HP Mobile Park houses content creators, showcases live music and technology

AUSTIN, Texas,---

HP today opened the HP Mobile Park, a pop-up experience that houses a community of creative influencers from around the world at the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2011 Conference and Festival.

The HP Mobile Park is a temporary live-in community for artists, bloggers and trendsetters from the fields of technology, music, film and pop culture. It is open to all SXSW attendees, allowing them to create, share and print their experiences from the festival. Visitors can network with new and familiar faces at the daily SXSW happy hour events, which will take place on March 11 through 19 from 6 to 8 p.m. CT.

Visitors can join the conversation with HP Mobile Park residents online at the HP at SXSW portal, where they can share experiences, track mobile trends and easily print any information they need by using HP ePrint mobile printing technology. HP ePrint enables people to securely send the files they want to print directly from their mobile devices to a printer's unique email address.(1)

'The HP Mobile Park is a content incubator where people are sharing and creating new ideas in real time and across multiple platforms,' said Tariq Hassan, vice president, Worldwide and Regional Marketing and Communications, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. 'At HP we are focusing on innovation, and through platforms like HP ePrint we are making printing accessible, relevant and simple for the digital generation.'

The HP Mobile Park, inspired by a combination of Austin's funky culture and vintage Route 66 themes, features 15 custom-designed trailers loaded with HP home and mobile products and solutions. Trailers are positioned around a central courtyard that includes a stage for live performances. HP Mobile Park residents will document and share their stories, blog posts, photos and video on the HP at SXSW Facebook page. The HP Mobile Park will be open to the public as a networking and HP ePrint and graphics hub for the duration of SXSW, from March 11 through 20.

HP calendar of events

* Federated Media Signal: Austin, March 10, 2011: HP's Hassan will contribute to the Federated Media Signal: Austin conference on March 10 at 3:30 p.m. CT at the Driskill Hotel. Hassan will discuss ideas and solutions that use location to help brands, people and campaigns reach target audiences.
* Watchitoo's Next Stage Innovator Series, March 14, 2011: Hassan also will participate in Watchitoo's Next Stage Innovator Series at 12:45 p.m. CT on the SXSW trade show floor, where he will discuss trends in technology and social media.

HP Mobile Park events

* Attendees can visit Thom Brown, specialist, Supplies Technology, HP, at the HP Mobile Park during the networking happy hours on March 11 through 13 to learn about the benefits of using Original HP Supplies and enter for a chance to win tickets to the 'HP Graphic Sounds' party.
* On the evening of March 13 at the HP Mobile Park, HP will host 'HP Graphic Sounds,' a party that combines graphics and music. Los Angeles-based indie rock band Nightmare and the Cat will perform while painter and art jockey Gary Baseman creates custom art inspired by the aesthetics and vibe of the music. The original art piece, created at the event, will be printed on an HP Officejet Pro 8500A and reproduced as postcards for attendees to take as souvenirs from the concert. A limited run of original posters also will be created and signed by the band and artist.

HP ePrint on the go

To enhance the mobile printing experience for all SXSW attendees, HP is providing convenient access to print content on demand via HP ePrint.

* Attendees can visit the HP Mobile Park, located at 604 Driskill St. – the southeast corner of Red River St. and East Cesar Chavez St. – to test out the ePrint technology and print schedules, photos and other materials from the event.
* An interactive booth on the Austin Convention Center show floor includes HP's full lineup of new ePrint-enabled products and mobile print applications. HP representatives will be onsite to answer questions and demonstrate the technologies. The HP Mobile Printing booth spans booths 1542, 1544 and 1546. In addition, HP will demonstrate HP MagCloud, a self-service content publishing platform that makes it easy for bands, filmmakers, bloggers, magazine publishers and businesses to publish professional-quality print and digital magazines for their fans and audiences.
* Attendees staying at the Hilton Austin hotel have two options for printing at the HP ePrint Center located in the hotel lobby. They can print from their BlackBerry device at the HP ePrint Mobile Print Location,(2) powered by PrinterOn, or by emailing a print job to an ePrint-enabled printer.

