Fans of shows on The CW like “The Vampire Diaries” no longer have to wait three days after broadcast to watch them online. Starting Thursday night, the wait time will be, at most, eight hours before The CW streams full episodes on CWTV.com and its mobile apps. Shows will stream with the same number of […]
Telecommunications
Rural Canadian cell phone users won’t get faster networks soon
Canadians living in rural areas will have better cell phone reception once a federal auction of radio waves takes place, but telecom analysts say it could take years before the improved service is launched. Analyst Brahm Eiley said coverage of rural Canada should expand over time. “Is this going to happen tomorrow? Chances are – […]
FTC said to probe Google on tracking, antitrust
Google is reportedly facing multiple investigations from the Federal Trade Commission over its business practices. The tech giant is in hot water after it was discovered that its tracking tools bypassed privacy settings on Apple’s Safari Web browser for computers and wireless devices like the iPhone and iPad. The FTC and European regulators are both […]
Cisco snags NDS in $5B deal
The continued video-based evolution of Cisco took a major leap forward this morning with the news that it will buy digital TV software and security vendor NDS for $5 billion. The deal is valued at about $4 billon, and Cisco will take on $1 billion of NDS’ debt. News Corp. and private-equity firm Permira jointly […]
Verizon relents, licenses Veveo’s search technology
Verizon has agreed to license start-up Veveo’s technology for cloud-based search associated with its FiOS TV service. The license agreement settles a lawsuit that Veveo filed against Verizon in which the start-up claimed the carrier’s search operations violated its patents. Veveo claims 30 U.S. patents and 30 pending patent applications. Comcast, AT&T, Cablevision, Rogers Communications […]
Canada moves to open wireless market to new entrants
Canada announced yesterday it is opening its telecommunications market to foreign investors and capping the amount of spectrum that can be owned by operators as it works to inject more competition into its wireless market, which is dominated almost entirely by Rogers, Bell and Telus Mobility. The policy changes will lower prices for consumers and […]
VZW closes purchase of spectrum in Poconos
Verizon Wireless said Wednesday it had closed its purchase of a regional wireless provider in northeast Pennsylvania from U.S. Cellular. The acquisition includes a spectrum license covering 114,000 people and operations in Wayne and Pike counties, which include major traffic corridors, including Interstate 84 and State Highways 6 and 402. The region serves the Poconos, […]
Swisscom taps Net Insight for contribution system
Swisscom Broadcast will use Net Insight’s Nimbra platform to transport live HD video, voice and data content. Swisscom Broadcast will use Net Insight’s contribution systems to cover all premier league ice hockey and football arenas in Switzerland. These venues are among Swisscom Broadcast’s approximately 520 transmitter sites throughout Switzerland. The Swiss broadcaster also offers IPTV […]
TD-LTE: Ready for liftoff
The news was good for stakeholders in TD-LTE: China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless operator by subscriber base, said at Mobile World Congress last month that it would begin large-scale trials of the technology. With an operator the size of China Mobile set to deploy 200,000 TD-LTE base stations between now and 2013 – more […]
Buckeye gears up with Arris for home networking
Buckeye CableSystem is gearing up for its long-term IP migration while attempting to win back customers in the short term with Arris’ hybrid QAM/IP video gateways. Buckeye CableSystem CTO Joe Jensen said the Tier 2 cable operator first started installing Arris’ Whole Home Solution Moxi video gateways last fall. “We now have around 150 employees […]