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The WAVE Report on Digital Media
3D --- Media Creation --- Shared Space ---Published by 4th Wave, Inc.--- Issue #0533------------------8/19/05 |
The WAVE Report is Searchable on
http://www.3dlinks.com
http://www.wave-report.com
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0533.2 Flat Panel Displays
DisplaySearch Reports Global Q2'05 TV Revenues Rise 10% on Strong Flat Panel Growth
0533.3 Security Market Measurement
0533.4 Fuel Cells
GE Energy Receives DOE Contract To Develop Hybrid Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine System
0533.5 Compliance
0533.6 TV Media
0533.7 Asian Technology
New Nexant Study Highlights Cost-Competitiveness of Chinese and Asian Petrochemical Plants
0533.8 Technology Guides
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0533.1 Story of the Issue
***Audio and Video-based Biometric Person Authentication 2005
(AVBPA 2005)
By John Latta
Rye Town, New York
7/20 – 21/05
Audio and Video-based Biometric Person Authentication 2005 (AVBPA) is a small event held every two years. The registration is 168. There were 200 papers submitted of which 60 were accepted. It was announced that a number of the biometrics events would be combined into one large event. AVBPA, ICBA, SPIE Biometrics and Sinobiometrics have been combined into the International Conference on Biometrics. The next one will be held in Seoul, Korea August 2007.
Audio and Video-based Biometric Person Authentication 2005 (AVBPA) covers all areas of biometrics. From a research perspective we saw important advances in Iris recognition and facial biometrics. One of the more interesting aspects of the research is the ways in which biometrics can be applied – including Iris recognition done with cell phone cameras.
Biometrics is an emerging research area. There is much to do and significant challenges lie ahead. Most of the individuals here are from the discipline of pattern recognition. Yet, biometrics requires more than pattern matching. Examples include 3D technology and even lighting. The important areas which need to be addressed and this can be seen here, include:
Biometrics Technologies
Biometrics Performance Evaluation
Biometric System Design
Applications
In the US, much of the research agenda is being driven by homeland security, criminal/justice or defense. As a result the research is near term and more focused.
In the effort to take biometrics everywhere it must be mobile. Here at AVBPA we saw a number of presentations on MoC including TOC (Template-on-Card). This work was focused on using today’s very limited smart cards but nonetheless the initial results were impressive.
Iris Recognition at a Distance
The Sarnoff Corporation in Princeton, New Jersey presented results from a DARPA funded program called Human ID at a Distance. The motivation is to capture Iris data up to 30’. It is claimed that Iris is important due to “no false matches in 2m comparisons” and only 2% non- matches. One of the major problems with Iris is that current systems are highly constrained. They must be at controlled distances and under special lighting. A result is that a system has limited throughput.
The test system used two lenses for two cameras which operated at 5m and 10m. IR was used for illumination at 880nm. There were 128 pixels across the diameter of the Iris. Each image was captured at 12f/s for 10 seconds. Variables in the collection included: 5 or 10m distance, angle 0 or 30 degrees, eye movement or tracking and lighting that was background or spotlight. The technique used was 97% successful, including with glasses, in locating the Iris.
The system was able to discriminate between the subject and impostor in most cases. The factors which impacted performance were summarized as follows:
Distance had no effect (5m or 10m)
Time (1month) had only a minor effect
Angle (30 deg) had a larger effect
Glasses had the largest effect.
At the end of the talk it was stated that a Portal System was under development – that is, a system where individuals could walk through a portal and have their Iris captured.
If this works well it could do much to improve the application and operations of Iris recognition based systems.
Iris Recognition from a Cell Phone
The BERC (Biometric Engineering Research Center) of Sangmyung University of Korea presented a paper on Iris Image Restoration. The motivation was the most important aspect of the paper:
Need for a low processing load, high speed Iris detection algorithm within a mega pixel camera, such as in a cell phone and
Development of Iris code extraction and recognition algorithm in mobile device considering sunlight.
Making Face Recognition Work Under Variable Lighting Environments
Toshiba and University of Tsukuba presented a technique called Constrained Mutual Subspace Method (CMSM) which is to allow face recognition under changes in pose and illumination. It claimed that this technique lowered the error rate by a factor of 2 over the more traditional methods.
