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Canoe Ventures Drops iTV to focus on VOD Advertising

Feb 23, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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Multichannel News yesterday reported that Canoe Ventures would shut down its interactive TV (iTV) development, and move forward with only a VOD delivery focus. In our recent Advanced Advertising report, we highlighted that iTV had a modest (3-5% of ad sales) revenue potential. Unlocking that potential is seen as being dependent on two key factors, first, building a unified platform with large household addressability, and second, ensuring interactivity is not seen as intrusive and interrupting the programming experiment. In the same report, we discussed viewer consumption shifting to a variety of on-demand platforms. Five years from now, we expect VOD advertising platforms will be required for broadcasters and MVPD’s (MSOs, IPTV vendors and satellite vendors) to maintain their advertising market share. Absent these technologies, we forecast a 15-30% drop in advertising market share to television platforms.

The surprising decision by the six major MSO’s that had invested in Canoe (Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House Networks) to shutter most of Canoe was likely driven by several factors, including:
Limited success in trials of the technologies, or data that viewers showed rapid iTV fatigue.
Difficult technical challenges to use EBIF for interactive advertising across multiple networks due to divergent middleware standards.
Recognition that the best TV commerce platforms will likely be born out of second screen, or companion applications – rather than fulfillment occurring on the main screen.
With Canoe’s exit from this market, we are likely to see operators leverage their own interactive TV (iTV) platforms for delivery of their own tune-in ads, and some local advertisements. A few networks may maintain interactive programming – notably those like Home Shopping Network where it is core to their value proposition – performing MSO integration themselves.
The VOD space, further, seems a little bit more crowded. Both Blackarrow (with its well established AAMP consortium) and This Technology are already well underway in this market. Blackarrow hits primarily the Comcast VOD footprint, while This Technology has not been able to disclose where its decisions are taking hold (we hope to update this after speaking with them further). In both cases, it is possible that Canoe will operate the pipes that deliver many advertising campaigns to market.Thisbusinesswill likely grow to a low-margin, high transaction volume business over time.
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I Look Forward To the Day When I No Longer Talk About NFC Handsets....

Feb 17, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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I was thinking​ this morning about how many NFC (new) handsets I might expect to see in at Mobile World Congress inBarcelona at the end of the month. Truth be told, I don't have very high expectations. I hope that I am wrong but given the fact thatprogress has been slow over the past 12 months I amsitting firmly in the cautious/conservative camp.

So how many new NFC handsets might there be? Well, speaking with NXP earlier this year I was pleased to hear that they are working on near enough 100 devices (handsets, smartphones, and tablets amongst others), of which 60-70% are Android-based; no surprise given Android ICS incorporating support for NFC. Couple this with the high profile design wins from Inside Secure and things look promising, especially when you consider the other IC suppliers also active.

However, in reality, I would be surprised if there were more than 10 new handset models with NFC in Barcelona. This is largely in part to the fact that it is early in the year still, but also down to the OEMs customers - the MNOs. At this time I still generally see MNOs working on business plans, looking for ROI on seeding the market with NFC-enabled handsets - and they still cannot find a business model to appeal to their financial partners for payment services.

As a result, the MNOs are yet not ordering NFC devices andthe OEMs will likely continue to hold back from widely offering it as a feature of their handsets. Yes, they will work with NXP and Inside Secure to ensure that their designs are ready but that does not mean that they will then include NFC within the commercial design (especially if no-one is requesting it or prepared to pay for it).

I am not all doom and gloom though. I see good signs in the market, especially when you remember that NFC is not just payments. It can be used for so much more, as an enabler of and enhancement to new services. "Making applications interactive" is one way that I look at it. And I believe that news such as that annoucned by Texas Instruments this week is such a good sign. It is launching two new combo ICs featuring NFC alongside Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS/GNSS and FM connectivity.

Until now, TI had held back from the mobile market, instead focusing its NFC developments on other sectors, such as medical, consumer and automotive. Its move with the new combo chips is a boost for the nascent NFC market and I think that by incorporating NFC with other technologies, the barrier of someone paying for an additional (standalone) NFC controller is removed. That si to say, OEMs are not so worried about NFC impacting their margins and MNOs see less added cost for NFC handsets.

