Dr Dre's Beats plans to drop HTC, and move-in with another rich mate

Beats Electronics is reportedly looking to ditch its HTC partnership and bring in a new investor with fresh funds instead. The maker of the popular Beats by Dr Dre headphones, which is branching out into speakers, car audio systems and online music streaming, wants to find a new investor that will help the business grow, people familiar with the plans told The Wall Street Journal.

The company, founded by music mogul Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop artist and producer Dr Dre, wants a new partner to provide debt financing and possibly take a minority stake in the firm and hopes to buy out HTC's 25 per cent stake in the business.

Beats already tried unsuccessfully earlier in the summer to raise $700m in financing from credit markets to buy out HTC's stake, but investors weren't interested in the deal.

The firm later asked for a smaller debt, limiting the proceeds that would go to shareholders to $150m, but withdrew the offer when markets became more inhospitable in June on concerns about the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies.

However, markets have now recovered and Beats may look to try with investors again this year, the source said.

The company originally sold a 50.1 per cent stake to HTC for $300m two years ago, but bought back half the stake at around half the price a year later. The partnership saw HTC using the firm's audio software in its phones and bundling its mobes with Beats headphones. there's still no word on the preferred buyer(s).

As suitors line up for Blackberry, what lies in stock for this ‘has-been’?

After more than a year since the news first surfaced, Canadian smartphone laggard BlackBerry came into the spotlight once again last week as the company announced it was forming a special committee to review the always-ominous "strategic alternatives." And while it's abundantly clear that BlackBerry desperately needs a tech sugar daddy, what's less obvious is who would want to snap up shares of the struggling smartphone maker.

While the company does have some valuable assets, there's also that whole declining smartphone business, which makes the overall value much less attractive.

Just a few months ago, BlackBerry seemed dedicated to going alone. Now, the company is surprisingly blunt about its willingness to consider a joint venture or selling the company. Why now? Well, the crucially important “value” model Q5 launched about six weeks ago in the UK and Africa, markets that used to be BlackBerry’s cornerstones just two years ago. The Q5 gained sudden importance after the high-end Q10 and Z10 phones put in disappointingly weak volume performances during the May quarter, driving BlackBerry’s U.S. market share down to just 1.1% according to one estimate.

The problem with the Q5 is that it is priced well above $400 (about N65,000). That is the dead zone of the current smartphone market where the $600-plus (about N96,000) niche belongs to Apple and Samsung and value buyers are migrating towards sub-$200 (about N33,000) phones. Funny enough, Windows keep garnering strength in this region with the ubiquitous advantage Nokia brings into the equation.

BlackBerry received early sales numbers from the Q5 by the end of July from its most important Western base in the UK and the key emerging markets like South Africa and Nigeria. It is quite likely that these early Q5 figures were so scary they pushed BlackBerry into the radical decision of publicly announcing it may need a buyer.

There is no sign of BlackBerry being close to launching a true budget device; the upcoming BlackBerry Z30 looks like high-priced white elephant and no other BlackBerry 10 phones are expected to launch this year.

So in August 2013, BlackBerry finds itself with a product portfolio of two luxury models and one expensive mid-market model — and with an imminent launch of a high-priced phablet. This is the moment when BlackBerry’s board of directors has finally realized the current pricing approach has placed the company on the road to ruin.

The problem is that even if somebody opts to buy BlackBerry, it would take until the end of 2014 to really implement a substantial product course correction. The good news is that the company has billions of loonies in cash and it will take a long time to burn through to the hoard. There is still time. There are fascinating potential combos out there: DellBerry, LenovoBerry, SonyBerry. All of them would combine two fading consumer electronics lines, but it’s true that the oddball Sony Ericsson melange came very close to actually succeeding in mid-nineties.

Enter Warren Buffet! This investment tycoon from Canada is emerging as one of the leading bidders for BlackBerry, as analysts point to the likelihood of a private equity buyout for the beleaguered smartphone maker. Prem Watsa, the boss of Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings, resigned from BlackBerry's board on Monday, just seven months after joining, and is now expected to try to orchestrate the company's stockmarket exit.

Having spent an estimated $880m (£570m) buying nearly 10% of BlackBerry's shares at an average price of $17, the 61-year-old is the company's largest shareholder and he is sitting on a potential $270m loss.

But the Indian-born chemical engineer has made his fortune from championing apparently lost causes, having left his home for Canada with $8 to his name. Fairfax was one of a small group of institutions that bought a 35% stake in Bank of Ireland from the Irish government during the height of the eurozone crisis, and has earned a positive return on its investment. Now Watsa is betting on a Greek recovery, declaring recently that "a bottom has been reached" in the decline of the European Union's most troubled economy.

