Weekly Pix

Broadcom Supports Dolby Specs Broadcom said that its family of AVC/MPEG-2/VC-1 high-definition (HD) digital video decoder chips for satellite, cable and IP set-top boxes and media gateways now supports Dolby Digital Plus and Coding Technologies’ MPEG-4 aacPlus specifications. These advanced standards-based audio codec technologies reduce the bit rate requirements for delivering audio in high-definition DVD and broadcasting, digital video and radio, and Internet music applications, according to the press release. Sling Media Unveils Mobile Software The question of whether Sling Media posed a threat to cable was broached at the National Show during the CTO panel. While some of the panelists said space shifting video wasn’t new, they admitted to being intrigued by Sling Media. Earlier this week, Sling Media announced the first official release of SlingPlayer Mobile for Slingbox owners. SlingPlayer Mobile is a software package that gives Slingbox owners the ability to watch and control their home TV from any network-enabled mobile phone or handheld computer (PDA) powered by Windows Mobile. The SlingPlayer Mobile software is compatible with devices that run Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition, with other versions to follow this year. Service Electric Picks BigBand For Simulcast BigBand Networks said today that Service Electric Cablevision, a subsidiary of the 15th largest U.S. cable operator, plans to launch digital simulcasting based on the BigBand BMR1200 (Broadband Multimedia-Service Router). Service Electric plans to utilize Gigabit Ethernet networking in this deployment as an efficient transport platform for all content among three Pennsylvania systems and as a foundation for additional functionality, such as local advertising insertion and enhanced service reliability through headend redundancy. ABC’s Internet TV Play Strains Relationships You don’t need to work for analyst group to figure out that Disney‘s plans to test free Internet distribution of ABC shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" to the 22 million U.S. homes that regularly stream video would cause a strain in the relationships with programmers and operators, but that’s one finding from a new report by Strategy Analytics Broadband Media and Communications. Strategy Analytics also said that Webcasting will evolve into a valuable secondary platform for Disney and other TV programmers, but that consumers will continue to rely on cable and satellite service providers as their primary source of programming. Swiss Company Expands IPTV Suite with Kasenna Kasenna, a provider of VOD content and MPEG-4 ready IPTV applications for triple play services over broadband networks, announced that Sierre-Energy SA, a power utility and communications service provider for Switzerland, has decided to expand the deployment of IPTV services of its subsidiary, Television Sierre, SA (TVSierre) with Kasenna’s PortalTV application suite for IPTV. The extended rollout follows the successful completion of a phase-one implementation of IPTV and is based on Kasenna’s MediaBase video server software and the Kasenna LivingRoom middleware application. Aircode, Triveni Digital Team Up for ITV Aircode and Triveni Digital announced that they are partnering to develop, promote and service new solutions based on the integration of their leading interactive TV (iTV) and data broadcast platforms. StreamScope monitoring and analysis systems and the Skyscraper content distribution platform from Triveni Digital will be integrated with the TVPLUSi product suite from Aircode. The companies expect the collaboration to accelerate the acceptance and deployment of iTV and content distribution solutions