AT&T and Napster recently announced a new offer that gives customers free unlimited access for one year to more than 3 million song tracks through Napster To Go®—a $180 value—allowing consumers to customize playlists on their PC and seamlessly transfer favorite tunes to compatible wireless phones and music devices. This move further blurs the line between communications and entertainment as well as wireless and wireline services.

Available beginning Sunday, April 1, across the company's nationwide wireless footprint with qualifying plans—as well as across the company's entire 22-state traditional service footprint with qualifying wireless, home phone and AT&T Yahoo! high-speed Internet plans—the offer enables consumers to conveniently access their favorite songs across multiple screens, including the PC, the wireless screen and other compatible music devices.

"By tying Napster To Go to AT&T's robust communications network, we're turning up the volume nationwide on both consumer value and added convenience," said Rick Welday, chief marketing officer of AT&T Consumer. "Merging communications with entertainment—in this case, linking Napster To Go's rich library of music to our wireless and broadband services—again shows that we are committed to delivering enhanced content across key screens both at home and on the go."

For more details, check out the Napster press release AT&T Wireless and Broadband Subscribers to Benefit From One Year of Free, Unlimited Music With Napster To Go.

Cox Communications has earned a coveted spot on The 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list.

"Cox Communications is much different from the average corporation; it is a true champion of diversity," notes Luke Visconti, partner and cofounder of DiversityInc, a monthly business magazine and daily Web site. "A total of 317 companies competed for a spot, a 100 percent increase in corporate participation in the Top 50 competition over the last three years."

"We are delighted that DiversityInc has recognized Cox as a top company for diversity for the second consecutive year," said Pat Esser, President. "At Cox, diversity is a critical part of our culture, values and operations. It is truly a business priority throughout the company, including the areas of recruitment, hiring and employee development, supplier outreach, community support, and the products and services we offer our customers." Cox moved up to No. 25 on the 2007 list, from No. 32 last year, and also ranked as the No. 8 company for African Americans.

Now in its seventh year, The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list is the largest competition of its kind. The list is determined solely from a comprehensive survey of diversity management that measures CEO Commitment, Human Capital, Corporate Communications and Supplier Diversity.

The Top 50 list was unveiled during a live video Webcast earlier this month. To see the webcast and the complete list of Top 50 winners, visit www.DiversityInc.com/top50.

In response to recent speculation, AT&T and Yahoo! released a statement to assure customers that their partnership is solid and, as a result, AT&T Yahoo! high-speed Internet service will continue to grow.

"Great partnerships must continuously work together to adapt to changing market conditions and changing strategies," said Randall L. Stephenson, AT&T Chief Operating Officer. "We consider our partnership with Yahoo! a great partnership and want to continue building on our complementary skills and expertise."

Terry Semel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo! went on to say: "Our landmark, strategic partnership set the standard and has given Yahoo! and AT&T the opportunity to create truly innovative offerings for consumers and advertisers. AT&T and Yahoo! have already made adjustments over the years to reflect competitive conditions and the relative benefits each party brings to the relationship. As we continue our conversations, we have a common goal to increase the economic benefits for both parties."

For more information, check out the Yahoo! press release.

According to a recent Reuters article, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission took a step to address a growing debate on whether high-speed Internet providers like AT&T and Comcast should be barred from charging extra fees to guarantee access to the Internet.

The article reports that the five commissioners backed a proposal yesterday to start a "notice of inquiry" regarding broadband industry practices.

Net neutrality, the concept of broadband providers treating all Internet content in the same way, has been the subject of much debate among lawmakers. Their main concern is that if broadband providers charge extra fees for more reliable service, that they would also be able to block access to the Internet—a contention that broadband providers say is untrue.

For more information, check out the full Reuters article FCC to Examine Future of Internet Access.

TiVo and EarthLink recently announced an agreement to offer bundled Internet and television services, through the stand-alone TiVo® Series2™ Dual Tuner (DT) DVR and TiVo® service and EarthLink branded dial-up, DSL, or digital voice services.

