OPERA INSIGHTS. Connected life: From concept to reality

Transcription

1 OPERA INSIGHTS News, trends and analysis for the Internet industry Fall 2009 Introduction: Opera CEO, Jon von Tetzchner Connected life: From concept to reality The era of Web-connected devices in the home has arrived as ubiquitous connectivity and expanding browser technology converge. Page Page 3 Stay tuned 10 The connected lifestyle Opera Devices Product Manager, Arnaud Caigniet, describes how the Opera Devices SDK helps bring connected TVs to life and enables solutions for the connected digital life. Interpret LLC VP of Strategy and Analysis, Michael Gartenberg, opines on the whatever-content, whateverdevice, anywhere, anytime ubiquity of the connected home and life. Page Page 6 Opera Unite - In your hands, not in the cloud Product Manager Navjot Pawera explains how Opera Unite gives users control of their content and gives developers tools for Web-service creation. ASUS: Staying connected 4 across the spectrum Page ASUS discusses its leadership role as a connected-life enabler, creating innovations that keep people connected at home and on the go. 8 AirTies: The connected home landscape AirTies Multimedia Product Line Marketing Manager, Zvika Haas, illustrates how AirTies forward-looking technology connects the home and makes users lives easier. Mobile Web snapshot: What drives growth? Vacation? Current events? What factors contribute to growth in use of Opera Mini and the mobile Web? Page 7

2 Opera Insights Newsletter / Fall 2009 Opera CEO, Jon von Tetzchner Connected life: From concept to reality As autumn approaches, we enter a busy time of year. IBC Amsterdam takes place later this month, the holiday shopping season is quickly approaching (meaning more devices being sold and put into consumers hands), and our latest Opera Devices SDK product is gearing up for release. The common thread among these activities is that all will address the idea of convergence in the home and in our daily lives - or the connected life. See the One Web video. As we have seen over the past year, the era of Web-connected devices in the home has arrived as ubiquitous connectivity and expanding browser technology converge. Users engage with the Web not only on PCs and mobile phones, but also on game consoles, portable media players and TVs. Ultimately, people want to share and access the Web and all its content on any device, at any time, anywhere. In a sense, this is what the Internet, in its purest form, is all about an interactive experience in which users are able to access their chosen content anytime and share it across their many devices or with other users. They want virtually limitless possibilities for creating value-added services, applications, content and additional revenue streams. Our partners are responsive to user demand for choice, personalization and the ability to interact with and control their content on multiple devices. Opera s partners, such as Philips Electronics in the connected TV arena, Orange in the home device and appliance arena and Ford in the automotive arena have turned to Opera to help provide the technology to propel connected life from a concept to reality. This quarter, Opera Insights focuses on the connected home and connected life. We start with an interview with leading analyst Michael Gartenberg from Interpret Research to discuss the trends and what to expect this fall and beyond. Next, we feature our partner, AirTies, as their Multimedia Product Line Marketing Manager, Zvika Haas, discusses AirTies and how it fits into connected-life innovations. Another Opera partner, ASUS, also talks about its contributions to the connected life, specifically delving into mobility and ASUS location-based life innovations. As always, our State of the mobile Ultimately, people want to share and access the Web and all its content on any device, anytime, anywhere. control of the experience, they want consistency across all of their different devices and they want to be able to access it all at the touch of a button. Cross-platform, cross-device technology, something that Opera has been working on and deploying for most of this decade, makes this full Web accessibility possible. Technology and innovation enable devices to become connected, while Web standards and cross-platform development comprise the glue that brings it all together seamlessly. It is with this in mind that we have created the latest version of our Opera Devices SDK, a truly crossplatform browser technology that acts as the glue for the connected life. Based on the same core engine as the renowned Opera desktop browser, the Opera Devices SDK accelerates the development of and time-to-market for devices and ensures the highest quality Internet experience regardless of the device type. We are constantly innovating to deliver the fastest, best Internet experience on any device. Opera Devices SDK draws upon the interactivity of various Web-enabled devices to help service providers deliver customized features, content and updates directly to connected devices. Because Opera is platform independent and compliant with Web standards, it is easy to adapt and cost effective for OEMs to implement Devices SDK on any platform and use it not just as a Web browser but as a user interface and application environment. For operators, Opera Devices SDK offers a tested and secure technology with Web findings are highlighted. And finally, we also take a look at how Opera s technologies contribute to the connected-life landscape by discussing Opera s latest developments, such as the latest Opera Devices SDK and the groundbreaking Opera Unite, with Opera Product Managers Arnaud Caigniet and Navjot Pawera. Thanks for reading. Jon von Tetzchner 2

