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Viodi View Menu<\/strong><\/p>\n Current Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a> <\/p>\n ViodiTV<\/a><\/p>\n Viodi Forums<\/strong> Club Viodi<\/a> Open Forum <\/a> <\/p>\n Multimedia Search <\/a> <\/p>\n Viodi Workshops<\/strong> Local Content<\/a> Telco Video 101<\/a> IPTV Training<\/a> Industry<\/strong> Viodi Links<\/a> Southwest Venture<\/a> Weissberger’s Wireless World & More<\/a> <\/p>\n About Viodi<\/a> Contact<\/a> Biographies<\/a> <\/p>\n Some Videos<\/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 – April 25th, 2007<\/strong> <\/p>\n By Ken Pyle, ken.pyle at viodi.com, Managing Editor, Viodi View<\/p>\n News \u2013 there is too much of it, or at least too much bad news. In general, the Viodi View tries to accentuate the positive<\/a>, as Mr. Crosby once said, and comment on the things that others might have missed in the context of telecom and content. Further, the focus of the Viodi View and ViodiTV<\/a> is on independent telcos and their efforts to create and distribute video. This publication and the associated events Viodi is involved with would not be possible without all of the help we receive from our friends. The Korner<\/a> has more details on all of the great help our friends gave us in the past few weeks. <\/p>\n In addition, we always look forward to feedback<\/strong> and encourage our readers to forward<\/strong> our articles to their friends and colleagues. We have been trying to make the discussions more interactive by posting articles to ViodiTV, where we have implemented \u201ccomments\u201d. We have also started posting articles on ViodiTV in between issues of the Viodi View. <\/p>\n Lots of Possibilities at IP Possibilities<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger Bindl provides excellent video coverage of the IP Possibilities conference co-produced by NTCA and OPASTCO. With dozens of sessions featuring industry leaders, it is difficult to encapsulate such a comprehensive conference on everything IP, but Roger manages to capture some very interesting highlights from speakers such as John Rose of OPASTCO, Rob Riordan of nSight, Bob Howard-Anderson of Occam Networks, Anthony Bontranger of Axis Partners and Bill Blessing of Embarq. <\/p>\n Broadband Connectivity \u2013 What\u2019s Next <\/a><\/p>\n Listen and watch<\/a> leaders of the independent telco industry talk about the future of tomorrow. Learn what industry is facing an 8% loss in sales due to the popularity of cell phones. <\/p>\n Click to View <\/a><\/p>\n Embarq\u2019s View on the IP Transition<\/a> <\/p>\n Listen and watch<\/a> Bill Blessing of Embarq discuss the transition to an all IP World. His comments are especially interesting given the wide variety of geography that the largest (by lines) independent telco must serve. <\/p>\n Click to View<\/a> <\/p>\n Bontrager on Over the Top<\/a> <\/p>\n Anthony Bontrager, founder of Broadstream, has been doing a great deal of consulting with operators worldwide. In this video<\/a>, he talks about the changing audience and how Over the Top content could have a real impact on a telco\u2019s IPTV plans. <\/p>\n Click to View <\/a><\/p>\n Click here to Learn more about the Best Practices & Beyond Workshop<\/a><\/p>\n NAB \u2013 A Video Geek\u2019s Amusement Park<\/strong><\/p>\n With over 108,000 attendees, NAB has something for everyone when it comes to video. It has more press people (north of 1,200) than most of the shows Viodi normally attends. What surprised me was the number of suppliers with IPTV or IPTV-derivative products.<\/p>\n Security Card Eliminates Set-Top<\/a><\/p>\n One company that promised IPTV \u2013 or at least a version of IPTV – without the need for a set-top is Neotion. <\/p>\n Hybrid IP\/RF Set-Top Boxes<\/a><\/p>\n NXP, the semiconductor company, demonstrated a reference design for a hybrid IP\/RF set-top box, which could mean new forms of IPTV. <\/p>\n Click to View<\/a> <\/p>\n IPTV in a Cable World<\/a> <\/p>\n Fred Dawson speaks of the idea of IPTV over existing cable plant in this brief video<\/a> interview from NAB 2007. <\/p>\n Click to View <\/a><\/p>\n Can IPTV Scale to 1 Million Homes?