He says the shift is facilitated by three factors made possible by the internet and digital technology. 1. Lowering barriers to production. This creates products to populate the tail. 2. Broadening distribution to make everything available, not just the hits; 3. Effective ways to help consumer find their way to products they want.

Anderson gave a catchy name to a business plan already widely successful at the time the book was published. He credits the concept of the long tail to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and counterparts at Netflix and Rhapsody.

Anderson begins with the conversation he had with the CEO of a digital jukebox company. The CEO asks Anderson, what percentage of the 10,000 album inventory sells at least one track per quarter? Anderson first thinks 20%, based on the theory that generally 80% of sales come from 20% of the products – the 80/20 rule. The CEO says the actual number of cds selling at least one track per quarter is 98%. This is posited by the CEO as the 98% rule. Anderson used 98% rules as a chapter subtitle.

This is comparing apples and oranges. 98% of the albums could sell one track per quarter. And 80% of sales could still come from 20% of the albums. The observation has no bearing on “end of the hits” thesis. Anderson writes on p. 131 “I’ve described the Long Tail as the death of the 80/20 Rules, even though it’s actually nothing of the sort." So why describe it that way in the first place?

Anderson employs the same bait and switch tactic by titling chapter two The Rise and Fall of the Hit and then on page 147 writing “Hits, like it or not are here to stay”. Anderson holds his idea right in front of our eyes so it looks big. Then as the book goes on he pulls the idea further away. From the new perspective we see it's not so big after all. Given that The Long Tail was written for a mass audience we can forgive Anderson for shouting before introducing the nuances.

It faces a more serious challenge from Harvard Business School associate professor Anita Elberse. Elberse helped Anderson in his research for the Long Tail. Now she says her more recent analysis of sales demonstrates that hits are more important than ever.

For example in studying Rhapsody sales figures she found that the top 10% of titles accounted for 78% of all plays, and the top 1% of titles for 32% of all plays. This would suggest the blockbusters still rule.

Anderson has responded that using percentages misrepresents the true meaning of the head. He says the head should be defined as sales of the number of items found in a bricks and mortar retailer and the tail is defined as everything else. Anderson says The Long Tail is made possible by going beyond bricks and mortar so what is the relevance of this definition?

By defining the head as only the relatively limited selection available in a bricks and mortar store, Anderson artificially inflates the tail. Defining the head as the part of a graph where the hits reside and the tail as where a steep drop off occurs, creates more valid comparison.

Elberse makes this case and runs with it, arguing that in practical sales terms “a few winners still go a long way – probably even further than before” and “the tail is long and flat and content providers will find it hard to profit much from it”. It may be that way today, but we are still early in the on-line revolution.

But why must on-line retailers decide between allocating resources more toward blockbusters or more in the direction of niche products? Can’t they easily do both? On web sites employing a good search engine and social marketing (“people who like what you’re looking at also liked….) the cross-promotion to more obscure but related products is automatic. Once the on-line description has been written and properly indexed, the retailers’ work is done. The consumer can as easily look for the niche as they can look for the hit.

Beyond his economic points, Anderson argues that The Long Tail upends assumptions about mass culture. He argues "the primary effect of the Long Tail is to shift our taste toward niches..." and away from blockbusters. He sees in the numbers consumers yearning to be free of corporate blockbusters.

Elberse challenges the culture change notion citing her own sales figures from Australia’s version of Netflix, Quickflix. Her parsing of the numbers suggests there is no particular taste for the obscure. Most of the niche offerings are rented by customers who rent many videos, including hits. She presents her own theory that we gravitate to hits because it connects us socially.

Anderson is correct to question whether such an inference can be made from a snapshot of sales figures from one company down under. But I found neither argument persuasive. Both Anderson and Elberse use snapshots of data. In the rapidly changing marketplace we need trend data tracked over time.

In the meantime it is clear that sales are to be found in the Long Tail made possible by net economics of creating easy frictionless distribution and attractive ways for consumers to find products. But we knew that before Chris Anderson wrote "The Long Tail".

We are holding our annual Forum in November - please find below our official call for speakers:

OFFICIAL CALL FOR SPEAKERS

2008 Fall Forum

Submission Deadline: August 15

Acceptance Notification: August 22

Technology Meets Customer Needs - Unified Communications Supporting Business

After a very successful 2007 IMTC Fall Forum Event, the IMTC is pleased to announce the 2008 Fall Forum Event taking place November 12-13, 2008 at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco, CA near VoiceCON (which will be held November 10-13 at Moscone).

The audience will be comprised of C, VP and Director level business and technical execs as well as technical management. Attendees and speakers will represent small, medium and enterprise size companies.

The IMTC

The International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium (IMTC) includes more than 50 market leaders in unified communications and multimedia content delivery fields working together to create interoperable, standards based products in a non-competitive environment.

IMTC’s mission is to improve customer experience and accelerate market adoption of content delivery and unified communications solutions through interoperability of products and services based on open standards.

The EVENT PROGRAM

The 2008 IMTC Fall Forum Event will feature a combination of keynote presentations, interactive panel discussions, and individual presentations on new and exciting technologies relevant to multimedia communications.

Topics to include but not limited to the following:

• Health care Industry Unified Communications Requirements
• Financial Industry Unified Communications Requirements
• Conformance Testing & Methodology
• Online Collaboration

IMTC has launched an industry wide effort in the unified communications area, focused around creating a blueprint for unified communications implementations.

