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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Few breakout tech hits at SXSW
March 15, 2013 2:40 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe event, which helped launch Twitter and FourSquare, was quieter on the technology front this year. There weren't any hot apps that everybody immediately downloaded, but Google showed its Google glasses (it didn’t let anyone actually use them), and Foursquare displayed a number of data-tracking bracelets.
Zenverge to bring MoCA on board
March 13, 2013 1:18 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsThe transcoding specialist, fresh off getting its chip adopted by Arris for a new gateway based on the Comcast RDK, is in the process of integrating Entropic’s MoCA circuitry into its products. Entropic is one of Zenverge's investors, along with Motorola and Verizon, among others.
Elemental, deltatre enter marketing deal
March 11, 2013 2:16 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsThe combined solution features Elemental video processing systems paired with the deltatre Diva video player, which that company has developed specifically for sporting events, and has designed to be customizable for each individual sport.
QuickPlay joining white-label multiscreen market
March 8, 2013 1:37 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsQuickPlay Media is the latest company planning to offer multiscreen delivery as a cloud-based service. The company’s name for its cloud-based managed service solutions for the distribution of media to IP-connected devices is TVX. The service includes ingest, content management, play-out, and reporting.
Comcast subscribers tap into 80 million hours of TV VOD a month
March 8, 2013 12:41 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsTV shows rule the roost when it comes to the most-watched content on Comcast’s VOD platform. In a blog post, Comcast’s Matt Strauss, senior vice president of digital and emerging platforms, wrote that the company’s subscribers watched more than 80 million hours of TV on VOD per month.
Bang the DRM slowly
March 7, 2013 6:10 pm | by Brian Santo | Articles | CommentsThere isn’t a single legal concept that has inspired more heartburn in more facets of content distribution than digital rights management (DRM). Consumers have a pretty good idea what DRM is, and plenty vociferously despise it with the same loathing they have for banks, airlines and their communications service providers.
Open Mic: Navigating television’s perfect storm
March 7, 2013 5:37 pm | by Jim Tanner, Chief architect at Clearleap | Articles | CommentsFor today’s well-equipped TV watcher, pausing a program on the living room TV set and resuming it on the portable tablet is merely a matter of pressing buttons or swiping screens. A click here, a tap there, and in seconds the program hops from one screen to the next, uninterrupted and ready to resume. Or so it appears.
Cache as cache can: cable cozies up to nDVR
March 7, 2013 2:46 pm | by Mike Robuck | Articles | CommentsNetwork-based DVR services have been waiting in the wings for years now, but their big debut seems to be only a matter of time now that content rights issues are thawing out and the network architectures are taking shape. nDVR will be, when paired with a content delivery network or cloud, one of the legs that TV Everywhere services stand on once it’s enabled.
ActiveVideo hires Nemani away from Cisco
March 7, 2013 1:17 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsActiveVideo Networks has hired Murali Nemani as senior vice president and chief marketing officer. He joins ActiveVideo after five years with Cisco, where he directed the launch of the company’s Videoscape solutions for service providers, as well as the expansion of the company’s mobility portfolio for wireless and wireline operators.
New Products: Pasternack, Multicom, Fujitsu
March 6, 2013 6:21 pm | by CED staff | Articles | CommentsPasternack Enterprises has a new line of 50-watt medium- power attenuators; Multicom has introduced a clear QAM SD/HD video distribution solution that eliminates the need for a set-top box; Fujitsu has announced the a Packet Optical Networking Platform (Packet ONP) for optical transport network (OTN) switching.
Ad platform startup gains $11M in vencap
March 6, 2013 3:08 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsInnovid, a startup that specializes in equipment used to create and distribute interactive advertising, has just nailed down another $11 million in venture funding. The company develops tools to create, deliver and measure video campaigns, in any format, on any screen, publisher or ad network. The suite of products includes the Innovid's own Ad Server.
In the Media: Verizon hiking DSL fees
March 6, 2013 3:01 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsVerizon will be upping the price of its basic tier of DSL service by $5 a month. The price hikes are not universal. The price has not changed in some cities where they company has franchise obligations to not increase its rates. The company says the new rate will remain in effect for one year.
Harmonic sets up cloud transcoding service
March 5, 2013 2:02 pm | by Brian Santo | Products | CommentsHarmonic has launched a cloud-based transcoding service for professional applications. The service is available through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. Content creators, service providers, and media professionals can access the technology to convert broadcast-quality video content to virtually any standard media format.
The Weather Channel picks Elemental Technologies for TVE
March 5, 2013 12:10 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsThe Weather Channel is powering its cross-platform video services with Elemental Technologies’ multi-screen platform. The Weather Channel is using Elemental video processing systems to support live programming and simulcasts to more than 100 million U.S. households and to stream live content to the company’s YouTube channel.
In the media: Comcast plans free VOD promo
March 4, 2013 1:55 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsComcast is looking to promote increased use of its VOD service later this month with a week’s worth of free VOD access. The MSO hopes to draw consumer attention to its broad VOD catalog late this month by offering shows from its broadcast, cable, and premium cable networks for free for a week.