Facial Object Model for Gesture Variations
One of the problems with facial recognition is the ability of the individual to have many facial gestures. The Institute for Neurocomputing at the University of Bochum, Germany developed a flexible object model that allows for the recognition and synthesis of facial expressions. This is based on bunch graphs which uses Gabor jets. What it enables is the recognition of faces after matching which is implemented by the rapid comparison of many faces. The technique does both gesture and pose normalization.
Impact of Lighting on Face Reconstruction
SUNY at Stony Brook, New York, developed a morphable model to recover facial shape. This was then used to recover both texture and illumination. The technique is based on spherical harmonics. The value of this approach is that Lambertian reflectance can be represented by the combination of the first 9 spherical harmonics. It was claimed that the average shape error was only 3.5% and the average appearance error 2.8%. Given the variation of pose and illumination the results were impressive.
Applications of Face Models
Simon Baker of Carnegie Mellon gave the keynote on Model-Based Face Analysis. Face models are “black boxes” that allow one to control model parameters that include shape and appearance and from these create a face image. Some of the models include 2D Active Appearance Models (AAMs) and 3D Morphable Models (3DMMs). There is an inverse process where a facial image can be used to create via a fitting algorithm a face model. The fitting process is where the model parameters are found which best matches the image. A point made by Simon is that these models need to run in real time – 30 or 60f/s – at video rates.
The most interesting aspect of the presentation dealt with the applications.
Mouse or Joystick replacement – used by disabled individuals or children
Smart airbags
Windshield Display overlays
Diver Monitoring
Intention detection – such as mother baby studies on child development
Audio – Visual speaker recognition and identification
Expression transfer
Animation generation
Low bandwidth video conferencing
Fingerprints on a Cell Phone
The Center for Biometrics and Security Research, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences examined how fingerprint authentication could be done on a mobile phone. A system was implemented on a BIRD E868 mobile phone. This worked by passing a fingerprint feature data base, assumed small, to the phone where the actual recognition is done on the features. Emphasis was placed on reducing the computational time and load. Applications are seen in identity protection on the phone and e-business from the phone.
Driving Facial Recognition to the Next Level of Performance
The graduate school of Engineering at Osaka Electro-Communication University examined facial recognition using multiple means of creating the facial image. The technique used two images, one a thermal imager, and another was based on multiple images, i.e., a sequence, which also collects a color stereo image. 3D measurements were used to determine the apparent size and position of the faces. The decision system uses trainable classifiers and in the example presented it was with a neural network. The data set was only 30 images. The results were impressive: recognition rates varied from 97% to 100%. It was claimed with additional work it could be 100%. Caution should be exercised in assuming these results will apply to a large scale application.
MOC – Michigan State University
Michigan State University asked the question in a poster paper “Can fingerprint template information be secured in a resource constrained devices such as smart cards without sacrificing matching performance?” Their system uses the scanner to do template extraction but the card holds the template, does MOC and non-critical parts of the matching process are done in the scanner. The matching technique is based on triplets. The on card data includes a pruned triplet map, ridge features map and a personal information code. The card determines the transformation values of the triplet information which is then sent to the scanner. It extracts the ridge feature map from the presented image. The card then compares the ridge feature map and provides a match score. If the match score meets a predetermined threshold a verification signal is generated. Matching performance is claimed to similar but more computationally demanding techniques.
MOC – Institute for Informatics and Telematics – Italy
This technique uses a template stored on the card but the actual matching is done on a secure local host, i.e., PC. To enhance security a PKI security module is retained on the device which is used to enhance PIN security. A Mobile Agent Runtime Environment is implemented on the card in Java.
A second paper proposes an asymmetric fingerprint matching algorithm for a Java Card. One of the most challenging aspects of working with smart cards are the limited resources. They cite:
5 – 10 MHz CPU
1k RAM, 32Kb EEPROM
JCVM does not support threads, and garbage collection
Java Card bytecode is interpreted
The technique uses local minutiae for matching and only 20 minutiae are supported per template. In order to reduce the time to MOC the matching technique stops when fewer minutiae are “well” matched.