The forum will provide a venue for vendors, customers and analysts to come together to define the industry’s needs in the area of unified communications, and to create common and agreed upon implementation blueprints. The event will also provide the opportunity for the financial services and healthcare sectors to discuss their challenges and issues around the implementation of unified communications.

The program will combine business and technical sessions in multimedia telecommunications and Unified Communications. Submissions are currently being accepted for both business and technical subjects. All presentations will be given in English.

• Presentations - Presentations will be 30 minutes in length, including 5-10 minutes for Q&A. We are looking for presentations about business use cases where unified communications, video conferencing and collaboration play a significant role, the advantages of using standard technologies from a business perspective or the technical aspects of unified communications projects and protocols.

• Panel Sessions- Panels can take between 45 to 60 minutes. Unlike presentations, panel are a place of debate between different views and approaches to video conferencing and unified communications issues in addition to the topics above, panels will also cover the role of online collaboration in unified communications market.

SUBMITTING YOUR ABSTRACT

IMTC is accepting session proposals via the email to cfp08@imtc.org. Please include the following:

1. Name, title, company name & contact information

2. Brief biography

3. Presentation proposal with information on the vertical industry upon which your presentation will focus, and whether your presentation is more technical or business in nature. You are welcome to submit several distinct proposals.

We will be accepting proposals for consideration through August 15, 2008 and notifications of acceptance will begin the week of August 22, 2008.

SELECTION PROCESS

The program committee will receive all valid proposals and will review them. The choice of a session will be based on the presentation of the session and its value to the audience. Submitters will be contacted individually about their session. All decisions taken by the program committee are final.

The quality of the proposal is very important and preference will be given to business related content for November 12 and technically focused content for November 13.

Questions can be directed to the IMTC planning committee at cfp08@imtc.org

We look forward to receiving your submission!

Sincerely,

The IMTC Fall Forum 2008 Planning Committee

Rhapsody has been a subscription download service up to this point, charging $13 to $15 a month for unlimited song streaming. Under this plan there was no way for users to load music on their iPods.

Apparently, an executive at RealNetworks looked up "iPod" on Wikipedia and discovered that Apple has sold over 140 million of them since their launch in October 2001. The iPod makes up about 70% of the digital player market.

After pondering this data for about 5 minutes, Rhapsody Vice President Neil Smith said, "We're no longer competing with the iPod; we're embracing it."

Uh, yeah. Good call, Neil. Here's a tip: when you see the graphs curving upward, then you know that there is an increase trend. This iPod chart may have helped you a few years ago:

Better late than never, I suppose.

.

Visa, Facebook Partner For Small Biz Ad Program -- Visa Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new marketing initiative on Facebook providing small businesses a total of $2 million for advertising on the social networking site. The credit and debit card processing giant is awarding $100 ad credits to each of the first 20,000 businesses that join its Visa Business Network, an application aimed at connecting small businesses via Facebook.  

RealNetworks Does a Reorg; New Operating Structure and Exec Promotions -- RealNetworks, which is in the process of spinning out its games unit, has done a long-due reorg of its business structure and promoted three senior executives. From an earlier SEC filing, On June 9, 2008, Daniel Sheeran resigned as SVP, Business Development and Corporate Partnerships, he remains employed as a strategic advisor to Rob Glaser, the CEO.

NBC Partners With Wavexpress For Olympic Coverage -- US television network NBC will broadcast coverage from the 2008 Olympic Games this summer using Wavexpress's TVTonic internet video service. NBC executive Perkins Miller says TVTonic will cover the event on a sport-by-sport basis, allowing viewers to choose which areas they are interested in. Because of the time difference between the US and China, viewers will also be able to download events and watch them at a later date. The market for IPTV is set to soar, with the number of global subscribers reaching 60m worldwide by 2010, according to Telecommunications Management Group. 

Loop'd Adds Nike Branded Social Community -- Action sports social website Loop'd is launching a branded Nike online community. The portal aims to support athletes and enthusiasts of action sports, including surf, snow, freeski, freeride, wake, moto and BMX activities. According to Loop'd, the community features the first ever viral mash-up widget created exclusively for action sports, giving it the opportunity to connect with the site's 300,000-plus action sports enthusiasts.

I am not a lawyer. I don't really know copyright law, but I did have a brief conversation with someone that has been in the business for 30 years with experience in the domestic and international broadcast environments and his narrowed and got all "squinty" when I spoke about all the channels rebroadcasting sports, movies and television shows on JTV and that it seemed that JTV content has turned to a medium for people to broadcast shows that are on their television to the viewers of Justin.tv. I can't figure out what the allure is for the person broadcasting, but that's neither here nor there tonight. I'm more interested in hearing what people out there in "the real world" think about this.

I repeated the statements we've heard from JTV principals when they are asked about these channels and when they choose to respond. "We don't know what's copyright and what's not but if the content owner delivers a take down notice, we act immediately." I've also heard, but not directly from Michael, "It's ok as long as there is no network logo being broadcast." When I cited these responses, I was met with an emphatic side to side shake of the head and a "No!"

Now, I don't know if he knows any better than Michael or Justin or any of the JTV employees, but he's got experience behind him and I am inclined to go with his assessment that at some point, this could get really ugly. We'll see.

