Multiple Set-Top Box Vendors to Support Microsoft TV’s IPTV Edition

–New Sigma SOC to Speed Production of IPTV Edition-Optimized HD Devices

At the IBC show in Amsterdam last week, Microsoft’s Microsoft TV division announced that an array of set-top box vendors plan to support its IPTV Edition software platform (note: several large telcos, including SBC in the US, BT in the UK, and Swisscom in Switzerland, have announced plans to roll out IPTV services based on the platform):

• Linksys-KiSS plans to offer IPTV Edition-compatible set-tops with integrated DVB-T tuners and conditional access support for European network operators. The boxes are scheduled for availability in December.
• Motorola says that it will support IPTV Edition on its worldwide portfolio of IP video products, including its VIP line of IPTV set-tops, its forthcoming line of hybrid IPTV-DTT set-tops, and its video-encoding solutions.
• Scientific-Atlanta will support IPTV Edition with a line of set-tops that are currently under development. The line will include an "IPN" series of products targeted at the NTSC market, and an "IPP" series targeted at the PAL and European markets. Set-tops in the new product line will include SD and HD receivers and DVR’s, and will offer various optional features, including integrated IP-over-coax and DVB-T support. Scientific-Atlanta also offers encoder support for IPTV Edition.
• Tatung is supporting IPTV Edition with a new set-top box that it demo’d at the IBC show in the Sigma Designs booth.
• Thomson and Intel have launched a new family of IPM11xx set-tops that are the first deployable set-tops to support IPTV Edition. The boxes, which are based on the Intel 1.5GHz Intel 854 platform, are commercially available and, according to Microsoft, are already shipping to Microsoft TV customers. They support a range of codecs, including MPEG-2, Windows Media Video 9 (VC-1), and MPEG-4, and offer optional hard drives for streaming and DVR applications.

Microsoft TV also used the occasion of the IBC show to announce that it has partnered with Sigma Designs on a new system-on-a-chip (SOC) that is designed to facilitate the production of low-cost, HD-capable devices optimized for IPTV Edition. The company says that it has worked closely with Sigma Designs to extend the functionality of the latter’s open standards-based SMP8634 media processor so that it can take full advantage of IPTV Edition’s feature set. According to the partners, the chip is capable of delivering multiple channels of HD video and on-screen graphics, offers "powerful" multimedia processing and content-security, and provides support for a range of peripherals such as USB 2.0, IDE, Ethernet and HDMI. It also features built-in support for the VC-1 and H.264 video codecs. The chip can be used to incorporate IPTV support into a range of consumer electronics devices, including DVD players and gaming consoles, as well as set-tops and integrated digital TV sets. "Our collaboration with Sigma is a great example of driving innovation in the IPTV industry that will ultimately enable an exciting world of next-generation TV and connected-entertainment experiences that consumers do not enjoy with today’s legacy TV offerings," Phil Corman, Microsoft TV’s director of worldwide partner development, said in a prepared statement. Microsoft TV says that it is also working with a number of other semiconductor manufacturers to develop similar SOC’s that offer IPTV Edition support.

Kreatel Opens Shanghai R&D Office, Secures Win with Atlas Interactive

Swedish IPTV set-top box vendor, Kreatel Communications, has opened a research and development office in Shanghai, China. The office will develop new products for the Asian market, as well as customize existing Kreatel products for that market: "The Chinese market is evolving rapidly," Kreatel CEO, Lars Bengtsson, said in a prepared statement. "The Summer Olympics push for technology innovation, and we believe that China will soon become the biggest market for broadband TV."

In other Kreatel news: the company says that Atlas Interactive India has selected its set-top boxes and its Kreatel TV software for its planned IPTV service. The service, dubbed netTV, will initially be rolled out to 50,000 customers in Delhi, and will provide subscribers with a range of services, including linear TV, VOD, Internet access and email. "We are happy to have been selected as a partner and supplier by Atlas Interactive, a key player on the global market," Kreatel’s Bengtsson said in a prepared statement. "Due to a reliable browser and unique software Kreatel was chosen as the investment providing the most cost-efficient and future-proof total solution. For Kreatel this is an important confirmation of our strong position as a technology leader and international supplier in the area of IP-STB solutions."

Kreatel Opens Shanghai R&D Office, Secures Win with Atlas Interactive

Swedish IPTV set-top box vendor, Kreatel Communications, has opened a research and development office in Shanghai, China. The office will develop new products for the Asian market, as well as customize existing Kreatel products for that market: "The Chinese market is evolving rapidly," Kreatel CEO, Lars Bengtsson, said in a prepared statement. "The Summer Olympics push for technology innovation, and we believe that China will soon become the biggest market for broadband TV."

