 |
The WAVE Report on Digital Media
3D --- Media Creation --- Shared Space ---Published by 4th Wave, Inc.--- Issue #0336------------------11/7/03 |
The WAVE Report is Searchable on
http://www.3dlinks.com
http://www.wave-report.com/search/search.htm
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0336.1 Hot Topics
- WAVE Report Updates
- NGN Ventures Conference Replaced with NGN Policy
- Newport Networks and Convedia Offer Session Control to
Carriers - Motorola Offers 128-bit AES for Canopy Wireless Broadband
Equipment
0336.2 Story of the Issue
0336.3 3D
- Superscape Announces Swerve, First Implementation of New Java
3D Standard - WAVE Report Tutorial -- JSR-184
0336.4 VoIP
- Avaya and Extreme Networks Form Strategic Alliance
- Interactive Intelligence Upgrades Communite Software
0336.5 Mobile Telephony
- IDC: Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments Up 21.2% in Third
Quarter Year-over-Year - Nokia Demos 1xEV-DV Video Streaming; Dual-Stack IPv4 / IPV6
Handset
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***WAVE Report Updates
(November 7)
We are always seeking to increase the value we provide to our
readers. With that in mind, and thanks to feedback we have
received, we have made some updates to the WAVE Report.
1) The WAVE is now available to be read in HTML. Simply paste
the URL at the top of the issue into any Web browser, and you
will be able to read the issue on our Web site. The mailed
newsletter will remain plain text due to the geographic and
technological diversity of our readers. Plain text always gets
through. But for those who would rather read in an HTML format,
the option is now available. And of course you are always
welcome to print out and read on paper.
2) We are emphasizing our tutorials on the Web site. Based on
traffic analysis, these pages are by far the most valuable on our
site. We have re-organized the index page for existing tutorials
to make them easier to find, and will be adding to them as often
as possible. Each new tutorial will be announced in the WAVE.
We hope that these changes will increase the value of this
newsletter to you. We always appreciate feedback, so please let
us know how you feel about these changes, or any other aspect of
the WAVE Report.
Thank you for reading the WAVE Report.
***NGN Ventures Conference Replaced with NGN Policy
(November 4)
Next Generation Networks (NGN) Ventures, one of the premier
technology venture capital conferences, has been canceled for
2004. In its place, Medialive International introduces NGN
Policy, a conference to be held in April 2004 in Washington, DC,
covering the impact of legislative and regulatory policy on the
development of next generation networks. Here is the official
announcement, from the NGN Web site:
NGN has always been about "Where the net is going next." But
increasingly this direction is being determined not by next
generation networking technologies, but by government regulation,
business models and public policy. So to complement the
continuing in-depth technical content of the regular fall NGN
conference-now in its 17th year-we are launching an all-new NGN
Policy conference, with a program focused on regulatory and
policy issues. Produced by MediaLive International BCR Events,
co-chaired by David Passmore, NGN co-chair and Burton Group
research director; and Jeffrey Blumenfeld, attorney at law, Gray
Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP, NGN Policy will be held April 19-21,
2004, at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC.
WAVE Comments
There is a disappointing reality when venture investing is
supplanted by the regulatory quagmire. This is a reflection of
conditions in the US as it trails the rest of the world in BB
penetration.
***Newport Networks and Convedia Offer Session Control to
Carriers
(November 4)
Newport Networks Limited, a supplier of carrier-class IP session
controllers, and Convedia Corporation, a provider of carrier-
class media processing platforms, today announced a partnership
to create session controller solutions for carrier-class IP-based
voice and multimedia networks.
Service providers seeking to offer managed voice and multimedia
services over IP have been constrained by a number of technical
issues. Managed IP-based communication services require
solutions that provide secure connectivity to subscribers behind
NAT (Network Address Translation) devices and firewalls, and to
other service providers across IP peering points. Solutions must
also offer media transcoding capabilities when network operators
pass each other IP media and signaling packets encoded using
different standards.
Newport Networks and Convedia have partnered to offer an
integrated solution that overcomes network traversal and media
transcoding issues. Newport Networks products provide session
border control for IP signaling and media, while maintaining IP
network integrity and security for both IP customer access and
carrier peering applications. Convedia media servers provide
adjunct media processing capabilities for the transcoding of
audio media packets and DTMF signaling. Both products claim high
availability, reliability, and performance, while the decomposed
solution architecture offers the independent scalability and
location of session border controllers and media server ports.
http://www.convedia.com
http://www.newport-networks.com
***Motorola Offers 128-bit AES for Canopy Wireless Broadband
Equipment
(November 6)
Motorola announced today that is offering 128-bit AES security,
an advanced layer of encryption, for its Canopy wireless
broadband platform to further secure sensitive data. Motorola is
offering the option to United-States-based businesses only, to
equip their Canopy system modules with the new Advanced
Encryption Standard (AES). 128-bit AES security technology is
regulated by U.S. national security laws, and cannot be legally
exported.
