Blackarrow Consulting

BlackArrow this week will preview a DVR ad-substitution system with NDS, with the ability to dynamically insert targeted, local ads in live or on-demand video, at the IBC conference in Amsterdam.

The demo is the first public product showcase jointly presented by the two companies, following NDS's investment into BlackArrow this spring. Other BlackArrow backers include Comcast, Cisco Systems and Intel.

As home networking becomes increasingly mainstream, with Strategy Analytics predicting that Western European sales of WiFi enabled home and portable devices will reach 287 million units by 2014 and the installed base of such devices will be around 711 million devices, service providers need to ensure they are getting their fair share of this growing market. This article will examine the technological and commercial barriers that need to be overcome to fulfil the promise of the connected home and discuss the vital role that wireless networking will play in making it a reality.

Rovi wants to extend the ads it sells for interactive program guides to broadband-connected video devices, promising to help consumer-electronics manufacturers make money off Internet TVs, set-top boxes, media players and game consoles.

This strategy is designed to provide an advantage in competition between the cable firms and DTH satellite broadcasting, Thomas Braun, president of Germany’s national cable operator association ANGA, said in Berlin.

Comstar-UTS has commercially launched a new service for its 120,000+ IPTV subscribers in Moscow. Known as ‘TV Pause’, it employs special software from Edgware and allows for the pausing of live programming.

3D has been the stand out star at this year’s consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin with manufacturers showing 3D TV developments both in LCD and in plasma screens.

A new advanced test tool to ensure devices comply with the latest CI Plus specification has been released by CI Plus LLP. Testing of the MHEG-based CI Plus Browser is now a mandatory part of the CI Plus conformance regime, helping to ensure interoperability of interactive MHEG applications across all compliant receivers.

A new study from Point Topic UK, which looks at the Digital Switchover and availability of Digital Television (DTV) services, has also resulted in an interesting new broadband internet video / TV streaming map of Britain.

The Consumer Electronics industry is not going to be prepared to manage the regular software upgrades needed to keep a population of connected televisions up-to-date and providing the kind of quality TV experience viewers want on their big screen. That is the view of Neil Gaydon, CEO at set-top box and residential gateway provider Pace, who believes that television platform operators will step in to fill the role of managing the OTT services to the television and taking responsibility for the Quality of Experience.