Weekly Pix

Sling Media Launches Slingbox in UK If CTOs from major cable companies are willing to discuss the impact of the Slingbox during a panel discussion at NCTA, we’re willing to provide you with updates. Earlier this week, Sling Media said its Slingbox is now available for purchase across the United Kingdom. The Slingbox is a consumer electronics device that enables consumers to watch their living room TV programming from wherever they are by turning virtually any Internet-connected Windows-based computer into a personal TV set. The Slingbox redirects, or "placeshifts," a single live TV stream from a basic aerial connection, cable box, satellite receiver or personal video recorder (PVR) to the viewer’s PC. Vendors Ramp Up for GlobalComm GlobalComm is just around the corner, so the onslaught of press releases has begun. Tandberg Television will be showing off its expanded compression capabilities, which it acquired through the purchase of SkyStream, at the show. Tandberg will show fully operational SD and HD IPTV video headends with a number of innovations, including features such as unified IPTV headend control and management. Motorola will demonstrate its next generation of switching technology for standards-based open communications servers at the show. Using switching technology developed by Broadcom, Motorola will demonstrate a 10 Gbps Ethernet AdvancedTCA switching blade integrated into a Centellis 3600 Series communications server. Concurrent Scores First VOD Launch in China Concurrent said that Chinese cable operator Shekou CATV has chosen to launch the first commercially available VOD service in China using Concurrent’s MediaHawk VOD platform. As part of this deal, Concurrent is partnering with Chinese technology manufacturer SZCOM to equip existing set-top boxes for advanced, two-way cable services. Kagan Report Says Future Bright for Cable In a recent report, Kagan Research said that the cable industry "is better positioned than ever to defend against ever-mounting competitive threats while delivering robust revenue and cash flow growth." The report, called "Cable Futurecast 2006," analyzes how cable operators are fending off rivals via an arsenal of advanced services such as voice and VOD, which enable operators to roll up impressive subscriber counts by offering packages of services in attractively priced "bundles."