IBC preview: Connected home, content discovery, C&D, other

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    In this IBC preview you can find news under the following categories:

    • Browser technology, HbbTV, HTML5, etc.
    • The customer premise and connected home
    • Content discovery, metadata, user engagement
    • Contribution and distribution solutions (C&D)
    • Second screen
    • Content management
    • Managed services
    • Middleware and multi-screen/OTT platforms

    Browser technology, HbbTV, HTML5, etc.

    ACCESS will be highlighting its NetFront Browser NX 2.0, which is one of the earliest HbbTV-1.5 compliant WebKit-based browsers, enabling broadcasters and operators to launch HbbTV services that use the new features of the HbbTV standard including support for building EPGs using DVB-SI information, benefiting from the advanced graphics features of HTML5. The solution also passes the MPEG-DASH adaptive streaming manifest XML to the media player, so that broadcasters can utilize MPEG-DASH to launch significantly improved user experiences for iVOD and Catch-up TV services. ACCESS says its IBC demonstration of NetFront Browser NX 2.0 will show how HTML5 provides the broadcast space with an open UI platform that enables the launch of next generation UIs, EPGs, TV Services and games, all at ‘Internet speed’. “For the past two decades the broadcast industry has been held back by the lack of an appealing UI, cool graphics, simple navigation and responsiveness. Our HTML5 supporting NetFront Browser NX means that this is no longer an issue,” declares Dr. Neale Foster, VP of Global Sales IA, ACCESS.

    Espial will showcase the latest developments to its Pay TV multi-screen solutions. One demonstration shows the Espial App Store with the latest HTML5 apps and the company promises to showcase its high performance features including PC-like performance, remote control navigation, TV-optimized user interface and key content standards like HbbTV, Adobe Flash and HTML5 video support. Visitors can also see the Espial MediaBase content delivery platform with MPEG-DASH streaming technology. Working with Elemental, the company is also showing its content delivery and service delivery solutions for live multi-screen TV services, including to Smart TVs and tablets.

    The Espial TV Browser will be pre-integrated on Panasonic’s Semiconductor Business Group chipset technology, enabling connected device manufacturers to achieve a faster time to market. The Espial TV Browser version 6.0 features sophisticated technologies  including HTML5 and Adobe Flash and reduces the time to market for device manufacturers by providing out-of-the-box availability, robust performance and a rich graphical and high-performance user experience for Web on TV.

     

    The customer premise and connected home

    Danish cable operator YouSee is deploying Netgem’s latest N7700 hybrid set-top box and its middleware to enable OTT services to any television and you can see the new YouSee STB demonstrated at IBC. YouSee wants to make its popular Web-TV VOD service available on televisions for any customer with a broadband connection. Netgem makes use of adaptive bitrate streaming to ensure viewers are able to receive a selection of OTT-delivered content in high quality from YouSee’s movies and TV-series content. The Netgem 7700 STB is equipped with a cable tuner and its hybrid capabilities give YouSee the option to offer products whether off-net or on-net. This versatility gives the operator a future option to deploy the same STB over its HFC network to extend its full cable channel line-up with all the OTT VOD and interactive apps from the Web-TV service. Netgem’s middleware gives viewers a richer experience and faster navigation than can be achieved by the use of TV apps, the companies say.

    Pace is providing its Helium Unified Gateway Software and professional services to support the rollout of Bouygues Telecom’s gateway platform.  The French quad-play provider will use the Helium platform across all if its new BBOX Sensation gateways as well as legacy devices in 1.3million subscriber homes.  The deal will allow Bouygues Telecom to have full control over the platform moving forward, so that it can deploy updates easily, when needed. Helium’s hardware-agnostic design enables Bouygues Telecom to remotely manage and deploy services or technical changes across all gateway devices in subscriber homes, regardless of vendor. Previously the company would have had to work with each individual hardware vendor to install their own software onto each device. With Helium, Bouygues Telecom can now test and qualify on one gateway solution, eliminating the need for vendor-specific integration work when changes are made.

    SoftAtHome, a software provider for the digital home, has a new release of CloudAtHome, which allows operators to extend the benefits of cloud into the home. You can see the product being demonstrated at the show. CloudAtHome addresses the challenge of service delivery on any device for operators. Based on proven technologies and open standards, it delivers a consistent user experience for accessing operator services, while taking advantage of the capabilities of the devices (touch, keyboard, remote control, voice recognition) and their ability to work together (control on one device, access on another one). Thanks to CloudAtHome, in one click users can control any content from their tablet, smartphone or PC whatever the OS (iOS, Android, Windows), share it via their social network, and transfer it to the cloud. Live TV is also distributed on any device. The company says CloudAtHome simplifies access to services by providing a unified user experience accessible on any device and that transparently adapts itself to the device’s capabilities. During IBC, SoftAtHome will also demonstrate the user experience deployed by two of its customers Orange and Boxer, based on SOP.