Not only is a low FAR required but matching time must be reasonable. They found that a FAR of .1% was achieved in two tests at 69% and 88% of the time within 8 seconds. The performance was also dependent on the quality of the enrollment image. They found that most matches were accomplished in 1 – 8 sec. Using low end smart cards the FAR was .1% with a FRR of 7.3%.
Improving Liveness Detection with Perspiration Pattern Matching – Clarkson
University
One of the weaknesses of fingerprint matching is the susceptibility to spoofing. There have been a number of techniques proposed for liveness detection and the use of perspiration patterns is one of the most unique. Based on these early results there are indications that fingerprint perspiration is but another biometric which can enhance the security of fingerprint matching.
The technique uses wavelets to perform the perspiration pattern matching. The actual perspiration patterns were found by an inverse transform using difference coefficients between images. Examples were shown of difference images with a cadaver and spoof and they had no perspiration patterns.
The tests covered a range of individuals by age, ethnicity and sex. Fingerprint images were collected over 5 seconds and 5 months. Scanners of the optical, electro-optical and capacitive DC types were tested. Only similarity scores were presented. But the results showed that perspiration patterns were unique and there was good consistency. It was recognized the future work needs to test a larger group of individuals and consistency needs to be tested over a longer period of time.
Using Fingerprints for a Security Key to Improve Overall Security = Michigan
State and IBM
The technique uses fingerprint minutiae locations for locking and unlocking a secure vault. The key length is 128 bits. The upside of this technique is that the FAR is 0%. Of the 9,900 attempts to unlock the value none were successful. The down side is that the GAR was only .79. That is 21 of the 100 query templates could not work. In the future they will work on better template alignment with the expectation of lowering the FRR.
Ear Biometrics – Some Promise – University of Southampton
Coming from left field a matching technique using “force field convergence” from energy physics was shown to have excellent results on ear biometrics. One of the problems with ear biometrics is that the ear is 3D when the depth of the ear features are included. To handle this, based on 2D images only, a force field method was proposed which uses a convergence field to map the ear. The results were impressive – out of 252 samples from 63 subjects the recognition rate was 99%.
Finger Surface Features as a Biometric – First Attempt does not
Make the Grade - Notre Dame
This technique uses 3D finger surface data. 233 subjects were tested over a 4 month period. Both range and intensity images were collected of 3 fingers – central 3. The matching technique was based on a shape index. This index allowed for a means to classify various shape patterns such as a spherical cup, dome, and tough. Of the total 335 verification experiments performed the equal error rate varied from 5.5% to 15%.. For future work it was suggested that a large data set be collected, better templates developed and fusion techniques tried to combine 2D with 3D date.
WAVE Comments
We continue to come away amazed at the various forms of biometrics being considered and seriously evaluated. In essence biometrics is about uniqueness of the individual. But the current emphasis is on seeking ways in which technology can detect a biometric and recognize individuals based on the metric. Thus, as suggested in this report, the following lays out the scope of biometrics:
If it is alive, walks, talks, acts and/or is a part of the body there can be a biometric associated with it.
AVBPA exposed the reality that biometrics can go well beyond its security application. In particular was the paper by Simon Baker of Carnegie Mellon which discussed many biometric applications including as a HCI input device. As we step away from a biometric in security applications this brings a new perspective. For example, the role of uniqueness, as outlined above becomes much less important. One of the stand outs from AVBPA is the role of facial models. Used as part of developing a facial template it was shown to have much broader applications, even including video conferencing.
The use of biometric technology beyond security has barely been explored. This is a market opportunity that remains to be developed.
