Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, May 4-7, 2009 Wednesday, May 6th 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM Track II: Television Platform: Content, Interactivity & Commerce The NexGen Entertainment Home Experience - From the Smart & Connected TV to the PVR, Set-Top & PC Experience The home entertainment experience is about one basic idea - to deliver more and varied media-rich content to the consumer - giving consumers what they want, when they want it. But the battle for this consumer sector is about to assert itself as a competition of technologies, more complicated than the older battle of the home PC vs. the TV. This is a world containing a new generation of TV sets, HD and games devices, wirelessly connected homes with connected PCs as well as a host of set-top box and DVR options. The next generation of home entertainment hardware, software and services will come into battle delivering HDTV, Internet, music, games, movies, plus innovative two-way communication and telephony services. This battle for the home will be a tremendous victory for both the consumer, the technology industries as well as for the entertainment industry. It presents the simple proposition that offering the consumer more and richer services in a competitive environment is the perfect formula for success. John Gildred, President, SyncTV Shane Guthrie, Multimedia Ecosystem Development, Alcatel-Lucent Alex Limberis, COO, Syabas Technology Tim Twerdahl, Vice President Consumer Products, Roku Avner Ronen, CEO and co-founder, boxee David Pederson, Vice President Corporate Marketing, Zoran Corporation Mark DePietro, VP, Video Access, Digital Video Solutions, Motorola, Inc. Michael Noonen, Senior Vice President responsible for Global Sales and Marketing, NXP Rick Doherty, co-founder and Director, The Envisioneering Group, Moderator David Pederson, Vice President Corporate Marketing, Zoran Corporation: Prior to joining Zoran in January 2003, he spent over seventeen years at National Semiconductor in various engineering, strategic marketing and management positions including Director Set Top Box product line. Mr. Pederson has over twenty-four years experience in the semiconductor industry including more than six years at Teledyne. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia. As a recognized expert in his field, he has been invited to deliver numerous talks on Digital Video, PVRs, Set top boxes, Digital Televisions, the Networked Entertainment Center and the Challenges to Creating a Connected Digital Home and Connected Consumer Products. Alex Limberis, COO, of Syabas Technology. Syabas is a leading provider of IP set top connected entertainment platforms. Syabas’s provides a rich software platform for the connected home entertainment environment and is best known as the maker of the award winning Popcorn Hourtm Networked Media Tank connected set top box. Other products that Syabas provides include the Syabas Media Services Portal and Saya TV live streaming P2P streaming technology platform. Mr. Limberis is a 20+ year veteran in data communications and media technologies. Prior to joining Syabas he was the Director of Wireless, Broadband and Consumer Electronics in Microsoft’s Digital Media Division where he drove Microsoft’s success in the ubiquitous adoption of Windows Media into the consumer electronics, wireless and broadband ecosystems including, Mobile, IPTV, MP3 players and music and video services such as Verizon, Tivo, Amazon and Netflix. He drove Microsoft to join the DVD Forum and then served on the DVD Forum steering committee which resulted in the adoption of Windows Media into the HD-DVD and Blu-ray standards. Mr. Limberis also served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Dolby Labs where he defined Dolby’s strategy to enter the networked entertainment ecosystems. Previously he was a VP at PMI (acquired by Microsoft), VP of Strategic Marketing at Aureal Semiconductor (acquired by Creative Labs), VP and GM at Korg (Yamaha), and a founder of Ensoniq (acquired by Creative Labs). Mr. Limberis holds several patents in the DSP and media fields. He was a BSEE major at Drexel University and holds an MBA from Santa Clara University. Tim Twerdahl, Vice President Consumer Products, Roku: Tim is a consumer electronics veteran, with a track-record of developing critically acclaimed and commercially successful products. Tim joined Roku from Netflix, Inc. where led Product Management for Netflix's Internet TV initiative. Prior to Netflix, Tim led at team at Motorola charged with developing future set-top box concepts and next-generation television user interfaces. Before indulging his passion for television, Tim spent a number of years developing handheld consumer electronics at Palm, Inc., where he led the development of the first m-series and Tungsten products, and Tapwave, Inc., where he created the Zodiac line of multimedia and gaming handhelds. Tim started his career at Time Warner in the magazine and Internet groups where he led the business team for TIME Digital and crafted the initial business plan for EntertainmentWeekly.com in the early days of the Internet. Tim earned his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and his bachelor's degree from Hamilton College. Tim holds nine patents for consumer electronics products. Avner Ronen, CEO & co-founder, boxee: Before starting boxee Mr. Ronen was the Head of Corporate Development and M&A for Comverse, Inc. a leading provider of software and service to Telecom service providers. Mr. Ronen was responsible for acquisitions valued at $450M, which were key to the company's evolution from a Voicemail company to a Billing and VAS provider. Mr. Ronen joined Comverse in 2002 when they acquired Odigo, a company he co-founded in 1998. Odigo was one of the early Instant Messaging services on the web serving over 8M users worldwide. Prior to Odigo Mr. Ronen served for 4.5 