![\"Viodi](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/images\/logo-145px.gif\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n
Viodi View Menu<\/strong><\/p>\n Current Issue<\/a>….And Content Is Still King <\/a><\/p>\n My Switch Back to Comcast <\/a><\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Viodi View Subscribe<\/a> <\/p>\n Viodi Forums<\/strong>Club Viodi<\/a>Local Content<\/a><\/p>\n Multimedia Search <\/a><\/p>\n Viodi Workshops<\/strong>Local Content<\/a>Telco Video 101<\/a>Incremona Training<\/a><\/p>\n Industry<\/strong>Industry Calendar<\/a>Favorite Links<\/a><\/p>\n About Viodi<\/a>Contact<\/a>Biographies<\/a><\/p>\n Interested in Sponsoring the Viodi View? Send an email to: sponsor@viodi.com<\/strong><\/p>\n Please forward<\/strong> this free publication to anyone you know who is involved in some way with independent telephone companies. <\/p>\n Mission of the Viodi View:<\/strong><\/p>\n In this on-line publication, we share our analysis, opinions and direction on the interactive television news and views that we believe will be of interest and use to our friends associated directly or indirectly with independent telephone companies. For more information as to the various ways Viodi works with independent telephone companies, please go to http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/alliance\/<\/a><\/p>\n Disclaimer:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] and its associates used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, the Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.<\/p>\n All displayed trademarks, logos and service marks are the property of their respective owners. \u00a9 2005Viodi, LLC<\/a>. All Rights Reserved. Viodi View Newsletter – July 6th , 2005 <\/strong> <\/p>\n There is nothing like the rain in Spain, except, maybe the sun in Barcelona.\u00a0 I had the good fortune of participating in C-Cor\u2019s<\/strong> 1st Annual, IP Global Summit<\/strong> in Barcelona last week.\u00a0 This could be considered a coming-out party of sorts for this 50 plus-year-old company that has transformed<\/strong> itself in the last few years with purchases of cutting edge technology companies such as Lantern Communications, Alopa Networks and nCube.\u00a0<\/p>\n What was impressive was how little this conference was about C-Cor, but was truly about the issues facing operators<\/strong> as they struggle to gain and retain subscribers.\u00a0 As such, there were an array of sponsors, including Harmonic<\/strong>, Intermec, Kasenna, Lucent Technologies, Sun Microsystems,<\/strong> and Terayon<\/strong> that were represented in the exhibition area.\u00a0 The list of speakers was equally impressive and included Dave Fellows<\/strong>, CTO of Comcast<\/strong>, Tony Werner<\/strong>, CTO of Liberty Media,<\/strong> and Mike Fries<\/strong>, President and CEO of United Globalcom<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n …And Content Is Still King<\/a><\/p>\n I was particularly honored and a bit overwhelmed to be added to a panel, \u2026.and Content Is Still King<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 This panel was moderated by SCTE<\/strong> President & CEO, John Clark<\/strong> and included John Varney<\/strong>, CTO of the BBC<\/strong>, Hassan Miah<\/strong>, Managing Director of Media & Entertainment, Intel Capital,<\/strong> and Mark Cutten<\/strong>, Principal of Accord Media<\/strong>.\u00a0 If there was one theme of the panel, it was that content is, indeed, still king, but technology is content\u2019s queen.\u00a0 Click here<\/a><\/strong> to read the rest of my notes from this hour and a half panel.<\/p>\n Prior to flying to Barcelona, I had been preparing for a panel on the topic of Network Personal Video Recorders. \u00a0Scott Higgins<\/strong> of C-Cor<\/strong> moderated this panel which also included Mark Gray<\/strong> of Kasenna<\/strong>, Nimrod Ben-Natan<\/strong> of Harmonic<\/strong>, Eduardo Belda<\/strong> of Spanish operator, ONO<\/strong>.\u00a0 The key take-away from these speakers is that the \u201ckiller application\u201d<\/strong> of the Network PVR feature is the pause button<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Survey Says \u2013 Independent Telcos Want NPVRs, But Concerns Are Many<\/strong><\/p>\n I have to thank my telco friends for helping me prepare for the Network PVR panel.\u00a0 The insight provided in their responses to the fifteen-plus questions from the survey I had sent in Mid-June proved to be very valuable.\u00a0 I spent quite a bit of time analyzing and summarizing the data and have made it available in the report, Network PVRs from the Perspective of the Independent Telco<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 This report<\/strong> also includes a summary of the insight provided by the panelists on the Network PVR panel.\u00a0 Send an email to npvr@viodi.com<\/strong> if you are interested in purchasing a copy of this report.<\/p>\n Strangely enough, Google<\/strong> could be the organization that makes the Network PVR a reality.\u00a0 They are actively indexing off-air, broadcast programming.\u00a0 They provide still shots and synopses of off-air programming.\u00a0 If they can get the licensing issues worked out, which is no small task, they could create an IPVR \u2013 Internet Personal Video Recorder<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Google Video Works \u2013 Kind of \u2013 Check It Out Here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Clearly, they have some work to do with their video storage service, as they have recently had to remove content that violated copyrights [especially critical given the MGM vs. Grokster ruling last week].\u00a0 Still, they are going in the right direction as evidenced by their new MPEG-4 player.\u00a0 Check it out at by clicking here<\/a><\/strong> and you can see a video<\/a><\/strong> I uploaded to their web site a few months ago (note you may need to download Google’s Video player to view).\u00a0 Goggle recommends that people submitting videos add transcripts<\/strong> (they recommend a transcript service) to make the videos searchable.\u00a0 AOL<\/strong> has done one better by adding technology from OnMedia<\/strong> that automatically<\/strong> creates<\/strong> such a transcript<\/strong> for a video.\u00a0 The big question is whether Google\u2019s approach will scale in such a way that a human intervention won\u2019t be required to scan every piece of user-uploaded content.\u00a0 For instance, I am still waiting for Google to approve a second video that I uploaded over two months ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Akimbo \u2013 The Vonage of Video over IP?