07/10/2009 - The Perspectives for Over the Top Television

INTERVIEW. The emergence of Over the Top Television (OTT) technologies is not widely viewed as a threat to the existence of telcos in their quest to transform IPTV services, an official has said.

Victor Dominguez, vice president of DS2, a leading provider of semiconductors for high-speed communications over existing wires, said fears doing the rounds in the information communication technology sector had no substance at the moment.

29/07/2009 - Sky Picks Pace STB to Roll-out HD Content in Germany and Austria

PayTV operator Sky has selected Pace's HD technology for its set-top box deployments in Germany and Austria, which will begin rolling out in August.
Pace has been a set-top box technology partner of Sky, formerly Premiere, for a number of years.

23/07/2009 - VOD Viewing Jumps 15% in June

The number of people watching video-on-demand (VOD) programming in the US surged in June - fuelled by rises in the popularity of pay-per-view content and more children taking advantage of free programming, according to Rentrak.
The increases made June the most-viewed month for video-on-demand this year, delivering more than 589 million transactions.

17/06/2009 - LG Delivers First HDTVs To Instantly Stream Netflix

LG is introducing the first HDTVs capable of streaming Netflix movies without the need for an external device such as game console or set-top box.
The online movie rental service will be available in North America on LG's new 47-inch LCD HDTV LH50 and 50-inch plasma HDTV PS80.

04/06/2009 - Growth in HDTVs Driving Demand for HD STBs

Shipments of set-top boxes are expected to peak this year, at least in mature markets, and then commence a gradual decline.
However the rolling series of analog TV shutoffs in countries around the world, combined with the strong uptake of HDTV sets, mean that HD STBs will form a growing fraction of the total market, according to ABI Research.

15/05/2009 - VUDU Partners Brightcove For Ad-Supported STB content

VUDU has agreed a partnership with online video platform Brightcove that will allow its customers to distribute their content directly to the living room television via VUDU.
The first feature available in the VUDU Labs area of the VUDU service will be the MyPlay application, which offers current Sony Music videos through Sony Music's MyPlay Video Network affiliate program.

06/05/2009 - Vudu Extends Content To 3rd Party Hardware

Vudu is to make its 14,000-plus movie library available on Entone set-top boxes and DVRs.
The deal is the first time Vudu's content, including around 1,500 HD movies, has been made available on third-party hardware.

28/04/2009 - 2011 Peak For SD DTT STB semiconductors

High-definition Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) set top boxes (STBs) offer semiconductor makers a short term spike in opportunity.
However, standard definition (SD) DTT STBs will be a more sustainable market for manufacturers, according to In-Stat.

01/04/2009 - AnySource Media: Simple UI is Key To Internet-enabled HDTV

INTERVIEW: Mike Harris, CEO of AnySource Media, talks to hdtv.biz-news about his company's Internet-enabled TV platform that will start appearing in HDTV sets in the second half of 2009. The Internet Video Navigator (IVN) allows users to view Internet video on their HDTVs alongside traditional TV networks - without requiring a separate box or complicated wiring.

31/03/2009 - HD-Capable Device Shipments To Triple by 2012

As HD becomes the global video standard shipments of high-definition set-top boxes (STBs), camcorders, DVD players and video-game consoles are expected to triple from 2008 to 2012, according to iSuppli.
Shipments of HD-capable equipment in these categories will rise to 202 million units by 2012, up from 68.9 million in 2008.

27/02/2009 - Celeno Technology Enables Multiple HDTV Streams Around Home

Technology that delivers multiple HDTV streams from PCs to TVs and other electronic devices around the home could be launched by the summer.
Israeli-based Celeno Communications is field-testing in-home WiFi networks with backing from Cisco.

25/02/2009 - Deal With Broadcom Brings Chumby's Widgets To HDTVs

Widget company chumby's media Internet platform is to start appearing on HDTVs, set-top-boxes and Blu-ray players thanks to a deal struck with Broadcom Corporation.
The tie-up will see chumby's interactive multimedia widgets integrated into Broadcom's latest system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions.

13/01/2009 - Slingbox Founders' Departure Completes Transition

Various members of Sling Media's top management, including several founders, have announced their departure from the company.
The move follows Echostar's acquisition of Sling for USD $380 million in 2007.

05/01/2009 - Amazon Video On Demand Brings New-Release Movies To Roku

Roku has agreed a deal that will give its set-top box users access to Amazon’s video on demand (VOD) content.
The agreement means owners of Roku digital video players will be able to instantly purchase, rent and watch digital movies and TV episodes from the Amazon service.

29/07/2008 - Set Top Box unit shipments spike as digital TV services proliferate

Strong demand for digital STBs led to record shipments totalling 143 million units in 2007, according to market analysts In-Stat.
The results ensure that the digital STB market remains one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer electronics industry.

29/07/2008 - HDTV-enabled receivers boost Pace's STB shipments

UK set-top box specialist Pace saw box shipments rise 55 per cent in the first half of this year with HDTV-enabled receivers with built-in hard drives fuelling the growth.
Pace is now working with 17 of the world’s top 25 pay-TV operators, and reported a CAGR of its HD-PVR shipments up 49%.

10/07/2008 - Glorious HDTV - no strings attached

Belkin have announced a wireless HD transmitter that gives 1080p resolution to any HDTV in the home.
The Flywire HDMI hub wirelessly connects devices such as Blu-ray players, receivers, video-game consoles, and set-top boxes to HDTVs and projectors, transmitting a high-definition 1080p True Cinema picture resolution.

01/07/2008 - Cable operators will continue to shoulder the cost of STBs unless testing is adopted to ensure all devices work in all cable systems.

A retail market for tru2way compliant set-top boxes (STBs) in the US will never emerge unless they are portable across cable systems.
That’s the conclusion of Steve Wilson, principal analyst with ABI Research, who expects the biggest challenge to tru2way to be interoperability.
In his research brief, “The Outlook for tru2way”, Wilson describes it as a “double-edged sword” for operators.
“On one hand, cable operators want to ‘own’ the customer’s entire user experience and they aren’t ready to allow others to start loading applications into the STB,” he said.
“On the other, an open cable standard will reduce the tremendous cost burden custom systems and STBs place on the entire cable business.”