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Tag: dvr

  • Home Networking Over Coax & Phone Wiring to Double in Two Years


    Demand for web video on TVs and whole-home DVR capability is driving demand for coax and phoneline networking, according to In-Stat.

    This is making it an increasingly important solution for home network connectivity, particularly for service provider provisioned networks.

    So much so that In-Stat forecasts that cumulative households with an in-home provider network utilizing coax/phoneline technology in North America will more than double from 2008 to 2010.

    Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst, said consumers want web video on their TV and also increasingly want whole-home DVR capability.

    "Networking over coax makes particularly good sense in North America where 90 per cent of homes have pre-existing coax wiring," she said.

    The recent research by In-Stat found the following:

    • In 2010, average PC home network throughput will exceed 150 Mbps in North America, ahead of throughput in Asia/Pacific and European households.
    • Nearly 2/3 of consumer respondents from In-Stat’s survey expressed an interest in watching Internet Video on their TV
    • Two segregated home networks (HN) have been evolving– A service provider-centric network, and a PC-centric network. Each is leveraging different business models and technologies

  • Digital Vision Launches USB Flash Drive DVR


    Digital Vision has launched the first USB flash drive-based digital video recorder (DVR).

    The UK company says its GiGo DV-DTR1 Digital TV recorder allows users to record content and then view it on devices such as laptops.

    Programmes are recorded in MPEG-2 format direct to any storage device plugged in to one of the DVR’s three front-facing USB ports.

    Playback is via the GiGo or via any device that supports MPEG-2 – allowing recorded content to be played on the move.

    Digital Vision said the GiGo box will be available from September for GBP £69.99 initially, although this will probably drop to £59.99.

    Functionalities include:

    • Record and playback digital TV
    • Copy from one device to another
    • Schedule recordings from the EPG onto three separate devices

  • NDS Chosen For Germany's First Cable HD DVR Service


    Germany’s two largest independent cable operators, Tele Columbus and PrimaCom, have selected NDS’ DVR solution XTV to launch the country’s first cable HD DVR service across their networks.

    The two operators serve some 3.5 million cable-connected households and operate a large number of independent networks.

    They had previously deployed UK-based NDS’ VideoGuard content protection and its MediaHighway middleware.

    Markus Schmid, CEO of Tele Columbus and PrimaCom, said they had decided to also select NDS’ XTV DVR technology as the logical complement.

    He said this maximised the capability of their infrastructure and service options for subscribers.

    The technology infrastructure will also allow Tele Columbus and PrimaCom to launch new integrated service enhancements across all existing and future devices.

    This could include Video on Demand (VOD) or push VOD.

  • 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.

    Entone supplies set-top hardware to smaller regional US telco video providers, many of whom have limited or non-existent video-on-demand offerings.

    Users of Entone units will only require a software upgrade to add the entire functionality of the Vudu BX100, including on-demand access to HD and HDX movies.

    While Vudu has cut the price of its entry-level box to USD $149, the possibilities offered by extending its pay-per-view content to a much wider audience are huge.

    By moving from being a box manufacturer to a service provider, Vudu could extend itself into network-enabled consumer electronics.

    This would allow it to join the likes of Netflix and Amazon Video-on-Demand as a supported feature in everything from HDTVs and Blu-ray players to home theater systems and game consoles.

    Entone said Vudu-compatible Entone set-top boxes are expected to get the software upgrade sometime this summer.

    It should include all the features available on the existing Vudu hardware, including the Vudu Labs features that include access to YouTube and Flickr.

  • SlingPlayer Coming To The iPhone


    The Macworld trade show in San Francisco is to get a glimpse of SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone.

    SlingPlayer Mobile enables users to watch any program normally viewed on a home TV set on the iPhone using a standard broadband network connection.

    It will also allow iPhone users to control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward live TV, or even queue new recordings while away from home.

    Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media, said SlingPlayer Mobile was ideally suited for the iPhone’s large touch screen display.

    "I know iPhone users are eagerly anticipating the application’s availability," he said.

