Archive for the 'News & Articles' Category
NetworkGlobal Companies, a leading producer of premium online video spanning from Hollywood and Broadway to world news features, announced today its Red Carpet Network video library can be streamed on the iPhone and iPad via the RCN App. The Red Carpet Network, RCN.tv, talks to A-list celebrities at the premieres of top films, TV shows, and Hollywood’s most exclusive Red Carpets. With millions of online streams per month, it is one of the top independent entertainment news outlets on the Internet. The new app is available for free in the iTunes App Store.
Launched in 2007 by a recent college graduate and his friends, it didn’t take long to establish the Red Carpet Network as a trusted media brand. “Once publicists, producers and event planners saw the quality of our content, we were given full media credentials and invited to the city’s biggest premieres and events,” said Gunnar Larson, 25, founder and CEO of the Red Carpet Network and NetworkGlobal Companies. “These days, we interview the world’s top celebrities, trendsetters and thought leaders.”
RCN’s journalists apply the same ethics to their features reporting as they do the hard news content on sister channel NGB.tv. In both cases, people simply want the truth. All too often, feature journalists compromise their integrity by writing glowing reviews of bad products just to get their blurbs published on movie posters or to grease the wheels for A-list interviews. On the flip side, many tabloids, blogs and online forums dumb down their content by focusing solely on scandal and snarky, negative editorial.
RCN exists to make a positive impact and encourages its online viewers to make smart, informed decisions about how to spend their valuable leisure time. The site’s innovative business model monetizes its video and editorial content without pandering to the audience or the advertiser.
The RCN App, and its associated video content, is free to download via iTunes.
The wait is over—starting today Americans can buy a full line of ultra-efficient LED bulbs from The Home Depot that are brighter and longer-lasting at a dramatically lower retail price than similar products on the market. Built in the USA by Lighting Science Group (OTCBB: LSCG) for The Home Depot, the ECOSMART LED line includes bulbs in the common A19, PAR38, PAR30, PAR20, MR16, and G25 types. The ECOSMART LED bulbs have higher lumen or light output than similar LED bulbs, are approximately 80% more efficient than traditional bulbs, are dimmable, and will last nearly 46 years.*
“This is a very smart play for Americans,” said Joe Montana, football legend and member of Lighting Science Group’s Board of Directors. “Head to The Home Depot; pick up some affordable ECOSMART LED bulbs; install them; and sit back and enjoy substantial energy savings for a very long time. These bulbs are truly a game winner.”
“Installing ECOSMART LED bulbs really is the smart play,” said Jorge Fernandez, Merchant-Electrical, The Home Depot. “They are the highest quality, most affordable and long lasting LED light bulbs on the market.”
To ensure performance and reliability, the ECOSMART LED line was tested under the rigorous LM-79 process by an independent laboratory approved by the U.S. Department of Energy’s CALiPER program. The test results show that the ECOSMART LED bulbs outperform competing similar products on the market. Compared to a traditional incandescent bulb, consumers will save an average of $200 in energy cost over the life of the ECOSMART LED bulb.**
“Now is the time to ditch your inefficient incandescent and halogen bulbs, and to start experiencing outstanding light quality coupled with significant energy savings with ECOSMART LED bulbs,” said Zach Gibler, Chief Executive Officer, Lighting Science Group. “Plus, you won’t have to worry about pulling out the step ladder to change these bulbs for a long, long time.”
The ECOSMART LED bulbs contain no mercury, are completely recyclable, are instant on, have an estimated payback period of one to two years, and range in retail price from $18.97 for an A19 and MR16 to $44.97 for a PAR38. All of the bulbs are available on The Home Depot’s web site (www.homedepot.com) and in stores nationwide.
“Lighting Science Group is proud to be the LED technology provider for The Home Depot—the world’s largest lighting retailer—and deliver an American solution for our energy and environmental challenges,” added Gibler.
ivi TV issed a statement of facts today in response to NAB’s earlier statements regarding ivi TV’s recent Complaint filed in Federal Court.
Commenting on the development, ivi TV CEO Todd Weaver said: “We understand the NAB’s point of view and welcome this opportunity to enlighten them. ivi TV (ivi, Inc.,) filed a lawsuit, because we were wrongly accused of copyright infringement, an accusation disruptive to our business. We needed resolution of these issues right away. We believe the copyright claims are unsubstantiated and are really just camouflage for trying to stifle innovation and competition. Furthermore, we pay broadcasters in accordance with the law, just like cable.
