Time Warner Cable used the Reference Design Kit (RDK) to create its first IP set-top box that features its cloud-based navigator.
Time Warner Cable said the new box, which is being built by South Korean manufacturer Humax, would be deployed in select markets by the end of this year.
“We’re very excited as this is the first implementation of the RDK for Time Warner Cable and steers us towards the future of an all IP service,” said Matthew Zelesko, Time Warner Cable’s senior vice president, converged technology group. “The RDK continues to evolve thanks to the collaboration and joint efforts of the RDK community. We look forward to the continued development of the RDK and will work together to enhance it as a strategic platform for next generation Set-Top Boxes and devices.”
To date, Comcast is the only cable operator to deploy RDK-based boxes. Pace was the first RDK vendor out of the gates for Comcast’s X1 platform, and last year Comcast announced that Pace and Humax would be supplying the Xi3 boxes for its X2 update.
During its fourth quarter earnings call, Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus said the company’s cloud-based guide and user interface was in close to 3 million set-top boxes from Arris, Cisco and Samsung.
The cloud navigator consists of the company’s new HTML 5 cloud-based navigation guide and provides customers an improved user experience with enhanced search capabilities and additional program information.
After initially being developed internally by Comcast, last year Comcast and Time Warner Cable formed RDK Management, LLC, which took over reins on licensing, training, community support and code management for the RDK. This year Liberty Global was added to the RDK Management joint venture.
The RDK is supported by more than 140 licensees including: CE manufacturers, system-on-a-chip (SoC) vendors, software developers, system integrators, and TV service providers.
The RDK allows all of the interested parties to develop once and then scale across multiple environments – in the CableCard/QAM/MEPG-2 world of today, as well as in the IP environment of tomorrow.
From a cable operator perspective, the RDK can cut down on the development cycle for set-top boxes and gateways from one or two years to six months. The RDK code is located beneath, and independent of, the application framework or UE/UX/UI layer of these devices.
Separately, Time Warner Cable also announced it had 26 new channels to its TWC TV App. The new channels included: America’s Auction Net SD, BlueHighways TV HD, C1R CCTV 4 America (Mandarin), CCTV News English, Daystar TV Net (National), Filmy, Gem Shopping Network, GMA DWLS Radio, GMA DZBB Radio, GMA Life TV, GMA Pinoy TV, Infinito, ITV Gold, Liquidation Channel, NASA TV, Phoenix North America Satellite TV, RAI Italia, RLTV Sundance HD, TV Asia, TV5 Monde, TVB1 UTV Movies SD, YouToo, and Zee TV.
The latest streaming additions brought Time Warner Cable’s offerings to more than 300 channels on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, Kindle and Xbox 360 devices.
