Michael's Insight

Google indexing Facebook page status updates

Google Begins Indexing Facebook Pages [PC Magazine]

 Google has announced that its real-time results search will now be scouring the pages of Facebook. If you're a Facebook user, you already have the option of having your personal page indexed by the world's largest search engine. Now, the status updates that pages you are a fan of post could end up in Google's real-time search results.

Google has attempted to mirror the real-time results search that Twitter has popularized. Users searching on Google for topics that are trending on Twitter will frequently receive a real-time search results box in the middle of their Google results that indicates what people are saying about that topic on Twitter. Now, those results will include Facebook status updates, too, so long as the status update is from a Facebook page.

Status updates to your personal profile aren't yet available to web searchers. Facebook has a deal in the works with Microsoft's Bing search engine to make personal status updates searchable in the near future.

Broadband connected televisions continue to grow in use

Report: More TVs connected to Internet [Communications Engineering and Design]

In January of this year, 27.5 percent of the televisions purchased by consumers in America were connected to the Internet, according to a study by iSuppli. This is up from 24.3 percent in December 2009. Most were linked through another device, such as a PC, an Internet module, a Blu-ray player, or a gaming console. It's notable that 41% of the TV's that were purchased in January, 2010 were Internet-enabled, which explains the rising total.

Viewers connecting their television to broadband via a computer dropped significantly month-to-month, from 30.3 percent to 12.3 percent. Perhaps this is an indication that more consumers are moving to televisions with built-in broadband capability, rather than wiring the connection themselves through a computer.

As online streaming to television video services like Vudu, Amazon On Demand and Neflix's streaming library become more popular, more and more viewers are likely to snap up televisions that integrate broadband capability.

ESPN Innovation Lab to pioneer 3D coverage

ESPN opens 3D Development Center [EngadgetHD]

ESPN has promised videophiles the first taste of three dimensional high definition sports programming this summer with the launch of the ESPN 3D channel with 3D coverage of the World Cup in South Africa and up to 85 total sporting events in 2010. Because ESPN will be the first to put 3D technology in front of viewers at this level, there's a lot of development and testing that has to happen first. Aiding this endeavor will be the ESPN Innovation Lab at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, which has been designated as a testing site for ESPN 3D.

The ESPN Innovation Lab's new production center will be the testbed for ESPN's coverage of sporting events in 3D, allowing ESPN personnel to gain experience in televising in three dimensions. The network has indicated that 3D technology companies will be invited to the Lab to collaborate with ESPN on innovating enhancements to 3D technology.

June 11th's South Africa versus Mexico World Cup matchup will mark the debut of ESPN 3D.  DUCK if the soccer ball is kicked in the direction of your sofa!

FCC plans broadcast spectrum reallocation

TV stations asked to yield 500Mhz of spectrum for broadband [ArsTechnica]

This week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unveiled a significant part of the national broadband plan the Commission is drafting. This component of the plan seeks to free as much as 500Mhz of spectrum, currently being used by broadcast television, for mobile broadband usage. The FCC's plan involves the broadcasters voluntarily relinquishing spectrum licenses in exchange for a percentage of the proceeds when the spectrum is auctioned off to wireless providers.

With increased consumer demand for wireless broadband, the FCC is basing this plan of the broadband plan on the concern that wireless bandwidth has little headroom to grow. By freeing up a portion of the airwaves currently being occupied by broadcast television, mobile broadband will have more room to expand speeds and capacity.

Broadcasters have expressed their general opposition to a plan that involves the reallocation of the spectrum they currently hold. It's unclear from this article what their next move will be when the Commission formally proposes their spectrum reallocation strategy in the national broadband plan release next month.

Wilmington, NC becomes testbed for white space

TV white space networks tested [CNET News]

I have very fond memories of Wilmington, NC. My former company, Vision Cable Communications owned that system and I spent a lot of time there early in my cable career.  It was one of the first systems where we launched HBO, in 1978, shortly after it was first beamed to a satellite for cable distribution all over over country. 

Wilmington seems to be continuing to be early adapters in technology.  This time, television viewers and cable customers will become guinea pigs for a new type of broadband technology that the city is testing under an experimental license from the FCC. The Wilmington television market also was the first to convert to all digital broadcasting months before the rest of the nation followed suit last year. 