This is not about copyright, this is about competition. Congress created the compulsory licensing scheme for cable systems, to distribute broadcast content to the masses. We intend to increase viewer numbers and would welcome opportunities to work with the Broadcasters.
Broadcasters fought against cable companies, then joined them. Broadcasters then fought against satellite companies, then joined them. Now it is our turn. History has a habit of repeating itself — and it is unfortunate they cannot learn from that and realize we strongly support broadcasters and their program suppliers helping them monetize, increase their eyeballs, and ultimately get paid.
The iCraveTV litigation referenced by the NAB is hardly precedential, as no decision on the merits was ever reached. Further, it involved different circumstances, including augmenting broadcast content with advertisements. ivi TV, on the other hand, is making the primary content available as is without any modification.”
View previous release as posted on SvenOnTech.
Mint.com is the leading online personal finance solution, and Zillow.com is a leading real estate and home shopping website. As the result of a new partnership, Mint’s home valuation exclusively uses Zillow’s proprietary Zestimate® algorithm for real estate analysis. Updated regularly for continued accuracy, Zestimate values factor in a range of data, including comparable sales and individual home facts, such as number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, lot size and remodels.
“This will give Mint users a more complete financial picture so they can save and do more with their money,” said Aaron Patzer, vice president and general manager of Intuit Personal Finance Group and founder of Mint.com. “Because a home is usually a person’s largest asset, it makes perfect sense for us to integrate with Zillow, to help our users track their home’s Zestimate in their Mint account.”
The addition of Zillow information can also lead to better financial decisions.
“Zillow and Mint have a common goal — to empower consumers with information so they can make more informed decisions regarding two very important areas of their lives – their home and finances,” said Spencer Rascoff, chief executive officer of Zillow.com.
Mint users who have already added their home to their Mint.com account will see their home’s estimated value from Zillow the next time they log in. Others can add their home value at any time. To view Zestimate values for their homes, users simply add a real estate account and enter their home address in the property search box. Users can then decide whether they’d like to accept the Zestimate value or manually enter their estimated home value.
SvenOnTech told you about ivi TV, the IPTV solution that provides free IPTV services for Mac, Windows, and Linux, last week and its release of free software for its services. ivi TV obviously has some great success with its release.
Subsequently, ivi, Inc., has received several cease and desist (C&D) letters from big media copyright conglomerates, including NBC-Universal, CBS, Disney, ABC, The CW Television Stations, Inc., Fox Television, Major League Baseball, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, WGBH, WNET.org, and Fisher Communications.
ivi, Inc., remains steadfastly on the side of the consumer, refusing to allow big media to limit consumers’ choice or its technology. Instead, ivi has responded to the C&D letters with both written clarification explaining how its technology works within the parameters of existing law, and offers to meet with broadcasters to begin a constructive dialogue about implementing ivi’s proprietary technology. The ivi technology is a clear reflection of consumer demand and evolutionary forces in the technology marketplace.
In a move to further bolster the company’s legal right to retransmit broadcast signals, ivi, Inc., responded to the numerous cease and desist letters by also filing a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment of Copyright Noninfringement in the United States District Court in Seattle, Washington on Monday, a preemptive move to discourage needless litigation from big media.
The Complaint states that ivi is legally operating under U.S. Copyright Law. According to section 16 of page 3 of the Complaint, “The Copyright Act expressly authorizes secondary transmissions of copyrighted works embodied in primary transmissions. For example, the Copyright Act expressly approves of the secondary transmission of an original television broadcast where the secondary transmission is subject to a statutory license. Under Section 111 of the Copyright Act, statutory licensing fees are paid periodically to the Register of Copyrights in accordance with an established scale and schedule. Section 111 further provides that the secondary transmission of an over-the-air primary transmission is not an infringement of copyrights in the works contained in the primary transmission.”
“ivi is not another Pirate Bay or Napster trying to gain from others’ works. Rather, ivi wishes to work with content owners in helping them to realize new revenue streams and reach more viewers from around the globe,” said Todd Weaver, founder and CEO. “The ivi team has spent more than three years developing a compelling technological solution that no other company has come close to matching. ivi enables content owners to protect and monetize their assets while simultaneously giving consumers what they want. We recognize that it is disruptive to existing cable offerings and remain confident that we have adopted a model that is allowed under all applicable laws. We remain receptive to formal partnerships with broadcast networks and are discussing carriage rights for premium cable, international, and a la carte channels ”
While copyright conglomerates ponder their legal strategies, market forces and new technologies are pressuring them to respond quickly. Recognizing that the consumer trend of cord-cutting is here to stay, late last week Credit Suisse downgraded many stocks related to traditional cable (pay TV), as consumers readily recognize that with the advent of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and ivi TV, there are not many compelling reasons left to continue paying high cable bills and they are, instead, increasingly choosing to cut the cord and use over the top (OTT) offerings to legally access the content they wish to consume.