He was an early skeptic on the US property market, predicting the sub-prime housing collapse years before it happened, and used the proceeds of that bet to invest in the shares well before their recent rebound.

Watsa's investment strategy means his firm's stockmarket value of $8.3bn is now greater than BlackBerry's, which has crashed from a pre-credit crunch height of $55bn to $6bn today.

Industry watchers think a sale to another handset maker or Technology Company is unlikely. Despite the company's determination to reinvent itself under chief executive Thorsten Heins, observers say a trade bid would have emerged by now if rivals were truly interested in the wake of the sidelining of founder Mike Lazaridis and his business partner Jim Balsillie 18 months ago.

Watsa's move is therefore being seen as the first tangible sign of a financial solution to BlackBerry's woes. "We believe Fairfax along with other Canadian pension funds and banks are considering taking BlackBerry private," said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies bank.

LazySuzy Takes Center Stage at IBC

Matthews Studio Equipment, manufacturer of specialized support for the entertainment industry announces that their “Black Diamond Award” (NAB 2013) winning LazySuzy, created by Montreal-based Gaffer Alex Amyot, will be a key player in MSE’s IBC 2013 lineup.

LazySuzy, which was first used on the hit Showtime series, Ray Donovan, is an articulated camera platform, that does what it was designed for – make shots move better, easier, faster and smoother.

“When Alex brought us the prototype of LazySuzy, we immediately realized the value for the camera operator,” says Robert Kulesh, V.P. of Advertising and Marketing at MSE. “When Tyler Phillips took it out on a test run, the camera crew quickly realized it would be a must-have for every kind of production.”

That’s because LazySuzy provides mobility through the use of an articulated double-swivel platform. It allows the user to place the camera anywhere within a 25” diameter circle without having to reposition the dolly, tripod, or car mount rig. The camera can be secured firmly for traveling shots, process trailers, or lock-off shots with a series of strategically placed tapped holes. It supports camera packages up to 70lbs (30kg).

Creator Alex Amyot says the thought behind LazySuzy’s simplicity came about because he “saw a need and went about finding a way to fill it. The reaction of our first camera crews to their hands-on experience showed me (and Matthews) we were on the right track. Not only has LazySuzy been recognized by the NAB awards panel, it is fast becoming the go-to support on productions around the world.”

LazySuzy is now available internationally through Matthews Studio Equipment authorized resellers. Suzy, and other Matthews Studio Equipment products, Technology That Complements Your Imagination, can be seen at Booth 11-G71, at IBC 2013 Amsterdam, September 12^th-17^th.

MSE is a 43-year-old manufacturer of industry-specialized hardware, camera and lighting support. Its equipment is being used on entertainment productions and in major studios in over 70 countries around the world. The company has been honored with the Presidential “E” Award for outstanding contributions to growing U.S. exports, strengthening the economy and creating American jobs. The MATTHEWS MAX MENACE ARM recently won designer Richard Mall an Academy Award©. MSE is the exclusive distributor of the FLOATCAM products throughout Asia and the Americas.

Airtel, FirstBank Nigeria partner for FirstMonie Payment Solution

Airtel Nigeria has gone into a partnership with First Bank Nigeria Plc to offer consumers a new mobile payment solution called Firstmonie Talkmore. The strategic partnership, which was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last week in Lagos, makes it possible for Firstmonie Talkmore to run essentially on Airtel platform to make mobile payment services easy and accessible to a broader spectrum of Nigerians.

The partnership is the first major collaboration between leading operators in the nation’s banking and telecoms industries to provide a first class mobile payment solution to Nigeria.

Specifically, subscribers on Airtel network who sign up to Firstmonie will be able to send and receive money, buy airtime, pay bills and carry out other forms of transaction on their mobile phones without operating a bank account. In addition, any duly registered subscriber on the Airtel network who signs on to Firstmonie will automatically receive N100 e-value and will be eligible for N240 bonus airtime.

Speaking on the special offering, the Director Regulatory Affairs and Special Projects, Mr. Osondu Nwokoro observed that Firstmonie could not have been better timed in view of the current drive by the Central Bank of Nigeria to entrench a cashless economy in the country.

“As pioneers in the GSM sector and leaders of innovation in the industry, we have no doubt that Firstmonie will definitely revolutionize the mobile payment industry and further endear the Airtel brand to the Nigerian people,” said Nwokoro.

According to Nwokoro, Airtel has been a leading driver of innovative mobile payment solutions across Africa having singularly planted Mobile Money platforms in 16 countries across the continent.

“It is this experience and expertise that we are bringing to bear on Firstmonie in the hope that it will deepen customer loyalty for Airtel and stimulate customer acquisition for FirstBank. We also have no doubt that our prospective subscribers now have one more reason to join Airtel while those who are dissatisfied with the service they receive from their current network providers have just been given the perfect reason to port to Airtel, the network that works,” he continued.

