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Hughes Launches Fastest Ever Satellite Broadband Access Plans for Businesses Throughout the U.S.

New HughesNet Business Internet Plans Bring Affordable and Reliable Broadband Access at Speeds up to 5 Mbps

Hughes Network Systems, LLC the global leader in broadband satellite network solutions and services, today announced the availability of HughesNet Business Internet service plans, the fastest satellite Internet plans ever offered, bringing affordable, reliable, and high-performance broadband access to small- and mid-sized businesses (SMB) throughout the nation.

Starting at only $59.99 per month, HughesNet Business Internet plans have been specifically tailored to the SMB market complete with competitive pricing and flexible billing options. Customers can choose from seven plans, with speeds up to 1 Mbps on the uplink and up to 5 Mbps on the downlink, and are available to SMBs regardless of their location, which may be outside the reach of terrestrial cable and DSL providers.

"We estimate that there are over three million underserved businesses in the U.S.," said Sam Baumel, assistant vice president of SMB at Hughes. "Because of where they're located, these business owners don't have access to DSL, are using a slow dial-up connection, or are paying for costly T-1 service. Our new HughesNet Business Internet plans offer an affordable, nationwide solution that will help any small business stay connected and grow."

'Most' of US now online

The number of Internet users in the US has been growing rapidly over the last year, a recent Harris Poll has discovered.

There are now approximately 178 million Americans online, which is a ten percent increase on the number last year. A full 79 percent of adults in the US are online, or one in every five. And now 72 percent of adults have internet access at home, compared to 70 percent last year and 66 percent in 2005.

Harris Interactive stated in the poll: "As internet penetration continues to grow, the demographic profile of users continues to look more like that of the nation as a whole. "It is still true that more young than older people and more affluent than low-income people, are online, but nine per cent of those online are now age 65 or over, compared with 16 per cent of all adults who are 65 or over."

Approximately 39 percent of the Americans who are going online have never been to a university and 13 percent earn less than $25,000.

For more information on digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Safeguard Scientifics Leads $9.7 Million Financing Round for Broadband National Inc.

Leading Comparative Shopping Website for Broadband Related Services and Products Such as High Speed Internet, VoIP and Cable TV

WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE:SFE), a holding company that builds value in growth-stage technology and life sciences companies, today announced that it led a $9.7 million financing round to obtain an $8 million stake in Broadband National Inc., an internet media company that operates a network of shopping websites focused on digital services and products such as high speed internet, digital phone, VoIP, digital TV and music. Existing investors Constellation Ventures II, a Bear Stearns Asset Management venture capital fund that focuses on media, communications and technology companies, and select angel round contributors, also participated in this round. The proceeds will help Broadband National expand into new vertical markets, continue development of its technology platform, pursue selective acquisitions and provide partial liquidity to a founder.

With offices located in Vero Beach, FL and Atlanta, GA, Broadband National was founded in 2003 to clarify a fragmented and confusing digital services marketplace by supplying a simplified shopping experience through unique content, education and comparison services to end users. Residential and small business customers can use Broadband National’s Integrated Broadband Information System (IBIS) technology platform to compare thousands of digital services offerings from more than 50 key advertisers. Broadband National’s advertising partners include an impressive list of market leaders including Comcast, AT&T, Charter, Real Networks, Vonage, Qwest, Time Warner, and Verizon.

“As our ninth technology partner company, Broadband National expands upon the number of companies that fall within the Internet-based business concentration of Safeguard’s strategic focus,” said Peter J. Boni, President and CEO of Safeguard. “Broadband National’s technology platform provides a single point of contact for consumers, exposing them to a wide range of digital service providers with a single interface. This reinforces Safeguard’s objective, to find the entrepreneurs, give them the growth capital, operational support services and strategic guidance required to build a great company. We welcome Broadband National to the Safeguard team.”

“Broadband National participates in the growing customer generation segment of the overall market for digital services in the United States, including broadband internet access, cable and satellite TV, IPTV, music, and VoIP, which has been projected to grow to $10 trillion by 2014,” said John A. Loftus, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the Technology Group at Safeguard. “Broadband National’s IBIS technology platform facilitates the rapid release of emerging digital services such as VoIP, digital music downloads and satellite radio. Over time, we anticipate additional services to migrate to the digital domain. Broadband National will be well positioned to take advantage of this broader market opportunity.”