As I said in this blog's title: I look forward to the day when I no longer talk about NFC handsets. Instead, I look forward to the day when it is simply there, as a ubiquitous feature (at least in all smartphones).I won't be talking about it because it will be as pervasive as Bluetooth, FM receivers, GPS and WiFi. And perhaps it will be; with developments like TI's combo connecitivty IC there is no reason why it won't be. There's obviously some way to go still and Idon't think that we will beat that point at next year's MWC -but it might be the year after that....

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Femto Forum Gives Way To The Small Cell Forum

Feb 15, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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​The Femto Forum has rebranded itself to the Small Cell Forum, although I genuinely think that it’s come slightly late in the day. Most of the vendors in the Femto Forum have long past rebranded their own marketing messagesto include small cells as a part of the larger discussion. However, it’s good to see that the there is a general acceptance of the term ‘small cells’.

In fact we at ABI Research sparked off debate back in 2009 when we suggested a Super Femto concept, which could be argued as being a one of the first steps of decoupling femtocells from the basic residential play and probably a precursor to the term small cells. Back in early 2011, we were also one of the first few analyst firms to rebrand our own femtocell research service to include the larger small cell opportunity. We got instant acceptance from our existing clients and have since been getting a lot of interest from a much wider ecosystem of vendors and operators.

But apart from blowing our own horns, yes this does allow the industry to move on past the terminology debates and get to the more serious business of getting standards and interoperability in place for the wider small cell family of solutions. Also it’s a good one-stop shop for anyone in the public arena wanting to know more about small cells in general.

To most people its basically an umbrella term that incorporates femtocells, picocells and microcells and to an extent Wi-Fi as well. These could be indoor or outdoor small cells. And there lies the clue – outdoor small cells (or as we used to call them metro cells) are getting all the attention these days.

While the Small Cell Forum is committed to continue the preaching the virtues of indoor small cells, it’s the outdoor small cells that will take most of their attention and energies, I presume.

One thing that will be interesting to follow is if the traditional DAS and repeater folks will also start to borrow the term small cells, while it is still hot.Although I don’t think the Small Cell Forum is too eager to further wider their scope. There are architectural and philosophical differences in the two ecosystems and its better that they remain separate.

In any event, this officially marks the beginning of the small cell era.

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VOD Advertising Interoperability Takes a Step Forward

Feb 7, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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CableLabs recently completed an Ad Interoperability Event, with Canoe Ventures, BlackArrow, Avail-TVN, Harris, Nagra/OpenTV, SeaChange and This Technology participating. Additional details are available at: http://cablelabs.com/news/pr/2012/12_pr_Adv_Ad_Interop_020612.html

This event, designed to test out the SCTE 130 Ad Decision Manager (ADM) / Ad ​Decision Server (ADS) interface, will help operators to have confidence in building systems with hardware and software components from multiple vendors. Notably absent from the event were Ericsson and Motorola, who had participated in previous SCTE 130 events.

Comcast (working with BlackArrow)has already been rolling VOD Ads in most of its footprint. Other operators have begun limited trials, using a single vendor to avoid interoperability issues or testing the solution in-house prior to launch.

For more details on these players roles in Advanced Advertising please see: http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1005968-Advanced+Advertising+Technologies+for+Pay-TV+Platforms

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Verizon and Coinstar join forces to launch new subscription service

Feb 6, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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Verizon and Coinstar announced a joint venture today (65% Verizon/35% Coinstar) to launch a national video service with physical and digital delivery. While few details are currently available, it will be primarily subscription based. We suspect the business model will mirror that which Netflix abandoned – unlimited streaming access to long-tail content with a few Redbox rentals per month. This type of service will compete with Netflix as well as Dish/Blockbuster, Amazon Prime, etc. We expect each partner will have the opportunity to cross-sell its products; Coinstar/Redbox will gain mindshare among those consumers who have taken to streaming video services and Verizon will gain an avenue for growing its video footprint nationally – an important step given the limitation of its FiOS expansion. With its content relationships, Verizon may be able to help Redbox customers access newer titles (e.g. before the 28 day window delay for some new releases). Regardless, it can help solve two key limitations of Redbox – first, its inability to deliver long tail content, and second, its inability to deliver instant gratification.
It is unclear at this time how consumers will interface with the service. Just how integrated will Redbox and Verizon (either Verizon Mobile or Verizon FiOS) be? If the rental systems are well integrated then a user could ostensibly reserve a video at a Redbox kiosk via Verizon’s VOD storefront on FiOS or on a mobile phone. The joint venture is expected to gain access (through Verizon’s Digital Media Services group, VDMS) to some of Verizon’s great device support coming from both mobile and FiOS’s FlexView platforms – including support for XBOX, Apple’s iOS devices, and Android devices.

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On Facebook and Mobile Advertising

Feb 6, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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Facebook has a longstanding problem of making money out of it's mobile platform. It goes something like this;

* Facebook is funded from advertising revenue

* Targeted advertising on Facebook is very alluring and companies are happy to pay for it

* Facebook has 845 million active users that advertisements can be served to

* More than half (425 million to be exact) access the site via a mobile device

* Facebook does not serve advertising over mobile device


You can easily see how that's a huge problem for the bottom line of the company and it was made clear in the IPO announcement that Facebook is working to address the problem. However, serving advertisements to mobile users across multiple mobile operating systems and multiple App Stores is a formidable challenge in itself. There is no denying that the iTunes Store is very particular about the advertising that is allowed and that does not bode well will Facebook. After all, in Facebook's balance sheets there is no space for an iTunes tax and there never will be.

On top of that, Microsoft is slowly proving to the as tyrannical as Apple has ever been about their App Store. In essence, Facebook needs a map to a potential mine field and needs it fast.


Here's an interesting development from the new age giant that might provide a bit of an insight into the future revenue stream. TechCrunch, recently published an article about application bookmarks in the newsfeed. What it essentially does, is it allows you to see quick links to applications that you use a lot. It's all great and the point that Josh Constantine makes is right on the money but here's something else.


With recent additions to the Facebook platform, you can now share with friends what it is that you are doing but essentially what you are doing is advertising the content provider of your activity. So how valuable do you think that is? I'd say extremely and the advertising industry know that. In fact, it is no secret that recommendations from friends are one of the most effective advertisements that you can ever get and word of mouth is the Mecca of the advertising business. Can you do this on a large scale? Not so much, at least not until now. Think about it this way, Facebook has the means of charging companies based on word of mouth advertising. You share a company's name with your friends, Facebook gets money. You add an application to your favourites, Facebook gets even more money. And you as the user, never get to see any annoying banners and yet you are the driving force behind the largest advertising agency in the world.


Yeah, I know, it's maybe a bit Utopian and a bit ambitious but if I wake up tomorrow to a world like this it would be no surprise at all. Facebook has in fact provided brands with a new advertising medium and they will be allowed to charge for it. You on the other hand can do exactly what you've always done and tell all your friends about the brands and products that you feel passionate about. And companies actually get to compete on a levelled field provided that they have the entrance fee. And if you have doubts as to will this ever work and why should brands pay for it ... look at what Twitter is thinking of making money from.​​

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Skies look clear for Aakash2

Feb 2, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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​The latest dispute between Datawind, the makers of “Aakash” and IIT Rajasthan, a premier educational institution, which was the procurement agency for “Aakash” has come to an end with the Indian government taking matters in its own hands and taking away not only procurement responsibility but also drafting of specifications from IIT and giving it to the department of IT. The procurement responsibility will now be given to public sector undertakings.

The main bone of contention between the manufacturer and the institution was the tablet specification. Both the parties had not been able to agree upon a required set of features for Aakash. While the IIT demanded a shockproof and rainproof tablet, Datawind refused to comply with the “military specifications” prescribed by the IIT saying manufacturing such a rugged tablet would push the cost to $1500 per tablet. The IIT team rejected the first 3000 tablets and also withhold the payment of the 10000 units supplied. Datawind in turn stopped the supply of tablets leading to delay in the availability of the tablet to students.

The new specification for Aakash2, the revised version of the tablet, is likely to include a capacitive touch screen and 1GHz processor. As per the latest update from the human resources development ministry of India, they will require additional 220 million tablets and would engage multiple vendors to manufacture the tablet. Datawind which currently has an order of 100,000 devices is expected the release the upgraded Aakash2 devices soon.

