Technicolor to supply advanced HD set-top boxes to Astro

Technicolor recently announced that it has won a further contract from Astro, Malaysia’s leading integrated cross-media group. Already an established supplier of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 set-top boxes for standard definition broadcasting, Technicolor is now to supply High Definition (HD) MPEG-4 STBs with local recording capability to support Astro’s move to offer more technology-adapting services and products to its close to 3 million and growing customer base.

The innovative HD enabled STB to be supplied by Technicolor includes the ability to record to an external disk or disks, allowing subscribers the convenience and flexibility to tailor their recording capability to meet their own requirements.

Deliveries of the new STB are now underway, while at the same time Technicolor will also provide locally-based and extensive logistics and after-sales support to Astro.

Technicolor's 3D Services Enable the Launch of DIRECTV's First 3D VOD Service

Technicolor announced the signing of a three year contract extension to provide a wide range of SD and HD set-top boxes to DIRECTV.

Since the beginning of this relationship, Technicolor has provided more than 48 million set-top-boxes to DIRECTV. The contract extension will allow the two companies to further develop their collaboration in new areas such as 3D. DIRECTV is the first video service provider to offer a suite of three dedicated 3D channels including n3D On Demand.

Technicolor, widely recognised as one of the leading suppliers of set-top boxes worldwide, reached the milestone of delivering 100 million digital set-top boxes at the end of past year.

Gigle Networks Technology Pushes Solwise Adapters to Gigabit Speeds, Enables 'No-New-Wires' Installation

Gigle Networks, the leading developer of intelligent multi-PHY switching devices for both wired and wireless entertainment grade home networking, announced that Solwise has selected the company's solution for its Mediaxtream/HomePlug AV Ethernet adapter. Gigle Networks' HomePlug AV chipset with Mediaxtream technology enables the Solwise adapter to deliver ultra-high-speed, low-latency connections for residential gateways, game consoles, media players, PCs and IPTV set-top boxes.

Gigle Networks' chipset uses the company's patented Mediaxtream technology to deliver wireline Gigabit-class performance with minimum latency, while maintaining full interoperability with other certified compliant 200Mbps HomePlug AV products and forthcoming IEEE 1901 products. The fully integrated device includes dual physical-layer interfaces, media access control and Smart Mesh home/Quality-of-Service/Class-of-Service switching capabilities. Smart Mesh capabilities coordinate traffic management for optimum performance and coverage in difficult signal environments or over long networking connections in the home.

Gigle Networks' chipset also meets European 2011 Code of Conduct requirements for adapters and QoS, which is essential for video distribution around the home. Additionally, all Gigle Networks devices support Gigle Networks' Xtendnet intelligent switching technology, which amplifies and re-times signals on the powerline for improved network coverage. They also meet the active and standby power requirements for adapters of the Energy using Products Directive Lot 6.

For more information, click here.

CONNECTIONS addresses potential of new 3D and connected TV enhancements

The percentage of U.S. broadband households purchasing CE continues to decline year over year, falling from 87% in 2007 to 76% in 2009.

Already over one-half of households are spending less on CE in 2010 than they did the year before. The recession has deeply affected consumer spending, but several product categories have defied the downward trend. Industries can develop new revenue streams by building off of these devices, such as Web-based apps or 3D programming for connected LCD TVs or support services bundled with a new computer purchase.

CONNECTIONS™ will feature multiple sessions in the Consumer Electronics track discussing the state of the market and business strategies to leverage these devices:

· Design Elements for Connected CE
· Monetizing Connected CE
· The Future of the Set-top Box
· 3DTV

The panels will feature speakers from 2Wire, Actiontec Electronics, ActiveVideo Networks, Allegro Software Development Corporation, BigBand Networks, BridgeCo, Cisco Systems, Gigle Networks, Motorola, Orange/France Telecom Group, PacketVideo, ProVision, RedMere, Roxio CinemaNow, Technicolor, Xpand, Yahoo!, and Zenverge.

CONNECTIONS™ will also feature the keynote presentation “TV Technology in the New Age of Consumer Buying,” from Scott Birnbaum, Vice President, Samsung LCD Business, on June 9 at 10:00 a.m.

Sonic Announces 'Total 3D' Initiative

Sonic Solutions announced a broad program to support the "next big thing" in home video — the arrival of 3D in the home — with new professional and consumer solutions for the creation, publishing, and playback of 3D digital video content. Sonic is unique in its focus on "Hollywood-to-Home" solutions that enable the growth of new video formats, and Sonic's new 3D offerings will help to fuel the availability and consumer adoption of 3D video. Sonic has developed tools that allow Hollywood studios to encode video, author interactivity, and format titles for release over the internet and in the new Blu-ray 3D format.

The RoxioNow entertainment platform serves a broad range of premium content, including new movies and next-day TV programs, to a growing, multi-manufacturer ecosystem of home and mobile electronics including PCs, connected TVs, set-top DVRs, Blu-ray Disc players, smartphones, and mobile media devices. RoxioNow already powers digital storefronts on 3D-enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players and is primed to deliver 3D content once titles become available for online distribution.

ActiveVideo Networks Acquires TAG Networks

ActiveVideo Networks, the global leader in cloud-based interactive television solutions, announced that it has completed an acquisition of TAG Networks, adding the world's most scalable network game platform to its CloudTV interactive streaming platform.

The acquisition extends ActiveVideo’s CloudTV development platform to include games development, a growing and profitable segment of the entertainment market. The combined entity leverages TAG Networks’ successful technology and content portfolio with ActiveVideo’s proven CloudTV to create a powerful and versatile platform that supports both casual and twitch or fast-motion games.

Using TAG’s extensive portfolio of licensed titles, ActiveVideo can enable the development of new revenue streams for cable system operators and the CE industry through the delivery of advertising supported casual games to any digital set-top box or CE device. ActiveVideo, which currently is in approximately 5 million homes, anticipates that the combined benefits of TAG and CloudTV, the addition of compelling new titles and the ultimate introduction of faster-paced games will significantly drive distribution of both services for the foreseeable future.

ADB & Mariner Integrate Monitoring, Diagnostic, Resolution Software

Advanced Digital Broadcast, a leading supplier of technology to the global digital television industry, and Mariner, a leading provider of innovative IP video technologies, today unveiled a solution to enable proactive pay-TV service monitoring which increases the quality of subscribers' experience and reduces operator costs.

The joint solution integrates new software capabilities in ADB's latest IPTV set-top boxes with Mariner's award-winning flagship service assurance suite, xVuTM. The solution provides quantifiable metrics on the quality of the video, audio and performance of each set-top box in each home. The operator has visibility into problems of long channel change times, errors within the video such as frame drop, and can proactively resolve them, sometimes even before the subscriber notices them, let alone calls for support.

For the full press release, click here.