Intel said it agreed to buy German broadband access and networking solutions company Lantiq. By combining Intel’s cable gateway business and Lantiq’s broadband access technology, the companies hope to transform broadband customer premises equipment into a smart gateway that connects “an increasingly diverse roster of devices in the home,” Lantiq CEO Dan Artusi said Monday. The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, will enable Intel to extend its offerings in the cable residential gateway market to other opportunities such as DSL, fiber, LTE, retail and Internet of Things smart routers, the companies said. By 2018, they predict there will be more than 800 million broadband households worldwide.
Promoting cross-border data flows while “respecting data protection rules” was one of the Computer & Communications Industry Association's five recommendations to improve Europe digital trade via the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. CCIA released a report with the recommendations in a news release Monday. The report said TTIP should avoid “forced localization of data, network infrastructure or investments.” “We need international trade rules based on our shared transatlantic values and high standards,” Christian Borggreen, CCIA-Europe director, said in the release. “The EU-U.S. trade talks offer an historic opportunity to eliminate needless barriers to digital trade and create policies that reflect the realities of a 21st Century, Internet-enabled economy.”
Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said intellectual property protections are critical for Trade Promotion Authority and international trade agreements, Friday at the American Enterprise Institute. “Intellectual property protections around the globe are continually at risk,” and the federal government has an “obligation to ensure that the creative capital of our artists and innovators is protected,” he said in prepared remarks. “For any future trade agreement to win my approval,” they must meet the strong IP standards set forth in the failed 2014 TPA, Hatch said. Such IP provisions would stipulate that trade partners adhere to U.S. standards and “enforcement obligations,” he said. The 2014 TPA also called for an “end to government involvement in intellectual property rights violations,” Hatch said. The Internet Association earlier last week urged that copyright limitations and exceptions be added to TPA (see 1501290054), which, if included, would likely face opposition from Hatch, Maira Sutton, Electronic Frontier Foundation global policy analyst, told us (see 1501150052).
The Telecommunications Industry Association “urged” Congress in a news release Thursday to renew Trade Promotion Authority this year. The Software & Information Industry Association, meanwhile, said in a news release that it sent a letter that day to 18 House Democrats, requesting their support for President Barack Obama’s call for TPA. “With 75 percent of the overall market for telecommunications equipment and related services located outside of the United States, a robust trade policy agenda is critical to enhancing market access and avoiding trade restrictive policies in the global marketplace,” TIA said. “TPA renewal will send a strong signal to other negotiating parties on the priority the United States places on high-standard trade agreements that enhance trade liberalization and market access for U.S. industry.” TIA sent letters to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday, asking for TPA’s passage. “SIIA shares President Obama’s view that TPA is necessary to set trade rules that will benefit American workers and companies for years to come,” Mark MacCarthy, SIIA vice president-public policy, said in the release. “TPA would encourage modern trade agreements that recognize this vital need, and that are crucial to our business and economic competitiveness.”
A week after announcing it would acquire Red Bend Software and software services company Symphony Teleca (see 1501220039), Harman said Thursday it formed a strategic collaboration with Chinese Internet search provider Baidu to launch vehicle networking technology. The CarLife collaboration will offer “advanced Internet capabilities, entertainment features and location-based services” on Harman in-vehicle infotainment head units in the Chinese market. In a statement, David Jin, Harman’s president-Northeast Asia and Greater China, said succeeding in the “quickly evolving segment of in-car technology requires a platform that can be easily updated and adapted,” and CarLife will allow Harman to provide “flexible, innovative solutions and content to OEMs that have been tailored to fit the Chinese auto market.” The cross-platform technology is compatible with Android and iOS operating systems, covering more than 95 percent of smartphone users, Harman said, and will provide “millions of drivers” a “more open and intelligent vehicle networking experience.” On the Harman earnings call Thursday, CEO Dinesh Paliwal compared CarLife to Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto. He said CarLife will contribute to the “democratization of technology at the entry level” of the car market. Harman will work with Baidu to integrate advanced connectivity, entertainment features and location-based services into its head units, “resulting in a more immersive connected car experience,” Paliwal said. He said China and other emerging markets represent the largest growth opportunities for the company.
The Application Developers Alliance launched “IoT{Accelerate}Berlin,” an Internet of Things competition for developers and prelaunch startups, the alliance said Monday. Organized with funding from Ericsson and Google, the project “aims to spur innovation in this rapidly growing market,” the alliance said. "IoT is experiencing substantial growth, and the opportunity for European developers and startups to help shape its future is clear.” From "connected cars and homes to health, wearables, or big data solutions, the competition will help developers conceptualize and produce innovative products for this growing market," alliance Executive Director Jake Ward said. The alliance estimates the global population of connected devices will reach 50 billion units by 2020, and so “the incentives for developers to tackle the challenges emerging from IoT are substantive,” it said. App development “is a fundamental part of the networked society enabling superior consumer experience and driving network utilization,” it said. The winner of the competition stands to land 20,000 euros (about $22,500) in prize money, it said. The competition is so named because it will center around a three-day IoT workshop March 27-29 in Berlin, it said.
Small businesses that sell goods in online marketplaces stand to make big gains through an ambitious U.S. trade agenda because they already ship far more goods abroad than “traditional” businesses, said more than 100 “eBay-enabled” companies in a letter to President Barack Obama that praised his push for trade in his State of the Union speech Tuesday. The pending Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade pacts have the potential to slash remaining barriers to digital trade and boost U.S. Gross Domestic Product, said the companies, which sell everything from jerseys to RV appliances. “Trade rules developed in a ‘pre-Internet’ era unnecessarily complicate international opportunities for our businesses,” said the letter. “Domestic and international customs rules create real obstacles for us to increase exports, while open markets that allow for resale of goods and cross border data flows are critical to our participation in global commerce.”
CMMB Vision, a mobile multimedia service provider, and New York Broadband picked Boeing Satellite Systems International to build an L-band satellite, they said in a news release today. The NYBBSat-1 will support mobile multimedia services in China and other Asian markets. The new satellite will be launched in mid-2017 and replace the AsiaStar satellite, recently acquired by New York Broadband. New York Broadband signed a memorandum of understanding with CMMB Vision to lease the entire capacity of the satellite to CMMB. A launch vehicle hasn't been selected.
Netflix has continued “to deliver a variety of algorithmic and data improvements that put better choices in front of members,” said CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Financial Officer David Wells Tuesday in a quarterly letter to shareholders. “We are also pioneering offering new high-quality video formats, delivering UHD-4K for House of Cards and Marco Polo.” Netflix soon will begin offering high dynamic range video, which “captures and renders pictures with more realistic peak brightness in the highlights, and may be a more significant step forward in viewing pleasure than UHD-4K,” they said. “We will start building our library to deliver in HDR as new TVs become available from several manufacturers this year.” At CES, Netflix said it would support the HDR technologies of Dolby Vision and the open HDR standards espoused by the new UHD Alliance (see 1501050023). On the issue of “strong net neutrality,” people around the world “increasingly view Internet access as a necessary utility,” the letter said. “Finland even made fast Internet access a legal right.” Recently, President Barack Obama “echoed the same themes in his call for the FCC to take bold steps to be able to ensure a low-cost high-speed Internet,” it said. “The support for strong net neutrality continues to grow.”
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Alibaba are collaborating on voluntary consumer safety, CPSC said in a news release Tuesday. China’s online and mobile commerce company will block the sales of illegal or recalled U.S. products or make them unavailable to U.S. buyers on Alibaba platforms, it said. The company will also provide product safety information for U.S. importers on its platforms.