Thought NewTeeVee Live was awesome, it was merely to whet your appetite for next week in Silicon Valley with my Smarter TV event at the Commonwealth Club and Streaming Media West, #SMWest09.  NYC has its own Future of TV East confab, follow at #FOTVE.  And on a musical note, Tuesday night, 6-9, there is a sneak peek at the upcoming #SFMusicTech with a swanky mixer at Roe, 651 Howard, SF.  For the two stellar SV TV events, here’s a quick survey of who will be where:

M 11/16 6:30-8:30pm
SMARTER TV
at the Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley
Dominik Rausch, Producer, Easy to Assemble
Anthony Soohoo, SVP General Manager, Entertainment & Lifestyle, CBS Interactive
Russ Schafer, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Yahoo! Connected TV
Evan Young, Senior Director, Broadband Services, TiVo Inc.
Andrew Kippen, VP Marketing, Boxee
Jim Funk, VP Business Development, Roku
Mitch Berman, Co-Founder & CEO, ZillionTV
Martine Paris, Editor, Content NOW

The future is here!  Join us for a fascinating evening with Easy to Assemble, CBS, Yahoo! Connected TV, TiVo, Boxee, Roku,and ZillionTV, who, along with IKEA and Hollywood’s most hilarious comedians, are ushering in the greatest entertainment era ever known. Thanks to technology, talent and brands are now going direct to fans who with just a click of the remote can enjoy shows, tweet onscreen, check weather, holiday shop, order takeout, and so much more.

Tickets:  $15 members, $20 guests
http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=15&shcode=1321
Time:  6:30pm Registration, 7pm Program, 8pm Screening
Location:  Silicon Valley Bank, 3005 Tasman, Santa Clara

(Thank you StreamingMedia.com  for this great blog post!)

Tu 11/17
STREAMING MEDIA WEST
San Jose Convention Center

9, Bill Stone, FLO TV
10:30, Jim Louderback, Revision3, Vanessa Pappas, Next New Networks, Dermot McCormack, MTV, Brandon White, FUNimation, Brett Wilson, Tubemogul..
11:30, Marc Hustvedt, Tubefilter, Thom Woodley, Dinosaur Diorama, Jenni Powell, The Guild, Brent Friedman, Electric Farm, Zadi Diaz, Smashface Productions..
12:30, Lunch Break
1:45, Joe Wilson, TBS, Rafi Mamalian, blip.tv, Steve Robinson, Panache, Brad Murphy, Revision3, Ben Reneker, SNL Kagan…Itzik Cohen, Clipsync, David Jordan, Rovi, Ruchir Rodrigues, Verizon..
2:45, Rico Nassol, Zappos.com, Mike Sullivan, Hot Topic, Gerry Johnson, HSN..
4, Andrew Kippen, Boxee, Nick Chakalos, Motorola, Roxanne Austin, Move, Michael Bishara, HBO
5, Reception

W 11/18
STREAMING MEDIA WEST
San Jose Convention Center

9, Marc Whitten, Xbox LIVE
10:30, Brian Duncan, Disney Interactive, Shalini Govil-Pai, YouTube, Tom Morgan, Media.tv..
11:45, Matthew Weisbecker, NBCU, Thomas Carpenter, EPIX, Marty Roberts, thePlatform, Mark Pascarella, Gotuit…
12:30, Kaltura Lunch
1:45, Dan Pryor, Safeway…Tim Harader, Microsoft..
3-3:45, Dan Rayburn, StreamingMedia.com..Jim Funk, Roku, Evan Young, TiVo, Mitch Berman, ZillionTV, Matthew McRae, VIZIO, Paul Alfieri, Limelight..
7:30, Readers’ Choice Awards Reception

Th 11/19
STREAMING MEDIA WEST
San Jose Convention Center

9, Emil Rensing, EPIX
10:30, Tal Saraf, Amazon CloudFront, Stephen Condon, ATT…Nick Hippe, Adobe
11:30, Ron Berryman, Fox..Jerry Rocha, Nielsen Online, John Paul, Sling Media, Paul Scanlan, MobiTV, Francisco Varela, YouTube, Maria Buck, AP..
12:30, Lunch Break
2-3, Will Coghlan, Hudson Street Media, Caleb Silver, CNNMoney.com…

GigaOm’s Mobilize is live streaming right now (19,000 viewers), so if you can’t be there, tune in at http://www.livestream.com/gigaomtv.  If you can be there, drop by the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco where close to 1000 industry execs are discussing the future of the mobile web. Great networking with Accenture, Adobe, Adaptive Path, AllThingsD.com, Ars Technica, Benchmark Capital, Business Week, CBS Market Watch, Cisco, CNET, Economist, Engadget, Finanical Times, Flixster, Forbes, Foundation Capital, French Maid TV, frog design, GameFly, GDGT.com, Geek Sugar, GetJar, Gizmodo, Google, Granite Ventures, Handango, HP, InfoWorld, Intel, InterWest Partners, Khosla Ventures,LG Mobile, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mashable, Mayfield Fund, mig33, Mobile Monday, MEF, MobiTV, Moconews, MocoSpace, Motorola, Mozes, NATPE, NYT, Nielsen, Nokia, Opus Capital, Palm, PayPal, PC World, Qualcomm, Samsung, SF Chronicle, SJ Merc, Scobleizer, Sony Ericsson, SVB Capital, Sprint, Sun, TechCrunch, Thom Weisel, T-Mobile, USVP, Ubergizmo,  USA Today, Venrock, Venture Beat, Verizon, WSJ, WF, Wired, Y!, Zannel, ZDNet and others.

Om Malik opened the conference.  His research venture, GigaOM Pro, which provides subscribers research on-demand, reports that the US is on track to produce by end of 2009:  280mm wireless subscribers, $160B in service revenues, $45B of that in data revenues, 2.3T minutes of voice use and 1.7T text messages, translating to $160 per subscriber of data plan spending per year and 829 minutes per user.  A huge opportunity.

