High Tech Coalition Lobbies on DTV Transition

The High Tech DTV Coalition, whose members include senior executives from leading high-tech firms, issued an open letter calling on the House and Senate Commerce Committees to enact a "hard date" now for the successful conclusion of the transition from analog to digital television.The High Tech DTV Coalition stressed the economic benefits of using the newly freed spectrum resulting from the transition to extend broadband Internet access and next-generation mobile services to all Americans. The companies estimate 1.2 million jobs will be created...

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Congress Considers April 2009 Transition Deadline for Digital TV

The Senate Commerce Committee is considering draft legislation that would set April 7, 2009 as the deadline for the final transition of analog TV to digital TV. The bipartisan draft bill under discussion reportedly does not address the "must carry" issue for multiple digital signals from individual stations, but it does require the FCC to auction 60 megahertz and set aside 24 megahertz for public use from the spectrum freed through the migration. http://www.senate....

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Kagan Projects Cable Broadband to Crest in 2005

Kagan Research published a report predicting the growth in new high-speed data (HSD) customer additions for cable operators in the U.S. will crest in 2005, but the continued migration of dial-up customers promises continued expansion for the industry. Kagan forecasts cable modem subscribers will top 38 million by 2009, amid intense competition from DSL providers. Some highlights of Kagan's HIGH SPEED DATA OUTLOOK include:Cable currently dominates...

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Akimbo Debuts VOD for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition

Akimbo will make its Internet to television video-on-demand service available on Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Currently, the Akimbo service is available only on the company's own Akimbo Player. Akimbo describes its service as "a complement to existing broadcast, cable and satellite services - bridging the gap between broadcast and broadband."Starting in November, Akimbo will support Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, including streaming high definition video to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment...

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Treo 650 Gets Blackberry Functionality

Palm and Research In Motion (RIM) are working to bring BlackBerry Connect to the Palm Treo 650 smartphone. The companies expect the solution to be available in the United States and internationally starting in early calendar 2006.Through RIM's BlackBerry Connect licensing program, Palm will enable its Treo 650 and future Palm OS based Treo smartphones with secure, push-based wireless email via BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The solution will enable...

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D-Link to Use Pure's "Network Magic" software

D-Link will incorporate Pure Network's Network Magic software on its Wireless Networking solutions for quick and simple home network configuration and maintenance. Available nationwide, Pure's software is bundled with currently shipping D-Link Air G and Xtreme G wireless routers, including the new D-Link Xtreme G with MIMO 2XR Wireless Router.Pure's Network Magic software resides on each computer within a home network, connecting and unifying the many different PCs, routers, gateways, and networked devices into a seamless home network. To manage...

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BT and Yahoo! Extend Partnership, Eye 8 Mbps Services

BT and Yahoo! announced a deepening of their relationship and four tiers of broadband packages. The said it decided to forge deeper links with Yahoo! and enhance the features available across the packages in order to offer customers better value. This has resulted in a long-term extension of the strategic partnership between the two companies with BT naming Yahoo! as one of its key global strategic partners.Each of the four broadband tiers features premium Yahoo! broadband service, enhanced security features and the option of cheap internet telephony....

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European Commission Acts to Open Telecom Competitive

The European Commission is taking action against nine Member States -- Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovenia -- to ensure competitive conditions in these markets.Formal notices have been sent to seven EU Member States for so far failing to notify it of electronic communications market reviews required by the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications. The Member States concerned now have two months to respond to the Commission's concerns. Further infringement proceedings have been...

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