In other Kreatel news: the company says that Atlas Interactive India has selected its set-top boxes and its Kreatel TV software for its planned IPTV service. The service, dubbed netTV, will initially be rolled out to 50,000 customers in Delhi, and will provide subscribers with a range of services, including linear TV, VOD, Internet access and email. "We are happy to have been selected as a partner and supplier by Atlas Interactive, a key player on the global market," Kreatel’s Bengtsson said in a prepared statement. "Due to a reliable browser and unique software Kreatel was chosen as the investment providing the most cost-efficient and future-proof total solution. For Kreatel this is an important confirmation of our strong position as a technology leader and international supplier in the area of IP-STB solutions."

Kreatel Opens Shanghai R&D Office, Secures Win with Atlas Interactive

Swedish IPTV set-top box vendor, Kreatel Communications, has opened a research and development office in Shanghai, China. The office will develop new products for the Asian market, as well as customize existing Kreatel products for that market: "The Chinese market is evolving rapidly," Kreatel CEO, Lars Bengtsson, said in a prepared statement. "The Summer Olympics push for technology innovation, and we believe that China will soon become the biggest market for broadband TV."

In other Kreatel news: the company says that Atlas Interactive India has selected its set-top boxes and its Kreatel TV software for its planned IPTV service. The service, dubbed netTV, will initially be rolled out to 50,000 customers in Delhi, and will provide subscribers with a range of services, including linear TV, VOD, Internet access and email. "We are happy to have been selected as a partner and supplier by Atlas Interactive, a key player on the global market," Kreatel’s Bengtsson said in a prepared statement. "Due to a reliable browser and unique software Kreatel was chosen as the investment providing the most cost-efficient and future-proof total solution. For Kreatel this is an important confirmation of our strong position as a technology leader and international supplier in the area of IP-STB solutions."

Vidiom Opens Training Center at its Headquarters

OCAP specialist, Vidiom Systems, has opened a training center at its headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado (near Denver). The center will be used to host the instructor-led courses that the company offers on OCAP and other open standards, interactive TV application development and Java application development for embedded systems. Vidiom says that the center is outfitted with interactive workstations in order to create a "hands-on" application development and integration environment: each workstation provides access to application development tools, set-top boxes, and connectivity to multiple headends. The center will offer a full schedule of OCAP courses, including Vidiom’s OCAP API Essentials course and its new OCAP Application Developer’s Workshop. "We started giving our first courses a year ago in area conference centers and the response has been overwhelming," Vidiom’s VP of engineering services, Walden Miller, said in a prepared statement. "I am very pleased to say that we have a state-of-the-art home for our expanded training program."

Vidiom’s OCAP API Essentials course (September 13th-15th) was the first course to be offered in the new training center. It consists of a three-day technical examination of OCAP middleware, applications, OpenCable Host Devices and network requirements. The company’s OCAP Application Developer’s Workshop, which will be held at the center next month, is billed as a five-day, computer-based hands-on course that will instruct students on how to build and run OCAP applications using today’s tools, set-top boxes and headend infrastructure. Later this year, Vidiom plans to offer Java courses tailored to the cable industry and embedded systems, as well as other specialized OCAP courses. (Note: for more on Vidiom’s training courses, which the company stresses are not designed to promote its own products and services, see [itvt] Issue 5.83.)

Espial News:

–Escape Browser Integrated by Orca, Philips, Kreatel
–Evo Client Middleware and Apps Integrated by STMicroelectronics, i3

Canadian set-top box software provider, Espial, timed a number of announcements to coincide with the recent IBC show in Amsterdam:

• The company said that Israeli IPTV middleware and applications provider, Orca Interactive, has integrated its Espial Escape browser, together with the latter’s Macromedia Flash 6.0 plug-in, into its new SUI SDK for Flash (see article in this issue). Espial Escape features include fit-to-width page rendering and remote control navigation, and W3C and television standards support for HTML 4, DHTML, JavaScript 1.5, DOM1, DOM2-Events, CSS2.1 and CSS-TV. The company says that the browser’s standards support enables a rich, dynamic HTML environment for the accelerated development of portals and other interactive content services. "Espial Escape’s advanced browsing capabilities offer subscribers the opportunity to subscribe to dynamic content and services while also browsing the Web," Orca Interactive marketing director, Shlomit Hacohen, said in a prepared statement. "Espial Escape’s browser functionality complements our objective to provide telcos with fast and simple Flash SUI development capabilities that optimize the user experience while reducing costs and speeding time-to-market of IPTV services."
• It said that Philips has integrated the Espial Escape browser into its STB810 semiconductor reference design. "Integrating Espial Escape in our STB810 semiconductor reference design ensures service providers differentiate their offerings with a fast time-to-market and attract the attention of more IPTV subscribers," Menno Kleingeld, Philips’ marketing director for set-top box and home media devices, said in a prepared statement.
• It said that IP set-top vendor, Kreatel, has licensed Espial Escape. According to Kreatel president and CEO, Lars Bengtsson, his company decided to license the browser because of its "pre-integration with popular IPTV middleware." IPTV middleware providers that have integrated the browser include Siemens-subsidiary, Myrio.
• It said that it has integrated its Espial Evo client middleware and applications with STMicroelectronics’ family of ST Decoder set-top box decoder chips, in order to create a turnkey IPTV service delivery platform that reduces operator time-to-market. According to Espial, Espial Evo is based on an innovative architecture which separates the core application logic from the user interface design, and which Espial says eliminates the performance penalties sometimes associated with browsers, such as progressive page loading and blanking. The product incorporates a variety of applications, including VOD, an EPG, walled garden portal, settings and browser. "Customers of ST Decoder solutions for IP set-top boxes are looking for applications with instantaneous responsiveness, while fitting into low cost designs," Roger Walker, general manager of STMicroelectronics’ Interactive Service Solutions Division, said in a prepared statement. "We are delighted with Espial Evo due to its innovative design–providing our customers with turnkey IPTV applications, while maintaining standards-based content and UI design."
• It said that it has signed a strategic partnership with set-top box manufacturer, i3 micro technology, and that, as a result, Espial Evo has been integrated into the latter’s Mood 100 IP set-top boxes. The partnership agreement will also see the i3 set-top boxes serving as Espial’s reference design platform for IP set-tops.

Sofia Digital News:

–Supplies Systems to DIGITAL FORTY FOUR, Tele Granducato, Mediatotal
–Forms Reseller Partnerships in Multiple European Countries

Finnish MHP specialist, Sofia Digital, has announced a number of new partnerships and customer wins over the past few days:

• It says that it has supplied its Arena Digital Teletext system and its BackStage Manager software to broadcast transmission provider, Broadcast Australia, for use in the DIGITAL FORTY FOUR MHP Datacasting project. (Note: the latter is a trial datacast service, run by Broadcast Australia, which was licensed by the Australian Broadcasting Authority in December, 2004 to run for three years in Sydney.) The Sofia technologies are currently enabling various applications for the project, including a news, weather and sports service that features constantly updated content from the Australian Broadcast Corporation; additional interactive services are scheduled to launch later this month, including informational services from the Federal Parliament and the state government of New South Wales. Sofia’s Arena Digital Teletext provides a system for integrating, repurposing and transmitting content for digital teletext in the broadcast headend and presenting the service for viewer navigation in the MHP receiver. Sofia says that by using Arena Digital Teletext, Broadcast Australia was able to quickly integrate various content sources with the Sofia Backstage Author server, which