Akros Silicon Raises $10 Million for PoE Network-Attached Appliances

Akros Silicon, a start-up based in Folsom, California, secured $10.1 million in Series B financing for its silicon designs.



Akros is developing system level ICs that manage power at the edge of the network. In less than 18 months, Akros Silicon has developed a mixed signal system-level IC solution that integrates Power over Ethernet (PoE) control, power management and interface to the Ethernet world. The company is sampling highly integrated and differentiated ICs used for bringing power to network attached appliances such as VoIP phones, wireless LAN access points, RFID tag readers, point-of-sale terminals, security cameras, remote access and home networked systems which will accelerate the convergence of data, audio and video transmission.



The funding was led by Levensohn Venture Partners and included existing Series A investors, Bay Partners, SPM Capital and US Venture Partners.

http://www.akrossilicon.com

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YouTube Signs BBC as Content Partner

The BBC will post some of its video content on YouTube.



The non-exclusive partnership will create branded BBC "Channels" on YouTube operating under separate BBC and BBC Worldwide agreements.

YouTube said the partnership reflects its commitment to work with content owners to make compelling video accessible online.

http://www.youtube.com

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Espial's IPTV Middleware Surpasses One Million Subscribers

Espial, a provider of IPTV middleware and applications, has reached the one million subscriber unit milestone for its Evo family of IPTV products. During 2006, the company shipped over 750,000 Evo subscriber licenses to operator customers and partners around the globe.



Espial's flagship Evo IPTV Service Platform product family includes Evo Client middleware, various data-driven applications including Evo EPG, Evo VOD, Evo DVR, Evo Browser and Evo BML, the carrier-grade Evo Server, and the open Evo Future-Proof Framework.

http://www.espial.com

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CableLabs Works On Spec for Receiving Off-Air Digital Broadcasts

CableLabs is launching an initiative to develop cable interface specifications for receipt of off-air digital broadcast signals. The interface specifications would enable devices to receive digital off-air television signals and would deliver these digital signals seamlessly through a cable set-top box.



CableLabs said this technology would allow consumers to receive broadcast television signals as an integrated viewing experience. The concept combines over-the-air digital television transmission with television programming carried by the cable provider.

http://www.cablelabs.com

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Paris Selects Alcatel-Lucent and SFR for Metro WiFi

The city of Paris has selected Alcatel-Lucent and SFR, the second largest mobile telecommunications operator in France, to supply and integrate the first urban WiFi network in France. Alcatel-Lucent will integrate and deploy the turnkey WiFi network. SFR, with Alcatel-Lucent as its WiFi technological partner for the past three years, will be responsible for the operation, monitoring and maintenance of the WiFi network, as well as the customer service and the Web portal. The launch of this network will take place in the third quarter of 2007.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom selects Alcatel-Lucent for 802.16e-2005 WiMAX

Chunghwa Telecom selected Alcatel-Lucent to deploy Taiwan's first Universal WiMAX (802.16e-2005) network in the densely populated metro area of Taoyuan county. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Chunghwa Telecom's Universal WiMAX network will fully comply with the IEEE 802.16e-2005 (also called Rev-e) standard for fixed, nomadic and mobile usage. Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent will provide its end-to-end WiMAX solution, including 2X2 multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) technology, which can help increase capacity and coverage. Alcatel-Lucent will also be providing Chunghwa Telecom multi-vendor network integration, engineering and installation support.



The new wireless broadband network will enable Chunghwa Telecom customers to access applications such as high-speed Internet, video streaming and VoIP using their laptops, computers, modems or wireless handheld terminals.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Ericsson to Supply FTTx in Greece

Ericsson was awarded a turnkey contract by the Greek city of Trikalaas to serve as the prime integrator a turnkey FTTx backbone telecommunications infrastructure project. Ericsson is also the sole supplier of switching, WiFi systems and a metropolitan area fiber optic network, as well as related telecom services, such as consulting, deployment, systems integration and customer support, until 2008. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Amino and Ruckus Wireless Announce IPTV Alliance

Amino and Ruckus Wireless announced an extended partnership and advanced integration and interoperability of their next-generation IPTV products. The joint development includes the creation of custom drivers and firmware that enable a completely plug-and-play wireless IPTV solution.



Amino has recently integrated its multi-codec AmiNET125 IPTV set-top box (STB) with Ruckus' next-generation MediaFlex wireless USB dongle, a unique, miniaturized wireless multimedia adapter. This new Smart Wi-Fi adapter, which requires no power adapter, reduces the cost and simplifies the deployment of IPTV to the operator even further compared to the first- generation of Ruckus adapters -- making wireless IPTV even more affordable.



Amino and Ruckus Wireless estimate that IPTV installation within consumer homes typically take between three to six hours. The companies claim their solution can be installed in less than one hour in most cases for a multi-room IPTV solution. http://www.ruckuswireless.com

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UTStarcom Delays Filing 2006 Annual Report

UTStarcom announced a delay in filing its 2006 Annual Report, saying it needs more time to analyze and compute the financial statement effects of the errors in measurement dates for past stock option grants. http://www.utstar.com

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