parks Associates. Over three-fourths of U.S. households with PC-to-TV connections and one-third of Xbox 360 owners are using these connections to stream online video. These households, as they extend online video and other Web experiences to the TV screen, are laying the foundation for future behaviors with connected CE and entertainment services. “Manufacturers and service providers should examine these consumer behaviors closely, so they can match their current and future connected offerings with actual demand without pricing themselves out of the market,” Scherf said.

One Laptop Per Child and Pixel Qi Sign Cross-License Agreement for Screen Technology.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education, and Pixel Qi Corporation, maker of high-performance, low-power displays, have signed a permanent and royalty-free cross-licensing agreement that will allow both organizations to deliver products incorporating the world’s most advanced screen technology. As a result of the agreement, OLPC receives full license to all Pixel Qi “3qi” screen technology, including 70+ patents in process and all current and future IP developed by Pixel Qi for multi-mode screens. According to the company, Pixel Qi is leading the design of new screens for OLPC’s next-generation XO laptops. The agreement also calls for Pixel Qi to receive full license to the dual-mode (indoor and outdoor) display technology used in the XO. “A huge barrier to getting computers to mass use in the developing world is limited access to electricity. Pixel Qi is designing new screens for OLPC that will keep laptops going even longer between recharges and excel in long-form reading while providing color and video,” said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child. “Furthermore, we are not aware of any blanket technology license of this scale of current and future inventions by a commercial firm to a non-profit humanitarian effort and hope to set an example for other corporations to follow.” Mary Lou Jepsen, founder and CEO of Pixel Qi, added, “OLPC’s focus on the need for low-cost, low-power devices led me to invent power-efficient LCD screens that are optimized for reading. Commercial tablets, notebook computers and smart phones have precisely the same needs. This is one of the few examples in which cutting-edge computer technology first deployed for developing nations benefits the developed world as well.”

Yebol Search Announces Launch of New Search Engine.
Monday, March 29, 2010

Search engine start-up Yebol has announced the conclusion of its beta test period and the launch of its semantic search engine, Yebol.com, to provide users with a search technology platform aimed at better results. With its July 2009 beta launch, Yebol unveiled leading semantic-decision search technology. According to the company,this advanced application of algorithms paired with human knowledge results provides the first truly human-like world's knowledge base and makes it possible to generate richer, more comprehensive search results displayed on a single page. Since July 2009, Yebol has progressed from these raw initial advances and has focused on providing the internet user with the best search experience available, better than the current indexed formats of most major search engines. Previously, search engines have vied to provide one of two primary search experiences, namely: (1) the "homepage" format, which expresses a comprehensive categorical summary about any given search term, and (2) the absolute relevance format, which seeks to return highly targeted results precisely matching the intent of the user, no more, no less. Yebol's effort to reconcile these two formats hinges on its new user interface, leveraging its technology to achieve results containing not only the most complete selection of information on a search topic, but also the most relevant based on user intent. To fully achieve this, Yebol adapted its user interface, by pioneering a categorical tree system, capable of expressing a true homepage for any given search term, while also visually displaying results matching user intent. A single decision search result parsed into a tree format yields a compendium of a topic, in categoric summation. Another breakthrough has been the progression from covering 10 million search terms to now generating its dynamic results for any conceivable search term. "In order to win user trust, we knew our format had to apply to all possible search terms," said Hongfeng Yin, Yebol Founder and President. "Google's success in search has been in no small part due to consistency of results – users know what they are going to get each and every search. Yebol is now equally as reliable, but offers a far richer results return, versus Google's indexed approach. Yebol provides more comprehensive and more accurate results." Yebol's format utilizes a combination of patented algorithms paired with human knowledge to build a revolutionary Web directory for each search term. Instead of the endless pages of seemingly random links generated by other search engines, Yebol automatically clusters search results into highly-concentrated and well-organized groups of term-specific categories. The user interface then edits these groups of categories and generates a display of the results in an easily utilized results tree. The resulting single page snapshot allows users to quickly scan hundreds of types of accurate results to find exactly the information they are seeking. The technological backbone of Yebol is fluid and dynamic. Every facet of its algorithm system and user interface is scalable. Says Yin, " Yebol is geared to generate knowledge-base results not only for all possible current search topics but also to adapt itself to process and include new search topics as they develop in the future." While Yebol was initially developed for the English language market, Dr. Yin said its functionality allows it to be applied to any language and work is underway to complete these bridges. "There is no reason why Yebol cannot provide the same exact user experience to internet users in every language," said Dr. Yin. "Ideally, we would like to see our format provide a significant portion of the search engine service to every country in the world, allowing it to be a point of technological union, a common search tongue so to speak, as everyone learns to search for and process informational results in a similar way."

China IPTV Subscribers to Double in 2010.
Friday, March 26, 2010

According to market intelligence company iSuppli, subscribers in China to Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) will double in 2010, the result of an official government push to accelerate convergence among the country's various telecommunications, broadcast and Internet operators. Subscribers in China to IPTV delivered via the Internet and broadband networks will jump to 8.5 million in 2010, rising by a hefty 96 percent from 4.4 million in 2009, according to iSuppli Corp. And while growth rates during the next three years will not equal the 2010 peak, IPTV development will continue to acquire impressive momentum, reaching expansion rates as high as 51 percent, iSuppli estimates. By 2014, IPTV subscribers in China will exceed 31 million. "The rise in IPTV subscribers in 2010 and beyond will be driven primarily by deployments among China's broadcasters, which hold the prized IPTV licenses," said Loren Zhao, an analyst for iSuppli's China Research. "Despite a policy by the State Council of China in January 2010 encouraging the country's telecom carriers, broadcast operators and Internet firms to enter one another's fields and provide services, the three-way convergence policy is skewed against telecom carriers. Unlike the broadcast operators, which are allowed a wider leeway in the range of services they offer, telecom carriers face strong regulation, can participate only in radio and television transmission and are proscribed from taking part in the content integration and broadcast sectors." IPTV services currently extend to more than 20 provinces and cities in China, but IPTV subscribers are concentrated in only a few areas. Out of the country's 22 provinces, no more than eight count greater than 100,000 IPTV subscribers. Furthermore, fully 56 percent of total IPTV subscribers are to be found in just three locations: China's largest city of Shanghai, as well as the two densely populated provinces of Jiangsu in the east and Guangdong in the south. In spite of the uneven distribution of IPTV subscribers, the players in the China IPTV market are raising their 2010 targets and hope to spread their services to more provinces in 2010, iSuppli believes. Several drivers will push IPTV growth from now to 2014, including Beijing's continuing advancement of its triple-play convergence policy, the ongoing competition between telecom carriers and broadcast operators to carve out their own territories and the strategy among the players to bundle wireline and wireless broadband with IPTV services.

Top U.S. Department of Commerce Official Addresses NAB Show on President Obama's Export Initiatives.
Thursday, March 25, 2010

Assistant Secretary of Commerce & Director General Suresh Kumar, a top official from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC), will discuss the President's National Export Initiative (NEI) at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. His address will focus on how International Trade Administration and the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service are supporting efforts to reach the President's goal of doubling exports in five years and supporting 2 million jobs. In his address, Kumar will offer an overview of the government programs and assistance available to U.S. companies interested in expanding exports into new markets. Kumar's diverse experience includes 15 years as a popular news and sports anchor on national television in India and 30 years as an international businessman culminating in his tenure as head of Worldwide Pharmaceuticals for Johnson & Johnson. Kumar oversees the U.S & Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS). The extensive worldwide network of the USFCS extends to 109 offices across the U.S and 127 offices overseas in 77 countries. USFCS is the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Government that supports and provides customized solutions to U.S. businesses so that they can compete and win in the global marketplace. Recognized as the electronic media industry venue with the highest potential for export opportunities, the NAB Show once again has been selected by the U.S. Commercial Service to participate in the International Buyer Program (IBP). Through the IBP program and its globally integrated network, the U.S. Commercial Service helps small and medium-sized U.S. businesses expand their global reach and awareness. Twenty-four officers from U.S. posts around the world will be available at the NAB Show to assist U.S. companies with their export needs. Another 50+ delegation leaders from the private sector are escorting international delegations, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Nordic Region, Philippines, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, to the show. The session is part of the DoC's Showtime Program at the NAB Show and will take place Wednesday, April 14. The NAB Show will take place 10-15 April, 2010 in Las Vegas (exhibits open 12 April).

Western Digital Introduces AV/DVR Hard Drives.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010

As demand has increased for digital video storage, including high-definition (HD) video, and as the variety of video-systems configurations increases, long time storage maker Western Digital today expanded its line of hard drives for AV/DVR and surveillance applications to include small form factor, 2.5-inch SATA hard drives. According to WD, the new AV-25 hard drives provide high reliability with a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of 1 million hours and are engineered specifically for demanding, always-on multimedia streaming applications, while running at cool and quiet temperatures. In addition to high reliability, the hard drives meet the demanding requirements of the AV/DVR and surveillance markets by offering customers universal compatibility, low power consumption and the ability to simultaneously record multiple audio and/or high-definition video streams. Western said the new WD AV-25 hard drive is ideal for applications such as DVRs (digital video recorders), digital video surveillance and other small form factor environments where power consumption and 24x7 reliability are critical. "Customers that market audio and video recording applications, such as DVRs, media centers and mainstream surveillance systems, often require 24x7 operation from hard drives," said Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of WD's branded products and consumer electronics groups. "WD AV-25 hard drives are designed to withstand these demanding environments and offer consumers a small form factor solution that consumes less power, generates less heat, and operates quietly and, most importantly, reliably." The WD AV-25 hard drive is offered in capacities of 160 GB, 250 GB, 320 GB and 500 GB, and is available now ranging from $50.00 USD to $80.00 USD depending on capacity.

Imation Announces EncryptDisc Technology.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Digital storage maker Imation today announced it has partnered with ENCRYPTX Corporation to develop and market secure CD-R, DVD-R & Blu-ray optical media with EncryptDisc technology. Under the agreement, the companies have incorporated the ENCRYPTX EncryptDisc AES 256-bit encryption and burning technology into a line of secure, printable optical media products from Imation. According to Imation, CD-R and DVD-R media with EncryptDisc technology integrate an encryption and burning application manufactured onto the disc. EncryptDisc uses highly secure, government-grade AES 256-bit encryption that is FIPS 140-2, Level 1 validated, NIST SP 800-57 compliant. The technology prevents users from writing files in the clear; files are automatically encrypted when being burned. Integrated password recovery and optional remote administrator password recovery service ensure authorized users can recover forgotten passwords securely. In addition, a built-in password attack self-defeating mechanism prevents brute force attacks to crack the disc password. The discs can be left open to allow users to add new content or edit files and incrementally burn these changes through the EncryptDisc application, or finalized as a Read Only disc with decryption access. An optional EncryptDisc Administrative Console, either hosted or installed, allows IT or Security Administrators to disable lost or stolen discs, recover passwords for users, and have full forensics audit tracking of disc content. Additional policies can enable in-network and out-of-network access, reauthorization intervals, strong passwords, and periodic password changes. "As the global leader in optical media with more than 50 years experience helping commercial users and government agencies to store and protect their critical data, Imation is excited to announce this important product development and marketing relationship with ENCRYPTX," said Keith Schwartz, director of strategic growth for Imation's global commercial business. "EncryptDisc technology addresses the needs of government, business, and medical users who require a highly secure way to transport, share, and archive sensitive data on optical media. It is another important offering in Imation's growing portfolio of secure storage products designed to help our customers more fully protect their critical storage assets and ensure compliance with increasingly stringent security and regulatory requirements." According to the companies, EncryptDisc is being launched this week at the FOSE/GOVSEC show in Washington DC, March 23-25, in the Cyber Security Pavilion, Booth 1135.

