[FCC and other news]
Ray --
It appears to be the same issue we addressed last spring. Since I participated then, I'm not writing this time. I encourage everyone to participate who hasn't already.
A bit of Vint Cerf wisdom:
cemacity.org
And in reading my standard news today, I came across a press release for the Consumer Electronics Show now on in Las Vegas, which led me to the following:
>>>
Engineers to See and Hear About the Latest Technologies at the1998 International CES & Digital Engineering Conference
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, November 5, 1997. Produced annually by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA), sponsored by the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society and co-sponsored by Motorola and Samsung, the renamed Digital Engineering Conference -- the Consumer Electronics Future will be held for the first time in conjunction with CEMA's 1998 International CESr, the world's largest annual event showcasing consumer electronics products. Engineers, marketing managers and product development managers will gain powerful technical insight on trends, changes and advancements in digital audio, video, computer and access technologies, plus be able to enhance professional contacts and cross engineering disciplines at both the CES, January 8-11 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Digital Engineering Conference, January 12-14 at the Las Vegas Hilton.
"The world's largest engineering professional society is pleased for the opportunity to cooperate with CEMA, the world's premier consumer electronics trade association, in a truly unique world class event -- the Digital Engineering Conference," commented Stuart Lipoff president of IEEE Consumer Electronics Society and vice president and director of Arthur D. Little, Inc.'s global practice in Communications and Information Technology. "This meeting provides consumer electronics engineers and product planners with a forum to learn from each other and facilitate the launch of a wide range of exciting new audio, video and information management products. 'Digital Engineering' reflects the expanded and important role that digital enabled consumer products play in the consumer electronics marketplace. Because products such as digital TV and services such as CD-quality digital audio broadcast radio continue to create new opportunities and, at the same time, propose new technical, marketing and deployment questions - this conference provides an informal but efficient means for equipment manufacturers, semiconductor suppliers, broadcasters, regulators and other interested parties to share knowledge while working together to increase the chances of product success and reduce the time to make these fun and useful products available to consumers."
CES will preview new products and technologies from more than 1500 exhibitors, including the top manufacturers of digital television, Internet box/network computers, DVD, digital imaging, wireless data products, TV/PC, satellite transmission, digital camcorders, handheld computers and PDAs, smart phones, remote access devices, home automation, and home office products. Just some of the high-tech information technology companies on the show floor include: AMD, Casio, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Micron, Microsoft, Motorola, Network Computer Inc. (Oracle), Panasonic, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Thomson and Zenith.
CES also will offer engineers four general sessions during its robust conference program:
Engineering in a Convergent Market; An Engineer's Look into the Future; Getting on the Bus: A Look at Interconnectivity; and The Emerging Deployment of Java in Consumer Electronics.
Building on the new technologies displayed at CES, engineers will have their own technical conference after the show. Leading engineers from top consumer electronics companies such as Harris, Iterated Systems, JVC, Lucent, Motorola, Panasonic, Philips, Thomson, Toshiba, Vivitar and Zenith will be speaking at the Digital Engineering Conference.
DVD and DTV
The Digital Engineering Conference opens with a discussion of digital versatile disc (DVD) and digital television (DTV) in a session chaired by David Naranjo of Panasonic and Mike Isnardi of Sarnoff Research Center. Geoffrey Tully of Geoffrey Tully, Inc., a multimedia technology consulting firm, will address the current and near-term market conditions for DVD, including recordable DVD-R and erasable DVD-RAM. Attendees will hear about what products have been introduced so far and what additional products are expected during 1998. The session also will identify some of the challenges facing the continuing DVD technology roll-out as both a consumer entertainment format and as a computer data storage medium.
Going beyond new DVD introductions, attendees will hear how the consumer electronics industry will respond to the challenge of designing and stocking all-digital TV receivers by Christmas 1998. A panel of experts moderated by Electronic Engineering Times consumer electronic journalist, Junko Yoshida, will give their opinions on "The DTV Challenge", including Jeff Cove, VP of marketing and group general manger of Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company; Lance Gentry, director of DTV Product Planning & Strategy for Philips Consumer Electronics Company; Michael Holmes, general manager of the CTV Division for JVC Company of America.; Ed Milbourn, manager of Digital TV Product Planning for Thomson Consumer Electronics; and Steve Nickerson, VP of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products.