Endorsed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST), AES is a 128-bit encryption, which is considered more
secure than filtering, Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP), Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Triple
Data Encryption Standard (3DES). A 128-bit key has more than 34 x
10^37 possible keys. The added security layer on the Canopy
wireless solution is equivalent with security encryption on
today's wireline networks.
The offering is aimed at businesses that conduct financial
transactions, medical data transfers, remote surveillance,
safety, security and homeland defense. These organizations
demand the highest levels of security to protect the private data
sent over their wireless broadband networks.
In addition to the 128-bit AES, the Canopy system also provides
multiple security layers, including:
-- The Telecommunications Industry Association standard BRAID
algorithm
-- A Motorola proprietary air interface protocol and proprietary
Canopy chip sets
-- A synchronization technique that provides higher security than
802.11 alternatives, by requiring precise synchronization from
all modules on the network
-- A periodic and random number "challenge" that authenticates
system users and keeps out "rogue" modules
-- A subscriber module privacy system that blocks unauthorized
users at the access point
More information on Canopy's advanced encryption system is
available in Motorola's security white paper at
http://motorola.canopywireless.com/support_library.php.
***USTA Telecom 2003
By James Sneeringer
October 11-15
Las Vegas, NV
This is a conference on the move. With more than double the
number of attendees from last year, the USTA's Telecom '03
conference was relocated to Las Vegas after outgrowing its
originally planned venue in California. Even after moving to
Vegas, the exhibit floor space was expanded several times to
accommodate more booths. With so many conferences struggling
lately, the continuing success of this conference must point to
something.
The USTA has tapped into two energizing topics--regulation and
the triple play. A large number of the sessions, including
every keynote, focused on the regulatory environment and what can
be done to change it. The Association is well funded by its
members, and its President, Walter McCormick Jr., is seen by many
to be one of the more connected and influential lobbyists in
Washington--he succeeded in landing FCC Chairman Michael Powell
for the conference keynote this year. Last year at the
conference, incoming Association Chair Margaret Greene of
BellSouth challenged the members to come together as allies to
fight the perceived regulatory inequities of the current FCC
interpretation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. If the
attendance at this year's regulatory sessions is an indication,
they are responding.
Of particular (and new) concern this year are the consumer VoIP
offerings, of which Vonage may be the best known, but also
include Pulver.com's Free World Dialup and Skype--the new VoIP
offering from the founders of P2P file sharing system Kazaa.
These companies served a dual role at the conference. On the one
hand, they are feared and vilified by incumbent carriers, as they
currently are unregulated and untaxed, and inexpensive and in
some cases completely free to use. Incumbent telcos feel that
they are being held responsible for all the telecom burdens, such
as universal service contributions, competitive access via
unbundling, and law-enforcement and emergency compliance, while
VoIP carriers are getting a free lunch.
On the other hand, the VoIP offerings are held up as a model of
the market possibilities if only telecommunications were de-
regulated. With VoIP available over any IP transport, the
argument goes, why should the FCC discriminate between wireline
telecom and any other data communication service--such as cable.
Rather than focus on competition within the telecommunication
category, the ILECs would rather the Commission satisfy their
need for competition by looking cross-platform at access
technologies such as cable, fixed wireless, satellite, or perhaps
even 3G or Wi-Fi.
On the exhibit floor and the remainder of the sessions, the
triple play was clearly the other draw for this conference. Over
half the exhibit floor was given over to equipment vendors,
service providers, and integrators focused on providing video
over telco transport such as ADSL, VDSL, or fiber. Yet what was
missing was a focus on more than the technology. Video is
outside the core competencies of the major RBOCs, but many small
and some medium-size ILECs already have video services available,
either over HFC plant as the local cable franchise, or in some
cases over DSL. There were several sessions given by some of
these companies devoted to understanding and implementing video,
as well as an entire co-hosted conference (the Viodi Video
Conference).
In some of the sessions, small and medium ILECs presented data
that showed that they had successfully gained market share in
video with their offerings. And perhaps more importantly,
offering video as part of a bundle seemed to have a strong effect
of reducing churn. In the zero-sum game of consumer spending,
the best offense may simply be a good defense. With wireline
telephone revenues continuing to slide, telcos are looking for
any way to hold onto customers.
