TECHNOLOGY REPORT

Editors Note:   We’re hoping for more information from Dr. Modha who is also welcome to a Guest post here at Technology Report.

——   Guest Post by Dr. Henry Markram of the Blue Brain Project —-

IBM’s claim is a HOAX.

This is a mega public relations stunt – a clear case of scientific deception of the public. These simulations do not even come close to the complexity of an ant, let alone that of a cat. IBM allows Mohda to mislead the public into believing that they have simulated a brain with the complexity of a cat – sheer nonsense.

Here are the scientific reasons why this is a hoax and misleading PR stunt:

How complex is their model?
They claim to have simulated over a billion neurons interacting. Their so called “neurons” are the tiniest of points you can imagine, a microscopic dot. Over 98% of the volume of a neuron is branches (like a tree). They just cut off all the branches and roots and took a point in the middle of the trunk to represent a entire neuron. In real life, each segment of the branches of a neuron contains dozens of ion channels that powerfully controls the information processing in a neuron. They have none of that. Neurons contain 10′s of thousands of proteins that form a network with 10′s of millions of interactions. These interactions are incredibly complex and will require solving millions of differential equations. They have none of that. Neurons contain around 20’000 genes that produce products called mRNA, which builds the proteins. The way neurons build proteins and transport them to all the corners of the neuron where they are needed is an even more complex process which also controls what a neuron is, its memories and how it will process information. They have none of that. They use an alpha function (up fast down slow) to simulate a synaptic event. This is a completely inaccurate representation of a synapse. There are at least 6 types of synapses that are highly non-linear in their transmission (i.e. that transform inputs and not only transmit inputs). In fact you would need a 10′s of thousands of differential equations to simulate one synapse. Synapses are also extremely complex molecular machines that would themselves require thousands of differential equations to simulate just one. They simulated none of this. There are complex differential equations that must be solved to simulate the ionic flow in the branches, to simulate the ion channels biophysics, the protein-protein interactions, as well as the complete biochemical and genetic machinery as well as the synaptic transmission between neurons. 100′s of thousands of more differential equations. They have none of this. Then there are glia – 10 times more than neurons..And the blood supply…and more and more. These “points” they simulated and the synapses that they use for communication are literally millions of times simpler than a real cat brain. So they have not even simulated a cat’s brain at more than one millionth of it’s complexity.

Is it nonetheless the biggest point neuron simulation ever run?
No. These people simulated 1 billion points interacting. They used a formulation to model the summing up and threshold spiking of the “points” called the Izhikevik Formulation (an extremely simple equation). Eugene Izhikevik himself already in 2005 ran a simulation with 100 billion such points interacting just for the fun of it: (over 60 times larger than Modha’s simulation). This simulation ran on a cluster of desktop PCs and which every graduate student can run This is no technical achievement and certainly not even a record number of point neurons. That model exhibited oscillations, but that always happens so even simulating 100 Billion such points interacting is light years away from a brain.
see: http://www.izhikevich.org/human_brain_simulation/Blue_Brain.htm#Simulation%20of%20Large-Scale%20Brain%20Models

Is the simulator they built a big step?
Not even close. There are numerous proprietary and peer-reviewed neurosimulators (e.g., NCS, pNEURON, SPLIT, NEST) out there that can handle very large parallel models that are essentially only bound by the available memory. The bigger the machine you have available, the more neurons you can simulate. All these simulators apply optimizations for the particular platform in order to make optimal use of the available hardware. Without any comparison to existing simulators, their publication is a non-peer reviewed claim.

Did they learn anything about the brain?
They got very excited because they saw oscillations. Oscillations are an obligatory artifact that one always gets when many points interact. These findings that they claim on the neuroscience side may excite engineers, but not neuroscientists.

Why did they get the Gordon Bell Prize?
They submitted a non-peer reviewed paper to the Gordon Bell Committee and were awarded the prize almost instantly after they made their press release. They seem to have been very successful in influencing the committee with their claim, which technically is not peer-reviewed by the respective community and is neuroscientifically outrageous.

But is there any innovation here?
The only innovation here is that IBM has built a large supercomputer – which is irrelevant to the press release.