HP ePrint presents SXSW GO

HP is the leading sponsor of SXSW GO, the official mobile app of the festival. SXSW GO enables attendees to access everything they need to maximize their time at SXSW. The app allows people to view and build their schedules, see a map of events and how to get to them, navigate the tradeshow floor and stay connected to the social world. Through the app, people also will learn about how HP ePrint technology provides a simple and easy way to print information on the go.

More information about HP ePrint is available at the HP ePrint Center. SXSW GO is available for download at http://sxsw.com/mobile.

HP at SPIN House Music Loft

HP will be the presenting sponsor at the SPIN House Music Loft, located on the top floor at 310 East 6th St. on March 17 through 19 from noon to 6 p.m. CT. Attendees will be invited to print photos from the SPIN House Music Loft and other materials to HP ENVY 100 e-All-in-One Printers and test out the ePrint technology.

In addition, the lounge will feature interviews, acoustic performances and photo sessions with buzzworthy bands, as well as music listening stations featuring HP computers with Beats AudioTM.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world's largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com/.

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ORLANDO, Fla., - PARTNERWORLD LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE -- At IBM PartnerWorld 2011, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced that Music Mastermind, a mid-sized independent entertainment and technology company, will deploy SoundBetter, the audio processing suite behind its create-and-share music platform, on IBM's Smart Business cloud service.

Music Mastermind's SoundBetter is a groundbreaking technology that eliminates the traditional effort required to master music, breaking down barriers to creativity and allowing anyone to instantly become a recording artist. Faced with the need to expand globally while balancing development and distribution costs, the three-year-old startup chose IBM's Smart Business cloud services to increase scalability, reduce power requirements, and eliminate the need for an on-site network environment.

"To meet their business goals, growing companies such as Music Mastermind need to have access to data quickly and easily," said Bob Hoey, General Manager, IBM General Business, Global Technology Services. "In an industry where cloud is emerging as a core business transformation tool, IBM is leading the way with our Development and Test Cloud solution to improve business processes and better serve customers."

Music Mastermind worked with Micro Strategies, an IBM Premier Business Partner, to deploy SoundBetter on IBM's Smart Business cloud service. IBM's dynamic cloud solution will help Music Mastermind deliver the optimal music experience by decreasing latency and lessening the cost of the service. IBM's channel enablement program for partners reselling the IBM Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud has provided partners such as Micro Strategies with an enterprise class, cost effective infrastructure as a service solution to innovative customers like Music Mastermind.

"Music Mastermind empowers everyone to make great music. We're at the forefront of a game-changing movement in global entertainment," said Bo Bazylevsky, co-Founder and President/COO, Music Mastermind. "IBM and Micro Strategies provide us a world-class cloud solution at a fraction of the cost of building our own data center."

"We were able to provide a public cloud solution for Music Mastermind that offered more security, better performance, and easier management and storage configuration than what they had before – all necessary factors for their rapid growth," said Anthony Bongiovanni, President, Micro Strategies.

The company's global business partner channel has helped IBM capture the growing cloud market, and to-date there are more than 30 cloud-based offerings enabled for IBM Business Partners to sell to their customers. With more than 900 global IT service management practitioners and 18 cloud computing centers worldwide, IBM is dedicated to optimizing IT environments for successful deployment of enterprise-wide business initiatives.

IBM's infrastructure, along with Micro Strategies' dedicated experience in managed services and cloud infrastructure capabilities, provides Music Mastermind with a strong platform to expand internationally through numerous channels.

Music Mastermind has a target launch date for the consumer market in the second half of 2011.