I'd like to know how people that pay for a Season Pass to watch Big Brother 24/7 feel about being able to watch it for free on JTV? I'm not a Big Brother fan, but my understanding is that you can pay for a Real.com Super Pass to watch anytime you wish. I've taken a look around and it looks like the subscription fee is $12.99/month. I don't know if there is a special rate for those that just want a pass to watch Big Brother, nevertheless, people are paying something, and I don't see a possibility for a requesting a refund.

Here's how I see a possible scenario playing out:

• Suzie pays for a SuperPass. She hunkers down on the couch with a snack and a drink on the coffee table and powers up her computer. She's comfortably watching the dysfunction, really getting into it, but feels the need to click around and see what else is going on in the live broadcasting world via the internet. So she opens another browser tab and heads over to Justin.tv. And what does she see? Something totally unexpected!!

Big Brother!!

• Suzie sits there staring at her monitor, perplexed. What's going through her mind is a mix of jubilation that she's found the show she's so enamored with, but she can hear it in the other tab that's running in her browser so she's brought back to reality. She's paying for one broadcast, yet watching it for free right next door on JTV.
• Without missing a beat, Suzie heads over to the RealNetworks site and looks around for the customer service site to see what she can find about obtaining a refund for the fees she's paid and right there under the Customer Service link is a link for Premium Subscriptions for Big Brother 9, Real Broadband Essentials, an NFL Field Pass and more. Looking around, she sees nothing about refunds, but she does see that she can easily cancel her subscription. She's not happy that there is nothing clear about refunds, but figures she's just out of luck and has a decision to make and she heads back to JTV to assess the feed and the chat to determine if she wants to cancel her subscription. It's a confusing decision, but I'm sure she chooses wisely.

For me, the confusion is this -- the Real.com site notes that the 9th season of Big Brother begins on February 12, 2008, so I feel like I'm in a time warp -- today IS June 17th, isn't it?

Oh well, it's not important. It's not like I am planning to watch Big Brother on any broadcast vehicle. It's just one of those things I ponder while sitting around surfing the channel bar.

]]> http://theshotgunreloa.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/its-good-to-talk-by-text/ Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:46:32 +0000 Nilima http://theshotgunreloa.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/its-good-to-talk-by-text/ We have invited readers to submit opinion articles to the BBC Scotland news website. Sarah Hepburn, an administrator with an oil-related company in Aberdeen, considers the impact of text messaging on everyday life.

THE UPS AND DOWNS IN A WORLD OF TEXTS

Students from schools on Shetland, Orkney, Lewis and Skye have received their exam results by text as part of a voluntary pilot scheme which has so far been deemed a success.

Other schemes using SMS being introduced include parents being informed of their children's truancy by text, pupils texting incidences of bullying to teachers, members of the public texting town security with details of anti-social behaviour, and residents of a town voting on council plans reality TV-style by electronic keypad, e-mail and text.

The effectiveness of such schemes is debatable but with the Mobile Data Association announcing that Britons sent a record 26 billion texts last year, there is a clear aim to raise awareness of issues amongst our texting teenagers by making the most of a well-used tool.

From flirting with your partner and conducting illicit affairs, to splitting up with someone and getting revenge on your ex, texting has been used and abused in the field of dating and can potentially lead to serious circumstances like these.

As an avid "texter" (my service provider informs me I send an average of 43 texts a day), I know from personal experience that texting can be problematic.

The thrill of sending a well-composed flirty text to that special someone is lost in the stomach-churning moments of waking up after a night out and realising I've been sending drunken texts to my ex.

The potential to misread the "tone" of a text, leading to text arguments, deleting unwelcome spam texts and receiving the "you're a nice girl but..." texts have also become common occurrences on my mobile phone.

But maybe the most disturbing outcome of texting is the ever decreasing ability of today's text generation to look each other in the eye and experience the pain, joy, love and hate of actually talking about the things that really matter.

Like Bob said... "It's good to talk."

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and are not endorsed by the BBC.

Your thoughts on Sarah Hepburn's article.

Texting must be a huge help for the deaf community, being able to contact another person deaf or otherwise without a third person translating must make life a little easier. My friends also all work shifts and somtimes sleep at odd hours so rather than phone and wake somebody we text. I must have sent hundreds of text that just saying "U awake?"
Sue, Sussex

I had a record night last night. Drank far too much alcopop, and sent out 14 txt messages to various feminine acquaintances resulting in four barrages of abuse, one break-up, one "I never want to speak to you again" and one particularly disgruntled mother, rejecting my somewhat ill-timed advances!
Allan, Scotland

Text messages are a useful way of keeping in touch, especially if you just have a short question for someone. But it's a nightmare if you try and have any kind of meaningful exchange. There's far too much scope for misunderstanding. A simple "How're you?" message could escalate into any number of things.
Rachel, Scotland

I've actually been so spineless as to break up with a partner by text. Realisation of what i was doing only hit me after i'd pressed 'send' and couldn't take it back. I realise it's not the medium but the user who is at fault but I do believe if the reception wasn't so patchy in the Highlands, I could have called her and passed it off as a joke. Tut tut tut. Excuses excuses eh!
Andy McKenzie, Paisley

Too busy running a home to flirt by text. Text is great for myself and partner working round our jobs and a baby - not always free to take a call. I also text the odd joke or newsflash round Ireland, Scotland and Australia regularly. It's very handy when everyone has scattered to the four winds!
John, Dublin

