Widget TV

Last week I mentioned some of the features AT&T has publicly committed to roll out with U-Verse. Compare those features to the new Verizon FiOS interface (see above) and a few interactive services Time Warner Cable is promising, and it’s clear we’re moving into the world of widget TV.
Here are the new features Time [...]

Apple Ups the Ante

Big news day. First Microsoft’s demo of Surface Computing and then…
Steve Jobs announced this afternoon at All Things Digital that consumers will soon be able to stream YouTube videos to their TV screens with Apple TV. I have to give credit where credit is due. Despite the fact that I’m not particularly [...]

Connexion Brings Fiber to your Neighborhood

Most of us get our broadband connections by calling the local cable or telecom provider and signing up for whatever services we’ve decided we need. However, in some planned communities the situation is a little different. Developers looking to lure homeowners understand the importance of using luxury amenities as bait. Features might [...]

Another Stat for the VOD vs. Digital Download Debate

OneTRAK cited an Ipsos Insight report on Friday that found Americans would rather watch television on a TV screen than a computer. In fact, even among active adult viewers of online video, the percentage of TV watched on a computer screen was just 11%.
The study goes on to say that there is interest, however, [...]

How Much Bandwidth Will *You* Need?

Motorola often uses a bandwidth calculator with its operator customers to determine what bandwidth they need to deliver to subscriber homes. The calculations involve numbers like service uptake percentages and concurrency rates (i.e. the number of concurrently active subscribers expected).
 

If you’re not into that level of detail, consider instead the chart below [...]

VOD Server - Picture of the Day

Since there was a quote of the day I figured it was only reasonable to have a picture of the day. Above on the left in blue is one Motorola B-1 video-on-demand server which replaced six racks of legacy VOD equipment. Not only does the solid-state DRAM approach to VOD hardware save [...]

On Broadband - Quote of the Day

Okay, it was really the quote of a few days ago, but financial analyst Arnie Berman of Cowen and Company told me he thinks the financial press will be lauding Verizon in a short two years for its gigantic investment in fiber. We were talking about how Verizon, given its responsibility to shareholders, has [...]

Partners in Bandwidth

Mark Cuban testified in front of Congress recently that the net neutrality issue will become irrelevant when there’s enough bandwidth to go around. That’s essentially true, but in the meantime, while bandwidth supply is not infinite, it’s not a bad idea to look at how the limited resources are dolled out.
I’m [...]

On Site at “Cable IPTV”

What would keep me inside in a windowless room on a day like today? The Screenplays Magazine “Cable IPTV” conference, of course.
There have been many good discussions already, including what relationships need to exist between over-the-top application providers and network operators, and what levels of bandwidth we really need. Details on [...]

New AT&T U-Verse Features Coming

I check in occasionally on the U-Verse Users Forum, an unofficial site covering AT&T’s IPTV service. There are two interesting things I found today. First is a map showing where U-Verse service is available across the US. I’d show it here, but you have to register on the site to view it [...]