In partnership with TV Band Service and Spectrum Bridge, the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County are deploying a wireless white space network.  Called "white space broadband" (because it operates in the portions of the broadcast television spectrum between broadcast television channel frequencies), it has yet to be determined with certainty that the technology can operate without interfering with over-the-air and cable television viewing. The FCC has conducted testing of white space technology that indicated white space devices had the potential to interfere with cable television viewing.

The Wilmington white space network will be used primarily to transmit traffic and surveillance camera data to test the technology. White space technology will have an opportunity to prove that it can operate effectively in Wilmington without interfering with the normal operation of other devices operating in the same portion of the spectrum. If this test is successful, the FCC could move forward with the process of rule-making to license white-space broadband devices.

Cablevision plans test on technology that connects PCs to TV via set-top box

Cablevision to Connect PCs and TVs Through the Cable Box [NewTeeVee]

Cablevision, the nation's fifth largest cable operator, is pioneering technology that will allow its customers to connect their PCs to their television via their digital cable set-top box. Called the PC to TV Media Relay service, it promises to display content stored on a user's computer or streamed online content onto a television. According to Cablevision, the PC to TV Media Relay will operate through a specific channel on the cable set-top and requires an application be installed on the customer's computer.

Users who want to watch online content, like streaming television shows from Hulu, on their televisions could tune to the "PC-to-TV" channel, start the video on their computer and sit back and enjoy the show.

A trial of the technology is expected this summer. Future versions could include Mac compatibility and hand-held device compatibility. 

Walmart to venture into online video

Wal-Mart buying Vudu streaming movie service [EngadgetHD]

  Add Walmart to the list of new entries to the competitive world of online entertainment.  The mega-reatailer has announced an agreement to acquire Vudu, a streaming video provider. Vudu has content agreements with movie studios equating to a video library of 16,000 movies, including a large selection of full HD movies. Vudu's library can be streamed from a number of HD televisions that have Vudu's software player built-in as well as some Blu-ray players and a Vudu set-top box.

Engadget views the acquisition as a hedge by Walmart against declining DVD sales, as customers turn more and more to online movie downloads, powered primarily by cable's high speed broadband network, as an alternative to physical media. Walmart, once the nation's largest seller of music on CDs, watched Apple's iTunes take over that title, and appears determined not to let the same thing happen again.

New malware infects routers instead of PCs

New 'Chuck Norris' Botnet Hides in Your Router [PC Magazine]

Just when you think you're well protected from bad things happening online, imagine a piece of malware that was able to attach itself to the firmware running on a wireless router.  This new malware would avoid detection by antivirus software running on the computers connected to the router. According to Czech computer researchers, they've identified a piece of malware that can reside on a router, using it as to monitor a broadband connection to steal personal information. Code named "Chuck Norris," the malware also connects infected routers to a botnet that could be used to attack other systems on the Internet.

This article indicates that the Chuck Norris malware attacks routers remotely, guessing at the security passwords until it successfully penetrates router security. Then it installs itself onto the router's firmware.

Since the malware resides on the router, it's immune to anti-malware programs on a user's computer, even if that computer connects to the infected router. The only way to eliminate the malware is to reinstall the router's firmware.

If you haven't already done so, you might want to change the default password that came with your router.  The best defense against this malware is a strong router password to avoid the malware's password guessing scheme.  To be totally safe, if you had a fairly simple password, you may want to reinstall your firmware when you update your password.

Here's a good guide to creating a strong password for your router. 

NBC's Twitter Tracker provides visualization of Olympic tweets

A Visual Tool to Track Olympic Tweets [NYT Bits Blog]

Last week I wrote about Twitter users discovering the results of some events at the Vancouver Olympics before they aired on television due to NBC's decision to tape-delay portions of their coverage. Regardless of whether the tweets are providing spoilers of their television coverage, NBC has cleverly harnessed the power of Twitter and interest in the Olympics to create a tool that allows users to visualize the large numbers of tweets about the Olympics.