Yet, what was missing was any step beyond the me-too of offering
cable channels over DSL. Only one company on the exhibit floor
seemed to address the consumer home directly--Motorola. Home
networking is seen by carriers as a way to reduce churn in data
services, but to this point it has been focused on Wi-Fi and
networking computers. Motorola's solution obviates the computer
and reduces data networking to an up-sell. The key is providing
valuable services to consumers in a reliable and simple way.
US Telecom Association
USTA is a trade association representing service providers and
suppliers for the telecom industry. Services offered by USTA's
1,200 member companies include local exchange, long distance,
wireless, Internet and cable television service. The vast
majority of the membership is made up of ILECs, mostly small to
medium sized, although all four major RBOCs are members as well.
There are a few CLECs, and some of the smaller ILECs operate CLEC
subsidiaries outside their incumbent areas. Some ILECs also
operate cable franchises.
The USTA regulatory position, as expressed by its President
Walter McCormick, is:
- The purpose of regulation is to protect consumer interests
in the absence of choice (in a monopoly). Since the
consumer now has multiple choices for connectivity, there is
no longer any reason for regulation.
This is to support the elimination of UNE-P regulations
altogether. The compromise solution of the FCC recently
published is not considered acceptable, and the USTA looks to
continue the fight.
Outgoing Association Chair Margaret Greene of BellSouth made the
case for deregulation in her remarks opening the conference:
-- What can we not change?
-- The forward march of technology. The past, however
comfortable, is not an option. So company after company is
embracing the future--expanding in wireless, exploring VoIP
for ourselves, moving into flat-rate pricing and bundling,
and investing in fatter pipes.
-- What can we change?
-- The man-made impediments to what should be a thriving,
innovative, and prosperous communications marketplace today.
When human error is to blame, we have to have the courage
not merely to point the finger, but to demand and ultimately
secure fundamental reform...reform that will place the fate of
our companies in our own hands and in the hands of the
American consumer, rather than with regulators who refuse to
acknowledge that the world is a different place.
The View from the U.S. Congress
In the opening session, U.S. Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas)
discussed the feelings in Congress regarding the mess that is
telecom regulation. Rep. Barton highlighted 3 major issues on
the minds of the Congress:
1) Universal Service--what is its place in the new world of
communications? It was needed earlier in the development of
the country, but is it needed now? Who should fund it?
2) Local loop competition--the goal was always facilities-based
competition. Many in Congress feel that the FCC interpreted
the 1996 Telecom Act poorly in implementing this.
3) Broadband Penetration--we are still not there yet.
What can be done? Speaking directly to the Association, Rep.
Barton made two clear points.
1) Many members of Congress feel that the 1996 act is just not
working well. It will likely take a legislative solution to
clear up the mess.
2) BUT, this is a presidential election year and the second
term of a congressional term...there will be no
congressional action on telecom whatsoever until both are
over. Rep. Barton stated that this should be considered a
"
ground work" year for the USTA's efforts. "Get to know
your Congressman now."
Keynote Lunch--FCC Chairman Michael Powell
At lunch on Tuesday, Powell held forth to a packed room,
including an overflow room that received the video and sound
feed.
Powell led off with an interminable metaphor, comparing
communications technology to a girl, and regulations to her
clothes. "We can either send her out into the world wearing old
hand-me downs of legacy regulations from decades ago, or we can
make her a new set of clothes that fit her perfectly--a new
regulatory paradigm designed to let her move easily and look
good." And so on. The important point was that she is going out
no matter what we do, and what she is wearing is up to us. And a
lot of other girls (countries) have nice new clothes, and they
are getting all the boys (investment), etc.
What worries Powell most? We are falling into regulation of new
technologies by accident, applying old regulations as we go and
"
tripping" into Internet regulation. More comments:
- Technology will not stop. Even as the Internet bubble
burst, then telecom, and the economy has slowed, Moore's Law
has not stumbled, capacity and storage continues on their
trend increases, etc. This unstoppable trend has to be
embraced fully by regulators and industry as they plan for
tomorrow. This vision is important now more than ever, and
the public has to be won over to understanding it.
- We do not have a telecommunications act of this world--we
are stuck with an act from the old world. 7 years ago is an
eternity. The statute is failing, and one day it will break
completely, and only Congress will be able to fix it.
- In the short term, the FCC can either: 1) try to look at
communications with the cleanest possible slate, or 2) look
at communications through the lens of legacy technology and
regulations. In the end, both may end up at the same place,
but 1) is a shorter, cleaner path.
- Universal service is important social policy and it is
important to keep its goals in mind. That said, it is
distorting the market currently, because decisions are being
made for the purpose of arbitrage advantage, rather than
technology or market advantage. Keeping the goals in mind,
it needs to be looked at again. But remember that
government does not come without strings attached. If we
offer an advantage, we will ask for something in return.