The agreement brings together two companies with a passion for delivering high value services in a simple, safe package for consumers. EarthLink has a reputation for greatly simplifying the broadband experience while TiVo is known for providing television viewers the best way to watch television by making it both simple and easy. Together, EarthLink and TiVo can provide a unique bundle that further enhances EarthLink's DSL data services with TiVo's innovative broadband video offerings, including the recently announced Amazon Unbox on TiVo. Subscribers can also receive the traditional features for which TiVo has become known, including Season Pass™ recordings, WishList® searches, online scheduling, TiVo KidZone, TiVoToGo transfers, and TiVo's easy-to-use online services, all of which extend EarthLink's delivery of safe, easy-to-use services into the living room.

"TiVo delivers an unmatched DVR experience, bringing all sources of video—broadcast, cable, broadband—together into a seamless interface for the consumer," said Naveen Chopra, Vice President Corporate Development at TiVo. "We are excited to team up with EarthLink and believe that together we can deliver a powerful combination of the TiVo Service and broadband to consumer living rooms."

"EarthLink is pleased to offer our customers the opportunity to enhance their online and television experience through the TiVo service," said Gary Sonnier, Vice President of Consumer Access Products at EarthLink. "This combined offering not only provides customers the simplicity and value of a bundle, but also provides seamless access to the growing portfolio of content and services that are being delivered via the Internet, directly to the living room."

EarthLink says that it will begin marketing the bundle later this year. In the future, the companies could utilize TiVoCast to deliver additional content via broadband to EarthLink subscribers who use the TiVo service. Specific pricing and financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

RCN announced that it has launched RCN Journal on its portal as a free service to existing and prospective customers. The new service combines personal Web page publishing, essential blogging features and an online video subscription service in one interface.

"RCN is leading the way by providing their customers with a clearly differentiated broadband enabled solution," said Ted Briscoe, CEO of Vibe Solutions Group. "With RCN Journal, users can create their own personal Web presence in seconds, absolutely free. They can also aggregate and personalize thousands of online video titles into their own channel viewing experience."

Journal is part personal Web page and part video content aggregator. It allows consumers the ability to publish photos, video, audio or text with drag-and-drop technology. Journal combines this publishing experience with a video content aggregator, called My Channels, allowing consumers to watch, share, personalize and publish their own video channels, ranging from professional to user-submitted content.

For more information on this new service, check out the RCN press release.

HughesNet parent company Hughes Network Systems recently announced that it has awarded a launch services contract to Arianespace for the launch of its next-generation SPACEWAY™ 3 satellite. The Ariane 5 heavy launcher will launch SPACEWAY 3 into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch date is projected for August 2007.

The SPACEWAY 3 satellite is the first in the world to switch and route broadband traffic on board, enabling single-hop communications between satellite terminals, eliminating the requirement for traffic to be routed through a central hub earth station. The SPACEWAY 3 satellite's advanced antenna technology allows the dynamic formation and shaping of spot beams, enabling the flexible management of capacity and delivery of true bandwidth-on-demand services. The SPACEWAY 3 satellite will operate in the globally assigned Ka-band spectrum and will deliver a wide range of new high-speed communications services for IP data and multimedia applications to North American enterprise, consumer, and government customers.

"This is a very exciting time for Hughes," said Pradman Kaul, chairman and CEO of Hughes. "With the launch of SPACEWAY 3, Hughes will enter a new era as a satellite system operator, augmenting our market leadership in delivering broadband satellite services worldwide. We are confident that Arianespace will provide a reliable launch service and eagerly anticipate providing new, value-added solutions to our customers in the coming months."

"Arianespace considers it a great honor to have been selected by the world's largest satellite broadband company, Hughes, to place the SPACEWAY 3 satellite into orbit," said Arianespace CEO, Jean-Yves Le Gall. "Arianespace's SPACEWAY 3 mission for Hughes will launch robust new broadband communications services delivered via satellite across North America."

For more information, check out the press release.

Bay Area residents are spending more time online and the majority are now using high-speed DSL to do so, according to results of the 2007 Bay Area Council Poll of 600 residents released recently.

