• Mega Hertz to resell EchoStar IPTV
By Brian Santo
EchoStar Satellite Services has hired Mega Hertz as a reseller of its IPTV services. Mega Hertz will market EchoStar’s ViP-TV transport solution to cable systems and telcos.
The ViP-TV transport service offers a suite of IPTV services that include approximately 300 TV and music channels in H.264 format. ViP-TV can also provide satellite-delivered local TV channel aggregation in a service provider’s designated market area in both high-definition and standard-definition, where available, EchoStar said.
“We look forward to combining our expertise in IPTV systems integration by offering our customers advanced video options from ViP-TV,” said Steve Grossman, product manager for Mega Hertz. “Together, we’ve already secured a municipal fiber-to-the-home project and expect increased sales opportunities as part of ViP-TV’s reseller partnership.”
• Multi-touch enabled on Nexus One
By Andrew Berg, Wireless Week
Googlers just can’t help but poke and prod Apple these days. First they did an end-around with the HTML5 version of Google Voice, and now they’ve enabled multi-touch for the Nexus One.
Google yesterday pushed out an over-the-air update to the Nexus One that enables pinch-to-zoom functionality in the phone’s browser, gallery and maps applications. Additional facets of the update include a general fix to help improve 3G connectivity on the device, as well as a camera-based Web-searching tool called Google Goggles. Also included were a few improvements to Google maps.
Nexus One users will receive a message on their phone’s notification bar when the update is ready for their phone. Users can click on the notification and download the update.
Since the unveiling of the Nexus One, Google received criticism that the phone didn’t allow for multi-touch and pinch-to-zoom functionality. Many believed the reason was Apple’s protection of its patent on multi-touch technology.
• VeriSign’s shares tumble
By The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) – Shares of VeriSign Inc. tumbled Wednesday after the Internet company fell short of fourth-quarter profit forecasts.
VeriSign, a Mountain View, Calif., company that helps route users to Web sites, reported earnings of 31 cents per share, excluding unusual items. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for 34 cents per share, on average.
Revenue rose 6 percent to $262.7 million, beating the average forecast of $260.6 million. But Deutsche Bank’s Todd Raker cut the company’s rating to “Hold” from “Buy” in a note to investors Wednesday. He said, “Ultimately, until further clarity is gained around new growth opportunities for 2011,” the stock is likely to move in a limited range.
The stock fell $1.56, or 6.7 percent, to $21.86 in morning trading.