Toshiba Ends Production of Incandescent Lamps.
Monday, March 22, 2010

On March 17, the Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Lighting and Technology Corporation, a Toshiba group company, marked the end of production of general-use incandescent bulbs, a product which Toshiba was first to manufacture in Japan and that it has produced for 120 years. The company decided to focus on environmentally friendly lighting in 2008, and since then has been advancing a transition to new lighting products, particularly LED lighting. Toshiba has a long history of innovation in lighting. In 1890, Ichisuke Fujioka, one of the leading engineers at the time, established Hakunetsu-sha & Co., Ltd., one of the companies that eventually merged in Toshiba, as Japan's first manufacturer of incandescent lamp bulbs. From an initial production of only 10 bulbs a day, production climbed to a peak of 78 million a year, and cumulative shipments to date add up to 4.07 billion bulbs. In the wake of the oil shocks of the 1980s, Toshiba developed the world's first ball type fluorescent lamp in 1980. The company has subsequently developed smaller, more power efficient products with longer life, with the result that the production volume of general incandescent lamp has been declining since around 2000. In 2007, Toshiba created much more efficient and environmentally friendly LED lamps for general use, and is now promoting replacement of incandescent lamps. The end of production of general-use incandescent bulbs comes a year ahead of the original plan and marks the end for a total of 103 products, and it is expected to bring down CO2 emissions by 430,000 tons a year against the benchmark year of 2008, when Toshiba manufactured some 20 million units a year. Though it will continue to produce specialty incandescent bulbs, Toshiba said it will now direct its attention to further promoting LED lighting.

FCC Sends National Broadband Plan to Congress.
Friday, March 19, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission this week delivered to Congress a National Broadband Plan setting an ambitious agenda for connecting all corners of the nation while transforming the economy and society with the communications network of the future - robust, affordable Internet. "The National Broadband Plan is a 21st century roadmap to spur economic growth and investment, create jobs, educate our children, protect our citizens, and engage in our democracy," said Chairman Julius Genachowski. "It's an action plan, and action is necessary to meet the challenges of global competitiveness, and harness the power of broadband to help address so many vital national issues." "In every era, America must confront the challenge of connecting the nation anew," said Blair Levin, Executive Director of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative at the FCC. "Above all else, the plan is a call to action to meet that challenge for our era. If we meet it, we will have networks, devices, and applications that create new solutions to seemingly intractable problems." Titled Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, the Plan found that while broadband access and use have increased over the past decade, the nation must do much more to connect all individuals and the economy to broadband's transformative benefits. Nearly 100 million Americans lack broadband at home today, and 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband even if they want it. Only 42 percent of people with disabilities use broadband at home, while as few as 5 percent of people living on Tribal lands have access. Meanwhile, the cost of digital exclusion for the student unable to access the Internet to complete a homework assignment, or for the unemployed worker who can't search for a job online, continues to grow. Other gaps threaten America's global competitiveness. A looming shortage of wireless spectrum could impede U.S. innovation and leadership in popular wireless mobile broadband services. More useful applications, devices, and content are needed to create value for consumers. And the nation has failed to harness broadband's power to transform delivery of government services, health care, education, public safety, energy conservation, economic development, and other national priorities.

The Plan's call for action over the next decade includes the following goals and recommendations:

• Connect 100 million households to affordable 100-megabits-
per-second service, building the world's largest market of high-speed broadband users and ensuring that new jobs and businesses are created in America.
• Affordable access in every American community to ultra-high-speed broadband of at least 1 gigabit per second at anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals, and military installations so that America is hosting the experiments that produce tomorrow's ideas and industries.
• Ensure that the United States is leading the world in mobile innovation by making 500 megahertz of spectrum newly available for licensed and unlicensed use.
• Move our adoption rates from roughly 65 percent to more than 90 percent and make sure that every child in America is digitally literate by the time he or she leaves high school.
• Bring affordable broadband to rural communities, schools, libraries, and vulnerable populations by transitioning existing Universal Service Fund support from yesterday's analog technologies to tomorrow's digital infrastructure.
• Promote competition across the broadband ecosystem by ensuring greater transparency, removing barriers to entry, and conducting market-based analysis with quality data on price, speed, and availability.
• Enhance the safety of the American people by providing every first responder with access to a nationwide, wireless, interoperable public safety network.

The Plan was mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 and produced by an FCC task force that set new precedents for government openness, transparency, and rigor. Information for the plan was gathered in 36 public workshops, 9 field hearing, and 31 public notices that produced 75,000 pages of public comments. The debate went online with 131 blogposts that triggered 1,489 comments; 181 ideas on IdeaScale garnering 6,100 votes; 69,500 views on YouTube; and 335,000 Twitter followers. The task force augmented this voluminous record with independent research and data-gathering. About half of the Plan's recommendations are addressed to the FCC, while the remainder are for Congress, the Executive Branch, state and local government, working closely with the private and nonprofit sectors.

NEC to Double SuperSpeed USB Production.
Thursday, March 18, 2010

Kawasaki, Japan based NEC Electronics announced yesterday that it plans to double production of its USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) certified SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) host controller, the world's first, and is expecting to reach monthly production of two million units starting April 2010. The device (µPD720200) is a host controller for PCs and other digital consumer devices and is based on the Intel xHCI specification, supporting SuperSpeed USB transfer speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second (Gbps) of data, which is up to 10 times faster than previous Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) transfer speeds. NEC Electronics' host controller is the first commercially available SuperSpeed USB product certified by the USB-IF, and mass production began in September 2009. To meet the increasing market demands for USB 3.0-compatible PCs, NEC Electronics already has shipped three million units of its µPD720200 host controller. Thanks to USB-IF's strong commitment and promotion for the adoption of SuperSpeed USB , this milestone was achieved just six months after the availability of this device, while the company's USB 2.0 host controller took approximately one and a half years to reach 3 million shipments, by comparison. NEC Electronics expects industry adoption of its USB 3.0 host controller to accelerate, and therefore decided to boost its production volume sooner than planned to address the increasing demand. "The strong sales of NEC Electronics' USB-IF certified host controller clearly indicates the extraordinary adoption of SuperSpeed USB into consumer products," said Jeff Ravencraft, president and chairman, USB-IF. "Introduced just over a year ago, SuperSpeed USB has become the world's most widely watched technology, dramatically enhancing the speed with which consumers can transfer their data by providing the fastest USB experience available." According to NEC, as of February 2010, the company has shipped a total of 180 million USB-related products including the xHCI host controller in support of SuperSpeed USB. In addition to the xHCI host controller, the company has been receiving orders for USB 3.0 system-on-a-chip (SOC) design solutions that feature the company's USB 3.0 intellectual property (IP) core. ″We are very pleased to continue to contribute to the promotion of the USB standard and technology. Moreover, it is very exciting to push the standard and technology up to the next level, the 5 Gbps SuperSpeed USB era, with NEC Electronics' host controller,″ said Osamu Matsushima, general manager, Industry and Network Division, NEC Electronics Corporation. As a core member of USB-IF, NEC Electronics intends to continually dedicate itself to achieve advancement and standardization of USB.″

MIT Researchers Create Self-Assembling Computer Chips.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Researchers at MIT have taken an important step toward creating tiny circuits using molecules that automatically arrange themselves into useful patterns resulting in chips smaller than traditional manufacturing processes can support. The features on computer chips are getting so small that soon the process used to make them, which has hardly changed in the last 50 years, won't work anymore. One of the alternatives that academic researchers have been exploring is to create tiny circuits using molecules that automatically arrange themselves into useful patterns. Currently, chips are built up, layer by layer, through a process called photolithography. A layer of silicon, metal, or some other material is deposited on a chip and coated with a light-sensitive material, called a photoresist. Light shining through a kind of stencil — a "mask" — projects a detailed pattern onto the photoresist, which hardens where it's exposed. The unhardened photoresist is washed away, and chemicals etch away the bare material underneath. The problem is that chip features are now significantly smaller than the wavelength of the light used to make them. Manufacturers have developed various tricks to get light to produce patterns smaller than its own wavelength, but they won't work at smaller scales. The obvious way to continue shrinking chip features would be to use beams of electrons to transfer mask patterns to layers of photoresist. But unlike light, which can shine through a mask and expose an entire chip at once, an electron beam has to move back and forth across the surface of a chip in parallel lines, like a harvester working along rows of wheat. "It's like the difference between writing by hand and printing a page all at once," says Karl Berggren, the Emanuel E. Landsman Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, who along with Caroline Ross, the Toyota Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, led the new work. The slow, precise scanning of electron-beam lithography makes it significantly more expensive than conventional optical lithography. Berggren and Ross' approach is to use electron-beam lithography sparingly, to create patterns of tiny posts on a silicon chip. They then deposit specially designed polymers — molecules in which smaller, repeating molecular units are linked into long chains — on the chip. The polymers spontaneously hitch up to the posts and arrange themselves into useful patterns. The trick is that the polymers are "copolymers," meaning they're made of two different types of polymer. In their attempts to segregate themselves, the different types of polymer chain arrange themselves into predictable patterns. By varying the length of the chains, the proportions of the two polymers, and the shape and location of the silicon hitching posts, Ross, Berggren, and their colleagues were able to produce a wide range of patterns useful in circuit design. One of the two polymers that the MIT researchers used burns away when exposed to a plasma (an electrically charged gas), while the other, which contains silicon, turns to glass. The glass layer could serve the same purpose that a photoresist does in ordinary lithography, protecting the material beneath it while that around it is etched away. According to the researchers, much more work is required before self-assembling molecules can provide a viable means for manufacturing individual chips. In the meantime, Ross and Berggren are working to find arrangements of their nanoscale posts that will produce functioning circuits in prototype chips, and they're trying to refine their technique to produce even smaller chip features. The new findings were published in a paper that appeared this week in Nature Nanotechnology.

Dolby Unveils Dolby Surround 7.1 at ShoWest 2010.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

This week at ShoWest 2010, Dolby Laboratories, Inc. announced it is working with Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios to deliver a new audio format, Dolby Surround 7.1. The company said the new format comprises 8 channels of audio and has the following channel layout: Left, Center, Right, Low-Frequency Effects (LFE), Left Surround, Right Surround, Back Surround Left (new), and Back Surround Right (new). Dolby Surround 7.1 provides content creators four surround zones to better orchestrate audio channels in a movie theatre environment. The four surround zones incorporate the traditional Left Surround and Right Surround with new Back Surround Left and Back Surround Right zones. The addition of the two Back Surround zones enhances directionality in panning 360 degrees around the theatre. In order for exhibitors to deliver the new format, Dolby will be providing Dolby Surround 7.1 playback capabilities in the Dolby CP650 and Dolby CP750 digital cinema audio processor lines. According to Dolby, Surround 7.1 brings a more exciting sensory experience to audiences for 2D and gives content creators control over audio placement in a theatre when mixing 3D movies. The ability to compose audio with visual elements of 3D allows content creators to immerse the audience deeper into the movie with dramatic realism. "For 40 years Dolby has not only provided content creators with the tools to create a more realistic audio experience, but has also enabled the exhibitor to deliver audiences the ability to experience the content as the creator intended," said Page Haun, Senior Director, Marketing, Cinema Market Segment, Dolby Laboratories. "The release of Toy Story 3 in a discrete 7.1 mix will raise the bar for movie theatre owners and their patrons." At ShoWest, Dolby is demonstrating to exhibitors a discrete 7.1 mixed demo reel of past Pixar movies to showcase the advanced audio solution. After the show, exhibitors will be able to access the content to test and demonstrate in their theatres. Disney and Pixar have stated that Dolby Surround 7.1 will be launched in select theatres with the release of Toy Story 3 in 3D this June. ShoWest 2010, currently underway, runs March 15 - 18, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sony Develops Highly Efficient RGB Laser Light Source.
Monday, March 15, 2010

The Sony Corporation has announced the development of a RGB laser light source module suitable for large screen projectors such as digital cinema projectors. The module, , among the industry's smallest, incorporates high power lasers of the three primary colors: Red, Green and Blue (RGB) with a combined output power of 21W (equivalent to 5,000 lumens), in a single package measuring just 530cc. The newly developed RGB laser module uses semiconductor diodes for the red and blue lasers, and a compact, high power solid-state SHG laser for the green. Both the red and green lasers were developed internally by Sony. The three lasers generate output power of 10W for red, 6W for green, and 5W for blue, resulting in a total of 21W. Furthermore, energy conversion ratios for the lasers range from 15 to 22% (18% on average), representing extremely high efficiency for power visible lasers. This high energy conversion ratio also realizes low energy consumption within the module itself. This module can be used as the light source for a range of projectors, from 1,000 lumen home theater projectors to 10,000 lumen large screen projectors, and even digital cinema projectors. According to Sony, this is due to the scalability of the module design, which outputs collimated light beams for each of the three colors, enabling multiple modules to be stacked. When used in place of the xenon lamps which are the light source for projectors today, this module realizes the following key advantages based on the strengths of its advanced laser technology:

1. Realizes high light output power of 21W with a package size of just 530cc. Semiconductor diodes are used for the red and blue lasers, while a compact and high power solid state SHG laser is used for the green. Both the red and green lasers were developed internally by Sony. The output power of the three lasers are 10W for red, 6W of green and 5W of blue, realizing a total output power of 21W.