MONETIZING MOBILE APPS

Raven Zachary, Small Society
Considering Apple’s event yesterday it seemed fitting to have Raven lead with the first panel who advises companies like ZipCar and Whole Foods on their mobile strategies, and is known well to these parts as one of the pied pipers of iPhoneDevCamp – Seeing more carriers wanting to have their own app store, look at Verizon with VDC, it makes sense, they have the billing relationship with the end user.  Vodafone ramping up too.

Mark Curtis, Flirtomatic
There’s been a dramatic rise in popularity of the freemium model, free monetize with ad network although CPCs and CPMs have come way down in this economy, belive in time mobile ad marketplace will be massive.  See freemium as a walk in the park, every now and then you’ll want an ice cream, it’s nice to have the option.  At Flirtomatic, have had great success selling users greater visibility on site, they’re willing to pay if there profile will be seen by more women, experiencing 4x the CPMs from user-based ads.

Mark Jacobstein, iSkoot
There used to be enormous expenses associated with porting/QA of mobile games.  Focusing just on iPhone makes things easier, and yet for all it does so well (powerful SDK, screen real estate) there is so much that iPhone doesn’t do.  iPhone can’t multitask, apps don’t run in the background.  Few client based apps like time-wasting games.  Not going to make much selling a $2 app, money is in client/server services, free to end user like Skype (big applause from panel). MMS limitations, photos via SMS from a friend are sent with password and link – that’s a huge turnoff.  Mobile increases web engagement, those that access sites via phone are twice as engaged.  Developers now building in social context/gifting of virtual goods into game mechanics to take advantage of in-app commerce.

Dorrian Porter, Mozes
Most marketers not sure what to do with the mobile consumer, have yet to see mobile as a point of inspiration for impulse buy.  Most market with voice and SMS.  (Recently became a huge fan of SMS, now can text kids whenever he wants.) Mozes focuses on the browser-based experience.  There are SMS limitations to web-clipping

Adam Zbar, Zannel
ATT networks are slammed with data.  Will see services becoming more interoperable than islands.  Carriers for the longest time wanted to be entertainment companies and content creators, now some like Comcast are starting to see themselves more as a distribution platform – good for the developer community.

LOCATION:  CONTEXT IS MONEY
4000 LBS apps today, a small % but impressive considering 18 months ago there were only 5 LBS apps in the world.

KEYNOTE:  Innovation on Android – Introducing MotoBlur
Dr. Sanjay Jha, Co-CEO, Motorola
Number of mobile users doubled between 2008-9 from 10.8mm to 22mm devices accessing daily.  20% access web via mobile device.  Going from 1:1 SMS to 1:Many Social collaboration.  Ubiquitous availability of wireless broadband.  Rapid expansion.  Mobilizing the internet is the single biggest opportunity today.  Netbooks, eBooks, gaming devices, smartphones.  Smartphones being the backbone where mobilization will occur. Broadband definition – minimum 500kb data connectivity to mulitple users without regard of location.  What makes a smartphone – larger high-res display, anytime anywhere broadband connectivity, over the air updates (key), rich media, voice quality, coverage, multi-thread, multitasking operating system.  Android gives us a platform to mobilize the internet, enhance consumer experience, mulitple simultaneous transaction, competitive differentiation, Motorola supporting development of Android, have put meaningful resources behind the Android ecosystem, consumers overwhelmed by options.  Half of US mobile traffic is 180mm social networkers, will grow to 800mm (Gartner).   Aggregate media, music, address books, email addresses.  MotoBlur service allows your entire life to exist on a single stream, enables you to focus on being social, syncs contacts, posts, media, photos, FB, Twitter, Myspace, Gmail, Y!, corporate email customized on home screen and integrated deep into corners of device, so consumer can focus on being social not on how its sent.  Have it all one finger swipe away.  Widgets:  Social status, happenings (feeds, tweets, updates), messages, weather, Android marketplace and browser.  Create rich text email.  Easy to navigate streams, syncing push contacts into address book photos, birthdates. Integrates contact info through device, receive a call and caller’s profile info pops onscreen, get turn by turn direction to where they are, and it’s worry free – phone can be found by GPS in case its off on a cab ride without you – remote wipe – wipes device but keeps data in the cloud, set up once, good to go.  Phone as primary computer device, if it doesn’t fit in your pocket, the consumer won’t use it.  price points and memory costs are drivers to computing becoming mobile.  Regarding palm, it’s not a zero sum game, all boats float, with 300mm smartphones, its the biggest technology opportunity there is, MotoBlur will eventually evolve, this is just the starting point, the first step in a long journey.   Motorola is excited to integrate location, social graph and web info in an easily digestible way, Motorola does both sw and hw and can decide how to integrate, solve problems and deliver experience that simplifies life, health, fitness, media, build trust to share info, no rationale for 4G if its not for multimedia.

Cole Brodman, T-Mobile
Watch for Cliq with MotoBlur in time for the holidays, next chapter in Android innovation, open highly customizable platform, inviting 3P innovation to the network, first phone with social skills, always on connection, glance on the go, network can handle the traffic, T-Mobile has invested $9B in last 4y, has 200mm US customers with 3G coverage, T-Mobile customers text more than anyone in the world started with Sidekick, connected socializers 30-somethings like to stay in touch, have lead the smartphone adoption. T-Mobile will have product out in time for holidays with the best value, coverage, must have alwayson devices, Cliq in two colors white and titanium, with google browser, video capture.

(Very cool demo – if only iPhone would push birthday reminders to home screen when turned on, and autoemailed birthday wishes)

Andy Rubin, Google
Smartphone is a communications device first and voice device second, data differentiates the smartphone but still need voice to carry it around with you at all time, interface with mobile internet, as powerful as a desktop PC from 15 years ago, internet is the destination, the window to the world, now cloud computing, network connected devices, we’re all personally participating in the ecosystem, what is good for the internet is good for Google, the bigger the base the better it is for Google’s primary ad business, the modern os brings the webto people’s pockets.  As for Palm and Symbian, let the best OS win.  Regarding which came first Android or iPhone OS – os developers have long history and have worked everywhere, who knows which came first, the important thing is that they came together to develop an open system.  Moving web forward as a platform, modern browsers more capable with HTML 5.

