ng Connect Program Expands LTE Mobile Broadband Ecosystem With Five New Members; Establishes Two New Labs and Demonstration Centers

KANATA, Ontario -

- Creative Labs, Inc., Gemalto, Kabillion, R360 and V-Gate Join the Multi-Industry Initiative; Next Generation Service Demonstrations Now Available in Paris and Villaceaux Labs for European Operators

Today, the ng Connect Program (www.ngconnect.org/) announced that five new members - Creative Labs, Inc., Gemalto, Kabillion, R360 and V-Gate - have joined its diverse ecosystem of infrastructure, device, content and applications companies working to enhance the next generation broadband end user experience. The program is also launching today two new next generation service Proofs of Concept (PoC) for secure access to mobile networks and interactive digital signage. ng Connect PoCs are now available in two new labs in the Paris area for demonstration to European operators. Today’s announcement brings total membership in the program to 26 and completed PoCs to eight in less than a year after its launch.

The ng Connect Program, founded by Alcatel-Lucent (www.alcatel-lucent.com/wps/portal/country?LMSG_CABINET=Corporate&LMSG_CONTENT_FILE=Country_Content/USA/Country.xml&lu_lang_code=en_US) continues to develop innovative application and solution PoCs to drive adoption of next generation broadband networks as they become commercially available. The PoCs illustrate the user benefits provided by next generation networks to a wide range of industries including consumer media and entertainment, enterprise collaboration and e-Healthcare, automotive connectivity, digital signage and network-based computing. ng Connect Program members are collaborating on the development of these sample services which illustrate the performance benefits of 4G and LTE networks as service providers and network operators begin to deploy their next generation networks.

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The new members include:

Creative Labs, Inc. (us.creative.com/) - a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster(R) sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed ZEN MP3 and portable media players. Creative’s innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment-anytime, anywhere.

Gemalto (www.gemalto.com/) - the world leader in digital security (www.gemalto.com/companyinfo/digital_security.html). The company delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. Gemalto supplies governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises with a wide range of secure personal devices, such as Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM), Universal Identity Circuit Cards (UICC) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, smart card access badges, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. Gemalto also provides software, systems and services to help its customers achieve their goals.

Kabillion

(www.ngconnect.org/news/new-release-10-04-07e.htm) - an Emmy Award-winning multi-platform kids’ entertainment program service available both as a free Video-on-Demand (VOD) channel and a free online broadband site (www.Kabillion.com). Initially launched on Comcast Cable’s Select On Demand across the U.S., the VOD platform is now also available to digital cable subscribers nationwide on Charter and Bresnan cable systems, with more to be added soon. Kabillion offers high-quality animated and live-action kids’ series entertainment on both platforms.

R360 (www.ngconnect.org/news/new-release-10-04-07a.htm) - at the edge of tomorrow’s Enterprise 2.0 today, the company is developing and rolling out the R360 mobile handheld software that features all the capabilities of the R360 online productivity tool for businesses and groups and is powered by the coRe(TM) computing platform. This cloud computing approach offers mobile and PC-based access to secure and private business productivity suites on higher end phones and mobile devices. R360 (www.ngconnect.org/news/new-release-10-04-07a.htm) offers a new concept in affordable SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions for business enterprises and telecom service providers seeking to offer the latest in mobile technology and monetize existing subscribers.

V-Gate

(www.ngconnect.org/news/new-release-10-04-07b.htm) - a new division of Scientific Computers GmbH (www.v-gate.de/) offers two key products: metaport, a new procedure for transmitting 3D content in real time to mobile devices, and caribo, a mobile location-based service that allows users to find a rideshare or another mode of transportation via their mobile handsets. Scientific Computers addresses the IT needs of the automotive, medical technologies, transportation and telecommunications industries.

