Home Networking - A Killer Connection?

iSuppli has just released a Q1 2007 consumer demand report titled “Home Networking: In Search of a Killer Connection" with some very interesting survey results. The report says Home Networking will grow at a projected rate of 33% per year through 2011 as illustrated in the graph below (report source abstract linked here ).

Here's more from the report:

- The current global penetration rate of Home Networking is 3%

- WiFi will be the most common technology for home networking.

- Home networking is rapidly moving beyond just computer and printer connectivity. The big move over the next few years will be in entertainment devices like DVD recorders, set-top boxes, digital televisions, Digital Video Recorders, and video game consoles.

- 61% of the people surveyed want to connect their TV's to the Internet.

And here's a quote from the report:

The migration toward a ubiquitous consumer-friendly home network is still in its infancy. Today, home networking is essentially limited to the sharing of multiple PCs with the home broadband gateway. iSuppli believes this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many consumer appliances are now being designed with interconnectivity foremost in mind, andmore are expected over the next couple of years.

We've all been predicting this and anxiously waiting - it's happening - are you, your academic programs and your students ready?

Who's Watching Online Video?

On July 25, 2007 Pew/Internet released a new Technology and Media Use report with some fascinating information. Here's highlights quoted from the report:

- 57% of online adults have used the Internet to watch or download video, and 19% do so on a typical day.
- Three-quarters of broadband users (74%) who have high-speed connections at both home and work watch or download video online.
- More than half of online video viewers (57%) share links to the video they find with others, and three in four (75%) say they receive links to watch video that others have sent to them.
- Video viewers who actively exploit the participatory features of online video, such as rating content, posting feedback or uploading video, make up the motivated minority of the online video audience.
- Three in four young adult Internet users (18-29) watch or download video online. - News video is the most popular category for everyone except young adults.
- Professional videos are preferred to amateur productions online, but amateur content appeals to coveted segments of the young male audience.
- 8% of Internet users say they have uploaded a video file online for others to watch. - Most video viewers watch at home, but one in four report at-work viewing.
- Half of young adult video viewers say they watch video on YouTube.

How they watch:

- Most have watched online video with other people.

- More than half share links to the video they find with others.
- Three in four video viewers receive links to online video.
- One in ten have posted video links to websites or blogs.
- One in five have rated video or posted comments after watching online.

What users prefer:

- Young men are among those least likely to express a preference for professionally-produced video.
- 37% of adult Internet users report online news video viewing and 10% say they watch news video on a typical day.
- News video is the most popular category for everyone except young adults.
- Comedy and humorous videos attract the largest number of young adult viewers - 56% of young adults prefer these.
- With bite-sized clips, music videos also draw young audiences online.
- Animation and cartoons garner the young male audience.
- Full-length movies and TV shows are still making their way online.
- Political content resonates most with active viewers who rate or comment on video.
- One in eight Internet users watch or download commercials online.
- Young male users are the most likely to say they have watched or downloaded adult video online.
- Few pay to access online video.

I wonder how many faculty are using on-line video in their courses. I also wonder how many employers are using on-line video to enhance and grow their business.

We hear a lot of discussion in the academic community about blocking online video sites like YouTube - some IT Directors say it sucks up too much campus bandwidth. As we reach out to young adults, especially in the academic community, blocking sites like YouTube does not appear to be a very good idea.

You can download and read the excellent 28 page Pew/Internet report linked here.

And.......... it's not just the "young adults" watching this stuff - as a former VW owner here's one of my YouTube favorites!


Enjoy:)

*****
Listen to Mike Q and my latest podcast "Skype, More Skype, Goodbye Copper and Casual Gaming" linked here.

Google Joins Sprint and Clearwire in WiMAX Initiative

Today Google and Sprint have announced a partnership - Sprint has agreed to provide Open Standard Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to Google, allowing Google to develop applications on Sprint web-enabled devices. Services developed for the WiMAX network will include search, e-mail, calendaring, and social networking. The Sprint/Clearwire WiMAX network is scheduled to launch early 2008. Here's a quote from Yahoo Technology News:

.... analysts were quick to point out that the cooperative agreement doesn't exclude the two companies from competing against each other down the road.

"It's an absolute no-brainer" for Google to increase its presence in the wireless sector by working with as many operators as possible and helping them customize services," said Andy Buss, principle analyst with Canalys.com. "But Google is looking to become an operator in its own right."

"It would be good for Google to control its own platform," he said. "They need to make some risk-sharing investments in the underlying networks to have a say in how they're architectured and developed."

In Europe, Buss didn't rule out the possibility of Google becoming a mobile virtual network operator, piggybacking on existing networks. This approach, he said, would allow the company to establish a "consistent" level of expertise across highly fragmented Europe.

In a separate but related topic Google is also in the market for some spectrum of it's own. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be auctioning off the valuable 700MHz range frequency spectrum next year. There is a lot of political positioning happening now and I'll write about it in a future blog so there is not confusion.

*****
Listen to Mike Q and my latest podcast "Skype, More Skype, Goodbye Copper and Casual Gaming" linked here.

Verizon Text Messaging Record

Verizon Wireless reported this week that, in the month of June 2007, their network sent and received more than 10 billion text messages - a record in the American SMS market. In addition Verizon Wireless customers also sent and received over 200 million photo- and video-based multimedia messages in the same month.

Use of text messaging with inexpensive unlimited plans and text friendly phones - available from every provider - has been close to exponential in growth over the past year. As a comparison, during the fourth quarter of 2006 (this is a three month period), Verizon Wireless customers sent and received 17.7 billion text messages and over 353 million picture and video messages.

