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As though saving time wasn't enough of a reason to enjoy DVR services, NDS, a manufacture of DVR technology, has released the stats from a recent survey that says 79% of respondents felt that using a DVR has improved their relationship with their partner, while 81% of respondents felt that owning a DVR has improved family life by allowing more time for family bonding and less time for arguing over what to watch. Can it really be that simple? In light of said statistics, perhaps the cable companies should offer family counseling services in order to keep up with competition…

It's a bird, it's a plane, nope, it's SUPERCOMM again! The brand name that stood for almost twenty years before making a split and then coming together again as NXTcomm has decided to return to its formerly famous moniker per a decision by co-owners the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom). "This change marks a new era for SUPERCOMM. We are re-establishing this event due to popular demand and structuring it to better serve today's 21st century communications providers and partners. Broadband and the applications and solutions enabled by it hold the key to the future of communications and we are well positioned to meet the needs of this marketplace," said event organizers in a joint statement. Will the name change return the event to its former glory after the split that occurred almost three-years ago broke it into smaller shows? While that still remains to be seen, we can probably expect that at least some of those poor lost souls left wandering the telecom landscape in search of the familiarity of an 18-year old brand name will inevitably find their way back. It will be awhile before we know for sure since the show doesn't occur until early June of 2009, but Pipeline will definitely keep an eye out for the answer as the date approaches.

It was recently announced the IPsphere, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the benefits of IP convergence,

to Service Delivery Platforms and Service Oriented Architecture. The closer alignment of these work efforts will deliver great benefits to our broad membership." Some details shared via a press conference reveal that the IPsphere program will be led by a seven-person steering committee, more than half of which is made up of service providers; all IPsphere member companies will become TM Forum members; and that testing of the new IPsphere program will be completed in October, with results available at the IPsphere focus area at TM Forum Orlando.

Alcatel-Lucent is facing some leadership changes. As of September 2nd, the company announced that Ben Verwaayen, a 56-year old Dutch national who was the former CEO of BT, has been selected as the new CEO of Alcatel-Lucent. Philippe Camus, formerly the co-CEO at European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) has been selected as the company's non-executive Chairman starting on October 1st of 2008. A few days later, Cindy Christy, leader of the Americas region and a Lucent Technologies carry-over, resigned from her position. Alcatel-Lucent doesn't seem to have issued a formal press release on the topic.

Amdocs has been chosen to employ its Amdocs CES (Customer Experience Systems) for T-Mobile Croatia, the largest mobile provider in the country, in order to improve customer experience. Siemens IT Solutions