- State regulators are trying to do their job and advocate
for their state. But a bit that travels through 5 states on
its path should not have to deal with 70+ local and state
regulations and taxes along the way. It makes no more sense
than trying to apply them to an airplane that flies
overhead. National and international services cannot be
controlled by artificial, politically imposed
local boundaries. The Constitution includes the interstate
commerce clause for a reason.
- But it is not a power issue--i.e. "run them over." That
would just lead to massive litigation. We need to engage
them in discussion, and encourage them to look at
the Internet as a business opportunity. The key question
is--what will they do to attract technology money to their
area? But it will likely continue to be an issue and at
some point we will have to call on the federal legislature
to solve it.
- Federal vs. state battles are not about technology--they
are about revenue. We need to not confuse the two, by
contorting technological definitions to achieve the revenue
goals. Let's keep the two separate and talk about them
both.
- The recent 9th circuit court ruling (saying cable modems
have a telecom aspect) was just wrong. The court does not
understand the technology issues and the consequences of
their decision. They did not rule on our regulations.
Rather they claimed they were bound by language from 7 years
ago. This is nothing yet--just one judge offering his
opinion. However if it is affirmed it will set in stone a
way of thinking that is 7 years old--an eternity. If that
happens we will have to rev our lobbying into high gear to
get the legislature to change the statute.
- It's in vogue to think of things as regulation vs.
deregulation. Wrong. I believe in the market, because the
market is America. It has provided us with all the
advantages and made us the country we have today. The key
is that technology moves forward whether we like it or not.
As regulators we have to have humility and realize that we
are always just chasing change. I remember a quote from
John Chambers: "If you want to be a CEO, you better get used
to declining price and market change FOREVER." There is no
more slow, monopoly regulation. Now we are dealing with
ever faster change.
After the speech the WAVE caught up to Powell and asked him:
- You said a lot about Congress taking action in your
remarks. Where is the commitment to communications
technology from the top of the executive branch as well?
Answer:
- Yes we need it, absolutely. This stuff is a lot more
powerful coming out of the President's mouth than mine. But
these guys just do not understand any of this. It would be
a mistake to ask them to try to say anything detailed. But
a general commitment, yes I think we need that. But you
have to understand that politics are very shallow--a mile
wide but only an inch deep. It's up to YOU guys (points at
people gathered to talk to him) to put the pressure on. And
you have to talk their language--jobs, economy, and keeping
up with other nations technologically.
AOL Voice Services
The AOL session was blockbuster. Jim Tobin, a VP, spoke about
their moves into the voice and mobile markets. They now offer a
USB VoIP phone that looks exactly like a basic handset and
cradle. It integrates with AIM and the user can go to voice at
the click of a button. Voice quality is not great but it is good
enough. They now have about 1 million members using voice
services.
Other voice services include CallAlert, which detects an incoming
call with caller ID and lets the user take it or kick to voice
mail. Yet another voice service is VoiceMail, which integrates
voice and e-mail--"unified messaging." Voice messages can be
listened to from within the e-mail screen, and e-mail text can be
listened to over the phone.
In the mobile space, AIM now completely integrates with SMS from
major carriers. That is, AIM messages show up as SMS on mobile
phones, and SMS messages sent in reply are routed back to the AIM
browser--transparent to the user. Previously AIM could use SMS
for transport, but an AIM client was required on the handset.
Not any more. AOL is also developing AOL premium service
packages for mobile data phones. Applications include Moviephone
(ordering movies tickets from the cell phone screen), or You've
Got Pictures (AOL picture e-mail, from camera phones).
The WAVE asked--do these announcements mean you are looking
beyond the PC platform?
Answer:
Yes, definitely. We expect that the proliferation of
connected devices will be orders beyond the PC, whose
market is slowing. Plus, Microsoft continues to dominate
the PC and we have to ride on top of their operating system-
-which we don't like. We never know how it will develop.
On the mobile space, there are number of operating systems
and environments--we like this much better. The key is to
learn how to slice and dice the products to simplify for the
new platforms. AOL is committed to moving beyond the PC.
Every time Jim discussed AOL call center activities, he mentioned
the cost associated with having such highly-trained service
people. This highly level of training is necessary because of
the number of calls that revolve around Microsoft OS issues. The
people cannot get through to MS and so call AOL. It's not AOL's
product but they have to solve it anyway, because bottom line is
that the AOL service is not working. He stated several times
that this causes their service costs to be very high.
Broadband--Capturing the Home
This was a panel on capturing consumer spending by winning the
home. Speakers were from Motorola, Linksys, MS Xbox Live, and
SureWest--a CA ILEC that is offering the triple play.
