Read in telecoms.com

IP and core network equipment vendor Cisco has pulled the plug on its WiMAX base station operation, further highlighting the ill health of the sector.

Cisco has been stepping up its game in the telecoms sector ahead of the shift to all IP next generation networks, since it missed the boat during the rollout of 3G. The US company has a presence in both the WiMAX and LTE sectors but more as a provider of packet core networking equipment as well as edge technologies like wifi and femtocells.

Well, make that only as a provider of core and edge infrastructure. “After careful review of our mobility strategy and investments, we have decided to discontinue designing and building new WiMAX base stations,” a company spokesman said this week.

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read in connectedplanetonline.com by John McDonald

As CAT-iq offers ultra low power solutions for smart grid we found this article relevant for you.

Creating a smarter grid is the “checkered flag” our industry has been eyeing for years — long before the term “smart grid” was coined. We’ve developed the technology and assembled the pieces, but deployment has been confined to local exits from the slow lane.

Now, with stimulus funding and increasing consumer awareness, it’s time to move smart grid into the express lane. We have a phenomenal opportunity to accelerate smart grid deployment, and we’ll need a strategic road map in place to optimize the integration of smart technologies into our infrastructure. We also need to shift gears from traditional “siloed” processes to a strategic, holistic drive toward energy delivery.

Driving holistic strategies
The strategic road map to a smarter grid starts with open, collaborative strategies from key drivers of smart grid solutions.

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John D. McDonald, P.E., is an IEEE Fellow and past president of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES). He is also a member of IEC Technical Committee (TC) 57 and Working Groups (WGs) 3 and 10, the VP of Technical Activities for the U.S. National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, and the past chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee. Additionally, Mr. McDonald is the General Manager of Marketing for GE Energy T&D.

Wal-Mart has agreed to acquire over-the-top (OTT) content provider Vudu, according to a New York Times report today. Terms of the acquisition weren’t released, but the Vudu screen shotcompanies reportedly informed Vudu’s Hollywood studios and TV manufacturers of the deal today. The acquisition could make Wal-Mart, already a leader in DVD sales, a formidable competitor in OTT service delivery as well.

Vudu started offering its service with a required standalone set-top box (STB) three years ago. But, following a difficult business case, it transitioned to embedding its software into Blu-Ray players, IPTV STBs and high-definition TVs from LG Electronics, Vizio and Mitsubishi, and more recently announced partners Samsung, Sanyo and Toshiba. The company has also sought partnerships with independent telcos looking for a cheaper alternative than IPTV and distinguished itself with a focus on HD content and expansion into applications and Web services.

Wal-Mart has been moving into the services space already too. Along with Hewlett-Packard, it attempted a movie and TV download service in 2007, but the venture only lasted a year following weak consumer adoption. In the past year, Wal-Mart has delved into wireless services as well, including its exclusive StraightTalk mobile brand.

Considering that it sells many of the TVs that Vudu, often along with its competitors Amazon and Netflix, are embedded in, the acquisition should help Wal-Mart sell more TVs. More importantly though, it could be Wal-Mart’s ticket to compete in the OTT delivery space – if it wants it.

As The Diffusion Group indicated in a December interview, Wal-Mart has as good a shot at delivering an OTT service as any pay TV provider, which such a move would put them in competition with. Wal-Mart could essentially act as a broadcast aggregator and use Vudu and the broadband connection to the home to sell more products and advertise its brands. Retailers have been slow moving in doing this, but there is little to stop them. In the short-term, however, Wal-Mart’s purported acquisition of Vudu will most directly affect the likes of existing OTT providers Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster and Best Buy, which started offering a streaming video service with Cinema Now last year.

Cuculus GmbH today announces the completion of a €2.6 million financing round to fund the continued deployment of its smart technologies in the utility and telecom markets. The round was led by Yellow&Blue Investment Management, a Dutch-based clean energy investor. Additional investors are KfW along with existing investors High-Tech Gruenderfonds, SIEGMUND Beteiligungsgesellschaft and management.

Established in 2007, Cuculus helps utilities deliver Smart Metering by connecting electric, gas and water meters to a robust IT platform that can be integrated with utilities existing back-end systems. The Company has also developed the necessary infrastructure to support the management of home appliances (“Home Control”) for utilities and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Cuculus is managing projects for a number of German utilities and maintains a strong network of solution partners, developers and device manufacturers across Europe.

