May 2007

General

Widget TV

May 31, 2007 : BY Motorola

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Last week I mentioned some of the features AT&T has publicly committed to roll out with U-Verse. Compare those features to the new Verizon FiOS interface (see above) and a few interactive services Time Warner Cable is promising, and it’s clear we’re moving into the world of widget TV.

Here are the new features Time Warner has said it offers today or is in the process of trialing (from page 12 of the recent Annual Report):

  • Quick Clips – view news, weather and sports clips
  • Instant News and More – instant access to data (like an RSS feed?) on weather, sports, stocks, traffic and more
  • Interactive Voting and Polling – live, on-screen voting
  • eBay on TV – bid and track the progress of auctions using your remote control
  • Football and Baseball Trackers – get stats and alerts on your favorite players
  • Bill Paying and Subscription Upgrades – manage your cable account with your remote control

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General

Apple Ups the Ante

May 30, 2007 : BY Motorola

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Big news day. First Microsoft’s demo of Surface Computing and then…

Steve Jobs announced this afternoon at All Things Digital that consumers will soon be able to stream YouTube videos to their TV screens with Apple TV. I have to give credit where credit is due. Despite the fact that I’m not particularly interested in watching low-res Internet videos on my big screen TV, I’m sure plenty of people (albeit mostly under the age of 25) are. Apple TV is going to make it very easy.

Interestingly, Mr. Jobs went to great pains in his interview with Walt Mossberg today (blogged by Gizmodo, among others) to call Apple TV a replacement for your DVD player, not your set-top. I wonder where he thinks video-on-demand will play. In case you didn’t catch it the first time, Motorola’s Jeff Binder had plenty to say on the topic of Apple TV and VOD.

For another take on Apple TV, hop on over to Brent Schlender’s article today in Fortune (apparently pre-YouTube announcement.) If nothing else, it’s worth it for the picture of the Apple TV as sushi platter.

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General

Connexion Brings Fiber to your Neighborhood

May 29, 2007 : BY Motorola

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Most of us get our broadband connections by calling the local cable or telecom provider and signing up for whatever services we’ve decided we need. However, in some planned communities the situation is a little different. Developers looking to lure homeowners understand the importance of using luxury amenities as bait. Features might include a pool, community restaurants and shops, or a fitness center. But likely as not, today the full package also comes with some high-tech goodies added in. Example: a “blazing fast” fiber network.

I met someone from a company called Connexion at a conference recently, and after hearing a bit about what he did, I decided to look up the business online. In short, Connexion works with developers as a broadband network middleman. Specifically, the company designs and deploys fiber networks for new neighborhoods and then works with local service providers (like cablecos, telcos) and even hardware providers to offer service bundles.

It’s a fascinating, almost-CEDIA-like model, with a focus on improving home values with fiber connections. According to a statistic on the Connexion site, fiber increases property value by $5,000 to $10,000. (Verizon’s research showing that people are factoring FiOS availability into their home purchases appears to support that stat.)

I wonder – How many real estate developers are turning to companies like Connexion to deliver broadband and bundled services to their neighborhoods? It’s certainly an interesting approach to getting fiber in the ground. And with service bundles that include TV, phone, Internet, home security and even remote data back-up (?!), I would certainly take a closer look as a home buyer.

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General

Another Stat for the VOD vs. Digital Download Debate

May 27, 2007 : BY Motorola

OneTRAK cited an Ipsos Insight report on onetrak-logo.jpgFriday that found Americans would rather watch television on a TV screen than a computer. In fact, even among active adult viewers of online video, the percentage of TV watched on a computer screen was just 11%.

The study goes on to say that there is interest, however, in burning digital downloads to DVDs for transfer to the television set.

I wonder what kind of content people want to burn to discs. Is it professional content, i.e. movies and TV episodes, or the YouTube clip of the day? If it’s the former, then all the cable and telecom operators need to do is beef up their VOD content. If it’s the latter, then Americans are farther along on the Internet/TV convergence continuum than operators are perhaps prepared for.

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General

How Much Bandwidth Will *You* Need?

May 25, 2007 : BY Motorola

Motorola often uses a bandwidth calculator with its operator customers to determine what bandwidth they need to deliver to subscriber homes. The calculations involve numbers like service uptake percentages and concurrency rates (i.e. the number of concurrently active subscribers expected).

 

If you’re not into that level of detail, consider instead the chart below (click to enlarge) on how much bandwidth specific applications require. Motorola’s Jeff Walker presented the chart in a discussion of TelcoTV at, ironically, the Cable IPTV show. This chart focuses specifically on DSL delivery using MPEG4 video compression. With fiber, the bandwidth number almost doubles because it’s possible to forego video compression. No video compression means higher video quality.

 

How much bandwidth will you need in a few years?