3 Stay tuned Product Manager Arnaud Caigniet discusses how Opera Devices supports a connected life In this age of convergence and multi-play solutions (i.e., offering multiple bundled services, such as fixed and/or mobile voice, video, and access), the Internet, both as a content-based source and a platform for generating value, is an integral part of devices as varied as the desktop PC and the mobile phone. More recently, it has also become an expected part of, for example, televisions, automobiles, navigation devices, photo frames, etc. Opera has been a technology innovator in these device segments for years, creating a toolkit that made the Web as a platform a reality across a broad range of devices. It makes Opera Devices technology one of the key enablers Arnaud Caigniet of the emerging and popular connected life concept adding convenience and value to consumers lives, while also creating a host of new opportunities for players in the value chain. Anticipating industry trends, many companies have banked on the possibilities enabled by building on a cross-platform structure. Within the realm of connected devices and the ecosystems of specific technologies connected TV, for example the right technical solutions, standards and industry partnerships supporting the underlying technologies are necessary to propel the propositions forward. Opera constructed a platform, Opera Devices SDK, that spans a large scope of devices segments. Opera s commitment to making the Web available everywhere, as a source of content and/or an application environment is embodied in the Opera Devices SDK. Opera partners and customers who use the SDK and other Opera technologies come from all different markets, such as gaming, home appliances, automobile, set-top boxes and TVs; their experiences have been innovative and have illustrated the versatility of the Opera Devices SDK. What can Opera Devices SDK do? Opera Devices SDK 10, as with previous iterations of the SDK, offers the flexibility to deploy across many platforms, even those with limited hardware capabilities. Opera Devices SDK is a framework for OEMs to have and give access to Web technologies to develop or deploy UIs for the open Internet or managed networks, interactive and personalized applications, IPTV or Internet multimedia services. Being future-oriented, Opera products share the same underlying core technology, from PC to mobile phone through set-top box, and thus, can all be leveraged together: Opera Devices SDK as part of the Opera Widgets ecosystem, Opera Devices SDK supporting Speed Dial, Opera Link, Fingertouch and, soon, Opera Turbo and Opera Unite. Opera Devices SDK is particularly attractive for solutions targeted at the connected digital life uniting devices with a common browser and presentation engine and ensuring that additional functionality will work seamlessly. OEMs, operators, broadcasters, content and service providers all gain optimized development time and more rapid time-to-market without compromising on flexibility or quality. The Opera Devices SDK enables tight integration with different hardware, connecting with native functionality and allowing for hardware acceleration when available. This integration, as well as the continuous fine-tuning of the SDK to accommodate the latest chipsets and silicon platforms, is one important feature of the Opera Devices SDK. by requirements like extended interaction (sharing, voting, advertising, purchasing, etc.) and customizable content (Internet, multimedia, programs) on demand. The Opera Devices SDK also complies with DLNA, through its partnership with AwoX, which enables a device (e.g., a television) to play music from a stereo, retrieve pictures from a digital frame, and be controlled by a mobile phone. The combination of own and third-party technologies, such as hand gestures, DLNA, Web applications/widgets, OIPF, work together to capture and share multimedia/internet applications and content between connected devices. A connected TV can potentially become the central device of the home, and Opera Devices SDK, Opera Widgets, OIPF specifications and partners technologies are moving this trend forward. Opera Devices Product Manager Arnaud Caigniet adds, Opera has strong partnerships, especially throughout the IPTV ecosystem, which definitely strengthens the Opera Devices SDK offering. Operators, silicon vendors, OEMs, content providers, middleware partners are all aiming to reach end users, in one way or another. Opera is playing a central role in committing to deliver on these partner s expectations. Working seamlessly with the SDK, Opera Widgets are already providing convenience and a means to personalization and proving to be excellent for providing on-demand information on the TV screen without being intrusive. The same applies to services based on OIPF specifications and, here as well, Opera Devices SDK is a perfect framework. Stay tuned: Opera and partners will soon demonstrate innovative TV-input methods and a tighter integration of TV programs and services, such as context-sensitive widgets allowing users to purchase items they have seen used on TV programs. VISIT opera.com/devices Opera Devices SDK is particularly attractive for solutions targeted at the connected digital life. Opera has been working with STB OEMs for years, but one of the most interesting growth areas in connected devices is the television set. Here, Opera Devices SDK is in the thick of the action, developing tools and taking advantage of Opera s complementary solutions such as Opera Widgets or relevant industry body specifications such as the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) to ease the development and deployment of TV services driven 3

