Are Google’s fiber networking efforts a small part of something that is much bigger; something that even Google may not be able to envision? That’s the impression I got from listening to a recent presentation from Google’s Milo Medin. Perhaps the network becomes a central nervous system for the sensors and machines that become part of Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity.
Google Fiber – A Step Function Connectivity Improvement

A step function improvement in capability is how Milo Medin described Google’s Kansas City fiber project at the February 13th IEEE ComSoc meeting in Santa Clara. That huge improvement in customer experience is in contrast to the incremental gains of MSO [Multiple System Operator] and telco broadband networks, which have much lower access speeds. Click here to read more.
Marketing Smart Energy

The rumors that Austin will be Google’s next fiber city makes sense, given Austin’s high-tech culture and workforce. What might not be so obvious is the role their municipal utility could play in facilitating a gigabit network. Austin Energy has been an innovative; being one of the first to deploy smart meters and the associated data network. Marketing and showing the value of smart energy is one of the topics discussed with Debbie Kimberly of Austin Energy. Click here to view.
Multi-Screen Video Content and OTT Partnerships Enabled by New Video Network Architectures – Part 2 of 2 by Alan Weissberger

This is the second of a 2 part article on the 2013 OTTCON. The first article looked at how Pay TV providers could offer OTT content on second screen devices and also how OTT and local providers (Pay TV or ISPs) could partner together to offer OTT content to subscribers. This second article examines how video network infrastructures need to evolve to support both Pay TV and OTT content.
[Note: This article and the associated comments, which features coverage of a joint Alcatel-Lucent/Microsoft presentation, becomes particularly relevant given Ericsson’s announcement of its acquisition of Microsoft’s Mediaroom software.] Click here to read more.
Aereo Ruling – Opportunity for Broadband Providers?

Barbara Esbin of the law firm of Cinnamon Mueller provides an overview of the Aereo court case. Aereo just won a major decision last week in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She suggests that there is a good chance that this case could go to the Supreme Court, given the Second Circuit’s split with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In December, the Ninth Circuit Court granted broadcasters’ motion for a preliminary injunction against a similar service, FilmOn (also known as Aereokiller).
Out of this seeming chaos, Esbin indicates there could be opportunities for operators to fashion various hybrid services that respect copyright laws, while providing broadband providers another way to offer their customers a video solution. Click here to view.
The Message Is Being Heard

Congress is beginning to hear the message of the challenges small operators and their customers face with regards to retransmission consent, sports programming, program access and broadband regulation, according to Ross Lieberman of the ACA. Filmed at the 2013 ACA Summit, Lieberman gives a preview of a panel he was part of at the MTA 2013 Convention. Click here to view.
The Korner – Fashion Mind Reading – Part 2

It may look like a fashion statement, but the Muse brain-sensing headband from Interaxon, allows one to control games with their thoughts; no hands or voice required. As Ariel Garten, Interaxon CEO and founder, says, it allows one to, “See inside your brain in action.”
Gartner describes how this product was built on technology developments that began a decade ago. This will be their first foray into the consumer market and is due out in September packaged with multiple brain fitness apps. A Software Development Kit is available, so as Garten suggests, “You can build whatever you can dream of,” or think of.
Couple the sort of technology produced by Interaxon with Google Glass or the Innovega’s contact lenses and one could receive information through a private screen and control things by merely thinking. This is the man-machine interaction that Kurzweil describes. Click here to view the view interview with Garten of Interaxon.
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