ULTRABAND:  Fast Platform for Innovation
How will we be at 100mbps or 1gbps wireless broadband by 2012.  In 1991 Xerox ParC stated its vision for pervasive computing.  18 years later still discussing what broadband is, what bandwidth is needed to be broadband, always there, omnipresent, delivering compelling user experiences at the speed of thought, a world in which the consumer knows that they desire it and suddenly it’s there.

Phil Asmundson, Deloitte
Exciting time for mobile, phones are our remote control to the world, look out 5-10y, fundamental changes to the marketplace, will find that apps that require ultraband eat up spectrum, as we watch video, primary entertainment devices for the millennials and gen xers, mobile mobile and fixed mobile still dont play with each other, two separate worlds, need to play together, cause of spectrum issues.  (Chetan Sharma:  The term smartphone will be an oxymoron in 5 years)  There is an innovation iceberg, the more broadband you provide, the more they’ll use, sw is driving the market, advances far faster than hw, then there are FCC challenges around spectrum, cells are going to be gone, need something more powerful than finite spectrum.  SW is driving force for mobile, need more partnerships, not one company can do it alone.  carriers rpus will increase, innovation cycle will advance, great new world coming sooner than you think.

Ken Denman, Openwave Systems
An all IP world is slave to consumer experience, beyond phones and smartphones there is a data tsunami coming, all things non-phones, all connected devices including things not mobile, appliances, cars , netbooks, wonderful soup coming up, exciting times, the key enabler is all IP environment, convergence will absolutely happen with mobile as the default.  Ethernet will appear to have more relevance.  There will be tiering of price around bundled services for a particular experience like Kindle.    As market evolves and consumers get snappy apps they may not have a problem with price tiering.  Offloading of multiple networks is key middleware solution, #1 RFP of CXOs.

Abhi Ingle, ATT
Increasing speeds and feeds with wireless broadband, 5y widely deployed LTE 100mbps, 10y fungibility of networks become more transparent switching the networks, evolve beyond cell tower, go way beyond phones to connected devices, internet of things, explosion of innovation, ATT Austin lab, connectivity extend to things never even imagined before, connected 30-somethings used to cloud computing environments, ATT has 38 data centers for cloud computing alone, powerful networks.  You need massive amounts of capital to achieve 1gbps, there is not enough spectrum to achieve those speeds, need capital, spectrum and transformation of network, unimaginable costs ($100B?).  One approach is to blend the networks, make it transparent to end user.

Rick Keith, Motorola
Underlying principle of delivery of apps (Twitter, FB), what is broadband relative to those apps, taking experience already familiar with moving to airwaves, to that thing previously known as cell phone, broadband is a marketing term, we’ve had wimax since 2007, for Pakistan and Brazil its the first connection ever had to home, what is broadband to them is not broadband to us.  Its an issue of latency, needs to be a subsecond from send to receive, must be snappy, cost doesn’t stop at capex, there is enormous operating expense as well. Hybrid networks need be transparent to user, right now if you have Boingo can use ATT wireless at airport, that doesn’t make sense.  Must be a bridge service.

THE NETBOOKS & ULTRAPORTABLE BOOM

Mark Spoonauer, LAPTOP Magazine
1 of 5 pcs sold are netbooks, not funny Apple yesterday showing pocket ripping from Dell Inspiron not fitting, netbooks outgrowing notebooks 2:1.  Cheap notebooks have existed before, small, easy to carry, low cost, voting with dollars due to economy, is there a cannibalization threat, netbook integrated broadband 3g attaching $60 fee to go unlimited data makes it not a low cost, carriers need to subsidize netbooks to take off

Noury Al-Khaledy, Intel

Price point needed for internet use, compact, companion, evolving of the mobile web, different form factors and uses, dependent on different devices for different needs, infrastructure to provide bandwidth is key, bill monthly per user or per device, majority shipping are wifi, open econsystem platform, battery life better and better CPU not draining battery, netbooks with 8hrs, sw ecosystem will grow,chrome runs best on pc, better battery life, integration, lower power, new processors handle full flash.

LOCATION, MEDIA & MONEY:  The Next Enablers

Len Lauer, Qualcomm
Qualcomm is starting with Smartbooks moving to broader consumer electronics category.  Problem with netbooks is that they don’t last all day.  Want a Smartbook that lasts all day, always on, email pushed, no need for fan to cool off, very sleek design.   (Three kids (18/16/13) and three netbooks not enough) Right now Smartbooks do not have full support of office environment, Microsoft not porting XP86 yet.  Adding connectivity to everything.  Amazon Kindle makes network connectivity invisible, built into price of book.  Opportunity of machine to machine.  Smart Grid technology, energy companies putting in mobile radio into thermostat in home, intelligence in smart cars where to recharge, digital cameras, navigation devices.  Lots of opportunities.  US/Europe carriers embracing machine to machine arpu higher, Verizon, ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile.  Start out with thin file apps without user involvement (not large PPT decks or media files) 4-5% royalty rate on CDMA for 3G (830mm of 4B are 3G, 3.25% royalty rate for 4G when LTE comes out.)  Interconnectivity multimode when not connected on 4G still get 3G, voice will run out on 3G til 2020.  Rate needs to come down from $60 for mass adoption, balance economics, higher cost of bandwidth costs.  Amount of data being consumed going up.  Qualcomm helping operators with network offload, Media FLO sits on its own network.  Data traffic up 400%, half from video streaming.  FLO is 1:Many, can push out top ten YouTube videos over broadcast/datacast network, or P2P if two are within a kilometer to have handsets talk to each other and send info to each other different spectrum band, low power and fast – new radio technology – going point to point via phones.  Longer R&D project.  Can also get it on to cable networks to offload but need to manage interference.  Media Flo $10-15/month subscription – 15 channels of linear feeds – Qualcomm pays for content from ESPN..  (CDN offload)  700mhz auction 10 years to get that spectrum out.  Think about lots of devices in your home being connected should be P2P, better to manage on a licensed spectrum basis.  Where its most populated is where its free – Korea, Japan, China – 45% devices watching tv.  Italy, Germany, US not hitting expectations, Qualcomm doesn’t have nationwide network yet, need to be on more devices, expand next year, platform capability not just restricted to mobile devices, should be on other consumer electronics like MP3, live tv in car (on fridge?).  Launching with AudioVox this month for cars, rear screen videos in cars will go live tv.  Watch for MP3 device with FLO coming out soon.

