CED articles from January 2005

CED archives from January 2005

Seeing the future.(in perspective)
January 1, 2005... It's "that" time of year again, when the new calendar has been put up, the new budget is in play, and the bills from Christmas begin streaming in. It's also the time of year when everyone looks forward to what the impending 12 months will...

High Court to review 'Brand X'.(Up front: latest news and insight)(Brand X Internet Services )
January 1, 2005... The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in December to a weigh in on the decision on whether cable modem service providers must provide access to competing, third-party ISPs. The court said it would review the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...

emuse an OCAP author.(Up front: latest news and insight)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... emuse technologies has launched an interactive television tool designed to create applications that comply with the CabteLabs-specified OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) middleware. The tool, dubbed Modelstream, is aimed at content...

CableLabs stamps 'copy once' technology.(Up front: latest news and insight)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... CableLabs has approved a digital recording technology developed by Philips and Hewlett-Packard for use in "Digital Cable Ready" products. Based on FCC guidelines for the so-called "broadcast flag," The Video Content Protection System...

MPEG-4 part of VOOM's HD expansion plan.(Up front: latest news and insight)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... VOOM, Cablevision Systems Corp.'s HDTV-heavy DBS service, is about to gain a few pounds. VOOM plans to expand its current lineup of 39 hi-def channels to more than 70 by March 2004 after taking up 16 transponders on the SES Americom AMC-6...

Comcast puts some HD in its VOD.(Up front: latest news and insight)(video-on-demand titles in high-definition format )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Comcast Cable has launched a limited range of video-on-demand titles in high-definition format in a variety of markets, including the MSO's Washington Metro/Virginia region. There, Comcast initially offered on-demand access to HD versions...

Coaxsys pictures IP video networking.(Up front: latest news and insight)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... After months of development, Coaxsys Inc. is unveiling an Ethernet-over-coax home networking system it says is the first of its kind for the market. The IPTV 7000 TVnet can create a video network using coax cabling in a home, regardless of...

FTTP nearing 1m homes passed.(Up front: latest news and insight)(fiber-to-the-premise)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... More than 970,000 U.S. homes were passed with fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) technologies as of October, reports Render Vanderslice & Associates LLC (RVA). RVA added that the number of FTTP homes marketed stands at about 413,000, and homes...

'Soft' security gains momentum.(Up front: latest news and insight)(down loadable conditional access systems)
January 1, 2005... As cable plunges ahead on a digital transition plan that could involve millions of inexpensive set-tops, operators are quickly warming to the concept of down loadable conditional access (CA) systems. The latest company to stake its claim on...

Movielink beefs up its video 'EQ'.(up front: latest news and insight)(enhanced quality)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Movietink, the studio-backed, Internet-based movie rental company, has expanded the availability of "enhanced quality" (EQ) titles that are encoded at higher bit rates than those offered at standard settings. The decision followed a...

Broadcom fires off MPEG-4 chip.(Up front: latest news and insight)
January 1, 2005... Broadcom Corp. added more fuel to the advanced codec fire in December, announcing its first silicon that supports the H.264/MPEG-4 standard. Available in samples now with widescale release expected this month, the BCM 7411 decoder chip is...

Pike an IEEE Fellow.(Up front: latest news and insight)(Dan Pike)(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Dan Pike, the CTO of Alaska-based GCI Inc., has been made a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). IEEE grants Fellow status to people the organization's board determines to have "an extraordinary record of...

Chip vendors line up MTA deals.(Up front: latest news and insight)(multimedia terminal adapter)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Armed with new silicon, Texas Instruments and Broadcom Corp. are making some big, initial land-grabs among multimedia terminal adapter (MTA) suppliers. For starters, ARRIS selected TI as its "primary" supplier of silicon and software for...

National Show gets Game (NET).(Up front: latest news and insight)(GameNET Conference and Exhibition)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A broader than usual 2005 National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) National Show will also be home to next year's GameNET Conference and Exhibition. The show will host GameNET, a conference with a specific focus on...

iProvo goes live.(Up front: latest news and insight)(HomeNet Communications iProvo fiber-to-the-home service)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... HomeNet Communications has launched voice, video and data services over the fiber-rich "iProvo" municipal network in Utah. HomeNet's service package includes a 10 Mbps data service (or as low as 512 kbps), video-on-demand and digital...

