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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Upfront – LRG: Nearly half of all U.S. households have a DVR
November 4, 2011 2:26 am | by Traci Patterson | CommentsNew consumer research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) found that 44 percent of TV households in the United States have at least one DVR, and one-third of DVR households have more than one DVR.
Wi-Fi Networks: A New Frontier for Cable Operators
November 4, 2011 1:35 am | by Mike Robuck | CommentsOutdoor Wi-Fi is the new black when it comes to data services for cable operators. Not only does Wi-Fi reduce customer churn in the face of increased competition from telcos, it does so by leveraging the existing DOCSIS plant while laying the groundwork for new revenue services in the future.
Verizon, AT&T Dominate TelcoTV
November 4, 2011 1:10 am | by Brian Santo | CommentsAt a keynote address at TelcoTV, during the last question he fielded at the concluding Q&A session, the last thing Verizon senior vice president of consumer product management Eric Bruno said immediately before thanking the audience and leaving the stage was an offhand-sounding comment that Verizon might start offering Home Control nationally.
Let’s Get Progressive With Multi-Screen De-Interlacing
November 4, 2011 12:55 am | by Ron Gutman, CTO and founder of Imagine Communications | CommentsIn the old days, “video display” used to mean “the TV” – more specifically, an analog input standard-definition TV. But that has all changed now. Today's new televisions are digital, and video viewing is becoming more popular on PCs, tablets and smartphones, creating a broader category of video display devices. These new devices are different from the old one in many ways, but one way in particular is that they’re not designed to support an interlaced (i) video format.
Multi-Screen Challenges and Benefits
November 4, 2011 12:41 am | by Jim Elayan, vice president of marketing at itaas | CommentsWith the launch of new consumer services, companies face business and technical challenges that impede time to market and successful deployments. Multi-screen app development for the cable TV industry is no different. Some unique business and technical challenges must be addressed to take advantage of the “appmania” that is sweeping the CE industry.
Monetizing Multi-Screen Deployments
November 4, 2011 12:22 am | by Steve Davi, senior vice president of advanced technology at SeaChange | CommentsThe push for multi-screen video services is creating new players in the digital content value chain, including over-the-top providers, and creating opportunities and challenges for service providers, advertisers, content providers and consumers.
In Perspective - Giving Back
November 3, 2011 11:57 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsThis column acknowledges those who give back - those who donate their money, their time, their skills. We lack the space to mention every act of kindness and charity from just the past year alone; let these examples stand for the rest.
Memory Lane - That’s Intertainment!
November 3, 2011 11:33 pm | by Stewart Schley, media and technology writer | CommentsPopulating the annals of the digital media business are hundreds of individuals who were ahead of their time. They’re the early-stage impresarios and on-the-cusp dreamers who introduced grand ideas and evangelized categories before getting steamrolled by the realities of the day: limited technology footprints, a skeptical investment community or the inability to captivate mainstream consumers.
Ciciora’s Corner - Balance and Priorities
November 3, 2011 10:56 pm | by Walt S. Ciciora, expert on cable and consumer electronics issues | CommentsI was in the lobby of a hotel in Los Angeles when the television screen announced that Steve Jobs had died. Of course, this was quite a shock. A few moments later, remembering how he looked at recent appearances and his leaving Apple recently, it was obvious that this was coming; I just didn’t want to face the reality of it.
Open Mic - Expo: Something for Everyone
November 3, 2011 10:31 pm | by Terry Cordova, senior vice president and CTO at Suddenlink Communications | CommentsWhen the curtain goes up on Expo and a companion event, the Capacity Management Symposium, during the week of Nov. 14, it will mark the culmination of a year of intense discussion among CTOs, other industry thought leaders, the Cable-Tec Expo Program Committee and SCTE officials.
Engineering-Wise - Kennen Sie Kabelnetze?
November 3, 2011 10:14 pm | by Daniel Howard, senior vice president of engineering and CTO at SCTE | CommentsIt hasn’t gotten to the point where we’ve struck a partnership deal with Berlitz yet, but over the past couple of years there’s been a dramatic increase in interest from the international community in SCTE’s products and services.
Capital Currents - New Video Description Rules
November 3, 2011 9:58 pm | by Jeffrey Krauss, president of Telecommunications and Technology Policy | CommentsIn late August, the FCC released new rules for “video description.” This is the audio track for visually impaired viewers that carries both the main program audio and a narrative description of the onscreen action of a TV program or movie.
Home Networks are a Gateway to Gateways
September 30, 2011 8:55 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsIn the process of simultaneously supporting their subscribers’ use of iPads and consumption of streaming video, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) have been forced to get deeper into home networking (HN) faster than intended.
Cable’s Play in Home Security
September 30, 2011 8:50 pm | by Craig Kuhl, Contributing Editor | CommentsTraditional security services offered by entrenched providers such as ADT have dominated the home security space, with the few leftovers going to cable and telecom companies. Not anymore.
Next Challenge: Making Broadband Affordable for Everyone
September 30, 2011 8:45 pm | by Traci Patterson | CommentsThe latest data from analyst firm Point Topic revealed that the current affordability of broadband around the world highlights a stark contrast in broadband prices.