    SlingPlayer Mobile will be submitted to Apple for testing and approval in Q1.

    It will be compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch.

    No pricing details have been released as yet.

    Sling Media is also unveiling a prototype of the new SlingPlayer for Mac HD which allows Slingbox PRO-HD users to stream HD content to their Mac desktop or laptop computer.

    The new SlingPlayer for Mac HD is a web-based version of the SlingPlayer software that will be available for free from Sling’s video entertainment web site later in Q1.

    Mac customers will be able to use either Safari or Firefox web browsers to get both HD streaming and Live TV within Sling.com.

  • Younger viewers ditching TV for mobile media

    Smartphone.biz-news.com asked Christian Harris, CEO of mobile video provider Gorillabox, for his views on the mobile TV market

    More and more younger viewers are eschewing traditional TV schedules and embracing new technology – mobile TV, DVRs, online streaming and downloading – to set their own viewing schedules.

    So much so, that research just released reveals the average age of those watching TV in the US has tipped 50 for the first time.
    The study of the big five US broadcast networks by research firm Magna Global shows the average viewer no longer falls within the 18-49 demographic so sought after by advertisers.
    While average viewing age figures for the UK are not available, research by entertainment analysts Attentional shows viewing time among those aged 16-34 has been declining faster than other age groups.

    This is a situation of which Christian Harris, CEO of mobile video provider Gorillabox, is fully aware.
    He believes that mobile viewing will rapidly become a prime means of consuming content for the 14-28 market.
    “Significant consumer segments don’t consume media on radio or TV any more,” he said. “It is either web or mobile.
    “For this audience, mobile is a key channel for content. To serve the mobile channel for this audience, mobile broadcasting is a primary capability.
    “The question isn’t ‘why should you?’ – it’s ‘why wouldn’t you?’”

    Last month, Gorillabox partnered with the AIDS charity 46664 and mobile operator 3 to provide mobile TV content from Nelson Mandela’s birthday concert.
    Video of artists such as Amy Winehouse, Razorlight, Annie Lennox and Queen was streamed live over mobile networks across the UK from London’s Hyde Park.
    Gorillabox was responsible for the deployment of content on the streaming platform, billing integration and customer care, while 46664 marketed the service and worked with Gorillabox on making the live video content available from the concert.

    Harris said the mobile portal improved accessibility to music videos from some of the world’s biggest musicians and celebrities.
    “Large-scale events need to be fully supported by multi-channel content distribution,” he said.
    “This used to be radio and TV and more recently web. However, this now also includes mobile.”
    A recent survey by mobile TV and video solutions provider QuickPlay Media revealed significant barriers hindering users from consuming TV and video content on their mobile phones – factors included lack of awareness of the services that are on offer and the perceived high costs involved.
    But the survey showed that demand for mobile TV existed with 65 per cent of those questioned, who said they would be willing to watch an advertisement if it meant that the content was free or discounted.

    The 3G iPhone could have a significant impact on the mobile TV market as research shows that many iPhone owners have accessed TV and video content with greater frequency than subscribers using other types of mobile handsets.
    With added 3G capability, the iPhone brings with it some attractive attributes to the mobile TV market, including video-friendly specifications, access to a rapidly increasing range of Apple TV and video content and the ability to support multiple methods of delivering TV and video (sideloading, indoor WLAN and high-speed 3G cellular data access).

    Harris said Gorillabox runs its own delivery technology called the G-box platform .
    Developed in-house, he said the platform could handle any content or media format over GPRS or 3G networks to any mobile phone in the European Union and the US.
    He said Gorillabox was able to deliver live and on-demand media from any location in the world via its UK data-centre to mobile devices.
    “We also enable the discovery of the services via mobile search,” he added.
    “Our objective is to make the event as visible and reachable as possible and, where appropriate, provide advertising and billing.”
    There’s no doubt mobile TV content is going to become increasingly accessible.
    Christian Harris asked “why wouldn’t you watch mobile content?” – we would be really interested to hear your views?