2. Low power consumption achieved through high energy conversion efficiency. Realizes energy conversion ratio of 15 to 22% (18% on average), representing very high efficiency for high power visible lasers. In the red and blue semiconductor lasers, this is achieved through the high quality of the semiconductor laser crystal, and thermally efficient laser chip mounting technology. In the green laser, it is achieved through a proprietary laser structure which enhances wavelength conversion efficiency. As a result of these developments, low power consumption of 110W at 5,000 lumen output has been achieved. Furthermore, the reduction in heat emissions resulting from this high efficiency enable the cooling mechanisms required for the operation of the lasers to be simplified and reduced.

3. Extended lifetime of over 10,000 hours. A further advantage of this laser-based light source is that it delivers a lifespan of over 10,000 hours (between 3 to 20 times longer than xenon lamps). By limiting the need for lamp replacement and exchange, this enables maintenance costs to be reduced.

The company said it will transfer technology related to this module to Sony Manufacturing Systems Corporation (SMS), a fully owned subsidiary of Sony Corp, and commence sample shipments in the second half of 2010.

FCC Recommends Ultra High-Speed Connections from Military Installations.
Friday, March 12, 2010

Following consultation with the Department of Defense (DoD), the team developing the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan has included a recommendation that the DoD equip select military installations with ultra high-speed broadband connections that would provide military personnel and their families with improved access to enhanced broadband connectivity. "The nation’s military installations house, train, educate, heal, and support tens of thousands of service personnel and their families," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "These military communities should be first in line to benefit from the latest technologies and ultra high-speed connectivity. This initiative also has the potential to help spur development of the next generation of broadband applications that take advantage of ultra-high speeds." "I'm extremely pleased that the National Broadband Plan will recognize the central role that communications technologies play not only in the training and education of military personnel, but also in that of their families," said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Network and Information Integration)/DoD Chief Information Officer Cheryl J. Roby." The FCC’s Plan outlines strategies for providing robust, affordable broadband to the entire nation and integrating broadband fully into the American economy and the daily lives of Americans. The DoD and FCC have discussed the merit of this proposal and agree this particular recommendation will be aligned with the missions of the Armed Forces. The recommendation reflects a tactic in the plan to investigate using federal facilities as a powerful way to push broadband more deeply into all corners of the nation. Military installations typically already have broadband connectivity but are ideal communities for ultra high-speed broadband connectivity, due to their scale and the variety of services they provide to military personnel and their families. The National Broadband Plan will recommend that the Defense Department create a task force, in consultation with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, to make recommendations on the selection, level of connectivity, and applications that could be deployed and supported. The military would retain operational control over the requirements and project implementation. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directed the FCC to submit a National Broadband Plan to Congress that addresses broadband deployment, adoption, affordability, and the use of broadband to advance solutions to national priorities.

NAB Show Launches New 'Post Pit' on Show Floor.
Thursday, March 11, 2010

The National Association of Broadcasters announced today the debut of a new digital video workflow presentation stage, complete with a networking lounge and series of mini sessions, which will be held on the show floor at the 2010 NAB Show. Located in the South Lower Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Post Pit brings together user groups and individuals who use post-production and other digital story-telling software and hardware products on display at the NAB Show. Produced in partnership with Final Cut Pro User Group (FCPUG) Network SuperMeet, fxguide, Digital Production Buzz and Future Media Concepts (FMC), Post Pit will offer attendees and exhibitors an interactive experience in which to showcase creative content, while top talent take the stage to share tips and tricks to aid digital video creators and editors in navigating the various tools used in the trade. "We applaud NAB's decision to add the Post Pit as an exciting new venue to the NAB Show exhibit hall and appreciate our active role in providing speakers from within our community as highlights to the Post Pit schedule," said SuperMeet co-producers Daniel Berube (Boston FCPUG) and Michael Horton (Los Angeles FCPUG) in a joint statement. "We expect the networking prospects and guru talk offered within the Post Pit to be a big draw for content creators and digital filmmakers. Think of the Post Pit as our central gathering spot for the creative community at this year's NAB Show," they said. A networking lounge within Post Pit will provide an intimate space for attendees to meet with other content professionals, see interactive demonstrations and mingle with a broad representation of vendors including Adobe, Avid, AJA Video, Blackmagic Design, Canon, GenArts, Inc., The Foundry and JVC. Post Pit will also feature networking receptions during the day and after hours. "We're targeting serious production pros," said fxguide Co-Founder Mike Seymour, whose Post Pit program addresses high end digital capture to final feature film post production. "We've lined up directors and visual effects supervisors to share real world production techniques using the latest gear." The 2010 NAB Show runs April 12-15 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010

If you’re one of the 57 million Americans who ride a bike, mapping your daily commute, exploring new trails, and planning recreational rides just became a little bit easier. Unveiled at the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC, Google announced today that it has added biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps. The new feature provides step-by-step, bike-specific routing suggestions – similar to the directions provided by the driving, walking, or public transit modes. Simply enter a start point and destination and select "Bicycling" from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible. You can also access the other features in Google Maps, such as Street View, so you can tell exactly where you might need to turn on your route or preview how wide a bike lane is, and Local Search, so you know where you can take a water break or where the bike shops are along your route. Biking directions provides time estimates for routes based on an algorithm that takes into account the length of the route, the number of hills, fatigue over time, and other variables. According to Google, thousands of miles of trails in the US have also been added directly onto the map. This helps cyclists better plan their routes, and can also expose the availability and convenience of bike trails to a new audience. Google has partnered with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit that creates networks of trails from former rail lines, to provide information on bike trails in more than 150 cities. "The demand for trail maps and information has never been higher, especially as more people recognize biking as a viable, inexpensive and healthy alternative to driving," says Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin. "Sharing our trail data is an exceptional way to introduce the world to what 150,000 RTC members and supporters already know—biking is the ideal way to get where you’re going. The addition of biking directions to Google Maps makes life easier for bikers, whether they are commuting to work or biking for fun, and it can introduce our network of trails to a whole new audience of cyclists-to-be." Biking directions is currently in Beta available on desktop versions of Google Maps for the United States, but a mobile version is planned.

comScore Releases January 2010 U.S. Online Video Rankings.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010

According to the latest data from digital marketing intelligence and measurement company comScore, U.S. Internet users watched 32.4 billion videos in January with Google Sites ranking as the top U.S. video property with 12.8 billion videos. YouTube.com accounted for nearly 99 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Hulu ranked second with 903.1 million videos, or 2.8 percent of the all online videos viewed. Microsoft Sites ranked third with 491.8 million (1.5 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 435.5 million (1.3 percent) and Viacom Digital with 361.2 million (1.1 percent). More than 173 million viewers watched an average of 187 videos per viewer during the month of January. Google Sites attracted 136.5 million unique viewers during the month (93.9 videos per viewer), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 51.5 million viewers (8.5 videos per viewer) and CBS Interactive with 41.2 million viewers, (5.3 videos per viewer). The average Hulu viewer watched 23.5 videos during the month, representing an all-time high for the property. In January, Tremor Media ranked as the top video ad network with a potential reach of 86 million viewers, or 49.6 percent of the total viewing audience. BBE ranked second with a potential reach of 78.3 million viewers (45.2 percent penetration) closely followed by Advertising.com Video Network with 77.9 million viewers (45.0 percent). comScore also noted that the top video ad networks in terms of their actual reach delivered were: BrightRoll Video Network with 27.2 percent penetration of online video viewers, SpotXchange Video Ad Network with 19.8 percent, and Tremor Media Video Network with 16.6 percent. 135.4 million viewers watched 12.7 billion videos on YouTube.com (93.4 videos per viewer) while the average Hulu viewer watched 23.5 videos, totaling 2.3 hours of videos per viewer. The company also noted that the duration of the average online video across all properties was 4.1 minutes.

Blu-ray Patent Licensing Program Announced by Four Companies.
Monday, March 08, 2010

The Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Thomson Licensing, Toshiba Corporation and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment have announced that the companies have commenced a worldwide joint licensing program. Known as the BD4C Licensing Group, which begun on March 1, 2010, the group will offer licensing for Blu-ray ("BD") and DVD patents essential for BD decoders, BD encoders, BD players, BD read-only discs, BD recordable discs, BD drives, BD/DVD hybrid discs and BD recorders ("BD Products"), including BD Products that incorporate DVD functionality. According to BD4C, potential licensees will benefit from one-stop shopping for the essential patents owned or controlled by the four companies, which will facilitate the development of the BD market. The license portfolio consists of BD and DVD patents, owned or controlled by the four companies, that are essential for BD Products. Licenses for the portfolio will be available for products that comply with the specifications for the BD formats promulgated by the Blu-ray Disc Association. The group said interested parties are also free to negotiate separate license agreements, rather than taking a single portfolio license, with each of the four companies, which have committed to provide such licenses for their respective essential patents under fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions. The companies have authorized Toshiba to act as licensor for the BD4C Licensing Group in licensing their essential BD patents for this joint licensing program. Royalties under the terms of the portfolio license will be as follows:

* BD-Video Disc --- $0.04 per disc
* BD-ROM Disc --- $0.04 per disc
* BD-R Disc --- $0.065 per disc
* BD-RE Disc --- $0.09 per disc
* BD/DVD Hybrid Disc (including BD/DVD Hybrid ROM Discs and BD/DVD Hybrid Video Discs) --- $0.08 per disc
* BD Decoder --- $1.00 per decoder, with an annual cap of
$10,000,000
* BD Encoder --- $1.50 per encoder, with an annual cap of
$15,000,000
* BD-Video Player --- $4.50 per player
* BD-Video Combo Player --- $6.00 per player
* BD Video Recorder --- $7.00 per recorder
* BD-Video Combo Recorder --- $6.00 per recorder
* BD-ROM Drive --- $4.00 per drive
* BD Recordable Disc Drive --- $6.00 per drive
* BD-ROM Combo Drive --- $5.00 per drive
* BD Combo Recordable Disc Drive --- $5.00 per drive

HDMI Releases Specification for 3D Broadcast Content.
Friday, March 05, 2010

HDMI Licensing, LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) specification, this week announced, on behalf of the HDMI Founders, the release of HDMI Specification Version 1.4a featuring key enhancements for 3D applications including the addition of mandatory 3D formats for broadcast content as well as the addition of the 3D format referred to as Top-and-Bottom. The latest HDMI Specification adds key enhancements to support the market requirements for bringing broadcast 3D content into the home including the addition of Top-and-Bottom to the Specification as well as the addition Side-by-Side Horizontal and Top-and-Bottom mandatory formats for broadcast content. According to HDMI with the addition of these two mandatory formats, the HDMI Specification Version 1.4a provides a level of interoperability for devices designed to deliver 3D content over the HDMI connection allowing devices to speak a common 3D language when transmitting and receiving 3D content. The complete HDMI Specification Version 1.4a, along with the 1.4a version of the Compliance Test Specification (CTS), is available to Adopters on the HDMI Adopter Extranet. An extraction of the 3D portion of Specification Version 1.4a is available for public download on the HDMI Web site. The purpose of the extraction document is to provide public access to the 3D portion of the HDMI Specification for those companies and organizations that are not HDMI Adopters but require access to this portion of the Specification. "We published these latest enhancements to support the market need for broadcast 3D content," said Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. "When we launched 1.4 in June of 2009, we deferred the selection of mandatory 3D format(s) for broadcast content until the market direction was more clearly defined. The market has spoken and the HDMI Consortium has listened and responded to accommodate those market needs." HDMI Adopters will have 90 days from the publication of the Specification Version 1.4a to build and sell products that are compliant with 1.4a as well as pass the CTS Version 1.4a. This also applies to legacy set-top boxes that may have upgraded to use Specification Version 1.4 signaling.

