Advanced Television

Regulation

Sky ‘restricts movie competition’

The UK’s Competition Commission (CC) has provisionally found that Sky’s control over pay-TV movie rights in the UK is restricting competition between pay-TV providers, leading to higher prices and reduced choice and innovation for subscribers. Sky has for many years held exclusively the rights to the movies of all six major Hollywood studios in the […]

August 19, 2011By Colin Mann

Turkmenistan orders sat-dishes removed

BBC Monitoring is reporting that the president of Turkmenistan has ordered that all satellite dishes must be removed from houses and buildings. The president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, has ordered his deputy prime minister in charge of transport and communication issues to remove satellite dishes installed on houses and buildings in capital city Asgabat and other major […]

August 19, 2011By Chris Forrester

RTÉ criticised for Saorview fees

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has criticised the proposed fees charged by RTÉ to allow channels of other stations to be broadcast on its free digital TV service Saorview. The BAI expressed concern that the prospect of any new channels being made available could be impacted by the proposed cost structure charged by the state […]

August 18, 2011

Italy: Antitrust authority opens new Sky Italia probe

The Italian Antitrust Authority has decided to expand its investigation into Sky Italia’s dominant position with particular attention to the broadcaster’s transmission of the UEFA Champions League, which can only be watched on a pay-per-view basis. The inquiry will be in addition to the on-going investigation on the purchase of the TV rights to the […]

August 17, 2011From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Galaxy ban lifted

The ban on the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 across Europe has been temporarily lifted while a court looks at whether the original ruling was appropriate. The ban was won in Germany following a patent filing by Apple which accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying the design of its iPad.But questions have been raised over […]

August 17, 2011

ATSC begins work on broadcast standard for 3DTV

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has launched development of a 3D broadcast TV standard that will provide methods for transmission of 3DTV content to both fixed and mobile devices, the standards development organisation has confirmed. “The addition of 3DTV over-the-air TV broadcast transmission is part of our ongoing effort to expand the capabilities of […]

August 16, 2011

Iran arrests satellite kit suppliers

BBC Monitoring is reporting that Iranian members of a group which manufactured and distributed satellite reception equipment were arrested and some 2,200 satellite receivers were seized in the city of Kerman by Iranian police. “The intelligence officers of Kerman Township’s Police Headquarters identified this group after carrying out some intelligence measures. They discovered more than […]

August 15, 2011By Chris Forrester

ActiveVideo files for further FiOS injunction

ActiveVideo Networks, the creator of the CloudTV platform, has filed for an injunction against Verizon Communications to prevent what it says is the continued, unlawful use of ActiveVideo’s intellectual property in Verizon’s FiOS TV service. The requested injunction, intended to protect ActiveVideo’s rights as the inventor of technology in the delivery of advanced television applications […]

August 15, 2011By Colin Mann

Now Apple wants to ban Xoom too

According to reports Apple is preparing to sue Motorola in Germany over the design of its Xoom tablet claiming IP infringements. It would repeat its attack on Samsung’s Galaxy which, after a German court agreed with Apple, has been banned from sale in all Europe except The Netherlands. In both cases Apple claims the tablets […]

August 11, 2011

Digital TV Labs launches ISDB-T receiver test suite

Digital TV Labs, provider of receiver conformance products and services, has developed and shipped the first commercially available receiver test suite for digital terrestrial deployments of the ISDB-T standard, beginning with test services for South America. The company’s new ISDB-T Evora iSuite can directly test against the Brazilian receiver specification, providing manufacturers with a fast […]

August 10, 2011