INNOVATION THROUGH OBSERVATION & DESIGN

Denise Gershbein, frog design
Take products from strategy to market, brand, design, physical, digital.  Augmented reality has a lot to do with context that’s the moment when you move from looking down at a device toward holding up a lens to the world.  Likes Evernote.  Looks to Twitter for creative sources, inspiration, follows interesting people.  Envisioning LTE 4G, look at parallel and analogous paths make meaning out of cultural chaos so you can meet the market.  Arthur C Clark, Childhood’s End – getting into one universal consciusness.  What does it mean that you can be connected and have access to knowledge at the same time.

Jesse James Garrett, Adaptive Path
Observational research can be misused to dictate design and not room for innovation.  Design is a greater differentiator to stand out in crowded marketplace.  Integration of mobile platforms into larger universe as barriers to technologies and networks breakdown will start seeing new opportunities to be exploited for services to work across platforms.  Uncovering patterns in people’s behavior and psych, extend beyond how they interact with your product.  Be inspired by things beyond the technology space.

Crysta Metcalf, Motorola
Team tying different devices to each other, tying mobile device to tv.  Looking at how you would use mobile device in social tv experience.

Prashant Agarwal, Fjord
Noone has cracked mobile marketing yet.  Context is huge.  My phone knows my tweets, contacts..  Best experience is Amazon Kindle, get it, turn it on and there is nothing else to do except buy books.  Last time you bought a phone, just to get voice is not that simple.

Robin Boyar, thinktank research and strategy
Don’t always have a pencil but always have your phone.  Mobile device can monitor your health, use as tool to make life easier, better.  Young kids aren’t using smartphones, using the free feature phones.  Apps need to match 30y+ audience who own the smartphones.  How do you beat Apple at its game – recognize how to make user experience easier and cooler – build the brand experience – with Apple have extended relationship with them via iTunes, the store.  Used to head up research for gaming company, to get holistic view need all stakeholders in the focus group. If 7 year old and 70 year old gets it, you have a great product.

CARRIER PERSPECTIVE ON THE EVOLVING MOBILE ECOSYSTEM

Cole Brodman, T-Mobile
Social communications root of T-Mobile.  Largest per user text base than any other carriers in the world – 600 messages per user per month – more texting than calls.  Update FB status many times a week.  (Om asks if its possible we one day see voice as an add-on)  Android 10,000 apps, average T-Mobile user 40 apps per user in last 11 months.  Abundance use of apps.   Front home screen always on with context and location so info is relevant is very powerful, allows user to act quickly without logging in to web page.  Too many apps, over 60,000 apps, only a few make money.  Google working on how to make apps more discoverable as app store inventory grows.  T-Mobile to use retail footprint, 1700 stores, sales reps can aid discovery.  Paid and new apps, categorizing and merchandising stores need to be improved.  Once they discover an app make it easier to recommend to friends and family, word of mouth is key.  Not setting up T-Mobile app store, working with Android for an open marketplace but playing a role in discovery, and of course improve ways for app developers to leverage carrier billing, make it more frictionless, to pay with one click, next accelerant for app store consumption.  Phone company has to evolve from closed telco mindset to open web-based infrastructures to allow more rapid development to get things to market, allow application innovation.   T-Mobile is a communications company, it’s what occurs on the desktop, internet, devices we haven’t even thought of yet, need to breakdown the way we’ve traditionally gone to market.  Mobile internet 3-5y from today, starts with ubiquitous wireless broadband network $9B investment in 3G married with increasingly open operating systems, open APIs, increases in memory, battery life, processing power.   Front screen access mashed up with location and context, social graph, offer smarter network in the future, won’t have to keep re-entering data.  Likes Android as the first one to live up to expectations – open to carriers, manufacturing partners, developers to innovate.  Give consumers opportunity to personalize and customize, make it their own.  Apple viewpoint – everything is the same.  (Om – PCs guys don’t make that much money, Mac guys makes lots of money on same product) Consumers will have viable choices, different price points.  Customization without fragmentation.  That’s the work the ecosystem needs to do.  (Om – problem with iPhone is ATT network)  T-Mobile network will hold up, existing customers over-consume, set us up for increased capacity to handle increased consumption.  No announced plans for LTE in US, but its a natural migration, T-Mobile International leader in LTE early on. Thoughts on VOIP – not a threat, wireless pricing will continue to evolve, future consumption is moving away from voice, can only talk so much, first carrier to launch voice over wifi, concern so far has been quality, 3G not built for latency needed for VOIP.  Forgone conclusion, matter of timing, T-Mobile has embraced voice apps in Android market.  Front counter for services, thoughts on DRM – makes it easier if there is no DRM, important to share with others (limit time-sharing), leans toward a DRM-free world to allow sharing, subscription models naturally fit that way consumers want to consume media vs. transactional formats.