Entone opens video gateway.(Up front: latest news and insight)(Entone Technologies)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Entone Technologies launched an IP gateway that delivers multiple video service streams via traditional home coaxial cables. Competing with stand-atone IP-based set-tops, which have to be deplayed to each TV in the home, the Entone Hydra...

Year of the dish: in 1994, an upstart rival was dismissed as a pretender to cable's throne.(memory lane)
January 1, 2005... Eleven years ago doesn't seem like much in pure numbers, until you're reminded of some seemingly ancient memories that marked a rather lamentable 1994: a white Ford Bronco, Tonya Harding, a compromised appendage from the husband of Lorena...

Vision: for the future, a passion for the past: Marwan Fawaz's ability to combine operational skill with the depth of a technological futurist underscore his selection as CED's 'Man of the Year.'.
January 1, 2005... The final fate of Adelphia Communications remains far from certain, but the engineering feats it has achieved in such a short span of time are nothing short of remarkable. Before filing for bankruptcy in mid-2002, Adelphia's rebuild and...

Betting big: VOD, iTV, voice, commercial services and digital video recording--CED's editors place wagers on 2005's technology winners.(In Depth)(video on demand, interactive television, voice over internet protocol)
January 1, 2005... Forecasting the future is a tough business. The same holds true in gambling. It's a lot easier to bet big and even go "all-in" when you know your hand can't be beat. No one knows what cards will fall in 2005, but we've done our best to...

The CED technology timeline.(In Depth)
January 1, 2005... Here's a look back at some of the news and events that shaped broadband in 2004. Jan. 6 Multimedia over Cable Alliance (MoCA) enters the flag, promising speeds up to 270 Mbps. Jan. 7 Adelphia announces plans to offer the...

Providing QoS for cable VoIP: how to meet ILEC competition head-on.(Networking: advanced networking tchnology)(quality of service for voice over internet protocol, Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier)
January 1, 2005... It's unclear who fired the first shot, but now that the telcos finally appear serious about providing video service to complete their residential triple play offering, the time has come for cable operators to introduce or solidify their...

Hitting close to home: cable divisions turn to local VOD as weapon in war with satellite.(Broadband: business and news perspective)(video on demand )
January 1, 2005... There is nothing like home cooking, and now cable operators are finding out that is true for their video-on-demand service offerings. A new strategy in cable's battle with satellite competitors is to go local with VOD content. While...

Building out broadband.(In the loop)(local governments providing broadband services)
January 1, 2005... I have a colleague who feels "broadbandoned" (apparently a cross between "broadband" and "abandoned"). He laments that he is too far from the central office for DSL, the nearest cable television (and thus cable modem) line is about a mile up...

No Western Show? No problem: industry's first 'virtual' tradeshow covered everything from iTV to VoIP.(Broadband: business and news perspective)(interactive TV, voice over internet protocol)
January 1, 2005... 2004 was the first year in a string of 37 in which the industry did not gather for The Western Show, which hung up its spurs for good in December 2003. Still, the industry had an opportunity to gather and talk about some serious tech....

MPEG-2 encoder/ decoder.(new products)(V4400 Series)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. -- Radiant Communications has introduced its V4400 Series MPEG-2 encoder and decoder units. This series enables television over-IP applications including enhanced distance learning, corporate training, security and remote...

720p HD VOD platform.(new products)(MatrixStream Technologies new InstantVOD Platform, video-on-demand that supports high definition quality videos)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... SAN MATEO, Calif. -- MatrixStream Technologies Inc. has announced its InstantVOD Platform, a secure, end-to-end IP video-on-demand system that supports HD- and DVD quality videos. The platform does not require broadband providers to upgrade...

Fiber cable assemblies.(new products)
January 1, 2005... CRANSTON, RI -- Electro Standards Laboratories (ESL) has expanded its data communications cable line to include the new multi-fiber MTP/MPO Fan-Out cables. Designed to save front-panel space and streamline fiber management, the cables are...

10 Gigabit LAN/PHY capability.(Transport)(Local Area Network/Physical Layer)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- C-COR Inc. is expanding its PLEXiS family of transport gear with several. 10 Gbps products based on the new LAN/PHY (Local Area Network/Physical Layer) architecture. Enabling increased transport efficiencies and capacity...

Mobile multimedia--the next big thing?(capital currents)(MediaFLO)
January 1, 2005... Suppose you could buy a nationwide TV channel-say, for example, channel 55 (716-722 MHz)--what would you do with it? Use it for video? Use it for mobile communications? How about mobile multimedia? That's what Qualcomm decided to do with it....