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Viodi View Newsletter - June 14th, 2006

Click here to learn more about the C-COR Global IP Summit

By Ken Pyle, ken.pyle@viodi.com, Managing Editor, Viodi View

• Upload This - Yahoo! Video Mini- Review
• Too Late for Last Week’s Election, but……..
• Another Trendsetting Move By SureWest
• PhotoShow Is a Simple Star
• Will Video Kill the Internet?
• EPON Seen as Key Enabler of IPTV market
• A New Wireless Solution for Rural Locales? IEEE 802.22 Making Progress
• Follow Up to Last Issues Article “Standards Are Important, but Are They Enough?
• RICA Update - Another Important Independent Telco Conference
• How Much Does IPTV Cost? Find Out at the OPASTCO Summer Convention – Survey Reminder
• Vongo - Still Not Ready for Primetime
• A Few Snacks
• A Low Cost Digital Upgrade for Existing HFC Plants?
• The Korner - Popcorn Talks – A Content Pavilion Exclusive - for now

UGC - User Generated Content is the acronym de jour and all of the rage in the popular media. This phenomenon is much more than putting home grown videos on the Internet – although that is a popular application. For the first time in history, someone can get their 15 seconds of fame without having to deal with the Hollywood gatekeepers. As with past disruptive technologies, “Hollywood” will adapt and we are already seeing evidence of their adaptation to this new media with shows such as VH-1’s Web Junk 20, which highlights popular Internet videos. Similarly, in order for independent telcos or any other broadband operator to remain competitive it will be important that they embrace the UGC revolution.

Upload This - Yahoo! Video Mini- Review

Yahoo is one of the latest to rollout their hosted web video service. The integration of the video service with the rest of Yahoo!’s web properties is not yet obvious. In the long-run, which is measured in months these days, I am sure that Yahoo! will catch up to the upstarts like YouTube, Revver and others in terms of being a popular video destination. It will be interesting to see how long it will take before Yahoo! videos are integrated with the TIVO service, such that videos can be viewed directly on the television via TIVO’s broadband set-top. Yahoo! has currently has this service for viewing photos on TIVO (which my 5 and 7 year old use to view home photos).

Unlike YouTube, Yahoo does not fingerprint the video with a “bug” (a semi transparent logo). They make it easy to share either via instant messenger or email. At the end of the video, a either a video search bar or a link suggesting the viewer upload a video appears. Yahoo’s search engine seems to be a little more inclusive than Googles, as it will actually find videos from domains other than Yahoo! (although it didn’t pick up any videos hosted by Google), whereas Google only seems to pick up videos it hosts. Yahoo! like most of the popular video hosting services uses Adobe’s Flash. The upload process is pretty painless. It took almost three hours for Yahoo! to approve a AVI version of the following file, while it took only about 3 minutes to approve the same file in a Windows Media Format.

An example of a video posted to the Yahoo! site is provided below. Despite the fact that this video is a shameless advertisement for Viodi’s upcoming Local Content Workshop in Myrtle Beach, it does show the functionality of Yahoo!’s service. I noticed that it doesn't always start up the first time. It is unclear whether this is a function of my browser or Yahoo!'s service.

Too Late for Last Week’s Election, but……..

One of the things that is often repeated in the Local Content Workshop is the increase in local government accountability when the cameras are rolling. Video on demand and video over the Internet can provide for a much better informed electorate; a much more informed and involved electorate is one of the objectives of the Center for Government Studies. For last week’s California election, they worked with LA36 and the Open Media Network to provide non-partisan information about proposition’s 81 and 82. These spots provide examples of what can be produced at the local or regional level.

Another Trendsetting Move By SureWest

User Generated Content goes beyond video and is really ultimately about a cross-platform offering that will allow consumers to control their web, wireless or television experience. Yesterday’s announcement from SureWest and Laszlo Systems of the SureWest’s new web site is exciting because it is another step in this direction. SureWest has been a leader in the independent telco market in both IPTV deployment as well as bundling formerly disparate services. And SureWest has at least a sextuple play of services, including games on demand offerings that range from $9.95 per month for a kid-friendly package of titles that include Putt Putt Saves to Zoo to $14.95 per month for a package of games geared to adults.

What makes SureWest’s approach different and something that other independent telcos need to closely look at is the interface and the underlying design that allows customers to customize the information they receive as well as modify the layout and look and feel of their portal. This new platform is based on OpenLaszlo. According to the OpenLaszlo web site:

"OpenLaszlo is an open-source Ajax platform for creating powerful, cinematic Web applications that run in today’s popular browsers. OpenLaszlo enables developers to build and deploy Web applications that combine the usability of desktop software with the effectiveness of Web-based deployment."

