Google Taps Harris Corporation For TV Ad Penetration....What Market Is Next?

Google is embedding their TV advertising software operating system/platform into the communications equipment Harris sells to business and government clients.

What other markets does Harris provides communication equipment for?

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Harris offers a complete portfolio of cost-effective digital technology solutions that enable broadcasters to easily and affordably transition from standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD) and all the way to 1080p broadcasting.

From Google's Traditional Media Site Google Announces Partnerhip With Harris Corporation

Today, Google has partnered with Harris Corporation to enable media companies to more easily make their inventory available to Google TV Ads advertisers through Harris' current traffic systems' inventory tools.

Harris Corporation is a worldwide leader in TV advertising traffic, scheduling and billing systems. This partnership will make it easier for our television inventory providers to manage their media sales through the Google TV Ads platform within the existing Harris system.

As advertisers upload their ads and bid the clearing price for your inventory, the spots are delivered from Google's system to the Harris traffic system where they follow the spot placement rules you've already set up. As spots are approved and aired the Harris service returns verification details to Google's system.

Each week, Google processes data from millions of anonymized set-top boxes (STBs), including which channels each STB was tuned to, second-by-second.

This data is provided by our partner, EchoStar. We're then able to provide advertisers with next-day reports of how many impressions were delivered to each ad airing, as well as tuning metrics, such as what percentage of the audience stayed tuned to their ad from beginning to end.

I can see this relationship expanding to the radio industry as well as the aviation broadband space.

What does this mean for Google and their IPTV penetration?

Google proposes TV monitoring

Google could partner with telcos and cable companies in their respective efforts to deliver next-generation interactive television using Internet-style networking. The only problem is that IPTV, as the marriage of television and broadband networking is called, belongs to Microsoft. Microsoft is the major vendor of software for IPTV network operators and it has plans to be the Google of IPTV.

Could this partnership change that?

Air Canada Adopts U.S. AirCell's In Flight Internet Service

Will airline passengers want a Prodigy, or true broadband for in-flight Internet?

From The Canadian Press: Air Canada will be offering some passengers the chance to surf the Internet, check e-mail and watch videos on their laptops or personal electronics devices on a limited basis on flights to the U.S. West Coast, starting next spring.

The Internet service is being provided to Air Canada under an agreement with U.S.-based Aircell, which also counts American and Delta airlines among its customers.Aircell's Gogo service provides broadband Internet service to aircraft from a network of cell towers based on the ground in the United States. As a result, flights over Canada won't be able to use Gogo until the network is expanded.

My take on AirCell's growth and the aviation broadband space in general.

As users start using AirCell’s service and the company has to share their limited bandwidth across several planes at once, we suspect that the connection will start to feel like old-fashioned “dialup,” and consumers will quickly voice their disappointment. Their solution can't scale.

Another aviation broadband service is just starting to get headlines.

Voyant Aviation Broadband can provide up to 35 Mbps to EACH aircraft in a full fleet. This compares to AirCell's 2 Mbps

Voyant offers 10 times the capacity of other terrestrial-based solutions at a similar cost. It’s also about 10 – 100 times cheaper on a per-bit basis than satellite-based systems.

Voyant has a partnership with Harris, and Harris is the largest supplier of communications equipment to the FAA. Harris’s software-defined radio works well with Voyant’s super-advanced modem technology.

Voyant promises biggest bandwidth yet.

“We aim to deliver 10-35Mbit/sec to every aircraft in the fleet, at a cost per bit at least ten times less than that of a satellite-based system,” Steffen Koehler, chief marketing officer of Voyant Aviation Broadband

The company has begun to generate evidence to back up its claims.

It says that in flight tests during July its pilot-production software-defined radio and production-standard modem supported data rates of up to 50Mbit/sec over a range of 100 miles between the aircraft and a ground station in Florida.

Voyant's Aviation Broadband service...cleared for takeoff.

American Airlines Kicks Off AirCell's In-Flight Internet Service

The "Prodigy" of aviation broadband service is taking off.


It's great that we are getting some type of Internet service on a plane. However, due to Aircell's limited bandwidth and scalability issues, I think we will see a much faster aviation broadband service leapfrog Aircell. We all know what happened to Prodigy.

From Reuters American Airlines kicks off in-flight Internet service.


AMR Corp's American Airlines began offering Internet access on long-haul domestic flights on Wednesday, making American the first U.S. airline to offer full in-flight broadband. The world's largest airline said its passengers on Boeing 767-200 aircraft can pay $12.95 for Internet access on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami.