     

    Content discovery, metadata, user engagement

    ThinkAnalytics, whose Recommendations Engine has been deployed by more than 25 service providers including BSkyB and Telenet, has launched ThinkMovies and ThinkTV, two enhanced metadata libraries that integrate with the company’s Recommendations Engine. “These modules represent the largest sources of pre-tagged metadata for movies and TV and are the latest tools to help Pay TV subscribers find content outside their usual eight viewing channels by making it easy to explore integrated content in the linear EPG and VOD/OTT libraries. They enable the extraction and understanding of real meaning from the content metadata to further aid the personalisation and discovery process,” the company says. ThinkMovies includes over 500,000 movie titles worldwide at launch and ThinkTV includes over 10,000 moods, tags, keywords and synonyms for regional TV shows across the globe and supports ten languages.

    Viaccess-Orca will introduce and demonstrate its Data Enrichment and Engagement Platform (DEEP), a new second screen content engagement platform that encompasses a family of services providing smart aggregation of second-generation metadata. DEEP introduces rich content to the second screen and harnesses information from various sources like news and gossip, images, trailers, games and more. The company is partnering with TVersity for sending content from the second screen to the main screen and Audible Magic, using Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, to synchronize the second screen with the content showing on TV to illustrate the strong ecosystem it is creating for operators who want to control the second screen market. Viaccess is also showing an end-to-end TV Everywhere solution with unified backend and a suite of multi-screen applications for smartphones, tablets, PCs and TVs, as well as embedded Conditional Access and HbbTV solutions.

    Hillcrest Labs has unveiled a new addition to its Freespace MotionEngine software family, the Freespace MotionEngine Lite. MotionEngine Lite provides high performance, in-air cursor control on 8-bit processors commonly found on remote controls and Hillcrest Labs claims lower costs and simpler integration than typical Smart TV motion control implementations. MotionEngine Lite runs on high-volume, low cost RF system-on-chips (SoCs), including TI’s RF transceivers and TI’s CC2541 Bluetooth low energy and CC2533 ZigBee RF4CE SoC solutions. The MotionEngine Lite software is provided to qualified customers for simplified integration into a variety of Smart TV, set-top box and PC products. In addition, Hillcrest’s remote control OEM partners, including its preferred partners SMK Electronics and Universal Electronics, are enabled to design and manufacture motion remote controls with the new MotionEngine Lite software.

     

    Contribution and distribution solutions

    T-VIPS will be demonstrating Connect5, a video-centric network management solution allowing broadcasters and network operators to easily monitor, control and expand their video services. Connect5 provides comprehensive monitoring, management and reporting capabilities in an easy-to-use framework. It can be combined with products in the T-VIPS Video Gateway, cProcessor and nSure ranges and integrated with other network management solutions. “Connect5 offers broadcasters and operators a fully customizable system that delivers unmatched reliability for high quality video transport,” the company says. The company is showcasing the CP524 TS Adapter, the latest addition to the cProcessor toolbox. This product enables operators and service providers to flexibly repackage and deliver content to multiple end points. It says the single-box solution takes the pain out of remultiplexing, filtering and mixing and matching services from multiple inputs to multiple outputs. The company is also launching the TNS460 HD/SD-SDI Monitor, which ensures the efficient and continuous monitoring of HD and SD-SDI video signals so operators can better manage and deliver high quality content.

    Net Insight arrives at IBC having announced a contract with ORS (Austrian Broadcasting) to distribute DVB-T2 signals across Austria. ORS is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the terrestrial transmitter network and national DTT distribution in Austria. The agreement, sealed through Net Insight’s partner, TV-Connect Broadcast Systems GmbH, will offer a highly scalable and efficient solution that will use ORS’s underlying IP infrastructure to distribute DVB-T2 signals nationwide. The network will deliver multiple services including HD and radio over the same platform. Net Insight’s Nimbra 680 high-capacity MSR will enable efficient and secure multicast throughout the network. The first phase of the roll-out is based on more than 40 Nimbra 680 nodes and will begin in the third quarter of 2012. The roll-out of the DVB-T2 network will continue during next year and in 2014.

    Ericsson is providing the IBC debut of the AVP family, its new multi-function video compression and processing platform at the heart of its content exchange and distribution solution supporting MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and JPEG 2000. There is also the IBC debut for the AVP3000 Voyager Digital Satellite Newsgathering (DSNG) with multi-codec, multi-network support.

    ATEME has revealed that Eurovision, which distributes sports and news content for the world’s top broadcast and media platforms, has deployed its Kyrion CM3101 encoders and DR8400 decoders for the distribution of major sports events this summer, including the UEFA EURO 2012 championship and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

     

    Second screen

    Neotion will be unveiling its new NEOTION Blue Bridge technology at IBC 2012. This creates a secure wireless link between television and smartphones or tablets, allowing the introduction of new services, in the form of TV apps, combining simultaneous use of television and mobiles. The Blue Bridge system can be integrated into multiple interfaces such as a CAM, STB or even USB dongle. During IBC NEOTION will be presenting a solution based on CI Plus CAMs (Conditional Access Modules) but will also be announcing versions for set-top boxes using an integrated solution and a USB dongle for deployment in 2013 to address the legacy market.