OpenLaszlo is intended for Rich Media applications and it currently outputs as a Flash file. By the end of the year, it will be possible to output DHTML format. Extensions are planned to allow set-tops and mobile phones to be served from the same platform, so this offers the potential to truly integrate and create new offerings that play off the strengths of different delivery platforms.

PhotoShow Is a Simple Star

Adding video to the web is an important part of User Generated Content. Raw video can be pretty boring, so having a simple tool to edit material is critical for even the most amateur of productions. Making a simple editing tool for the masses is a bit of a challenge. Tac Berry tested a tool last week that may serve as a good way for the masses to organize and edit photos and videos and then output them to DVD or to the web. He reports that the latest version of Simple Star’s PhotoShow was very straightforward and fast; he had a final video completed within 10 minutes of loading the software on his PC.

The PhotoShow product is used by large ISPs, such as Comcast and Time Warner’s Roadrunner service to provide their customers with online photo editing and organization capability. Part of their business model comes from selling animations, such as from popular characters like Garfield, and music to enhance ordinary pictures. The only drawbacks that Tac could see for the Simple Star product is that it only accepts MP3 files and that it doesn’t allow direct audio recording into the application for voiceovers.

To create a voiceover, he had to download a couple of applications, RecordPad and WavePad, from an Australian company, NCH Swiftsound. RecordPad allowed him to record audio via his PC, while the WavePad software provided complete editing capability (cut, copy, filter, etc.) and export to an mp3 file. He reports that he was able to cut and paste voice files which allowed him to fine tune the timeframe and coordinate with PhotoShow; RecordPad/WavePad is a good complement to PhotoShow. .

Will Video Kill the Internet?

Alan Weissberger reports that at a Globalcomm briefing to the press and analyst community, Lucent touted a recent Bell Labs study that suggests the network traffic for video on demand and point-to-point video services will eclipse the network capacity needed for data service by the year 2010. The report found that these two video services could consume more that 60% of metropolitan-area network capacity by the end of this decade. If IPTV and Video over the Internet continues on its current path, the percentage of video traffic may increase exponentially.

EPON Seen as Key Enabler of IPTV market

One answer to more video traffic is more fiber – fiber in the backbone, fiber in the metro network and fiber in the last mile. Focusing on the last mile, the question is will it be some variation of a star network or will it be a Passive Optical Network? Within PON, which technology will be the winner; G-PON or E-PON? Allan Weissberger provides insight into this question in this article that he penned for the Viodi View regarding what could be the beta-VHS wars of fiber. Click here to learn more.

A New Wireless Solution for Rural Locales? IEEE 802.22 Making Progress

Alan Weissberger reports that the IEEE 802.22 Working Group has accepted a single, unified proposal which was derived from the ten proposals submitted earlier. This has enabled progression of the development of the new IEEE P802.22 WRAN standard. The standard aims to use geographically unused TV channels for broadband wireless access in rural and outer-suburban areas, including data, streaming video and VoIP. It will facilitate the provision of fixed wireless broadband access services within 40 km or more of a transmitter in locales that cannot be served economically by more traditional wireline services.

Follow Up to Last Issues Article Standards Are Important, but Are They Enough?

I was pleased and a bit disappointed to the responses from my article in the last issue regarding the challenges of IPTV integration. Pleased because of the feedback I received and a bit disappointed that my view of where the industry stands is probably not too far off the mark. One thing that did result from the article was that I received an invitation to attend an ISMA (Internet Streaming Media Alliance) IPTV Summit held in Chicago last week. The ISMA concurs that more needs to be done in terms of standards and interoperability testing, if IPTV is going to be able to meet its potential. Unfortunately, I could not attend the meeting, so the following report is from Marianne Barulich of Envivio:

“The ISMA IPTV Summit took place in Chicago on June 8th. This event was the first in a series of global summits that are going to happen in Europe and Asia later this year.

The purpose of the meeting was to determine areas within IPTV where there is a market need for interoperability and scalability. The agenda of the meeting included several presentations as well as an interactive session. Highlights included a guest speaker from Harris Corporation (currently not an ISMA member company), Marlis Humphrey, Director of Growth Programs and Commercial Segments Growth. Marlis presented her vision of the need for standards around the transport area of IPTV and offered this as a target area for the ISMA to address. In addition, Gary Shultz, Research Director and President, MRG, Inc., presented the results of his study to determine the interest of IPTV equipment manufactures and services providers to participate in IPTV related standards activities. He showed a definite need and interest for focused activity in this area.

Through a series of presentations, as well as a lively interactive session with all of the attendees, the ISMA was able to begin a dialogue in a meaningful and significant way to energize the IPTV industry towards market driven open standards, interoperability and scalability.

The discussion was a great success and is adding to the momentum of the work of the ISMA. There is a strong interest from those present in Chicago to participate in upcoming IPTV Summits. The next summit will take place in Amsterdam on September 12, 2006.”

One thing that was related to me was the importance for participation in these events by telcos, especially independent telcos that have real IPTV deployments.

RICA Update - Another Important Independent Telco Conference

RICA is a conference and association that doesn’t get much fanfare outside the independent telcos, but I heard kudos from an independent telco friend who attended the get together in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. He indicated that this is his, “favorite conference of the year.” He applauded the concurrent sessions and the abundance of content crammed into this two day event. RICA has opened up membership to non-CLEC independent telcos and my friend recommended joining this association as a complement to their existing memberships in other groups, such as their state associations, OPASTCO, NTCA and USTA.

How Much Does IPTV Cost? Find Out at the OPASTCO Summer Convention – Survey Reminder

Independent Telcos please complete the surveys we sent out last week regarding the costs of deploying video. We have had a pretty good response to these surveys, thus far, but the more data the better. Like previous Viodi surveys, we will provide some sort of report that summarizes the data, such as last year’s survey on Network PVRs or this year’s survey on local content. Vendors, there is still time to sign up for the OPASTCO event. It really is a unique way to get in front of the General Managers and Owners of hundreds of independent telcos.

Vongo – Still Not Ready For Prime Time

In the last issue, a mini-review of the Vongo service was provided. As you may recall, the service would not work for me and I hadn’t identified the problem. The one thing I did determine was that I had to cancel the service. As with so many of these “services”, sign up was on easy via the web, but cancellation required a phone call. After sitting on hold for 30 minutes a live person came on and tried to save the account.

We were both kind of curious why it didn’t work so we spent several minutes trying to get it to work. Finally, I noticed a small message that suggested that my stellar broadband service was too slow for Vongo. It is unbelievable that Vongo does not perform a speed check/verify their service will work prior to accepting a person’s credit card. Additionally, when I finally got to the point of removing the software, there was no “uninstall” option under the Start button and I had to go to the control panel of windows. The overall experience with Vongo was horrible and they have some basics to fix before this service is ready for prime time.

A Few Snacks…..

I received an email from John Tomlin of Hurricane Entertainment regarding a six day a week video blog, Viodcity, that they are producing in New York that deals with arts, shopping, music, clubs, restaurants, etc. They hope to be ad supported. From the few episodes I have watched, they manage to ferret out some unique stories about life in the Big Apple.

Congrats to Optical Entertainment Network and their Fision service for signing up Fox Networks as a content source. One Viodi View reader reported seeing the Fision logo in Houston.

A Low Cost Digital Upgrade for Existing HFC Plants?

A long-time friend and classic Silicon Valley Entrepreneur, Norman Gillaspie, is set to announce, at next week’s SCTE conference, an all digital HFC solution for small cable operators. This product has been in development for a number of years and the timing may be similar to 20 years ago when he proved to the industry that agile modulators were a feasible way of building headends (a key element to cable television networks evolution as competitive communications alternative). His company, Transparent Video, and their partners have developed some unique features, such as interactivity via SMS messaging and prepaid cable service.

The Korner - Popcorn Talks – A Content Pavilion Exclusive - for now

One of the powerful things that web technology is allowing is cost-effective collaboration by people both near and far. The other thing the technology is doing is leveling the playing field and providing so many more people with the opportunity to show a creative side that in years past might have been exposed to only a handful of people. Roger Bindl provides a great example for independent telcos, as he proves that talent is hidden all around our communities.

Roger has been giving me daily updates of a brief film he just produced for the 48 Hour Film Project. This was a truly collaborative effort with a cast and crew of over ten people. The screening was last night to an audience estimated to number 400 to 500 in Minneapolis. We will report on this project in the next issue and Roger will talk about it first hand when we go to Myrtle Beach next month. There are some good lessons for independent telcos in the work he has done with this particular project.

In the meantime, it is time for the finale of Popcorn. As you may recall, Popcorn is Mike Simon’s comic strip. Roger met Mike a few months ago. Roger took Simon’s creation and turned it into an online version which has been serialized and included in the last four issues of the Viodi View. In this issue, Roger and friends have lent voices to the online version of Popcorn. It becomes an entirely new presentation with audio.

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