It's ADB and not Netgem buying Pirelli Broadband

Instead of Netgem, it's ADB buying Pirelli Broadband, as reported by CED. The set-top box/residential gateway convergence continues.

Parks Associates cited in Financial Times

Google and Intel are expected to announce a significant breakthrough into consumer electronics and the broadcast industry this week with the launch of a “Smart TV” platform reported a recent Financial Times' article.

With TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes rapidly adding wired or wireless internet connectivity to their features, a host of companies are tailoring and integrating web-based content for living room entertainment.

“If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said no way Intel and Google could make an impression,” said Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at Parks Associates. “But Intel looks to have gained some traction and the operating system space is so wide open that it’s a case of why not Google at this point.”

Google is expected to call on its Android developer community this week to create applications for TVs and its software could prove popular if it also promises advertising revenues for TV manufacturers.

“Consumer electronics manufacturers want a piece of this [advertising] pie and Google is the player in this very crowded space that can immediately offer them revenue share,” said Mr Scherf.

To view the full Financial Times article, click here.

The Role of the Set-Top Box

The set-top box (STB) is the primary point of entry into the digital home for television services, including cable TV, DTH, and IPTV. This device has evolved beyond its historical role as a simple black box sitting on top of a large TV set into a smaller form-factor device supporting a variety of functions, notably interactive television applications. Service providers worldwide are aggressively upgrading their equipment to support the migration away from analog television and toward digital television (DTV), with the hopes of improving consumer satisfaction and creating service differentiators.

In markets with a high penetration of DTV subscriptions, support for advanced features such as VoD, DVR/PVR, and other interactive applications are driving the deployment of digital STBs. Another interesting development has been a resurgence in the concept of a residential gateway (RG), which is a complex device capable of delivering multiple services to the home, including video, data, voice, and wireless. This development seems to set up competing hardware paradigms, with two different form factors expanding their roles, with functional overlap, within the home. Right now, there is no clear industry consensus about whether, and to what extent, STB functions will shift to the residential gateway or vice versa.

To read more about the Role of the Set-Top Boxes, subscribe to Parks Points.

So, about that "uber-box"...

While the European cable industry is enjoying itself in Brussels at the Cable Congress 2010, they also look to be making us look pretty prescient, too (so, thanks for the chocolates and the validation). Just two days ago, I had mused about whether we're going to see the "uber-box" emerge for the cable guys - this is the single point of convergence for data and video services and would replace the separate set-top box and residential gateway.

Liberty Global is apparently ready to roll with such a converged box. Liberty Global plans to deploy an IP-based home gateway some time this year, CEO Mike Fries told delegates at the Cable Congress in Brussels yesterday. Fries said the cost of such equipment had reduced significantly over the last year, so that the cable operator could now deploy a gateway for the same price it would formerly pay for an HD DVR. The planned gateway will be a six-tuner device with built-in wireless connectivity.

Convergence of the set-top box and RG?

We've been speculating for some time now about whether we are going to see the convergence between set-top box and RG functionality. In reports such as Set-top Boxes: Outlook and Connected Home: Global Outlook, we interviewed companies from both the service provider and the CPE side to identify the key catalysts and timing for the "all-in-one" box that
incorporates all data, communications, and entertainment access would impact their services and costs. Drivers for such deployments are the cable industry’s move away from all MPEG video delivery to IP and cost-savings – the one-box unit might allow for lower-cost or even no set-top boxes to be deployed. Today, the economic model for such deployments is only viable for households having three or more set-top boxes, only 17% of all U.S. digital cable households (14% of all broadband households).

Even as deployed separately, there are many synergies that the video-centric set-top box and the data-centric RG can leverage. It's probably one reason why a company such as Pace plc is purchasing Bewan, a residential gateway developer. Pace sees the acquisition as a way to enhance the converged services of operators and to allow entry into Middle Eastern and North African markets.

Annual set-top shipments worldwide to exceed 200 million by 2013 as service providers seek competitive edge

Demand for high-definition content, time-shifting, and interactive applications will drive growth in the set-top market

The demand for interactive and personalized television services will push annual worldwide set-top box shipments over 200 million by 2013, as providers overhaul their current base with next-generation models.

The research firm’s latest report Set-Top Boxes: Outlook says the global digital transition and new distribution channels like DTT, IPTV, and over-the-top video services will intensify competition in the television service market. Carriers and manufacturers looking for a competitive advantage will replace their current installed base of set-tops with advanced models capable of supporting applications such as time- and place-shifting and Internet-based offerings.

Consumers are attracted to the concept of connected CE, with one-third of U.S. broadband households very interested in a set-top box that connects to their PC and Internet service as well as their TV. While less than ten percent are willing to pay a monthly fee, demand is still on an upward trend, especially as the set-top connects to more and more services.

Growing demand is good news for service providers, especially cable and telco/IPTV operators, who are leveraging the set-top box platform to support their multiplay strategies. With the box connected to a variety of sources, it will expand the battle in the television services market to the entire digital home, affecting every service sector from energy management and security to voice and video.

For the full press release, click here.

Best Buy and TiVo Form Alliance

TiVo, the Silicon Valley company that popularized the digital video recorder, and Best Buy, the national electronics chain, are forging a broad partnership.

On Thursday, the companies plan to announce that Best Buy will heavily promote TiVo products in its 1,100 stores in the United States. TiVo will develop a version of its set-top box, to be sold in Best Buy stores, that will let the retailer advertise its products and services to TiVo subscribers on their home televisions


Read More: NY TIMES