FACEBOOK PHONE AND SOCIAL MOBILE

Frank Meehan, INQ Mobile
GSM Wolrd Congress winner of best handsets designed around Skype and Facebook.  Carrier developed phone that aloowed you to make Skype calls.  Old voice and text handset manufacturers are stuck  - got to be fast, stay ahead, have to be able to put next FB on your phone quickly.  Brand naming has to be cool and catchy, need great distribution, retail, marketing – Apple does it very well, not many others.  Nokia is a very big company, they’ll fight their way back, what’s going to happen operators are keen to differentiate, each carrier has segmented behind a handset, INQ gives operator great customization.  Sony Ericcson and Nokia nder $200 feature phone market are competitors – boring, dull, most users don’t get data, INQ phones very easy.  INQ is now also moving into Android.  Android phones has struggled to compete on networks that carry iPhone.  User experience has to be better to get that iPhone out of user’s hand.  Need a hit handset every year.  Owner of INQ is investor in Spotify, Meehan sits on board of Spotify, huge in Europe.  (Om: $50 Peek email device, BB for everyone) Location not there yet but coming.  iPhone sells well to 35y+ who buys Macs.  But iPod market is under 35y, sell INQ phones to that market.

JUST A BROWSER OR FUTURE OF MOBILE OS

Jon von Tetzchner, Opera Software
Browser has potential to be a unifying force to deploy across wide range of mobile devices without having to create a whole bunch of native apps.  80% of phones not running OS, thus web is natural choice for these phones, HTML 5 local storage and drag and drop, deliver rich app experience.  Browser started as a document viewer, then added Java, developers moving faster than that, now running applications.  Scalable vector graphics is coming in the browser.  Microsoft held the browser market back for years.  If doing it web-based, it will run everywhere.  Widget is a web app running in a separate window, can run everywhere, PC, Wii, TVs, media players. Webkit vs Opera mini.  Opera Unite service – there is just one web, see all devices working together.  People haven’t really taken to MMS, hard to get photos over to PC, bluetooth is a hurdle.Opera 10 downloaded 10mm times in the first week.  More than 700ees in 10 countries.  Still focus on the end-user, make peoples lives easier, FF, rewind, speed dial..people expect that, now 40mm active users.  In some countries, #1.  Touch based gestures, mouse gestures very popular.  Take pride on running on 10 year old PCs.  Core of the browser hasn’t changed.  Apps will be web-based, more power to play with.

INVESTMENT OUTLOOK:  THE VC PANEL

Lawrence Aragon, Venture Capital Journal
Panel raised $2B need to invest.  Seed and Series A not looking good for 2009.

Mitch Lasky, Benchmark Capital
Infatuated by iPhone comes out of being burnt.  App store has been great for developers and Apple but not venture, opportunity to aggregate market share hasn’t materialized, will soon be back in multi-platform world, will need to be on more than just iPhone.  Would invest in a company contingent on partnering with carrier.  Did 200,000 store keeping units serving global wireless market.  Now 27,000 games on iPhone, noone can make money.  Don’t mind high-friction environment. ARPU has been flat at $50 for years.  Will see higher RPUs when virtual goods comes to iphone apps.  ATT $18B to built out network to support data consumption.  Network build out is a significant issue.

Dixon Doll, DCM
Portfolio includes mig 33.  Series B in mig33 last mobile investment, in the midst of a Series A not announced.  Can’t justify monetization on advertising – wont get VCs excited.  Must look beyond US, US carriers at best are 3rd best in the world, lots of innovation in China and Japan.  Cynical about business model where carrier determines outcome of business, better to create competitive environment, e.g. MLB.com doing well with its subscription on multiplatforms, competitive dynamic is useful.  Economist talks about innovative mobile apps:  augmented reality.  DC does not understand job creation role of the VCs.  Primitive emerging market nations live off their mobile phones, creating microeconomies, money transfer payments exciting new applications.

Rob Coneybeer, Shasta Ventures
Portfolio includes Eye-Fi.  Prefer companies that don’t require carrier relationship, then can focus on value of partnership instead of imbalance of power.  When both parties have alternatives, its best.  People get hung up on ARPUs, want revenues higher than cost, voice down, data up, wave of growth around the corner, some new business models of advertising and promotion enabled by location and intent, can be explosive, developers can write to a platform without talking to carriers to see if it will go on a deck.  New features (accelerometers, touch screens) to get to a multibillion dollar industry.  Seek to build a portfolio of 25 exciting companies.  Plays Foursquare, gaming + location drives explosive adoption.

Bob Borchers, Opus Capital
(Fmr Apple iPhone exec) Portfolio includes Eye-Fi.  Mobile startups don’t require as much capital as before.  Can easily get fulfillment on your own, may need capital for awareness.  Venture community is so burned by the 500 feature phones they tried, soured on the space.  Many have great proof of concept. iPhone 2+ years old and App Store 1 year old.  Traditional carrier-focused metrics voice RPU, data RPU may be $50, other ecosystems $80 ARPUs on iPhone apps.  All do seed deal, have to have money to add people, need capital to keep company going.

John Balen, Canaan Partners
Last Series A India mobile company.  Series A is down because the whole market is down.  Seeing now an upswing in deals.  Activity level will rise in 2010.  Coming out of recession.  Every web app has to have mobile window because browser is so prevalent.  Not everything is showing up as mobile, might be categorized as web app.  Change is happening.  Need leverage with carrier.  Carriers operate differently abroad.  iPhone best over the top payment system and the outsourcing of cell phone business.  Watch the unbundling of what a cell phone company is.  Disaggregation of cell phones towers.  Win-win for consumer.  Happened in India even with low RPUs.  Augmented reality is next.  New ventures around location, cameras..

Times may be tough,  but that’s exactly when the tough get going.  And MobiTV is certainly going.  According to Chairman and CEO of MobiTV, Charlie Nooney, the company has seen a new demand for mobile television leading to a sharp increase in its customer base.  Reports show that MobiTV now has over seven million subscribers in the U.S., which is a rise of over two million subscribers in just six months.  This trend is not limited to MobiTV, as the Nielson Company reported that during the last quarter of 2008 approximately 11 million Americans used wireless video services, a nine percent increase from the previous quarter.  A large part of the increase is attributed to the introduction of 3G to most of the US wireless carriers, which allows content access that is ten times faster than previous networks

MobiTV is taking advantage of the current jump in interest by extending its many offerings to include an on demand video service model that requires payment, with free live broadcast feeds from basic television channels in the US, including news, sports, and regular programming.  Additionally, MobiTV is working on a model with capabilities similar to a DVR device which was shown at the National Association of Broadcasters in the beginning of 2009.  Sounds promising…now, if we could just do something about that tiny video screen!

