The Bear Free Emblaze thread

Hi all - just had a read of The Marker article (again) and once again i think this i another poor show of journalism on their part. If we just take what appear to be 'the facts' from the story (so no speculation by muppets) Emblaze's position in this tender appears to be very strong. >>>> The Marker says >>>>

"Over 30 companies entered the race, including Nokia, Ericsson, and Microsoft, which joined the offer submitted by Emblaze only recently."

Ok, so in the beginning it was Emblaze against the world (i.e Nokia, Ericsson et Real). Therefore, it would appear that two of the biggest manufacturers of handsets and network infrastructure have had their arses spanked by Emblaze and have been sent packing along with 25 or so other wannabes. Only Emblaze (a small Israeli outfit) and Real (an American giant) are left. Therefore, I would imagine that until Microsoft recently joined forces with Blz, that blz were seen as having superior technology to all other competitors (that's why other telcos i.e Wind and Orange have signed Emblaze and not Real). I think that Real have the ability to stream over the networks but to this day i have not seen any evidence to support this. Ok they have been at the roadshows with Emblaze but as far as i know they do not have PROVEN technology (i.e live vod running right now - unlike blz with Wind and Orange).

So why are Real still there? - Well as we know Real has a HUGE amount of content deals so customers wanting to access vod will have a huge choice of media to select from. In my opinion this is why Microsoft has come to blz's aid. I can imagine voda saying to Eli - "you have the better technology, you have proven your technology, you have handsets available and you can stream over ANY of our worldwide networks including gprs. However Eli, Real have some kick ass content that our customers will want to access which is of course why people will want vod. Therefore – what content can you offer?” Eli replies “Hmmm, give me a couple of weeks and I'll make some calls!!” A couple of weeks later Eli calls Vod with content backing from the world's largest software manufacturer. The company that puts the operating systems in 85% of the world's computers and boasts the world's most widely used Media Player (which incidentally emblaze is licensed to stream over) - Microsoft. So this is where we're at now. The dust is settling and voda is making its choice. With it being a tough choice voda would love to have some more info on the two comps – so who do they ask???? Verizon of course – one of the largest (if not the largest) mobile telco in the U.S which is owned by Vodafone. Emblaze successfully completed video streaming over their network last year and as far as I know is still working with them. I spoke to mate who works for Microsoft in the UK and asked him whi has the better relationship with Voda – Msft or Real. He told me that Msft have contact with Voda and are looking at a couple of things together – he wasn't aware of any existing relationship with Real and Voda. However, he said that he would be very surprised if Msft allowed Real to get and edge over them in this market. Msft and Real are at war and they wouldn't let Real win.

Furthermore, emblaze owns orca which as soon as the telcos get their fingers out and sign and vod tender, will be able to stream directly into people's living rooms to their tv's from their mobiles. Surely this would be appealing to voda as they would get more revenue from each stream and it would also increase their market reach! WHAT THE HELL CAN REAL DO? Even if voda signs Real, what are they gonna do if the Nokia and Eric et al handsets don't work – at least Blz have Alphacell phones which work and are going to be sold by the carphone warehouse very soon. Oh did I mention the emblaze semiconductor make the BEST mobile chips and have numerous contracts with companies in the far east where apparently the technology is the best in the world and years ahead of Europe and the u.s.

Damn I'm glad I've got that off my chest – lets wait and see, good luck!

Andi