4 Opera Insights Newsletter / Fall 2009 Creating products that keep people connected both at home and on the go, ASUS is positioned as a go-to technology provider for the connected lifestyle. Partner spotlight ASUS: Staying connected across the spectrum ASUS is an IT-industry powerhouse that both enables and drives innovation in every aspect of technology in which ASUS is involved. Both visibly in their consumer products and behind-the-scenes with components used in their own and other manufacturers devices, ASUS technology is helping to keep people and devices connected. The ASUS reach across a wide spectrum of devices dovetails nicely with the Opera philosophy to deliver the full Web and its possibilities on any device, and ultimately to enable connectivity among devices that will drive the connected life concept. One of ASUS s latest innovations, the Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20, is one example of ASUS s leadership as a connected-life enabler. Creating products that keep people connected both at home and on the go, ASUS is positioned as a go-to technology provider for the connected lifestyle. The Garmin-Asus nüvifone M20, which promises to be an all-in-one phone for the locationbased life, is one such product within the ASUS range that puts freedom and mobility front and center. Opera Insights (OI): Could you give a brief history of ASUS? Asus: ASUS is a major player in the IT industry and has over 16 product lines including desktop barebone systems, servers, notebooks, handhelds, network devices, broadband communications, LCD monitors, and wireless applications. The ASUS Eee PC, an ultramobile PC noted for its combination of being lightweight and its affordability, is recognized worldwide. In 2007, one in three desktop PCs sold worldwide was powered by an ASUS motherboard. We have an unyielding commitment to innovation and quality, which had led to international industry awards and top rankings for services and quality among business publications. Expanding our reach, ASUS is a rising contender in the design, manufacture and distribution of mobile phones. We have more than 800 employees devoted to R&D and business development for smartphones, and have successfully launched phones in 20 countries with major operators such as Vodafone, O2, Orange and TIM. Our telecom-industry footprint has grown significantly since the company introduced its first PDA and mobile phone in Today, we are recognized as one of the top three Windows Mobile brands in Russia and Eastern Europe. OI: What were some of the driving factors in ASUS and Opera becoming partners? What has Opera been able to provide for ASUS? Asus: ASUS is committed to providing users with stylish, easy-to-use, location-centric mobile devices that offer the highest degree of quality, reliability, innovation and performance while delivering value to enhance people s lives. We believe Opera has the same goal as well, delivering an easy-to-use browser that we consider to be a valuable addition to our M20. OI: Can you talk about some of focus areas of ASUS s innovations, for example, its drive to create notebook products that are, as the ASUS Web site boasts, the stuff of legends, excelling in even the hardest material conditions. What inspired this at the ends of the earth and beyond idea? Asus: ASUS has always placed a huge emphasis on innovation. Actually innovation is one of our core values. Employees are encouraged to strive for technological and aesthetic perfection in everything they do. They are expected to put themselves in customers shoes in order to create more value. ASUS employees are also required to apply Green-Light/Red-Light thinking to each situation. Green-Light thinking involves brainstorming, where every idea and proposal is sent to a pool from which the best solution is eventually drawn. Red-Light thinking, on the other hand, involves constant questioning and adopting a cautious attitude toward every proposal in order to siphon out the root cause of problems and then subsequently obtaining answers. Through such innovative thinking and experimenting while mindful of the need to meet and exceed the user s needs and expectations 4