***DisplaySearch Reports Global Q2'05 TV Revenues Rise 10% on Strong Flat Panel Growth - Samsung Overtakes Sony on a Revenue Basis
AUSTIN, TEXAS
August 18, 2005
DisplaySearch has released Q2'05 TV shipments and revenues for all TV technologies and brands by region and size this week in its Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report. TV shipments were down 14% Q/Q and 2% Y/Y on seasonal weakness in China and CRT weakness in Europe. However, due to a 7% Q/Q and 12% Y/Y increase in average selling prices (ASPs) on strong flat panel growth, total TV revenues increased 10% to $17.3B. Flat panel TV shipments were up 26% Q/Q and 132% Y/Y to 5.13M units in Q2'05. The flat panel share of the TV market on a unit basis reached 13% in Q2'05, up from 6% in Q2'04 and 9% in Q1'05. On a revenue basis, the flat panel share surged to 47% on 18% Q/Q and 85% Y/Y growth to $8.2B, up from a 28% share in Q2'04 and 37% share in Q1'05.
In terms of shipments by technology:
CRT TV unit shipments declined 10% Y/Y and 18% Q/Q to 32.75M as they lost ground to LCDs. Its unit share remained dominant however at 84%, down from 88% in Q1'05 and 92% in Q2'04. CRTs are losing ground primarily at the larger sizes, which caused its average size to decline 2% Q/Q and Y/Y in Q2'05 to 22.7". With China suffering a seasonal decline after a strong Q1'05, ROW accounted for 47% of the CRT TV market and was the only region to enjoy a Y/Y increase led by the Korean manufacturers. LGE was the top branded CRT TV manufacturer in Q2'05 with a 10% share, overtaking TTE. Samsung jumped to #2 with TTE falling to #3. On a revenue basis, however, TTE remained #1 followed by LGE and Samsung with Sony falling from #2 to #5. Regionally on a revenue basis, Panasonic was #1 in Japan, Funai was #1 in North America, Philips was #1 in Europe, Konka was #1 in China and LGE led in ROW.
LCD TV shipments rose 27% Q/Q and 148% Y/Y to slightly over 4M units, a record high. Its unit share exceeded 10% for the first time at 10.3%, up from 4% in Q2'04 and 7% in Q1'05, while its revenue share rose from 13% in Q2'04 and 22% in Q1'05 to 29% in Q2'05. Despite a 5% Q/Q and 13% Y/Y increase in average size to 24", LCD TV ASPs fell 5% Q/Q and 4% Y/Y under significant pricing pressure which contributed to its rapid growth. All regions except ROW enjoyed double-digit sequential growth with North America rising the fastest up 69% to over 1M units for the first time. Europe remained the largest region for LCD TVs with a 38% share followed by North America at 27% and Japan at 23%. By size, 32" 1366 x 768 LCD TVs became the single most popular LCD TV in Q2'05 with a 21% share, up from 13% followed by 20" 640 x 480 with an 18% share. Sharp remained the #1 brand with an 18% unit share and 20% revenue share worldwide. On a unit basis, Philips/Magnavox, Samsung, S! ony and LGE remained #2 - #5. On a revenue basis, Philips/Magnavox remained #2, Samsung overtook Sony for #3, Sony fell to #4 and LGE remained #5. Regionally on a revenue basis, Sharp led in Japan and North America, Philips led in Europe, Hisense led in China and Samsung led in ROW.
Plasma TV shipments grew 24% Q/Q and 89% to a record 1.13M units while revenues rose 13% and 37% Y/Y to $3.1B. Its unit and revenue shares reached record levels, with units rising from 2.0% in Q1'05 to 2.9% in Q2'05 and revenues growing from 15% in Q1'05 to 18% in Q2'05. All regions except China enjoyed double-digit Q/Q growth with Japan rising the fastest up 77% after seasonally weak Q1'05. Europe remained the largest plasma TV market on a unit basis with a 33% share followed by North America at 30% and ROW at 15%. On a revenue basis, however, North America was the largest market with a 33% share due to increased penetration of HD and larger sizes. The plasma TV share of the 40"-44” TV market surged from 64% to 76% while its share of the 50"-54" market jumped from 15% to 22%. 42" ED remained dominant with a 56% share followed by 42"-43" HD with a 23% share and 50" at 9%. Panasonic drove the plasma TV market in Q2'05 on 90% Q/Q growth boosting its share from 1! 7% in Q1'05 to 27% in Q2'05. It remained #1 worldwide followed by LGE, Samsung, Philips with Hitachi overtaking Pioneer for #5. Regionally on a revenue basis, Panasonic led in Japan, North America and Europe while Changhong led in China and LGE led in ROW.