The Future
Following the DTV and DVD discussions, Murray Slovick of IEEE Spectrum Magazine will lead a cross discipline panel, featuring Ed Evans, graphics system engineering manager for the New Media Division at Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector; Keith Jack, strategic marketing for Harris Semiconductor; Wayne Luplow, executive director of Consumer Products Engineering and HDTV at Zenith Electronics Corp.; and Alex Wijnen, president and CEO of Vivitar. The panel will seek common ground--in terms of defining necessary core competencies--in the design and production of the next generation of consumer electronics products. The panel also will look into its crystal ball at the big picture and try to answer the question "what's next in consumer electronics?".
Digital Audio & the Internet
The following day's session features Internet broadcasting. Thousands of audio programs from around the world are available for listening via the Internet. What does this new wired world mean for traditional broadcasters? What are the challenges and the opportunities? Will the computer industry own the next broadcast platform? How are codecs and other compression technology likely to evolve? Will multicasting enable the Internet to truly be the next mass medium? National Public Radio Webmaster Robert Holt will discuss and demonstrate the audio process from broadcast to netcast. A panel, including Jim Durkin from the Microsoft NetShow team, Nathan Schulhof, of Audio Highway, Steve Church from Telos Systems and representatives from Real Networks, will discuss their views of Webcasting and its future from marketing and commercial opportunities to next generation technology.
Provider Technology
That afternoon Andreas Papanicolaou of Lucent Technologies chairs a session regarding provider technology. A half-dozen new technologies are competing to implement communications access to the consumer's home. This session will provide technical overviews of these competing digital access technologies, including: direct broadcast satellite, digital cable TV, MMDS, fiber-to-the-curb, ADSL/HDSL, ISDN and voice-band modems. Panelists will compare the relative benefits, costs and trade-offs for each of these technologies, including which services are supported and optimized by each delivery medium.
Convergence
On the last day of the Digital Engineering Conference, Galina Neumeier of Iterated Systems tackles the issue of computer convergence with digital audio and video. Television receivers have incorporated DSP and computing capability for years. However, RCA/Compaq PC Theater and Web TV are two new convergence products that allow the user to combine their computer and/or TV functions to form an entirely new device. Focusing on new directions for such products, this session includes presentations on new innovative digital video solutions and techniques to address the challenges in digital TV, the relevance of standards and the impact on new digital services. Panelists include John Bacon, senior vice president and COO of Iterated Systems; Richard Doherty, director of The Envisioneering Group; and Ron Richter, director of sales and marketing for Zoran Corporation.
To register for the Digital Engineering Conference, contact CEMA Engineering, tel: 703-907-7660, email: engcema@eia.org. Registration fees range from $350 to $400 depending on association membership. An evening reception on the 12th and a luncheon on the 13th is included with registration for the Digital Engineering Conference. Companies interested in co-sponsoring part of the Digital Engineering Conference should contact Heather Curcio at tel: 703-907-7594, email: heatherc@eia.org. >>>>
And the program for the same event:
<<<
Monday, January 12, 1998
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
DEC 1: Digital Consumer Electronics - (DTV and DVD)
Session Co-Chairs:
David Naranjo, Panasonic;
Mike Isnardi, Sarnoff Corporation
DVD - Challenges and Opportunities
You will receive a general overview of the technologies involved in DVD: its development and technical accomplishments. Since DVD is already in the market, this session also addresses the current and near-term market conditions (including the recordable DVD-R and erasable DVD-RAM). The session discusses what products have been introduced, and what additional products are expected during the year. The session concludes by identifying some of the challenges facing the continuing DVD technology roll-out as both a consumer entertainment format and as a computer data storage medium.
Presenter:
Mr. Geoffrey Tully
Geoffrey Tully, Inc.
Multimedia Technology Consulting Services
The DTV Challenge
How will the consumer electronics industry respond to the challenge of designing and stocking all-digital receivers by Christmas 1998? The U.S. Government has set the unprecedented deadline by having the four major broadcast networks promise the FCC that they will transmit DTV signals in the 10 largest markets by the end of 1998. Meanwhile, parts of the DTV standard, such as video formats and channel numbering, have yet to be implemented or defined. A panel of experts will give their opinions on "The DTV Challenge." Come and watch the sparks fly!