Apple Sues HTC for Patent Infringement.
Thursday, March 04, 2010

Cupertino, California based Apple Inc. this week filed a lawsuit against fellow consumer electronics and smartphone maker High Tech Computer (HTC), for infringing on what Apple calls 20 patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware. "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours." According to HTC, the Taiwanese company, the world’s largest maker of smartphones that use Google’s Android mobile operating system, including the Nexus One, has been building mobile devices including smartphones for 13 years, “and so HTC is not only a mobile technology innovator, [we] also hold a large number of patents,” the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Apple’s filing includes smartphones from HTC that use Google’s Android OS as well as some that run Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS. HTC will work with the U.S. justice system to protect its own innovations and rights, it said, adding that it does not believe the Apple lawsuit poses a threat to its business in the short-term. Apple is credited with having reinvented the mobile phone in 2007 with its revolutionary iPhone, and again in 2008 with its pioneering App Store, which now offers more than 150,000 mobile applications in over 90 countries. Over 40 million iPhones have been sold worldwide. It is not unusual however, for technology companies to file lawsuits against each other. As popularity of smartphones increase, smartphone vendors have been actively filing lawsuits. Sometimes for legitimate claims and sometimes as a ploy to harm a rival’s business. Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone vendor, sued Apple last October over the alleged infringement of 10 patents. Apple turned around and sued Nokia over claims of its own.

Online Film Demand Declines.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Hollywood's hopes for a future built on digital film downloads have been severely undermined by new research showing cooling consumer demand for movies online. The film industry was banking on digital distribution eventually replacing the income it generates from sales of DVDs, which have been in steep decline for the past two years. But while sales of digital films rose sharply in 2007 and 2008 growth stuttered in 2009, according to a recent report by Screen Digest. The media research group had forecast total online movie sales in the US of $360m for 2009, based on the sharp growth of 2007 and a near doubling of sales in 2008 to $219m. Yet after a slowdown in the second half of the year, US revenues for 2009 were substantially lower than forecast at $291m. "The market just cooled off," said Arash Amel, a research director with Screen Digest. "This wasn't caused by economic factors . . . the level of interest in digital downloads just isn't there." He believes consumers have been deterred by an array of competing online platforms that prevent viewers from watching digitally downloaded films on the devices of their choice. A consumer buying a film from Apple's iTunes store is unable to watch it on their Microsoft Xbox console, for example. "Digital downloading is characterised by its restrictions – it's all about what viewers can't do, rather than what they can do,"added Mr Amel. Hollywood has moved to address problems associated with digital distribution yet the industry is divided on the best way forward. Disney has created Keychest, which it describes as "enabling technology" that allows consumers to buy a film once and watch it anywhere. But the rest of the industry is supporting the rival Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem coalition, which is backed by Sony Pictures. With no immediate solution in sight, the Screen Digest report is likely to make grim reading in Hollywood. The private equity and hedge fund money that poured into the industry fuelling a production boom has evaporated following the financial crisis, leaving the studios desperate for new revenue sources. While studios have made efforts to cut the pay offered to top stars, the number of films going into production in 2009 fell almost 20 per cent to 520 and is forecast to fall again this year. Screen Digest has slashed its growth forecasts for digital film sales by 30 per cent after the smaller-than-expected rise last year. 

Samsung Begins Mass Producing Super-wide LCD Panels.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010

South Korean giant, Samsung Electronics this week announced it has begun mass producing a super-wide LCD panel for out-of-home advertising and informational displays. The new 43-inch LCD panel produces images with a panoramic aspect ratio of 4:1, compared to conventional standard (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) panels. Featuring Full HD-ready (1920x480 resolution), this new super-wide panel can be utilized in subway stations, airports, shopping malls and schools, where existing standard panels are unable to effectively deliver information. In addition, the Samsung super-wide digital information display (DID) panel allows for effective delivery of related information in various formats through split screens. With the capability to run three VGA (640x480) screens at once or individually, the panel can present different combinations of video and text in contiguous displays. According to Samung, the company has already converted some of its facilities to mass-produce the super-wide LCD panels. It expects to produce 12 super-wide LCD panels per substrate on its 7th generation production line. According to DisplaySearch, a global market research firm, the market for DID LCD panels is expected to grow from 1.33 million in 2010 to 6.57 million units in 2015. It is also projected that LCD panels will account for nearly 90 percent of the DID market in 2015.

Most Americans Using Multiple Platforms for News.
Monday, March 01, 2010

According to a new survey conducted jointly by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism, the overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) currently use multiple platforms to get their daily news. The internet is now the third most-popular news platform, behind local and national television news and ahead of national print newspapers, local print newspapers and radio. Getting news online fits into a broad pattern of news consumption by Americans; six in ten (59%) get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day. The internet and mobile technologies are key in understanding how people’s relationship to news is changing. According to the report, in today’s new multi-platform media environment, news is becoming portable, personalized, and participatory:

• Portable: 33% of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.

•Personalized: 28% of internet users have customized their home page to include news from sources and on topics that particularly interest them.

•Participatory: 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

In addition, people use their social networks and social networking technology to filter, assess, and react to news. And they use traditional email and other tools to swap stories and comment on them. Among those who get news online, 75% get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52% share links to news with others via those means. Despite all of this online activity, the typical online news consumer routinely uses just a handful of news sites and does not have a particular favorite. However, Americans have mixed feelings about this “new” news environment. Over half (55%) say it is easier to keep up with news and information today than it was five years ago, but 70% feel the amount of news and information available from different sources is overwhelming. Report results were based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research International between December 28, 2009 and January 19, 2010, among a sample of 2,259 adults, 18 and older. Margin of error is 2.7 percentage points.

FCC Reaffirms Rules and Policies of Video Relay Service.
Friday, February 26, 2010

In a step toward comprehensive reform of Video Relay Service (VRS), the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a Declaratory Ruling to reaffirm the FCC’s rules and policies concerning VRS reimbursement and calling practices, and maximize efficiency and effectiveness of this program to ensure that the communications needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers are met. VRS is a form of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) that enables deaf and hard-of hearing persons who use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with voice telephone users through video equipment, rather than through typed text. Video equipment links the VRS user with an operator who understands ASL and can serve as an intermediary between a person using ASL and a hearing person using his or her voice. Because the conversation between the VRS user and the operator flows much more quickly than with a text-based TRS call, VRS has become an enormously popular form of TRS. However, the Commission also recognizes that VRS is vulnerable to both fraud and abuse. As the Commission moves forward with VRS reform to address these issues, it emphasizes that the Commission is committed to ensuring that VRS continues to be readily available in accordance with the Act for those who depend upon it to access the nation’s telephone system. Bureau Chief Joel Gurin said: “Today’s action is a first step in fixing a system that is broken. It is essential to keep VRS on a sound footing. Consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing have come to rely on VRS as a service that lets them communicate easily, fluently, and expressively. The Telecommunications Relay Service Fund was established to support exactly that kind of communication. But the Fund can’t be used to support practices that are designed only to increase payments to VRS providers, rather than providing a necessary service for people who need it. We’re taking a strong first step today to stop these practices and ensure that the Fund is always used to benefit the deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers it was designed to help.” In the Declaratory Ruling, the Bureau addressed three specific reimbursement and calling practices. Specifically, the Bureau emphasized that:

• Calls made by or to employees of VRS providers and their subcontractors are not eligible for compensation from the TRS Fund on a per-minute basis. Instead, costs of these calls are compensable as a business expense – and only if the VRS provider can demonstrate that they are legitimate business calls. In the past, some providers sought compensation for these costs twice, both at the per-minute rate and as business expenses
submitted to the Fund administrator. The ruling emphasizes that these costs are compensable only as business expenses, that the expenses must be justified, and that the costs cannot be recovered twice.

• VRS Voice Carry Over (or VCO) is a service that allows a person who is deaf or hard of hearing to use his or her own voice to speak to a hearing party on a VRS call. The VRS
operator will then translate the hearing person’s response into ASL for the deaf person on the call. It is possible to abuse VCO to make free long distance calls between two
people using their voices. The ruling states that such calls cannot be paid for by the Fund.

• VRS calls that both originate and terminate outside of the United States are not compensable from the Fund.

The Commission first established the compensability of VRS from the Fund in 2000, persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and communicate in ASL have been able to make a telephone
call by connecting to a VRS provider over the Internet. This ability to make or receive a telephone call while communicating in ASL has revolutionized TRS, and, in turn, the lives of many persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. The United States is currently the second country after Sweden to federally subsidize VRS nationwide.

Cablevision to Trial 'Personal TV Channel'.
Thursday, February 25, 2010

New York based, Cablevision Systems Corp. this week announced the development of what the company calls a new, first-of-its-kind service, named PC to TV Media Relay, that will allow its digital cable customers to relay whatever information or images currently appear on their computer screen to their television in real-time, without any additional equipment in the home. Cablevision says the service will enable the customer to securely send information on their PC in real-time through Cablevision's network facilities to a dedicated channel viewable only by that customer. The service eliminates the need to change input settings on the TV, or the need to purchase and install additional equipment. A simple one-time software download to the computer will enable the PC to TV Media Relay service. According to the company, some example uses of the new service include:

• Personal stored media such as photos, home videos and
music
• Internet content including streaming video sites and audio such as Internet radio
• Some productivity applications including email, documents and spreadsheets
• And, other Desktop applications such as widgets

"With our PC to TV Media Relay service, we are putting an end to the need for families to huddle around their laptops or PCs to watch content together. This new service will make it easy for our television customers to take broadband services including Internet video, as well as family photos or anything else displayed on a computer screen and move it to the television with the click of the mouse," said Tom Rutledge, Cablevision's Chief Operating Officer. "Cablevision has always provided our customers with advanced and easy-to-use services that leverage the power of our fiber-rich network to deliver the best possible experience." Cablevision also says PC to TV Media Relay service may also be extended to other consumer devices in the home including handheld devices running applications and connected to in-home wireless networks and that the service is also in development for Mac OS. Cablevision plans to begin a technical trial of PC to TV Media Relay for the PC by June 2010.

Global LCD TV Shipments Grow Faster Than Expected.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

At the end of 2008, the outlook for 2009 TV sales worldwide was radically scaled back after the global economy suffered a massive setback. The expected downturn in consumer demand seemed likely to make 2009 a bleak year for TV shipments. However, shipments far exceeded initial expectations as consumers snapped up discounted products. According to a recent report from DisplaySearch, global TV shipments grew 2% overall to 211 million units, and flat panel TV technologies like LCD enjoyed better growth in 2009 on a unit basis than during 2008, rising 37% vs. 34%, respectively. The final quarter of 2009 showed even stronger year-over-year (Y/Y) unit shipment growth, rising 17% Y/Y overall with LCD TVs climbing 50% Y/Y, the strongest growth in LCD TV units since Q4’07, although Q4’08 was very weak. Strong flat panel TV shipment growth in emerging markets like China (more than 100% Y/Y) led the flat panel share of total annual TV shipments to pass 75% for the first time, with more than 90% of all TV revenues. One of the key drivers of growth was the acceleration of average selling price erosion driven by cost reductions at the component level, but also by decreasing margins at the brand and retail level. Coupled with greater consumer price sensitivity that resulted in much slower average screen size growth, the global volume-weighted ASP declined more than 8% worldwide and fell as much as 24% Y/Y for LCD TVs, the largest decline since DisplaySearch began tracking the TV marketplace. “The better-than-expected 2009 results clearly demonstrate that consumers still have a strong desire to purchase flat panel TVs, but at the same time are willing to shift their buying behavior to match their budget in a recession-plagued year,” noted Paul Gagnon, Director of North America TV Market Research for DisplaySearch. “We saw a lot more compromise on size and features in 2009, with a greater number of consumers perhaps opting to upgrade smaller secondary sets and postpone getting a larger living room set than we would have seen in a normal economy.” Samsung achieved their highest revenue share ever, reaching a record 23.6% of global TV revenues in Q4’09. This high revenue share is the result of being the global leader in units as well as having a strong mix of larger screen sizes as well as leading positions in advanced technologies like LED backlit and high frame rate LCD TVs, all of which support higher average prices. Samsung has been #1 in both TV units and revenues worldwide every quarter for more than three years now, achieving a 22.6% share of 2009 full year TV revenues. LGE was the #2 brand worldwide in TV shipment revenues and demonstrated the strongest annual growth among the top five brands, an indicator of the aggressive market share growth campaign the brand undertook in 2009. Sony was #3 in global TV revenues during Q4’09 at 11.5%, up sharply from 9.9% in Q4’09, as sales for Sony surged during the holidays, typically a strong quarter for the company. Sony had the largest Q/Q shipment growth among the top five in Q4’09. However, Sony’s full year 2009 total TV revenue share was down almost 2 percentage points from 2008, to 11.5%, and is at the lowest level since 2005 when it last led the overall TV market. Panasonic and Sharp ranked fourth and fifth for global revenue, respectively.