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General

VOD Server – Picture of the Day

May 24, 2007 : BY Motorola

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Since there was a quote of the day I figured it was only reasonable to have a picture of the day. Above on the left in blue is one Motorola B-1 video-on-demand server which replaced six racks of legacy VOD equipment. Not only does the solid-state DRAM approach to VOD hardware save on power and cooling; it saves on real estate.

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General

On Broadband – Quote of the Day

May 24, 2007 : BY Motorola

cowen.jpgOkay, it was really the quote of a few days ago, but financial analyst Arnie Berman of Cowen and Company told me he thinks the financial press will be lauding Verizon in a short two years for its gigantic investment in fiber. We were talking about how Verizon, given its responsibility to shareholders, has been able to get away with spending such huge amounts on an infrastructure build-out. In my opinion, there’s a tech perspective on this (we need bandwidth to do more stuff!) and a patriotic perspective (we need bandwidth to outmatch our global competitors). However, neither of those perspectives is complete without the financial angle.

Verizon’s FiOS has been a darling of the technology press, but certainly less well-favored by financial media. Despite significant FiOS gains, the fiber investment still brought earnings down about 11 cents per share last quarter. Tough news for shareholders to swallow. However, Broadband Daily pointed out that at the same time Verizon’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is rising. It’s not on par with cable, but it’s getting closer.

In a couple of years the Verizon landscape will look a lot different. Presumably broadband expenditures will be down and revenues up. Hence Arnie’s prediction.

You may be wondering where Motorola fits into all of this. Beyond Motorola’s direct relationship with Verizon’s FiOS service (BPON, GPON and set-tops), Motorola is involved in every capacity imaginable with regard to increasing bandwidth across the country. (And across the globe, but that’s a different post) Be it Verizon’s approach to bandwidth management, which is likely to be rewarded soon, or Comcast’s, which is being rewarded now, or some other broadband provider, Motorola is in the thick of it. Bandwidth is a huge part of the foundation for the connected home.

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General

Partners in Bandwidth

May 23, 2007 : BY Motorola

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Mark Cuban testified in front of Congress recently that the net neutrality issue will become irrelevant when there’s enough bandwidth to go around. That’s essentially true, but in the meantime, while bandwidth supply is not infinite, it’s not a bad idea to look at how the limited resources are dolled out.

I’m sitting at a conference on Cable IPTV and a session just finished up on “New Media Strategies and Partnerships”. (Note:This post was written yesterday.) Among other participants, Brightcove is on the panel discussing the importance of relationships. Specifically, in the case of my pointed question, relationships with network operators. Brightcove is entirely dependent on operators to deliver its service, and with video over the Web, Brightcove is requiring a relatively significant amount of bandwidth from those operators. So does that happen in a vacuum? Nope.

Brightcove is very conscious of its dependence on network operators and is interested in keeping those avenues of dialog open. I don’t know what relationships exist in an official capacity, but it certainly behooves Brightcove to court operators. And as it turns out, the operators are also interested in working with Brightcove. According to Sanjay Desai, there are even discussions about working on product development together. The balance of power is certainly on the side of networks now. (Bandwidth is the trump card) However, that balance could shift toward a specific application or device in the future. It certainly makes sense for everyone to stay friendly in the interest of possible future market changes.

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General

On Site at “Cable IPTV”

May 22, 2007 : BY Motorola

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What would keep me inside in a windowless room on a day like today? The Screenplays Magazine “Cable IPTV” conference, of course.

There have been many good discussions already, including what relationships need to exist between over-the-top application providers and network operators, and what levels of bandwidth we really need. Details on some of the debates to come. Probably from an Amtrak car.

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General

New AT&T U-Verse Features Coming

May 21, 2007 : BY Motorola

att-log.jpgI check in occasionally on the U-Verse Users Forum, an unofficial site covering AT&T’s IPTV service. There are two interesting things I found today. First is a map showing where U-Verse service is available across the US. I’d show it here, but you have to register on the site to view it and the lawyers would probably be unhappy if I provided a workaround. On my more ambitious days, I contemplate trying to create a map that shows service coverage of all broadband operators and where specific service features (like DVR and whole-home DVR) are available. Some day I’ll find the time.The second thing I found was a list of future applications AT&T has publicly stated it will deploy for U-Verse customers. Maybe none of the applications are particularly surprising, but how many operators commit publicly to new features?

  • U-verse Voice: coming 2007, it will be integrated into the U-verse TV service by having caller ID information display on your TV screen when people call
  • Multiple HD Streams by the end of this year
  • Whole-Home DVR: setup recordings from any TV and watch recorded content from any TV
  • Photo Sharing: Access your digital photos from your AT&T Yahoo! online albums on your TV
  • Games: Play single or multi-player games from AT&T Yahoo! Games on your TV
  • U-bar: Access weather, sports, stock, or traffic information on-screen while watching a program
  • YELLOWPAGES.COM Information: search for local business information on YELLOWPAGES.COM and see maps from your TV

In related AT&T notes, new U-Verse users can still get free HD service (on Motorola set-tops) if they sign up between now and June 30th.

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