Why did IBM let Mohda make such a deceptive claim to the public?
I don’t know. Perhaps this is a publicity stunt to promote their supercompter. The supercomputer industry is suffering from the financial crisis and they probably are desperate to boost their sales. It is so disappointing to see this truly great company allow the deception of the public on such a grand scale.

But have you not said you can simulate the Human brain in 10 years?
I am a biologist and neuroscientist that has studied the brain for 30 years.  I know how complex it is. I believe that with the right resources and the right strategy it is possible. We have so far only simulated a small part of the brain at the cellular level of a rodent and I have always been clear about that.

Would other neuroscientists agree with you?
There is no neuroscientist on earth that would agree that they came even close to simulating the cat’s brain – or any brain.

But did Mohda not collaborate with neuroscientists?
I would be very surprised if any neuroscientists that he may have had in his DARPA consortium realized he was going to make such an outrages claim. I can’t imagine that that the San Fransisco neuroscientists knew he was going to make such a stupid claim. Modha himself is a software engineer with no knowledge of the brain.

But did you not collaborate with IBM?
I was collaborating with IBM on the Blue Brain Project at the very beginning because they had the best available technology to faithfully allow us to integrate the diversity and complexity found in brain tissue into a model. This for me is a major endeavor to advance our insights into the brain and drug development. Two years ago, when the same Dharmendra Mhoda claimed the “mouse-scale simulations”, I cut all neuroscience collaboration with IBM because this is an unethical claim and it deceives the public.

What IBM allowed Modha to do here is not only wrong, but outrageous. They deceived millions of people.

Henry Markram
Blue Brain Project

Update:  The reports of  this breakthrough at a ‘cat brain’ level may be quite misleading or exaggerated.  I’m in contact with Henry Markram, a leading brain researcher spearheading the “Blue Brain” simulation in France, and waiting for his permission to post his concerns about the claims from IBM researchers.

At the Supercomputing Conference SC09 in Portland Oregon IBM has announced a spectacular advance in our ability to mechanically simulate cognitive activity with machines – they have developed a brain simulation that approximates a cat brain in complexity.

We have profiled the SyNAPSE project here at Technology Report thanks to a guest post by one of those working there. This new development is a remarkable advance given that SyNAPSE has been going strong for under one year. With a cat brain complexity under its belt it appears only a matter of a few more years before the project is likely to have modeled interactions at the scale of human brain complexity.

The most provocative idea about brain modelling is that these models will at some point attain human-like consciousness along with the ability to communicate with humans and (hopefully) cooperate with us in problem solving. No longer just a science fiction topic, this potential “explosion of intelligence” relates to one of the hottest topics in technology – the Singularity.

More on the IBM Blue Matter project from:

Forbes
Popular Mechanics

Even as reports come in that CES 2010 won’t be as big as CES 2009 or CES 2008, an exception to the size reductions is coming from an unlikely direction.   The Apple iPod .   The CES  iLounge, sponsored by the website iLounge, will feature a large number of Apple products and accessories.   The plans are to exhibit in a very big way at this year’s CES.

According to a report much earlier this year by Mark Harris at TechRadar, Apple is not only abandoning MacWorld  Expo but they are allocating massive space to showcase products at CES 2010 in Las Vegas in January.   The iLounge exhibit at CES  had 18,000 square feet as of the article’s publication in January.

“Leading Apple developers and retailers are excited to have such an outstanding stage at the 2010 International CES,”

“Whether they’re showing off iPod accessories, iPhone applications, or the latest and coolest new Mac products, they know that they’ll find the world’s largest audience at this great new pavilion.”

Historically Apple has had a very limited presence at CES events, tending to make a big splash at MacWorld instead.    It’s not clear why the big change this year and it seems odd for Apple to abandon one of their most prominent venues, but in the fast pace world of computing loyalties can change almost as fast as the technologies.