The Linksys presentation by Matt McRae was full of insights into
home networking:
- 28% of homes have broadband according to Gartner as of
October 3, 2003. 53% of those homes have a home network
according to Parks Associates.
- We got our start in retail and we have had great success
there. But, now it is time to move beyond early adopters
and into the mass market, and retail is not the way to do
it. A customer walks into a store and sees 50 home
networking products and they don't even know what their
operating system is--they are not going to buy anything.
- Home networking will only work in the mass market if it is
offered as a service. Attach rates jump 2-3 times when a
service provider offers home networking as a service
offering, including leased equipment in some cases, rather
than simply reselling the equipment.
- Just changing the name from "home networking" to
"
broadband sharing" increases the take rate 3 times.
- We need to sell through carriers and service
providers. This is where the Cisco acquisition is so
important. Now we can go to a carrier and offer both sides
of the equation--carrier equipment and CPE. We are working
now on integrating the offerings even more.
- We can tell we are beginning to hit the mass market
because of the tech support calls. One memorable one began
with a conversation revolving around taking the shrink wrap
off--the customer needed encouragement just to do that. As
we move into this market we are taking a very careful look
at ease of use, all the way down to the box design.
- Linksys displayed a slide with 4 examples of actual
deployments, with attach rates, although the service
provider names were withheld. When home networking
equipment was simply resold by the carrier, the attach rate
was 6% and churn was reduced by 15-20%. When another
provider offered the equipment leased for a monthly rate,
the attach rate was 20% and churn was reduced by 25-30%.
The attach rate was 100% when it was offered by another
provider as a free add-on to service with $99 install fee.
There was no data on the impact on churn for that provider.
SureWest, a medium-size ILEC in California, offered details of
their triple play. The presentation was by COO Fred Arcuri.
- SureWest began offering their triple play in July 2002.
The system consists of video over HFC (hybrid
fiber/coaxial), and data and voice over fiber. They predict
the network will be all-fiber by early 2004. Most cables
are aerial as opposed to buried.
- They currently have 65,000 triple play subscribers and
expect to go to 150,000 by 2006. Over 50% of their
customers take the triple play when it is offered to them,
and over 80% take a bundle of two services.
- The primary selling point has been one bill for services.
But, there was often sticker shock when that one bill came.
Most people do not add up how much they pay per month for
all those services. SureWest built a sales tool that allows
customers to compare the one price for the triple play, to
the aggregate of what they were paying. Before that tool,
sales pitches were 50% less effective.
- SureWest also currently offers a VOD program to their
video subscribers. A memorable moment was when, in response
to a question, Fred admitted that the only reason they are
able to offer VOD was that they had bought the fully
developed system from a bankrupt company at pennies on the
dollar. "I don't think the business case works any other
way. I don't know what these guys (the failed company) were
thinking when they started."
- The challenges for SureWest have been: driving consumer
adoption, navigating the maze of local regulations, and
managing the technologies. But it is worth it. ARPU
(average revenue per user) is at $105 per month and they
believe that they can drive it to $120 per month through VOD
fees and enhanced channel packages. Fred stated that they
are closing about 70% of the homes they pitch.
On the Floor
Motorola plus Next Level. Siemens plus Efficient Networks.
Cisco plus Linksys. The battle for the consumer home is being
shifted from the retail outlets to the carriers. Cisco,
Motorola, and Siemens, all traditionally strong on carrier-class
equipment, have added consumer divisions via acquisition, for the
express purpose of offering end-to-end solutions to carriers.
All three companies were on the show floor at Telecom '03.
Motorola
Motorola appeared to be the only company on the floor directly
addressing the consumer home. Their entire booth was a mock-up
of a consumer living room and den complete with a couch and video
game system. The Motorola video system, based on a set-top box,
can provision separate video streams to three sets throughout the
house using wires or wireless, as well as provision data
networking and phone services such as caller ID.
The WAVE asked--this looks like home networking...where is the
PC?
Answer
Who needs a PC? Our residential gateway is a DSL modem,
router, MPEG2 decoder (actually 3 of them in one box, to
support 3 TVs), and caller ID box. In this scenario the
customer buys voice and video from the carrier, and data is
an upsell if the customer has a PC. The box can provision 3
separate TVs in the home via either Ethernet wires or
802.11g. Carriers install the box--it is an opportunity to
train the customer, and to upsell services such as caller
ID. Caller ID is handled in the gateway, and the interface
is via the TV. This drives the caller ID take rate to over
80%.