<\/a><\/p>\n Telecom at NAB had a full agenda of top-notch speakers and topics. Representatives from Kasenna, Intel, HP and ViewNow spoke on this panel about their recently announced million customer benchmark testing. We have edited the 35-minute panel into a 5 minute summary video, which can be found by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Click to View <\/a><\/p>\n Video \u2013 This Generation\u2019s Word Processor \u2013 a.k.a. Clash of the Software Titans <\/a><\/p>\n The lines that separated the \u201cproductivity\u201d applications from Microsoft, Adobe and Google have long been blurring and video \u2013 from production to distribution \u2013 is shaping up as the latest battleground for these software titans (e.g. Microsoft\u2019s Silverlight<\/a> versus Adobe\u2019s Media Player<\/a>). These thoughts crystallized as I watched the speakers from Adobe, Sony and Forbidden Technologies discuss their video editing programs at the Video Production Crash Course at NAB. Click here to read and VIEW the rest of the post.<\/p>\n Click to View<\/a> <\/p>\n Join the more than 70 independent telcos that have sent representatives to Viodi\u2019s Local Content Workshop. With material that is always evolving, the Local Content Workshop<\/strong><\/a> is THE place for independent telcos to see local content examples, pick up ideas from colleagues and learn techniques for creating the ultimate differentiator \u2013 Community-Driven Content. <\/strong><\/p>\n Is WiMAX Market success dependent on new Consumer Electronic (CE) devices? A Prescription for WiMAX Success \u2013 by Alan J. Weissberger<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n During an April 18th telebriefing, the Yankee Group predicted a proliferation of WiMAX enabled CE devices in 2008-09. The hypothesis is that WiMAX device strategies aim to disrupt the status quo for service distribution- away from traditional CPE (modems, integrated adapters for notebook PCs) and into Consumer Electronics products (new gadgets). While low cost computing devices (e.g. $100 Computers) will be critical for emerging market economies, it is unclear whether integrated WiMAX will be chosen over current WiFi solutions. \u2013<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to read the rest of this post. <\/p>\n Recent Club Viodi Posts<\/strong><\/p>\n The<\/a> Making of the Rollercoaster Video<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u2026..Beta’s Available\u2026..<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Quantification of the Local Content Advantage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Connecting the Dots\u2026..<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger\u2019s post on the Wisconsin Franchise bill sparked comments, some published at the post, some sent privately to me, regarding the process, and how fast this bill moving through the Wisconsin legislature.<\/p>\n I heard from one telco friend, who will remain anonymous, who suggested that an AT&T representative made a comment to the affect that, “This bill [the WI State Franchise Bill] has\u00a0over 70% chance of passing and we are committing over 15 full time lobbyists [confirmed in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article<\/a>] and we will smear the rest of you guys tomorrow with statewide ads of being anti-consumer and not competitive if you vote to not support it here today.”<\/p>\n To read the rest of the post, please click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/strong>Meanwhile, In Iowa\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n I had a chance to speak with Ron Laudner of Farmers Telephone, Josh Nelson of Great Lakes Telephone and Dave Erickson of FreeConferenceCall.com last week. They spent the latter part of last week lobbying the FCC to help them bring AT&T and the other large carriers to the table to discuss the issue that these carriers have with these conference call providers.<\/p>\n Call blocking, reported in an earlier issue of the Viodi View, no longer seems to be occurring with these service providers. These independent telcos are concerned about something much harder to quantify. They are concerned about the degradation of the Iowa telephone network due to carriers routing it via more congested routes. They have noticed things such as long call set-up times (up to 30 seconds) that is impacting Iowa telephone traffic beyond just their conference calling services.<\/p>\n Click here to comment<\/a> \u2026..<\/p>\n This Story Isn\u2019t Over Yet\u2026..