The Digital Hollywood sessions at CES 2010 showcase experts and issues at the intersection of technology, entertainment, and advertising. Here, from the Digital Hollywood website, are session summaries for these CES 2010 Digital Hollywood events:

Wednesday, January 6th
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Track I – RA1 – Reinventing Advertising
Hypertargeting: Ad Networks, Ad Serving and Ad Targeting
Heather Hopkins, SVP and General Manager, MTVN Tribes
Bruce Falck, Head of Google Content Network, Google
Colleen Quinn, Global Program Director, Interactive Advertising and Media & Entertainment, Industry Solutions, Teradata
Scott Ferris, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Emerging Media, Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions
Jeffrey Hochberg, Vice President of Sales, AOL’s Audience Targeting, AOL
Rick Bolander, Managing Partner, Gabriel Venture Partners, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – GP1 – Game Power
Innovation in Games, Game Networks and Social Gaming – Massive User Communities and Commerce
Don L. Daglow, President and CEO, Stormfront Studios Inc.
Ian Ali, National Sales Director, Microsoft Gaming and Advertising
Jordan Weisman, CEO and co-founder, Smith & Tinker
Jason Cieslak, Managing Director, Interactive Media, Siegel+Gale
Matt Story, Director, Play, a division of Denuo
Monty Sharma, VP Product Development and co-founder, Vivox
Rajat Paharia, Founder and Chief Product Officer, Bunchball
Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid Advisors, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME1 – Mobile Entertainment
The Smartphone Platform: Establishing the Personalized Video, Music, and Communications Experience
Tom Conrad, CTO, Pandora
Alex Bloom, CEO, Handango
Alex Barkaloff, Executive Producer, Digital Media, LIONSGATE
Stephen White, Vice President, Product and Content Management, Gracenote
Motorola, speaker to be announced
Steve Bradbury, VP, Content Strategy & Business Affairs, GoTV Networks, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Track I – RA2 – Reinventing Advertising
Advertising NEXT: Social Networks, TV & Video, Broadband, Mobile and Game
James Cooper, Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi NY
Tim Harris, Senior Vice President, Play, a Denuo Group Company
Anthony Di Biase, Executive Creative Director, Wunderman Southern California
Louisa Shipnuck, Global Business Development Executive, IBM Media and Entertainment
Greg Coleman, President and Chief Revenue Officer, Huffington Post
Simon Kelly, Chief Operating Officer, Story Worldwide
Tim Chang, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II- GP2 – Game Power
Game Power: Entertainment and Branding as Franchise – As Games Integrate into the Movie, Music, TV, Mobile, Advertainment & Custom Branded Experience
Tony Calandra, Chief Marketing Officer, MTV Games
Chad Stoller, EVP Digital Strategy, BBDO North America
Lars Buttler, founder & CEO, Trion World Network, Inc.
Matthew Ringel, SVP, Strategic Alliances, Live Nation, Moderator
Speakers to be announced
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME2 – Mobile Entertainment
The Smartphone – Platform Strategies: Apps – Entertainment, News, Music, Games, Location-Based, Communication and Community
Ravi Belwal, Senior Project Consultant, Forum Nokia
Steve Ronson, EVP, Enterprises, International, Digital Media, Consumer Products, AETN
Jeffrey Litvack, GM of Mobile and Emerging Products, Associated Press
Chris Tolles, CEO, Topix
Brandon Lucas, Vice-President and General Manager, Mobile, Black Entertainment Television
Adil Lalani, Co-Founder & CTO, TwitVid.com
Jim Black, Technical Consultant, Maendeleo Ventures, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Track I- RA3 – Reinventing Advertising
Advertising Accountability: Metrics and Analytics around Video, Social Media, P2P and User Generated Media
Susan Chiu, Director, Business Intelligence Center, Ingram Micro
Bill Stephenson, VP Advertiser Solutions, Nielsen Online
Greg Kahn, SVP, Director of Strategic Resources, Optimedia
Chance Parker, Vice President and General Manager, J.D. Power and Associates
Aseem Chandra, Senior VP of Product Marketing, Omniture