5 nüvifone M20 employees can develop products that enhance the user s overall product experience. OI: How about the ASUS DNA the core values and virtues? How did ASUS develop these values and virtues, and how do you ensure that they are reflected in ASUS innovations? Do these fundamental principles propel creativity and development in the company? Asus: The ASUS brand is founded on four core values known as ASUS DNA. ASUS DNA comprises the 5 ASUS Virtues of Humility, Integrity, Diligence, Agility and Courage, Focus on Fundamentals and Results, Innovation and Aesthetics and Lean Thinking. In order to achieve our vision of turning ASUS into the world s most admired leading enterprise in the new digital era, our employees are encouraged to practice and develop these four foundational genes (Origin of the name ASUS). These values and principles are encouraged and observed and they help to bring innovative products continuously. OI: At Opera, we are thinking a lot about the connected home and connected life concept in which devices are connected to the Web and often to each other. What is ASUS doing to promote or enhance the connected life concept? Asus: At least in the mobile space, ASUS has joined with Garmin, the global leader in navigation, to develop world-class LBS-centric mobile phones. Garmin and ASUS have been working together closely on a line of smartphones, which will enrich the mobile experiences of users through highly personalized, value-added, location-based services. The nüvifone M20 has just been launched in Asia. M20, the seamless integration of communication, connectivity and navigation, is a great companion for on-the-go professionals who need a small and sleek device with enterprise and robust entertainment capabilities. Its 3.75G capability allows people to stay connected wherever they are. OI: Continuing on the connected life idea, do you believe that ASUS strategies and/or products have changed because of convergence and the drive toward more integration and connectivity among devices? Asus: Perhaps ASUS, having always been on the cutting edge of product development and having so many different product lines, had already foreseen this kind of connectivity and planned for it. ASUS has been paying close attention to this trend and delivered many valuable products to better meet customer needs. Among many ongoing plans, we are poised to capitalize on the growth of the smartphone market. OI: What are some of your insights about the future both in terms of ASUS s place in the connected-life future and in the connected-life space in general? Asus: In terms of smartphones, we believe it s important to deliver more intuitive, integrated, mobile devices to connect people, lives and even places. That s why we have launched a series of location-centric mobile devices. OI: What is on the horizon for ASUS? What can consumers look forward to seeing? Asus: ASUS will continue to pursue technological and aesthetic perfection through continuous innovation. We will continue to develop products to create user experiences that transcend the norm. VISIT opera.com/mobile 5

6 Opera Insights Newsletter / Fall 2009 Opera Unite In your hands, not in the cloud Navjot Pawera Technology enabler While more Internet users are connecting with each other and sharing their content online, such as on social-networking sites, the places they store this content often require them to surrender sole ownership of that content. Even if ownership is not a concern, what happens if a Web site closes down and takes all of the user s stored data with it? Beyond which, where has the original intent of the Internet, to bring down barriers and allow people to connect with each other on an individual level, gone? Opera Unite was created to address the disconnect and take the interactive aspects and possibilities of the Internet to the next, more personal, level. Navjot Pawera, an Opera Software product manager, spoke about the development potential for and questions about Opera Unite, Global remote access has been possible for us computer technologists for a number of years. Opera Unite creates the very same potential for every computer out there. Not only does this mean I can do much more with my computer, it also opens up possibilities to develop applications and web services of a whole new powerful breed. Opera Unite enables direct: - Data/file sharing - Collaboration (e.g., shared documents) - Chatting or playing games - Hosting of your own Web content How does Opera Unite work? Opera Unite puts the power of a local Web server into the hands of the regular, non-technical user. It helps users bypass the complicated configurations of standalone servers/dns and gets the server Opera Unite Services menu up and running with a few clicks. Opera Unite simplifies the process by taking care of the behind-the-scenes technology. Just a simple login gets a user started via his/her existing network setup (figure 2). Unleashing the potential of the Internet What is Opera Unite? Opera Unite is a technology that essentially enables a user s Opera desktop browser to become a compact server. From this personal server, users can share data and services with others, as well as having simple access to all their own data from anywhere that they access the Web. This is a powerful new way of looking at how information is managed, stored and ultimately owned. At the core of Opera Unite is interactivity Opera Unite allows for person-to-person (or multi-person) connections and information exchanges, freeing the user from having to upload selected content to third-party sites and freeing him/her from having to install third-party messaging applications. Figure 2: The Opera Unite server in your browser Global remote access has been possible for us computer technologists for a number of years. Opera Unite creates the very same potential for every computer out there. Not only does this mean I can do much more with my computer, it also opens up possibilities to develop applications and web services of a whole new powerful breed. 6