Also speaking on the offering, Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney observed that the product which facilitates the integration of both the un-banked and under-banked population into the financial system also offers an excellent medium for Airtel subscribers to send funds securely to their families and friends across the country.

“Firstmonie offer is open to subscribers of the Airtel network across the nation and registration is initiated by dialing *894# on any basic mobile phone or by logging on to https://www.firstmonie.com/iweb or https://www.firstmonie.com/imobile,” she said.

Ericsson set to acquire leading media services company Red Bee Media

Ericsson, the world-leading provider of communications technology and services, has announced its intention to acquire Red Bee Media, a world-leading media services company headquartered in the UK, from an entity controlled by Macquarie Advanced Investment Partners, L.P.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, supports Ericsson's strategy to grow in the broadcast services market and takes advantage of its technology and services leadership to help broadcasters and content owners address the convergence of video and mobility. It will bring 1,500 highly-skilled employees, as well as media services and operations facilities in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia. This will further strengthen Ericsson's broadcast services business, which was started in 2007 and expanded in 2012 with the acquisition of Technicolor's Broadcast Services Division.

With 1,240 of Red Bee Media employees being based in the UK, Ericsson's UK business would grow to around 4,000 employees and with more than one-third working in the media services business, the UK will become a global media hub for Ericsson.

Since its foundation in 2005, Red Bee Media has established itself as a strong and diverse business with a growing number of customers around the world. It provides a range of media services; from media asset management to playout and digital video publishing, metadata services, multilingual access services and creative services to major broadcasters and broadband platforms. Red Bee Media, which is known for its high quality playout services, is also the largest editorial metadata provider in Europe, delivers more than 100,000 hours of subtitling per year for leading broadcasters.

The Television and Media industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation driven by consumers' appetite for rich, interactive, anytime, anywhere entertainment. The confluence of communications, broadband and media technologies and the use of IP and mobile networks to generate and deliver such experiences is creating new opportunities in the ecosystem.

New services are expanding and re-defining the way consumers experience entertainment, placing new economic and creativity demands on businesses - whether they be broadcasters, telcos or other media companies - worldwide. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report June 2013 release, video is the single biggest contributor to traffic in mobile networks and this is expected to grow 60 percent annually until the end of 2018.

"Ericsson is making a step change to our business, cementing our commitment to TV and broadcast services and continuing a journey we started in 2007," says Magnus Mandersson, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Unit Global Services, Ericsson. "We can create value for broadcasters by making digital content more accessible, enabling monetization of TV content more efficiently. Video traffic shows very strong uptake in the mobile networks and Ericsson can address the need of both broadcasters and telecom operators through our technology expertise and services capabilities."

Ericsson's core capabilities in hardware, software, systems integration and management/operations services have been deployed worldwide in the communications and broadband businesses to create success for many players. Ericsson provides innovative technology solutions for content acquisition, exchange, distribution, delivery and the provisioning of multi-screen entertainment experiences based on a 20-year, Emmy award winning heritage in media research and development.

Ericsson's broadcast services expertise makes use of its industry leading position in managed services and serves leading regional and global broadcasters to bring enhanced efficiency into their business operations - being it live or thematic content.

Serving one billion subscribers worldwide, Ericsson is the leading provider of managed services for telecom operator networks. It has invested in processes, methods and tools in this segment for more than 15 years. In recent years, Ericsson has expanded this successful business model to other industries, such as utilities, transportation and the TV industry.

The closing of the acquisition is subject to approval from relevant regulatory authorities and other contractual conditions. After completion, Red Bee Media will be incorporated into Ericsson's Business Unit Global Services.

Red Bee Media is one of the world's leading media services companies. Working with broadcasters, content owners, platform operators and brands, the company blends technology and creative expertise to provide a range of services; from playout, multi-platform media management and distribution through to access services, metadata, content discovery, companion applications, content marketing and brand consultancy.

IDC names SAP Mobile Market Leader for 12th Consecutive Year for mobile enterprise management enterprise software market

SAP AG has announced that leading IT market research advisory firm IDC is again recognizing SAP as the market share leader based on 2012 revenue in mobile enterprise management (MEM) enterprise software market. SAP has been recognized as a leader for the 12th consecutive year in the "Worldwide Mobile Enterprise Management Software 2012 – 2016 Forecast and Analysis and 2012 Vendor Shares" report with the SAP® Mobile Secure portfolio. Based on continued mobile customer adoption, SAP holds the largest market share with a 14 percent share of the market.