The whole Motorola offering is end-to-end from the carrier CO to
the home network. This is in part based on Next Level
Communications, which Motorola acquired last year. The key twist
is the upsell--data networking. The consumer services are first
and foremost offered as video and data. The customer need never
hear the word DSL.
Cisco
The Cisco booth was the opposite of Motorola--dominated by racks
full of blinking lights and an enterprise phone system. Yet
conspicuously on display was a table and banner from Linksys. We
spoke with the only person there with a Linksys shirt on. Some
details from the conversation:
Sales through carriers are very important, especially as we
start to hit the mass market. Next year, Linksys will begin
to be resold through a major provider--name withheld.
Linksys was already pursuing service provider sales when we
were acquired by Cisco. I was brought into Linksys before
the merger to help develop those sales channels. Today we
sometimes go into service provider sales with Cisco reps,
sometimes without. Certainly, though, Cisco has opened some
doors for us. They have opened a "controlled explosion" in
our carrier sales.
Linksys is active in cable as well as DSL. We are DOCSIS
2.0 certified. But, I'm not so sure about DSL Home (the DSL
Forum's managed home networking initiative). The 4 big
ILECs each have their own labs, and even with a standard, I
suspect there would always be something more each lab
wanted. Standards-based only gets you in the door--you
still have to satisfy each ILEC individually.
Siemens
Siemens had the smallest booth of the three but hosted several
events. The company has changed the name of their Efficient
Networks group to Siemens Subscriber Networks. The booth was
focused on carrier-class equipment but we managed a short
conversation with Nicki Korjenek, Director of Sales, Key
Accounts, about carriers and the consumer market.
Siemens Carrier Equipment has a very different sales model
from Efficient Networks. Carrier equipment is all direct
sales, but Efficient Networks is mostly sold through
distributors, resellers, etc.
But, we can sign one contract for both. Sometimes we do go
into carrier sales with our counterparts at Efficient
Networks. The contract will cover both; the fulfillment is
just through different channels.
Carriers are definitely looking at home networking as an
important part of their strategy. They need anything that
will help them get new customers and hold on to existing
subscribers. This is one reason we bought Efficient
Networks, and now the name change is to signify their
integration into the range of products available to
carriers.
DSL Forum
What is the status of DSL Home? At Supercomm we reported the
launch of this initiative by the DSL Forum to develop a standard
approach to managed home networking--similar to Cable Labs'
Cablehome standard. At Telecom '03 we stopped by the booth to
check up.
The DSL Forum is currently in marketing mode, working with
12 other organizations. They are planning a big presence at
upcoming shows including CES, ExpoCom Mexico, Supercomm
2004, and the Broadband World Forum in Italy. In addition
there will be a spread in BusinessWeek in November and DSL
Home will have a presence in there. On October 7, the DSL
Forum officially launched the DSL Home Media Campaign.
Three profiles are currently being developed, that the
standards will support. These are profiles of home
gateways, for home theater, home office, and automated home
control. These will demo at Supercomm 2004 in June.
In August, major service providers announced their support
for DSL Home. These include BellSouth, SBC, Verizon, and
Bell Canada.
***Superscape Announces Swerve, First Implementation of New Java
3D Standard
(November 4)
Superscape Group plc announces that following the official
ratification today by the Java Standards Community of JSR 184 -
to be known as the Mobile 3D Graphics API - the company's Swerve
technology is the first commercially available implementation of
this standard for delivering 3D on mobile devices.
The new Mobile 3D Graphics API standard is the result of more
than a year's development work by an Expert Group of the Java
community. Superscape was a founder member of this Group, which
also included Nokia, Vodafone, Siemens, ARM, Sony Ericcson and
Motorola. Having been involved in the development of this new
standard, Superscape was well-placed to develop a standards-
compliant 3D engine, authoring tools and associated content -
branded as Swerve.
Superscape's Swerve software has been developed in close
collaboration with ARM. Swerve Client (the engine) has been
optimised to run on a single ARM 9 (or above) processor and can
also use available hardware acceleration on the handset using
OpenGL ES. It provides a means of delivering 3D applications,
including games, on mass-market mobile phones. Swerve Studio
(the authoring tool) is a standard-compliant development
environment for creating interactive 3D applications for wireless
devices. It is based on the design software, 3D Studio Max.
Recent agreements with Siemens, Samsung and Motorola, as well as
a number of content and brand organizations, including Sony, have
provided endorsement of Superscape's Swerve technology in the
global mobile marketplace.
Superscape specialises in 3D technology for Java (JSR 184) and
native wireless environments. Swerve is comprised of a software-
only 3D engine, a development tool (integrated into 3ds max) and
a catalogue of 3D games available for licensing.