manages the structure of the digital teletext service and the templates created for it. Backstage Manager, meanwhile, connects Backstage Author with the MHP object carousel, allowing Broadcast Australia to automate the content flow from the content source to the MHP receiver. Two Sofia interactive TV applications are broadcast to the MHP receiver: a Launcher application, which handles preloading and launching of the digital teletext service, and an XHTML browser application which powers the digital teletext service itself. "Sofia offered us an integrated solution from a single vendor that included both an automated content publishing platform as well as a set of MHP applications to enable presentation to the end user," David Hilliger, product development manager at Broadcast Australia, said in a prepared statement. "Importantly for us, the system also supports integration of third-party content providers into the DIGITAL FORTY FOUR trial through common use of the Sofia Backstage publishing system and the Sofia Arena Digital Teletext browser. Sofia’s off-line development software also allows content providers to independently develop and test their services before going to air, streamlining the development process. Sofia worked with us to understand our requirements, were responsive to our needs, and worked hard to help us achieve the result we wanted."
• It says that it has formed partnerships with resellers in Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Baltic countries. Its partner in Italy (where its customers include Mediaset, Telespazio and Tele Granducato) is Comtek Video Enterprise. Its partner in the Czech Republic (which will also represent it in Slovakia) is TietoEnator. Its partner in Germany is the Institut fuer Rundfunktechnik (IRT), with which it has teamed on a joint end-to-end solution for MHP service creation, testing and playout. The solution, which the companies are jointly marketing, integrates Sofia Digital’s Sofia Backstage Manager and Author products with IRT’s DVB Playout Server. Sofia’s partner for the Spanish and Portuguese markets is WirelessZT, which also has a presence in Latin America and the US. Its partner for the Baltic market, meanwhile, is Indata Eesti, which will represent its SMS-to-TV products.
• It says that it has delivered an interactive TV system to Tele Granducato, an Italian regional broadcaster that serves the Livorno area (note: it secured the "win" through its Italian representative, Comtek Video Enterprise). The system is supporting a number of MHP-based interactive DTT services, including a digital teletext service with local news, sports results and public information, and a dedicated advertising service. The system is composed of the Sofia Arena Digital Teletext system and Sofia Backstage Manager: the former allows remote content contribution by a local newspaper and local advertisers, while the latter is used to publish MHP applications–Sofia’s Launcher app and its XHTML browser engine–which enable presentation to the end-user, as well as to publish various content streams to an MHP object carousel, supplied by Strategy & Technology. "The cooperation between Sofia Digital, CVE as the Italian partner, and Tele Granducato allowed us to launch digital terrestrial broadcasts in short time and introduce MHP services easily in order to enrich our programming for end-users in Central Italy," Tele Granducato CEO, Fabio Daddi, said in a prepared statement. "Thanks to Sofia we were able to deploy an MHP news service directly from our publishing company, Il Messaggero Marittimo, and now we are at the forefront of DVB-T in our region."
• It says that it is partnering with Mediatotal, a Norwegian company that operates teletext services for a number of major Norwegian TV channels, and that is planning to launch MHP-based interactive TV services for Norway’s digital terrestrial television platform. It is providing Mediatotal with its Backstage Starter Kit for MHP, which the latter will initially use to develop a digital teletext service and a classified advertising service. According to Sofia, the Starter Kit includes all the necessary hardware and software for delivering return path-enabled MHP services, and features an MHP authoring system that employs a content template architecture. "The cooperation with Sofia Digital allows Mediatotal to establish a leading position in interactive services for Norwegian digital terrestrial TV," Mediatotal CEO, Camilla Andersson, said in a prepared statement. "Our track record in teletext services for NRK, TV Norge and TV3 is such that we want to be ready for the future when digital terrestrial in Norway takes off next year. Sofia Digital is the perfect partner to help us ramp up our MHP capabilities."