    NEOTION Blue Bridge is first and foremost a wireless link that allows the two screens to exchange data in a secure manner. This solution allows data to be extracted from TV streams and to generate information from an interactive television application for transmission to the second screen. Since this link is bidirectional, the mobile device can also transmit information to the television in the opposite direction. Finally, NEOTION Blue Bridge technology allows a television to connect to the Internet using the mobile device’s Internet connection, providing a connected TV without the need for an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi router.

    NEOTION is presenting a number of sample TV apps running on the NEOTION Blue Bridge platform at the show. These include a ‘Watch 2 Cash’ TV couponing solution where the TV receives and displays discount coupons that the user then validates and acquires using the TV remote control or directly onto their smartphone or tablet. The company is also showing an ‘HBB Tablet’ solution for navigating HbbTV content on a tablet. This allows viewers to use a tablet to navigate within HbbTV services associated with TV channels without owning a compatible HbbTV television. EPG and VOD services are redirected onto the tablets.

     

    Content management

    In the build-up to IBC Nativ launched its Mio v5.0 platform, which it says is the first enterprise media asset management and workflow solution with built-in social collaboration and browser-based editing. “Making its debut at IBC 2012, Mio v5.0 will enable broadcasters, production companies and other content owners to take back control of their assets and truly manage their entire content workflow, from creation to consumption in one place. The scalable and robust platform represents an entirely new way of accessing content management and production solutions and enables customers to cost-effectively maximise the use of their skilled internal resources,” the company says. Mio v5.0 features include project workspaces with advanced social features for ‘real-time’ global collaboration, remote working and increased visibility of cost and resources on a per-project basis.

     

    Managed services

    Ericsson wants to become the leading global provider of managed services for broadcasters and the company has just announced that the French-language international TV network TV5MONDE has renewed and expanded its partnership with the company until 2018. The deal includes integration and operations of TV5MONDE’s new production, playout and post-production facilities. Ericsson will integrate TV5MONDE’s new broadcast platform and provide state-of-the-art services on-site. Earlier this summer Ericsson closed the acquisition of Technicolor’s broadcast services division and broadened its managed services offerings for media broadcasters. Marie-Christine Saragosse, CEO, TV5MONDE, says: “Outsourcing our operations to Ericsson and handing over the responsibility for quality of service allows us to focus on pursuing our mission of providing the best French-language programming to viewers around the world.”

     

    Middleware and multi-screen/OTT platforms

    Tvinci recently announced that its platform has been selected by EpicTV, an extreme sports service backed by Finnish operator Elisa and powered by the OTT native Tvinci system, offering a pan-European service across multiple connected devices. With this deployment, Elisa is hoping to target its niche content towards a potential audience of 200 million adventure sports enthusiasts across 15 countries worldwide. The EpicTV service is delivered via Tvinci’s Pay-OTT TV platform, which will be demonstrated at the show. The company is also unveiling new platform additions (showcased in the EpicTV service) including SDKs for multiple mobile applications, device management tools to effectively manage the applications, as well as multi-DRM support in order to protect the content.

    Alticast will showcase Windmill, what it describes as a breakthrough suite of solutions for next-generation interactive TV services. Windmill encompasses a range of solutions. AltiView provides Windmill with a rich, robust user interface allowing for easy content discovery across broadcast and OTT content, content recommendations and an integrated social experience. AltiPlatform is a high performance middleware core and includes modular support for HTML5, Android, GEM, HbbTV and Blu-ray. AltiProtect provides CAS and DRM management solutions, AltiAd is an advertising platform for the multi-screen environment and AltiMetrics provides insight into audience response for programs and interactive services. “Designed with a modular approach, Windmill is a complete product ecosystem that allows operators and device manufacturers to distribute content freely and securely in a multi-screen environment,” the company says. Alticast is currently working with KT, Korea’s largest IPTV service provider, to develop a next generation set-top-box for its satellite and IPTV hybrid service, and the company is working with one of Korea’s largest cable operators to deliver ‘next generation’ digital TV services by the close of 2012.

    Vestel will be showcasing what is said to be the first version of the Android integrated Display with Beesmart middleware. This Android integrated Display with Beesmart allows modifications and adaptations of the graphical user interface according to customer requirements, provided by Vestel. The new display is based on Android platform and therefore offers an environment for many popular Android applications. Beesmart SDK enables operators to create their own applications according to their needs, whereas Beesmart Open API gives access to all levels of middleware and enables development of applications on top of operator’s existing platform.

    We will have more pre-IBC announcements and preview material on Thursday.


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