About Micro Strategies, Denville, NJ:

Micro Strategies Inc. extends the value of business information and intellectual assets through innovative technology solutions. We combine intimate knowledge of business processes and applications with sophisticated skills in mission-critical information technology infrastructure solutions. . Core to this mission are our 2 IBM-authorized Business Partner Innovation Centers, located in Denville, NJ, and Malvern, PA. These BPICs offer great places for our clients to "test-drive" new technologies, run proof-of-concept tests against their unique requirements, get trained on newly implemented solutions, and demonstrate disaster recovery capabilities between 2 locations more than 100 miles apart. Established in 1983, many of our clients have been with the company for our entire existence, and our customer satisfaction rating exceeds 96 per cent. For more information please visit www.microstrat.com.

About Music Mastermind, Inc.

Based in Calabasas, CA, Music Mastermind was founded by Grammy Award-winning producer/songwriter Matt Serletic and top Wall Street bond trader Bo Bazylevsky. Formed in 2007, the venture-backed start-up is dedicated to developing technologies that break down the barriers to music creation. For more information please visit www.musicmastermind.com.

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LAS VEGAS, NV and BASKING RIDGE, NJ — From the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Rhapsody® today announced that an enhanced version of its award-winning premium, on-demand subscription music service will soon be available on select 4G smartphones on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network.

Verizon Wireless customers with select 4G smartphones will have exclusive access to Rhapsody's 4G app, which features high bitrate 192 AAC kbps and faster downloads – 10 songs in about 30 seconds. The app also includes Rhapsody TV, which comes with Rhapsody Originals, concerts produced by Rhapsody, and interviews with artists such as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and My Chemical Romance.

'Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network allows Rhapsody to push the capabilities of our Android app and create an optimal listening experience on mobile,' said Mark Keeney, head of marketing, Rhapsody. 'Working with Verizon Wireless on the first 4G LTE network provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase the speed with which one can navigate, play and download a catalog of 10.6 million songs and access Rhapsody's exclusive, premium content anywhere they go.'

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network, launched in December 2010, is the fastest, most advanced 4G network in the United States, providing speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon Wireless' 3G network. Consumer devices with a wide range of applications are expected to be available later this year. Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network currently reaches one-third of all Americans, with plans to expand the network to the company's entire 3G coverage area over the next three years.

More details about Rhapsody will be available during CES in Verizon Wireless' booth (#35216 in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center). For more information about Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network, visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte. For more information about Verizon Wireless at CES, visit www.verizonwireless.com/ces

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's fastest and most advanced 4G network and largest and most reliable 3G network, and serves more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 80,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com.

About Rhapsody
The Rhapsody® digital music service (www.rhapsody.com) gives subscribers unlimited on-demand access to more than ten million songs, whether they're listening on a PC, laptop, Internet connected home stereo or TV, MP3 player or mobile phone. Rhapsody allows subscribers to access their music through more touch-points than any other digital music service, including mobile phones from Verizon Wireless, through Rhapsody applications on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, RIM BlackBerry and Android mobile platform as well as through devices from Vizio, SanDisk, HP, Sonos and Philips. Rhapsody, and the Rhapsody logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Rhapsody International Inc.

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The next revolution in the audio industry: the new RAVENNA technology for real-time distribution of audio and other media content in IP-based environments. In a world premiere this technology will be presented by ALC NetworX on booth C53 in hall 8. In addition, visitors can get familiar with RAVENNA at the Lawo booth C71 in hall 8. For visualization and demonstration of this new technology there is a special wall set up at the booth.

RAVENNA utilizes existing network infrastructures – the power and capacity adapt to the performance of the underlying network IT architecture. RAVENNA fulfils the high demands of professional audio applications, among others particularly low latency, full signal transparency and high reliability.

RAVENNA is not only suitable for the professional broadcast market but can be also used in other fields of pro-audio, e.g. live sound, installation and recording. Possible applications are also the flexible use in venues and for live events, OB van support etc. as well as in-house signal distribution in broadcast houses, theatres and music halls and also distribution over WAN connections. Thus RAVENNA will establish a completely new handling of audio, allowing faster and more flexible workflows.