"We believe the MEM market is evolving toward a platform approach that integrates best in class mobile security and management capabilities," said Stacy Crook, program manager, mobile enterprise research, IDC. "Leading vendors are offering partners and customers extensive capabilities to build management and security into mobile apps."

With the constant introduction of new devices into the workplace, the variety of mobile operating systems and the influx of employees bringing in their own devices and apps, enterprise-level security is top-of-mind for companies large and small. The SAP Mobile Secure portfolio addresses the changing needs of this market, which helps ensure customers obtain the best-in-class capabilities they need coupled with comprehensive security of the device, apps and content for today's most popular mobile devices, including iOS, Windows and Android devices.

"The first wave of the mobile enterprise was around securing devices, now it's all about securing apps and content, and eventually machine-to-machine and the 'Internet of Things,'" said Sanjay Poonen, president and head of Mobile, SAP. "Our new offering, SAP Mobile Secure, is leading the way in the enterprise mobility market.

We help companies manage their mobile deployments – devices, apps and content. We now have industry-leading solutions for each market segment of enterprise mobility — mobile security, mobile analytics, mobile app platform, mobile apps and messaging infrastructure — offering the broadest portfolio to address the needs of customers and partners."  Some of the aspects of this solution includes -

Device security and app management: The highly scalable SAP® Afaria® mobile device management solution manages and secures deployments of mobile devices and apps for any size company, in the cloud or on premise.

App security and management: SAP helps secure and manages applications through its entire lifecycle. SAP® Afaria® and SAP® Mobile App Protection solution by Mocana helps organizations accelerate mobile initiatives by automating app security. App-wrapping technology enables enterprises to quickly secure existing corporate and third-party applications without having to write any code.

Content security: The SAP® Mobile Documents solution is designed for enterprise deployments where collaboration, security and control of business content are critical. Users can access, view and collaborate on personal and corporate content in an easy-to-use, native mobile app that also serves as a graphical user interface (GUI) front end to enterprise content management (ECM) systems already in use in the enterprise.

Playstation®4 Design and Price Unveiled For U.S., Europe

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., has announced that the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) (CUH-1000A series) computer entertainment system will come in “Jet Black” color and will be available this holiday season in North America and Europe at a recommended retail price of US$399, Canada $399, €399, and £349. The prices for the rest of the world has not yet been made available.

The design of PS4 made its public debut at the PlayStation® press conference on June 10, 2013, which kicked off the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. PS4 will also be displayed this week at the Sony Computer Entertainment America booth at E3, one of the world's largest video game exhibitions.

The internal design architecture of the PS4 system, from the optical drive and power supply unit to the cooling mechanism, has been pursued to keep the body as slim and light as possible to dramatically enhance the flexibility of the design.

The PS4 features a simple but modern design accentuated by its linear flat form factors. The surface of the PS4 body is subdivided into four sections, as if four blocks are stacked together making one figure, with disc slot, buttons, power indicator and vent placed within the slim interspace created between the sections. The power indicator designed atop the body will glow in a PlayStation blue color when the power button is turned on. 

The foreside and backside of the body is slightly angled; it not only gives users easy access to the power button and disc slot when placed either horizontally or vertically but also helps conceal the connected cables. The black-themed color along with the matte and gloss finish adds a sophisticated look to the PS4 system as the next generation entertainment system and will fit perfectly wherever it is placed.

PS4 peripherals include the stand-alone Wireless Controller for PlayStation®4 (DUALSHOCK®4) and PlayStation®Camera, which will be available at launch for RRP of US$ 59, Canada$ 59, € 59 and £ 54, and US$ 59, Canada$ 59, € 49 and £ 44 respectively. Both accessories will come in “Jet Black” color.

The upcoming software lineup for PS4 from software developers and publishers will include Destiny™ from Bungie, Inc., in partnership with Activision Publishers, Inc., Diablo® III from Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., KINGDOM HEARTS III and FINAL FANTASY® XV from SQUARE ENIX, Assassin’s Creed® IV Black Flag™ and Watch_Dogs™ from Ubisoft Entertainment, NBA® 2K14 from 2K Sports, The Elder Scrolls® Online from Bethesda Games Studios and Mad Max ™ from Warner Bros. 

Interactive Entertainment, totaling more than 110　titles. PS4 has earned great support from a wide variety of game publishers, including many indie developers. Since February 2013, the number of developers joining has increased from 126 to 505.

Furthermore, from SCE Worldwide Studios, more than 30 titles, including 12 brand new IP, are under development, including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack, inFAMOUS: Second Son, #DRIVECLUB and The Order: 1886.*1 Out of over the 30 titles under development, 20 titles will be available within a year from the PS4 launch. SCE will vigorously promote PS4 towards the launch as the next generation computer entertainment platform through further introduction of peripherals and attractive software lineup.