Expanding Laboratories Around the World

To ignite collaboration between the various members, ng Connect - through founding member Alcatel-Lucent - now offers access to R&D and proof-of-concept demonstration facilities in six locations around the world, including: Ottawa, Canada; Dallas, TX; Murray Hill, NJ; Stuttgart, Germany, and now Paris and Villaceaux, France. ng Connect members work hand in hand to develop and test applications and solutions and collaborate on joint demonstrations over real LTE networks in the labs. Since February 2009, these collaborations have created eight compelling demonstrations that showcase future applications over next generation networks for the education, healthcare, advertising, digital signage and entertainment industries. Service providers and network operators interested in better understanding how to deploy cutting-edge rich services to attract and retain customers can now see these prototypes in action in labs and development centers worldwide.

Today’s new ng Connect Program PoCs include: - Advanced approach to secure and cost-effective mobile access to corporate and cloud applications for telcos through hardware-based authentication and single sign-on with Gemalto (www.ngconnect.org/news/new-release-10-04-07d.htm) - The first “HumanKiosk(TM)” prototype (www.ngconnect.org/news/new-release-10-04-07c.htm) - a digital signage solution developed by MediaTile in collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent, which integrates 4GVideoPresence(TM) technology to support real time, interactive video sessions between consumers in-store with product questions and the brand representative. Visit www.mediatile.com for more information.

To find more information about all of the ng Connect Program’s PoCs and commercialization opportunities, please visit www.ngconnect.org/ecosystem/proofs-of-concept.htm

“Since launching six months ago, we have been very pleased with the high level of support we have received from our membership and the progress we have made in building this ecosystem for next generation network services. They say it takes a village to raise a child and similarly it takes an ecosystem to successfully launch the adoption of broadband networks like LTE,” said Derek Kuhn, Vice President of Emerging Technology and Media at Alcatel-Lucent. “We’re excited about the next six months as the first next generation broadband networks are rolled out. Our members will be there with the latest applications, devices and content for people to take full advantage of the fastest speeds and features of these new networks.”

“Creative is very pleased to join the ng Connect Program because the mission of this initiative compliments our commitment to product innovation, which offers consumers a complete, high quality mobile video conferencing experience via Creative inPerson, that will drive the adoption of next generation broadband networks,” stated Jeff Stoen, Vice President and General Manager of inPerson Conferencing at Creative Labs, Inc.

“The ng Connect Program and its members share Gemalto’s vision which is to give customers the freedom to access innovative services anytime, anywhere across all devices and networks. We see LTE and the Universal Identity Circuit Card, the UICC, as the keys to unlock a more open mobile telecommunications world. Our vision is for operators to customize devices with the UICC and expand their security to promote a secure platform for any kind of mobile application,” said Michel Canitrot, Senior Vice President, LTE & Advanced Telecom Offers at Gemalto. “We see a future where consumers select operators for their services, devices for their features, and use the UICC to receive the highest quality secure services and applications.”

About the ng Connect Program

The ng Connect Program is a multi-industry organization committed to the development and rapid deployment of the next generation of broadband services based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) and other ultra high bandwidth technologies. Founded in 2009, the ng Connect Program is supported by leading network, consumer electronics, application and content providers including 4DK, Alcatel-Lucent, Atlantic Records, BUZZMEDIA, chumby, Connect2Media, Creative Technology Ltd., dimedis, FISHLABS, GameStreamer, Inc., Gemalto, HP, Intamac Systems Ltd., Kabillion, Kyocera Communications Inc., LearningMate, MediaTile, QNX, R360, RebelVox LLC., Samsung, SIGNEXX, Total Immersion, TuneWiki, V-Gate and Words & Numbers. For more information on the ng Connect Program, please visit: www.ngconnect.org.

Source: Compagnie Financiere Alcatel Lucent

ng Connect Press Contacts: Pamela Preston, Tel: +1-212-616-6001, ppreston at breakawaycom.com; Alicia Mickelsen, Tel: +1-212-616-6002, amick at breakawaycom.com