set-top box

Novabase and Entropic have created a new home gateway, which they said is unlike any other device on the market today. They have collaborated to develop a SAT-IP gateway with home automation features.  The solution is part of an industry initiative to allow satellite broadcasting to IP base devices.

Other SAT-IP solution are available; however the new home gateway according to Novabase and Entropic, is the industry's first to integrate home automation, SAT-IP in a power plug form factor.

To offer better quality content to households, content creators and distributors need to know that it is going to the intended person in a secure way.  Therefore, service providers need to convince content distributors that they have the very best conditional access or Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems in place to protect the content from unlicensed distribution. That is why Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) like Entropic is collaborating with Cryptography Research to provide security for content from the hardware level.

They had previously collaborated on a client server solution that llows Service Providers to stream content to multiple home appliances at the sametime. Now, STMicroelectronics and SoftAtHome have extended their partnersip to develop an Ultra High Definition (UHD) chipset that enables operators to offer enhance viewing experiences via their set-top box.

According to a MarketsandMarkets recent market research report "Connected Living Room Market by Products (Smart/3D, LED/LCD/OLED TV, set top box, Home theater (Projector, Audio Equipment), Blu-ray player, Gaming console), Technology (Processor, Memory, Sensor, Connectivity) & Geography - Global Trend & Forecast to 2013 2020, the global Market is expected to cross US $957.65 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 6.8% rate from 2014 to 2020.

Advanced networking supplier Tecom and set-top box manufacture Prime Electronics have selected Sigma Designs G.hn CG5200 chipset family for a range of new consumer devices.  The Sigma G.hn powerline chipset enables whole-home coverage of Triple play and IPTV over all power lines, coaxial wires and phone lines with MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) to connected devices.

Entropic collaborated with Cryptography Research to port their CryptoFirewall security core technology into Entropic’s advanced line of multimedia set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) products.  The new chipset will protect against protect against signal theft and content piracy which is a major issue for content creators and broadcasters.

As a virtualisation professional I was excited to learn that Telefónica and NEC are working together to use virtualisation as part of their communication and home entertainment platform. The platform will form part of Telefónica Set-Top Box solution – called, the virtualized customer-premises equipment (vCPE). The solution is due to start its trial early this year in Brazil.

TiVo has joined the list of hardware manufactures to partner with Control4 to allow users central management of their home’s automation and entertainment systems.  Starting with the Roamio range of TiVo’s set-top box (with DVR, multiscreen and streaming services) customers will be able to manage their TiVo system from within Control4, along with their lighting and other connected services.

Entone has collaborated with LG to integrate LG Electronics’ Netcast media streaming platform with Entone’s hybrid media gateway. The solution will allow operator using FusionTV application and Magi hybrid media gateway to stream linear TV and over-the-top  online TV services, without the need for a dedicated set-top box.

The features discussed during the unveiling of game consoles usually based around speed, graphics quality and general performance.  Microsoft yesterday unveils it next game console – Xbox One but unlike before the tone was different and features discussed were softer and circle more around entertainment via the web.  A look closer and it seems that Xbox One will eclipse the need for a set-top box in the home.