Wal-Mart to Buy Vudu.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Retail giant, Walmart announced this week a definitive agreement to acquire VUDU, Inc., instant access provider of digital movies and TV shows directly through broadband connected televisions, Blu-ray players and set top boxes. Currently, VUDU has licensing agreements with almost every major movie studio and dozens of independent and international distributors to offer approximately 16,000 movies, including the largest 1080p library of available video on-demand movies. According to VUDU, the company will continue developing entertainment and information delivery solutions such as VUDU Apps, a platform that delivers hundreds of streaming Internet applications and services to TVs and Blu-ray players with built-in Internet connectivity. Since its founding in 2004, the company has partnered with some of the biggest names in Internet and media entertainment to offer applications on its platform including Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, The New York Times and The Associated Press. "We are excited about the opportunity to take our company's vision to the next level," said Edward Lichty, VUDU executive vice president. "VUDU's services and Apps platform will give Walmart a powerful new vehicle to offer customers the content they want in a way that expands the frontier of quality, value and convenience." VUDU, based in Santa Clara, Calif., will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walmart. The company is not disclosing financial terms of the agreement as the acquisition is not material to its first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2011. The deal is expected to close within the next few weeks.

NAB Show Introduces Destination Broadband.
Monday, February 22, 2010

The National Association of Broadcasters has announced the 2010 NAB Show will debut Destination Broadband, a dynamic new exhibit area focusing on advances and applications for broadband technology. Featuring more than 50 leading-edge companies and a presentation theater, Destination Broadband will examine the entire online video experience within the broadband ecosystem from back end infrastructure to revolutionary technologies for the home. According to NAB, a pavilion within Destination Broadband will feature three specialized areas - Broadband Innovations, Mobile Solutions and Broadband Lifestyles, a living room-like setting for consumer products and services. The pavilion will comprise more than 25 companies showcasing the latest in content delivery network solutions, online video, IPTV, video streaming and advertising and monetization platforms enabled by broadband. "The ability of broadband technology to increase audience reach across multiple platforms, expand monetization options and make anytime, anywhere content a reality will profoundly impact the future of media and entertainment," said NAB Executive Vice President of Conventions and Business Operations Chris Brown. "We are excited to present Destination Broadband as a showcase for the companies that are leading innovation in this important area."

Some of the companies featured in Destination Broadband include:

AdJuggler, Inc.
Level-3 Communications
Ankeena Networks
Limelight Networks
AT&T
Opera Software
Backchannelmedia
MobiClip
Brightcove
Neulion
Cisco
TVUNetworks
Digisoft tv
Vericorder Technology
Internap
Verizon Wireless

Also located within Destination Broadband, the Destination Broadband Theater, sponsored by Ambrado, Inc., will offer informative discussions, case studies, research and top level insights on delivering and monetizing broadband content. The power panels featuring "Bits and Bytes" segments will also address how the evolution of broadband is changing traditional content distribution. The Destination Broadband Theater is co-produced by the Society of Satellite Professionals International, World Teleport Association, VideoNuze, Interactive Television Alliance (ITA) and other industry experts. "It's terrific to see the NAB Show stepping up to meet the challenges brought by the digital revolution. Not only is the venerable show adapting, it's aggressively pursuing innovations on the floor and in the conference," said ITA President Ben Mendelson. "Clearly, the NAB Show intends to expand its relevance within the 21st Century television and media landscape." The NAB Show will take place 10-15 April, 2010 in Las Vegas (exhibits open 12 April).

iPhone and Competitive Products to Spur NAND Flash Undersupply in 2010.
Friday, February 19, 2010

Thanks to its huge sales and high memory usage, Apple Inc.’s iPhone is expected to generate insatiable demand for NAND-type flash memory in 2010, helping to strain supplies for the year, according to market intelligence company iSuppli Corp. Partly owing to demand driven by the iPhone and competitive products, global NAND flash revenue will rise to $18.1 billion in 2010, up 34 percent from $13.5 billion in 2009, according to a preliminary forecast. This compares to a 14.8 percent increase in 2009. “An average of 35.2Gbytes of NAND will be used in each iPhone sold in 2010, iSuppli estimates,” said Michael Yang, senior analyst for memory and storage at iSuppli. “Furthermore, iPhone shipments are set to rise to 33 million in 2010, up 31.5 percent from 25.1 million in 2009. With the iPhone already the largest application for NAND, this huge growth is likely to lead to some periods of undersupply for the year.” Beyond the smart-phone segment, a number of other new products are driving the NAND market in 2010, including eBooks and tablet PCs. However, while eBooks such as the Amazon Kindle may follow a similar growth path as Apple’s iPods, they don’t use nearly as much NAND flash memory. eBooks contain a mere 512MBytes to 2GBytes of embedded NAND included in each device. And although density will no doubt grow in the coming years as wireless Internet enables more features and functionality, NAND usage in eBooks will remain low in 2010, iSuppli predicts.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Redbox Announce a Multi-year Distribution Agreement.
Thursday, February 18, 2010

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and redbox today announced a new multi-year distribution agreement that will make Warner Bros. new release DVD and Blu-ray titles available to redbox customers after a 28-day window. The agreement also marks the end of the lawsuit that redbox filed against Warner Home Video in August 2009. According to redbox, the new arrangement provides the company with reduced product costs, sufficient quantities of product and optimal stock levels four weeks after street date as well as extends redbox’s access to Blu-ray titles, which redbox is currently testing in select markets. The agreement also provides Warner Bros. the opportunity to maximize the sales of new release titles as well as video on demand and other forms of digital distribution. “This agreement enables redbox to fulfill our commitment to providing consumers affordable and convenient home entertainment,” said Mitch Lowe, president, redbox. “By agreeing to a delayed release date, redbox can now acquire Warner Home Video titles at a reduced product cost, preserving value for our consumers and increasing customer access to Warner titles at redbox locations nationwide.” Warner Home Video and redbox will be implementing delayed availability during the month of March and will reach a four-week window by March 23, 2010. The new agreement will run through January 31, 2012. Redbox has also agreed to destroy Warner Home Video content following its life span in kiosks.

FCC Issues Order Promoting Competition in the Video Distribution Market.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission has made what the agency calls an important step toward promoting competition and innovation in the video distribution market by establishing a process for considering, on a case-by-case basis, complaints about the availability of terrestrially delivered, cable- affiliated programming, addressing what is commonly referred to as the “terrestrial loophole.” These new rules allow DBS providers, telcos and other competitors to obtain more of the “must have” programming they need to offer viable alternative video packages to consumers and an opportunity to file complaints if the programming is withheld. The Order promotes competition, fosters innovation and empowers consumers, all while creating a fair process for the Commission to handle pending and new claims in a speedy and just manner. The Order concludes the Commission has authority under Section 628(b) of the Communications Act to take action if a cable operator engages in unfair acts with respect to terrestrially delivered, cable- affiliated programming that significantly hinder a multichannel video programming distributor from providing satellite cable programming to consumers. The Commission adopts a rebuttable presumption that an unfair act involving a terrestrially delivered, cable-affiliated regional sports network has the purpose or effect set forth in Section 628(b). The Order adopts rules permitting complainants to pursue program access claims similar to the claims they may pursue involving satellite-delivered, cable-affiliated programming. Because the claims involving terrestrial programming require an additional factual inquiry regarding whether the unfair act significantly hinders the complainant from providing satellite cable programming to consumers, additional time will be given to present rebuttal information. The Commission has before it a number of specific complaints alleging that cable operators have significantly hindered competition by withholding from their rivals terrestrially delivered regional sports networks. The Order does not decide those complaints but describes how they can be handled going forward. It provides that complainants may continue to pursue their complaints as filed. If, instead, a complainant wants a currently pending complaint to be considered under the new rules, it may submit a supplemental filing alleging that the defendant has engaged in an unfair act after the effective date of the rules. The Order also establishes procedures for the Commission’s consideration of requests for a temporary standstill of the price, terms, and other conditions of an existing programming contract by a program access complainant seeking renewal of such a contract. "Today’s action represents a major step toward realizing the promise of a competitive marketplace for video services -- while also supporting innovation in the video marketplace. Our new rules are structured to preserve incentives for cable operators to develop innovative programming such as local news networks. The new rules also create a fair process for the Commission to adjudicate claims" said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in an official statement.

DISH Network Introduces Tetris TV.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Satellite pay-TV provider, DISH Network along with Oberon Media and The Tetris Company, this week announced the launch of Tetris TV, a new interactive TV game service. According to DISH, Tetris TV features two popular Tetris games: Marathon and 40-Lines. Marathon has 15 challenging levels of game play, and 40-Lines is a race to clear 40 lines in as fast a time as possible. With a 25 year history, the Tetris game continues to be one of the most widely recognized video games of all time. According to some researchers, the game is an excellent tool for neuroscience research and has been used in over 30 scientific studies. Research published in 2009 in BMC Research Notes found that study participants who played Tetris showed increased brain efficiency and, relative to controls, an increase in brain tissue. "Working with Oberon Media to release Tetris TV allows us to reach millions of our fans in yet another way," said Henk Rogers, CEO of Blue Planet Software, the company that manages the exclusive licensing rights to the Tetris game. "Interactive TV is an exciting venture for us, as we're always hoping to give Tetris players a unique way to enjoy the game on their own and while interacting with each other. What's better, a study published this year by BMC Research Notes showed how playing Tetris can create positive changes in our brains--so we're happy to say that now, with the release of the Tetris TV service, TV could be good for you!" DISH said future releases of the Tetris TV service will allow subscribers to be able to compete with other DISH Network subscribers by posting their names and scores to national leader boards managed by Oberon Media's iTV community as well as tournaments and prizes for top players. Tetris TV is currently available to all North American DISH Network customers for $2.99 per month. Oberon said it is planning to roll out the service with additional partners worldwide.

Fujitsu Develops World's Highest Efficiency A/D Converter.
Monday, February 15, 2010

As mobile phones and digital devices have become higher-performance and continuously feature higher functionality in recent years, there has been demand for A/D converters that are concurrently compact and more power-efficient. In digital equipment, the A/D converter often accounts for a large share of the equipment's total power consumption, making it an obvious target for technologies that can reduce power consumption. Most A/D converters used in digital devices and mobile phones today are pipelined A/D converters used to amplify signals. Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. last week announced the development of a successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (A/D converter) that detects variations in electronic characteristics and automatically compensates for them, achieving performance on par with existing pipelined A/D converters, while reducing both the size and power consumption by 90% or one-tenth (1/10) that of previously-developed A/D converters. Smaller, more efficient A/D converters have ramifications beyond the performance of the A/D converter itself. The system LSI device that the A/D converter is a part of can also be made smaller and more power-efficient, having a significant effect on the power efficiency of the device overall. According to the company, the new SAR A/D converter features 10-bit resolution and a 50 megasamples-per-second (MS/s) conversion rate. This attained the lowest power consumption (highest power efficiency) of any A/D converter in this class of 820 µW. Fujitsu said it will proceed to further develop this technology for application in digital home appliances, mobile phones and digital TV tuners and will also work on adapting the technology to further miniaturization processes, and plans to use the technology in various other analog circuits as well. Details of this technology were presented at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2010 (ISSCC 2010) being held in San Francisco from February 7-11.