Tania Yuki, Director, Product Management, comScore, Inc.
John Hoctor, VP Business Development, Navic Networks
Mark Ghuneim, CEO, Wiredset, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II- GP3 – Game Power
Virtual Worlds, Virtual Economies, Virtual Goods and Services and Virtual Gaming
Andrew Schneider, Co-Founder & President, Live Gamer
David Laux, Global Executive, Games & Interactive Entertainment, IBM
Cary Rosenzweig, president and CEO, IMVU
Michael Pole, co-Founder and CEO, Trilogy Studios,
Mark Hansen, Director of Business Development, LEGO Group & Project Lead, LEGO Universe
Craig Sherman, CEO, Gaia Online
Cindy Cook, former Chief Marketing Officer Vivendi Games, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME3 – Mobile Entertainment
Mobile & Broadband Music: New Platforms + New Technology + More Music + Dynamic Marketplace
Brad Duea, President, Napster
Rob Lewis, CEO, Omnifone
Kevin Arnold, Founder, IODA
Michael Dougherty, CEO, Jelli
Daniel Harris, Chairman & CEO, MediaPass, Moderator
Ted Cohen, Managing Partner, TAG Strategic llc, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Track I- RA4 – Reinventing Advertising
Contextual Media & Advertising: Transforming and Redefining the Relationship Between the Consumer, Advertising and Media Platforms
Jay L. Sampson, Vice President, Global Sales, Microsoft Corporation
Richard de Silva, General Partner, Highland Capital Partners
Carolyn Everson, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, Ad Sales, MTV Networks
Jessica Schell, SVP, Digital Strategy and Business Development, NBC Universal
Leo Burnett, speaker to be announced
Doug Scott, President, OgilvyEntertainment, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II- GP4 – Game Power
Mobile Gaming Experience – the Next Generation in Games, Devices and the Coming High Speed Delivery of Content
Randy Stude, President, PC Gaming Alliance, Director, Gaming Program Office, Intel Corp.
Sean Alexander, Director of Silverlight Media, Microsoft
Jason Oberfest, Senior Vice President of Social Applications, ngmoco
Keith Lee, CEO & Co-Founder, Booyah
Hany Nada, Managing partner, GGV Capital
Russell G. Weiss, Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME4 – Mobile Entertainment
Video on the Smartphone – Entertainment & Information Programming Jumpstarts the Revolution
Doug Craig, Senior Vice President, Digital and Home Entertainment, Discovery Communications
Yacine Mahfoufi, Multimedia Strategic Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent
Madeline Herdrich, Vice President of Mobile, North America, Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment Group
Anthony Bontrager, President, 1Cast
L.M. Kit Carson, Filmmaker/Journalist, AFRICA DIARY
Frank Chindamo, President & Chief Creative Officer, Fun Little Movies, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Track I – RA5 – Reinventing Advertising
Advertising Strategy, Expenditure and Analysis: Broadcast and Cable vs. the New Platforms: Broadband, Social Networks, Mobile, VOD & PVR
Warren Schlichting, SVP, Corporate Development Canoe Ventures
Tara Maitra, VP & GM of Content Services & Ad Sales, TiVo Inc.
Eric Bader, Managing Partner, BrandinHand, Inc.
Brandon G Berger, Vice President, Digital Innovation, MDC Partners
Barry Frey, SVP, Advanced Platforms, Cablevision
Terry S. Bienstock, CEO, Mobilactive Media, LLC., former EVP & General Counsel, Comcast Cable, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – GP5 – Game Power
Casual Gaming – The Next Great Platform in Gaming – Console, Broadband and Mobile
Liz Huszarik, SVP, Warner Bros. Media Research, Warner Bros.
Stephen Baer, Managing Partner, The Game Agency
Gui Karyo, EVP of Operations, Majesco
David McCaman, Senior Director of Marketing, Hands-On Mobile
Alok Kerjewal, founder and CEO, Games2Win
Brian Balfour, Founder and VP Product Marketing, Viximo
Sangita Verma, CEO, TAG Networks
David Getson, ceo, g-NET, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME5 – Mobile Entertainment
iPhone Apps – Change Agents – App Breakthroughs, Video, Games, Mobile Engagement and Advertising
John Zehr, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ESPN Mobile
Ian Lynch Smith, president and co-founder, Freeverse