NDS News:

–Teams with Blockbuster, BitBand, ADB on Demo of "xSpace" VOD Solution
–Teams with Philips on New Line of MHP-Enabled DTT Set-Tops
–Extends its Relationship with Nickelodeon UK
–Teams with Tandberg, Pace, MGt on End-to-End Cable DTV Solution

News Corp.-subsidiary, NDS, unveiled several new products and announced a new customer contract at the IBC show in Amsterdam last week:

• The company teamed with Blockbuster Digital Entertainment (the new media arm of the US-based Blockbuster video store chain; the latter has long been expected to make a play for the VOD market as its primary business becomes obsolete), set-top box vendor ADB, and VOD technology provider BitBand, on a demo of its new xSpace system, which allows satellite TV and digital terrestrial operators to offer VOD, using hybrid broadcast/IP broadband set-top boxes. The system–which NDS describes as extending an operator’s conditional access system and middleware into the VOD arena–uses NDS’s VideoGuard conditional access system to provide business packaging of on-demand content and ensure secure delivery of that content over an IP connection, and uses the company’s XTV PVR technology to enable the recording of IP-delivered content to a hard drive in the set-top box. NDS says that the new solution extends the operator’s backoffice, eliminating the need for separate billing and content management systems; enables new business models and allows the creation of bundles that tie together broadcast channels with on-demand content; and provides a scalable EPG that offers easy navigation and advanced search capabilities while integrating with the operator’s legacy branded look-and-feel. The IBC demo showcased xSpace working in tandem with a Blockbuster-branded VOD application that can be integrated into an operator’s EPG; with BitBand’s Vision distributed IP streaming platform; and with an ADB 3100S hybrid set-top box equipped with an Ethernet port integrated into a broadband access network. According to NDS, Israeli satellite-TV operator, YES, will be the first to deploy a VOD solution based on the xSpace system; that deployment is scheduled to take place next year.
• The company has partnered with Royal Philips Electronics on a new line of MHP-enabled digital terrestrial receivers which are now in production. The new boxes–dubbed the DTR4610/28 and the DTR2610/28 respectively–run NDS’s Java-based MediaHighway middleware, which the company says is fully compliant with the MHP 1.0.3 interactive TV standard. NDS says that it also plans to issue a special version of its MHP development tool, the MediaHighway Development Kit (MHDK), for use with the new boxes. "Philips has a very strong, worldwide reputation and NDS is delighted to extend its existing partnership with such a key player in the digital TV world to address the MHP market," Caroline le Bigot, VP and general manager of NDS France, said in a prepared statement. "MHP is still in the early stages of deployment and NDS is taking a leading role in the development of this standard."
• The company has signed an agreement with Nickelodeon UK for ongoing development of interactive TV games. The new agreement builds on a six-year relationship between NDS and Nickelodeon, in the course of which NDS has provided the latter with an array of ITV applications for the Sky platform: among other things, NDS created Nickelodeon’s games menu (launched in 2004), which consists of a simple overlay that illustrates and describes each game, and which provides a "ticker" line that provides information on games offerings, on TV shows coming up on the channel, and on services available on Nickelodeon’s Web site; the company has also created a range of games for the broadcaster, all of which are designed to allow children to watch Nickelodeon channels while playing them (just this year, for example, it developed Nick Racer 2005, a game that allows children to build a race track which they can then enter into a "Track of the Week" competition, as well as Bin-O-Lympics, Minigolf, Scumm Blaster and several other games).
• It teamed with Tandberg Television, Pace Micro and MGt on a demo of a joint end-to-end digital pay-TV solution targeted at small and mid-sized cable operators that are looking to transition from analog to digital. According to the partners, the new solution’s "standard configuration option," which is fully integrated with NDS’s new VideoGuard Express solution, can be installed and operational within three months of signing a contract. The option includes: 1) an entire conditional access system based on VideoGuard Express (note: the system can be managed remotely by NDS if required); 2) a digital TV headend from Tandberg Television that is fully integrated with VideoGuard Express; 3) Pace’s new, entry-level set-top box, the DC235, integrated with NDS’s MediaHighway middleware and its NDS Guide EPG; and 4) MGt’s Profile CRM system (which supports subscription management and pay-per-view services), offered as a managed service that includes a call-center operation. According to the partners, each of the components of the new solution offers different levels of multichannel access, automation and integration with the client’s existing systems, as well as different levels of local and remote support. The partners also say that the solution provides a roadmap for launching advanced functionality, such as interactive TV, PVR, NVOD, and impulse pay-per-view.

Broadstream Signs Content Agreements with Six TV Channels

Broadstream Communications–a company that specializes in providing outsourced video headend and content distribution and management services to telcos looking to deploy IPTV (note: it touts its outsourced IPTV solutions as allowing smaller operators to offer sophisticated IPTV services without the huge upfront capital and operational expenses associated with a self-built and maintained IPTV headend system)–says that it has signed separate content agreements with the Hallmark Channel, the Hallmark Movie Channel, OLN, the Tennis Channel, Bloomberg Television and the Golf Channel. The agreements will allow Broadstream to offer the channels to its telco and ISP customers through its IPTVConnect transport service. According to Broadstream, IPTVConnect centralizes the aggregation, real-time digital (MPEG-4 AVC) encoding and IP encapsulation of programming content, so that it can be distributed via DSL, fiber and other broadband networks. The company says that its platform offers over 200 video and audio programs through agreements with every major broadcaster and programmer in the US (its other programmer partners include ABC Cable Networks, ESPN, Turner Cable Networks, Showtime Networks, Discovery Networks, and NBC Universal). Broadstream’s outsourced IPTV solution also includes its Bstream middleware, which features an EPG and what the company describes as a "unique service management solution."

Video Networks to Launch New Channels on HomeChoice

UK-based Video Networks is launching a number of new channels on its VOD-enabled IPTV service, HomeChoice (note: the service currently passes around 2.4 million homes in London and Stevenage; at last count, it had approximately 15,000 subscribers): abc1 (which will be available as part of the service’s "Base Pack"); Discovery Home & Health, FX, the Hallmark Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Paramount Comedy 2, and the Biography Channel (which will be available on the service’s "Big Pack" and "Max Pack"); and Jetix (which will be available on the "Max Pack" and on the service’s "Kids TV Pack").

The channels are all launching in traditional linear format; however, Video Networks says that at least three of them plan to offer VOD services on HomeChoice in the near future: Discovery Networks Europe will offer a selection of its factual, lifestyle and children’s programming on a standalone VOD service; FX will offer a catch-up service that will allow HomeChoice viewers to access programs for up to a week after their initial broadcast; and the National Geographic Channel will offer a standalone VOD service featuring documentaries. Video Networks says that it is in discussions with several other broadcasters about developing catch-up and standalone VOD services for HomeChoice, and that it expects to announce these new services in the coming months.