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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Making the second screen work
February 7, 2013 12:52 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsYears after Netflix, smartphones and tablets all hit the scene, even those service providers capable of multi-screen delivery continue to struggle with the multi-screen phenomenon. That’s because even as service providers respond to viewers’ increasing appetite for video on screens other than the TV, consumers’ multi-screen behavior continues to evolve.
A kaleidoscope of moving parts
February 7, 2013 11:34 am | by Craig Kuhl, Contributing Editor | CommentsThe once heavily tech-driven business model of small Tier 2 and Tier 3 cable and broadband service providers is morphing into a kaleidoscope of moving, interchangeable parts. Smaller operators whose subscriber counts number in the four- and five-figure range are fiddling with and tweaking their business models like never before.
Managing the multi-screen video transformation
February 7, 2013 10:56 am | by Paul Casinelli, product manager at IneoQuest Technologies | CommentsThe multi-screen transformation has taken the video world by storm. Customers now expect the same video services they receive on their set-top box on their video-capable devices. Adoption of multi-screen services is occurring across the spectrum, running the gamut of service providers, content providers and enterprises.
Harnessing the power of interoperability
February 6, 2013 11:59 am | by Robin Mersh, CEO of Broadband Forum | CommentsTechnology development is accelerating, and consumer and enterprise demand for bandwidth-hungry content and applications continues to expand. The need for global standardization has become an industry prerequisite, driven by the needs of service providers to deliver robust new services quickly and cost-effectively.
In Perspective - Stick a 4K in 3-D: It's done
February 4, 2013 1:08 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsThe big thing in TV land at CES, in terms of both hype and actual size, was 4K TVs, aka ultra-high-def, or Ultra HDTVs. The great thing about shows like CES is that they show you exciting possible futures. Let’s just take a moment to acknowledge that 4K TVs are pretty darn nifty.
Memory Lane - Broadband’s latest wrinkle
February 4, 2013 12:54 pm | by Stewart Schley, media and technology writer | CommentsThere is a movement toward usage-based pricing that borrows from an electrical utility model of the early 1900s. Today’s megabits are yesterday’s kilowatts, and like power companies before them, service providers appreciate the symbiotic relationship that device makers can deliver.
Ciciora's Corner - Should you get a patent?
February 4, 2013 12:16 pm | by Walt S. Ciciora, expert on cable and consumer electronics issues | CommentsHave you ever considered getting a patent yourself? Should you? This is not an easy decision. It’s a lot of work, and it is expensive. Done right, it’s very expensive. And that’s just the beginning. A patent is the right to exclude someone from making, using or selling your invention.
Open Mic - Showcasing the value of personalization
February 4, 2013 12:07 pm | by Peter Docherty, founder and CTO of ThinkAnalytics | CommentsThere are so many TV choices available that it’s virtually impossible for consumers to discover what’s really there. The challenge is proactively presenting subscribers with personalized content recommendations, instead of forcing them to work hard to find something they like to watch.
Engineering-Wise - United and prepped for battle
February 4, 2013 11:41 am | by Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of the SCTE | CommentsI’ve always been impressed by the coordination required to keep our country safe. From our nation’s earliest skirmishes to the invasion of Normandy and Operation Desert Storm, teamwork across all branches of the armed services has been essential to the protection of our nation, and the world. It’s much the same in our industry.
Capital Currents - Video quality assessment
February 4, 2013 11:26 am | by Jeffrey Krauss, president of Telecommunications and Technology Policy | CommentsThe FCC has a proceeding underway to update its cable TV technical regulations. For the most part, there is agreement that the version of SCTE 40 adopted last year contains the appropriate technical specifications for digital cable systems. But the FCC also asked whether it should regulate the picture quality that is delivered to viewers.
CED's Broadband 50
January 14, 2013 1:22 pm | by CED Magazine | CommentsBefore we Start Over with a New Year, here’s a Look Back at 2012 through the prism of CED’s Broadband 50, which is now 12 years old. We have scoured the cable world to come up with the people, stories and trends that were the most meaningful.
CED Person of the Year
January 4, 2013 12:26 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsFor Cequel Communications Holdings, doing business as Suddenlink, 2012 was the occasion of a remarkably simultaneous culmination of several multi-year efforts. These efforts included both engineering and business aspects, which ultimately amplified each other.
The future of MPEG video transport over QAM
January 4, 2013 11:52 am | by Conrad Clemson, director of strategy and product management for Cisco’s Service Provider Video Technology Group | CommentsIn this age, with every point in the distribution line being threaded through and through with IP-based technologies, it is important to consider the near-, mid- and long-term future of the MPEG video transport architecture this industry invented and built.
Upfront - January 2013
January 2, 2013 5:55 pm | by CED Magazine | CommentsLRG: The 13 largest MVPDs lost about 53,500 net additional video subscribers in Q3 2012; TDG Research: 13 percent of broadband subscribers do not subscribe to cable-like pay-TV services; Ericsson: Approximately 40 percent of all phones sold in Q3 2012 were smartphones; and IIA: Broadband-enabled savings increased nearly $1,200 per American household from last year.
In Perspective - Scrying for soup
January 2, 2013 1:33 pm | by Brian Santo | CommentsAlbert Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Last year, I predicted that somebody might finally do something interesting with tru2way. Would studiously ignoring tru2way be considered “something interesting”? Judges? OK then, 2013.