I would love texting if it weren't for the fact that my mates refuse to reply to text messages! Fair enough if it's just something stupid, but most of them don't reply when I actually ask a question! I just phone them now as at least they're forced to reply then.
Gregor, Glasgow

I text quite a bit, but what annoys me is when you are at work and staff members' mobile phones start beeping, they drop everything and reply straight away, then continue this throughout the working day. Surely people can wait until their breaks, lunch hour or finishing time before texting everyone.
Jill, Scotland

I think that Sarah has made some good points in her article, but I am surprised she has time to do anything in her life at all if she sends an average of 46 texts a day! I consider myself to be an average user because I send around five texts a day, maybe I need to re-think!
Eve, London

I find that 'conversation' by text is rarely a good idea. You can spend 10 minutes texting to and fro to conclude what would be a one minute voice discussion. In its place though, text is a useful tool. I'm increasingly using it to send messages to my wife who can't take calls when she's at work. Having said that, I probably only average about one text a day and can't quite fathom tarrifs offering 500 or more texts a month. They should come with a health warning about RSI!
Colin, Stirling

I don't text at all, I'm not really that interested in it, I wonder about something though watching other people furiously hitting the tiny phone keys. Tennis elbow, RSI... when is "texter's thumb" going to make an appearance?
Martin, Dundee

Diane, how can you "innocently" flick through someone's text messages? You were snooping and it suggests problems in your relationship prior to the discovery of his affair.
Pete, Scotland

There's no such thing as 'innocently' flicking through someone else's text messages! You get what you deserve if you spy on someone.
Gillian, Edinburgh

Texting also gives you the comfort of having an easy means to communicate with friends and family when you are by yourself (particularly when abroad)
Damien, Sydney

I txt way 2 much, my english has went downhill as well. Using shortened versions like "u, 2, ure, r" and ending every txt message with a "x" has become common. Kids spend way too much money on phones. 10p a txt message is too much. The phone operators can see kids are wasting their money and someone should put a stop of them charging such high rates. If you txt from abroad, it will cost something in the region of 50pence. How can 160 characters cost 50p? Get it sorted!
Alan, Glasgow

Texting is a very useful and easy form of communication, unfortunately as with many things some people are too stupid to use it properly.
Kevin, Edinburgh

There is nothing better than a lazy Sunday afternoon sending out a flirty "send to many" text message to the girls in my contacts. The same message sent out to six different "projects" asking the same question: "Hey you, how you? Fancy having some fun tonight?" then when the messages come in, you can sit back and weigh up your options. Happy days.
Ray, Dundee

Texting when drunk can be very dangerous as both myself and my boyfriend have found out recently. It is definitely better to talk!
Mike Watson, Aberdeen

I find text messages to be incredibly irritating. I have a few friends who have mobile phones and yet rarely use them unless required and yet I have other friends who are constantly texting irritating and pointless texts to and fro with people. What's the point! It just costs a stupid amount of money, is exceedingly fiddly and doesn't exactly allow scope for very deep messages. One for the dumbed down generation, give me MSN any day.
Craig MacDonald, Scotland

I text a lot, but the amount that I say differs. Text arguments can be good, because you have more time to think about what you want to say. Also, texting allows people to reply when they aren't busy and when it is convenient to them. However, text break-ups are the worst thing ever
Kirsty, Scotland

I think that texting when drunk or emotional is far more destructive than say an argument when inebriated, as in the morning there is some hard evidence of what has been said. Things taken out of context, misunderstood, or mis-communicated are commonplace. I agree wholeheartedly that it is better to talk and engage properly with someone in most situations. I send about 5-10 text messages per day and try to keep them short, to the point, and hopefully conclusive. Great mode of communication though compared to days gone by purely from a convenience point of view.
Frazer Gillespie, Inverness.

I discovered my husband was having an affair after innocently flicking through his text messages.
Diane, Scotland

]]> http://gigaom.com/?p=13357 Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:27 +0000 Wagner James Au http://gigaom.com/?p=13357 The casual games space keeps getting more interesting. Digital media company RealNetworks said today that revenue from its games division rose 33 percent in the first quarter, to $31.8 million; the company also announced it will spin off its games properties, which primarily consists of cellphone titles and its RealArcade casual game site, into a separate company (see CEO Rob Glaser's appearance on the GigaOM Show last summer). "[T]he spin off will create a pure-play casual games business with increased transparency," CFO Michael Eggers told MarketWatch, "[and that will] result in lower complexity in understanding and tracking RealNetworks' performance."

If the Alexa rankings are any indication, the new company will have a long way to go before they catch up with the likes of Electronic Arts' (ERTS) Pogo.com. The real question, however, is how does this relate to RealNetworks' stated intent to buy Scrabulous?

RealNetworks had pledged to step up to negotiate a settlement between the two parties. Om speculated Real was trying to buy Scrabulous, but with the launch of Scrabble by Mattel, that's clearly not happening. Was Real being disingenuous? Scrabulous was making about $25,000 a month in advertising, which could mean the price tag for Scrabulous was too high for Real, or Hasbro and Mattel just weren't interested in playing.

Real certainly tries to foist the blame on the gaming giants in its statement to the New York Times:

RealNetworks said that “it is important to remember that even if we reach an arrangement with the Scrabulous owners, both Hasbro and Mattel must approve” any Scrabble-related game.

