Blackarrow Consulting

Sezmi, which combines over-the-air, cable, and web video content into a single integrated TV service, has partnered with Amazon to launch in 36 markets in the U.S. The company already has partnered with Best Buy to launch in Los Angeles.

Well Apple has given us that one more thing, the new improved Apple TV, However this has caused me to think about one of the less understood aspects of the Apple ecosystem… Fairplay – Apple’s DRM system. Well what caused me to think about this ‘almost’ hidden DRM?

We spotted a demo of Sony's new Google TV-toting Internet TV while walking around the massive Sony stand here at IFA.

Badly dubbed adverts really annoy me. Faintly sinister firms make an advert for shoes or yoghurts or incomprehensible children's toys in Germany, and instead of filming a new version for the UK they just do a half-arsed bit of dubbing that doesn't even attempt to match the mouths to the sounds they're supposed to be making. "Oh, who cares," the advertisers think. "It's only the UK."

Most of us at Boxee are Apple fanboys. If it is silver and it has the Apple logo on it, we pre-order it. If there’s a line around the block, chances are we’re in it. And everything stops at Boxee HQ while we unbox the latest gadget to come out of Cupertino. We were incredibly excited when a couple of developers in the community made it possible to run Boxee on Apple TV (as hundreds of thousands of users have done) and the Boxee Remote for iPhone remains one of the most popular interfaces people use to interact with Boxee. Plenty has happened since then.

When you were a child, did you ever annoy your parents into buying you a toy for Christmas or Hanukkah, only to find that once you unwrapped it and took it out of its box, it wasn't exactly what you were expecting? I felt that way after Steve Jobs' introduction today of Apple TV Part Deux.

So is Apple TV still only a hobby for Jobs and company? Because if it isn’t, then I’m missing something from yesterday’s presentation when the new iteration of Apple’s set-top device was unveiled. The new Apple TV is smaller, cheaper and sexier, I’ll grant it that, but what else does it really have going for it?

Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that the Broadcom® BCM7400 satellite set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution has been chosen by leading digital media equipment company EchoStar Technologies L.L.C., a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (Nasdaq: SATS), for its SlingLoaded™ 922 high definition digital video recorder (HD DVR). This is the world’s first HD DVR to incorporate place shifting technology enabling users to easily watch their home television on other consumer electronics devices such as laptop computers and smartphones. This announcement is being made in conjunction with Set-Top Box 2010 – a consumer electronics conference held in San Jose, California, September 1-2, 2010.

ANT plc (LSE AIM: ANTP), the leading provider of software and services for the delivery of digital TV has today announced a partnership with Ocean Blue Software, digital TV middleware specialist to deliver a fully integrated connected TV software stack. The combined solution provides connected TV services including HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) by integrating the ANT Galio Platform with Ocean Blue’s Sunrise™ DVB and Voyager™ MHEG technology.

Technicolor (Euronext Paris : FR0010918292 ; NYSE : TCH) and Bouygues Telecom today announced the development of a new TV user interface for Bouygues Telecom Bbox customers and new software for the Technicolor DBI 8500 set-top boxes used by Bouygues.

A 3D TV User Interface that can be delivered to any existing set-top box, CI+ television or Web-connected device will be among the cloud-based innovations that will be demonstrated by ActiveVideo Networks at IBC September 9-14.

Live demos of all three next generation DVB standards will be on the DVB stand in Amsterdam next week.