years in the Israeli Defense Force in the special computer unit, MAMRAM. Mark DePietro, VP, Video Access, Digital Video Solutions, Motorola, Inc.: Mark DePietro is Vice President of the Video Access segment of the Digital Video Solutions group within Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility business. The Video Access Business spans Conditional Access and Headend product lines. Mr DePietro serves on the Board of CCAD, a Motorola-Comcast joint venture. He also works closely with Motorola’s mergers & acquisitions group, as well as Motorola's venture capital organization. Mr DePietro joined General Instrument in 1994, which was acquired by Motorola in 2000. Since that time, Mr DePietro has held responsibility for a variety of product lines in the voice, video and data business segments. Mr DePietro has over 25 years of high-tech experience. Before joining General Instrument, Mr DePietro was a founder of Transdigital Communications, an aviation entertainment electronics company. Prior to that, he held engineering positions in the aerospace industry. Mr. DePietro holds a BSEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MSEE and EEE from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from Villanova University. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma, and is a director of the ReadyTrace Corporation. Michael Noonen is Senior Vice President responsible for Global Sales and Marketing at NXP. In this role, Michael leads NXP's worldwide sales & marketing teams, to strengthen market strategy, revenue growth and value creation from new and current customers. Michael will utilize over 20 years of experience in semiconductor and systems sales to drive NXP's global business development. Prior to joining NXP, Michael Noonen was senior vice president of worldwide marketing and sales at National Semiconductor. Before that, Michael was vice president of National's Interface, PC & Networking divisions. Previously, he has also served as the director of new markets and technologies at Cisco Systems, Inc. Michael began his career in the semiconductor industry as a field applications engineer for NCR Microelectronics. Michael graduated from Colorado State University after receiving a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He holds several patents in the areas of IP telephony and video communications. Rick Doherty, co-founder and Director, The Envisioneering Group: a two-decade old Seaford, NY Technology Assessment and Market Research Corporation. Before that, for thirteen years, Doherty was the Senior Technology Writer for Electronic Engineering Times, where he remains a guest columnist. Doherty is an electro-physicist who has garnered more than a dozen U.S. patents in computing, communications, medical electronics, high performance tooling and consumer electronics industry sectors along with dozens of international patents. During Doherty's 32 year career he has been Director of the Urban Vehicle Design Group at Pratt Institute, an engineer for Data General Corp., Chief Engineer of Lourdes Industries, Inc., founder and President of Optronic Labs and since 1983, co-founder and Director of The Envisioneering Group. There, he directs laboratory testing of technologies, products and services, oversees publication of the Envisioneering Newsletter, market research reports and provides senior executive counsel on market development and intellectual property protection, portfolio management and licensing opportunities. Doherty's prime focus is on researching and articulating the impact of advanced digital technologies, services, products, industry initiatives and standards efforts on consumers, industry and society. Doherty is a 31 year member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is active with its Biomedical Engineering, Solid State Circuits Society , Consumer Electronics Society, Broadcast Engineering, Magnetic Technology Society, Technology & Social Policy and other I.E.E.E. societies. This is his eleventh year as a planning director for the International Conference on Consumer Electronics. Doherty is also a member of the Society for Information Display, Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers and many other technology & professional business industry associations. In addition, Doherty has been a co-chair of, and presently sits on several cross industry standards associations and technical working groups, spanning consumer digital electronics, communications, digital media and computing architecture definition groups. He is called upon by the industry to organize and chair panels at trade conferences and technical symposia more than a dozen times each year. Amongst his many industry awards, Doherty has been cited by the International Television Association for his many years of technology coverage of digital video design and engineering trends, and is the writer most cited by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment for detailed features on the evolution of America's Digital TV system. Doherty also assisted Dr. Richard Feynman, NASA and Congressional researchers in the Shuttle Challenger accident investigation at the Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center and many NASA contractor sites. In 2003, Doherty was nominated to and accepted a multi-year position on the Presidential Medal of Technology Award Selection Committee, reporting to the White House and Department of Commerce. Acting as an independent resource on the impact of digital and internet technologies on the consumer, society and business, Doherty is quoted frequently for his opinions on new technologies by CNN, CNBC, Fox News and by numerous American and international industry trade and daily business publications, including the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Newsday and the San Jose Mercury News. Doherty is married and resides in Seaford, NY with his wife and two daughters.