South Africa’s Dept. of Communications is gearing up for local production of set-top boxes. The government office is seeking a manufacturer to help cope with demand as the country switches off its analogue TV transmissions. Reportedly 36 bidders have formally applied for the contracts up for grabs. South Africa starts migrating to digital TV later this year, and has said [...]
ALi Corporation, a provider of set-top box (STB) system-on-chip (SoC) solutions, has announced that its M3911 Networking Media Processor has been selected by VideoWeb, a German OTT (Over-the-top) service provider, to be integrated into the newly launched B12 product line of OTT set top boxes for the international market. B12 is especially designed for OTT providers and Internet companies. It [...]
YouView, the set-top box business headed by Alan Sugar, will not be up and running until the end of 2012. The joint venture between BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, TalkTalk, BT and Arqiva had been due to launch, following a series of delays, this spring. They insisted the important thing was hitting the high street before the London Olympics. [...]
Fetch TV STBs will lose Sky’s on-demand video service Sky Go next month, despite finding a new home. Fetch TV, a Freeview+ HD recorder with on-demand services, went into administration in January but has now been bought by online entertainment service ShopTo.net. However, Sky has chosen not to renew its contract from the new owner, meaning the Sky Go service [...]
EchoStar Technologies is withdrawing from the US cable set-top box market and is to cease development of its Aria platform immediately as a result of poor sales, the company told Multichannel News. Instead, the company is to shift resources to support what it describes as it “unique intellectual property and advanced content-delivery technologies”. The company owns Sling Media, developer of [...]
IN Media has begun to ship new Android based Tablet PCs with Telephony capabilities using CDMA and GSM SIM Cards. “We are now on course with our revenue targets as the consumers are now looking at Tablet PCs for their day to day infotainment needs. Combining Telephone capabilities has resulted in making Tablet PCs the new Desk Top communication device. [...]
Findings from two recent reports by market research firm Infonetics Research suggest that pay-TV operators continue to increase their investments in MPEG-4 encoders, while despite healthy unit growth in set-top box (STB) sales, revenue was flat. “Two of the most interesting trends in the video equipment and set-top box markets are 1) across the board, pay-TV operators continue to increase [...]
ALi Corporation, a set-top-box (STB) system-on-chip (SoC) solution provider, has announced that its hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV) supported STB platform is ready for mass production. ALi and Opera Software will work together to bring a better HbbTV experience to ALi-based STBs. To create an optimal HbbTV experience, ALi and Opera offer a friendly interface to browse web content on [...]
UK set-top box specialist Pace issued a statement to coincide with its AGM on April 16, saying that its first 15 weeks of trading were “encouraging” and in line with expectations. Allan Leighton, Pace’s chairman, added “The business is benefitting from a stronger operational focus and this is delivering tangible benefits in procurement, operating efficiency and costs. Profitability in the [...]
Roku, the US streaming platform, has confirmed the official launch of its products in Canada. Two Roku streaming player models – the Roku 2 XD and the Roku 2 XS – are available for purchase in Canada starting immediately. These small set-top boxes use the Internet to stream entertainment to the TV instantly. At launch in Canada, Roku features more [...]
