"set top" articles

Written by Brett L. Sappington, Director of Research Comcast has been early to grab headlines at The Cable Show 2012 with the official launch of its X1 set-top box . While the new generation STB offers greater processing, new cloud-based features, and an EPG/remote control app for the tablet, the user interface has also seen some changes. Comcast has enhanced the search and discovery features of their UI but are not using any recommendation or user profiling technology....

With the rise of TV Everywhere and services to deliver content to connected consumer electronics , many are wondering what this means to the future of the set-top box business, particularly from stalwarts such as Motorola (Google) and Cisco. A recent Forbes article touched on this topic. Is the set-top business declining precipitously? Cisco doesn’t think so – it just announced the purchase of conditional access and UI provider NDS. Brett Sappington, our Senior Analyst, has...

Rogers Communications has started offering a combination whole-home PVR and TV Everywhere-style service based on Cisco's Videoscape architecture. Rogers' NextBox 2.0 service wraps together whole-home PVR; in-home streaming, via Wi-Fi, of more than 20 channels of linear TV to tablet computers; and a new interactive program guide. NextBox 2.0 will initially be available only in Ontario. Rogers will supply subscribers who opt for NextBox 2.0 with Cisco Explorer 8642 HD DVR and 4642 HD boxes...

Sales of digital video media receivers, including Apple TV and Roku, were strong in the recent holiday season, with penetration approaching 13% of U.S. broadband households and matching the 2011 forecasts from the international research firm Parks Associates. The firm forecasts over 14 million units will sell in 2012. These strong device sales indicate increasing consumer interest in nontraditional approaches to video access. Value of Video: Shifting Consumer Dollars , a recently...

Google, Verizon Wireless, Parks Associates, Samsung, Sprint, Sony Ericsson, YouTube to speak at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco from November 2-4.  Now in its 4th year The Open Mobile Summit is widely recognized as the thought-leadership event for business leaders in mobile, Internet and media convergence.   Special highlighted sessions include: Fireside Chat: Connected Car November 2, 2011 2:15 - 3:15 PM Speakers: Sprint and Chrysler...

Set-top boxes have been enabled with the likes of EBIF, tru2way and MPEG-4 for the past few years in anticipation of bigger, better services from cable operators. There are also the hybrid boxes with both QAM tuners and IP capabilities, as well as the HD DVRs. While HD boxes are almost table stakes these days, the latest generation of boxes are also geared up with MoCA and Ethernet ports for home networking and more memory and processing power to reach out to the Internet. Set-top boxes...

DTV quality assurance company Agama Technologies and Celeno Communications, the Wi-Fi home networking semiconductors and software company, have announce the integration of Agama’s embedded monitoring solution with Celeno’s Wi-Fi technology. This integration provides Agama’s customers with expanded real-time service monitoring capabilities for home networks. It will enable digital TV operators to assure quality in all parts of the home video distribution network, including...

Time Warner Cable recently announced that it would subsidize some purchases of set-top box, Slingbox. Time Warner Cable said it would give its subscribers, who pay $99-a-month for Wideband Internet service, a rebate for the total cost of the $300 device.This rebate offer reflects the fact that Internet connectivity is becoming the core part of the business for companies like Time Warner Cable. This movement is creating problems with programmers who think that distributors should pay...