All protocols and mechanisms used by RAVENNA are based on widely distributed and established methods in IT and audio.

RAVENNA is an open technology standard. This is why Lawo has decided with other renowned companies to follow this technology. The first companies that have decided for RAVENNA are Merging Technologies, Innovason, DirectOut, LSB / VSM Control and DSA Volgmann.

Lawo AMBIT Upmix

With the Lawo AMBIT Upmix, Lawo presents a new DSP module for surround channels. Using sophisticated algorithms, it converts stereo signals into surround signals and is thus an upmix fully integral in the mixing console.

The AMBIT Upmix is predestined for modern productions as it is of versatile use in finalized stereo mixes, on the input side in the input channel or in sub groups. By handling few, easily understandable parameters, it is possible to create stunningly authentic spacial sound that surround the listener completely, building a perfect 5.1 sound image.

Thanks to innovative parameters like the 'Auto-Centering' for front channels, the AMBIT Upmix algorithms adapt also at most diverse source material and offer a stable and, in using panning, also authentic image. All parameters are stored in production and snapshot. The AMBIT is fully downmix-compatible.

The AMBIT is included in every mc² with the 4.12 software release. The new software version will be available probably by end of December.

Lawo iPhone Remote App

Everyone knows iApps – but this one lets you prick up your ears: the Lawo iPhone Remote App, a free App for the iPhone for remote controlling the mc² series and the Nova73 HD. At this year's IBC you can witness the world's first presentation of the Remote App. Operate every fader of a mc² console by using the Lawo Remote App. The left/right order follows the surface assignment on the mixing console. With simple waving effects the APP navigates from left to right over the console.

Load snapshots as you please from the snapshot folders – a feature that makes the Lawo Remote APP the ideal tool for the preparation of productions as well as for the rehearsals in theatres. Special user buttons that appear only on the iPhone can be assigned from the mxGUI by using the CustomFunction exactly the same like the console's user buttons. This way it is e.g. possible that the iPhone becomes the monitoring panel for the director or the remote control for a GPI.

The Lawo Remote APP will be available form end of 2010 in the APP store for free.

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This unique arts/ science project is a collaboration between the iACT research group at the University of Montreal and the Centre for Intelligent Machines, at McGill University and Ubisense. The installation is set within an indoor 'audio augmented' environment, where users can create and explore a continually evolving wall of audio graffiti, by overlaying the wall with audio clips in their precise 3D location.

Users are equipped with wireless headsets including a precise real-time position from Ubisense. The solution enables the users to be precisely tracked as they move around the space. As the user approaches the wall a precise spatial location is registered when one of the programmable buttons on the tag is pressed and a sound clip is recorded and attached to the wall at that position. The sound clips form a 3D audio image of sonic content in space.

Headsets allow the users to listen to the sound clips on the wall. By moving forwards and backwards, towards and away from the wall the user will hear sound clips from a narrower or wider area of the wall, similar to listening to foreground / background noise within a party or restaurant, by moving closer to the wall, the user will be able to 'audio zoom' in and listen to an individual, defined sound clip. If the user walks along the wall from side to side, they are able to listen to a series of sound clips. The sound clips appear in the order they have been laid down, and will fade gradually over a period of time.

Created by a team of audio/visual engineers, and artistic director Zack Settel, the project is one of a number of audio-based arts/ science projects concentrating on spatialised audio rendering.

'The Ubisense precise real-time location solution provided us with the perfect vehicle for tracking movement around the wall and the indoor capture of high resolution data.' Commented Artistic Director, Zack Settel.

'We are delighted that we were able to deploy our unique solution at the University of Montreal and McGill University' said Jay Cadman, VP Sales and Marketing, Ubisense, 'The Audio Graffiti project is a very sophisticated use of our technology and demonstrates the flexibility of Ubisense solutions.'