NBC's Olympics Twitter Tracker creates images of trending Olympic topics on Twitter, allowing users an easy to use interface to discover what the Twitterverse is saying about the athletes and the events in Vancouver. The larger the image, the more tweets there are about a particular topic. Clicking on an image allows users to drill down to get the individual tweets that have been posted about that topic in the last ten minutes.

The video above demonstrates the changing trending Olympic topics over time. If you're a user that likes to follow Twitter while watching television, this looks to be a fascinating tool.

Broadband Reports: Comcast planning 250 Mbps broadband

Comcast Exploring 250 Mbps Service [Broadband Reports]

Several cable providers throughout the nation have rolled out ultra-fast broadband speeds - up to 100 Mbps - over the past year after upgrading their systems to DOCSIS 3.0. Now, it appears that Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, is looking toward the broadband horizon. 

Broadband Reports cites a "trusted source" at the company that indicates plans are underway at Comcast to wow consumers with a 250 Mbps broadband service. According to this post, those plans start with a 100 Mbps tier that will be offered to 20 percent of Comcast markets this year. Some system upgrades would be necessary to get speeds beyond 160 Mbps, however. The first generation DOCSIS 3.0 systems topped out at 160 Mbps, while newer systems provide for double that - downstream speeds of up to 320 Mbps.

All these plans are still on the drawing board, but its clear that innovations in cable modem technology can continue to push broadband speeds higher and higher without the need for extremely expensive plant upgrades which would make the cost of super-high-speed broadband prohibitive to most.

Hulu could come to Apple iPad as a subscription service

Hulu Wants to Be on the iPad, But Not for Free [Gizmodo]

Apple answered the question of whether its new iPad device would incorporate Adobe Flash and its streaming video capabilities when it announced the product last month. It will not. But that decision apparently hasn't deterred the popular long form video site Hulu, which Gizmodo reports would like to make its content available to iPad users.

Currently, Hulu's content is ad supported and free to viewers. But Gizmodo's post indicates that Hulu wants to create a paid subscription version for the iPad while maintaining the current free version for users watching via their computer. 

There are still many questions to be answered for Hulu and Apple. First, can the companies develop a technical solution for viewing Hulu content on the iPad without Flash? Second, how does Apple deal with the likelihood that Hulu's content would compete with the video content on iTunes? 

Two thirds of Netflix customers use streaming option

Netflix + Broadband = Watch Instantly, Even on Big-screen TVs [NewTeeVee]

Over the past couple years, Netflix has expanded its DVD-by-mail service into the streaming video business. Netflix has also increased the number of ways its streaming content can be viewed. At first, this was strictly a feature available to users watching on their computer, but Netflix has since expanded to a set-top box - the Roku, as well as gaming consoles and some DVD and Blu-ray players.

This week, The Diffusion Group, a Texas-based research firm, published a study examining the success of Netflix’s streaming service. That study found that two-thirds of Netflix subscribers, who have home broadband service, take advantage of the streaming content. The study also revealed that one-third of broadband-enabled Netflix customers watch the streaming content on their computers, while 8% watch exclusively on their televisions, and 24% use both PC and TV to get their Netflix streaming fix.

Despite the popularity of Netflix's streaming service among its customers, the number of titles available via its streaming library is still small in comparison to its DVD library. 

YouTube blocking some content depending on access device

YouTube Joins Hulu In Letting Content Holders Block Access For TV-Connected Devices [Techdirt]

Techdirt is reporting on changes at YouTube that involve blocking of certain video content on the site depending on the type of device that viewers are using to access content. In the case that Techdirt highlights, users with a Western Digital media center cannot access certain videos on YouTube. The issue results from a feature within YouTube that allows some content owners to determine which platforms can view their content.

An issue similar to this arose last year when the popular long form video site Hulu blocked users of Boxee, the open source media browser, from accessing Hulu content. 

Google, which owns YouTube, has been an active proponent of government regulated network neutrality rules for ISP's. Because adoption of such rules would likely prohibit the type of content blocking that YouTube is engaging in, it makes one wonder whether Google is advocating one rule for themselves, and another for others at various points in the Internet's food chain. 

NTIA releases report on the state of broadband access and adoption in the U.S.

