ICASA awards Mobile TV licences to Multichoice and E.tv in South Africa

Last week, the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has issued an announcement in which it officially awarded two DVB-H mobile TV broadcasting licences to respectively E.tv and Multichoice who emerged are the only qualified applicants.

It would be recalled that many deadlines were missed before this process coming to be completed as ICASA initially wanted mobile TV services rolled out before the 2010 World Cup.

Mobile TV Consortium and Super S Media were also among applicants but unfortunately they have been disqualified for failure to comply with regulations. Robert Nkuna, the ICASA councillor ended the announcement by stating that if everything goes well mobile TV services to the end user are to be available within 12 months.

Philips, Sharp and Loewe create a common web-TV platform

Philips has joined forces with Sharp and Loewe to create a competitive internet platform for connected TVs and other internet enabled electronic devices across Europe and Russia. The cooperation is expected to drive simplicity by acting as a common point of contact towards content providers.

According to Philips: “The objective of the cooperation – which is open to other producers of connected devices – is to enrich the number of content applications offered via connected devices, such as video on demand, catch up TV, music services, gaming, social media and infotainment. The aim of the common platform is to make it easier for content providers to develop content applications on the basis of a single technology platform. As a result, content providers will be able to maximize their reach across connected devices, giving more consumers access to a wider variety of content applications”.

In order to establish a common platform, Philips, Sharp, Loewe and other potential interested partners intend to share and align technologies, and open up their infrastructures for connected devices to each other in order to optimize the deployment of content applications across those devices, as well as improve the user experience for consumers.

Brazil marketing its ISDB-Tb technology to South Africa

Brazil is lobbying hard to get South Africa to adopt the Brazilian version of the Japanese digital television standard (ISDB-T), as Argentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela have already done. The Brazilians are coming to SA at the end of the month to prove that the Japanese digital television standard can work in the country.

South Africa, along with the rest of the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) region, is migrating from the analogue broadcasting signal to digital as required by the International Telecommunications Union. The Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) decided to implement the European DVB-T standard and started testing the signal in preparation for the switch from analogue broadcast to digital signal.

However, in April, the Department of Communications controversially decided to review the choice, and started looking at ISDB asan alternative. For this reason, the Brazilian government, broadcasters and equipment manufacturers are coming to South Africa to clarify all the criticisms leveled against the ISDB-T technology and explain its suitability to Africa.

Intel to acquire Texas Instruments’ Cable modem unit

Intel Corporation announced an agreement to acquire Texas Instruments’s cable modem unit. Intel will focus on advanced System-on-chip products, based on their Atom processors. The combination of Texas Instruments products and Intel would deliver advanced set top boxes, gateways and modem products.

Bob Ferreira, General Manager of Intel, said : “Adding the talents of the Texas Instruments’ cable team to Intel’s efforts to bring its advanced technology to consumer electronics makes for a compelling combination,[...] This acquisition specifically strengthens Intel’s product offerings for the continuum of cable gateway products and reinforces Intel’s continued commitment to the cable industry.”

TiVo and Cox Communications reach VOD deal

TiVo, the leader in advanced television services including digital video recorders (DVRs) for consumers, content distributors and consumer electronics manufacturers and Cox Communications, the third-largest U.S. cable television company, have entered into an agreement whereby the two companies will offer TiVo Premiere with integrated Cox On DEMAND service to Cox subscribers. Under the agreement, Cox will promote TiVo Premiere to its subscribers via its website, cross channel advertising and via direct marketing to its video and high-speed internet subscribers. Cox will also support TiVo Premiere as an optional set top box and provide free installation for TiVo Premiere boxes purchased by subscribers.

According to TiVo’s official press release, this deal represents the first time that a cable operator will make its entire video on demand (VOD) library available via a retail DVR and TiVo Premiere will become the first retail product to fully integrate a cable VOD service, along with linear television and broadband content accessible through TiVo’s user interface and intuitive search capabilities.

STC launches Interactive TV service in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the kingdom’s leading telecom operator with subscriber base of 22 million according to Dataxis, has launched the advanced interactive TV service (InVision), a first of its kind in the country.

The new service, Invision, allows customers to watch video content in a magnificently interactive manner; they can pause a program and replay it later, replay clips, record and retrieve programs to watch them anytime at their own convenience. The diversified video content includes TV satellite channels, sports, documentaries and movies …to name a few.

To maintain its leading role in providing its customers with new services deployed in other international markets, STC will initially provide the service in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam free of charge throughout Ramadan.

