Israel-based SintecMedia today announced that the company has acquired Pilat Media, both providers of media business management software. According to the Wall Street Journal, Pilat shareholders registered as of 6.00 p.m. (London) on April 2, 2014, shall receive 95 pence (US$1.60) in cash for per share, save where they have validly requested to receive such cash payment in NIS.

The GVF Oil & Gas Communications Brazil 2014: Big Oil, Big Data: The Deepwater Ocean Expanse conference (O&GCommsBrazil 2014, www.uk-emp.co.uk/current-events/o-g-comms-brazil-2014/) will take place at the Windsor Plaza Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro on 15th & 16th April 2014.

Various media outlets are reporting that U.S. Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite operators Echostar and DirecTV are engaging in possible merger talks. The merger will create a monopoly of DTH services in the U.S., which is the second largest DTH market in the world with 34 million subscribers.

DirecTV has 20 million subscribers in the US and Dish Network 14 million. Shares of Dish Network and DirecTV rose last  following the possible merger reports.

The NAB Show will feature sessions, workshops and panels on the increasing role of ultra high-definition standards for 4K television displays and production technology in the media and entertainment industry. To be held April 5 -10 in Las Vegas, NAB Show is the world's largest annual conference and expo for professionals who create, manage and distribute entertainment across all platforms.

“The advent of new standards bring new challenges: capturing 4K-quality content, editing and archiving resource-intensive footage, and distributing a final product across mediums.”

CASBAA, the Asia Pacific association for the broadcasting and related industries, held its inaugural CASBAA OTT Summit 2014: On Top of OTT on March 25, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt, Singapore. Focusing on the fast developing over-the-top (OTT) television services market, the event brought together thought leaders from across industries to share their experiences and insights into the evolving world of alternative content delivery, changing content consumption, technology, and revenue streams.

The Space Tech Expo and Conference 2014 opens its doors at the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach April 1 – 3, offering the widest showcase of space-related technologies used in the design, build and testing of spacecraft, satellite and launch vehicles, Space Tech Expo & Conference will bring together the key players involved in the space industry, under one roof.

The Kudelski Group announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Conax AS from Telenor Broadcast Holding AS for approximately CHF 200 million (approximately US$ 226 million). Headquartered in Oslo, Conax is a provider of content protection for digital TV services over broadcast, broadband and connected devices.

Social media has changed the way people interact with one another, and also how they discover, share and use content. It has become a unique and innovative platform for broadcasters to adopt, to effectively reach out to their existing and target audiences.  The impact of social media on audiences will be discussed in-depth at the BroadcastAsia2014 and CommunicAsia2014 conferences to be heldin Singapore from June 17-20, 2014.

Although telematics technologies and services were first adopted by the long-haul trucking industry in the United States more than 20 years ago, adoption in the non-trucking sector is expected to equal the trucking industry in terms of numbers of connected vehicles by the end of 2014 and will dominate the commercial fleet telematics industry by the end of 2019, accounting for almost 50 million vehicles globally.

Access to broadband could be the universal catalyst that lifts developing countries out of poverty and puts access to health care, education and basic social services within reach of all, according to the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development, which met in Dublin this weekend.

The Commission reiterated its call to International community to recognize the transformational potential of high-speed networks and ensure broadband penetration targets are specifically included in the UN post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.