Microdisplay RPTVs were up 49% Y/Y but fell 11% Q/Q on channel inventory concerns and loss of share to plasma TVs. Worldwide, all microdisplay technologies (DLP, LCD and LCOS) declined sequentially, with DLP down 1%, LCD down 16% and LCOS falling 27%. As a result, the DLP share rose from 39% to 43%, with LCD RPTVs leading with a 53% share, down from 56%. Regionally, North America continues to dominate this category, earning an 84% share in Q2'05, down from 86% in Q1'05 although shipments fell 13% Q/Q while rising 52% Y/Y. Microdisplay RPTVs were particularly dominant in the 60"+ market, holding a 69% share, up from 61%. The unit and revenue rankings remained the same as last quarter with Sony leading followed by Samsung, Panasonic, Mitsubishi and Hitachi. However, the gap between the leaders narrowed, with Sony's unit share falling from 44% to 36% and Samsung's share rising from 21% to 25%.
CRT RPTV shipments fell 37% Q/Q and 39% Y/Y to 531K units and a 1.4% unit share, down from 1.9% in Q1'05 and 2.2% in Q2'04. All regions declined at a double-digit rate on both a Q/Q and Y/Y basis. China suffered the largest Q/Q decline due to seasonal weakness and gains by aggressively priced plasma TVs. North America remained the leading region for CRT RPTVs with a 54% share, up from 50%, while ROW overtook China with a 19% to 18% advantage. CRT RPTVs continued to lead the 50"-54" TV market with a 40% share, down from 52% and slightly above microdisplay RPTVs at 38%. TTE overtook Sony to become the top brand worldwide on a unit basis followed by Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi. On a revenue basis, TTE also overtook Sony which fell to #2 with Samsung rising to #3, Toshiba falling to #4 and Hitachi remaining #5. By region on a revenue basis, TTE led in North America, Samsung led in Europe, Changhong remained #1 in China and Samsung remained #1 in ROW.
In terms of worldwide TV shipments and revenues by supplier, Samsung overtook Sony for the first time on a revenue basis as shown in Table 1. Samsung was in the top 3 on a revenue basis in all TV technologies. Panasonic's strong plasma TV position propelled it to the #2 position worldwide, just slightly behind Samsung. Sony fell to #3 as it lost share in most TV technologies.
On a worldwide unit basis by supplier, LGE overtook TTE to earn the top position worldwide with a 9.6% share on 13% growth as shown in Table 2. LGE benefited from the top position in CRT TVs and top 5 positions in flat panel TVs.
Regionally,
North America's TV demand was up 5% Q/Q and Y/Y to 7.2M, overtaking Europe. Its revenues were the highest of any region worldwide at $4.9B on 1% Q/Q and 10% Y/Y growth, resulting in a 29% share. Supporting North America's revenue position was the largest average TV diagonal of 26.9", the highest RPTV penetration at 9% and significant flat panel growth with the flat panel share rising from 14% in Q1'05 to 20% in Q2'05 on a unit basis and 36% to 45% on a revenue basis. The CRT unit share declined from 82% in Q2'04 to 71% in Q2'05 on a 9% Y/Y decline. Sony continued to lead the North American market on a revenue basis although its share fell from 22% to 13%. Samsung and Panasonic gained significant share while retaining the #2 and #3 positions.
Japan's TV market was down 9% Q/Q and 1% Y/Y to 1.95M units due to weakness in the CRT market despite rapid flat panel growth. The flat panel share exceeded 50% for the first time in Q2'05 at 52% on 16% Q/Q and 59% Y/Y growth to over 1M units, while CRT shipments fell 26% Q/Q and 31% Y/Y. While units were down, Japan's total TV revenues rose 12% Q/Q and 21% Y/Y to $1.8B with the flat panel share rising to 90%. As a result of Japan's high flat panel penetration, it had the highest TV ASPs in the world at $907, more than $200 higher than any other region. Sharp remained the leading brand on a unit and revenue basis followed by Panasonic which overtook Sony who fell to #3.