Online Video Not Yet A Threat to Pay TV.
Friday, February 12, 2010

Despite the growing amount of video available online, less than 8% of U.S. broadband households are considering canceling their pay-TV services in favor of online video, according to a recent report from research and analysis firm Parks Associates. According to Parks, the results from the report, All Eyes on Video are in line with previous Parks Associates studies, which do not show an appreciable likelihood of subscriber churn in favor of online video services. A 2008 study reported 11% of U.S. broadband households were considering canceling pay-TV services, and in an earlier 2009 survey, the number was 10%. The report found approximately 5.5 million homes would be open to canceling pay TV due in part to the availability of online video. At the same time, one-half of these households are also considering a switch to a new pay-TV provider, indicating the primary threats to companies such as Verizon, Comcast, DirecTV, and Cablevision are still their traditional competitors. The households likely to switch or cancel their services watch a whopping 10 hours of online video each week, much higher than typical video consumers. They express strong interest in having online access to pay-TV channels (e.g., TV Everywhere), which highlights an opportunity for traditional pay-TV providers to solidify their base through the deployment of such features. Offline video consumption is also higher. Their median number of DVD rentals from the last six months is 18, compared to two rentals among other households. "The threat of cannibalization is real but misunderstood," said John Barrett, director, research, Parks Associates. "Nobody is going to rely on online video alone—households likely to cancel their TV services are going to use a mixture of online video, free-to-air broadcasts, and DVDs, including rental services such as Netflix and redbox." Barrett also discounted the immediate threat of migration to online video. "Very few households have made the switch, a sign that the alternative is not yet compelling. Just 0.5% of broadband households (350,000 homes) had pay TV, cancelled it, and now watch five or more hours of online video per week. People who have made the switch to online video are few in number, and they don’t watch much TV anyway." All Eyes on Video surveyed U.S. and Canadian broadband households to gauge current consumer usage and attitudes for advanced video devices and services. Parks Associates will release results and analysis of the Canadian survey late February 2010.

Google to Launch Experimental Fiber Network.
Thursday, February 11, 2010

Everything giant, Google has announced this week that the company is planning to build and test its own ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. At a speed of 1 gigabit per second, the fiber-to-the-home connections from Google will deliver Internet connectivity nearly 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today. According to Google, its goal is to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better and faster for everyone. The company has urged the FCC to look at new and creative ways to get there in its National Broadband Plan. Here are some specific things Google has in mind:

Next generation apps - We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it's creating new bandwidth-intensive "killer apps" and services, or other uses we can't yet imagine.

New deployment techniques - We'll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we'll share key lessons learned with the world.

Openness and choice - We'll operate an "open access" network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we'll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.

Google says it will offer the service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. From now until March 26th, the company is asking interested municipalities to provide it with information about their communities through a Request For Information (RFI), which will be used to determine where to build the new network. The new networks are expected to begin service later this year.

Netflix Headed to Nintendo’s Wii Console This Spring.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Nintendo of America Inc. and Netflix, Inc. have announced an agreement that will allow Netflix members who are also owners of Nintendo’s Wii home console to instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix directly to their televisions. The partnership between the two companies will extend the reach of content streamed from Netflix farther than ever before, thanks to the mainstream popularity of the Wii console. Wii remains the fastest-selling home console in history, and according to Netflix, reaches more consumers than any other device that currently supports streaming movies from the company. In December 2009, Nintendo sold well in excess of 3 million Wii consoles in the United States. "Our research shows that 86 percent of all U.S. Wii consoles are located in the living room," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "The Wii console is the social hub around which friends and family members gather to play games and have fun. Soon both new and longtime Wii owners will enjoy the benefits of Netflix – and a variety of informational and entertainment options – by being Netflix members and connecting their consoles to the Internet." To enable their systems to stream content from Netflix, Wii owners will need a Netflix instant-streaming disc for the Wii console, which will be available at no additional cost to Netflix subscribers. The free disc looks and operates the same as a disc-based Wii game, and the entire user experience and is intended to feel natural and intuitive to Wii console owners. Using the Wii Remote controller, members will be able to choose a movie or TV episode to watch from their instant Queues or pick one directly from any of the lists. They will also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies, and will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding their selection. While no exact date was mentioned, Netflix said it is scheduled to go live on the Wii console this spring in the United States at no additional cost to Netflix members who have a plan starting at $8.99 a month, a Wii console and a broadband Internet connection.

Sharp and Samsung Settle LCD Patent Disputes.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010

This week, Sharp Corporation and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. signed a settlement agreement to end ongoing patent infringement disputes over LCD panels and modules. Since 2007, each company had brought lawsuits against the other in the U.S., Japan, Korea, and Europe, alleging that each company infringes on the other's patents for LCD panels and modules. In March 2008, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) instituted an investigation based on a complaint filed by Sharp. Sharp's complaint alleged violations of its LCD patents and was seeking to ban the imports of certain liquid crystal display devices and products produced by Samsung into the United States. The Commission later announced in favor of Sharp. As a result, the Commission banned the unlicensed entry of Samsung's LCD devices, including specific display panels and modules and products to the U.S.. Samsung was also not allowed to advertise and distribute products that infringe Sharp's patents. The latest lawsuits were filed against Sharp for "infringing 3 patents related to liquid crystal technology," with Samsung not willing to disclose more details. However, based on this settlement, all lawsuits will be promptly withdrawn, bringing an end to all patent infringement litigation between the two companies. According to Sharp, this settlement will allow the two companies to mutually utilize the disputed patents relating to LCD panels and modules, owned worldwide by each company. The company said it will continue to further strive for innovation in the field of advanced LCD displays to meet market demand.

Sony Develops Wireless Intra-Connection Technology.
Monday, February 08, 2010

Tokyo based Sony Corporation today announced the development of millimeter-wave wireless intra-connection technology that realizes high speed wireless data transfer inside electronic products such as television sets. By replacing complicated wires and internal circuitry with wireless connections, this technology enables a reduction in the size and cost of the IC and other components used in electronics products, delivering advantages such as size and cost-reduction and enhanced reliability of the final product. The advancing functionality of today's electronics products requires ever increasing quantities of internal data transfer. Once wired connections approach the limit of their data capacity, additional circuitry is required to facilitate larger data transfers, however this leads to the issue of increasingly complicated IC packages, intricately printed circuit boards, and larger IC sizes. According to Sony, this new wireless intra-connection system is based on millimeter-wave wireless data transfer technology. Millimeter-wave refers to electromagnetic waves with a frequency of 30GHz to 300GHz, and wavelength between 1mm to 10mm. With their high frequency, millimeter-waves are suited to ultra high speed data transfer, while a further advantage is their ability to transfer data using only very small antennas. The high frequency technologies used in this system also draw on the company's years of experience in the field of wireless communications and broadcast products. Specifically, Sony has integrated highly energy efficient millimeter-wave circuits on 40nm-CMOS-LSIs (with an active footprint of just 0.13mm2 including both the transmitter and receiver), to realize high speed, 11Gbps data transfer over a distance of 14mm using antennas approximately 1mm in size. By replacing physical circuitry in electronics products with high speed wireless connections, this new data transfer technology reduces the number of wired connections and minimizes IC use, to simplify the IC package and printed circuit board. Furthermore, because the data transfer occurs without contact, this enhances the reliability of movable and detachable parts within the product. Sony said it will proceed with efforts to adopt this technology in a range of electronics products, while continuing its development to meet ever-increasing data-rate requirements. The new technology will be presented at ISSCC 2010, to be held in San Francisco, California from February 7th - 11th 2010.

IBM Scientists Demonstrate World's Fastest Graphene Transistor.
Friday, February 05, 2010

In a just-published paper in the magazine Science, IBM researchers demonstrated a radio-frequency graphene transistor with the highest cut-off frequency achieved so far for any graphene device - 100 billion cycles/second (100 GigaHertz). This accomplishment is a key milestone for the Carbon Electronics for RF Applications (CERA) program funded by DARPA, in an effort to develop next-generation communication devices. The high frequency record was achieved using wafer-scale, epitaxially grown graphene using processing technology compatible to that used in advanced silicon device fabrication. "A key advantage of graphene lies in the very high speeds in which electrons propagate, which is essential for achieving high-speed, high-performance next generation transistors," said Dr. T.C. Chen, vice president, Science and Technology, IBM Research. "The breakthrough we are announcing demonstrates clearly that graphene can be utilized to produce high performance devices and integrated circuits." Graphene is a single atom-thick layer of carbon atoms bonded in a hexagonal honeycomb-like arrangement. This two-dimensional form of carbon has unique electrical, optical, mechanical and thermal properties and its technological applications are being explored intensely. Uniform and high-quality graphene wafers were synthesized by thermal decomposition of a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate. The graphene transistor itself utilized a metal top-gate architecture and a novel gate insulator stack involving a polymer and a high dielectric constant oxide. The gate length was modest, 240 nanometers, leaving plenty of space for further optimization of its performance by scaling down the gate length. It is noteworthy that the frequency performance of the graphene device already exceeds the cut-off frequency of state-of-the-art silicon transistors of the same gate length (~ 40 GigaHertz). Similar performance was obtained from devices based on graphene obtained from natural graphite, proving that high performance can be obtained from graphene of different origins. Previously, the team had demonstrated graphene transistors with a cut-off frequency of 26 GigaHertz using graphene flakes extracted from natural graphite.

3D Outdoor Advertising Arrives at New York's Grand Central Station.
Thursday, February 04, 2010

Outdoor advertising firm, CBS Outdoor and 3D display and visualization product maker N4D have teamed up to launch Grand Central Station's first 3D digital signage campaign. A first in digital outdoor advertising, the centerpiece of the campaign is a 14 foot screen displaying commercials in physiologically correct 3D. According to CBS Outdoor, brand ambassadors will be distributing special 3D glasses to the approximately 70,000 commuters that pass by the display every day. N4D estimates that over 1,000,000 viewers will see the 3D spots, which feature a voice-over performance by Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. To develop the famous Manhattan terminal's 3D display, N4D partnered with digital projection experts Christie and Lightspeed Design Inc's DepthQ. Christie is providing a true high definition 3D active stereo projector, the Christie Mirage HD6. CEO of N4D, Clif Parker explained "N4D's goal is to change the way the world views information. N4D's 20 years of research offer a new paradigm - 3D for extended daily use. This 3D technology provides CBS Outdoor with a definite edge in the signage industry. It also ensures that their customers and viewers of the 3D advertisements will enjoy the world's most comfortable 3D experience." There will also be 3D dioramas scattered throughout the station that will be running throughout the day and appear dimensional to the naked eye, giving the impression you can see around certain elements of the creative. The campaign, which will span the entire month of February, includes more than 100 pieces of client media elements throughout the station. The 3D commercials will be shown daily from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM while other broadcast commercials will be shown at all other times.