EchoStar Must Pay $103.1M, Plus Interest; judge says EchoStar in contempt of permanent injunction against infringing on TiVo DVR patent. (MediaWeek)

MobiTV Has 7M Subscribers; live mobile television service now on 350 handsets and 20 carrier networks. (release)

Michael Buckley Shares Secrets of YouTube Success; among them, “Don’t call people fans” and “Don’t let praise or mean comments go to your head.” (post, video)

NBCU Digital Studio Adapts Sundance Short; Nestea will sponsor 10-episode run of CTRL-Z starring Chuck’s Zachary Levi and Arrested Development’s Tony Hale. (MediaWeek) Update: NBC says Levi will not be in the web series.

Emmy Screeners Again Go Digital; more networks exploring money-saving measures to send voters their content. (Variety)

News Corp Looking for Paid Content and Bundling Opps; so says its new chief digital officer, Jonathan Miller. (The Hollywood Reporter)

hi5 to Distribute Televisa Video; as part of deal, Televisa will sell hi5 ads in Latin America. (release)

MobiTV and NBC Sports are bringing the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby live to millions of MobiTV subscribers on AT&T Wireless, Sprint, Alltel, and other MobiTV-enabled carrier networks in the U.S. 

This year’s Run for the Roses will race across more than 350 MobiTV-enabled devices, carrying NBC Sports’ live coverage of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 2, 2009, beginning at 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT). 

MobiTV has witnessed a huge demand for live mobile coverage of major sporting events – including the 2008 Summer Olympics, NFL Draft, and iPhone application carrying games of men’s college basketball tournament. 

This year’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby is an extension of MobiTV’s efforts to bring its subscribers more content.

MobiTV brings live TV to mobile devices.

What a day!  LAGC on a roll, AO Hollywood a few blocks away, and in SF tonight the SF International Film Festival has Robert Redford onstage to screen Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.  (On Friday, its Francis Ford Coppola).   If you’re in SF at 6pm tonight stop by the Castro Theatre for red carpet fun and don’t forget to tweet about it #SFIFF.

Now back to gaming…here’s the rest of the twitter chatter at #LAGC:

SOCIAL GAMING
Nolan Bushnell, Founder, Atari & Chuck E Cheese onstage
First job was managing nonvideo arcades in the 60s
Arcade tokens were the first virtual currency 
Started Atari with $250 of his own money and in 1982 it grew to $2B annual sales
Could not get any of the engineers to take Break Out seriously..
put Steve Jobs and Woz on it
Favorite game is Asteroids, something entertaining about breaking rocks.
The movie Atari, starring Leo DiCaprio as Nolan Bushnell due out 2010. 
Biggest regret, turning down Job’s offer to buy 1/3 of Apple for $50K in the 80s.
Advice:  Don’t do what everyone else is doing.
On innovation:  go to all kinds of trade shows, I’ve been to carpet conventions
Next:  reinventing schooling to change the world, move beyond the classroom, gets rid of the classroom and uses video games in the curriculum with teacher as mentor, batch processing kids is wrong, the most interesting thing in town for kids must be the learning environment, today school is not.
The number of jobs created by Bushnell’s innovations comparable only to George Lucas
Blog with major magazine is in stealth mode right now
If the word in the 70s from the movie The Graduate was plastics, the word now is bioimplants

VIRAL GAMING
with Facebook and MySpace execs
Facebook at 200mm has a larger audience than the tv networks, 60mm players every month for top games in Facebook
Dan Yue, Playdom talking about Magic the Gathering, virality transcends games across all platforms, trading cards..
Gamasutra on The Social Network Game Boom
What works on MySpace:  enables self-expression, interact with friends, discover new entertainment
4g for consoles…or games on tv via wifi..Verizon launching 4G next year, big news for mobile gaming
ultimately people will expect their gaming experience to have the same features/functionality as their social media experiences
virtual goods allow conspicuous consumption in social games which don’t monetize, gamers buy virtual goods to show off to their friends, monetize social games not from display but from virtual goods and game advancement
 5000 games on Facebook, long tail games not in the top ten but still do well
Playfish is the most innovative social gaming company in terms of the new age of in-game advertising, half their revenue comes from performance marketing
the key shift will be from social activity on the social network to social activity everywhere
marketers need to adapt to these emerging social environments with the advent of social based promotion 
FB connect so far has focused on media partnerships like CNN and Variety, expecting to see FB on Pogo or Steam soon
 Competitive gaming is completely undeveloped in the US, nobody has opened that market yet, CGS failed but not due to demand.
Games evolving toward lifestyle and everyday experience, use of music/videos/photos big driver
connected with friends on Facebook who have Xbox but not connected via Xbox

VIRTUAL WORLDS
Difference between social network and virtual worlds is one you are you and the other you are not (avatar), lines blurring, graphics matter but not 2D v 3D, must be good and appropriate to the demographic, Stardoll is 2D intentionally, users are artists, letting them bring their art inworld is really important
Opportunity for digital to provide more measurement of ROI and value to advertisers, standards are needed, most people can’t create 2D artwork but they can tweak 3D art if you give them the right tools
MMOs based on virtual goods may gravitate toward whale model, a small number of users supplying a huge share of $$$
Stardoll-#1 traffic driver to DKNY and Kohls.com but this doesn’t translate immediate online sales, but builds awareness.
Need standard engagement metrics for virtual worlds
(tweets urging clicks on www.gamezombie.tv) 

MMOG/GAMES OF TOMORROW
MMOs interesting to Best Buy, good dynamic friction of individuality and needing to belong to something new, commit more time to MMO than regular game, becomes part of your life so you’ll invest in the avatar and your experience, characteristic of a great game, simple to understand, hard to master, MMOs not just big in Asia, Gameforge has 75mm users in Europe.  US falls behind in MMO audience because gaming is perceived as an underground thing here, that’s changing, MMOs will see the biggest growth when they bridge the PC and real world.  Cross gender gap of traditional MMOs are the social aspects of the games.  Games blowing into all aspects of our lives, being able to play as yourself accelerates merger of real and digital life.  Challenge is how to create a game women would want to play…just invite them, pink and fairies does not a women’s game make, there is no magic spell…congrats to Sony Online for FreeRealms…
(word of the day is freemium)

CASUAL GAMING
Dave Roberts, PopCap – Bejeweled Blitz has over2mm active users in less than 4 months on FB
sustainable game ecosystem – great games, leverage social, deploy to all platforms, luck
Deloitte – half of women viewing gaming as an important entertainment source
King.com user priorities, play games, meet people, win money – focus on user experience 
most expensive casual game for purchase – Rock Band – some tweeter spent over $700 on it
playing games on mobile is less than 10% and has not changed since last year
brand integration and cross media promotion taking casual games to the next level, pricing pressure on downloadable games $19.99 and falling
MTV Addicting Games says music is a huge part of their tween focused games, next wave music promo in action
will we see more publishers working with home entertainment studios to take their catalog properties into the interactive sphere – Seinfeld 

GENERATION GAMERS
with Y! Games, USA Networks

MARKETING IN GAMES
with EA, Massive (Microsoft)…
advertising in games, scalability=commodity CPA, CPM, challenge is for advertising in and around games to get beyond experimental budgets to the real money, Massive reports suggest upfronts

IPHONE BREAKOUT

DISTRIBUTION
Qualcomm…Zeebo will add 200mm gamers to the industry audience in 3 years

INFRASTRUCTURE
Dave Laux made IBM sound cool in front of video game audience…he’s good!
hardcore gamers have no problem with subscription model

W 4/29 6-11pm
GAMES MIXER
uWink
6801 Hollywood/Highland
FREE

************************************************************************************

ALWAYSON HOLLYWOOD

BTW Just blocks away in West Hollywood, AlwaysOn is wrapping up.  Moderated by Kara Swisher of AllThingsD, panelists included Yahoo Connected TV Patrick Barry and NBCU Marc Graboff contemplated the possibility of a future without network television with content being monetized transmedia across multiplatforms.  To that Swisher replied, “I think my babysitter makes more than Hulu.”  If you couldn’t be there because you were at LAGC or SFIFF or somewhere else, you can catch up via Twitter’s #onhollywood, #oh09.  Even the head of Cisco’s Media Solutions Group, Dan Scheinman, admits doing so  To help you follow the Twitter stream, here is the AlwaysOn OnHollywood Guide: 

M 4/27  
Mitch Berman, ZillionTV presented AO Newcomer award
VC Survey: KPMG on the future of investing in digital entertainment
Greg Johnson, ECD & Head of Digital, William Morris Agency on the future of branded artists

Tu 4/28
Monetizing online video with Shishir Mehrotra, YouTube Monetization
Indie content compete against big budget production/marketing – Marshall Herskovitz, PGA
Artists/labels online, David Ring, UMG, Billy Alvarado, Lala, Quincy Jones, QD3
CEO Showcase:  Daniel Graf, Kyte
VCs funding Hollywood: Richard de Silva, Highland Capital Partners, Richard Wolpert, The Mail Room Fund, Craig Collar, Morgan Stanley, David Cremin, DFJ Frontier
Future of the Theater Experience-IMAX, 3ality, WB International Cinema, NEC
Can the Web Save Journalism:  Arianna Huffington, HuffPo
Vator.TV pane with Kara Swisher, CNET, Topix, Forbes, Buzz Media
Star Power Online:  LeVar Burton with Sybil Goldman, Y! Entertainment
Future of TV:  Kara Swisher with NBC and Y! Connected TV
Innovate or Disappear:  Ross Levinsohn, Velocity Interactive Group
The New Hollywood Studio:  Warner Premiere, 20c Fox TV, Generate, Worldwide Biggies
Financing with Film Angels, FooMojo, Greycroft Partners
Virtual World-Habbo, myYearbook, BigStage
CEO showcase – Flurry
Gaming – Raptr, Gazillion Entertainment
Target Privates – Montgomery, Best Buy Capital, Fandango, WB, Fox, Disney

W 4/29
Bill Gurley, Benchmark Capital, Online Video, Snapshot of a Speeding Train, Tim Chang, Norwest, Woody Benson, Prism, Drew Lipsher, Greycroft,Eric Hippeau, SoftBank Capital
Mobile Monetize Millions – GoTV, Tapulous, PlayPhone, Mozes, INMobile.org
Any Content Anytime – Avner Ronen, CEO, Boxee, Michael Seibel, Justin.tv
CE – Paramount, Sony, LA Times, Kaltura, Mogreet
CEO Showcase – Dan Connors, CEO, Telltale Games
Content Partnering – Endemol, Paramount, View2gether, Eventful, McGhee, Middleshift
IP – Ray De Renzo, CMO, MobiTV, Tyler Lenane, Sr Counsel, RealNetworks
Money & Media with Morgan Stanley
Social Media – IAB, Buzznet, iWidgets, Thisis50.com

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Great cast of characters, but don’t be sad you missed it, there also was musexpo at the London right next door with speakers from EA Games, UMG, Virgin, WB, KCRW, Warner/Chappell, Lionsgate, Geffen, Sony, Snoopadelic, Big Red, and the head of the Recording Academy (The Grammy’s)…  At Content NOW we know there is always something going on, and we’ll post links to the videos once available.  

Next week watch for Digital Hollywood in Santa Monica another five star event with the same crew on the same topics.   See ya then!

Samsung Propel Pro is a chrome slider smartphone that uses Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system on AT&T’s 3G network. It comes with usual bells and whistles available on most mobiles in the market today. Available at AT&T retail locations.