7 What can a developer do with Opera Unite? Opera Unite opens up a plethora of opportunities for developers to create powerful Web services. The virtually non-existent setup means that developers can now aim to achieve what the traditional remote hosted Web server model has not been able to allow. All this is made possible through a set of APIs, which enable development using common and open Web standards, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. Because Opera Unite is built with common Web technologies and open standards, creating Opera Unite services requires negligible know-how/no learning curve for Web developers. What about security? Opera has always taken the security and privacy of its users very seriously. This is backed up by a solid track record over the past decade. Opera Unite is implemented as a part of the same desktop browser that users have grown to trust over the years, Pawera explained. The Web server built into the browser runs in a very secure and tight security sandbox that uses the File I/O specification, which is being reviewed by the W3C to make it a global standard. This specification defines a secure and restricted access architecture while providing the freedom to enable powerful services. Additionally, all services published on unite.opera.com go through a series of QA checks by Opera s engineers. This is done to ensure that the services do not perform any unwanted actions on users computers. Opera Unite, while a part of the Opera 10 desktop browser, is not an active feature by default. The user actually has to activate Opera Unite him-/herself. Opera Unite opens up a plethora of opportunities for developers to create powerful Web services. Beyond technology: The interpersonal Web What Opera Unite will make possible in the future is bound only by the level of imagination brought to bear by developers, corporations and end users as they create (or demand) more applications that unite people online in more innovative ways. VISIT unite.opera.com VISIT OPERA.COM/TV Your resource for Web and Widgets on connected TVs: A new era of choice and control over the TV experience The age of connected TVs has arrived. Television is becoming a more leanforward, interactive component of a multi-screen, digital set-up at the center of a connected home. The lean-back model of passive television viewing is expanding to adopt numerous technologies and services that enhance the viewing experience. White papers, case studies, videos and more. Visit us today at 7

8 Opera Insights Newsletter / Fall 2009 AirTies: The connected home landscape Technology partners bring different aspects of the connected home concept to life. Strong partnerships are essential to making the concept work because each partner enables a different aspect of the puzzle. AirTies develops and markets wireless products for service providers, small businesses and consumers in the EMEA region, and, like Opera, is committed to connecting the home both to the outside world and devices within the home. AirTies envisions, also like Opera, a connected life. Their vision is: We see a world Zvika Haas where you can connect to anyone and anything electronic in your home or to your home seamlessly and securely, and control everything intuitively. Opera Insights talked with AirTies Multimedia Product Line Marketing Manager, Zvika Haas, about AirTies and how its products and technology fit into the connected home landscape as well as how connected home and life trends are moving in the marketplace. Opera Insights (OI): Could you provide some brief background about AirTies history? Zvika Haas (ZH): AirTies core technology in the beginning was wireless gateway technology. We have moved in the last two years into the multimedia set-top box (STB) business. Now we are providing a complete home network solution gateways, STBs, accessories. We provide wireless video distribution at home, and we also provide a way to set up a wireless network without the hassle of selecting security protocol, SSID, modem, password, etc. We have AirTouch, which enables the setup of a wireless network with a touch of a button. You push a button on the gateway and press a key on the STB remote control, and automatically establish a secure wireless connection. This also works with laptop and gateway and other devices. It is an intuitive and simple way to setup a wireless network and ultimately why we conquered the Turkish market, although that was not originally the goal of the company. It was lucky for the company that we started out at the same time the Turkish market started growing, and year upon year, we expanded, reaching 70 percent market share in the Turkish market (4 million AirTies ADSL products in the market). The same thing is happening in Greece, Russia, Ukraine. AirTies is a relatively new company, almost six years old. The founders of AirTies were two Turkish guys and a Dutch guy working in Silicon Valley who decided that something was wrong with the way people are getting home gateways. They decided to launch a company with R&D in Turkey to build different products with different positioning and to offer support aimed at home users. This is a differentiator. If someone buys an AirTies product in Turkey, Russia, Greece, they get customer support directly from AirTies. If you buy a solution from a competitor, you can call customer service but they are only resellers and cannot help directly without an in-house R&D. With a direct connection to its end users, coupled with its own R&D, AirTies can. The point of this is that AirTies believes in customer-driven innovation. We get a lot of calls from customers saying, I wish I could do A, B, or C. We take these suggestions seriously and evaluate and implement them as we see fit. This creates a better, more robust, stable product based on what customers really want and need, leading to customer satisfaction, the customer base and technology that enable the connected home. Ultimately with our wireless network, wireless video and other innovations, we aim to make life easier for the end user. OI: Can you talk a bit about how AirTies and Opera Software started to work together? ZH: I came from a middleware company where I was in charge of client technology, such as aspects of UI, applications and services on top of STBs, including the browser. Moving to an STB company with this experience gave me a different perspective on the way we should focus on the UI, which is very different from how other STB companies see it. One of the reasons I wanted Opera for AirTies was because of my prior experience with Opera on other STBs and strong business relationships developed within Opera. The major driver in choosing Opera is that Opera offers what I think is one of the best UI platforms possible for set-top boxes. OI: How do you see AirTies fitting into the connected home/connected life theme right now? ZH: Our vision is to have a wireless home everything will be wireless. We have already established some proof of concept in that domain, and we are moving on with other products. We definitely see, for example, a wireless STB getting transmission of IPTV services. Even some cable STBs, or some kind of modem at home that sends video to other STBs. Network DVD. Wireless photo frames, PVRs these complete our vision of the wireless home. Today our gateways already provide a connection to, for example, an external hard drive to get all the content from it to the TV a PC is not needed to access the content. The STB can have direct access to all the harddrive content and play it on the TV. 8