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Google effort points to the increasing emphasis on \u201cInternet TV\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0 Akimbo has established itself as the brand most associated with Internet TV and has the opportunity to become the Vonage of Video over IP.\u00a0 I had a chance to visit Akimbo\u2019s San Mateo facility recently and came away impressed.\u00a0 There have been some recent less than stellar reviews of the service, but I think it is too early to discount Akimbo\u2019s approach and their current and future service.\u00a0<\/p>\n Josh Goldman, their CEO, reports that they have over 2,000 hours<\/strong> of content<\/strong> and are adding over 500 hours<\/strong> of content per month<\/strong>.\u00a0 They have developed a service that will be portable to the encoding technology and set-top.\u00a0 Additionally, the service could provide niche content networks with an inexpensive distribution alternative to satellite.\u00a0 Akimbo is adding some interesting Internet-based video channels (otherwise known as videoblogs), such as Rocketboom<\/strong>, a free, daily video news show that lives only on the Internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n My Switch Back to Comcast:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n A little over two years ago, a nice, slightly frail man named Al sold my wife and I on the benefits of moving to Dish from Comcast, as documented here in the Viodi View<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 So, how did a contractor working for Comcast convince me to switch back to the Comcast service this past weekend?\u00a0 Click here<\/strong><\/a> to read what drove me to change service and why my switch could portend tougher competitive times for service providers of all stripes [must be a club viodi member to view].<\/p>\n Some Upcoming Events:<\/strong><\/p>\n The date for the Interactive Television Alliance\u2019s Reinventing Television Summit<\/a><\/strong> has been moved<\/strong> to August 17th to 19th.\u00a0 It will still be held in Long Beach on the historic Queen Mary.\u00a0 Indicate you are a Viodi View reader and receive a registration discount.\u00a0 Tickets are limited, so contact them soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parks and Associates<\/strong> is holding their Experts Analyze the Digital Living Room Landscape<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>Workshop in San Jose in a little over a week.\u00a0 The Parks and Associates events are always good ones for networking and receiving objective data on the state of the market.\u00a0 This workshop will focus on all aspects distributing content around the home, from the role of the service provider to the impact of digital rights management to set-top and storage implications.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Korner \u2013 A Brief Barcelona Travelogue <\/strong><\/p>\n Spain was my first choice<\/strong> of travel destination when I went took my one and only solo vacation.\u00a0 Given the time constraints of a seven-day trip, I instead opted for Costa Rica.\u00a0 Thus, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to visit Barcelona some ten years later.\u00a0 Click here to see a 40-second MPEG-4 video overview of my visit.<\/p>\n With brown hills as a backdrop, the sea at its porch and snow skiing only a few hours away, Barcelona<\/strong> has the feel of California<\/strong>.\u00a0 Of course, California does not have structures from the middle ages, like the nearly 400-year-old Castell de Montju\u00efc.\u00a0 Looking at some of Antoni Gaudi\u2019s<\/strong> architecture\/artwork, however, I was reminded of San Jose\u2019s very own Winchester Mystery house.\u00a0 Still, Barcelona is a modern city as evidenced by its very efficient metro system and modern infrastructure symbolized by the structures created for the 1992 Olympics.<\/p>\n Of course the nightlife of Barcelona is world renown.\u00a0 Dinner starts at 10 PM and people are routinely out until the wee hours of the morning.\u00a0 On the last night of my tour and in klassic krazy Ken fashion, I partook in these festivities by worming<\/strong> myself into an evening of food and dance with a group of cable dignitaries<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Pictured from Left to Right<\/p>\n Lee Clayton, Maggie Bellville, Steve Santamaria, Leslie Ellis, Tammy Smith<\/p>\n The food was authentic and the performance by the Flamenco dancers was emotional and amazing.\u00a0 The best part<\/strong> of the experience, however, was being able to share it with such a great group<\/strong> of people<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Next Article<\/a><\/p>\n Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Viodi View Subscribe<\/strong><\/p>\n ITA’s<\/strong><\/a> Re-Inventing Television Summit<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,<\/p>\n August 17th to 19th, 2005<\/p>\n On the Historic Queen Mary<\/p>\n IP Video @ SC What You Missed<\/p>\n Listen to the audio for all of the presentations from the 40+ speakers at the IP Video @ Supercomm conference.\u00a0 This CD-ROM includes the indexed presentations. Click here to see the contents.\u00a0 Contact Sean Sullivan of USTA at 202 326 7260 to purchase this CD.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n
5255 Stevens Creek, #127 Santa Clara, CA 95051<\/p>\n![\"Click](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/local\/images\/conferencelogo.gif\"\/)
<\/a>
Indie Telco Local Content Workshop Advertisement<\/a><\/p>\n\n
![\"Click](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/050700\/krazyvideo.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/050700\/group.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/postsnet.com\/campaigner_images\/Images\/optinlistbuilder\/FM-1.gif\"\/)
<\/a>
Privacy Policy<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/040800\/queenMary1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Cover](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/050700\/ipvideo.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Learn](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/040301\/promo-2-27-audience.gif\"\/)
<\/a>
Independent Local Content- Click Here to Learn More <\/a><\/p>\n![\"Click](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/040600\/ad.gif\")
<\/p>\n
![\"Click](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/050700\/barcelona_video.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/050700\/casa_batllo.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/050700\/sagrada_familia.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/050700\/spire.jpg\")
<\/p>\n