Cisco’s new Videoscape platform
January 6, 2011
From Nick Snow @ CES
Cisco Systems has built a software platform it says will let service providers blend TV with web content, personal media and social-networking.
“We think the future is going to be about reinventing the TV,” Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers said and described Videoscape as a comprehensive TV platform for service providers that will deliver a “truly immersive home and mobile video entertainment experience.”
The Cisco Videoscape platform encompasses an IP-based media gateway for the integration of voice, linear and online video, high-speed data, Wi-Fi and network traffic routing; the Videoscape IP set-top box, to support all video forms delivered to a TV; software clients that extend the services to a variety of home and mobile devices, from connected TVs to tablets and smartphones; and the Videoscape Media Suite, which provides content lifecycle management.
Chambers emphasised that Videoscape is not about an individual set-top or device, but rather a software architecture. He also reiterated that Cisco will work with operator customers to deliver the converged technologies to consumers.
“It’s not about devices, in our opinion, it’s about the intelligence in the network… The Videoscape experience is about how you have an infinite source of content — how do you allow any device, over any network, to access content it’s authorised to get.”
The idea is to let service providers counter over-the-top services, by integrating Internet-delivered content and services seamlessly across multiple screens. “The customer will say, ‘I really want to align with the service provider on this,’ instead of going to five or six different providers,” Chambers said.
Other posts by Nick Snow: