Advanced Television

STB

Alexa voice control for YouView

YouView has revealed plans to enable a voice controlled TV experience for YouView viewers using Amazon Alexa. YouView devices will support Alexa voice control through Amazon’s Echo and Echo Dot or other Alexa-enabled devices, enabling users to search for content, navigate around YouView’s user interface, play content and use trick play, all without having to […]

June 9, 2017

Nigeria buys 650,000 STBs

Nigeria says it needs 30 million set-top boxes in order to cover the country with Digital Terrestrial TV. The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission says it has made a start by buying 650,000 units – worth $26 million – for the initial stage of the country’s adoption of digital TV. NBC’s director-general Mallam Isha’q Modibbo Kawu, quoted […]

June 8, 2017By Chris Forrester

CEEVA aims to make Canadian STBs more energy efficient

Last week, signatories met face-to-face for the inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Energy Efficiency Voluntary Agreement for Set-Top Boxes (CEEVA) in Toronto. Representatives from each of the signatories as well as Natural Resources Canada and supporting organisations CableLabs and the Consumer Technology Association were in attendance. The parties met to further the […]

June 6, 2017

FACT welcomes Facebook streaming device ban

UK intellectual property protection organisation FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) has welcomed the recent move by Facebook to update its Commerce Policy to ban the sale of illicit streaming devices from its site. According to the site,items, products or services sold on Facebook must comply with its Community Standards, as well as the Commerce Policies, with […]

May 25, 2017By Colin Mann

Opera TV partners with ALi Corp

Opera TV, a specialist in enabling OTT, and ALi Corporation, the STB chipset provider, have announced the integration of Opera TV’s solution into ALi Corp.’s System-on-a-Chip (SoC) STBs. This market-ready solution enables STB manufacturers and Pay TV Operators the opportunity to deliver consumers with immediate access to premium OTT content through an engaging viewing experience […]

May 22, 2017

Amino unveils virtual STB software

Amino, the IP/Cloud video software and device specialist, has announced that its new Amino Enable virtual set-top box software is empowering TV operators to migrate to an all IP/Cloud future. By upcycling existing set-top boxes and eliminating installation costs, Amino says Enable will save TV operators “billions of dollars in CAPEX and help them keep […]

May 18, 2017

Kodi: ‘We won’t police pirate content’

Following the April ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union that the sale of a multimedia player which enables films that are available illegally on the Internet to be viewed easily and for free on a television screen could constitute an infringement of copyright, Nathan Betzen, Kodi community and project manager at […]

May 15, 2017By Colin Mann

Eurofins Digital Testing selected by Conax

Eurofins Digital Testing, a global player in end-to-end quality assurance (QA) and testing services, has been selected by Conax, part of the Kudelski Group, to provide testing and service validation for Conax certified set-top boxes in Asia. As part of the agreement, Eurofins Digital Testing set-up a test centre in Hong Kong to provide authorised […]

May 10, 2017

SmarDTV’s SIP selected by Altech

SmarDTV, a Kudelski Group company, has announced that its third generation System-In-Package (SIP) technology has been selected by Altech, a specialist in set-top box technologies with manufacturing facilities in South Africa, to provide the local retail market with a new HD set-top box for OpenView HD, South Africa’s first free-to-air digital satellite TV platform. SmarDTV’s […]

May 10, 2017

Confusion over South Africa’s encryption policy

South Africa’s recently appointed Minister of Communications, Ayanda Dlodlo, is reportedly dumping her predecessor’s strategy which backed non-encryption of digital set-top boxes. The former minister, Faith Muthambi, had favoured ‘open’ digital receivers despite the ruling African National Congress political party that boxes needed to be encrypted.  Muthambi was replaced in March. Muthambi’s approach was designed […]

May 9, 2017By Chris Forrester