Mobile Video News

Brix Networks and HwaCom Systems Deliver Industry's First Set-Top Box With Integrated IPTV Quality Agent

Brix Networks, the leading provider of converged service assurance solutions, and HwaCom Systems of Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, today announced the integration of Brix Networks' IP television (IPTV) Quality Agent into HwaCom's HC-100 set-top box (STB) that gives service providers the unique ability to collect valuable video performance information and metrics on an unprecedented scale, and provides crucial, at-home visibility into providers' IPTV services.

HwaCom's STB with the Brix IPTV Quality Agent lets service providers monitor IP video and network quality -- including highlighting the performance of the IPTV and multicast infrastructure, performing continual or on-demand diagnostics of the STB, and quantifying the user channel change experience -- for operational, troubleshooting, and customer care applications. 

Brix Networks is exhibiting at this week's IPTV World Forum 2007 show, being held March 5-7, at the Olympia in London, in booth 123. 

Brix is also now part of HwaCom's IPTV ecosystem, which includes system elements from headend, middleware, video servers, network equipment, and set-top boxes with software applications. Additionally, the companies plan to develop other comprehensive IP video quality testing solutions for HwaCom's STBs in the future. 

According to Steve DesRochers, vice president, solutions, at Brix Networks, "Providers have undertaken very costly infrastructure additions and upgrades to support new IPTV services, and are now under enormous pressure to ensure successful IPTV rollouts. As a result, having visibility into endpoint devices like HwaCom's STBs allows service providers to verify installations, continually improve operational efficiencies, reduce troubleshooting resolution times, validate performance and quality levels, and ensure the overall success of their IPTV services."

Ericsson completes the voluntary public cash offer for Tandberg Television

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has received favorable rulings from the relevant competition authorities to acquire all outstanding shares in Tandberg Television (OSE:TAT). Furthermore, no material adverse change has occurred.

Consequently, all conditions in the terms and conditions set out in the offer document, dated February 26, 2007, have been met and Ericsson will complete the offer in accordance with the offer document.

Settlement for the shares submitted in the voluntary public cash offer is expected to take place on or about April 25, 2007. As soon as possible following settlement, Ericsson will proceed with a mandatory offer for the remaining shares in Tandberg Television as required under chapter four of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. 
In parallel, Ericsson plans to initiate a compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares in Tandberg Television in accordance with paragraph 4:25 of the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act. Such compulsory acquisition of shares is expected to take effect soon after the announcement of the mandatory offer. In addition, Ericsson intends to arrange for a delisting of the Tandberg 

Ericsson is shaping the future of Mobile and Broadband Internet communications through its continuous technology leadership. Providing innovative solutions in more than 140 countries, Ericsson is helping to create the most powerful communication companies in the world. 

French IPTV users speak out

A study of around 2,000 IPTV subscribers in France reveals the latest attitudes towards the service and their own TV consumption patterns. The research was conducted by IPSOS on behalf of Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft TV. The German telco operates the Club Internet IPTV service in France, as part of its T-Online France division.

The research comes nine months after the launch of the Club Internet service, based on the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition platform. Results show that since the introduction of IPTV in France across all service providers, a number of viewers have significantly changed the way they interact with their television. On average these viewers watch around four hours of TV a day and now benefit from the flexibility and accessibility of IPTV services. 

Seventy per cent of users polled state that IPTV makes watching TV more enjoyable; 61 per cent like the way in which IPTV offers more control over when to view certain programmes; and 43 per cent believe that 

"The study clearly shows that we are entering a new era of TV viewing," said Marie-Christine Levet, CEO of Club Internet. "The Microsoft TV technology that powers our IPTV service offering empowers consumers to choose not only what they want to watch on TV but when and how they want to watch it. This heralds a new TV era where the viewer is the sole master of his TV consumption."

Almost half of those polled have subscribed to additional TV channels and packages since they started using IPTV services, compared to only a quarter that chose paid-for content from a previous TV service. Furthermore, 87 per cent of Club Internet viewers polled makes use of the personal video recorder in contrast to only 34 per cent of other IPTV subscribers.

"Our goal has been to make the TV experience personal, connected to the things you care about, and intuitively easy to use--despite its advanced capabilities," said Elena Branet, Senior Marketing Manager for Microsoft TV. "The study shows that consumers clearly value TV's new capabilities as we see a change TV watching behaviour amongst IPTV users."

However, although IPTV allows consumers to watch TV on a number of devices, 92 per cent said they continue to watch on their existing TV sets.