Intrinsyc Software International is exhibiting a host of products that exemplify its leading expertise and proven products within the mobile software industry. From e-Reader technology to mobile device middleware and smartphone applications, Intrinsyc Software International is showcasing its mobile software development and service capabilities during Mobile World Congress.

“The strategic partnerships with Intrinsyc announced at Mobile World Congress and related product announcements significantly elevate Intrinsyc’s profile in the wireless industry” said Tracy Rees, President and CEO, Intrinsyc, “The momentum, driven by our continued innovation and new business relationships, will help pave the way to future growth and long term value.”

Highlights from the show include:

• Working with femtocell providers, Intrinsyc’s UX-Zone helps network operators to increase their network bandwidth by optimally offloading connectivity demands to high bandwidth femtocells. With Intrinsyc' UX-Zone, the appearance of a phone interface can change automatically to alert the user to the availability of high bandwidth services. UX-Zone changes a phone’s theme and displays relevant applications for the location and the services available, or an event, such as entering your home or work. Intrinsyc’s UX-Zone software is being displayed by a number of femtocell partners at Mobile World Congress, including Alcatel-Lucent, Ubiquisys, and IP Access.
• Forging new paths for mobile products, MIPS technology announced a partnership with Intrinsyc to bring 3.5G functionality to the MIPS® architecture. The companies are porting Intrinsyc's RapidRIL software to the MIPS architecture in order to accelerate mobile SoC development for MIPS licensees around the globe. Both companies are exhibiting this collaboration by demonstrating 3.5G voice calls with audio and video playback on a MIPS-Based™ Android™ platform at Mobile World Congress. 
• Enhancing the quality of the mobile experience, Intrinsyc, in collaboration with Interdigital, Inc. demonstrated its Media Independent Handover (MIH) technology, the IEEE 802.21 standard for uninterrupted, seamless multimedia session transfers between 2G/3G/4G cellular, WiFi or WiMax networks, and other wired and wireless interfaces. InterDigital's MIH client running with Intrinsyc's RapidRIL/Connection Manager software supports a seamless transfer of communications and media between different wireless technologies and improves the quality of the end users’ mobile experience. 
• Bringing social networks to new frontiers, Intrinsyc announced a partnership with GyPSii to bridge social networks to Destinator’s popular turn-by-turn navigation. The new GyPSii integration was showcased at Mobile World Congress and is planned for rollout later this year across the breadth of Intrinsyc’s Destinator navigation smartphone software applications. 
• Rolling out navigation to the hottest mobile platforms, Intrinsyc showcased its newest version of Destinator software application for smartphones to the press and public, at the PEPCOM event at Mobile World Congress and throughout partner booths at the show. The application has been released across global markets on Android and Windows Mobile smartphones, and was recently submitted for approval to the Apple iPhone Application Store.

Albis Technologies http://www.albistechnologies.com announced the availability of its next generation set-top box. The new SceneGate STB portfolio provides enhanced HD picture quality while delivering on-demand, interactive and linear TV services.

The SceneGate STBs enables service differentiation for service providers and allows them to offer innovative new services to their customers. The proven hardware and software quality reduces operational costs and customer churn, making services more profitable and reliable.  They are perfect for new IPTV service providers introducing new service offerings to their customers or service providers introducing interactive IP based services while leveraging their existing digital broadcasting technology.

The new SceneGate portfolio consists of three variants:

• The SceneGate 8000 is an entry level IPTV STB; an ideal STB to deliver typical IPTV services or as a cost efficient “second room” STB.
• The SceneGate 8500 is an enhanced IPTV STB with PVR offering various options from Smart Card to WLAN, a classic mid-range STB for IPTV services.
• The SceneGate 8800 is a more advanced IPTV/DVB hybrid STB offering various options from PVR to WLAN; the perfect living room STB for hybrid IPTV/DVB scenarios combining on-demand and interactive services with traditional DVB services.

The complementing features of SceneG

ate address requirements for over-the-top (OTT) content delivery and user experience expectation. The flexible software framework allows for integration with today’s internet media offerings. In addition DLNA based media sharing is available for applications, allowing in-home streaming or multi-room concepts.