In 1999, the average number of hours residents estimated they spent online per week was 11 hours, but that estimate has steadily increased to 16 hours in 2007. San Francisco residents spend the most time online, averaging 18 hours a week, and North Bay residents of Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano spend 13 hours online each week, the least amount in the region.

Residents have also been trading up on their connection speeds in their homes, outpacing the rest of the United States. Just five years ago, in 2002, 53 percent of residents with Internet access logged onto with a regular modem, but today modems are used by a mere 11 percent of residents. Instead, the majority (55 percent) now use high-speed DSL, and about another third (29 percent) log on with high-speed cable at their home. The Bay Area, as a region, is far ahead of the rest of the country in broadband access, with a 62 percent adoption rate, versus 42 percent of the total U.S. population in 2006 according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

While hours online and connection speeds have increased, the number of residents who use a personal computer has stayed relatively flat. In 1999, 79 percent or respondents used a PC either at home, work or at school, and today 81 percent report that they do.

The "Digital Divide" was apparent in the Bay Area Council Poll results. While 97 percent of those with an income greater than $80,000 regularly use a computer, only 62 percent of respondents with an income lower than $40,000 use a PC. Likewise, 95 percent of residents in the top income bracket access the Internet, but only 52 percent of those with an income less than $40,000 do so.

For more information, check out the Bay Area Council press release.

Verizon FiOS TV and consumer broadband customers will soon have easy access to premium user-generated video content from Revver, a marketplace for viral videos. Revver content will launch on Verizon's Surround broadband entertainment portal by the end of the first quarter and on FiOS TV later this year, and it will be free to Verizon FiOS TV and broadband subscribers.

Verizon customers will now be able to stream premium Revver videos whether they're in their living rooms, on their computers or on the go. Through a separate agreement, Verizon Wireless already makes Revver videos available to Verizon Wireless customers with V CAST-enabled handsets.

"We're joining with Revver to bring the user-generated video phenomenon to the TV set," said Marilyn O'Connell, Verizon senior vice president of video solutions. "Backed by Verizon's technology, we'll make it easy for our FiOS TV and broadband customers to enjoy the best of the cutting-edge videos that Revver is known for. This is just another way that FiOS continues to distinguish itself from old-fashioned TV."

Verizon FiOS TV and broadband subscribers, including both FiOS Internet and Verizon High Speed Internet customers, will have access to some of the best content from a variety of Revver's video creators. The content will be chosen from categories on Revver.com such as Editor's Picks, Viral Video Classics, Extreme Sports, Laughs, Animation and Cute Overdose. Revver will provide the best user-generated video clips daily to Verizon.

In addition, when users access other videos of interest on Verizon's Surround broadband entertainment portal, they will be presented with related content from Revver. For example, when a customer browses through movie downloads, the service will display Revver videos that relate to those movies. Similarly, someone watching sports, accessing games or listening to music will see Revver videos related to that content.

For more information, check out the press release Verizon to Offer Revver User-Generated Content on FiOS TV and Consumer Broadband Services.

LivePerson Inc. recently announced that EarthLink has launched what they are calling the industry's first proactive live chat capability developed exclusively for customer service on the company's Web site.

Powered by LivePerson's Timpani™ platform, EarthLink can now identify and engage site visitors most likely to abandon self-help or call for assistance and proactively offer an immediate, live, text-based chat with a customer support expert. By proactively offering live chat assistance to customers, EarthLink increased agent productivity by 14 percent during the initial implementation and realized customer satisfaction levels seven percent higher than similar service channels.

"EarthLink is always looking for ways to raise the bar in customer service," said David Flammia, EarthLink's director of call center strategy. "We're taking online customer service to the next level by identifying the customers most likely to need help and enabling them to resolve their issues before they pick up the phone or send an e-mail."

"More and more companies are realizing the benefits of leveraging real-time customer service as a strategic differentiator, particularly within the telecommunications industry," said LivePerson CEO Robert LoCascio. "Proactive chat will make EarthLink's already best-in-class customer service more accessible than ever before and position them well for increased customer loyalty and growth."