9 With IPTV service, there is usually a virtual network and you cannot access the PC from an STB because of security and quality of service, both coming from separate virtual networks. AirTies can bridge this separation. We will provide gateway bridging, keep all the security in place, so you can get content from the Internet and from your home appliances. This will help the service provider to build better services because we maintain it. OI: Has AirTies role changed over time for example, are AirTies strategies and/or products changing because of convergence and the drive toward more integration and connectivity among devices? ZH: On the contrary, from day one, the vision of the company was to provide a completely wireless home network/connectivity, but both the technology and the customers were not yet ready for that. Even though it was part of our vision from the beginning, it was hard to implement. We essentially established our classical wired and wireless solutions, and also in the set-top domain. Later, when technology caught up to our idea, we started implementing a bigger-picture connectivity, maybe four or five months ago. I like to think we were ahead of the trend in our thinking, and right now we can see the future as promising, with so many ideas that we want to add to our home connectivity solutions. OI: What do you see as the biggest opportunities that arise from the connected life idea? Both in general in the industry and for AirTies specifically? ZH: Generally, one of the main opportunities is over-the-top TV, Web TV. Accessing content we see all the research, a huge amount of content, user-generated and on YouTube, streamed from the Web. Right now people see it only on the PC. It is not that common to enjoy all this content on a TV. We have invested a lot of time in building an over-the-top STB to serve content from the PC, through the STB to TV. We aim to extend with online content directly from the Web, also supporting DTP (digital terrestrial programming). We are seeing growth in the number of subscribers. Many countries moved from analog to digital. There is a huge opportunity to combine home-connected appliances with the digital content. Network PVR devices can support all STBs at home and get content from home. Also with home connectivity, we see a tight correlation between VoIP and IPTV/STBs because we have a VoIP product, we can add special services to extend VoIP usage. For example, caller ID. Because we have a footprint on the STB and the gateway, we can do it with the home domain inside the home without anyone having to do anything outside the home domain. Various examples are things like a phone book on TV, video calls, audio calls, STB as answering machine it is all possible on the different appliances with the AirTies footprint. OI: What are the biggest challenges of achieving the connected life idea? ZH: Two big challenges over-the-top TV presents some challenges in bringing better quality TV to the home on an unmanaged network. Everyone wants high-def video, with DTP you can do it, but with something like YouTube, high-def is a challenge. In the home domain, the challenge is the quality of service inside the home you get content from the Web, but face limited bandwidth sometimes. There is a need to maintain quality of service of data, video and audio access. It is a challenging task and one of the barriers to having a good home-connectivity solution. OI: What are some of your visions and insights about the future both in terms of AirTies place in the connectedhome future and in the connected-home space in general? ZH: Right now there is a very big trend for TVs that are already connected to the Internet for the moment, this will bring only a simple, limited amount of services because, again, there is no standard in that sense. With regard to trends, again talking about over-the-top TV this is already a fact, not a trend. We are involved with Opera in over-the-top TV on two projects, and we want to see ourselves as one of the best products in the domain. Part of catching an important trend alongside Opera, we are focusing on the performance of the graphic layer on STBs. This is changing and getting better and better. Silicon manufacturers are starting to support 3D and hardware acceleration, which Opera and AirTies use to create a truly fantastic UI. We are finally moving into a stage where the technology is ready, and we can harness it to declare that we will go beyond just a good UI we can have an amazing, high-def UI that can ultimately be utilized to create a great user experience and augment and support the connected home idea. VISIT opera.com/business Creating products that keep people connected both at home and on the go, ASUS is positioned as a go-to technology provider for the connected lifestyle. 9