Walker Fenton, GM, Media & Consumer division, NewsGator
Steve Polsky, President & COO, Flixster
Darren Cross, Director of Business Development, Fandango
Craig Wigginton, Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Thursday, January 7th
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Track I – RA6 – Reinventing Advertising
Video Advertising: How New Consumer Habits Are Driving the Advertising Community to Innovate, and the Challenges with Scale
Debbie Solomon, Managing Director, Business Planning, Mindshare
Marc Ruxin, Executive VP, Chief Innovation Officer, McCann Worldgroup
Tim Hanlon, Managing Director, Riverview Lane Associates
Jason Witt, Senior Vice President, General Manager, Digital Fusion, MTV Networks
Mark Marvel, Sr. Director, Video Monetization, msnbc.com
Tod M. Sacerdoti, CEO & Founder, BrightRoll, Inc.
Rovi, speaker to be announced
Steve Robinson, President & Founder, Panache, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH1 – Digital Hollywood and CC1 – The Cable Conference at CES
The Television Ecosystem: Programming, Pay-Services, Advertising and Multi-Platform Distribution – Revenue and Strategies
Tracey Scheppach, Senior Vice President/Video Innovation Director, Starcom USA
Roy Bank, President, Television, Merv Griffin Entertainment
Bryan Perez, General Manager and Senior Vice President, NBA Digital
Bruce Eisen, Vice President, Online Content Development & Strategy, DISH Network
Scott Brown, SVP Media Strategy & Digital Platforms, The Nielsen Company
Shahid Khan, Senior Partner, Interactive Broadband Consulting, LLC, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME6 – Mobile Entertainment Track
Inventing the Smartphone Culture – Mobile Device and Mobile Network – Integrating the Full PC Experience into a Personal Communications Device
Anthony Borquez, Senior Vice President for Online and Mobile Business Development, Konami Digital Entertainment
Courtney Jane Acuff, Vice President, Director, denuo (a Publicis Groupe Company)
Nash Parker, Director, Emerging Technology & Media, Alcatel-Lucent
Albert B. Chu, Vice President, Marketing & Alliances, ACCESS Systems Americas, Inc.
Cameron Friedlander, VP, Director of Creative technology, Designkitchen
Dr. Andrew Hsu, Technology Strategist, Synaptics
Phil Asmundson, Vice Chairman and U.S. TMT Leader, Deloitte LLP, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Noon – 1:00 PM
Track I – RA7 – Reinventing Advertising
Advertising Strategies in the Diversified Digital Culture: Broadband, Cable, Satellite, Games, Mobile and Social Networks
Rhys McLachlan, Head of Broadcast Implementation, TV, MediaCom
Mark J. Penn, President of Penn, Schoen and Berland and Worldwide President & CEO, Burson-Marsteller
Michael McLaren, President, McCann Erickson
Eric Hirshberg, President, Chief Creative Officer, Deutsch Los Angeles
Elizabeth Blair, CEO, Brand.Net
Randy Wooton, General Manager, Microsoft Advertising
Michael Kassan, Chairman & CEO, Media Link LLC, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH2 – Digital Hollywood and CC2 – The Cable Conference at CES
Video Anytime Anywhere: Video Across Platforms – Television, Internet and Mobile – Understanding the Value Proposition
John Watson, Executive Director of Business Development, AT&T Digital Media Solutions
Roger Keating, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, Hearst Television Inc.
Michael Alexander, Strategy & Growth Initiatives, IBM Global Telecommunications Industry
Josette Bonte, Chief Digital Media Strategist, Cisco IBSG
Rebecca Glashow, Senior Vice President, Digital Distribution, Discovery Communications
Adam Powers, Chair of Ecosystem Committee DLNA and Director of Standards and Emerging Technology, Rovi Corporation
Harshul Sanghi, Managing Director, Motorola Ventures, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME7 – Mobile Entertainment Track
Social Apps and Mini-Apps as the Next Platform: Advertising and Commerce in Mobile, Social Media & Broadband
John Shapiro, Product Manager, Adobe Wave
RO CHOY, Chief Revenue Officer, RockYou
Jennifer Cooper, Founder and Principle, Rocketfuel Media
Guy Vidra, Head of Business Development & Emerging, Washington Post Media
Shaukat Shamim, CEO & Co-Founder, Permuto
