October 10, 2012

New Stuff 10/10/12

The Slingbox 500 and Slingbox 350, two completely redesigned retail Slingbox products that deliver best-in-class, up to Full 1080p HD-quality, live streaming to smartphones, tablets, laptops and connected devices, now are available from EchoStar subsidiary Sling Media Inc. In addition, the Slingbox 500 introduces such new features as Wi-Fi and HDMI as well as a platform for delivering personal content to the TV, a first for any Slingbox product…Hillcrest Labs, a developer of multiplatform motion software and products, is marketing an integrated motion sensing solution with Wi-Fi Direct technologies from fabless semiconductor company Ozmo Devices. The joint solution combines Hillcrest’s MotionEngine Smart TV software with Ozmo’s ultra-low power, low-cost Wi-Fi Direct technologies for manufacturers of remote controls, smart TVs, set-top boxes and streaming-media players…Cambium Networks unveiled its Canopy PMP 450 for the first time in Europe today; the fourth-generation point-to-multipoint (PMP) fixed wireless broadband access solution enables service providers to rapidly deploy new services and to increase revenue and profitability by operating with a combination of high throughput, low latency and GPS synchronization…The Dune HD Connect, claimed to be the world’s smallest full-HD set-top box, is the newest product from Dune HD. The compact stick-format device plugs into a subscriber’s TV HDMI socket and streams content through its built-in Wi-Fi via a home Internet connection. It is available with optional cable or terrestrial digital TV tuners and full 3D video support through the Dune HD Connect 3D variant. It supports such streaming standards as HLS and will play several digital media formats from networked files or IPTV/VoD/OTT applications in 1080p HD video and audio. Through its inbuilt micro SD slot and a USB port, the Dune HD Connect also can be connected directly to local media content…Enhancements to Active Broadband Networks software improve operator visibility into the integrity of Internet protocol detail record (IPDR) data collected from CMTSs in DOCSIS networks. Cablecos rely on IPDR data to compute subscriber Internet usage for usage metering and usage-based pricing as well as a variety of broadband service management applications. Its Active Resource Manager (ARM) collects, processes and stores IPDR data streamed from CMTSs.  IPDR processing primarily involves time normalization and usage data mediation, but the ARM also performs a series of checks and crosschecks to validate the completeness and correctness of IPDR data to detect anomalies that can result in the computation of inaccurate Internet usage data. The enhanced ARM software improves operator visibility into these anomalies by presenting the operator with a real-time dashboard view and storing information about each detected anomaly in a database that is accessed for status reporting and can be queried to identify the specific devices and IPDRs associated with the anomaly…Just-unveiled two-stage, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) from Freescale Semiconductor address two gain stages in one device and deliver coverage across multiple bands to simplify wireless base-station designs. The MML09212H and MML20242H two-stage LNAs feature noise figures of 0.52 and 0.57 dB and exhibit 37.5 dB gain for low band frequencies and 34 dB gain for high band frequencies, respectively. Providing coverage across multiple bands and protocols, including LTE and WCDMA, the LNAs allow wireless base station OEMs to reach gain capabilities typically achievable with two separate devices and receive coverage across a spectrum of wireless network and band configurations…Expresse Wi-Fi, a residential Wi-Fi management service, now is available from ASSIA Inc., and provides advanced diagnosis and automatic proactive repair capabilities that improve home Wi-Fi network performance. The cloud-based service can proactively identify, locate (for example, Wi-Fi network versus access link) and repair problems while reducing the number of technician dispatches; and it can be licensed to any customer premises equipment vendor…Genesis Technical Systems Corp. launched DSL Rings, a technology to deliver 400 Mb/s over existing copper infrastructures. DSL Rings supports VoIP, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, M2M, CCTV and CATV, automated meter reading, mobile-network offload, femtocells, picocells, HD IPTV, video conferencing, video streaming and video on demand. It can be deployed in rural and urban situations “with the potential for return on investment typically within 24 months following low-cost, rapid deployment,” Genesis says. Now in trials, it will be available commercially 2Q13…Alcatel-Lucent’s Zero Touch Vectoring solution uses signal processing to help ensure that VDSL2 modems already installed in customers’ homes can continue to run at full speed without undermining the service quality for customers subscribing to higher-speed VDSL2 Vectoring. “This eliminates the need to update the firmware on all modems on the network, as was previously necessary,” the company says. VDSL2 Vectoring uses existing copper lines for the ‘last mile’ broadband connection to peoples’ homes, and it removes the interference between the VDSL2 lines in a bundle, enabling the delivery of speeds of 100 Mbps.