10 Opera Insights Newsletter / Fall 2009 The connected lifestyle Interpret LLC s VP of Strategy and Analysis, Michael Gartenberg, offers perspectives on the future of technology in the connected home As the whole host of devices consumers use in their everyday lives and in their homes becomes connected (both to the Web and to each other), innovation is accelerating. The idea of anywhere, anytime access to all of one s personal data on any device (inside the home or outside of it) has driven the idea of and development for the connected life ideal. Consumers are embracing the possibilities and power of a connected life, while technology is developed to enable this connectivity and sharing. Technology companies are seizing on the opportunities created by the connected home/connected life concept and introducing solutions to make the concept possible. Opera Insights talked with Interpret LLC s Vice President of Strategy and Analysis, Michael Gartenberg, about his thoughts on the future of the connected home. Opera Insights (OI): How would you define the concept of the connected home today? Tomorrow? Michael Gartenberg (MG): It is really about the connected lifestyle; the ability to access whatever content you wish, from whatever device you are on, wherever you happen to be. OI: How do you see the connected home evolving over the next few years? Will consumers expect to be able to access their favorite content and applications from any connected device in the home or from their home devices? What kind of experience do you see them wanting? Do they want the Web on every device? What do you see them wanting to do? MG: Look for the critical three screens phone, TV and PC to connect to each other and the cloud in a big way to allow that content to flow. Of course the Internet will play a big role in this but it is not about replicating a PC-browser experience on a TV; the key is getting contextually relevant content onto each screen and device. OI: Do you see widgets playing a big role in this evolution? MG: Yes. Widgets are the key to deliver that device-appropriate information to each of the key end-user experiences. Consumers want glanceable information that they can tap into quickly. OI: What about personal servers? (For example, Opera Unite.) It is just a matter of time before all our appliances are talking to us over the net. MG: In the future, we will not even think twice about the concept. Look at the collections of personal and commercial content users are creating and amassing. They are not going to want to replicate that content across every device they own but will want to access it from every device. Personal servers are going to be a key to enabling digital ubiquity. OI: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for operators (carriers)? Device manufacturers? Developers? MG: Sync, sync and sync. Control sync and you control the world. It is not just or bookmarks, but access to everything I own, always up-to-date and available. OI: Do you see things like household appliances becoming connected in the near future? MG: Absolutely. It has been a dream for a long time, but we have already seen Twittering washing machines and refrigerators. It is just a matter of time before all our appliances are talking to us over the net. 10

11 Mobile Web snapshot State of the mobile Web: What drives growth? Every month, Opera conducts the definitive review of the numbers and trends shaping the mobile Web. Looking at mobile Web usage patterns, an important question emerges: what drives growth? In July, 12 billion Web pages were viewed via Opera Mini, a 15-percent increase from the previous month. This statistic outpaced the growth in number of users (which also grew), pointing to the likelihood that existing users who access the mobile Web are browsing more and looking at more pages per user. The fascinating question is to ask why? What is driving this growth per user? The State of the mobile Web report this month hazards a guess: perhaps one reason for this increase comes as a result of people going on holiday. The higher number of page loads than number of new downloads of Opera Mini in specific locations, such as Australia and Aruba, indicates that people are using their mobile phones to stay connected from everywhere, even on vacation. This supports Opera s assertion that the full Web really is mobile, and people take it everywhere. (Case in point: the report shows that Antarctica reflected 800% growth between June and July, and none of the users can be attributed to new downloads.) Alongside the question of why, the State of the mobile Web report also looks into how. By putting the Middle East in the spotlight, the report examines general download and usage trends, digging deeper to postulate on possible connections between current events (e.g, the recent election in Iran) and mobile Web traffic. VISIT opera.com/smw As always in the State of the mobile Web report, use and download statistics provide valuable insight into mobile Internet usage in the hope that the knowledge will continue to help Opera and its partners to build the best tools and create the best content that will foster the continued growth of the mobile Web. Download Opera Mini The world s most popular mobile Web browser with over 20 million users, and it s free! Download at operamini.com 11

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