Virgin Media has unveiled a new trial using telegraph poles to deliver ultrafast 50Mb broadband to the Berkshire village of Woolhampton. By connecting homes directly to Virgin Media’s fibre optic network, the trial will effectively increase broadband speeds more than ten-fold. As well as ultrafast broadband, villagers will be offered Virgin Media’s TV service. The […]
The European Parliament has defied the Commission, voting against an agreement between the EU, the US and other major powers on combating online piracy and threatening to take legal action at the European Court of Justice. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which began in Geneva two years ago, is a multilateral trade agreement to establish […]
Gerhard Zeiler, the chief executive of Channel Five’s parent company RTL, has said that the group remains “100 per cent” committed to the UK commercial broadcaster despite last year’s loss, noting that it will be a “valuable asset” in the expected consolidation of the UK TV market. Five reported an overall loss of £37 million […]
BBC Vision's head of multiplatform products Lloyd Shepherd is leaving the corporation after nine months. He commented “It's probably worth saying this decision has nothing to do with the BBC Strategic Review.” Shepherd joined Channel 4 as future media solutions head in 2008, but left for the BBC in June 2009.
BlackArrow, a global provider of advanced advertising solutions for New Television platforms, has partnered with Fox Cable Networks to trial the BlackArrow Advanced Advertising System across the VOD content of FX, National Geographic Channel and SPEED. With the BlackArrow system, Fox Cable Networks is testing the ability to deliver addressable advertising to viewers in multiple […]
Playcast Media has confirmed partnerships with some of the video game industry's top publishers including Atari, Capcom, Codemasters and THQ. Playcast Media delivers console-free video gaming directly through existing Cable and IPTV set-top boxes and is the first gaming-on-demand technology for Cable and IPTV in the world. Playcast Media’s system uses a proprietary new technology […]
STMicroelectronics is sampling the first STB System-on-Chip devices featuring advanced CryptoFirewall security helping to prevent hacking of pay-TV broadcast signals and enable faster, lower-cost development of new set-top box products. The CryptoFirewall security core developed by Cryptography Research, and now integrated in ST's set-top box ICs, features dedicated tamper-proof and emulation-resistant hardware designed to work […]
Latens have signed a partnership agreement with Coship, the STB provider. The focus of this partnership agreement is to work together on delivering cutting edge solutions based on Coship's range of STBs with Latens leading software CAS and ECO Middleware. They say the combination of Coship's STB range and Latens CAS and middleware solutions offers […]
Swiss operator Cablecom will provide a CI+ option for its subscribers from June, it will allow its new digital channel package to be watched on other sets via a Digicard charged at CHF99 a month. The new basic digital TV package will contain 55 channels and cost CHF23.20 a month. For CHF4 a month subscribers […]
Tapping the potential of set-top-box (STB) data will not be easy nor quick, according to a white paper from the Council for Research Excellence. The study, a yearlong endeavour, concluded that only through broad industry collaboration would the industry realise the benefits of STB data. The Nielsen-funded CRE, an independent group of media, agency and […]