Five quits Project Canvas

Five, the channel put up for sale by parent company RTL, has pulled out of the project Canvas, the development of an internet connected TV set top box. After reviewing its digital strategy, the channel does not see the project as a priority; however it will continue to support the objectives of Project Canvas according to Charles Constable, Director of Strategy at Five: “Despite withdrawing our interest in the venture we believe it will be a critical part of our strategy for reaching consumers in the future”.

Project Canvas Director Richard Halton added: “They share our goal of bringing the benefits of internet-connected TV to all. We look forward to working with them as a content provider to the platform in the future”.

ONO selects Nagravision for its TV platform

ONO, Spain’s leading broadband communication and entertainment provider, has selected Nagravision, a Kudelski Group company and the world’s leading independent provider of value-added content protection solutions, to secure its next generation, hybrid television platform. The platform will be the first broadband/broadcast content delivery network in Spain, combining traditional Pay-TV services with the power of the Internet and delivered over ONO’s exclusive fiber-optic network.

As per the agreement, Nagravision will provide security technology in addition to the existing information management (IMS) and content management systems (CMS) already used by ONO. The Nagravision latest conditional access will be integrated in all next generation Set Top Boxes deployed by ONO including both PVR platforms and traditional “non-PVR” STBs.

Paul Healy, ONO’s Television Director said: “Providing state-of-the-art services to our customers has always been our top priority. This is why we have partnered with leaders in the Digital TV space such as Nagravision to implement and launch our next generation services. We have a strong relationship with the Nagravision team and their multi-platform solutions will enable us to continue to deliver on the high quality pledge we have made to our customers.”

Pierre Roy, Executive Vice President and COO of Nagravision added: “We are very excited to partner with ONO on their next generation television offering which further demonstrates the modularity, flexibility and robust capabilities of our solutions and features. ONO is leading the way in the deployment of advanced television services in Spain. We are committed to helping them grow their business and secure their ever-expanding offering through solutions that can be deployed seamlessly over different types of networks.”

According to Dataxis Intelligence, ONO had around 1 million subscribers as end of Q1 2010.

TiVo “Non-DVR” Software to be Integrated into Connected TVs from Best Buy

TiVo and electronics retailer, Best Buy, announced agreement to integrate TiVo’s software and advanced TV services (non DVR) into new connected TV sets from Insignia, Best Buy’s in house consumer electronics brand. According to the companies, the new Insignia TV sets will utilize the latest TiVo non DVR software and advanced television service to provide consumers with an “exceptional, intuitive” user experience for accessing online content. “Consumers tell us they want the best of Internet-based content delivered right to their televisions without the hassle of having to fumble with multiple devices, wires, and remotes. The beauty of TiVo software is that it creates a single interactive interface right on the television and integrates the myriad of online content and services. Insignia is thrilled to work with TiVo to bring this superior experience to our customers through our TiVo-powered Insignia television” said Fernando Silva, VP of Best Buy Exclusive Brands.

Jim Denney, TiVo’s General Manager and VP of Product Marketing added: “TiVo has evolved into so much more than a DVR. We are able to customize and deliver solutions that best meet the needs of our partners like Insignia with the ability to integrate TiVo’s software and advanced television services onto either set-top boxes or consumer electronics devices in a non-DVR capacity to deliver one of the best in-home entertainment experiences for consumers. We are extremely proud to be teamed with Insignia to bring the TiVo experience to this leading consumer electronics brand and we look forward to continuing to work with Best Buy on possible future endeavors”.

TiVo also released its financial result for the first quarter ended April 30^th. During the quarter, TiVo achieved its highest Q1 net revenues in three years with a total net revenue of $61.4 million compared to $55.1 million for the year ago quarter.

Google unveils Google TV with Intel, Sony

Google Inc has announced the launch of Google TV, a new tool that will work with Intel Corp. chips in products by Sony Corp and Logitech International SA. Google TV serves as an “entertainment hub” that lets viewers search channels, recorded shows and websites. The service will also include video on demand products from Amazon.com Inc, Netflix Inc and Hulu.

The alliance will help the companies to benefit from the growing demand for Web-based programming and information on large screens: “Television is becoming the true third window, with the computer and the phone, allowing you to access what you want when you want it. The dumb tube is turning into an intelligent device, a smart TV” said Eric Kim, Head of Intel’s digital Home Division.

Rishi Chandra, Product Manager said: “There is still no better medium to reach a wider and broader audience than the television. Video should be consumed on the biggest and brightest screen in the house”.

Howard Stringer, Chairman, President and CEO of Sony Corp commented on the alliance: “The combination of Sony’s industry-leading product design, engineering and development expertise with the flexibility and growth potential of Google’s innovative, open-source Android platform will provide consumers with a world of new and exciting Internet user experiences. Through this alliance, Sony will deliver new levels of connectivity and Internet integration across our range of assets and product categories”.