Recently, AT&T had announced a range of smartphones and quick messaging phones. Called integrated devices, they’ll be available in AT&T stores and through online channels. In the smartphone category, AT&T debuted the Nokia E71x and the Samsung Propel Pro, two stylish smartphones that, it says, inspire fun, while delivering serious functionality. 

Here’s Propel Pro. Features, according to the company: Propel Pro, a smartphone from Samsung Mobile, is a compact slider that opens to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. It promises to make sending text messages and e-mails quick and simple. The Propel Pro’s joystick, located in the center of the device between the right and left soft keys, provides users with a way to navigate through menus and messages. 

It’ll allow users to access multiple e-mail accounts with Microsoft Direct Push for corporate users and AT&T Xpress Mail, which includes access to most major personal e-mail accounts. The Propel Pro also offers over-the-air synchronization of contacts, calendars, and task lists with Microsoft Exchange Server or Xpress Mail and support for Good Mobile Messaging. 

The device will provide users with the familiarity of their personal computer in a compact, sliding device. You can browse the Web with Internet Explorer Mobile, sync schedules and contacts with Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile and manage Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents with Office Mobile – all while staying connected to friends and family. 

Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard also features threaded SMS messaging, Internet connection sharing, mobile banking, and Voice Command. 

The Propel Pro also features AT&T Video Share, CV (Cellular Video), MobiTV, and AT&T Mobile Music. 

Other features include Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), global capabilities, stereo Bluetooth technology, with stereo headset support, a 3.0 megapixel camera with video-capture capabilities, Windows Media Player 10 Mobile and microSD memory card slot for external storage of up to 16GB of data.

So I have to thank Howard Lindzon for pointing out a great write-through on the state of the media today-and why TV may have lost the battle for eyeballs with interactive (read here computer and mobile) media.  I encourage you to read Paul Graham’s insight, its an interesting take.

Since I am a TV guy by training, and one of the job skills I use to sell my self with is an ability to boil things down–let me save you some time.

It comes down to accessibility of the platform and socialization.  On line and on mobile its an open canvas and we can all join in.

Mr. Graham (whom I have never met) continues that networks (which is where I work) have been slow to respond-and while that may be the case in the past-I do not think that is the case today. My network has a site dedicated to on-line viewing of shows and an iPhone app that carries that content.

I am actively working to bridge the gap between local and network–to allow for synchronicity.  Is it coming slower than it should? Probably.  But its happening–and at the end its a good thing.

So yeah–we’ll still have appointment viewing.  There will be an Evening News at 6:30 (or something like that) but it won’t be the only way its available.  In the case of CBS News–that 6:30 Evening News cast is available every night online, on MobilTV (Sprint) and on MediaFlo TV. 

Its small steps, yeah. But we are moving in the direction of accessibility, and in the end, thats a good thing.

Half the Charges Against the Pirate Bay Dropped; flaw in the evidence presented results in 50 percent of the charges being withdrawn. (TorrentFreak) See our primer on the Pirate Bay trial to get up to speed.

Mobile Video News for iPhone and Android: PacketVideo releases app that enables delivery of operator-branded TV and video services to the iPhone. (iPhone World) German company dailyme.tv has ported its mobile TV service to Google’s Android, delivering 600 TV and video channels to the platform. (release)

RedOrbit Taps Keystream; science and tech site will use the automated ad insertion software to monetize its videos. (release)

AMC Launching a Trio of Web Vids in Support of Breaking Bad; in support of the second season of the (ed. note: fantastic) drama, the network is launching viral video, minisode recaps of season one and new original webisodes. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Betawave Launches Video Platform; Betawave TV will feature family-friendly programming and will be ad-supported. (MediaPost)

AlwaysOn Selects Kaltura; media network picks the open source white label provider to power power its video offerings. (release)

MobiTV Hits the 6 Million Subscriber Mark; company has added 1 million subscribers since December. (release)

TiVo Search Goes Hi-Def; set-top box rolls out new widescreen search functionality, which includes a graphical content discovery bar. (Zatz Not Funny!)

Spout Hooks Up with MeDeploy; partnership will allow independent filmmakers to distribute their films via Spout. (Spout Blog)

Video Becoming More Social; services like Facebook shifting the purpose of uploading video from generating tons of views to sharing personal moments with friends. (MediaPost)

AMC Streaming The Prisoner; network web site to stream all 17 episodes of the original 1960s series. (MediaWeek)

MobiTV Adds CBS Programming; mobile broadcaster will start offering full-length episodes of shows like CSI and The Young and the Restless. (MediaPost)

Rentrak to Measure Mobile Video for NBCU; service will track consumption of video clips, SMS messaging, ring tones and more. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Blockbuster Looking to Partner with Telcos; as rental chain ramps up online movie delivery, CEO Jim Keyes shows interest in working with Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse to compete with cable VOD. (Video Business)

WIRELESS

This year, iPhone and iPod Touch users can watch all 63 games of the NCAA hoops tourney live from their devices via a new app from MobiTV and CBSSports.com. The app costs $4.99 and will include real-time in game box scores and player stats presented as an overlay on top of the video – a very thoughtful feature. The one catch is that the app requires a Wi-Fi connection to stream video, but this makes sense – live video over AT&T’s 3G network is not pretty. Of course the games are also available on CBS’ MMOD site as well as for purchase on iTunes for $1.99 a pop the day after they’re played. (Cynopsis 3/13)

Shipments of mobile Internet devices will grow eightfold between 2007 and 2012 to more than 416 million, iSuppli predicted in a new report. “People like MID functionality because it opens up services, applications, business models and cross-industry relationships that were never possible before,” said Senior Analyst Francis Sideco. Home Media Magazine (3/12) , EE Times (3/12)

Developers of Google’s Android software will offer updates to T-Mobile’s G1 handset for the first time since its October launch, adding such features as an on-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard, video recording and playback as well as stereo Bluetooth support, according to reports. The upgrade, dubbed “Cupcake,” is also expected to fix some flaws in the open-source operating system as well as update its underlying Linux kernel. CNET (3/12) , CRN/ChannelWeb (3/12)