The vast majority of the Emmys for Technical / Engineering Achievement went to companies that in one way or another were involved in broadband video, with an unprecedented emphasis on over the top (OTT) enablement. Apple, Roku, Microsoft, Sony and Tivo were all honored for “Television Enhancement Devices” – consoles in various configurations that provide […]
Proximus allies with Cisco on cloud video, smart cities, and more
Proximus (formerly Belgacom), already a Cisco customer, is preparing to tie its fortunes more closely with the vendor, not only continuing to deliver video services based on Cisco products, but to explore expanding the relationship into smart/connected cities, service orchestration for business customers, software defined networking (SDN), and more. The two are positioning this as […]
Frontier names SVP of video
Frontier Communications has promoted Stephen D. LeVan to senior vice president, video content and delivery, a move that signals the company’s intent to unify the company’s disparate video operations. He most recently was senior vice president of commercial sales, leading Frontier’s carrier sales and service team. LeVan joined Frontier in 1995. Frontier operates both FiOS […]
DSL-accelerating G.fast technology demonstrated at CES
Two companies involved in G.fast said they have conducted the first public demonstrations of the technology that promises to accelerate ordinary DSL networks up to rates fast enough to support the delivery of 4K ultra high definition (UHD) video, and possibly on even to a gigabit per second. In deployment, the approach is to install […]
Ateme demo’s LiveSphere on a set-top
Ateme said it is demonstrating LiveSphere working on a set-top box, a significant step toward commercializing the technology that gives TV watchers full control of the view from a 360 degree camera. Ateme introduced the LiveSphere concept last year, together with Kolor and Finwe, partners in the development of the technology. They demonstrated LiveSphere’s ability […]
Microsoft adds Harmonic’s ProMedia to Playready DRM
Microsoft has integrated Harmonic’s ProMedia Origin and ProMedia X Origin multiscreen media servers into its PlayReady digital rights management (DRM) system. Playready enables content consumption via browsers and/or apps running most major mobile operating systems, including Windows, iOS, Android and Linux. In addition to mobile devices, it can be used in a range of consumer […]
Ericsson to resell UXP’s customer profile suite
Ericsson has pulled yet another smaller vendor into its orbit, cutting a deal to resell UXP Systems’ Mint Unified Services Platform. Mint is used to create profiles of customers, supporting a common user experience across all screens. The capabilities of the system then extend to personalizing the user experience for each customer. The software […]
Roku sets plans for 4K streaming
Roku has revealed plans to support 4K Ultra HD streaming on its Roku boxes. Roku said it has produced a reference design it is licensing to TV manufacturers. CEO Anthony Wood said in a blog post today, “This means that our TV OEM partners can begin development of Roku TV 4K models that merge the […]
NeuLion buying DivX for $62.5M
NeuLion is set to acquire DivX for $62.5 million, marrying the former’s delivery services with the latter’s software-based video player designed for use in any type of consumer device. With the combination, NeuLion aims to give customers additional options for managing content, giving customers the choice of either building and managing digital video platforms internally […]
DVR adoption, on-demand usage keep increasing
More and more people are adopting DVRs and using on-demand services as time-shifted viewing increases. More and more viewers are becoming accustomed to using both subscription video on demand (SVOD, e.g. Netflix) and the on-demand services provided by their MVPDs. Leichtman Research Group (LRG) found that three-quarters (76 percent) of U.S. households have a DVR, […]