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.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for Jan 26 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
A Canadian clothing company cannot declare the transaction values based on sales to its related importer in the U.S., CBP found in a Nov. 5 internal advice ruling (here). The ruling, HQ H243327, was in response to an application for further review of protest, filed by the importer, White Wave USA (WWU), which imports apparel from the seller, White Wave Canada (WWC). CBP found there's insufficient evidence to prove the two acted as independent sellers and buyers.
Harman announced purchase agreements designed to position the company as a leading software provider for the connected space. CEO Dinesh Paliwal said on a Thursday conference call that Harman’s planned buys of Symphony Teleca, which provides software engineering and integration services globally, and Red Bend Software, provider of over-the-air (OTA) and cybersecurity software, will transform Harman into a “comprehensive products, systems and engineering services company” for the automotive, telecom, media, CE and healthcare markets. Harman will be able to “enable and enhance the connected lifestyle people want,” Paliwal said. Both companies have been service providers to Harman “for some time,” he said. The Red Bend transaction is valued at $170 million -- about $99 million in stock and $71 million in cash. The agreement to buy Symphony Teleca calls for a base purchase price of $780 million, including $382 million in cash and $166 million in Harman stock. The acquisitions will add some 8,000 engineers -- most from Symphony Teleca -- to Harman’s current engineering staff of 3,500 in software and 3,000 in hardware and industrial design, Paliwal said. Symphony Teleca, based in Silicon Valley, has a customer base including Adobe, Comcast, Google, Intel, Jaguar, Land Rover, Microsoft, Verizon and SiriusXM, Harman said. Symphony Teleca, which brings a platform for integrated services geared to converged markets, along with software engineering and integrated services for the connected experience, offers Harman “immediate scale and engineering services to accelerate connected car innovations,” Paliwal said. Symphony’s software development capabilities will enable Harman to integrate and leverage high-margin segments including the cloud, mobile devices, design and analytics, said Paliwal. He said Symphony is the “largest Android ecosystem scaling partner worldwide” as well as a strategic partner of Microsoft. Harman will be able to provide a “complete set of software defined services” around predictive analytics, cloud enablement, the Internet of Things gateway, turnkey mobile development and commercialization “to enable everything from autonomous driving to intelligent cities,” he said. Israeli company Red Bend -- with a customer base including AT&T, China Mobile, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, Sprint, Telit and Verizon -- provides over-the-air software and hypervisor-based virtualization technology for cybersecurity applications. The technology is positioned to meet the demands of the connected car and can be a “prerequisite to autonomous driving,” Paliwal said. That includes the ability to deliver “safe, secure OTA updates” for on-board and non-Harmon automotive systems, “either embedded or downloaded,” Paliwal said.
Harman announced purchase agreements designed to position the company as a leading software provider for the connected space. CEO Dinesh Paliwal said on a Thursday conference call that Harman’s planned buys of Symphony Teleca, which provides software engineering and integration services globally, and Red Bend Software, provider of over-the-air (OTA) and cybersecurity software, will transform Harman into a “comprehensive products, systems and engineering services company” for the automotive, telecom, media, CE and healthcare markets. Harman will be able to “enable and enhance the connected lifestyle people want,” Paliwal said. Both companies have been service providers to Harman “for some time,” he said. The Red Bend transaction is valued at $170 million -- about $99 million in stock and $71 million in cash. The agreement to buy Symphony Teleca calls for a base purchase price of $780 million, including $382 million in cash and $166 million in Harman stock. The acquisitions will add some 8,000 engineers -- most from Symphony Teleca -- to Harman’s current engineering staff of 3,500 in software and 3,000 in hardware and industrial design, Paliwal said. Symphony Teleca, based in Silicon Valley, has a customer base including Adobe, Comcast, Google, Intel, Jaguar, Land Rover, Microsoft, Verizon and SiriusXM, Harman said. Symphony Teleca, which brings a platform for integrated services geared to converged markets, along with software engineering and integrated services for the connected experience, offers Harman “immediate scale and engineering services to accelerate connected car innovations,” Paliwal said. Symphony’s software development capabilities will enable Harman to integrate and leverage high-margin segments including the cloud, mobile devices, design and analytics, said Paliwal. He said Symphony is the “largest Android ecosystem scaling partner worldwide” as well as a strategic partner of Microsoft. Harman will be able to provide a “complete set of software defined services” around predictive analytics, cloud enablement, the Internet of Things gateway, turnkey mobile development and commercialization “to enable everything from autonomous driving to intelligent cities,” he said. Israeli company Red Bend -- with a customer base including AT&T, China Mobile, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, Sprint, Telit and Verizon -- provides over-the-air software and hypervisor-based virtualization technology for cybersecurity applications. The technology is positioned to meet the demands of the connected car and can be a “prerequisite to autonomous driving,” Paliwal said. That includes the ability to deliver “safe, secure OTA updates” for on-board and non-Harmon automotive systems, “either embedded or downloaded,” Paliwal said.
