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The Future of Home Technology: CEDIA Success

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Add together CEDIA, Martin Stanford (the technology journalist from Sky), a group of industry experts and a topic like The Future of Home Technology, and what do you get?

CEDIA confNearly 200 happy conference-goers...

“This first ever CEDIA Conference has proved a tremendous success,” says CEDIA Chair, Gary Lewis. “All the speakers provided delegates with useful food for thought on the future of home technology and the opportunities for CI businesses. They were by turns revealing, inspiring and provocative. I would like to thank everyone involved. The Future of Home Technology was an exceptional two days for CI businesses.”

Video content showing the presentations from the conference are available to view at the CEDIA education website. They are free to delegates who attended the event whilst for those who did not attend the conference, they are priced at £14.99 (inc VAT) per session  to CEDIA members and £19.99 (inc VAT) per session to non-members.

Are these videos worthwhile? You be the judge after listening to some of the delegates talk about The Future of Home Technology. Hey, did we mention ECI was a proud media sponsor of this event?

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When Will Blu-Ray Go Black?

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In USA in Q1 2012, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, subscription streaming of movies and TV shows rose up a powerful 545% Y-to-Y, while electronic sell-through showed a healthy 17% increase and video-on-demand growing at 7%.

Blu-RaysSpending on physical disc rentals (both Netflix and Blockbuster DVDs by mail, as well as brick and mortar stores in USA) dropped 25% from the same time period in 2011. Kiosk DVD & Blu-ray rentals went up 30%, but brick and mortar dropped almost 40% and subscription rentals nose-dived to 48%.

That all suggests the end of blank and pre-recorded optical media is nigh, along with the players that support the media.

Yet Blu-ray discs sales rose 23 % Y-Y overall. DEG says 2.4M Blu-ray players were sold in USA in Q1 ‘12 and 2 million new UltraViolet accounts were opened. UltraViolet provides a secure locker for keys to register users to open and view movie/TV files on almost any platform. If your customer buys a Blu-ray disc, they get a key for that DVD to watch it whenever, wherever.

Taken as a whole, we'll be selling Blu-Ray for some time to come. Not forever, but no need to worry for next couple of years. In  general, the Digital Entertainment Group reports for Q1 2012 home video spend rose 2.5% year-to-year($4.45B). That's the first year-over-year gain in USA two quarters. So, in Europe,  when the consumer market lifts, you can still expect Blu-Ray to lift with it.

Go DEG Q1 2012 Report

Gartner: CE Market to Hit $2.1 Trillion in 2012

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According to Gartner WW consumer spending on CE and technology services will spend $2.1 trillion in 2012-- with products bought including mobile phones, PCs, digital media and services.

CEThe 2012 forecast is $114bn more 2011 CE spending, and Gartner projects such a growth trend will continue over the next 5 years with an annual WW growth rate of $130bn. By 2016 the analyst predicts global CE spending will total $2.7tr.

"The three largest segments of the consumer technology market are, and will continue to be, mobile services, mobile phones and entertainment services," Gartner says.

The mobile device segment accounts for 10% of the total 2012 CE market-- being worth $222bn, a total set to reach around $300bn by 2016.

Mobile services (including apps and e-text content) consumer spending should reach $18bn in 2016 before growing to $61bn by 2016, as customers prefer spending on digital content than using retailers.

Gartner forecasts entertainment services (including cable, satellite, IPTV and online gaming) spending will total $290bn in 2016, up from $210bn in 2012.

The analyst remarks "consumers are willing to pay for [digital] content they deem 'worth it'," but ad-supported business models should also find success in services such as personal cloud storage, social networking, information searching, VoIP and online media streaming.

Go Gartner Says Consumers Will Spend $2.1 Trillion on Technology Products and Services in 2012

Microsoft, Tablet Maker

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At a glitzy Los Angeles event Microsoft unveils its next big step as a hardware maker-- Microsoft Surface, a family of 2 Microsoft-branded Windows tablets complete with clever keyboard covers.

Window RT TabletThe purpose of the Surface tablets is to "prime the pump" for the imminent Windows 8 release, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says.

The Surface comes in 2 varieties-- one running Windows 8 on Intel 22nm Ivy Bridge chips, and the other running Windows RT using an ARM chipset.

The Windows 8 Surface is 13.5mm thick, weighs 860g has a 10.6-inch "ClearType HD" display of unknown resolution and comes inside vapor-deposited (PVD) magnesium case. It carries USB 3.0 and DisplayPort ports and supports stylus input.

The Windows RT version nearly identical in size, only slightly thinner (9.3mm) and lighter (6.6g). It has microSD, USB 2.0 and Micro HD ports and also comes with either 32 or 64GB of storage.

Both tablets carry front- and back-mounted cameras, an integrated kickstand (also made in PVD magnesium), full-size USB ports and dual wifi antennas.

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RIP Eugene Polley

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TV remote inventor Eugene Polley passed away age 96 from natural causes at a Chicago hospital.

Eurgene PolleyPolley invented the TV remote-- making life a lot more comfortable for coach potatoes everywhere-- back in 1955 with the gun-like "Flash-Matic" It fired a light beam at 4 photo cells on each corner of the TV screen in order to turn switch between channels.

Original adverts described it as a "flash of magic light" that "you have to see to believe it." It wasn't perfect, mind-- sunlight affected the photo cells, changing channels at unexpected moments.

Polley was born in Chicago in 1915, and started his engineering career in 1935. His career with Flash-Matic makers Zenith Electronics lasted 47 years, earning him 18 US patents.

In 1997 Polley received an Emmy for his work together with fellow Zenith engineer Robert Adler.

Go TV Remote Control Inventor Eugene Polley Dies at 96 (BBC)

Billion Dollar Ghost City is Tech Lab

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Smart grid, smart cities, smart homes, smart roads…how do you research these mega-projects?

CITEYou build a $1 billion city in the desert. You model the fake town after a real city (Rock Hill, South Carolina in USA, population 66,000) and build it complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings—even some old buildings mixed in with new ones just like in the real city. No one will live there, but each and every house will include appliances, plumbing, and other necessities.

This built-to-order town lets researchers test new infrastructure without interfering in anyone’s everyday life…because there isn’t anyone.

It’s a research facility but it’s also an empty city, a veritable ghost town. They call this CITE project “a first-of-its kind” smart city but given its cost and mission, it may just be “a one-of-a kind.”

Thankfully it’s not taxpayer money but a private firm building this city-as-a lab, the CITE (Center for Innovation, Technology and Evaluation).

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Baby Steps for Video on Demand in Europe

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In "What About Bob?" a smug Richard Dreyfuss tells a phobia-ridden Bill Murray to always take "baby steps." The Video-on-Demand (VOD) industry follows that same strategy in Europe... with most steps taking place in the UK.

what about bobNow the UK gets a new a new VOD platform-- Curzon on Demand, offering day-and-date digital distribution of major independent releases.

The success of Curzon on Demand (or lack of it) might help progress for VOD feature films in W. Europe, a market worth $900m in 2011 according to IHS Screen Digest. In contrast the 2011 N. American market totals $1.8 billion.

A major obstacle for VOD in Europe is exhibitors, who still hold great power-- France even has a law blocking a day-and-date VOD and theatrical model, Variety says. European companies are also less entrepreneurial than their British counterparts, while cable and telcom infrastructures remain primitive.

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