Panasonic Establishes First Blu-ray 3D Authoring Facility.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Following on the announcement of a broad range of Full HD 3D TV products, from VIERA consumer 3D TVs to a Prosumer Full HD 3D camcorder, at the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Panasonic this week announced the opening of its fully operational Blu-ray 3D Advanced Authoring Center located at Panasonic’s R&D facility, Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory. The Advanced Authoring Center was recently upgraded and equipped with the latest 3D technological innovations, based on standards developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association. The Center now offers studios and filmmakers Blu-ray 3D image processing, interactive programming, as well as authoring and disc certification services, which are capable of making Blu-ray 3D Discs. According to the company, before the Blu-ray 3D specifications were finalized within the Blu-ray Disc Association, Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory collaborated with studios and the creative community in Hollywood to conduct Blu-ray 3D encoding as well as menu and subtitle authoring trials. This type of early collaboration and research, Panasonic says, has given the Advanced Authoring Center expertise in guiding and advising companies during the key early planning stages of a Blu-ray 3D title. "Given Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory’s vast experience with HD image processing, we are confident that we lead the industry with MPEG-4 MVC (Multiview Video Coding) 3D image compression technology," said Jeannine Patton, Vice President & General Manager of the Advanced Authoring Center. "This laboratory, located as we are in the world’s entertainment capital, is proud to offer the filmmaking community the industry’s first complete, end-to-end Blu-ray 3D encoding and authoring facility. Blu-ray 3D is an exciting new space for the home entertainment industry and our early research and collaboration was extremely helpful in determining what will provide the most compelling experience and optimum performance when designing for Blu-ray 3D." Panasonic said the facility will have Blu-ray 3D Discs commercially available as early as Spring 2010.

FCC Budget Proposed for Fiscal Year 2011.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission has announced the President has submitted a budget to Congress that proposes fiscal year 2011 funding for the FCC of $352.5 million. According to the buget, the requested FY 2011 funding level would include monies to implement the National Broadband Plan; continue to manage the nation’s spectrum use; overhaul the Commission’s data systems and processes; continue to improve the FCC’s operations using improved technology; support the Commission’s public safety and cyber-security role; strengthen the Commission’s consumer information programs; and enhance the FCC’s role as a strong advocate for U.S. interests internationally. "With the President’s proposed budget, the FCC can continue its important work of supporting and enhancing the nation’s economic growth by promoting innovation and investment throughout the telecommunications and information technology industries," said Steven VanRoekel, Managing Director of the FCC.
The FY 2011 budget proposal includes these initiatives:

- Continuing the work of the National Broadband Plan and broadband map;
- Implementation of a spectrum inventory initiative and emergency response interoperability
center;
- State-of-the-art consumer information programs, seizing the opportunities provided by new
media and advanced information technology;
- New investment in the people and technology necessary to overhaul the agency’s antiquated
systems for data collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination;
- New expertise and new tools required to ensure that the FCC is able to be a model of excellence, openness, and transparency domestically and internationally.

The request would also provide funds to cover mandatory increases in salaries and benefits and inflationary increases for contractual services. The complete copy of the Commission’s FY 2011 budget submission is available on the FCC’s Web site at: www.fcc.gov.

NAB Unveils Redesigned NAB.org.
Monday, February 01, 2010

The National Association of Broadcasters today unveiled a redesigned Web site featuring improved navigation, integrated issue pages, and increased multimedia resources. The online overhaul encompasses both NAB.org and NABEF.org, the Web site for the NAB Education Foundation. Key features for the new Web sites include:

Improved navigation - The NAB.org redesign boasts improved navigation that helps users find content faster, including new Radio and Television pages accessible from the main navigation bar.
Legislative and regulatory issues pages - An online Advocacy section, featuring an overview of key regulatory and legislative issues, is now accessible from the main navigation bar. Updated content from the NAB.org Newsroom, including news releases and position statements, is seamlessly integrated into each issue page.
Newsroom upgrade - News releases, position statements and multimedia resources, including high-resolution photographs, are accessible in the NAB.org newsroom. New to the online newsroom is a filter function that allows visitors to view news releases related to a specific topic or issue. Visitors can also subscribe to a RSS feed for updated NAB news releases and legal filings.
NAB member offerings - NAB members will be given password-protected access to exclusive member-only content, including newsletters and counsel memos.

According to the association, these latest changes are just a few of the significant enhancements it has planned for the site, and there are plenty more coming in the next few weeks. In the meantime, the NAB asks that you please feel free to share your comments, suggestions and questions by emailing them at nab@nab.org.

U.S. Team Assesses Haiti's Communications Needs.
Friday, January 29, 2010

A U.S. team is on-the-ground in Haiti evaluating the status of the country’s communications infrastructure and services following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th. The team was deployed in response to a request from Director General Montàigne Marcelin of Conseil National des Télécommunications (Conatel), the communications agency in Haiti, in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). "The resilience of the Haitian people through this devastating disaster has been remarkable," said USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, M.D. "The ability for the government, small businesses, medical providers, relief workers and families to communicate easily is essential going forward. We appreciate the generosity of the FCC to immediately lend its expertise in assessing the damage and working alongside the Haitians to accelerate the rebuilding." FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, "I am grateful that the FCC can lend a helping hand in the Haitian relief effort by providing on-the-ground support and expertise. The FCC team, led by International Bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre, will continue to work with Conatel and local Haitian telecommunications providers to come up with practical and sound options for restoring communications services to the people of Haiti." Speaking from Port-au-Prince, Ms. De La Torre said, "After seeing the destruction of the country, and particularly the telecommunications infrastructure, I have a much better understanding of the monumental task to keep communications up and running in such a difficult environment. What is clear is that the communications sector is making a huge difference on a day-to-day basis for Haitians struggling with tremendous personal and property losses. We are honored to be working hand-in-hand with Conatel on the critical task of restoring communications services to our neighbors in Haiti and to all sectors of the country’s economy." International Bureau Chief De La Torre, along with Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) Chief Engineer, William Lane, Ph.D., is working closely with Conatel to identify the communications needs and priorities of the Haitian government, to assess damage to key communications facilities and services, and to evaluate options for restoration of services. In addition to the IB Chief and PSHSB Chief Engineer, the FCC team includes three staff who initially deployed to Haiti days after the earthquake to support a FEMA Mobile Emergency Response Team, two additional FCC engineers, and two industry experts. Combined, the communications sector assessment team brings decades of technical, regulatory and disaster- recovery experience across the communications sector to the people of Haiti. The FCC will provide periodic updates on the team’s activities on the "Helping Haiti" blog at www.fcc.gov/blog.

Tuning-In for the Big Commercials.
Thursday, January 28, 2010

The majority of Super Bowl viewers enjoy the game’s ads more than the action on the field, according to results of a survey released by the Nielsen Company. Fifty-one percent of those questioned said they most enjoy the commercials that air throughout the game when compared to the Super Bowl game itself. Forty-nine percent said that they enjoy the game more than the ads. The poll was one of many new findings Nielsen released in a comprehensive study of the trends and effectiveness of paid Super Bowl advertising. Other Super Bowl insights uncovered by Nielsen include:

• Ads that run early in the game are better remembered and better liked than those airing later in the game.
• A "winning" spot can vary depending on an advertiser’s goals and target demographics.
• Traffic to advertiser Web sites spiked on the day after last year’s Super Bowl.
• In the last five years, the biggest Super Bowl advertiser is Anheuser-Busch, which spent over $100 million on its Bud and Bud Light brands alone.

"This survey reinforces the value of the Super Bowl as a marketing bonanza, featuring one of the most receptive TV audiences in the world," said Randall Beard, executive vice president of Nielsen IAG. "With so many viewers waiting for the pitch, the pressure is on advertisers to create and place ads that will have a lasting impact." According to Nielsen, results were based on a sample of over 25,000 households in Nielsen’s Homescan panel. This year's big game (and commercials) airs Sunday, February 7, 2010.

Samsung Electronics to Begin Mass Producing 3D TV Panels.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Korean electronics and appliance maker Samsung has announced it has become the first company to commence mass production of panels for 3D LED TVs and 3D LCD TVs. The company began producing LED and LCD compatible panels for 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch full-HD 3D TVs using ‘3D Active Glasses’ this month, employing Samsung’s exclusive true 240Hz technology. According to the Samsung, by incorporating true 240Hz technology, operating at 240 frames per second, Samsung’s panels deliver a more lifelike picture with alternating left and right eye images through the use of 3D Active Glasses technology. Samsung has reduced the response time of its LCD and LED panels by 20 percent to less than four milliseconds, eliminating any interference between left and right eye images. With this improved response time, Samsung is able to achieve natural 3D images and also deliver 2D pictures capturing rapid movement with exceptional clarity. Samsung’s new 3D Active Glasses technology first blocks the left and then right lens, causing a momentary lag when images are shown to each eye to achieve more lifelike 3D images. The term, ‘3D Active Glasses,’ was selected as an official term by the Glasses Standardization Working Group of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) earlier this year. The polarized glass method previously used in 3D glasses produced separate images for the left and right eyes, resulting in half the resolution of two-dimensional pictures as only half of the screen can be viewed through each polarized filter. Brightness was also lowered because of the polarized filter. "Recently, 3D displays have captured the industry spotlight," said Wonkie Chang, president of the LCD Business at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung Electronics aims to lead the global 3D TV panel market in pioneering panel mass production for 3D LED and LCD TVs." According to a market research firm, DisplaySearch, the 3D display market is expected to grow from $902 million in 2008 to $22 billion in 2018. The 3D TV market is expected to expand to a $17-billion market, with sales increasing from 200,000 units in 2009 to 64 million units in 2018.

Fujifilm and IBM Set New Record in Magnetic Tape Data Density.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010

FUJIFILM Canada, Inc. this week announced that in cooperation with IBM, they have demonstrated a world record in data density on linear magnetic tape - a density of 29.5 billion bits per square inch with magnetic tape media developed using the BaFe particle. The demonstration points to the possibility of developing a single tape cartridge capable of holding 35 terabytes of uncompressed data - at least 44 times the amount of data that the current Generation 4 LTO Ultrium data cartridge holds. According to the company, dramatic increases in the volume of data that enterprises generate, transfer and store today has driven the need for increased, reliable storage media. In order to further expand the storage capacity of tape media, it has become necessary to increase recording density by using smaller and smaller metal particles. “This process of metal particle micrification becomes challenging because of the risks of losing the high coercivity that is essential for high recording density,” said Norio Shibata, President & CEO, Fujifilm Recording Media USA, Inc. “Fujifilm is the first media manufacturer to overcome this challenge of maintaining high coercivity with the development of its micrified BaFe particle, which delivers superior storage with lower noise and higher frequency characteristics than other metal particles.” Fujifilm first demonstrated the technology’s superiority with IBM in its 2006 demonstration achieving a world record in data density on linear magnetic tape. Employing its advanced NANOCUBIC technology, Fujifilm succeeded in micro-particulation of the BaFe particle to 1600nm³, the equivalent of one-third of the current metal particle volume, uniformly dispersed and coated on a super smooth thin magnetic layer. This next generation version of Nanocubic technology uses a new ultra-fine, perpendicularly-oriented barium-ferrite magnetic medium that enables high-density data recording without using expensive metal sputtering or evaporation coating methods. Because Fujifilm’s new technology orients the particles in a perpendicular fashion and controls disposition at nanometer levels, it has also improved the tape’s running stability. Together with IBM’s new servo format pattern, new signal processing technology, and low-friction head technology, Fujifim’s technology improved areal density dramatically, and achieved a density of 29.5 billion bits per square inch. "This exciting achievement shows that tape storage is alive and strong and will continue to provide users reliable data protection, while maintaining a cost advantage over other storage technologies, including hard disk drives and flash,” said Cindy Grossman, Vice President, IBM Tape and Archive Storage Systems. According to Grossman, on a per gigabyte basis, tape-based storage systems can cost a fraction of what comparable hard disk storage systems cost and unlike disks which typically spin continuously, tape cartridges in a library slot or on a shelf do not consume energy, which can make tape systems a highly energy efficient solution.

AOL Acquires StudioNow Online Video Platform.
Monday, January 25, 2010

AOL Inc. today announced that it has acquired video creation and distribution company StudioNow Inc. According to the company, the acquisition will allow AOL to integrate a fully functional video creation platform into its newly-launched content management system, Seed.com. StudioNow will also continue to develop its existing business as a provider of online video creation, management, storage and syndication services to commercial companies. Founded in January 2007 with headquarters in Nashville, TN, StudioNow partners with blue chip, mid-sized and local companies to create, store, and manage content and syndicate it to online video channels and portals. The company connects clients with its more than 3,000 freelance filmmakers, editors, animators, voice talent and writers/producers to create quality, professional video at an affordable price. In 2009, StudioNow was selected for inclusion on the AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Companies List, which honors private, emerging technology companies that create new business opportunities in high-growth markets. AOL also expects to leverage StudioNow's technology and resources to complement the ongoing work of its in-house studios, both for AOL productions, which creates original video programming such as AOL Sessions, Unscripted, Moviefone Minute and the Engadget Show, and for its branded advertising and content partners. “The distributed production capabilities offered by StudioNow, combined with our in-house production studio and video resources, help position AOL to capitalize even more fully on the projected growth of video as it establishes itself as a key form of brand advertising in the digital space,” said Tim Armstrong, AOL CEO and Chairman. The acquisition of StudioNow closed on January 22 and was valued at $36.5 million in cash and stock with a portion of the cash paid out over multiple years.

