Ten New Members Join ng Connect Program; Membership More than Doubles in First Year
Multi-industry 4G/LTE ecosystem now has 37 members worldwide and fourteen completed solutions concepts; also extending reach to Asia in 2010
CTIA Wireless, Las Vegas, March 24, 2010 — The ng Connect Program, co-founded by Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), today announced that ten new members have joined the program, bringing new areas of enablement including assisted- and self-service solutions, cloud-based IT services, video security and video conferencing as well as expertise in 3D and virtual reality, digital signage, and online education technologies. The multi-industry organization, dedicated to creating network-ready applications, services, content and devices for emerging Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, has grown to include 37 companies – more than doubling its initial membership in its first year.
The ng Connect Program members have made tremendous progress in developing turnkey solution
concepts for 4G/LTE networks – including sophisticated point of sale (PoS) technology, advertising platforms, gaming, home management, security applications and the LTE Connected Car. The development of these solution concepts has been guided by primary research, conducted by founding member Alcatel-Lucent, into how consumers will use LTE and 4G networks. The research also helps device manufacturers and content providers within specific vertical markets represented in the ng Connect Program to tailor solutions concepts to real-world requirements. These solution concepts are designed to help network operators and service providers understand the business models and revenue opportunities made possible by next generation networks as they become available.
The ng Connect Program is demonstrating its solution concepts at CTIA Wireless in the Alcatel-Lucent Booth # 2506 located in the Central Hall. The ng Connect Program’s LTE Connected Car and LTE-Enabled HumanKiosk solution concepts are CTIA Wireless 2010 E-Tech Award finalists.
“As the global leader in self-service, NCR is working across multiple industries and countries in redefining how consumers are interacting with business based on their preferences for communications and according to location of device,� stated Adithya Sastry, director, Innovation & Business Incubation, NCR Corporation. “For NCR, the ng Connect Program is important in enabling us to leverage insights from other companies and industries that share our drive to develop mobility services and devices, and toward understanding how people will use these in managing and enriching their lives. NCR’s involvement in the ng Connect Program, including our collaboration with other participating technology-forward organizations, is a great example of how strategic partnerships play a key role in NCR’s innovation strategy.�
New Member Highlights:
• CoolSign has been providing enterprise-class digital signage software solutions for more than a decade. Their technology and experts are behind some of the largest digital signage networks in the world. CoolSign’s deep, direct experience designing, building, operating, and maintaining sophisticated, reliable digital signage and digital out-of-home networks has made them a leader in digital signage.
• Desktone, Inc. provides the industry’s first virtual desktop hosting platform, enabling desktops to be delivered as an outsourced subscription service. The Desktone Virtual-D Platform integrates all required technologies into a single, automated, self-service platform. By enabling desktops as a service, Desktone simplifies large-scale desktop provisioning and management, transforms virtual desktop infrastructure costs from CAPEX to OPEX, provides greater protection of physical resources and corporate information, and increases business agility—all of which reduces desktop total cost of ownership.
• EON Reality, Inc. is the world’s leading interactive 3D visual content management and virtual reality software provider. EON’s solutions enable all organizations to more effectively visually communicate, collaborate and accelerate knowledge transfer. Industry leaders include Atlas Copco, Bechtel, Boeing, Bombardier, Siemens Medical, Suzuki, Toyota and Whirlpool use EON solutions to enhance the interactive user experience to effectively increase sales, better communicate product functionality and decrease the cost of service, training and technical support. EON’s Interactive 3D Simulation-Based Learning environments allow learners to be activity engaged in the learning experience moving them from isolated, high-end, yet static tech centers to an engaging, scalable, Internet connected network.
• K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), a technology-based education company, is the nation’s largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs for students in kindergarten through high school. K12 provides its high quality, award-winning curriculum and academic services to online schools, traditional classrooms, blended school programs, and directly to families. The company also operates the K12 International Academy™, an accredited, diploma-granting online private school serving students in 46 countries. K12 has served over 150,000 full-time students to date and delivered over 1.5 million online courses. K12’s mission is to provide any child the curriculum and tools to maximize success in life, regardless of geographic, financial, or demographic circumstances.
• LiveCast is a worldwide leader in streaming live video from the field to command centers and professional broadcast studios with low latency and reduced operating costs. Pioneering the concept of DIY broadcasting using a cell phone as early as 2005, LiveCast enables anyone with a compatible mobile phone, PC, Mac, or IP camera to stream live video. LiveCast offers a complete on-the-go solution for streaming breaking news, emergencies in the field, security patrols, and any other activity where it’s critical to see what is happening in the field in real-time. The Company provides services to government agencies, health organizations, Fortune 500 corporations, and many of the world’s largest media companies, including: News Corporation, Post-Newsweek, NBC and BBC. LiveCast is offered as an ASP service or licensed server solutions on a customer’s network.