As Credit Suisse points out in their treatise on the entertainment industry, “Convergence 2010: Untangling the Future of Video”, big media still has a chance to help define their own destiny if they embrace innovation in a timely manner and don’t waste countless years in pointless litigation, a past strategy that has proven ineffective, as witnessed by the music industry.
Cord-cutting behavior is not new, but its validation and measurement by industry analysts as an increasing consumer trend is a recent development that has sent shockwaves throughout the media and their financial backers.
“It’s not too late for cable companies to recognize that their existing business models are quickly becoming obsolete while their customers demand more options,” added Weaver. “By partnering with ivi, we provide channels secure distribution, while providing consumers affordability and choice. A cable channel like HBO, for example, could easily have a channel on ivi TV where they set the a la carte price at $7.99/mo, knowing their content is fully protected through our system, and that only ivi subscribers who have paid for the HBO subscription will be able to view the HBO channel. Everyone wins.”
All stakeholders should demand that broadcast networks and cable companies resist the urge to repeat the mistakes of previous industries, such as music and publishing, who suffer continued steep decline by battling consumer demand in the courtroom rather than listening to the court of public opinion.
ivi TV gives people what they’ve wanted for years, easy-to-use live Internet TV anytime, anywhere to almost any bandwidth speed on a growing number of Internet-connected devices through a proprietary distribution method without buffering, hiccups, or other technical issues, all available via a downloadable app at ivi’s website
“ivi has created the technology breakthrough necessary to deliver live TV to the Internet. Now, big media can make the decision whether to react like oligopolists or embrace change and innovation,” said Ron Erickson, Chairman of ivi, Inc
Sneak Peek of Alibre Design 2011
The winner of Maker Faire Detroit’s “Editor’s Choice” 2010 Award, Alibre is providing exciting new ways for people to create and design in 3D. “Alibre Design lets ‘Makers’ take their vision and turn it into a reality in record time by digitally prototyping or printing their 3D models, enabling ordinary people to become entrepreneurs and set-up their own businesses in their homes and garages,” said J. Paul Grayson, Chairman and CEO, Alibre Inc.
Being sneak-peeked at the World Maker Faire in NY, Alibre Design 2011’s new core technology improvements and features include a full port of their code to C#, making it the first native 64-bit version — important for demanding users that want to create designs of enormous size and complexity. Other new features include the ability to convert a solid part into sheet metal, virtual intersection dimensioning, an on-demand framework for detailing drawings, automatic part re-orientation improvements, new hole presets, multi-plane creation, and keyboard shortcuts.
Dustyn Robots to Appear at Alibre Booth – Co-Creator of SADbot
Alibre user, Dustyn Roberts, Founder of Dustyn Robots, will be appearing at the Alibre booth at Maker Faire NY to discuss how she uses Alibre Design to create robots, including the SADbot (Seasonally Affected Drawing Robot), a solar powered, interactive drawing machine created in partnership with Ben Leduc-Mills for the Eyebeam window gallery in New York City. SADbot uses two 18.5” x 13′” solar panels to power two stepper motors which allow the control of a pen in two dimensions. SADbot takes input from people walking outside by using a set of sensors which can tell how much light they’re getting (photocells). SADbot knows if someone is covering up one of the sensors, and can change its drawing behavior accordingly. Info at: http://eyebeam.org/projects/sadbot. Roberts’ new book “Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists,” talks about how Alibre allows anyone to make real-world engineering products.
Visitors to the Alibre Booth, Fabrication Tent at Maker Faire NY, can also register for a free copy of Alibre Design 2011 Personal Edition (a $99 value). Alibre Design products are priced from $99-$1199. For more information on Alibre or to download and install a free trial of Alibre Design, see www.alibre.com. For more information on Maker Fair NY, see: http://makerfaire.com/newyork/2010/.
resident Barack Obama announced today that the federal government will be moving boldly to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) achievement by America’s students. National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel, who joined the president at the White House for the announcement, applauded the administration’s efforts to boost innovation and learning in these fields.