YouTube Announces HTML5 Supported Videos.
Friday, January 22, 2010

Video sharing giant YouTube has announced the release of an experimental version of an HTML5-supported player. According to the company's official blog, HTML5 is a new web standard that is gaining popularity rapidly and adds many new features to the web experience. Most notably for YouTube users, HTML5 includes support for video and audio playback. This means that users with an HTML5 compatible browser, and support for the proper audio and video codecs can watch a video without needing to download a browser plugin. YouTube says support for HTML5 is an early experiment, and there are some limitations. HTML5 on YouTube doesn't support videos with ads, captions, or annotations and it requires a browser that supports both the video tag and h.264 encoded video (currently that means Chrome, Safari, and ChromeFrame on Internet Explorer). To try it out, go to the HTML5 page via TestTube or visit this page and join the experiment. This will enable HTML5 video for your browser, provided that it's one of the browsers mentioned above and fits in with the parameters referenced. (If you've opted in to other experiments, you may not get the HTML5 player.) You can also enable Feather watch along with HTML5 video for an even faster YouTube experience. The company also said that it will be expanding the capabilities of the player in the future, and improved versions are expected in the months to come.

3D-Capable TVs to Achieve More Than 1.2M Shipments in 2010.
Thursday, January 21, 2010

Closing out on a year in which average selling prices for TVs are expected to fall for the first time since the flat panel TV transition began, TV manufacturers are building new combinations to re-value their products and retain consumer interest. In the newly launched Quarterly TV Design and Features Report, DisplaySearch research indicates that LED backlighting and 240 Hz LCDs will serve as enabling technologies for new feature developments in TVs in 2010, specifically for 3D TVs, an area of intense interest to TV manufacturers. DisplaySearch forecasts 3D-ready TVs will grow from 0.2 million units in 2009 to 64 million units in 2018. “We have passed the first hurdle,” said Paul Gray, DisplaySearch Director of TV Electronics Research. “The critical Blu-ray 3D specification is written, but now comes the hard work of securing interoperability. Consumers will want reassurance that such things as 3D glasses will interoperate between brands. Retailers will also have the same demand to allow a thriving accessory market to develop. The next stage is less glamorous but vital to secure 3D’s long-term value. We have seen 3D crazes before, and sustained attention to detail is important to prevent disillusionment from starting. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) demonstrated that Internet-connected TVs have finally come of age,” Gray added. “While in the past connected TV sets have seemed to be a solution in search of a problem, compelling new capabilities such as family video calling not only reinforce the TV’s central position in the home, but also represent a bold move to reclaim some of the tasks swallowed by the PC.” DisplaySearch forecasts that over 70 million connected TVs will be shipped in 2012—up from around 15 million in 2009.

Less than 10% of IPv4 Addresses Remain.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Amsterdam based, Number Resource Organization (NRO), the official representative of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) that oversee the allocation of all Internet number resources, announced this week that less than 10 percent of available IPv4 addresses remain unallocated. This small pool of existing IP addresses marks a critical moment in IPv4 address exhaustion, ultimately impacting the future network operations of all businesses and organizations around the globe. Internet Protocol is a set of technical rules that defines how devices communicate over a network. There are currently two versions of IP, IPv4 and IPv6. IPv6 includes a modern numbering system that provides a much larger address pool than IPv4. With so few IPv4 addresses remaining, the NRO is urging all Internet stakeholders to take immediate action by planning for the necessary investments required to deploy IPv6. "Many decision makers don’t realize how many devices require IP addresses - mobile phones, laptops, servers, routers, the list goes on,” said Raul Echeberria, Secretary of the NRO. "The number of available IPv4 addresses is shrinking rapidly, and if the global Internet community fails to recognize this, it will face grave consequences in the very near future. As such, the NRO is working to educate everyone, from network operators to top executives and government representatives, about the importance of IPv6 adoption,” added Echeberria. The NRO’s current campaign to promote the next generation of Internet Protocol continues to positively impact the Internet community. IPv6 allocations increased by nearly 30% in 2009, as community members continued to recognize the benefits of IPv6. IP addresses are allocated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), a contract operated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). IANA distributes IP addresses to RIRs, who in turn issue them to users in their respective regions. "This is the time for the Internet community to act,” said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "For the global Internet to grow and prosper without limitation, we need to encourage the rapid widespread adoption of the IPv6 protocol.”

FCC Clears 700 MHz Frequency.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted an Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking prohibiting the further distribution and sale of devices that operate in the 700 MHz frequency. According to the FCC, this action helps complete an important component of the DTV Transition by clearing the 700 MHz band to enable the rollout of communications services for public safety and the deployment of next generation 4G wireless devices for consumers. The order will primarily impact the use of wireless microphone systems that currently operate in the 700 MHz band. These unlicensed devices cannot continue to operate in this band because they may cause harmful interference to public safety entities and next generation consumers devices that will be utilizing the 700 MHz frequency. Thus, the Commission is making clear that no devices utilizing this frequency may be sold or distributed. In order to ensure that individuals and groups currently using unauthorized devices in this band have ample time to transition to appropriate frequencies, the FCC is providing a sunset period until June 12, 2010, one year from the DTV Transition. The Commission is also unveiling an aggressive consumer outreach plan in order to assist consumers who have previously purchased wireless microphone systems and other related devices that utilized the 700 MHz band. Through the Commission’s website, www.fcc.gov/cgb/wirelessmicrophones, consumers can learn whether their wireless device is currently operating in the prohibited band and whether their devices may be returned to operate on another band. Consumers may also call 1-800-CALL-FCC to ask questions regarding this transition.

comScore Releases December 2009 U.S. Search Engine Rankings.
Monday, January 18, 2010

According to the monthly qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace from digital measurements company comScore, in December 2009 Americans conducted 14.7 billion searches - up 2 percent from November. Google Sites led the U.S. core search market in December with 65.7 percent (nearly 9.7 billion searches) of the searches conducted, followed by Yahoo! Sites - 17.3 percent (2.5 billion), and Microsoft Sites - 10.7 percent (1.6 billion). Ask Network captured 3.7 (5645 million) percent of the search market, followed by AOL LLC with 2.6 percent (383 million). While Google remained virtually unchanged from its 65.6 percent in November, Microsoft Sites however were up 0.4 percentage points versus the previous month. In the December analysis of the top properties where search activity is observed, Google Sites led the search market with more than 14.0 billion search queries, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.6 billion queries and Microsoft Sites with 1.6 billion searches. Bing experienced large growth during the month with a 6-percent increase in query volume to nearly 1.4 billion searches. eBay and Amazon Sites experienced gains in December as retail search activity picked up during the holiday season.

comScore's qSearch analysis is based on the five major search engines including partner searches and cross-channel searches. Searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.

Kodak Alleges Patent Infringement by Apple and RIM.
Friday, January 15, 2010

The Eastman Kodak Company announced today that it has filed lawsuits against Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Limited (RIM) alleging the infringement of Kodak digital imaging technology. The Kodak complaint, filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), specifically claims that Apple’s iPhones and RIM’s camera-enabled BlackBerry devices infringe a Kodak patent that covers technology related to a method for previewing images. Separately, Kodak filed two suits today against Apple in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York that claim the infringement of patents related to digital cameras and certain computer processes. "Kodak has a long history of digital imaging innovation and we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars creating our industry-leading patent portfolio,” said Laura G. Quatela, Chief Intellectual Property Officer, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. "In the case of Apple and RIM, we’ve had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement. In light of that, we are taking this action to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and the existing licensees of our technology. On Dec. 17, in an action involving Samsung and Kodak, an ITC Administrative Law Judge issued a ruling declaring that the Kodak patent covering color image preview (No. 6,292,218) was valid and enforceable, and that Samsung’s camera-enabled mobile devices infringed upon that Kodak patent. In the complaint against Apple and RIM, Kodak is seeking from the ITC a limited exclusion order preventing the importation of infringing devices, including certain mobile telephones and wireless communication devices featuring digital cameras. "Our primary interest is not to disrupt the availability of any product but to obtain fair compensation for the use of our technology,” Quatela said. "There’s a basic issue of fairness that needs to be addressed. Those devices use Kodak technology, and we are merely seeking compensation for the use of our technology in their products.” Kodak has licensed digital imaging technology to approximately 30 companies, including such leading mobile-device companies as LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson, all of which are royalty bearing to Kodak.

2010 'Guide to Greener Electronics'.
Thursday, January 14, 2010

Environmental lobby organization Greenpeace International has released its 14th edition of the group's 'Guide to Greener Electronics'. First published in August 2006, the guide ranks the 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TVs and games consoles according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change. The ranking criteria reflect the demands of the Toxic Tech campaign to the electronics companies. Greenpeace's three demands are that companies should:

• Clean up their products by eliminating hazardous substances.
• Take back and recycle their products responsibly once they become obsolete.
• Reduce the climate impacts of their operations and products.

A perfect score is 10.0 -The latest rankings are as follows:

Nokia (7.3)
Sony Ericsson (6.9)
Toshiba (5.3)
Philips (5.3)
Apple (5.1)
LG Electronics (5.1)
Sony (5.1)
Motorola (5.1)
Samsung (5.1)
Panasonic (4.9)
HP (4.7)
Acer (4.5)
Sharp (4.5)
Dell (3.9)
Fujitsu (3.5)
Lenovo (2.5)
Microsoft (2.4)
Nintendo (1.4)

According to Greenpeace, each score is based solely on public information on the companies website. Companies found not to be following their published policies will be deducted penalty point in future versions of the guide. The guide is updated every few months. The current edition was published on January 7, 2010. See the full report.

Prysm Announces Laser Phosphor Displays.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010

San Jose, California based Prysm Inc., today announced the public launch of its groundbreaking technology, Laser Phosphor Display (LPD). According to Prysm, LPD is a new category of large format displays, with the lowest power consumption and environmental impact along with freeform flexibility, long-lasting performance and brilliant picture quality. Images are created by using a laser engine to excite a phosphor screen while delivering up to 75 percent less power consumption than other display technologies such as plasma, LCD and OLED. The system replaces a CRT's electron beam with a directed laser beam. The phosphor-coated screen is excited by the beam to emit visible light at HD resolutions. As with CRTs, the image produced by LPDs is bright, with a high degree of contrast and none of the motion inherent to LCD displays. The company also said the lifecycle carbon footprint for LPD displays is 80 per cent lower than other display technologies. "Prysm's LPDs are made with low-impact manufacturing processes and non-toxic materials. This translates into the lowest cost of ownership and carbon footprint of any large format display. Prysm's technology addresses the key segment of large-area displays with the promise of low power operation and scalability," said Paul Semenza, Senior Vice-President at DisplaySearch, display market research firm. "This type of technology could open up new markets in consumer and professional applications." No information about availability of the new LPD displays were mentioned. Founded in 2005, Prysm, Inc. is a privately held company based in San Jose, California with operations worldwide.

Hot off the Press - Lithium Ion Batteries.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A Japan-based foundation, the Advanced Materials Innovation Center (AMIC) of MIE Industry and Enterprise Support Center has developed a lithium polymer battery that can be manufactured entirely through printing technology. According to AMIC, the design and production of using printing technology offers reduced thickness, increased surface areas and laminated construction. Using a roll-to-roll production, the sheet-shaped battery is being researched to be used with a flexible solar cell to be attached to a curved surface. If the battery is integrated with a solar cell formed on a flexible substrate, it is possible to build a sheet that can be