• Mobideo is a pioneer in the development of wireless application software, producing leading mobile enterprise products that drive corporate profitability. Its “anytime, anywhere” cutting-edge suites of products and services streamline data sharing and communication between mobile workers in the field and back office management. Designed for the telecommunications, aerospace, energy, and other mobile workforce industries, Mobideo’s Guideâ„¢ system helps enterprises increase employee productivity, streamline asset management, lower operating cost and improve customer service – all boosting the bottom line. Clients include Fortune 100 and recognized brand names such as Visa, Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, GE, Sony, Motorola, Isuzu, Comverse, Orange and Alvarion.
• Movial inspires rich, intuitive Internet experiences for companies embracing transformational technologies. Movial’s award-winning Communicator line of solutions seamlessly enables Next Generation Network operators to launch rich IP communication applications on the PC and a wide range of mobile devices including tablets. By delivering highly intuitive and compelling user experiences, Movial has become the trusted source for enriching the way people interact every day.
• NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) is a global technology company leading how the world connects, interacts and transacts with business. NCR’s assisted- and self-service solutions and comprehensive support services address the needs of retail, financial, travel, healthcare, hospitality, entertainment, gaming and public sector organizations in more than 100 countries.
• Optical Crime Prevention, Inc. (OCP) has developed proprietary hardware and software systems to enable Video Security as a Service (VSaaS) for the mass markets. Its video security hosting service stores customer video in a storage vault on the Internet, insures against the loss of video due to fire, smoke, floods, destruction and theft.
• Vidyo, Inc. pioneered Personal Telepresence enabling natural, multi-point videoconferences on desktop computers, laptops, NetBooks and room systems. Vidyo’s patented VidyoRouter architecture delivers the only available H.264 Scalable Video Coding (SVC) solution that eliminates an MCU while delivering the industry’s best error resilience and lowest latency videoconferencing solution over the Internet and wireless networks. The company has announced VidyoTechnology™ support for Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G and 4G broadband networks and smartphones. Vidyo is also participating in demonstrations of its next generation architecture delivering HD multipoint videoconferencing over wireless networks to carriers and wireless providers.
“LTE networks are going live this year, and the ng Connect Program member companies have made great strides in developing devices and applications that will run over these networks as they become available. In one short year since the launch of the program, we have achieved amazing results in creating a multitude of solution concepts for a wide variety of markets including the LTE Connected Car which has achieved global recognition for its innovation,� stated Derek Kuhn, vice president, Emerging Technology and Media, Alcatel-Lucent and founding member of the ng Connect Program. “We continue to see strong interest in the program as many leading brands and innovative start-ups join the program to continue to advance the way we connect and interact.�
The ng Connect Program recently celebrated its first year anniversary, and in one year the group has achieved significant growth with 37 members now collaborating globally to create solution concepts for both mobile and fixed broadband networks including Long Term Evolution (LTE), GPON and other ultra high bandwidth technologies. ng Connect Program first year accomplishments include:
• Membership growth of over 100%
• Development of fourteen solution concepts for LTE networks including the world’s first LTE Connected Car
• Extended presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia
The fourteen solution concepts illustrate the potential end-user experience and explore potential revenue models, tapping into growing consumer demand for rich applications and services on LTE networks with new opportunities in a wide variety of industries including automotive, e-healthcare, gaming, digital signage, remote home monitoring and more. The ng Connect Program is clearly delivering on its initial goals which include: accelerating deployment of new services and devices through pre-integration and validation; identifying and promoting new revenue streams through innovative business models; and broadening the wireless broadband device landscape to include consumer electronics products, industrial and consumer equipment for machine-to-machine communications, and automotive connectivity. By helping to bring new applications and services for next generation LTE networks to market more quickly, the ng Connect Program will facilitate an expansion of the revenue base for network operators and others in the value chain.
About The ng Connect Program
The ng Connect Program is a multi-industry organization committed to the development and rapid deployment of the next generation of broadband services based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) and other ultra high bandwidth technologies. Founded in 2009, the ng Connect Program is supported by leading network, consumer electronics, application and content providers including 4DK, Alcatel-Lucent, Atlantic Records, BUZZMEDIA, chumby, Connect2Media, CoolSign, Creative Technology Ltd., Desktone, dimedis, EON Reality, FISHLABS, GameStreamer, Inc., Gemalto, HP, Intamac Systems Ltd., K12, Inc., Kabillion, Kyocera Communications Inc., LearningMate, LiveCast, MediaTile, Mobideo, Movial, NCR Corporation, Optical Crime Prevention, Inc., QNX, R360, RebelVox LLC., Samsung, SIGNEXX, Total Immersion, Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc., TuneWiki, V-Gate, Vidyo and Words & Numbers. For more information on the ng Connect Program, please visit: www.ngconnect.org.
ng Connect Press Contacts
Pamela Preston Tel: +1 212-616-6001 [email protected]
Alicia Mickelsen Tel: +1 212-616-6002 [email protected]
