"set top" articles

So, I have fiber optic telco services to my home. So, why do I not have it all the way to my PC or set top box? I know, I know. The installation is expensive, a hassle, and requires adding new wires to my home - not a fun prospect. Wireless could be an option, but what if I am one of those homes where RF is, shall we say, problematic. This past week I had a chance to look over a new technology that looks to address many of these challenges. Firecomms provided us with a demo of Plastic...

For the past couple of years, there has been much emphasis placed on the "connected CE" market, where TVs, Blu-ray players, video game consoles, media adapters, media servers, and alternative set-top boxes like VUDU and Apple TV receive content from online sources. Having followed this space for some time, I've been particularly interested in how the technology requirements for connected devices have changed rapidly. In the white paper From Boob Tube to YouTube, I talked about...

Western Digital announced today that its My DVR Expander™ is now available with 1 TB capacity. TiVo Verified™ compatible with TiVo Series3™ and TiVo HD DVRs, the new My DVR Expander is capable of storing up to 140 hours of high-definition (HD) television programming based on 1 TB of hard drive storage. The ability to expand DVR storage with an attached external drive was something that we explored in both domestic and international consumer studies last year - TV 2.0: The...

After seeing virtually no activity in the cable space regarding multi-room DVR deployments, there were a number of announcements at the Cable Show a few weeks ago that indicate that things will heat up soon. Bright House, Cox, and Time Warner Cable are all expecting to deploy this year. This is good news for Entropic , which will supply the chipsets to enable the networked set-top boxes.

Time Warner Cable will be using Motorola's tru2way™ software to deploy a multi-room DVR solution. The Follow Me TV solution will enable subscribers to access, share and place shift video recordings throughout the home. Time Warner Cable aims to bring the solution to market later this year, to become the first cable company to deploy a multi-room DVR solution in a tru2way environment.

Seems like everyone is courting TiVo. Between Netflix, Amazon, and now Blockbuster, there's more content on demand available on a broadband-connected TiVo box. Blockbuster will also hawk TiVos in some stores.

Parks Associates special session at Cable Show presents best strategies for service providers -- Connected set-top boxes are growing in popularity, with 33% of all U.S. broadband households interested in this platform, according to Parks Associates. The international research firm notes this news is good for service providers, which have this device at the core of their current service strategies. Parks Associates is hosting a special lunch session, Engaging the Consumer:...

Oregan Networks announced the Oregan Media Browser 4.0, which they've dubbed Onyx. It's aimed at the DTV and set-top box markets and provides "simplified accessibility to multiple sources of trusted Internet and personal content on TVs through a single resident TV application that requires minimal set up and can be easily 'called up' in the form of a widget and dismissed without leaving regular broadcast channels or switching TV inputs." Interesting times in which we...