American's mobile broadband service, which is called Gogo, is provided by AirCell. Each Gogo session includes full Internet access.

Why Prodigy?

There are approximately 2000 planes in air at any one time in US or Europe and Aircell couldn't accommodate even a fraction of these planes.

I would keep an eye out for Harris Corp and their recently introduced aviation broadband service.

Harris, which does a ton of business with the FAA, recently announced an Air-to-ground solution (ATG) that has 10xs the capacity at same or lower cost. In most cases they offer 10-50x more bandwidth, 5-100xs lower cost per bit, and speeds up to 35 Mbps.

More discussions on aviation broadband.

Walt Mossberg Reviews AirCell's InFlight GoGo Service

Wall Street Journal Walt Mossberg reviews AirCell's GoGo service.

Beginning this summer, as soon as next month, wireless Internet access will arrive in the passenger cabins of some commercial U.S. airliners.

On these Internet-equipped planes, any passenger with a Wi-Fi enabled laptop — or a cellphone with Wi-Fi — will be able to do almost everything he or she could do online at home or at the office. That includes surfing the Web, using email, having instant-messenger text chats, downloading and uploading files, and streaming video and audio.

A few Web functions will be offered free from Gogo, including access to the American Airlines Web site, to Frommer’s online travel guides and to a limited selection of articles from The Wall Street Journal.

What other companies should subsidize free Web functions?

On my test flight, download speeds varied from 266 kilobits per second to about 1.4 megabits per second, with the most typical speeds hovering between 500 and 600 kbps. Upload speeds were between 250 and 300 kbps.

Speeds could degrade on a large plane with scores of people online simultaneously.

While AirCell is making all of the aviation broadband headlines, Harris Corp recently announced an Air-to-ground solution (ATG) that has 10xs the capacity at same or lower cost. In most cases they offer 10-50x more bandwidth and 5-100xs lower cost per bit.

Aircell gets Internet access to the planes through a network of 92 towers scattered across North America. These essentially are cellphone towers, carrying a high-speed cellphone data signal, except that the Aircell antennas point up, into the sky. A receiver on the underside of the aircraft picks up the signal, which is then distributed through the plane via Wi-Fi.

AirCell has a few obstacles to overcome:

Limited bandwidth, scalability issues and I'm not sure AirCell's service can be used in Europe or Asia.

In Europe, Lufthansa has announced that with the help of T-Mobile it will be reinstating its broadband service (formerly from Connexion) to its long-haul flights by 2008.

Europe seems to be giving voice the nod as an in-flight service, and more bandwidth will be required. The health of US airlines is also a concern. I would keep an eye on the other aviation broadband players.

Look for a high-speed aviation broadband service to get traction in Europe first.


More Aviation Broadband ponderings.

WiFi In Sky Means Big Bucks For Airlines

How do airlines combat the rising cost of fuel?

Today they are starting to charge for checked in luggage, but soon they will become the internet service provider in the sky.

From ABC News WiFI In Sky Means Big Bucks For Airlines

-the effort's gaining momentum with at least four airlines planning to roll out in-flight internet access before long, and research suggests it could be a cash cow.

Multimedia Intelligence says sales of in-flight digital broadband likely will exceed $1 billion by 2012

Two technologies have emerged so far, and with that kind of money to be made, several players are jockeying for position in what promises to be a big game.

Air-to-ground (ATG) uses frequencies to transmit signals from ground stations to aircraft in something of a WiFi in the sky. It uses existing infrastructure -- cell towers -- and so is relatively cheap to set up, but at 3-Mbps (buffering... buffering...) throughput per plane, the connections are slow.
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That could soon change. (my take)

Harris Corp, a large communications equipment supplier to the FAA, just announced their aviation broadband solution with speeds up to 35 Mbps per plane at this aviation conference

This is an Air-to-ground solution (ATG) is able to offer 10xs the capacity at same or lower cost. In most cases they offer 10-50x more bandwidth and 5-100xs lower cost per bit.
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Satellite systems transmit signals using a data transceiver/router, satellite antenna, and 802.11b access points. The big advantage over ATG is its availability -- it works anywhere, including over water -- and it is considered by some to be more robust with a data rate of about 30 Mbps per plane (think low-end DSL). But it costs more for airlines to set up, which is a big consideration for an industry that's hemorrhaging cash.

The Illinois firm Aircell will outfit American Airlines' transcontinental 767 fleet with its air-to-ground product, and Virgin Atlantic has signed on as well.

Southwest is testing a satellite system by the California company Row 44 , and Alaska Airlines is looking at it, too.

