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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Alaskan entertainment warming up
November 16, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsA blizzard of entertainment will fall on 1,000 hotel rooms in Anchorage, Alaska. SeaChange 's GuestServe Network System will bring VOD, interactive gaming, e-mail and other Internet services hotel guests can warm to. General Communications chose SeaChange's system to move hotel room entertainment beyond the basic pay-per-view movie.
Cablevision wants more time
November 16, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsThe FCC is considering moving up a deadline prohibiting cable operators from deploying advanced set-tops to subscribers. The deadline is currently set for Jan. 1, 2005, but Circuit City and other retailers want it moved up to 2003. The retailers are complaining that the extended deadline is hampering competition in the set-top box market.
Bluetooth users can choose
November 16, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsCustomers of Texas Instruments' Bluetooth-enabled cable solutions now have a choice in operation systems. TI has added Jungo Software Technologies' Linux residential gateway software to TI's broadband cable modems. The Linux-based gateway offers many services including home networking, VOIP, network management, virtual private network and security.
Happy Friday. Digital cable raking in the subs
November 16, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsThe numbers are in and tell the whole story. Digital cable service is the entertainment option of choice for more than seven million entertainment-hungry Americans. The discriminating subscriber likes the major channel selection, iTV capabilities and other advanced services in development that digital cable offers.
Ouch. Qwest slapped with $350 million fine
November 15, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsEverything's bigger in Texas, including the fines for cutting your competitors phone line. A Texas jury has ordered Denver-based Qwest to pay AT&T $350 million in punitive damages for cutting a phone line three times in 1997. Qwest immediately bucked the fine for the slice and dice job, saying it violated a Texas statute that caps punitive damage amounts.
DVRs now playing near you
November 15, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsWhat you want to watch, when you want it. ReplayTV and AT&T Broadband are offering DVRs (digital video recorders, also known as PDRs, personal digital recorders) to trial groups of subs in Denver and Boston later this month. As spokespersons were unavailable for comment, CED is not sure who gets to try out the new DVRs.
The Doctor back to practicing on his own
November 15, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsAT&T confirmed rumors that it will spin off Liberty Media Group as a separate company by 2Q 2001. AT&T acquired Liberty when it purchased TCI from then chairman and CEO, John Malone, aka "The Doctor." Malone has since sat at the head of Liberty, its tracking stock struggling under the downward tug of AT&T.
Music meld
November 15, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsEntertainment meld. That's the goal of a new alliance between Excite@Home and MTVi, the dot com arm of MTV. The two companies plan to blend entertainment content and high-speed Web use access in a new site offering music video clips, news and downloads. The music-oriented content is tailored for those with broadband connections, but the less fortunate users of dial-up can still access the fun s...
Liberate and nCUBE combine products
November 14, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsNew iTV technologies top the list of to dos for Liberate and nCUBE. The two companies have hooked up to integrate nCUBE's VOD technology with the Liberate TV Platform software for lower-powered digital set-top boxes. The collaboration aims to help network operators increase their speed-to-market time of iTV services.
Lucent offers VitalAccess
November 14, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsLucent 's new product, VitalAccess, is many things to many providers. VitalAccess is a multi-vendor software product broadband service providers can utilize to deliver Internet access, multimedia and VOIP to their customers. VitalAccess is a subscriber activation and management system that helps cable and broadband wireless operators, and DSL and fiber-to-the-home providers cut provisioning cos...
BroadJump bridging the gap
November 14, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsHeeding the broadband services demand, BroadJump has introduced a solution that bridges the gap between broadband service providers' networks and subscriber homes. Banking on analyst forecasts that 16.5 million U.S. households will have broadband access by the end of 2004, BroadJump created the Service Fulfillment solution.
Corning and Cisco create alliance
November 13, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsCorning and Cisco have joined forces to deliver IP optical solutions to their service provider customers. In this non-exclusive alliance, the two companies will form teams to develop pre-engineered optical solutions consistent with customer requirements. A little like optical fast food. Products included are Cisco's core products, Corning's optical fiber products, including LEAF and MetroCor, a...
More on Motorola
November 13, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | Comments(I should just rename this e-newsletter the OpenTV/Motorola Daily.) Motorola has also inked a deal with Wind River. The company will be a value-added reseller, integrating its MCT5100 M-DTV module with Wind River's VxWorks real-time operating system. The technology lets OEMs develop digital TV and set-top box products with improved time-to- market.
PhatPipe and BreezeCOM fatten up
November 13, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsPhatPipe, a broadband tech company focusing on industrial real estate customers, has deep pockets. The company has promised BreezeCOM it will buy $5 million in BreezeCOM wireless infrastructure equipment, products and services. The two companies will focus on tailoring tech solutions that were previously too pricey or unavailable for PhatPipe's industrial tenants.
OpenTV (busy, busy) and Motorola expand their relationship
November 13, 2000 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsOpenTV and Motorola are taking their steady relationship to a more serious level. The two companies have agreed to a multiple-year, strategic relationship to focus on accelerating iTV deployments worldwide. The new joint venture's services will include cable and satellite integration, testing and development.