As sad as it might be for the 600,000 users of Scrabulous, this is a clear-cut case of infringement. Mattel and Hasbro could have done the easy thing and bought Scrabulous and its user base, but they're well within their rights to launch Scrabble online. I'm not sure this proves that it's hard to make money selling an application on Facebook, or if it just proves that it's hard to make money off of someone else's intellectual property on Facebook. For now, however, the Scrabulous founders are still in the game.

The company believes that with the cash raised from these recent sales, it has reduced the amount of debt needed to finance the Gemstar purchase by nearly 20%, to just $650M. Expect to see a good portion of this remaining debt retired early, as Macrovision spins off non-strategic portions of Gemstar once it's folded in--notably the TV Guide print business, which I believe is orthogonal to MVSN's core strategy. This could significantly shorten the loan payback on the purchase from the 2011 date CFO James Budge originally estimated.

That all assumes, of course, that the deal goes through. Many Gemstar shareholders were none too happy when the merger was first announced in December. Ditto many Macrovision investors, who either did not understand or did not believe the vision management articulated. I would argue Budge and CEO Fred Amoroso did a poor job of explaining it at the time, using lots of effusive, scripted prose but leaving behind what felt like a distinctive snake oil residue.

However, there is a method in the madness here, a bit more visible now that extraneous bits have been spun out. The key is to understand Macrovision's three key constituencies: Hollywood studios, consumer electronics manufacturers, and cable companies (MSOs). Traditionally, the studios paid for copy protection, manufacturers licensed the tech for VCRs and DVD players, and MSOs paid to ensure compatibility between studio copy protection and their headend gear. Great high-margin cash business. All good.

But a year or so ago, Macrovision acquired Mediabolic, which gives it technology to enable (copy-protected) video transfer between PCs and multiple devices within the home. Say, to cable set-top boxes. They have already signed Scientific Atlanta (CSCO) as a customer, and I believe either Motorola or NDS is also on board.

Next, they bought All Media Guide, which provides metadata for video and music. By acquiring Gemstar, Macrovision gains television guide info--again, metadata. MVSN can now license both algorithms and information to device manufacturers and cable companies, while helping Hollywood protect its content wherever it is transferred. In the bargain, consumers would get a seamless home video capability.

Your existing set-top box becomes a media hub. Can you say "AppleTV"? I knew you could.

Arguably, Macrovision has made some missteps with its strategy in the past. The software business had low margins relative to MVSN's licensing unit, and games was pretty much a bust. But unlike many firms, it has been fairly quick to recognize errors and dispose of losing businesses. And this vision, however poorly spelled out by management, feels right.

Based on April 1 closing prices, and assuming no change in the original terms, the Gemstar deal is now valued at about $2.22B, 21% below the original $2.8B figure but slightly above the current market cap. This compares to a 9% drop in the S&P500 over the same period, and largely reflects the poor reaction of traders to both sides of the deal. The SEC just declared the S-4 effective and proxies are being mailed out. As both boards are already signed up (including Rupert Murdoch, with 41% ownership), it looks like the merger will go through.

Given the margin expansion that will follow the spin out of the poorer performing Software and Games units, Macrovision may be somewhat undervalued, even allowing for the anticipated share dilution. But for Gemstar investors who believe this vision could become reality, there's substantial upside post-merger if the firm can execute properly.

Disclosure: Author holds no positions in either Macrovision or Gemstar.

Over The Top Video
Tuesday 2:50 PM

Using the Internet and IP technology to deliver video services has dramatically changed the end user’s experience in both choice and control. Video options abound, from special interest portals and closed circuit programming to the new intelligent set-top devices that use computer processing to deliver rich digital options. What will these options mean to the access carrier and what does it mean for the future of content delivery?

What will keep them coming to TV, when will they turn to the computer? Will changing viewing habits continue to change the options for video delivery? Will picture quality play a determining factor in the success of these new services?

Speaker(s):
Stephen Dennison Director of CDN Solutions, Content Markets, Level 3 Communications
Maribel Lopez Research Analyst, Lopez Research
Perry Wu, CEO, BitGravity
Moderator:
Kfir Pravda IMTC Vice President of Marketing and CEO, Pravda Media

Online Video and Social Media
Wednesday 4:50 PM

Integrating video into social media applications seems to be a natural fit. New online video sites are beginning to shift more toward community-oriented platforms, where people with common interests can experience video content with complete social networking functionality such as chat, text messaging and interest profiles. This panel examines the viral growth of social networking in combination with traditional broadcast media, user generated content, live broadcast and video chat and how it will affect our viewing future.

Who will be attracted, and what are the benefits of online video to the social networker?
Who are some of the companies today providing online video and social media?
What online video advertising models will take effect in community sites?

Speaker(s):
Matt Gore Vice President of Marketing, Paltalk
Kathryn Jones Co-Founder, Synchronis.tv
Rex Wong CEO, Dave Networks
Moderator:
Kfir Pravda IMTC Vice President of Marketing and CEO
Pravda Media

Deploying Cross-Vendor Implementations in the Real World - a Customer View
Thursday 3:00 PM

A panel discussing the issues in implementing cross vendor communication solutions for video conferencing and unified communication.