JetBlue just announced it's pumping up its LiveTV operation by buying Verizon's Airfone network.

After years of looking for a buyer, Verizon Communications Inc on Monday agreed to sell its Airfone in-flight telephone service to LiveTV LLC

On the international side, Lufthansa has teamed up with T-Mobile, satellite operator SES Global and signal processing equipment maker ViaSat to offer a satellite based service.

There are approximately 2000 planes in air at any one time in US or Europe and the leading player can't accommodate even a fraction of these planes.

Dana Waldman, chief executive officer of Voyant International commented in the aviation broadband release, “Harris’ state-of-the art technology and support will allow us to offer our airline customers the high broadband capacity and excellent service they require.”

More ponderings on Aviation Broadband

Aviation Broadband Ready For Takeoff In The U.S.

Aircell one step closer to its goal of bringing inflight mobile broadband connectivity to airline passengers. Aircell is doing a great job of building the infrastructure for the aviation broadband industry, but will it be enough?

Aircell's internet service is expected to offer 2 Mbps speeds to customers.

Harris Corp, a large communications equipment supplier to the FAA, just announced their aviation broadband solution with speeds up to 35 Mbps per plane at this aviation conference.

Is Aircell doing the heavy lifting for Harris?

Aircell Receives Two FAA Approvals Needed for Inflight Mobile Broadband

The two approvals include a STC (supplemental type certificate), permitting installation and operation of the company's ATG (air-to-ground) network on commercially operated B-767-200s, and a PMA (parts manufacture approval) that authorizes the manufacture of aircraft parts at Aircell's Bensenville, Illinois, facility.

The important approvals follow Aircell's completion of its nationwide wireless ATG network in January and a demonstration flight across the U.S. at the end of March to show its operational readiness.

Aircell and American Airlines completed the installation of ATG technology on a commercial aircraft in January, and American is now completing the equipment installations on its remaining 14 B-767s which are expected to go live sometime this summer.

This high-speed broadband Internet service is made possible by AirCell's unique air-to-ground network, which uses the latest technology to transmit and receive data between the ground and the aircraft. Speeds will be similar to what you experience in your home or office with DSL.

More on aviation broadband.

The Next Generation Internet Holding Company

Our goal is finding major transformations and disruptive technologies which lead us to the next great investment.

Last year Visionary Innovations discovered a company that developed a revolutionary way to use radio frequency for medical procedures (surgeries)....disruptive technology for multi-billion dollar markets.

Based on our success with Intuitive Surgical and their revolutionary technology, we saw this same potential with this medical technology.

CSMG Technologies (OTC:BB CTUM) and their Live Tissue Connect, have a revolutionary device and patented methodology that allow surgeons to use radio frequency as a faster (under one minute), tighter, virtually bloodless, smokeless (sterile OR) wound seal that doesn’t burn or kill tissue, virtually leaving no scar in 60 days.

This disruptive technology is revolutionizing surgery because it eliminates the need for sutures, staples, glues and sealants.

Live Tissue Connect uses patented radio wave technology to bond and reconnect living soft biological tissue.

We published our report on this scar-less surgery last summer and called it the Next Intuitive Surgical

Wall Street is now starting to recognize this enormous opportunity for this microcap company.

Always on the lookout for disruptive technologies and the next great investment, we think found another.

We Found A Unique Opportunity


Very rarely, if ever, do we find a way to invest in breakthrough state-of-the-art technology, along side with some of the smartest investors in Silicon Valley, at a fraction of the cost, in a publicly traded vehicle, run by execs with billion dollar track records AND on the verge of generating revenues for various new and existing multi-billion dollar markets.



Pondering Primate readers are familiar with some "daily disruptions" I have discussed and how they will create multi-billion dollar opportunities.

Some of the biggest disruptions and opportunities include:

1. Offering Internet Access To Millions With Aviation Broadband

What company will offer "true broadband" to millions of new Internet users? Not only a broadband Internet provider, but a "true broadband" content deliverer too.

2. Comcast Throttles BitTorrent Traffic

Could there be a bigger Dot-Com IPO than BitTorrent?

3. WAN Optimization Software In Big Demand

Companies want to fully utilize their broadband connection. There is a huge demand for network intelligence "middleware" or WAN optimization software. A WAN acceleration space disruptor? Software than sends data cross-country and gets speeds up to 200 Mbps.

4. The Next Big Thing..Video On The Internet

One word...YouTube. Who can provide a high fidelity solution for YouTube?

5. The Boom For Bandwidth Efficiency

"MiddleWare" that allows the Internet to fill up the pipes. The bigger the pipes, the more it helps..especially on long pipes.