With things turning favourable for Datawind after Indian government’s intervention, the path ahead for Aakash2 now looks smooth.​

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Intel the Underdog

Feb 1, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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As Intel enter the smartphone market with design wins at Motorola, Lenovo and China Unicom for x86 based applications processors they are up against the combined might of ARM licensees already entrenched in the market.

Whilst Qualcomm, TI, Broadcom, Nvidia, etc. are relatively small semiconductor suppliers compared with Intel overall their combined might and solid market position make them a formidable force to be reckoned with.


This battle is just one exciting development in the mobile device IC market that will make 2012 a very interesting year.

More insight here ....

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CES 2012 and Home Automation

Jan 18, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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​CES 2012 was notable for the shift taking place in the home automation booths and displays. In years past, there was a growing crescendo of home automation activity, as represented by the growing numbers of home automation-specific vendors and the growing size of the floor space devoted specifically to M2M. The wave seems to have crested: Control4, which had in previous years served as a key anchor-tenant, providing a huge venue for a large number of its key partners, stayed off the show floor this year. The ZigBee, Z-Wave, and HomePlug Powerline Alliance booths all seemed smaller this year, with fewer companies (and fewer varieties of applications) on display.

(Note: I was contacted by the ZigBee Alliance on 2/1/12 in response to this blog post and provided with the following clarification: "The ZigBee Alliance pavilion actually had more ZigBee Certified products on display than last year, was the same physical size/number of member pods as the past two years, and had the same applications as last year.")

These should not necessarily be taken as a warning sign for the home automation industry in general, however, which continues to grow at remarkable rates. Rather, this year’s CES highlights the growing maturity of the overall home automation market. Control4 met with its customers and partners in suites off the show floor – it likely feels less need to create market awareness either for itself or the home automation market, given the company’s overall growth. Likewise, while home automation-specific companies and floor space may have declined, there was much more evidence of “monitoring and control” technologies being integrated into a wide variety of home systems and devices, such a door locks from Schlage and dishwashers from LG. Essentially, we’re moving from a specialized market with its own area of the show floor, to a more mainstream technology embedded into products and services all throughout the show floor.

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Of Fantasy Hockey and Why Everybody's Suddenly Doing APIs

Jan 17, 2012 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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​If you aren’t yet fully acquainted with the concept of fantasy sports, it may not be entirely your fault. Most of us enthusiasts feel that as a pastime it’s still somewhat too stigmatizing to be announced during a dinner party, or at least before the occasion has progressed to the digestif. (Although calling it “Dungeons and Dragons for jocks”, as some outsiders seem to do, is a little unnecessary.) It is one of those digital sub-cultures that in some form has existed for several decades, but which started to grow seriously only when broadband accesses had become commonplace.And by now it has grown to an extent that as an industry it generates today about$5 billion in revenue.

Surprised? So was I when I read that. Enlightened, I finally realized that outside of our own fantasy-hockey cave there’s a whole valley of similar dimly-lit caves, inhabited by similarly fixated dwellers.

Interestingly,CBS, one of the industry’s biggest players (the companies that essentially provide the users with the template to set up and run a league, and then a statistical engine to feed numbers into it), has decided to launch an API to third-party developers. And furthermore, it will also open a storefront through which the developers can distribute the apps they come up with.

That is promising. Fantasy sports is a numbers game, so there is a natural demand for various tools that allow you to better evaluate and track the players’ performance. The Internet is half-full of sites that offeropinionsandanalysison the recent moves and related topics, but since each fantasy pool tends to be different, in terms of rules and stats categories that are used to calculate the scores, they can seldom address all needs that individual participants may have. For example, our league has blocked shots as one of its eleven scoring categories; blocked shots however aren’t yet a regular category in most other leagues, so we have to take a lot of the existing player rankings and analyses with a good pinch of salt. Having an app whose player-ranking algorithms could better address the peculiarities of each different league would remove much of the guesswork involved in evaluating players.

As such, CBS is a prime example of why everybody's doing APIs in the first place. They allow differentiating and improving the product/service with someone else doing most of the hard work.The successful third parties may also generate substantial revenue for the partner platform, but that doesn’t change the fact that their biggest value is in making things better for the end-user.​​

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