For more information, see the press release EarthLink Introduces Next Generation of Proactive Customer Service.

As people continue to use broadband high-speed Internet to connect to their favorite entertainment choices, the opportunities for advertisers to find an audience, and a new place to spend their money, increase as well. According to a recently released report by Adams Media Research's (AMR) new strategic analysis, by 2011, advertiser spending on Internet video streams to PCs and TVs will approach $1.7 billion, but movie and TV downloads will generate consumer spending of $4.1 billion.

AMR's Video on the Internet: Ad-Supported Streaming and Download-to-Own examines advertising and download spending on film, TV, and other forms of Internet-based video content, including music videos, sports and informational videos, and user-generated content—providing insight into the trends affecting growth in the market and forecast data for the five years from 2006-2011.

"The Internet is going to revolutionize the business of video distribution," said AMR president Tom Adams, "But in all the excitement about product launches by Wal-Mart, Amazon and Apple, people are getting giddy about how fast it will happen. We felt it was time to develop a rational set of projections, analyzing the ad-supported and download-to-own markets for both movies and TV shows in light of what the industry has learned in the past three decades of video distribution shifts."

AMR's analysis points to a period of experimentation 2007-2009, during which the ad-supported model will predominate. But as significant numbers of homes connect their TVs to the Internet, consumer spending on downloaded movies and TV shows should expand rapidly and exceed ad spending substantially by 2011.

Read more in the AMR press release.

Frost & Sullivan selected Hughes Network Systems as the recipient of the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award in the space and communications market. This Award lauds its introduction of the HughesNet brand, which integrates the best of both satellite and terrestrial technologies for all of Hughes' broadband solutions to each of its customer segments.

Hughes invented the very small aperture terminal (VSAT), pioneered the commercialization of the satellite industry, and has made the shift to HughesNet, which has made it a full communications service provider rather than a provider of merely satellite-based solutions. It enables its customers to maximize the benefits of multiple broadband solutions by providing both terrestrial and satellite technologies.

There is a growing trend among both small and large networks to use hybrid technologies, depending on the individual application and location. Through HughesNet, customers can build and manage their complete network through a single service provider.

"This provides Hughes with a significant advantage over more traditional satellite providers that compel customers to deal with multiple Internet service providers (ISPs) or commit to a completely satellite-based network," says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Tim Street. "With increased competition between VSAT providers and terrestrial ISPs, Hughes cleverly transitioned to a full managed services provider, HughesNet."

Hughes has organized its HughesNet enterprise and government offerings around three main services: HughesNet managed network services, HughesNet digital media services, and HughesNet enhanced services. HughesNet now provides consumers with services such as customized start pages, domain hosting, personalized Web addresses, blogging, and advanced hosting along with broadband Internet access.

Globally, Hughes's transition to HughesNet has allowed it to add enormous value to both existing and potential customers by helping them to optimally use the potential of different broadband technologies. In addition, Hughes also holds an advantage over competitive providers (both terrestrial and satellite) that only offer single technology solutions.

"The growing trend of hybrid networks is only expected to become more popular as different technologies are employed for niche applications, especially among large corporate and franchise networks," notes Street. "Hughes is perfectly situated to take advantage of this growing trend and continues to be a leader in the satellite community."

For more information, see the Hughes press release.

Daylight savings is fast approaching and sooner than ever. This year, we spring forward on March 11, three weeks earlier than usual, in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005. While this may be a way to conserve energy, it can cause havoc with your computer if you are not prepared.

If the computer you are currently using in your home was programmed before 2005, when the change was passed into law, your system will not update automatically on the new date. That could lead problems like calendar applications not working properly and important automated processes not taking place on time.

The best way to prepare is go directly to the source to find out what you need to do to set your computer to the new Daylight Savings schedule.

If your computer runs Microsoft Windows, you can visit Microsoft's Preparing for Daylight Saving Time changes in 2007. The site can help you determine if your computer will be affected and the steps you can take to update it.

Apple has created a similar site to answer questions for Mac OS X users.

For more information, check out the Information Week article Microsoft Issues Warning On Daylight-Saving Time Software Flaw.