“As part of this financing round, we were looking for a strategic partner that would support our strategy to augment our organization through vertical market expansion and growth via organic growth and selected acquisitions,” said Vinny Olmstead, President and CEO of Broadband National. “Safeguard’s ability to provide strategic guidance along with operational and management resources will enable us to achieve our goals and ultimately build value for our advertisers and customers.”

As part of this transaction, Kevin L. Kemmerer, Senior Vice President of the Technology Group at Safeguard, has joined Broadband National’s Board of Directors.

About Broadband International Inc.

Broadband National with offices in Vero Beach, FL and Atlanta, GA, is the leading comparative shopping website for digital services and products such as high speed internet, VoIP and digital TV. With the leading digital service providers integrated into one technology platform, Broadband National provides the only nationwide solution to both residential and small business customers. Broadband National’s proprietary IBIS technology platform; integrated operating processes; API engine; and leading personnel expertise enable customers to access objective digital comparisons, including service offers, product offers, and guaranteed lowest pricing. Backend integrations with leading advertising clients such as AT&T, Qwest, Time Warner, Comcast, Covad, and Verizon assures the end customers real time information to make choices for thousand of digital services. Broadband National also licenses its content and IBIS technology platform to retailers, third party call centers, service providers, VoIP suppliers, and third party websites. www.broadbandnational.com

About Safeguard

Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE:SFE) builds value in growth-stage technology and life sciences businesses. Safeguard provides growth capital as well as a range of strategic, operational and management resources to our partner companies. Safeguard participates in expansion financings, corporate spin-outs, management buyouts, recapitalizations, industry consolidations and early-stage financings. www.safeguard.com

Christians Approve Of Internet Dating

Many Christians believe that it is acceptable to meet and date people online, according to a recent survey.

God can bring people together using internet dating sites was the general consensus from the survey, which was carried out by the popular Christian portal ChristiaNet.com. Of the 314 people surveyed, 157 answered a positive yes to the question of whether Christians should date on the internet. And 98 readers were unsure about meeting someone on the Internet. Bill Cooper, president of ChristiaNet, said: "Christian singles should choose a Christian site for meeting other believers."

An unnamed contributor to the site said that she and her husband met online and have been happily married for seven years. However, another contributor wrote: "No, absolutely not!" "There is no safe way to really know who you are hooking up with on the internet."

ChristiaNet is currently one of the largest international Christian web portals on the net. For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Public warned of fake government emails

Internet users have been warned of thousands of fake emails purporting to be from various government agencies being disseminated around the internet.

The emails pretend to be from agencies such as the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Those that receive the emails are asked to divulge personal details such as social security numbers and bank account information.

Lois Greisman, associate director of the FTC's division of marketing practices, said: "We are the agency that brought you the Do Not Call Registry and CAN-SPAM. "We're not likely to send out unsolicited emails." CAN-SPAM is a law from 2003 that restricts the sending of commercial spam emails. According to a report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, the number of phishing websites rose to 37,438 in May of this year, compared to 11,976 during the same month in 2006.

Last month, the Treasury said that it has received thousands of complaints about spam emails claiming to be from the IRS. For more information on digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Verizon Introduces FiOS Media Guide

Verizon has announced that it is to offer an interactive media guide for its FiOS customers.

The guide will let users of the service swiftly and efficiently find the content that they wish to peruse. FiOS is Verizon's fiber to the home telecommunications and broadband service. Verizon is the first carrier in the US to offer such a service.

Shawn Strickland, Verizon vice president of video solutions, said: "We've capitalized on our investment in an ultra-fast, highly responsive fiber-optic network to deliver a customer experience that marries the best interactivity of the web with the highest-quality programming experience in the marketplace." The guide merges the television, Internet and other media and makes it simpler for users to customize and enjoy media, added Mr. Strickland.

FiOS customers will not be charged for the new guide, which can be obtained through a network download. The word fios is an ancient Irish term for knowledge, claims Verizon.

For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

iPhone Hacked

Apple's much-touted new iPhone has been hacked into by a team of security experts in Maryland.

Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) has claimed that it has found a flaw in the iPhone which could let hackers access private data kept on the phone. A cyber criminal could gain entry to the phone either through a wireless access point or a website, according to ISE. Since its release earlier this month hackers all over the world have been trying to find a weakness in iPhone, however this is the first successful attempt.

ISE explained that the iPhone connects to wireless internet networks by name, so an attacker could conceivably make up a network with the same name as one already used by the phone. Then instead of accessing a web page, the phone would access exploit code, allowing a hacker to control the phone. A spokesperson from Apple told the New York Times: "Apple takes security very seriously and has a great track record of addressing potential vulnerabilities before they can affect users."

For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Swedish granny sets fastest Internet record

A 75-year-old Swedish woman has become the owner of the fastest residential broadband connection in the world.

Sigbritt Lothberg's 40 gigabits-per-second connection was set up for her by her son, Peter, a networking expert who works for Cisco Systems. Mr. Lothberg said: "We wanted to show that that there are no limitations to internet speed. "She's a brand new internet user. She didn't even have a computer before."

A new modulation technique was used in setting up the connection, involving the sending of information between two routers spaced 1,240 miles apart, with no transponders in between. Using her high-speed internet connection, Ms Lothberg could download an entire movie in less than two seconds. This is thousands of times faster than a regular residential connection.

Ms Lothberg lives in Karlstad in central Sweden and mainly uses her connection to read online newspapers. The average residential internet connection speed is eight Mbps.

For more information on high-speed Internet connections visit www.dsldance.com

Google plans search service

Internet search giant Google is to debut a new mobile search service that will let users search for ringtones, games and other content online, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The move is part of a wider effort by the company to invest more heavily in the wireless sector and challenge companies such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Though Google already has a mobile version of its popular web search, the company now plans to become a mobile access point for all internet content.

Seattle-based Medio, which currently runs a similar service for T-Mobile and Verizon, is another company that could be threatened by the new service. Google also unveiled at the beginning of this week a new service that will allow small and medium-sized companies to offer customers a search function on their websites. Dubbed Google Custom Search Business Edition, the product will cost $100 per year and will not require the businesses to display Google advertisements.

For more information on digital product6s and services visit www.dsldance.com

Google acquires online security firm

Google has announced that it has acquired Postini, a provider of security and compliance solutions for business and other users around the world.

The deal is said to be worth $625 million and will see Postini, which provides services to over 35,000 businesses, become a subsidiary of Google. The company's message security and encryption services can be used to help protect a company's email and other web-based communication systems.

Commenting on the agreement, Eric Schmidt, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Google, said: "With this transaction, we're reinforcing our commitment to delivering compelling hosted applications to businesses of all sizes." Using Postini's expertise, Google's hosting applications can help to "streamline" information security mandates for its client organizations, he added. Postini claims that its security technology helps to block more than one billion spam emails and processes two billion connections every day.

For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

New "Thank You" Web Site Launched

New "thank you" web site launched

As social networking sites become increasingly popular, internet users will soon be able to post messages of gratitude and share their experiences on a new web site. Unveiled this week, Thanks-o-meter.com provides a total of the number of "thank you" messages posted by visitors, as well as offering statistics showing which categories are the most selected.

George Garner, creator of the site, said: "I'd like it to become a catalyst for bringing attention to the positive things happening in our communities." Visitors are also able to write their own stories and attach private messages to their postings.

The growth in popularity of social networking sites was recently illustrated by figures publishhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifed by comScore which showed that in May the number of people in the US using Facebook.com reached 26.6 million. According to the company, this figure represented an 89 per cent increase on the number of unique visitors recorded during the corresponding month last year.

For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

PCs to become 'second screens' in US homes

Video content transmitted via PCs is becoming increasingly prevalent in American homes, according to a new survey.

In a yearly study about trends in usage of the internet and technology, called The Face of the Web, it emerged that online video activities are driving growth in the digital media sector.

The Ipsos Insight research found that at the end of 2006, 36 percent of Americans have watched video streams or TV programs online. This is an increase of eight percent from the year before. In addition, three-quarters of adults have used the internet to watch videos in the 30 days before the poll.

Video content is a "predominant" part of the daily lives of Americans, according to the executive vice president and managing director of Ipsos Insight's technology and communications practice, Brian Cruikshank. "Increasing penetration of broadband access and PC ownership globally signals that the PC will begin to really assert itself as a 'second screen' within the household," he added.

Research by consultancy Point Topic revealed last month that the US has the highest level of broadband penetration in the world, with more than 60 million subscribers.

For more information on digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Online Music Service Sales Increase

The music industry suffered a significant loss in physical music sales in 2006, but the digital music market continued to grow, a new report has revealed.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), physical music shipments, such as CDs, fell by 11 percent to $17.5 billion last year, while digital shipments increased by 85 percent to $2.1 billion. Commenting on the figures, IFPI chairman John Kennedy said that the industry had hoped the loss in physical sales would have been offset by the growth in music downloads. "But while digital sales have grown as expected, physical sales have fallen by more than expected," he remarked.

The IFPI stated that digital music formats, which include those downloaded onto computers and cell phones, accounted for 11 per cent of total shipments last year. In related news, reports earlier this week suggested that Universal did not intend to renew its contract with Apple's iTunes for the online distribution of its music.

For information on other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Yahoo! launches new online marketing tool

Yahoo! has announced the launch of a new customized advertising product that tailors promotions to the web users' characteristics.

SmartAds enables marketers to target Internet users by taking their age, gender, location and online use into account, CNET News reports.

Yahoo! spokesperson Guade Paez described the new service, which also boasts an advertisement creation tool, as "behavioral targeting".

"This makes display advertising more of a direct response vehicle than just branding," she commented.

According to the news provider, the new advertisements are expected to first appear on Yahoo!'s publisher sites before being rolled out across its other partner web sites.

Last month, Yahoo! combined its US-based search and display advertising sales teams as part of its continuing effort to meet the requirements of its marketing customers.

Sue Decker, president of the firm, said that by joining the two services, Yahoo! could "better serve" its advertisers and build upon its position in the market.

For more information on digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Warner Debuts Free Music Service

It has been announced that Warner Music Group's Lala.com is to offer songs to listen to for free online.

Using the site, owners of iPods can keep their iTunes libraries online, where they will be able to be accessed from anywhere and shared with any user. Lala.com also allows users to trade CDs online for a nominal fee as well as selling tracks that can be uploaded directly onto an iPod.

Founder of Lala.com Bill Nguyen accused the studios of having "done everything they can to get people to hate music." He added that Napster, which was shut down in July 2001 after an injunction was issued against it, was the "last good thing to happen to music that people loved".

"We wondered what would happen if we built a new Napster, with one hope that if you trust the consumer and don't think they are the enemy then you won't get screwed," Mr Nguyen added. Currently Lala.com has approximately 300,000 members and charges $1 per disc for users to swap CDs among themselves.

"Music is and will always be a driving force of the Internet, states Mark Weibel, EVP of Marketing for Broadband National Inc. who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website for digital products and services. "Recently, there has been a boom in "boutique" music stores that cater to specific audiences. For example, Beatportand Bleep cater to the electronic music community. Magnatune, Amie Street, and Mindawn are other examples of sites that cater to specific audiences. "

For more information on broadband and other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Search Results Can Be Risky

The results of Internet searches are exposing users to malware, according to a recent report from the software security company McAfee.

At least four percent of all search results could lead users to websites that could download malware, the study found. However, the study also found that the number of such results with malware fell one percent on last year's results.

Most likely to contain websites with malware are the sponsored search results purchased by their owners which appear at the top of a page. The author of the study, Ben Edelman, told vnunet.com: "The search engines could do more. "These advertisers rely completely on search engines, so the search engines are uniquely positioned to kill these businesses."

In the study, Mr. Edelman analyzed the initial 50 results from 2,300 of the most popular keywords on Yahoo! Google, AOL, MSN and Ask.com. Meanwhile, levels of malware have climbed over the last year at a greater rate than in the years before, a recent report has found. In their most recent report, IBM's Internet security systems researchers detected over 7,200 weaknesses, most of which could be exploited by attackers.

Spyware programs are sometimes installed as Trojan horses of one sort or another. They differ in that their creators present themselves openly as businesses, for instance by selling advertising space on the pop-ups created by the malware, states Mark Weibel EVP of Marketing for Broadband National Inc who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website for digital products and services. “Most such programs present the user with an end-user license agreement which purportedly protects the creator from prosecution under computer contaminant laws. However, spyware EULAs have not yet been upheld in court.”

For more information on digital products and services visit
www.broadbandnational.com

U.S. Broadband To Boom By 2012

Improving affordability of broadband will mean that almost three-quarters of U.S. households will have high-speed Internet access by 2012, according to new research.

Competition between broadband providers will encourage 36 million new subscribers in the next five years, according to Jupiter Research. The company predicts the decline of dial-up, saying that the new generation of Internet users is more likely to go straight to broadband. Jupiter Research analyst Doug Williams said: "As broadband becomes more attractive to consumers from an economic perspective, current dial-up users will be more likely to migrate to broadband service, and consumers who are new to the online population will never take dial-up service in the first place."

He went on to say that the main providers of broadband, namely cable operators and local exchange carriers, would continue to dominate the market and alternative methods of receiving broadband would trail behind. Jupiter Research provides independent research, analysis and advice about the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on businesses.

"We’re seeing continued and strong growth in the number of new broadband users, states Mark Weibel EVP of Marketing for Broadband National Inc., who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website for digital products. "We have also discovered that as consumers purchase or upgrade to broadband they also upgrade to digital and HDTV as well. We also believe that the next explosive area for growth will be in VoIP and digital voice"

For more information on VoIP and other digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Search Results Can Be Risky

The results of Internet searches are exposing users to malware, according to a recent report from the software security company McAfee.

At least four percent of all search results could lead users to websites that could download malware, the study found. However, the study also found that the number of such results with malware fell one percent on last year's results.

Most likely to contain websites with malware are the sponsored search results purchased by their owners which appear at the top of a page. The author of the study, Ben Edelman, told vnunet.com: "The search engines could do more. "These advertisers rely completely on search engines, so the search engines are uniquely positioned to kill these businesses."

In the study, Mr. Edelman analyzed the initial 50 results from 2,300 of the most popular keywords on Yahoo! Google, AOL, MSN and Ask.com. Meanwhile, levels of malware have climbed over the last year at a greater rate than in the years before, a recent report has found. In their most recent report, IBM's Internet security systems researchers detected over 7,200 weaknesses, most of which could be exploited by attackers.

Spyware programs are sometimes installed as Trojan horses of one sort or another. They differ in that their creators present themselves openly as businesses, for instance by selling advertising space on the pop-ups created by the malware, states Mark Weibel EVP of Marketing for Broadband National Inc. who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website for digital products and services. “Most such programs present the user with an end-user license agreement which purportedly protects the creator from prosecution under computer contaminant laws. However, spyware EULAs have not yet been upheld in court.”

For more information on digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Sprint To Launch Wi-Max

Sprint has announced plans to expand availability of its new Wi-Max service to 100 million people across the U.S. by the end of 2008.

Trials in Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington DC have proved successful for the mobile broadband service provider and will form a solid base for the service's launch. The company claims that mobile Wi-Max is "one of the year's hottest topics" and "is set to alter the competitive landscape for high-speed multimedia applications". Sprint aims to provide customers with a nationwide mobile data network http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifthat is faster, cheaper and more convenient a "more enhanced multimedia quality" than anything other service.

It will work with partners Samsung, Motorola and Nokia and plans to invest up to $800 million this year and between $1.5 billion and $2 billion next year. The "advanced, data-centric mobile broadband network" will enable an "Internet everywhere experience", the company stated. Sprint started out as Kansas-based Brown Telephone Company in 1899 and was eventually reborn as a long-distance service in 1986.

"Many companies are closely examining WiMAX for "last mile" connectivity at high data rates,” states Mark Weibel, EVP of Marketing for Broadband National Inc. who operates the Internets leading comparative shopping website for digital products and services. “This could result in lower pricing for both home and business customers as competition lowers prices.”

For more information on digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com