Sun Jen Yung, Managing Director, Nightwood Capital, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Track I – RA8 – Reinventing Advertising
The Future of Enhanced Advertising: Addressing Brands, Message, Technology, Media and Entertainment
Ari Bluman, President, North American Sales and Oerations, Real Media
Matti Leshem, CEO, Protagonist
Mike Siegenthaler, Director, Branded Entertainment, Microsoft Advertising
Davang Shah, Head of Marketing – Automotive, Finance, Entertainment, and Travel, Google
Jason Forbes, Senior Vice President, Strategy, New Products & Marketing, Time Warner Cable Media Sales
Gary McGuire, Chief Executive Officer, RMG Networks
Xavier Kochhar, Managing Partner, Media Link, LLC, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH3 – Digital Hollywood and CC3 – The Cable Conference at CES
Hollywood and the Digital Consumer: How Technology, Content and Services Establish the Next Level of Consumer Entertainment Experience
John Honeycutt, Chief Media Technology Officer, Discovery Communications
Ryan O’Hara, President of TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com
Lewis Henderson, CEO, Davie Brown Entertainment
Richard Cooperstein, Head, International Business Development & Strategy, Facebook
Gabriel Marano, Vice President, Programming, Fox Television Studios (15 Gigs)
Ira Rubenstein, Executive Vice President, Global Digital Media Group, Marvel Entertainment, Inc., Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME8 – Mobile Entertainment Track
Mobile as Lifestyle: The Communicator, the Entertainer, the Social Experiential Network and Device
Kai Buehler, General Manager, MindMatics
Brandon Starkoff, Senior Vice President/Director, Starcom Worldwide
Cheryl Lucanegro, Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales, Pandora
Paolo Pastorino, Business Development and Marketing Manager, Loquendo
Vladimir Edelman, Chief Marketing Officer, iconmobile
Lucy Hood, Executive Director, Institute for Communications, Technology Management, USC Marshall School of Business, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Track I – RA9 – Reinventing Advertising
HyperTargeting & HyperSelecting: Advertising, Search, Content and Aggregation
Kelly Dempski, Director of Research, Accenture Technology Labs
Jen Soch, Vice President, Activation Director Advanced TV, MediaVest
Benjamin Chen, Chairman/CEO, Mochila
Richard Jalichandra, CEO, Technorati
Mike Baker, CEO/president, DataXu
Andrew Cherwenka, Vice President, Business Development, Trapeze
James Colborn, Director, Microsoft Advertising
Peg Jackson, Managing Director, NeoCarta, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH4 – Digital Hollywood and CC4
The Flat Panel-Television Platform: HD, Downloads, Interactivity, Widgets – New Relationships, New Technology
Nick Colsey, Product Planning & New Business Development, Sony Electronics Inc.
OpenTV, speaker to be announced
Jeff Allen, Founder and CEO, RallyPoint, Moderator
Additional speakers to be announced
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track III – ME9 – Mobile Entertainment Track
Mobile Commerce and Content – The Mobile Web, Texting, Search and Advertising Options
Ali Rana, Vice President, Digital Strategy, Dynamic Logic
Jamie Wells, Director, Global Trade Marketing, Microsoft Mobile Advertising
David Vigil, Senior Vice President, Firethorn, a Qualcomm Company
Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Americas and Asia Pacific, mBlox
Bruce Stewart, CEO, Digital and Mobile Services, kgb
Pooj Preena, CEO, Groupe Hi-Media USA
David Berkowitz, Senior Director of Emerging Media & Innovation for 360i, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Friday, January 8th
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Track I – DH5 and CC5
The NexGen Entertainment Home Experience – From the Smart & Connected TV to the PVR, Set-Top & PC Experience
Timothy D. Twerdahl, Vice President, Consumer Products, Roku, Inc.
Mark Kroese, General Manager, Marketing and Advertising Strategy, Microsoft
Stephen Palm, DLNA Board of Directors and Technical Director, Broadcom Corporation
Rovi, speaker to be announced
Motorola, speaker to be announced
OpenTV, speaker to be announced
