Home

Set-top

Motorola to Acquire Swedish Set-top Developer Kreatel

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 18, 2006 - 4:16am.
Stockholm - Motorola, a U.S.-based electronics giant, announced that it has agreed to acquire Kreatel Communications, a Sweden-based developer of IPTV-based digital set-top boxes. Financial terms were not disclosed. Motorola said Kreatel's Linux-based set-top platform was a natural complement to its end-to-end digital video platform and would address the need for IPTV-based digital set-tops. Kreatel's customer base currently includes such heavy hitters as Telefonica, TeliaSonera and KPN. Industry experts say the move will consolidate Motorola's position as the largest set-top box maker in the U.S. Motorola said it expected to close the deal in the first quarter of this year.
tags: Motorola | Swedish | Set-top | Kreatel |

Akimbo, Thomson to Develop Co-branded VOD Set-top

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 4, 2006 - 7:25am.
Las Vegas - Akimbo, a provider of video-on-demand programming and delivery technology, on Wednesday said it partnered with French consumer electronics firm Thomson to create a co-branded Akimbo Player. The $199 RCA Akimbo Player will offer some 8,000 titles over broadband lines to subscribers, from 150 providers including Movielink.
tags: VOD | Akimbo | Thomson | Set-top |

DirecTV to Offer NBC Shows On-Demand Via Digital Recorder Set-top

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 8, 2005 - 10:53am.
El Segundo, Calif. - Satellite TV provider DirecTV announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with NBC Universal, to offer episodes of programs from the company's NBC, USA, Sci-Fi and Bravo networks for 99 cents each through its video-on-demand service. The multi-year agreement includes rights to episodes of "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order: CI," "The Office," "Monk," "Surface" and "Battlestar Galactica," which will be available until the following week's episode airs on television. Programs will be offered through the satellite TV firm's new DirecTV Plus interactive digital video recorder, which began deployment with its subscribers this week. "Through this agreement with DirecTV, consumers will be able to watch top NBC content on demand for just $0.99, when they want, without commercials. It's a huge sea change," said NBC Universal Cable president David Zaslav.
tags: DirecTV | NBC | Shows | Set-top | Via | Digital Recorder |

Scientific-Atlanta Developing Hybrid Cable TV Set-top/Video Game Console

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2004 - 6:49am.
New York -- Scientific-Atlanta, a manufacturer of set-top boxes for digital TV services, has announced that it is developing a new set-top that will offer high-performance video gaming of the same quality of a PlayStation or Xbox, Reuters reported. "We have a partner we are working with who has 250 engineers in Europe writing software for the Explorer platform for games," said Scientific-Atlanta CEO James McDonald, adding, "I can give (game players) the same performance you get out of those game boxes …There is no question that games is one ... market we will be in." The company did not offer further details on the device or a proposed release date. The set-top box game console would likely not be sold separately in stores, but rather distributed into homes already subscribing to digital cable that are also interested in gaming.
tags: Cable TV | Scientific-Atlanta | Video Game | Set-top | Hybrid |