Speaker(s):
Mike Brosetti, CEO and Founder, Abovetel
Dan Bruckner Director of IT Operations
Stanford Hospital and Clinics
Anatoli Levine
IMTC President and Sr Director of Software Support RADVISION
Moderator:
Kfir Pravda IMTC Vice President of Marketing; CEO
Pravda Media

I am also participating in the following panel:
Reference Architectures for Content Delivery & Unified Communications
Thursday 1:30 PM

This panel will address how to extract content from enterprise communications and insert content into both communications and collaboration within the enterprise. This covers everything from conference recordings to social network content, and there are a few standards, but this is mostly unknown territory. The focus here is not on solving the problem in the panel, but identifying how critical an issue this is, and what the major challenges are.

Speaker(s):
Mike Borsetti CEO and Founder, Abovetel
David Boyer Chief Architect, Unified Communications Division
Avaya
Cary Bryan, Cisco Systems
Kfir Pravda IMTC Vice President of Marketing; CEO Pravda Media
Moderator: Anatoli Levine IMTC President and Sr Director of Software Support
RADVISION

I am looking forward to hear the following panel:
General Session: Real-Time Social Communications
Tuesday 4:00 PM

This session will explore the state of Social Communications.

Speaker(s):
Jonathan Christensen General Manager for Video and Audio Skype
Brad Hunstable Founder, Ustream.tv
Loic Le Meur CEO and Founder, Seesmic
Robert Scoble Managing Director, Fast Company
Ramu Sunkara CEO, Qik.com
Moderator: Jeff Pulver Chairman and Founder
pulvermedia

And:
Moving Content from A to B: Issues and Options
Tuesday 11:00 AM

In a world of multiple devices with multiple connections to 'open' Networks and the virtualization of "The Deck", multimedia content delivery is no longer about simply getting it there and billing for it later. It's about dynamically choosing the least cost route and highest margin content sources...transcoding and transcrypting... ingesting from and publishing into multiple destinations simultaneously ...intelligently generating and leveraging metadata for making recommendations and targeting ads...making efficient use of thenetworks at hand..and making sure everybody in the value chain gets paid. Come hear experts from Vantrix, Roundbox, and RealNetworks, discuss the challenges at hand and share best practices

Speaker(s):
Jean Mayrand Co-Founder & CTO, Vantrix Corporation
Vinod Valloppill Vice President Product Marketing, Roundbox
Moderator:
Chris Steck IMTC CTO, and Director of Technology, RealNetworks

If you are attending the event - email me at kfir@pravdam.com, or sms me at +972-544-9458066 and let's talk!

RealNetworks is your place for Rhapsody,RealPlayer, SuperPass and more.  If you've been in search of a place for all your entertainment wants and needs the you have found the right place.

I have researched and reviewed numerous places and sites and have found that RealNetworks is the place that offers everything one could need in one spot for downloads.  From songs, to software, to games, to news, to so much more in services and products.

They also offer all the lines you need for mobile device.  So whether your looking for your personal, educational, or even your business needs, RealNetworks offers it all.

For your mobile device here are a few of the things that are being offered:  Music-Games-Videos-Ring Tones-SMS Messaging.

Through RealNetworks they Offer:

Rhapsody:  You have access to over 4,000,000+ songs.  You can manage music in your iTunes library.  You get Ad-free music.  With your membership it will follow you wherever you go.  So, wherever you go listen to music, live radio, news, your playlists and you can even get 10% off downloads.. Get a 14-Day free trial to Rhapsody Unlimited then pay only $12.99 per month.

SuperPass: Get top of the art features like DVD burning, access to programming and $10 of music downloads every month along with full length movies.RealOne SuperPass Free Trial

RealNetworks gets you: RealPlater-Media Creation-Media Player-Media Player Management-Media Security-Webcast to Go,one button streaming hardware to run webcasts.

RealNetworks with RealPlayer you can vidoe transfer to you vidoe capable iPod nano & iPod classicReceive RealPlayer Plus free with your free 14 day SuperPass trial

They offer you free products to download or free trials of products and services. 

Download for free and try it for yourself. Get a 14-Day free trial to Rhapsody Unlimited then pay only $12.99 per month.

Recently they have said on Monday that Yahoo music service will be now handled by Rhapsody America, an on demand subscription service run by RealNetworks Inc and Viacom Inc. "This really works to make Rhapsody much more available to a much wider audience," said Sheeran, a senior vice president at RealNetworks

The acquisition was acquired after announced Microsoft Corp made a $44.6 billion bid on Friday to take over Yahoo. As a result it raises a question that… whether RealNetworks and Yahoo will be able to execute their new partnership if Microsoft succeeds in buying Yahoo. The reason is relationship between Microsoft and RealNetwroks were locked in a bitter and stretched anti-trust difference of opinion for eight years until Microsoft agreed to settle with RealNetworks for $761 million in October 2005. Also RealNetworks founder and chief executive Rob Glaser, is a previous Microsoft executive. Furthermore, Microsoft already has developed huge choices of digital music products and services, which include an online music store and its Zune digital media players.

Yahoo will now focus on ad-supported streaming music and music videos. RealNetworks and Verizon Communization planned to create a digital music service called Rhapsody America, which would be able to compete with Apple Inc’s successful iTunes Online Store.

---Romiz

*RealNetworks' revenues grow 21% in the 4th quarter. [paidcontent]

*What will a Wii game based on the teen pregnancy film Juno look like? Hello?