See the WAVE Java JSR-184 Tutorial on our Web site for more
information:
http://www.wave-report.com/tutorials/jsr-184.htm
***Avaya and Extreme Networks Form Strategic Alliance
(November 4)
Avaya Inc. and Extreme Networks Inc. have entered into a
multiyear, multimillion-dollar strategic alliance to jointly
develop and market converged communications solutions. Avaya will
also resell Extreme Networks' data networking products and will
provide planning, design, implementation and management services
support through Avaya Global Services. The relationship will
provide businesses around the world with an array of converged
technologies and services, through a single relationship.
The alliance brings together Avaya's global market experience in
IP telephony, related applications and services for converged
environments, with Extreme Networks' experience in IP data
network infrastructure. Together, the companies stated that they
will provide their customers with a range of converged,
standards-based solutions. These solutions will be comprised of
Avaya's IP-based MultiVantage Communications Applications,
converged security and media gateways and servers, and Extreme
Networks Ethernet platforms that include its BlackDiamond and
Alpine chassis-type switch families with integrated Layer 2 and 3
data switching and routing capabilities.
As a reseller of Extreme Networks' portfolio of data networking
products, Avaya will sell, service and support the entire line of
Extreme Networks products. Avaya's worldwide services
organization -- Avaya Global Services -- provides customers with
a single point of accountability for managing multi-vendor
networks from more than 20 vendors. Avaya Global Services will
provide Avaya and Extreme Networks' customers network assessment
and optimization, security and business continuity planning,
deployment, training, technical support, maintenance and managed
services.
Avaya will continue to offer its existing customers its own line
of data networking products and related services and support, in
addition to the Extreme Networks portfolio. Extreme Networks will
also continue to sell its switching systems through its
multinational distribution channels. The agreement between the
two companies also includes Avaya receiving a warrant to purchase
up to 2.6 million shares of Extreme Networks' common stock at a
price of $0.01.
The two companies will also work to develop next-generation,
standards-based technologies in the areas of management and
provisioning, Quality of Service (QoS), security, and network
resilience, that utilize protocols such as the Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP).
http://www.avaya.com
http://www.extremenetworks.com
***Interactive Intelligence Upgrades Communite Software
(November 6)
Interactive Intelligence Inc. has released an upgrade to
Communite, its unified communications software for enterprises
and service providers of all sizes. The new release, version
2.2.2, was made generally available on Oct. 24, and adds support
for two e-mail systems - Sun ONE (formerly iPlanet) Message
Server and IBM Lotus Notes/Domino. The new release also includes
upgrades for support of Microsoft Exchange Server, including
Exchange Server 2003.
The enhancements are intended to make Communite a more
competitive voice mail and fax replacement for industries, in
particular higher education institutions, according to Dr. Donald
E. Brown, Interactive Intelligence president and chief executive
officer.
The newest release of Communite also gives organizations a choice
of LDAP directory servers, including Microsoft Active Directory
and Sun ONE Directory Server. In addition, version 2.2.2 supports
the new Active Directory in Application Mode. ADAM enables
organizations to deploy Communite without modifying their core
enterprise directory.
Communite includes new forms for Microsoft Outlook and the Lotus
Notes client that enable end-users to access telephony functions-
-for instance, click a button to return a call--while listening
to voice mail messages from their desktop or laptop computers.
A new Web-based administrative interface allows organizations to
manage tens of thousands of Communite users. End-users can set up
rules and configure personal options from Web pages, accessible
using both Windows and Macintosh versions of Internet Explorer
and Netscape browsers. Additionally, Communite now accommodates
multiple users sharing a single mailbox, ideal for universities
where several students may share a single phone number.
Version 2.2.2 of Communite continues to support telephony
architectures, including legacy PBXs, Cisco's AVVID platform, and
voice over IP using the session initiation protocol (SIP).
Communite 2.2.2 is available worldwide and can be purchased
through the Interactive Intelligence network of more than 140
value-added resellers.
***IDC: Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments Up 21.2% in Third
Quarter Year-over-Year
(November 5)
IDC announced today that the worldwide market for mobile phones
continued to grow in the third quarter of 2003, driven by demand
for new handsets from first-time buyers in emerging markets, as
well as replacement buyers in mature markets. According to IDC's
Worldwide Mobile Phone QView, worldwide mobile phone shipments
grew by 21.2% year-over-year in 3Q03 and increased sequentially
by 14.0% to 130.1 million units. Nokia maintained its top
position in the market while LG Electronics regained the number 5
spot from Sony Ericsson.
