There have been rumors in the US this week that Apple is about to make a bid for $700 million for the social networking phenomena Twitter. Apple has $29 billion in the bank and US analysts see Apple as a likely purchaser of almost anything right now.
US researcher In-Stat says that revenue from web to TV streaming services will rise to $2.9 billion by 2013 and says that already 40% of young adults watch internet video on their TV. It says that the number of US broadband households who will view Web-to-TV content will grow to 24 million. There are already many games consoles used to stream video and in five years some 7.4 million US broadband households will use media center PCs for streaming Web-to-TV content.
MPP and Miniweb in the UK have integrated MPP’s iPay Developer, its payment system, into Miniweb’s interactive video platform. This will allow network operators, TV device manufacturers and content owners to deliver centralized, secure content payment services to millions of TV viewers through broadband connected TV devices. iPay Developer is an eCommerce payment gateway equipped with eWallet technology.
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has signed a deal with South Africa broadcaster MultiChoice which gives its entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television (SET) coverage across the whole of sub-Saharan Africa making it available on both DStv’s Premium and Compact bouquet, bringing the total number of subscribers on the continent to 2 million.
Another UltraWideBand start-up, Radiospire Networks, has shut its doors, despite producing a first generation chip, Airhook, which it claimed demonstrated gigabit performance and aimed at replacing HDMI cables for digital TVs. UWB specialists are falling like flies, while former big name supporters like Intel are diverting their attentions elsewhere, so a new report from In-Stat, predicting that 802.11n will dominate the wireless HD market for at least the next few years, is hard to contradict.
US satellite TV leader DirecTV Group and Liberty Entertainment will be combined, Liberty Media said Monday. We’re not really sure that this means anything, except that it should scotch rumors that DirecTV could be offloaded at any time. It may also mean that John Malone, CEO of Liberty will have more direct control. Liberty Entertainment is in the process of being spun out of Liberty Media, but will now include 54% of DirecTV stock, Liberty Sports Holdings a big chunk of the Game Show Network, a division called Fun Technologies and about $30 million in cash and $2 billion in debt.
In-Stat reckons that as many as 800 airplanes will have in-flight broadband by the end of this year alone going up from 25 in 2008 and this will generate $47 million in global revenues during 2009. The in-flight broadband market is still emerging and will grow well beyond $1 billion annually by 2012 it says.
Macrovision has signed a multi-year technology and patent licensing agreement with Vizio, a Californian HD TV and consumer electronics specialist, for its interactive program guide (IPG) technologies. The agreement allows for Vizio to incorporate the technologies into future products
Virgin Media in the UK had sales down and losses rising in Q1 as broadband sign ups have slowed dramatically, despite Virgin advertising fiber optic super fast broadband. It lost £123 million and ARPU rose slightly while churn was low as 1.1% per month. Revenue was down to £935.7 million compared £947.3 million last time.
Aggressive marketing of Blackberry devices by Verizon Wireless has seen them overtake iPhone sales in the last quarter according to researcher NPD. Verizon had a buy one get one free promotion by Verizon Wireless and this pushed RIM’s BlackBerry Curve past Apple’s iPhone as the best selling smartphone in the US. RIM’s market share went up 15% to 50% as its Storm and Pearl took third and fourth places. The T-Mobile G1 was next and existing Palm devices were nowhere to be seen, though the Pre may change that if it ever gets delivered.
The European market for consumer electronics will fall by 9% in 2009 said Berlin based research group EITO to just €62 billion, a conclusion it reached analyzing research data colleted by GfK. This will be the first reduction in the market for consumer electronics since the middle of the 1990’s. The reason for the fall has less to do with reduced consumer spending as a result of the economic crisis and more to do with the switch to digital in consumer electronics, the company said.
Harris net income rose in its third quarter to $114 million from $108 million this time last year, on revenue of $1.36 billion, flat with $1.33 billion for the prior-year quarter. But a lack of fresh orders means that revenues are likely to go down, with just $1 billion orders in the quarter mostly due to falling Department of Defense spending and the weak economy having an effect on the Broadcast Communications segment which was down 17%.
US cable company Charter Communications said that the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved its Disclosure Statement for its proposed Joint Plan of Reorganization and authorized Charter to begin soliciting votes on the Plan. The plan is supported by Paul Allen and his affiliates, and holders of 73% Senior Secured Note holders. If the deal is passed it will shave some $8 billion off Charter’s indebtedness.
Alcatel-Lucent reported another big net loss for its first quarter, up to $539 million, but said it is on track to break-even for the full year. The company also said it expects the telecom equipment market to contract this year by between 8% and 12%. Last year the loss was just $241.8 million for this quarter. Revenue fell from $5.15 billion down 6.9% to $4.81 billion and US business was down the most. ‘This quarter was about putting together the new Alcatel-Lucent,’ Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen said in a statement. ‘I am pleased with the customer response to our new direction and strategy.’ Alcatel-Lucent closed deals last week with China Mobile and China Telecom totaling $1.7 billion.