*****
Listen to Mike Q and my latest podcast "Skype, More Skype, Goodbye Copper and Casual Gaming" linked here.

Sprint and Clearwire Partner on WiMAX Initiative

A few days ago Sprint and Clearwire announced plans to work together in the buildout of a national WIMAX network.

According to a press release on Sprint's website:

"The WiMAX network is being designed to deliver mobile broadband services in urban, suburban and rural markets, and enable significantly greater depth and breadth of services. The arrangement also is expected to enable each company to increase capital efficiency and reduce overall network development and operating costs".

"Sprint Nextel and Clearwire expect to build their respective portions of the nationwide network, and enable roaming between the respective territories. The companies also will work jointly on product and service evolution, shared infrastructure, branding, marketing and distribution. Additionally, the companies intend to exchange selected 2.5 GHz spectrum in order to optimize build-out, development and operation of the network".

I've blogged about WiMAX and Clearwire last September - that blog is linked here. In that blog I described how Clearwire, under Craig O. McCaw's direction, had quietly purchased enough licensed radio spectrum to build a national WiMAX network. Last September I also discussed how Sprint had commtted to the buildout of a national WiMAX network, at that time in competition to Clearwire.

Here's more from July 2007 the Sprint press release:

"Under the network build-out plan, Sprint Nextel will focus its efforts primarily on geographic areas covering approximately 185 million people, including 75 percent of the people located in the 50 largest markets, while Clearwire will focus on areas covering approximately 115 million people. Initially, the two companies expect to build out network coverage to approximately 100 million people by the end of 2008, with seamless roaming enabled between the deployed areas".

"...Sprint Nextel expects to commence the initial stage of its mobile WiMAX network deployments by year-end 2007 and both companies expect to launch commercial service in the first half of 2008. The companies individually are working with a broad range of manufacturers including Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Nokia and others to create an ecosystem of chips, products and software designed to provide mobile WiMAX access".

I think we'll see more of these kinds of partnerships develop as providers combine forces to offer customers higher bandwidths in wider coverage areas. I wish I has bought some stock last September!

*****
Listen to Mike Q and my latest podcast "Skype, More Skype, Goodbye Copper and Casual Gaming" linked here.

Casual Gaming = Big Business

The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Nickelodeon will make an investment of $100 million in the development of casual games. Casual games are games that are typically played for a few minutes at a time - examples include puzzle and card games. This announcement was made by Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group President Cyma Zarghami at the Casual Connect Gaming Conference yesterday in Seattle. Zarghami is quoted:

"Particularly in the kids' space, with more than 86% of kids 8 to 14 gaming online, we see great momentum for online casual gaming,"

Also, according to The Reporter:

"Included in the Nickelodeon initiative is myNoggin, a preschool educational game in the form of a subscription service; an expansion of the Nicktropolis multiplayer games franchise; Nick Gaming Club, Nickelodeon's first subscription offering featuring multiplayer games with 3-D avatars; the-NGames.com, a casual gaming site geared toward female teens; and the transformation of the site Neopets.com to NeoStudios, a property centering on the creation of new online virtual world experiences".

In addition, the Casual Game Association (CGA) has released some preliminary data from their Casual Games 2007 Report. Here's a few preliminary data highlights from a MCV press release:

The number of games being submitted to major online portals has doubled over the past two years, suggesting an increase in new publishers developing more titles.

In 2006 the most popular casual games were Mystery Case Files, Diner Dash, Cake Mania, Bejeweled and Slingo.

Women still make up the majority (74%) of all paying players online with men now represent about half of the much-larger non-paying player universe.

The number of games being submitted to major online portals has doubled over the past two years, suggesting an increase in new publishers developing more titles.

The rapid growth of the casual games market has prompted companies to create games for more audiences and also for more platforms, including the Internet, PC and Macintosh computers, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, Wii and even mobile phones and PDAs.

The full CGA report will be released in the fall - if you are interested in receiving a copy watch the CGA website at http://www.casualgamesassociation.org or send an email to datastudy@casualgamesassociation.org

Goodbye Copper?

There’s been some recent press about Verizon and their FIOS product installation. FIOS is a fiber optic network service that delivers voice, video and data services. You may also see it referred to as a Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) or Fiber to the Home (FTTH) service that Verizon is selling and installing in select markets in 16 different states.

Most who have the service installed are extremely happy with the bandwidth and cost when compared to lower bandwidth DSL and Cable Modem services. The product has become so popular that it is even being used as a selling point by real estate agents when marketing homes.

A few are complaining though. It appears Verizon, when installing the FIOS service, is cutting out the existing copper lines leaving the customer with only one option – fiber and FIOS. There are a couple of good reasons from a business perspective for Verizon to do this. The first is the existing copper wiring is old and requires a significant amount of maintenance – Verizon spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year just maintaining the existing “copper plant” and it makes sense to remove it when it is replaced. The second reason is the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which requires the telephone companies (like Verizon) share their existing copper lines with competitors. There is no current legal requirement for Verizon to share new fiber optic lines with anyone.

In fairness to Verizon, there is a three step notification process for people who sign up for the FIOS service. According to the International Herald Tribune, customers are told by the Verizon sales person, it is indicated in the sales contract and the customer is told by the technician that the copper will be cut out. Currently, Verizon is publicly stating they will replace removed copper if a FIOS customer wished to revert back to copper service.

Also according to the International Herald Tribune, Verizon has filed more than 100 notices with the Federal Communications Commission to retire portions of copper throughout its network.

I can understand the customer concerns about lack of choice and some technical issues like battery back-up and also Verizon’s concerns about having to maintain two separate networks.