Portugal’s leading cable provider ZON has doubled the take-up of its HD DVR.
Called the ZON Box, it was installed in 93,000 homes in the first quarter of 2009, pushing total installations up to 184,000 – 12 per cent of the total customer base.
High Definition TV News
Virgin Media has just begun a broadband customer pilot to test real-world deployment of 200 Mbps speeds – making it the fastest implementation of Docsis 3.0 technology in the world. Services offered in Japan and the US currently reach 160 Mbps and 101 Mbps respectively.
In a separate announcement, the UK digital cable TV operator said it plans to add up to five new HD channels this year to keep pace with growing demand for high-def programming.
Vudu is to make its 14,000-plus movie library available on Entone set-top boxes and DVRs.
The deal is the first time Vudu’s content, including around 1,500 HD movies, has been made available on third-party hardware.
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Millions of viewers already watch Internet video on their TVs but that number is set to climb dramatically, according to In-Stat.
It forecasts that by 2013 web-to-TV video streaming services will drive nearly USD $3 billion in revenue.
TV makers have been quick to recognise consumer appetite for connected TVs – and their ability to act as a differentiator in a crowded market.
Rightly so, as new research shows that nearly half of prospective TV buyers in the US intend to purchase an Internet-ready TV in the next year.
It’s taken a while but HDTV seems to have firmly established itself in the UK – underlined by the latest surge in subscriber numbers for BSkyB.
The satellite broadcaster has seen its HD base leap to more than one million subscribers – up 32 per cent on the previous quarter and more than double the 465,000 who signed up last year.
802.11n Wi-fi technology will see off competitors in the wireless HD video market, at least for the next several years, according to In-Stat .
Three other technologies are competing in this space – Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI), WirelessHD, and Ultrawideband (UWB).
Sony has extended its BRAVIA HDTV range to include a new model that for the first time lets viewers access online services.
The Z5500 uses Sony’s AppliCast technology to connect via its Ethernet port to the Internet.
High-definition Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) set top boxes (STBs) offer semiconductor makers a short term spike in opportunity.
However, standard definition (SD) DTT STBs will be a more sustainable market for manufacturers, according to In-Stat.
VholdR has unveiled what it describes as the first wearable HD camcorder.
Weighing just four ounces, the 5 Megapixel ContourHD can record 1280×720 video at 30fps or SD video at 60fps with H.264 codec.