*Trent Reznor will contribute music to a Fight Club musical? Hello?

*G-Unit clothing line is mortally wounded?

*Cover Culture: A site devoted to album cover art. Get ready for a mostly naked Prince. [murketing]

*Music Thing collects some wicked homemade instruments.

*Guitar Rising: A Guitar Hero for use with real guitars. Who wants to use REAL guitars? [listening post]

*Once, it took me almost 3 days to remember the title of a movie I'd seen – it was Barry Lyndon. I (Krapp's Last Tape style) viewed (and still view) that singular mental failure as the beginning of my intellectual decline. Anyway, Red Ferret covers 7 sites that help you remember what song it is you're thinking of.

Yahoo! is preparing to dump its Yahoo! Music Unlimited service and replace it with a partnership with RealNetworks' Rhapsody. A few weeks ago we reported on a rumor that Yahoo! was exploring the idea of launching a DRM-free music store to compete with Apple and Amazon. It looks like the company decided to go another direction.

Both Yahoo! Music Unlimited and Rhapsody allow users to access a large library of on-demand music for a subscription fee. But while Yahoo! has been charging $5.99 to $8.99 per month, Rhapsody charges $12.99 per month. Existing users will have their accounts automatically transferred to Rhapsody, with their music libraries intact. But when you're contract runs out, you'll be charged the higher rate. 

read more here: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/04/yahoo-hands-its-music-business-to-rhapsody/

I wonder how this all ties into the Yahoo! / Microsoft talks going on? Here's some related reading:

• Yahoo partners with RealNetworks' Rhapsody Puget Sound Business ...
• Rhapsody on Yahoo! Music
• Yahoo selling music service to Rhapsody America - Yahoo! News
• Yahoo partners with RealNetworks' Rhapsody: Financial News - Yahoo ...
• Yahoo says Rhapsody will handle its digital music | Technology ...

StopBadware asegura que la versión 10.5 de RealPlayer es un Badware, según argumenta "pues instala publicidad abiertamente y con toda impunidad en la computadora del usuario."Además aclara que hastala versión 11 es badware porque "no documenta el hecho de que instala el Rhapsody Player Engine, y no lo remueve del sistema una vez que RealPlayer es desinstalado."

Ryan Luckin, vocero de RealNetworks insiste que ambas versiones antes mencionadas no son para nada badware, pero admite que hay errores y malas interpretaciones por parte de los usuarios para ambos productos. Dice que se harán cambios en ambas versiones para responder a la clasificación que StopBadware les ha puesto. "Ninguna de las versiones de RealPlayer ponen al usuario en riesgo, no son malware (programas maliciosos) ni instalan ningún programa de terceros en la PC," afirma Luckin.

Según StopBadware, la definición de Badware es "software malicioso que sigue los movimientos de un usuario en línea y reporta esta actividad a grupos de mercadeo para que éstos puedan atacarte con publicidad dirigida."

Según Luckin, en la versión 10.5 de RealPlayer, Stopbadware argumenta que el centro de mensajes que viene integrado, muestra publicidad que usualmente son de contenidos de RealNetworks, como audio, video o actualizaciones. Este centro dem ensajes está contenido por default cuando al versión 10.5 es instalada. Luckin asegura que una versión futura de RealPlayer preguntará al usuario si quiere que se instale dicha característica, aunque también afirma que esta característica no debería ser etiquetada como publicidad, pues nungún comercial de terceros es mostrado en estas alertas.

El problema con la versión 11 es algo distinta, puesc uando desinstalas el programa, este no quita todos sis componentes del sistema, como por ejemplo el Rhapsody Player Engine que es usado para visualizar contenido codificado usando el formato Rhapsody. Hecho que Luckin reconoce, pues el control ActiveX de Rhapsody es dejado aún cuando se desinstala el RealPlayer 11.

Ryan asegura que RealNerworks está de acuerdo con StopBadware en requerir que el programa sea removido en su totalidad cuand ose desinstale, "ese fue un error, y lo corregiremos," comenta Luckin, aunque no pudo asegurar cuándo ni cómo RealNetworks cambiará el comportamiento de desinstalación de RealPlayer 11.

*Amazon buys Audible for $300M. Apple has the best mp3 player, Amazon has the best store for mp3 players. [digital music news]

*Indiana could soon have a digital download tax on music. [hypebot]

*Normatism: A new digital music venture from a founder of video site Vimeo. Looks, ahem, hip. [listening post]

*Rolling Stone collects video of musician-centric Super Bowl commercials. [getty images]

*Duncan Watts' anti-Tipping Point push (encapsulated here in a Fast Company article) is predicated partly on experiments using digital music markets.

*Hannah Montana has a 3-D movie?

*RealNetworks lays off 10 music employees.

Although Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Media Player is still No. 1, with nearly a 50% market share, its growth has leveled off over the past year.

In fact, iTunes is the only one of the big four players, including Apple's own QuickTime, to show positive growth lately. (see chart) As the report puts it:

Growing at an annual rate of 26.8%, iTunes hit a high note while the rest of the band was flat. (link)

RealNetworks was a pioneer in streaming media, having introduced its first player in 1995. Its market share might not be stagnating if it weren't so hard these days to find the free "basic" player on its website amid all the 14-day trials.