Rick Doherty, co-founder and Director, The Envisioneering Group, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH6
Venture Funding, Investment & Mergers – Leadership in the Entertainment & Technology Space: Broadband, Social Networks, Mobile and Games
Todd Chaffee, General Partner of Institutional Venture partners (IVP)
Ross Levinsohn, Founding Partner, Fuse Capital
Len Rand, Managing Director, Granite Ventures
David Siemer, founder, Siemer & Associates, Inc.
Mark Jensen, Managing Partner, National Venture Capital Services, Group, Deloitte Services LP
John Balen, General Partner, Canaan Partners
Joey Tamer, President, S.O.S. Inc., Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Noon – 1:00 PM
Track I – DH7 and CC6
Television and Video as an Interactive Content Experience – New Technologies, New Advertising – As Broadband, PVR and ITV Evolve
Sean Bunner, Operating Vice President, Advanced Services, HSN
Lisa Hsia, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, Bravo
Edgar Villalpando, SVP Marketing, ActiveVideo
Jaspal Bhasin, Chief Operating Officer, itaas, Inc.
Eric Gould Bear, Inventor of Telescopic Video & CEO, MONKEYmedia, Inc.
Cisco, speaker to be announced
Jeffrey Binder, General Partner, Genovation Capital, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH8 and CC7
Ubiquitous Video to the Consumer: The Technology & Content Enablers – Broadband, IPTV, Mobile & TV
Katrice N. Jones, Vice President, Digital Media and Creative Services, TV One
Derek Kuhn, Vice President, Emerging Technology and Media, Alcatel-Lucent
Shalini Govil-Pai, Lead Product Manager, Youtube/Google
Cisco, speaker to be announced
Jonathan Barzilay, Senior Vice President, Programming & Advertising, FLO TV
Stephen Condon, Director Market Development, Digital Media Solutions, AT&T
Nicholas Butterworth, CEO, HD Cloud
Arlene Zeichner, Principal, Selavy Associates, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Track I – DH9 and CC8
Bridging TV and Broadband: Strategic Relationships – Advertising, Technology & Content
Mitch Berman, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, ZillionTV
Mark McKinnon, Co-Chair, Arts+Labs
Damon Phillips, Vice President, ESPN360.com, ESPN
Alex Limberis, Chief Operating Officer, Syabas Technology
Bryan Biniak, CEO, Jacked
Rick Song, Senior Director, Eastern US Sales, Microsoft Advertising
Ben Mendelson, co-founder and president, Interactive Television Alliance, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH10
Hollywood and Media Reinvented – Traditional Media Transformed! HD Video, Internet Video, Broadband, Mobile & Games
Tom Meyer, President, Davie Brown Entertainment
Richard Sussman, Director, Media & Entertainment, Nielsen Online
Jason Rubinstein, GM/VP Digital Media, redbox
Scott Bushman, Vice President, Content & Business Development, Metacafe
Perry Wu, CEO & Founder, BitGravity
Yahav Isak, Director of Interactive Production, JWT
Larry Gerbrandt, Principal, Media Valuation Partners, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Track I – DH11 and CC9
The Broadband Economy: Video, Communications, Personalization, Social Media, Content, Lifestyle and Advertising Ecosystem
Shoshana Loeb, PhD, Executive Director and Chief Scientist, Telcordia Technologies
Dean Carignan, Director, Advertising Business Strategy, Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation
Steve West, Emerging Tehnology & Media, Alcatel-Lucent
Mark Yesayian, Managing Director, Digital West, MEC Interaction
Shawn Gold, CEO, Cocodot, former CMO, MySpace, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH12
Delivering Video Programming – Streaming and Live Broadband and Mobile: The Next Consumer Entertainment and Information Experience
Justin Kan, founder and President, Justin.tv
Dina Kaplan, co-founder, blip.tv
Marc Scarpa, CEO, SimplyNew
Vic Odryna, Co-Founder and CEO, ZeeVee
Rony Zarom, founder and CEO, Watchitoo
Uri Shinar, CEO, Aniboom
Mariana Danilovic, Managing Director, Hollywood Portfolio, LLC
Lauren Cole, President, Cole Media, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Saturday, January 9th
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Track I – DH13
Internet Video, Advertising & Marketing: The Next Generation of Consumer Reach
Chris Allen, Vice President/Director of Video Innovation, Starcom USA
