What content will matter on the connected TV?

The obvious answer is premium video, including movies and TV shows.

Parks Associates' Digital Media Evolution II survey indicates that the basics (customized weather and traffic widgets) along with music and games will also be of interest. In fact, it is interesting to see the growth of consumer interest in gaming applications at the set-top box or connected TV.

This space is starting to heat up, and companies such as Accedo Broadband and OnLive could be significant players. Of course, as Michael Lantz from Accedo Broadband reminded us at the CONNECTIONS US Conference, it's difficult to get consumers to pay for the games. So how will these services be monetized?

Keep an eye on remote UIs. The concept of the "remote UI," which would provide a more consistent experience in search and discovery of content across different platforms, will be of significant interest to service providers and content owners.

At CONNECTIONS 2010, we learned about different technologies to facilitate this UI:
• HTML5
• AJAX CE
• The RVU Alliance

Securing the connected experience should go beyond the PC. At this year's CONNECTIONS Conference in Santa Clara, companies like Mocana remind us that security concerns will grow more prevalent as huge numbers of devices (including those aimed at M2M applications like smart meters) become more interconnected.

Please join us for our upcoming CONNECTIONS Conference in Europe this November. Visit www.connectionseurope.com for more information.

Security - Beyond the PC to include smartphones and consumer electronics

Mocana is a company to which I was recently introduced. The company specializes in security for non-PC devices - including mobile, datacom, smart trid, federal, consumer, industrial and medical. The company today announced C-Series financing from Symantec. In its press release, Symantec indicated that enhancements to mobile security would be its inital thrust with the investment.

This was not Symantec's only move in the last week to strengthen its portfolio beyond the PC. On May 19, the company announced that it was acquiring VeriSign, which makes solutions to help protect online identities.

McAfee is apparently not resting in its bid to expand security beyond ant-malware protection. On Tuesday, it announced that it was acquiring Trust Digital, which has developed a mobile security platform largely used by enterprises.

We'll have a couple of sessions at the upcoming CONNECTIONS conference on "cloud media" and its impact on entertainment and services business models. As we continue to look at this subject, security will be a huge issue. I would look to these ISVs as active partipants in mobile, cloud, and consumer electronics applications.