Globecomm Introduces SkyBorne Enterprise, Integrating Cost-Effective IPTV Broadcast Technology Into Enterprise Networks 

April 17, 2007, Hauppauge, New York - At NAB 2007 in Las Vegas, Globecomm announced the introduction of SkyBorne Enterprise, which integrates cost-effective IPTV broadcast technology into enterprise networks. SkyBorne Enterprise removes bandwidth restrictions on rich media applications by integrating cost-effective IP broadcast technology into the existing enterprise network. From business television and distance education to surveillance or digital signage, SkyBorne Enterprise brings the flexibility, security and savings of IPTV to business and institutional communications. 

SkyBorne is Globecomm's solution for satellite-based IPTV content acquisition and management, subscriber management, packaging and delivery to the end user. Compared to traditional "business TV," IPTV requires less bandwidth and turns video into a flexible, standards-based medium that integrates smoothly into enterprise networks. SkyBorne Enterprise uses satellite to bring business and institutional networks the cost and performance benefits of IP video and rich media content, while making satellite as simple as "another port on the router." Once a SkyBorne Enterprise solution is in place, it also offers 

Growing Network Capabilities

SkyBorne Enterprise has been designed to solve the challenges faced by enterprise network managers when it comes to handling video, rich media and high-bandwidth applications. With SkyBorne Enterprise, video, high-resolution graphics, large file transfers and similar applications are routed to a satellite overlay, easing congestion problems. Depending on a company's needs, SkyBorne Enterprise can be configured as a one-way or two-way solution and can provide business continuity protection for one or many locations. And because it is IP-based, there is no limit to the kinds of traffic it can carry.

SkyBorne Enterprise also offers unsurpassed control and security for rich-media applications. SkyBorne's management tools make it possible to broadcast or deliver files network-wide or to specific locations, and to update or replace archived content at any or all locations. Its encryption and authorization controls ensure that only authorized users have access to each content element. SkyBorne Enterprise also supports live as well as recorded programming transmitted directly from a studio or the field to desktops and displays throughout the enterprise.

Companies can save on bandwidth costs by multicasting content for storage and playback at remote sites. Content becomes available for playback 24/7 throughout the enterprise without continuous bandwidth demand.

Systems Plus Services

SkyBorne Enterprise is an integrated system-plus-service offering that deploys satellite terminals at a company's remote locations, provides satellite bandwidth and network management, and offers 24/7 help desk and field 

"BTV has traditionally been used for training and internal corporate communications," said Globecomm Vice President Keith Hall. "With SkyBorne Enterprise, these traditional applications become much more cost-effective, and the business case for new applications like digital signage and audio become more compelling." 

SkyBorne IPTV Platforms

Globecomm introduced its SkyBorne pre-engineered IPTV Regional Headend (RHE) at NAB 2006. It is designed for telephone companies, broadband carriers, enterprises and other new entrants into video services. In a single, cost-effective, customizable package, the SkyBorne RHE provides content acquisition, content management, subscriber management, content packaging and delivery to the carrier's distribution network. Optional features include systems for advertising insertion and video on demand, which generate additional revenues for carriers. In the same year, Globecomm built the Super Headend for SES AMERICOM's IP-PRIME satellite distribution service. 

On April 16, Globecomm introduced SkyBorne Mobile, which extends the company's SkyBorne IPTV platform to deliver television programming to mobile and handheld devices. SkyBorne Mobile is a flexible, scalable media processing center for mobile TV, designed for cost-effective entry into mobile video services but using standards-based technologies to provide a clear forward path for growth. 

Kasenna Teams with HP and Intel to Successfully Complete the First 'One Million Subscriber' IPTV and Video-On-Demand Service Benchmark Test

Sunnyvale, CA - April 16, 2007 - Kasenna, the IPTV Company™, today announced that it has teamed with HP and Intel to complete a one-million-IPTV-subscriber benchmark test for broadcast television and bandwidth-intensive Video on Demand (VOD) services. The benchmark test proved that an IPTV infrastructure developed by Kasenna, together with HP and Intel, can support one million subscribers.

The IPTV-infrastructure test-bed, built around Kasenna's Portal TV product suite, consisting of the LivingRoom® middleware platform and MediaBase video server software, utilized industrystandard HP ProLiant servers powered by Intel® low-power Dual-Core Xeon® processors. The test was conducted in a simulated access network environment at the HP Communications, Media and Entertainment (CME) Solution Center in Grenoble, France.

An Executive Summary and Engineering report with detailed results of the benchmark test is available at www.kasenna.com/1m and www.hp.com/go/iptv. Carriers and service