Moderator:
Junko Yoshida, Consumer Electronics Editor, EE Times
Panelists:
Ed Milbourn, Manager, Digital TV Product Planning
Thomson Consumer Electronics
Steve Nickerson, VP Marketing
Toshiba America Consumer Products
Jeff Cove, VP Marketing & Group General Manger
Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company
Lance Gentry, Director, DTV Product Planning & Strategy
Philips Consumer Electronics Company
Michael Holmes, General Manager, CTV Division
JVC Co. of America
Monday, January 12, 1998
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
DEC 2: Cross Discipline Panel Discussion
The Cross Discipline Panel Discussion aims to seek common ground - in terms of defining necessary core competencies - in the design and production of the next generation of consumer electronics products. We'll also look into our crystal ball at the big picture and try to answer the question "what's next?" Join us as we find out what's next in consumer electronics!
Moderator:
Murray Slovick, IEEE Spectrum Magazine
Panelists:
Keith Jack, Strategic Marketing
Harris Semiconductor
Ed Evans, Graphics System Engineering, Manager, New Media Division
Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector
Alex Wijnen, President/CEO
Vivitar
Wayne Luplow, VP Consumer Products Engineering and HDTV
Zenith Electronics Corp.
Reception following panel discussion.
Tuesday, January 13, 1998
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
DEC 3: Internet Broadcasting - A Match Made in Heaven or a Shotgun Wedding?
Thousands of audio programs from around the world are available for listening via the Internet. This new worldwide "wired radio" has arrived on the scene only in the last couple of years, and it is causing both excitement and trepidation. Does the Internet challenge traditional broadcasting's dominance of audio delivery or does it provide new opportunities? What will be the implication for consumer electronics products - will specialized "netradios" become hot items? Will the computer industry own the next "broadcast" platform? How will we move Internet audio forward from its current "crystal radio" status to a reliable, full-fidelity service?
As well, we will consider the implications of using the Internet for recorded music distribution. Will the Internet become a viable method to deliver recorded music to consumers? Will record companies be faced with ongoing piracy threats?
Both the Internet and the systems to support digital audio transmissions are emerging and fast-changing technologies. This session describes current systems used for audio webcasting and outlines a possible future. Issues to be discussed include: Internet limitations for realtime audio, next-generation protocols, compression technologies, encoding systems, software coders, realtime coders, servers and client software.
The latest in bitrate reduction compression (MPEG and others) will be presented and considered in the context of applications such as digital radio and television broadcasting, computer audio and music distribution.
Session Chair:
Steve Church, Telos Systems
Luncheon following morning session
1:00 pm - 4:30 pm
DEC 4: Digital Access Technology Session
In the digital future, consumers will be faced with a dazzling array of communications services and choices. A half-dozen new technologies are competing to implement access to the consumer's home. This session provides technical overviews of these competing digital access technologies, including:
Direct Broadcast Satellite Digital Cable TV MMDS Fiber-to-the-Curb ADSL/HDSL ISDN Voice-Band Modems
The session compares the relative benefits, costs and trade-offs for each of these technologies, including which services are supported and optimized by each delivery medium.
Session Chair:
Andreas Papanicolaou, Lucent Technologies
Tuesday, January 13, 1998
Wednesday, January 14, 1998
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
DEC 5: Computer Convergence With Digital Audio and Video
What direction will the convergence of computers with other consumer electronics take? Television receivers have incorporated DSP and computing capability for years. However, RCA/Compaq PC theater and Web TV are two new convergence products that allow the user to combine or separate their computer and/or TV functions to form an entirely new device. Focusing on new directions for such products, this session includes presentations on new innovative digital video solutions and techniques to address the challenges in Digital TV, the relevance of standards, and the impact on new digital services.
Session Chair:
Galina Neumeier, Iterated Systems
Panelists:
Ron Richter, Director, Sales and Marketing,
Zoran Corporation
John Bacon, Senior Vice President and COO,
Iterated Systems
Richard Doherty, Director,
The Envisioneering Group >>>> |