NTIA: 35% Of U.S. Homes Without Broadband [Broadband Reports]

One of the federal agencies charged with coordinating the broadband stimulus, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), has released a report detailing the growth of American households with broadband from 4.4 percent in August of 2000 to 63.5 in October of last year. The report serves as a digital census, designed to inform the federal government's effort to increase the access and adoption of broadband.

Some of the more interesting aspects of the report include a finding that those aged 18-24 years old are the most likely to have and use broadband, but over half of all age groups except those over 55 years of age now use broadband in the home. However, even older Americans' home broadband use has grown impressively from 33.7 percent in 2007 to 46.1 percent last year. 

For those without broadband access in the home, the number one reason respondents cited to the NTIA was that they "don't need" or are "not interested" in broadband. Those reasons represented 37.8 percent of those without broadband at home. Only 3.6 percent cited a lack of access to broadband as the reason they did not have broadband service. Understandably, the percentage citing a lack of access was higher in rural areas, with 11.1 percent indicated they did not have broadband due to an access problem.

With the NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service at the Department of Agriculture in the process of awarding broadband stimulus dollars, I hope that the information revealed in this report will aid the agencies spend the funds wisely as they work to develop solutions toward providing all Americans with access to broadband. 

Insight is the Louisville Arena's Official Advanced Communications Partner

Louisville is bringing one of the most advanced arenas in America to its riverfront. When it came time to pick the most sophisticated, world-class communications technology, the Arena Authority turned to Insight. You may have heard the news by now, but Insight has entered into a ten-year agreement with the Louisville Arena Authority as its official advanced communications partner.

By bringing Insight’s sophisticated fiber network to the exciting new building, the Louisville Arena will be receiving high-definition video on the hundreds of televisions that will be stationed throughout the arena, which means you won’t have to look far to find a high-definition replay of that game-winning shot. And after the exciting finish of a game, reporters will be able to file their stories over the arena's 45 Mbps super high-speed internet service which will be available to them throughout the arena.  Or, if they prefer, they can do it the old fashioned way, by calling in the results over Insight Business Service's business class, phone service.

The arena has become the heart of downtown Louisville’s revitalization, and we at Insight are thrilled to be part of making it a world class venue.

Over 13 million watch Olympics online in first four days

NBC’s Olympics Online: 13.6M Uniques in 4 Days [NewTeeVee]

NBC Universal has released online video viewing data from the first four days of the Vancouver Winter Olympics that indicates significantly more users are watching the events online than the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006. According to NBC's measurements, 13.6 million unique viewers have come to the NBCOlympics.com web site, an increase of 250 percent over 2006 visitor numbers.

In terms of video views, 8.1 individual online video streams have been served by NBC of Olympic coverage. That number is up from 1.8 million during the 2006 winter games. Compared to the online viewership of the 2008 summer games, in the neighborhood of 75 million streams, these games still have quite a way to go before they match the popularity of the summer games' events.

Online viewing for both summer and winter games continues to be dwarfed by traditional viewing, with 129 million Americans watching some portion of the first four days of Olympic coverage.

Advertising Age predicts Hulu is about to become more like traditional television

TV-Sized Ad Loads Coming to Online Video? [Stop the Cap]

Advertising Age is predicting that long form online video is about to become a lot more like traditional television, charging a subscription fee for access to content and the addition of more commercial advertising. Right now on Hulu, the most popular long form video site, viewers can watch television shows free with a single ad shown during each commercial break. If Advertising Age's predictions were to come to fruition, free viewing could change to a subscription fee and the single advertisement would be replaced with several, much like traditional television.

Without a change to their revenue model, Hulu's current ad-supported content is not sustainable long term with other services like Comcast's Xfinity entering the marketplace. Currently Xfinity is available free of charge to Comcast video and broadband customers, but the company has plans to offer subscription access to broadband customers of other providers.

Another force driving change in the long form online model beyond competition is Nielsen's planned integration of traditional television and online video viewing metrics. In coming months, advertisers will be able to compare ratings for shows on both platforms thanks to the change in the way Nielsen reports this information.  

Apple in talks to create subscription model for iTunes video

Apple Negotiating Lower Broadband TV Prices [Broadband Reports]

A report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that Apple wants a lower price point for the video content that it sells from iTunes. Currently, users pay $1.99 for standard definition television shows and $2.99 for HD versions of those same episodes. Because Apple believes video content will draw users to purchase its new iPad device, it has entered into negotiations with broadcast networks to lower the price of iTunes video.

It's no surprise that Apple thinks its prices for a la carte video are too high. Consider that the average American watches just over 141 hours of television a month, according to Nielsen. At $1.99 an hour, if the average viewer wanted to replace their television with downloads from iTunes, they would rack up a bill over $280 each month.

According to the Journal's article, Apple's negotiations with broadcast networks center around replacing the a la carte model with a subscription that allows users access to a variety of content for a monthly rate.

Stopping television spoilers on Twitter

Help! Someone save TV from Twitter! [CNET News]

Twitter is changing the way that people watch television. Just take a look at the most recent trending topics during prime time and you're likely to see several related to the shows or sports on television at that moment. How many television viewers watch their favorite shows while keeping an eye on other viewers' reactions via Twitter isn't known, but it's likely a large number.

CNET reporter Molly Wood points out that with the Olympics underway in Vancouver some events are broadcast tape-delayed by NBC, depending on which time zone you live in. Unfortunately, that means Twitter users might see the results of the events they're watching prior to watching the actual events on television if they're following Twitter.

Short of networks shuffling their broadcasts to accommodate Twitter spoilers, Wood proposes Twitter develop spoiler tags for television-related tweets, allowing users to filter out tweets that reveal the conclusion before it's on TV. As television becomes more of a social event and users follow shows with the people they follow on Twitter, Wood's anti-spoiler suggestion appears to be a worthy project for Twitter API programmers.

Could national broadband plan include fiber lease requirement?

AT&T, Verizon May Have to Share Lines Under FCC Plan [Bloomberg News]

A controversial proposal made by one small business network services provider could make it into the FCC's national broadband plan based on a report from Bloomberg News. Cbeyond Inc. has proposed that telephone companies be required to lease their high-speed fiber lines to smaller companies. Bloomberg indicates that an aide to FCC chairman Julius Genchowski says that the commission is giving serious consideration to Cbeyond's idea and that it has "a lot of appeal as part of a national broadband strategy."

As you can imagine, AT&T and Verzion aren't excited about the idea of the government mandating that they lease their infrastructure to their competitors. Both telcos have filed objections with the FCC stating that any lease requirement would have a stifling effect on their willingness to invest capital in building out their fiber networks, not to mention the ongoing capital it takes to bring new bandwidth-consuming future services.

What are the chances that the lease requirement make it into the FCC's broadband plan? Ars Technica points out that previous comments made by the coordinator of the FCC's broadband plan in December were not favorable to the idea. At this point, we'll just have to wait to see what is released in the plan, which is expected next month.

Another twist in FCC broadband plan for wireless

FCC Might Share Spectrum Auction Proceeds With Broadcasters [Broadband Reports]

With the FCC expected to release their national broadband plan next month, maneuvering by broadcasters and the wireless industry continues over exactly how wireless Internet access will be addressed in the plan. The wireless industry's trade association wants increased demand for mobile bandwidth addressed via the government reclaiming spectrum currently held by broadcasters. Broadcasters are opposed to relinquishing the spectrum.

Previously, there were indications that the FCC planned to reallocate some portion of the broadcast spectrum to wireless providers, but those suggestions were later rejected on the record by the FCC.

Now, according to Business Week, the Commission is considering the possibility of asking broadcasters to give up their spectrum, auction it off for wireless broadband applications and split the proceeds with broadcasters. The national broadband plan is expected to be released by the FCC by March 17th, when any plan to address wireless spectrum issues could be revealed.

Google Buzz runs into privacy concerns

Google Buzz Exposes Gmail Information [Sherman's Security Blog]

 Google rolled out a new online service earlier this week called Google Buzz that offers some of the same social networking features that Twitter and Facebook provide. But Buzz didn't generate the positive buzz Google had hoped it would because it contained significant bugs that compromised the privacy of its users.