Note to Editors

About Ubisense

Ubisense is the world leader in Precise Real-Time Location Systems and Consulting Services, tracking people and assets with unmatched accuracy, and giving enterprises the power to bring visibility and control to previously intractable business processes.

With over 500 customers Worldwide, Ubisense is revolutionizing industries today. For more information please visit www.ubisense.net

About Audio Grafitti

Audio Graffiti is one of several new artistic applications, resulting from an ongoing arts and science collaboration, involving the iACT research group at the University of Montreal, the Center for Intelligent Machines (CIM) at McGill University, and the Societé des Arts Téchnoloqiques (SAT) in Montreal. Arts objectives include the exploration of spatial/physical interaction with sound and image. The scientific objectives are focused on networked mixed-reality applications, which use real-time 3D audiovisual scene modelling to provide immersive user interaction in fixed or mobile deployments.

Related links:
http://spinframework.org/
http://audioscape.org/srewiki/bin/view/Audioscape/

Ubisense Media Contacts:

Caroline Brown: caroline.brown@ubisense.net Tel: +1 303 539-6922

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LONDON, - Southbank Sinfonia, Britain's best-known orchestra of young professional musicians and the country's leading orchestral academy, has for the second consecutive year hosted international auditions for its ensemble using Cisco TelePresenceTM, a technology allowing for life-size, high-definition video collaboration. The auditions were held last week in the Cisco London office.

Over 300 musicians from across the world applied to take part in the auditions, from countries as diverse as Taiwan, Sweden and Canada. Traditionally, musicians would have had to fly to London for the chance to undertake the 15-minute audition at significant cost and time. However, this year, two young musicians in Australia have for the first time auditioned using Cisco TelePresence suites in their own country.

The two Australian musicians performed live, while being assessed in real time by the select panel of judges back in London. This was made possible by the quality of the wideband spatial audio and the clarity of very high-definition video delivered by the Cisco TelePresence technology. As well as reducing the travel costs incurred and time commitment required by the candidates, Cisco TelePresence technology lowered the process's environmental impact.
Facts/Highlights:

* The judging panel consisted of Simon Over (co-founder and music director of Southbank Sinfonia), Michael Berman (chairman of Southbank Sinfonia) and Jennifer Nickson (Royal Opera House).
* This year's Cisco TelePresence auditions took place in Sydney, Australia. Last year Cisco TelePresence auditions were held in Scotland, Spain, New Zealand and the United States.
* Cisco is committed to a high level of environmental responsibility in its business operations, culture, products and customer solutions. Cisco's vision is for the power of technology to transform how the world manages its environmental and energy challenges.
* Cisco now has more than 300 TelePresence customers, with some global customer deployments extending beyond 100 units.
* Internally, Cisco has deployed over 650 TelePresence units in more than 200 cities across 45 countries, which has allowed it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from business travel by an estimated 186,786 metric tons.

Supporting Quotes:

* Simon Over, music director of Southbank Sinfonia

"Southbank Sinfonia is committed to ensuring that the world's most talented and promising players, destined to be the future caretakers of orchestra, are not lost from the profession in the difficult period immediately following their time at music college. Last year Cisco enabled us to bring together performers who might not have been able to audition previously, and its technology has opened up an exciting range of new possibilities. We're delighted to be working with Cisco again this year to help us establish Southbank Sinfonia as an important contributor to musical life in Britain and beyond."

* Phil Smith, Cisco vice president and chief executive for UK and Ireland

"Cisco believes that technology has the power to transform how the world collaborates and manages its environmental challenges. Businesses across the world are adopting TelePresence technology to do just that, but there are benefits for organisations of all types. Last year Cisco TelePresence opened the opportunity of auditions to young musicians, and this year we are building on that success. Cisco is thrilled to continue its work with Southbank Sinfonia and allow them to overcome the barriers of time, distance and cost whilst minimising its impact on the environment."

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