You specialize in casual games - simpler arcade-style products - instead of massive combat fantasies. What are the most common misconceptions about your games?
Turetzky: People often think that casual games are just for women. While women do represent a slight majority of our mobile customers, we find that men enjoy the challenge of our casual titles as well.

How do gamers benefit from your EMERGE technology?
Turetzky: EMERGE enables Real to efficiently produce games for more than 800 handsets. We pride ourselves on being first to market on new handsets. When someone buys the latest handset, it’s important to them that they have a wide range of choices for content. With certain more limited circulation handsets, like the Blackjack, HTC 8525 or the brand new LG VX10000, many publishers are hesitant to develop games because of uncertain payback and we find ourselves in a very strong position. The carriers come to us and ask for our help in getting games onto these devices.

What kind of relationship do you have with mobile operators? Do you offer services that don't depend on them?
Turetzky: The carriers like us because we bring well-known IP [intellectual property], fun games and the best handset support. In various markets, we offer a number of direct-to-consumer services, selling both a la carte titles and subscriptions. We don’t promote these heavily, as the current consumer is much more focused on the carriers for content.

Do you see any threats to your mobile business model?
Turetzky: As with most publishers, the majority of our sales come through the carriers. As carriers shift resources around their organizations, there may be less time available to deal with all the publishers out there. In the U.S., we are a top 10 publisher, so we don’t feel much of a threat, but there are always other publishers breathing down our necks.

Do you foresee any promising new mobile gaming interfaces?
Turetzky: I’m a big fan of touch screens. It’s an incredibly intuitive interface and is a natural way to control the leading casual game types, like match-3s, click management and hidden objects. There’s a lot of buzz around accelerometers because of the WiiMote but I don’t see how that lends itself well to a mobile handset. When you’re swinging the phone around, you can’t see the screen. I don’t see someone bowling and golfing by themselves at the bus stop. Actually, sometimes I do but those people usually don’t have mobile phones.

RealNetworks laid off just under 2 percent of its international staff last week—35 from headquarters Seattle, the rest in Asia and Europe.

http://www.broadcastequipmentguide.com/realnetworks_12_11_07.php

The cuts were made across the board to reduce "redundancies" built up as a result of six acquisitions made by RealNetworks over the past two years, Hankes said.

They are the first layoffs the company has made since those purchases, he said.

RealNetworks had about 1,800 workers worldwide before the cuts, Hankes said, adding that no further layoffs are planned.

*RealNetworks lays off 100. Redundancies. Heh. [paidcontent]

*Snocap desperate to be acquired: We're a steal! [digital music news]

*See CNET's roundup of in-car HD Radio options.

*Quiet Riot's Kevin Dubrow died of a cocaine overdose. [mtv]

*The A.V. Club's list of songs that should never be covered again includes "Revolution," "Respect," and "Born to be Wild." [pop candy]

*WFMU has a scary collection old radio shows in its archive. [del.icio.us murketing]

You may know RealNetworks best as the creator of a popular Web audio format. On the PC, RealArcade has more than 40 million unique game users each month, giving RealNetworks the opportunity to build a cross-platform community with mobile users. We recently interviewed Matt Turetzky, vice-president of non-PC platforms for RealNetworks' game division.

So what's new at RealNetworks as far as games go?
Turetzky: We are very excited about our three new mobile games launches this Q4. Coming first, in October, was Luxor 2, our second game based on one of the best selling PC games of all time. The Luxor brand has been downloaded over 60 million times on the PC and we are very pleased to be able to bring it to mobile gamers. We launched the first Luxor mobile game last year and it was our best selling game of 2006. The new version features all new levels and power-ups and much sharper design and effects, thanks to the capabilities of the newer handsets.

What games are you releasing next?
Turetzky: In November, we are launching MTV Cribs, in which the gamer adopts the role of a struggling hip-hop artist. In order to earn money, he takes DJ-ing gigs throughout the world. The money earned is used to create fantastic cribs, decked out with everything an aspiring star could dream of. The player can then visit his crib online and share it with his friends.

What else?
Turetzky: I’m probably most excited about Collapse! Chaos coming in December. Collapse! Chaos is the latest mobile version of the Collapse! PC franchise which has been downloaded more than 160 million times, making it one of the top casual games in history. The previous Collapse! mobile game launched in 2003 and, despite a lack of refresh, has been a top 20 game every year. In the new game, the player experiences a series of frenetic challenges in which colored blocks are destroyed before the screen fills up.

How are mobile gamers different from PC gamers?
Turetzky: Mobile gaming is a very different experience. People generally play mobile games to kill time while they are waiting for something: a train, a friend, a class or my wife to finish getting her nails done. The typical play experience is 5-10 minutes. A game has to be very easy to pick up, learn and resume. Casual games are a natural genre here because they are so easy to learn, yet hard to master. In comparison, typical console games are significantly harder to learn and require a great deal of concentration

How are mobile games changing society? Doesn't it chill face-to-face relationships to be staring at a handset all the time?
Turetzky: That’s an interesting point. Personally, I haven’t made a lot of friends at the bus stop, but we don’t ignore people who are less anti-social than me. In fact, many of our games, such as the entire Playman series and our Trivial Pursuit games (Europe only), feature a pass-around two-player mode, where you can play against a friend (or stranger) by handing the phone back and forth. While this hasn’t yet been popularized in the U.S., we find it is much more accepted in Europe, where you can actually find people in bars passing their phones around.