Google Buzz is integrated with Google's Gmail, allowing users to utilize both services simultaneously. But rather than allowing Gmail users to opt in to Buzz, many Gmail users were automatically enrolled in Buzz when it rolled out. Unfortunately for those users, their entire Google profile was exposed to anyone who conducted a Google search on them - including their email address. Plus, any contacts they had within Gmail that were also Gmail users were automatically set to follow them on Buzz.

Facebook has grappled with its own privacy setting issues, going through several iterations of privacy settings to find an interface that was more user friendly. With Buzz stumbling on privacy out of the gate, Google could learn a few lessons from the work Facebook has put toward protecting their users' privacy.

YouTube releases parental controls

YouTube Adds 'Safety Mode' to Filter Content [PC Magazine]

Because any web user with a YouTube account can upload to the world's most popular video sharing site, it's enviable that some objectionable video content will make its way onto the site. Yesterday, YouTube announced that it is providing parents with a new tool that will filter out objectionable content on the site. Called "Safety Mode," the feature can be enabled by any YouTube user and can also be locked in the on position using the password associated with a YouTube account.

Safety Mode promises to filter objectionable video and comments when engaged. YouTube's blog post regarding the filtering technology provides instructions on turning on Safety Mode and cautions that its filtering may not eliminate 100 percent of all content users wish to avoid.

With YouTube attracting over 100 million viewers in the U.S. each month - including millions of younger web video viewers - this is a feature that will give many parents peace of mind.

Google announces plans to test being an ISP

Google Set to Showcase Fast Internet [New York Times]

Google has long prided itself on its ability to create products that provide innovative features - recently making strategic decisions to enter markets outside of its core competency in search. Microsoft is looking on as Google attempts to create a cloud-based business productivity product in Google Docs that can compete with Microsoft Office and Google's CEO left Apple's board of directors after it became clear that Google's Android mobile operating system was being groomed to compete directly with the iPhone. Yesterday, Google announced that it is going to enter yet another market with the intent of shaking things up. Google plans to become an ISP.

Google's announcement indicated that it is searching for one or more communities where it plans to build a fiber to the home network to provide 1 Gbps broadband service directly to residential customers. Though Google operates a small scale wi-fi network in its hometown of Mountain View, California, this would be Google's first foray into providing broadband on a large scale. The company plans to roll out a network that will serve between 50,000 and 500,000 customers. 

Calling its plan an "experiment" designed to spur innovation in the U.S. broadband market, Google is seeking communities to nominate themselves for selection as the testbed for Google's network. Speaking of spurring innovation, Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner has written an interesting post on how Google's plans may create additional investment in the improvement of the cable broadband product -- not that we needed much help as strong wireline and wireless competition are plenty of motivation for that.

Google hasn't revealed how much it plans to invest in this plan, nor is it indicating how much it will cost consumers to connect to the network other than it plans to price its product competitively. It appears that the company plans to move quickly on this project, selecting areas where it plans to build the network within the next few months. 

Research firm finds that U.S. broadband speeds increased by 28 percent in 2009

US Broadband Speeds Rose 28% in 2009, According to In-Stat [BusinessWire]

In-Stat, a market research firm, has released the results of a study of broadband speeds in the U.S., finding that the average speed increased 28 percent during 2009. In-Stat's study indicates that the average user's broadband speed clocks in at 7.12 Mbps. 

Which users' speeds increased the most in 2009 based on In-Stat's research? Cable broadband users experienced more than double a speed increase on average compared to fiber to the home users. It's likely that much of the overall broadband speed increase and specifically the cable broadband speed increase can be attributed to cable operators upgrading to DOCSIS 3.0 speeds.

Compared to an Akamai report released earlier this year that showed average U.S. broadband speed decreased during 2009, In-Stat's study indicates speeds increased on average. With providers upgrading their networks and announcing faster speeds throughout last year, In-Stat's finding that average speed increased squares with reality.

As I've mentioned before, DOCSIS 3.0 is the best way to blast through the speed barriers of the past. While we at Insight are busily readying our networks to launch DOCSIS 3.0, Broadband 30.0 is being offered in areas where the bandwidth and demand are available.  When 30.0 becomes available in your area, you'll hear from us.