In addition to the market's year-over-year growth of 21.2%, the
top 5 mobile phone vendors continued to gain back market share
after a dip in 1Q03. After dropping from 77.3% of the market in
4Q02 to 71.4% in 1Q03, the top 5 vendors have reclaimed much of
their lost market share in 3Q03 with 76.6% of the market. At the
same time, 3Q03 was the first quarter of 2003 during which the
top 5 vendors all posted positive sequential growth. However,
with a growing number of vendors from Asia entering the worldwide
market, it remains to be seen if the top vendors can maintain
their hold on market-share.
Vendor Highlights
Nokia
Nokia maintained its number 1 spot this quarter with a sequential
increase of 11.2% and continued to strengthen its presence in the
U.S. and global CDMA markets. However, due to the increasing
market size, Nokia's market share decreased by just under a
percent to 35.0%. Of particular note is the launch of the Nokia
N-Gage, a gaming-centric device launched worldwide in the
beginning of October.
Motorola
After experiencing a drop of over 5% in shipments in 2Q03,
Motorola posted a 27.8% sequential increase in shipments,
bringing its market share up 1.7% to 15.5% of the market and
distancing itself slightly from Samsung.
Samsung
Continuing on its success from the previous quarter, Samsung
increased its market share from 10.5% in 2Q03 to 11.5% in 3Q03
with an increase of 3 million shipments to a total of 15 million
mobile phones. Samsung attributes its increase to strong demand
for its high-end handsets with color screens, cameras and
camcorder functions.
Siemens
Siemens' shipments grew 39.5% sequentially in 3Q03, solidifying
itself as the number 4 vendor worldwide.
LG Electronics
Rising sharply on the strength of its CDMA and GSM shipments
overseas, LGE re-entered IDC's top 5 list as it boosted its
market share to 5.8%, just beating out Sony Ericsson at 5.5%.
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments and Market Share,
3Q 2003 (Preliminary)
Rank Vendor 2Q 2003 2Q 2003 Market
Shipments Share
1 Nokia 45,500,000 35.0%
2 Motorola 20,200,000 15.5%
3 Samsung 15,000,000 11.5%
4 Siemens 11,300,000 8.7%
5 LG Electronics 7,600,000 5.8%
Other 30,500,000 23.4%
Total 130,100,000
Notes: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM
sales for all vendors.
IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone QView provides device vendors,
software developers, service providers, and component suppliers
with information on the worldwide handset market. The program
provides quarterly measurements of worldwide unit shipments and
vendor market shares.
IDC is a global market intelligence and advisory firm in the
information technology and telecommunications industries. IDC is
a subsidiary of IDG, the technology media, research, and events
company.
***Nokia Demos 1xEV-DV Video Streaming; Dual-Stack IPv4 / IPV6
Handset
(November 5)
During the eighth annual CDMA Development Group's (CDG) 3G World
Congress in Bangkok, Nokia is demonstrating two new CDMA
technologies designed for next generation wireless services.
Nokia's exhibition includes a live video stream received over a
cdma2000 1xEV-DV network, and a prototype of a dual-stack IPv4 /
IPv6 handset. Additionally, Nokia is showcasing its lineup of
cdma2000 1X handsets, including the compact Nokia 3105 phone and
the Nokia 6225 camera phone.
The streaming video demonstration is being performed at peak
speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps using a test set based on a commercially
available Nokia 2285 handset upgraded with a Nokia cdma2000 1xEV-
DV chipset and a Racal Instruments Wireless Solutions Group 1xEV-
DV base station emulator. Along with applications such as
streaming video downloads, Nokia stated that 1xEV-DV technology
may also offer end-users new services such as videoconferencing,
interactive online gaming and remote presentations. For wireless
operators following a CDMA evolution path, Nokia stated that
1xEV-DV technology offers dynamic network flexibility to balance
voice and data traffic, for efficient usage of limited spectrum.
Nokia is also demonstrating a dual stack IPv4 / IPv6 CDMA handset
prototype. Nokia stated that since Internet Protocol version 4
(IPv4) addresses are being depleted, and will soon be
supplemented by Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses,
this handset reflects the future for Internet-connected mobile
devices. By using the dual- stack approach, interoperability
between IPv4 and IPv6 systems is possible, allowing service
providers to continue offering services during the transition to
IPv6.
The lineup of Nokia cdma2000 1X phones is being highlighted as
part of the show activities, including the Nokia 2200 Series
phone, the Nokia 3105 phone and the Nokia 6225 phone. The Nokia
2200 Series CDMA handsets are currently selling in the growing
China and India markets. The Nokia 3105 phone has a compact size,
color screen and Java technology. Nokia's first CDMA camera
phone, the Nokia 6225 handset, combines a large keypad, color
screen and a built-in FM radio.
--------------------------------------
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