6. Bandwidth, What Is It Good For, Absolutely Everything

Quoting Om Malik "While Web 2.0 companies may get acquired by Google (or Yahoo), specialized software start-ups with products that enhance hardware will find buyers more often. Expect this trend to continue, and in fact gain momentum"

The ability to send/receive/stream high def data, without changing the network, is becoming of great value to the hardware companies, video sites, e-commerce sites and service providers. This is a multi-billion dollar opportunity.

Visionary Innovations found a company run by seasoned Silicon Valley executives, with a portfolio of disruptive technology, hidden from Wall Street, that provide solutions for all of these problems.

Technology developed by U.S. Government and top VCs unlocks the “Next Generation of the Net”



We think we found The Next Generation Internet Holding Company (research report)

Let us know your thoughts.

Chinese Airline Offers InFlight Mobile Service

China's Shenzhen Airlines has fitted its planes with communications technology that will allow passengers to use their mobile phones to make voice calls and send e-mail and SMS messages during flights.

The satellite based technology, developed by Airbus and Sita joint venture OnAir, will allow passengers to make in-flight mobile calls and send text messages on short-haul flights.

In a sign of changing times, the "No mobile" signs are to replace the outdated "no smoking" signs above airline seats with the introduction of in-flight mobile phone services.

OnAir said its equipment will be retrospectively fitted on Shenzhen's existing aircraft and line-fitted on new aircraft. The service is aimed at passengers with smart phones or basic handsets.

The deal with Shenzhen is the third such agreement OnAir has secured that covers an airline's whole fleet, following a pact signed last summer with low-cost carrier Ryanair and an agreement in June this year with AirAsia. The Ryanair in-flight communications service is due to go live by the end of this year, according to an OnAir spokesman, and the AirAsia service is slated to launch in early 2009.

Another method (faster and cheaper= disruptive) for aviation broadband, that is also a contender in this space is Adapt4.

Adapt4, is a supplier of efficient cognitive radio solutions that exploit unused frequency bandwidth in an FCC-certified manner. They are partnering with a bandwidth-efficient modem chip to offer a cost-effective and fast aviation broadband solution.

Aviation BroadBand Space Heating Up

The aviation broadband space is heating up.

Lufthansa and American Airlines launch broadband initiatives. In addition, a new aviation broadband technology player emerges.

Lufthansa adding in-flight broadband by 2008

Lufthansa is apparently continuing the airborne scramble to get customers connected, announcing that with the help of T-Mobile it will be reinstating its broadband service (formerly from Connexion) to its long-haul flights by 2008. Connexion was a $600m plus aviation broadband project from Boeing that was scrapped due to cost and demand issues.

In a related story, Panasonic Avionics said it was ready to pick up where Boeing's Connexion left off. Executives with Panasonic said they have a new business model that will allow them to go forward with as few as 50 planes -- and to expect an announcement from airlines within the next few months.

Some of those first airline customers for the Panasonic system will be ones who had Connexion installed.

Today, AirCell, the leading wireless data and voice communications provider in business aviation, announced it is teaming with American Airlines to test broadband services with passengers across the U.S. beginning in 2008.

AirCell's new Broadband Internet service will allow business and leisure passengers to check e-mail, surf the Web, tap into an office network and stay current on the latest news, using their own Wi-Fi enabled laptops, PDAs, iPhones(R), BlackBerrys(R) and portable gaming systems -- while in flight.

Passenger testing will be conducted on American Airlines fleet of Boeing 767-200 aircraft that primarily fly transcontinental routes. As the first to launch in-flight broadband capabilities, American and AirCell are pioneering the last frontier of domestic Internet service.

This high-speed broadband Internet service is made possible by AirCell's unique air-to-ground network, which uses the latest technology to transmit and receive data between the ground and the aircraft.

Pricing will mirror what you would pay at any ground based Wi-Fi hotspot, and speeds will be similar to what you experience in your home or office with DSL.

While this is a step in the right direction to tap into the millions of potential customers, I can't help but think that a couple hundred surfers on this one Wi-Fi connection will be disappointed with their surfing experience.

There are other technologies being developed, that could allow much faster speeds and disruptive pricing for aviation broadband.

A different method that is a contender in this space is Adapt4. Adapt4, is a supplier of efficient cognitive radio solutions that exploit unused frequency bandwidth in an FCC-certified manner. They are partnering with a bandwidth-efficient modem chip to offer a cost-effective and fast aviation broadband solution.

A multi-billion dollar market awaits for companies that connect and deliver relevant content to millions of captive consumers.