As in Japan, Europe's TV shipments declined on a unit basis as weakness in CRT TVs could not be offset by gains in flat panels. Europe's TV volumes fell 11% Q/Q and 12% Y/Y to 7.1M units with CRTs falling 18% Q/Q and 29% Y/Y to 5.1M units. The >1M Q/Q decline in CRT TVs caused it share to fall from 79% to 72%. The flat panel share rose from 20% to 27% while the RPTV share was flat at 1%. Philips remained #1 in Europe followed by Samsung and LGE on both a unit and revenue basis.
China's shipments fell 46% Q/Q and 5% Y/Y in seasonally weak Q2'05. CRTs fell 47% Q/Q and 9% Y/Y, causing its share to fall from 95% to 92%. The flat panel share rose from 3% to 6% while RPTVs fell from 2.1% to 1.6% with CRT RPTVs falling over 50% Q/Q and Y/Y. Changhong was the leading brand on a unit and revenue basis followed by Skyworth and Hisense on a revenue basis with Konka and TTE #2 and #3 on a unit basis.
http://www.displaysearch.com/hdtvconference
0533.3 Security Market Measurement
***Forrester Evaluates the Client Security Suite Market
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
Aug. 17, 2005
The complexity of malicious code infiltrating corporate networks has rendered simple security tools such as antivirus, antispyware, and perimeter defenses as inadequate security solutions. Today, companies need security solutions that are more than standalone lines of defense. Using its Wave methodology, Forrester Research examined the evolving client security suite market to see how vendors stacked up against each other. McAfee emerged as the current market leader.
The vendors Forrester evaluated all fit established criteria: revenue exceeding $500 million, a suite encompassing solutions that provide protection against known threats, and a central management feature for all product functionality.
Client security suites integrate the following components: antivirus, antispyware, personal firewall, and Host IPS (HIPS). The Wave consisted of a combination of hands-on lab evaluations, vendor surveys and product demos. Using 170 criteria, vendors were grouped according to current offering, strategy, and market presence.
Due to the evolving nature of the market, Forrester found that each of the vendors were in different stages of building out their suites. To address the differing strengths of the vendors, Forrester developed a Wave for each of the most important features today: security tools for today's known threats, unified product architecture and manageability, and breadth of client security suite. Overall, Forrester found that McAfee ranked as a leader in each category.
-- McAfee has the most comprehensive security suite. Its full portfolio, robust management features, and strong architecture make it a great fit for companies looking for a client security solution. It is the only suite with full HIPS functionality, although it isn't yet fully integrated.
-- Symantec offers strong spyware detection, manageability, and robust management features. The console and all alerts, errors, and notification messages are customizable to the needs of the organization. While special weight was placed on services that had HIPS in their portfolio, Symantec offers limited HIPS functionality in a fully integrated suite.
-- Trend Micro excels in unified architecture. The Web-based management console allows administrators the ability to manage the product remotely.
-- Computer Associates offers the best protection against known threats. However, it lacks many key features, including the ability to customize how different categories of spyware are handled.
Details on the vendor ratings are included in the research, " The Forrester Wave: Client Security Suites, Q2 2005," and is available to Forrester WholeView2(TM) clients at
***GE Energy Receives DOE Contract To Develop Hybrid Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine System
ATLANTA
Aug. 17, 2005
GE Energy has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a highly efficient, multi-megawatt solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-based power system operating on coal.
Under a 10-year, three-phase agreement with DOE, GE Energy's Hybrid Power Generation Systems (HPGS) business will design and demonstrate an integrated gasification fuel cell (IGFC) system that incorporates a hybrid SOFC/gas turbine as the primary power generation unit. A key objective of the effort is to achieve greater than 50% total system efficiency from coal, while a typical conventional pulverized coal-fired power plant operates at about 35% efficiency.
The program has three primary objectives:
-- Develop a design for a 100-megawatt IGFC power plant
-- Design and demonstrate a proof-of-concept (POC) system
-- Resolve obstacles associated with the development of SOFC, and develop and demonstrate an SOFC building block stack for multi-megawatt system applications
Phase I of the development program, a three-year effort, will begin in October of 2005 and will focus on system design of the IGFC power plant, IGFC and POC system cost analyses, and SOFC technology advancement. Phase II will further advance the design of the IGFC and POC systems and will extend through 2010. Phase III, beginning in the fifth year of the program, will culminate in the demonstration of the POC system at an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant.
