The 6th edition of IDATE’s M2M Market report, covering 2013-2017, reveals that a healthy growth rate has finally taken hold in this promising but, up until recently, underperforming market. This performance is being spurred by increased use within the main areas of application (automotive, consumer electronics and utilities) and is expected to accelerate even further over the next five years as M2M spreads to other sectors of activity.

Exhibitions India brings the 22nd edition of ‘Convergence India 2014’ to Pragati Maidan, New Delhi on January 21-23, 2014.  Themed as ‘Connecting India’, South Asia’s largest ICT forum will offer a range of conferences and an exhibition focusing on new-age technologies and business solutions.

Pace plc, a global developer of technologies and products for PayTV  and broadband service providers, today announces the unaudited update for the financial year  ended 31 December 2013 ahead of preliminary results to be announced on 4 March 2014.  Pace is updating its forecast of  full year results ahead of the Board’s previous guidance.  Full year revenues expected to be up 2.4% to US$ 2,460 m (2012: US$2,403.4  m). 

The 2014 International CES® opens today as a record breaking show with more than 3,200 exhibitors across the largest show floor in history – more than two million net square feet of exhibit space – breaking last year’s previously set record of 1.92 million net square feet. Innovation and the promise and power of technology drove this year’s preshow press events that kicked off with CES Unveiled LAS VEGAS on Sunday night with 99 tabletop displays where exhibitors provided a sneak preview of their show floor product launches.

In my previous column  I previewed GVF High Throughput Satellites 2013: Game-Changer in Action - The London Roundtable. I am very pleased to report that several participants in this latest program in the GVF-EMP Conference Partnership portfolio described the event as “A very successful conference, by any standard.” Here, in this contribution to the final edition of 2013, I wish to provide you, the reader, with the means to access at least some of the flavor of the series of great dialogs which took place in London on 5th and 6th December 2013.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully launched the THAICOM 6 satellite for Asian satellite operator THAICOM. The Falcon 9 rocket delivered THAICOM 6 to its targeted 295 x 90,000 km geosynchronous transfer orbit at 22.5 degrees inclination. It was the second successful launch for a commercial operator by SpaceX into geostationary transfer orbit in a little over a month. The Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the SES-8 satellite last month.

EchoStar Corp. announced today that it has acquired 100% ownership of Solaris Mobile Ltd, a next-generation mobile satellite services (MSS) operator based in Dublin, Ireland and one of the European Union licensees of mobile satellite service with a complementary ground component (S band). 

CABSAT, the leading professional content management event in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), has inked an alliance with the USA’s National Association of Broadcasters Show (NAB Show) which will see the world’s two biggest industry show brands in their field collaborate on a world-class content management conference programme covering the latest trends, technologies and innovations in the global broadcasting and media market.

Liberty Media Corporation  announced today that it has made a proposal to Sirius XM Holdings Inc. that outlines the terms by which Sirius public shareholders would become shareholders of Liberty in a tax-free transaction in which each share of Sirius common stock would be converted into 0.0760 of a new share of Liberty Series C common stock, and, immediately prior to such conversion, Liberty intends to distribute, on a 2:1 basis, shares of Liberty's Series C common stock to all holders of record of Liberty's Series A and B common stock to create a liquid trading market for Liberty's Series

Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox has sold its 47% stake in Star China TV to China Media Capital (CMC). The joint venture, which was formed in 2010, operates three 24-hour Mandarin channels: Xing Kong, Xing Kong International, Channel [V] Mainland China and the Fortune Star Chinese movie library. The JV was formed in 2010 and is majority-owned by CMC.