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Amino launches Freedom Jump

Amino Communications is to launch a new ‘companion’ set-top box at CES 2011 aimed at network operators seeking to add OTT functionality to their established pay-TV and broadcast offerings. The new device – the Freedom Jump – is designed to complement existing cable and satellite set-top boxes, working alongside them to offer access to the […]

January 5, 2011

Rovi scoops Sonic Solutions

  Digital entertainment technology specialist Rovi Corporation is to acquire digital video processing, playback and distribution technologies provider Sonic Solutions in a stock and cash transaction valued at some $720 million and the per share value of Sonic common stock at signing of the agreement is $14.17, a 38.2 per cent premium to Sonic’s 30 […]

December 23, 2010By Colin Mann

Research: STB market revenue $6bn by 2014

The DTT set top box market continues to expand, as countries migrate from standard definition TV to high definition programmes, and digital video recorders become more important.  New products like hybrid web-to-TV set top boxes also will contribute to the long-term growth of DTT STBs pushing revenues to nearly $6 billion by 2014, says In-Stat. […]

December 22, 2010

Pace powers Comcast’s Xfinity Spectrum

UK’s Pace has developed a four-tuner HD digital video recorder that Comcast is using to test Xfinity Spectrum, a service that blends TV programming with Internet content including e-mail and YouTube video clips, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission. “Comcast’s Xfinity Spectrum brings you the best of TV and the Internet,” according […]

December 22, 2010

Opera provides anytime access to iPlayer

Opera Software is now able to offer a BBC iPlayer compatible version of its browser to the consumer electronics industry, for use on connected televisions, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. The broadcaster allows users in the UK free access to favourite television and radio programmes from the past week. The Opera Devices SDK has been […]

December 22, 2010

Italy ends 2010 with over 40m active digital TV boxes

At the end of 2010, Italy has over 40 million active digital TV boxes and a total of 30 TV channels available in HD, according to data published by HD Forum Italia (HDFI). In the DTH segment, some 2.4 million Sky Italia subscribers, or 50 per cent of the subscriber base (totalling 4.8 million), are […]

December 17, 2010From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Motorola: Viewers moving away from scheduled TV content

British viewers are moving from traditional video consumption habits to a more varied video content ‘diet’, according to the UK-market findings from global research conducted by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Motorola. Motorola Mobility’s 2010 Media Engagement Barometer shows that while free-to-air services are available to 67 per cent of global viewers, compared to 57 […]

December 17, 2010

Study: Shopping behaviour unaffected by DVRs

Watching a television show from a digital video recorder (DVR) gives viewers a chance to skip commercials, but new research suggests that owning a DVR does not influence the demand for advertised products despite its ad-skipping feature. It appears that, only a small percentage of ads were fast-forwarded by DVR users who participated in the […]

December 15, 2010

Comcast tests hybrid Internet-cable device

Comcast is testing a new service that knits together television and the Internet, in an effort to compete against other integrated service providers. Under the new system, which is being tested in Augusta, content flows through a set-top box that combines features of the Internet with those of a DVR. Users can watch and search […]

December 14, 2010

Free’s new box set and package

French broadband and IPTV supplier Free (part of the Iliad group) has unveiled its new box and package with Iliad’s chairman Xavier Niel describing the new box as a “revolution”.  It consists, in fact, of a pair of boxes, designed by the leading stylist Philippe Starck. The modem box has a fibre and ADSL modem, […]

December 14, 2010From Sotires Eleftheriou in Paris