***Health Care Regulations and Technologies Lead the Way
By John Persinos
Larstan Business Reports
Washington, DC
August 18
Whether it's the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its strict requirements for medical data management, or Sarbanes-Oxley and its imposition of tighter financial reporting, new federal mandates are compelling IT managers to find innovative storage solutions to handle large and growing amounts of data.
HIPAA regulations, in particular, are driving the emergence of new storage solutions. HIPAA establishes disaster recovery planning and requires that multiple copies of data be maintained for a minimum time period. These demands have given birth to a new category of storage – called CAS – that provides massive scalability, application awareness, simplified management, and instant access to data for on-line archiving.
The convergence of these trends is pushing other storage methods to the fore, such as Network Attached Storage (NAS), which leverages IP connectivity, and Storage Area Networks (SANS), which enhance fiber channel connectivity. However, as demand for the storage and retrieval of fixed content explodes, so does the need for CAS (referred to as either “content addressed” or “content aware” storage, depending on the specific solution).
Dramatic changes in health care are a major impetus behind the demand for CAS, as new methods of electronic prescribing and patient administration result in the digital hospital. A recent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that digital hospitals rack up shorter average stays and reap improved operational revenues, compared to the national average. These technologies – combined with the pressures of HIPAA compliance – are paving the way for CAS.
According to Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) analysts, digital reference files are growing in volume at an annual rate of 92 percent and now comprise 51 percent of stored data. These files include documents, videos, scanned images, and other unstructured data.
CAS is an emerging category of storage that is extremely scalable, self-managing and cost effective. Notably, health care users seek storage systems that provide retention capabilities and “write once, read many” (WORM) functionality – features inherent to CAS storage. Since the growth of digital reference data is growing so rapidly these characteristics are essential, according to ESG.
***J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Satellite TV Penetration Increases Significantly, Even as Cable Narrows the Customer Satisfaction Gap; WOW! is First Cable Company to Rank Highest in Customer Satisfaction in the Past Four Years
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.
Aug. 17, 2005
The number of households subscribing to satellite TV service has increased dramatically over the past year, even as cable narrows the gap in customer satisfaction ratings, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2005 Residential Cable/Satellite TV Satisfaction Study released today.
The study finds that satellite TV service continues to erode cable's market share, increasing every year for the past 10 years and making its most significant leap this year. Currently, 27 percent of U.S. households only subscribe to satellite service -- up from 19 percent in 2004 and 12 percent in 2000. Sixty percent of households only subscribe to cable service -- down from 62 percent in 2004 and 66 percent in 2000.
For the first time since 2001, a cable service provider -- WOW! (WideOpenWest) -- holds the top carrier position in the customer satisfaction rankings. WOW!, which operates in major markets in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio, ranks highest among 14 of the nation's largest cable/satellite companies with an index score of 717 (on a 1,000-point scale). A predecessor company of WOW!, Ameritech New Media, was also highest ranked in 2001, which was the last cable company to do so since Cox held the top spot in 1996. The cable provider receives the highest ratings from customers in three of the six factors driving customer satisfaction: customer service, performance and reliability, and billing. Following WOW! in the ranking are DirecTV and Cox Communications, respectively. DirecTV leads the industry in cost of service, while Cox leads in offerings and promotions.
The average amount consumers spend monthly on satellite TV service continues to be less than cable service. Satellite subscribers report paying an average of $57.72 per month for service, while cable subscribers pay an average of $58.51 a month.(2)
Although both satellite and cable service providers have been actively promoting digital video recorders (DVR), which allow viewers to freeze and record live TV, only 12 percent of customers currently own a DVR system. However, despite low current usage rates of DVRs, 41 percent of consumers indicate that they are likely to use a DVR system in the future. Current usage of DVRs through cable companies (35% of DVR owners) outpaces usage through satellite companies (23%). Another 22 percent of DVR owners use systems by TiVo.
The study also finds that 21 percent of consumer report ordering a video on demand (VOD) program -- a decline of 1 percent compared to the prior year.
The 2005 Residential Cable/Satellite TV Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 11,586 U.S. households who evaluated their satellite or cable TV providers.
***New Nexant Study Highlights Cost-Competitiveness of Chinese and Asian Petrochemical Plants
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.
Aug. 17, 2005
A newly published study by Nexant, Inc. -- Asian Cost Competitiveness: The Rise of China -- highlights the cost-competitiveness of a wide range of leading petrochemical facilities in China and Asia. Additionally, the study provides cost comparisons to leading facilities in the Middle East, Western Europe, and the U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC).
Three North Asian countries -- Japan, South China, and Taiwan -- dominate the Asian petrochemical industry. Together, they represent about 70 percent of the world's installed petrochemical capacity. Over the last five years, China's relative importance has increased, and it remains a preferred destination for investments. However, China's petrochemical deficit is the largest in the region, and its petrochemical product deficits are expected to continue, in spite of numerous projects currently being planned or under consideration.
The study profiles a number of variables that impact the cost-competitiveness of petrochemical products in the region. Manufacturing costs have been estimated for leader plants in each country that, in most instances, represent newly built, world-scale plants incorporating the most efficient current process technologies and economies of scale. The products profiled are ethylene, HDPE, LLDPE, LDPE, PP, VCM, PVC, MEG, benzene, styrene, PX, and PTA for those countries that currently produce those products, or that have firm plans to start production by 2008. Economic scenarios were developed for 2004 and 2008. The countries covered in the study include China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Australia, and Vietnam. To put Asian costs in a global context, the economics for leader plants in the U.S., Western Europe, and the Middle East are also provided.
The study highlights the capital cost differences observed in China. Surprisingly, China's capital cost location factor declined rather significantly as compared to only a few years ago, in contrast to the location factors for other regions that remained relatively stable over the same period. Capital cost is now the key item in differentiating older plants built in China with a high degree of imported services and content, and the plants currently being built in China by both local companies and joint ventures (e.g., with Sinopec) which maximize local content. Local content ranges from engineering, procurement, and construction services, to locally developed technology and key process equipment.
To highlight these differences in capital requirements, Nexant developed two different scenarios for China. One scenario, identified as "Maximizing Local Content," reflects the current practice of maximizing the use of local resources and services offered by Chinese companies and suppliers. This practice allows for sizable savings in capital costs, thus providing a competitive cost advantage to those plants built with local materials and services. The alternative scenario, "Minimizing Local Content," is reflective of past practices that relied heavily on imported resources for petrochemical plant construction, with low construction wages being the sole cost-saving benefit.
Nexant compiled the results of the cost of production analyses, and prepared comparisons to illustrate the competitiveness of leader plants in each country covered in the report (provided such facilities existed in 2004 or were highly likely to be completed by 2008), as well as leader facilities in USGC, Western Europe, and the Middle East.
***USA TODAY to Publish Consumer Technology Guide Magazine
McLEAN, Va.
August 18
For the first time, USA TODAY will publish a glossy consumer technology magazine. The magazine, titled USA TODAY NOW Personal Technology, will be a how-to guide to educate readers on the latest consumer electronics products and trends, and to make the overall consumer tech-buying experience more user-friendly.
The magazine will go on sale the week of October 17th to ring in the holiday buying season. It will be available at newsstands nationwide including book, grocery, drug and convenience stores. A minimum of 300,000 copies will be printed. The cover price will be $4.95.
The 80-page consumer technology magazine’s features will include:
• Technology for the home and office, entertainment, car and your life.
• How to’s, Q&A’s with experts, and stories on using and buying technology.
• No fear shopping: How to shop without being intimidated by the geek behind the counter.
• Setting up a home theatre: What to look for when you buy one.
• Digital imaging: How to take better photos, make better videos, and buy the right stuff.
• An exclusive USA TODAY TECH map that answers the question: Are people in your county ahead of the tech curve?
• An exclusive USA TODAY poll of Americans: What’s your fear factor with technology?
• Top editors’ picks on key products such as digital cameras, laptops and HDTVs from CNET.com.
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