<\/strong><\/p>\n Look for the big carriers to part ways with their smaller cousins at the State Association level as well. Two of the larger carriers have left at least one of the State Telephone Associations. All of these developments point to a world of changing alliances and the sharing of legacy networks (copper plant) no longer means a politically aligned future. <\/p>\n Upcoming Conferences<\/strong><\/p>\n Here are some of the conferences where in the next month or two Viodi may have some presence. I recommend them all and hope to see lots of the Viodi View readers and ViodiTV viewers at these events. <\/p>\n Date(s) Event 5\/1-3 CalCom\u0092s Tech Supplier conference<\/a> is always a good place to meet the California and Nevada telcos and their suppliers. The conference features a number of training sessions coordinated by CalCom\u0092s training committee. <\/p>\n 5\/16 <\/p>\n Join Zhone and Consolidated Communications<\/a> for this opportunity to learn directly from a major regional ILEC and technology experts on the best practices for deploying and managing IPTV services. Go behind the scenes to tour an operational head end and for a first-hand look at successful IPTV service delivery. <\/p>\n 5\/21-22 <\/p>\n IPTV<\/a> as it relates to the Cable Industry will the topic of a conference in New York in May. Screenplays is producing this conference, as well a related conference<\/a>, that deals with targeted advertising. Click here<\/a> for more information. <\/p>\n 6\/11-14 Digital Hollywood<\/a> in Santa Monica. Always a good event for seeing new things and meeting interesting people. Digital Hollywood also has an interesting program set up at NXTComm,<\/a> June 18 to 21st. 6\/27-28 <\/p>\n Webvideo Summit 2007<\/a> looks like it will be good, as Dave Burstein is involved in putting together the agenda for this conference here in San Jose . It has an impressive list of speakers and our very own Roger Bindl will be speaking on the topic of creating content for the web. <\/p>\n 6\/28-29 People on the Move<\/strong><\/p>\n I ran into Chuck Van Dusen<\/strong> at NAB, the technical guru behind many of the video encoders deployed by independent telcos. He is now an independent consultant.<\/p>\n I also had the good fortune to run into Leslie Ellis<\/strong>. Leslie is a long-time contributor to the Multichannel News and CTAM. I recommend her web site, Translation Please,<\/a> as a good resource to cut through all of the techno-babble. <\/p>\n The Korner – NAB2007 – What a Rollercoaster Ride<\/strong><\/p>\n So much of what I do is by the seat of my pants. If not for friends to keep me grounded, I might just fly off into space. The Video Production Crash Course last week is the latest example of life on the edge. I owe a very big thanks to Roger Bindl for his willingness to jump into crazy ventures with me. Sean, Lee Ann, Mark and John of Lightbulb Communications also have my sincere appreciation for making the Video Production Crash Course a reality. <\/p>\n Tony Wild of Kalona Telephone exemplified the typical independent telco with his great attitude and willingness to help in any way possible. I also owe a great deal of debt to all of the speakers; Angela, Bridget, Vaughn, Tony, JR, Dave, John, Rob, Giles, Matt, Ankit, Stephen, David and Glen. Thanks. <\/p>\n What really impressed me was the willingness of suppliers to help complete our Video Production Studio \u2013 <\/p>\n A special thanks to John Stapsy and his colleagues at datavideo<\/a>. John discussed the challenges of live production in his presentation at the Workshop. Datavideo also provided us with switching and recording equipment that allowed us to demonstrate real-live production at the Video Production Crash Course. The datavideo people impressed me with both their flexibility and their efforts at making the tradeshow experience fun, as evidenced by the following video clip. <\/p>\n This clip is sort of a metaphor for the Viodi life. Cheers!<\/p>\n
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<\/a> 7\/5, 7\/19 Local Content Workshops<\/a> in Austin, TX and Palmer, AK, respectively. We are looking at other locations for this summer as well, so any feedback is appreciated. 7\/14-18 OPASTCO’s Summer Convention<\/a> in Alaska – Forging a New Frontier. This is a must-attend event for anyone interested in meeting with executives from independent telcos. 7\/17 With keynotes from Google and Sling Media, S2 Data’s Internet TV Technology <\/a>Conference looks like it will provide the latest on cutting edge services, <\/p>\n\n
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