Study Foreshadows Growth in Tech Support Services
Posted by Rick Schadelbauer on Monday, May 13, 2013 · 
Seventy-eight percent of U.S. broadband households have a home network, according to a study recently conducted by Parks Associates and Support.com, Inc. Parks expects that number to grow to 95% by 2016. The company concludes that these numbers will ultimately result in increased demand for home tech support services.
The Parks white paper, entitled “Expanding to the Home Network: The Evolution of Premium Tech Support,” looks at the market for premium tech support, market conditions driving future adoption of subscription-based support services, and strategies to bundle premium support services with product and service sales to achieve brand differentiation and revenue growth. Read more
Roomba Creator Signs Seven to New Medical Robot
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Monday, May 13, 2013 ·
Several months after receiving FDA approval for a medical device earlier this year, iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) announced last week that seven medical centers and health systems will purchase the firm’s new medical robot. The announcement was made last week at the American Telemedicine Association’s International Conference in Austin, Texas.
iRobot may be familiar to many consumers as the creators of Roomba (robotic vacuum cleaner), Scooba (robotic floor washer), and Looj (robotic gutter cleaner). The company’s latest device, RP-VITA is not intended for home use, but rather clinical facilities where it will enable physicians to interact with patients and, according to the firm “remotely take command of the clinical environment without need for any on-site setup, coordination or assistance from nurses or technical staff.” Physicians will be able to interact with the robot through, for example, a tablet; the robot is not sedentary, but can be directed to move throughout a building. Read more
ALA Finds Broadband Stimulus Benefits Libraries
Posted by Brian Ford on Monday, May 13, 2013 ·
A recently released study conducted by the American Library Association (ALA) found that more than 20 percent of the nation’s libraries have benefited from broadband stimulus programs. The Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (“BTOP”) arose out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (also know as the Stimulus Act).
The BTOP grants referenced in the study fell into three categories: the Public Computer Center Grants, the Sustainable Broadband Adoption Program, and the Comprehensive Community Infrastructure Program. The majority came in the first category. Read more
The Hierarchy of Nerds: Blending Star Wars and Psychology
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Thursday, May 9, 2013 · (2)
This might be one of the few D.C. trade association blogs that could open with a re-posting of a thesis that Chewbacca was actually a highly-placed spy, and Han Solo was simply an unwitting cover for the hairy agent. A friend of mine forwarded the post to me last year in an email saying, “My mind is officially blown. Destroyed. I can’t look at Star Wars the same way again.” If you’re a Star Wars fan, then the original post is worth a read. If you’re not, then I’ll skip to the point and propose that there are instances in which a novel approach to a common problem can open new and innovative perspectives.
Illustration courtesy kiwi_orange_socks
About a month ago, Ben Thompson on stratechery.com proposed that Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” can be translated to define the mobile wireless market, with specific application (no pun intended) to the iPhone. OK. That’s a mouthful, and I’ll be honest – until I saw the post, I had no idea who Maslow or what the Hierarchy of Needs were; as Clint Eastwood admitted to Rene Russo in In the Line of Fire, “I had to look it up.” But, here it is in a nutshell: Maslow, an American psychologist, proposed that basic human needs must be met before more intricate goals such as morality, problem solving and creativity can be mastered. The theory is often presented in pyramid form, with physiological needs such as breathing, eating and sleeping occupying the base layer while employment, friendship, self-esteem and confidence take roost at upper levels. Stated simply (and perhaps robbing Maslow’s observations of their elegance), property doesn’t matter if you’re not eating. Or, as Thompson notes, “until lower order needs are met, we don’t really pay attention to or pursue higher order needs.” Read more
Rising Programming Costs Hit Smaller Providers Harder; More Flexibility Needed
Posted by Steve Pastorkovich on Monday, May 6, 2013 ·
A new report from market research firm Moody’s Investors Services confirms that smaller video providers are harder hit by rising programming costs than their larger counterparts. Of course, this comes as no surprise to rural multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). The report also does not exactly go out on a limb when it predicts that the gap between what small and large MVPDs pay for content will probably continue to increase in the coming years. Smaller companies’ relative lack of bargaining power leads to steeper cost increases, according to Moody’s. In contrast, companies like Comcast, with 22 million subscribers, and Time Warner Cable, with about 12 million, can leverage their scale to contain their content costs to less damaging levels (in addition to, in some cases, leveraging their ownership of sizeable parts of the content in question).
Moody’s does not expect major changes in the structure of programming contracts in the foreseeable future. Therefore, retransmission costs will continue to grow, and become a greater percentage of an MVPD’s (and thus consumers’) overall costs. As media consolidation continues, the bargaining disadvantage of smaller providers will only get worse, according to Moody’s. This, in turn, could lead to more consolidation among smaller MVPDs. Read more
Microsoft Unveils Skype for Outlook.com
Posted by Brian Ford on Monday, May 6, 2013 ·
Last week, Microsoft introduced a preview edition of Skype for Outlook.com in the UK. The product is scheduled to be rolled out in the United States and Germany in the coming weeks.
The new product will feature the ability to engage in video and audio calling powered by Skype embedded in every Outlook.com (a free email service) inbox. Once set up, a user reading an email on Outlook.com can simply move their cursor over the picture of the person who sent an email, or of anyone in their contacts, and initiate a Skype call or chat session. Once a user’s Skype and Microsoft accounts are merged, their Skype contacts will merge into Outlook.com. Set-up requires the download of a plug-in for users’ Internet browser, although only the most recent versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox are supported. Details on additional browser support are forthcoming.
When Microsoft purchased Skype in 2011, critics questioned how the two companies with such different services could merge their products in a way that made sense to consumers. Two years later, Skype for Outlook.com represents the first major step towards integrating the two services.
Microsoft recently launched a new version of Outlook.com, and claims it has not only been a wild success (with 60 million users), but that it is attracting numerous Gmail users. The new Outlook.com replaced Hotmail, which had for several years been badly languishing behind Gmail. Bing has been slowly increasing its market share, and the success of Outlook.com may have given Microsoft some momentum. The launch of Skype for Outlook.com may continue that momentum and enable Microsoft to push back on Google’s market share.
CenturyLink to Conduct 1 Gbps Test Project in Omaha
Posted by Rick Schadelbauer on Monday, May 6, 2013 ·
CenturyLink will offer 1 GB broadband service to 48,000 homes in Omaha, Neb., beginning May 6. The company’s goal is to have all targeted customers connected by early October.
Residential customers who are part of the program will be charged $79.95 monthly for the 1 GB service when bundled with other CenturyLink offerings. The stand-alone price will be $149.95 per month.
“CenturyLink is pleased to offer its Omaha customers ultra-fast broadband speeds up to 1 GB to help keep pace with growing broadband demands,” said CenturyLink COO Karen Puckett. “This demonstrates our commitment to deliver communications solutions that provide our customers with the technology they need to enhance their quality of life, now and into the future.”
It is unclear whether CenturyLink’s 1 GB service will be subject to a usage cap. Currently, CenturyLink caps 1.5 Mbps service plans at 150 GB, and caps any faster service at 300 GB. The company also reserves the right to remove what they consider to be excessive users from their network.
According to a company release, CenturyLink “will evaluate its Omaha 1 GB offer before determining further deployment of this advanced technology, considering such factors as positive community support, competitive parity in the marketplace and the ability to earn a reasonable return on its investment.”