Avi Savar, CEO, Big Fuel
Krish Menon, CTO, the newsmarket
Diaz Nesamoney, CEO, Jivox
David Burch, Director of Marketing, TubeMogul
Adam Boyden, President, Conduit
Heather Way, Research Analyst, Parks Associates, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH14
Content Rights and Technology Solutions in Media and Entertainment: From Standardization to Implementation of New Technology Strategies
Josh Kline, President & CEO of Secure Path
Steve Oetegenn, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Verimatrix
Rajan Samtani, Director, Business Development, Digimarc Corporation
Anthony Bay, CEO of MOD Systems
Show Rights, speaker to be announced
James M. Burger, Attorney at Law, Dow Lohnes, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Noon – 1:00 PM
Track I – DH15
Monetizing Digital Content – Innovative Ideas as Media, Entertainment and Technology Transform the Economy
Marty Roberts, Vice President of Marketing, thePlatform™
Stuart Rosove, Vice President, Media & Entertainment, Digimarc Corporation
Brian Lakamp, EVP Digital Media, Premiere Radio Networks
Jim Benz, Executive Director, CSG Systems
Matt Knopf, Vice President, Business Development, PLYmedia
David E. Leibowitz, Managing Partner, CH Potomac, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH16
Branded Media Marketing – Across Platforms – TV, Film, Broadband, Mobile, Virtual Worlds, Music and Games – Reinventing the Commerce & Media Model
Anne White, Vice President, Content Strategy & Development, Premier Retail Networks (PRN)
Lisa Marino, Vice President, Sales, RockYou
Darren Hardy, Publisher and Editorial Director, Success Magazine
Michael Moroney, Senior VP of Digital Media, TBA Global
Robert E. Quicksilver, Chief Content Officer, Tidal TV
Charlie Tercek, Creative Director, Serial, Ascent Media Group
Andy Meyers, President, M3 Television
Allison Dollar, CEO, ITV Alliance, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Track I – DH17
Inventing TV 2.0 – Broadband Enriches Channelized Content – Defining the Set Top Box, Streaming Media Adapter, Downloadable Consumer Experience
Ramon Cazares, VP Business Development, Cresta Technology
David Henry, Senior Director of Product Marketing for Consumer and Home Products, NETGEAR
Leslie Chard, President of WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) LLC
Peter Low, President and COO, Ensequence
Dan Marotta, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Broadband, Communications Group, Broadcom
Michele McGarry, Vice President of Business Development, ThinkAnalytics
BigBand Networks, Speaker to be announced
Jonathan Hurd, Director, Altman Vilandrie & Company, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH18
Content Delivery, Rich Media, IPTV and Internet TV Connectivity – Enabling the Connected Broadband and TV Universe
Rajan Raghavan, CEO & Co-founder, Vice President, Business Development, Ankeena Networks
John Bishop, SVP Business Development/Strategy, Inlet Technologies
Doug Junkins, Vice President of IP Development, Global IP Network, NTT America
Daniel S. Simpkins, Chairman and CEO, Hillcrest Labs
Katherine L. Parker, Internet, Media & Entertainment Industry Sales Global Business Development Manager, former, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Track I – DH19
Advertising Analytics and Social Media, Search, Video Search and HyperTargeting
Ian Swanson, co-founder and CEO, Sometrics
Ben Straley, CEO, Meteor Solutions
Jennifer Black, Vice President, Marketing, Local.com
Zvika Netter, CEO & co-founder, Innovid
Craig Danuloff, President & Founder, ClickEquations
Wes Nichols, Co-Founder and CEO, MarketShare Partners
Rob Crumpler, President and CEO BuzzLogic
Donald A. Jasko, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Economics, Moderator
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here

Track II – DH20
Next Generation P2P Music and Film – DRM, Paid for Pass-Along and Other Legal Distributed Computing Models and the Entertainment Industries
Michael Papish, CEO and Co-founder, MediaUnbound
Marty Lafferty, CEO, Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), Moderator
Additional speakers to be announced
For Session Description & Speaker Bios Click Here