Harman announced purchase agreements designed to position the company as a leading software provider for the connected space. CEO Dinesh Paliwal said on a Thursday conference call that Harman’s planned buys of Symphony Teleca, which provides software engineering and integration services globally, and Red Bend Software, provider of over-the-air (OTA) and cybersecurity software, will transform Harman into a “comprehensive products, systems and engineering services company” for the automotive, telecom, media, CE, media and healthcare markets. Through the acquisitions, Harman will be able to “enable and enhance the connected lifestyle people want,” Paliwal said. Both companies have been service providers to Harman “for some time,” he said.
An EU Latvian presidency proposal to break the diplomatic logjam over net neutrality in the draft "connected continent" telecom reform package has drawn mostly critical early reaction from the Internet industry and digital rights activists. The proposal, outlined in a Jan. 20 memo to EU government ministers, will be discussed article-by-article when the Telecom Council Working Party meets Jan. 27, the Presidency said Wednesday. The "harm-based" approach "will be a source of hot debate," said Hogan Lovells (Paris) attorney Winston Maxwell. The text raises doubts about how the system would be implemented, said an Internet industry official. The proposal is "very clear non-neutrality in a text claiming to support net neutrality," said European Digital Rights Executive Director Joe McNamee.
An EU Latvian presidency proposal to break the diplomatic logjam over net neutrality in the draft "connected continent" telecom reform package has drawn mostly critical early reaction from the Internet industry and digital rights activists. The proposal, outlined in a Jan. 20 memo to EU government ministers, will be discussed article-by-article when the Telecom Council Working Party meets Jan. 27, the Presidency said Wednesday. The "harm-based" approach "will be a source of hot debate," said Hogan Lovells (Paris) attorney Winston Maxwell. The text raises doubts about how the system would be implemented, said an Internet industry official. The proposal is "very clear non-neutrality in a text claiming to support net neutrality," said European Digital Rights Executive Director Joe McNamee.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, became ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee, Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Tuesday at a committee organizational meeting. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., already was known to be chairman of the subcommittee. Schatz was one of the lower-ranking members of the subcommittee and not widely expected to lead the Democrats, though many more-senior Democrats had begun distancing themselves (see 1412120057). “In my new role, one of my top priorities will be increasing access to broadband across the country and throughout Hawai'i,” Schatz said in a statement. “Open and fast internet access is critical for residents and businesses across the islands and will create high quality jobs and help Hawai'i diversify its economy.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will be ranking member of the Consumer Protection and Data Security Subcommittee, a subcommittee enhanced with its data security jurisdiction this Congress. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is chairman of that subcommittee. Nelson, in his opening statement for the organizational meeting, said “how to maintain a free and open Internet” and “addressing cybersecurity and protecting networks and the data stored on them from both domestic and foreign threats” are among his priorities.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, became ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee, Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Tuesday at a committee organizational meeting. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., already was known to be chairman of the subcommittee. Schatz was one of the lower-ranking members of the subcommittee and not widely expected to lead the Democrats, though many more-senior Democrats had begun distancing themselves (see 1412120057). “In my new role, one of my top priorities will be increasing access to broadband across the country and throughout Hawai'i,” Schatz said in a statement. “Open and fast internet access is critical for residents and businesses across the islands and will create high quality jobs and help Hawai'i diversify its economy.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will be ranking member of the Consumer Protection and Data Security Subcommittee, a subcommittee enhanced with its data security jurisdiction this Congress. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is chairman of that subcommittee. Nelson, in his opening statement for the organizational meeting, said “how to maintain a free and open Internet” and “addressing cybersecurity and protecting networks and the data stored on them from both domestic and foreign threats” are among his priorities.