“We applaud this announcement because we too are committed to preparing our students in STEM fields so that they can be competitive in the global marketplace. We understand that our nation’s prosperity is tied to innovation spurred on by students’ engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Van Roekel said. “For America to be technologically competitive in the future, our students must become more fluent in complex science and math.”
During a nationwide back-to-school tour in late August, Van Roekel saw a prime example of STEM innovation, in the form of the innovative new Math and Science Leadership Academy (MSLA) in Denver. At this school, the local NEA affiliate is collaborating with management to create new ways of doing business. It is a union-designed, teacher-led public school that is making a difference for urban students within the Denver Public School System.
“As I toured MSLA in August, I saw teachers inspiring children in math and science in exciting new ways,” Van Roekel said. “I am optimistic that President Obama’s announcement will encourage more innovative schools like MSLA in the future.”
In addition to NEA’s work on school transformation, the NEA Foundation is working closely with the Ohio Appalachian Educators Institute (OAEI) in Columbus, Ohio, the Bogalusa Association of Educators in Bogalusa, La., and the Milwaukee Public School system in Milwaukee, Wis., on projects that inspire educators and students and increase their awareness of STEM-related fields.
For the past two years, students in Bogalusa, La., have enthusiastically participated in a STEM summer camp that emphasizes hands-on learning. This summer, camp enrollment doubled, and students were involved in building a model green home.
Educators in Ohio attended a 2009 summer immersion program through OAEI where they learned about advanced energy and alternative energy curriculum issues. Last summer’s program was so successful that it was repeated this year.
In Milwaukee, educators are creating a curriculum on the sustainable food-growing practice of aquaponics, in conjunction with the Urban School Aquaponic Initiative. This curriculum will be used to engage students in hands-on learning in two of Milwaukee’s high-needs schools.
“By giving educators access to top-notch professional development on STEM issues, we are giving them the tools and skills they need to further inspire STEM achievement with their students,” Van Roekel said. “These projects have the power to engage our students with real-world learning opportunities and inspire them to raise their achievement in STEM areas.”
Read NEA’s Policy Brief on STEM at www.nea.org/assets/docs/mf_PB16_Math.pdf
Read about the Math & Science Leadership Academy in Denver at www.nea.org/home/37611.htm
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® announced today that Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer will deliver a preshow keynote address at the 2011 International CES®. Owned and produced by CEA, the 2011 International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, is scheduled January 6-9, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“As leader of one of the world’s most innovative technology companies, a keynote address from Steve Ballmer is the perfect way to kick off the 2011 International CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “Microsoft’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive have been major forces behind the success of the company and its impact on the global consumer technology industry. We look forward to hearing Steve’s strategic vision for the future of Microsoft and our industry.”
Steve Ballmer will kick off the 2011 International CES with a preshow keynote address at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 5, in the Las Vegas Hilton Center. In previous years, Microsoft has used the CES keynote stage to launch major products including Xbox, Windows Vista and its Sync technology partnership with Ford.
The full line-up of 2011 CES keynote addresses will be announced in the coming months.
The 2011 International CES will feature 2,500 global technology companies unveiling the latest consumer technology products and services across 15 major product categories including the latest in audio, automotive electronics, connected home technologies, digital imaging, electronic gaming, entertainment/content and more. For more information on the 2011 International CES, visit CESweb.org.
Telltale Games, the leading independent digital publisher and developer of episodic interactive entertainment, today announced a multi-year, two-title video game development deal with Universal Partnerships & Licensing. Telltale Games has secured the rights to create video games based on two of Universal Pictures’ most popular intellectual properties, Back to the Future and Jurassic Park. The first game released under the agreement will be a Telltale Games “season” based on the successful Back to the Future series of films.
With more than five million episodes delivered to date across all major video game platforms, Telltale is the acknowledged leader in digitally delivering episodic content to consumers. The agreement broadens Telltale’s product offerings into new genres and new styles of gameplay.
“Our partnership with Universal is an exciting next step in our continued growth as a mass-market games publisher and developer,” said Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games. “We are all huge fans of both of these franchises. For Back to the Future and Jurassic Park, we will leverage Telltale’s expertise in story-telling and game design to deliver on the unique elements of each series, with our goal being to create compelling cinematic adventures paying homage to each franchise.”
Jurassic Park and Back to the Future are two of the most successful film trilogies ever, grossing over $3 billion dollars at the box office collectively.
“Telltale Games has succeeded in establishing a unique combination of digital and physical distribution models, and their reputation for quality production is well earned,” said Bill Kispert, Vice President and General Manger, Digital Platforms, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “Telltale’s episodic story-telling is an ideal means by which to add compelling new content to these important franchises.”
Look for the first video game based “season” of Back to the Future from Telltale this winter, followed shortly by Jurassic Park. Telltale will release more information on both game series at a later date.
Other World Computing (OWC), located in Woodstock, Illinois, has a vision to be part of the solution and not the rhetoric with CEO Larry O’Connor at the helm of this grand scheme. All one has to do is ask O’Connor about the work OWC has done and he immediately brightens up with excitement like a kid on Christmas morning. You can feel O’Connor’s zeal for this stuff as he rapidly fires off statistic after statistic giving one much to digest. This is a guy that just doesn’t say going green is better, he gives you reason why it is better. OWCs hallmark in the “why” is a a towering wind turbine just behind the building. O’Connor’s primary reason for installing the wind turbine was Return on Investment (ROI). At a total of $1.25 million 100% self-funded install cost, OWC should recover total cost within 10 to 14 years. That number could become smaller as energy costs climb noting that the Chicago market for energy has risen 24.3% since 1999.
The beauty of the wind turbine is how well it works for so little. As I walked from my rented white Cadillac CTS4 to OWCs entrance, I noticed only a mild breeze on my face which was more than enough to turn the blades on the turbine to the left of me. In fact, it will power the entire OWC campus at just between 10 – 15 MPH. The blades will turn to make adjustments for faster wind and can handle up to 150 MPH! If things get too extreme, the blades then turn in to become “flat” and thus preventing any spin. The blade house can rotate 360 degrees allowing the turbine to find the best wind to spin in.
At 131 feet tall, the wind turbine has become somewhat of a landmark for the town of Woodstock. O’Connor told me while touring the facility that school busses have come loaded up with children to just drive by to see it. In fact, the demand to know more about the turbine has caused OWC to set up an information booth just up the road from its entrance at its coffee shop.
The Vestas V39-500 kW wind turbine is projected to churn an estimated 1,250,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of power per year. That’s nearly twice as much as OWC needs. Other World Computing isn’t just an office with cubes but is the headquarters that includes a call center, warehouse and shipping, and a datacenter that runs macsales.com and OWC.net / FasterMac.net. That’s a lot of power folks!
OWC didn’t just put in a “windmill” and call it green. From your first step out of your vehicle to the sidewalk, you’ll immediately notice something different. Instead of paving the parking lot with oil like every other place you’ve ever driven your car on, OWCs lot looks a bit like a cobble stoned streets of Old Europe. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice gaps between each stone purposely placed to allow for water drainage. These holes allow rain water to quickly place itself back into the environment without the need to install a sewage system. Grant Dahlke, OWCs Marketing, PR, and Social Media Manager, recounted when the fire department had tested the drain-off that no matter how much water was pumped into the lot, water just would not collect long enough to even create a large puddle. “It just drained,” Dahlke said with a smile. Viewing the video shows how a small bottle of water is no match for this incredible system. Rain water is not the only H20 that OWC is working with. All the water in the building is filtered and treated internally removing the need to ship in bottle water for the employees.
Now, not to get gross or be accused of TMI here, but even the fluids that leave OWC are treated with a green conscious. The toilets in the mens bathroom do not require flushing which saves nearly 40,000 gallons from being flushed. The Sloan Waterfree urinal is just one more example of how OWC has taken this green thing to the next level. (Take a look at the toilet and the sign above it.)
To heat and cool the facility, OWC goes 200 plus feet underground behind its building with pipes fed with coolant. This Geo-thermal setup brings the fluid to between 47 and 54 degrees all year long saving on natural gas for heating and electricity for air conditioning. This makes OWC a true zero emissions facility which has captured the attention of Illinois governor to NBC News. But most importantly, it also has garnered OWC Platinum LEED Certification. LEED, short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, started in 1998, with 14,000 LEED projects awarded OWC Platinum level which is one less than 500 to have such an award hanging on its lobby wall.
OWC is well known for its amazing hardware and accessories and has been a leader in Mac accessories for over 20 years and now it is leading the way, once again, into a new realm for technology companies. Hopefully not just tech houses see the value in what O’Connor and his company has succeeded at doing and join OWC into the future of clean, reliable, and self-sufficient energy.