Another Television Provider Chooses Roku For Set-Top

camby-roku

Next month, Canby Telcom will begin offering their Oregon customers a $15 plan that serves up local broadcast programming via an “EZVideo” Roku app:

The solution is comprised of Elemental Live video processing systems used to adapt traditional MPEG-2 broadcast channels to multi-bitrate Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). The eight local live broadcast channels are packaged into an authenticated channel on the Roku platform called EZVideo which is then delivered by Canby over a secure broadband connection to Canby subscribers who have Roku players.

Canby’s upcoming Roku solution is in addition to their more traditional IPTV packages (and STBs) and is obviously limited in the content provided (compared to say a full-fledged STB or even the TWC Roku app). But it could be an economical and compelling service for those with poor OTA reception. And with Aereo available in only two (major metro) markets, EZVideo would be the only game in town for many.

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Verizon Jumps on Data Bundling Bandwagon

ESPN is considering it. AT&T has discussed it. And now Verizon is jumping on the bandwagon. At a financial conference yesterday, Verizon EVP and CFO Fran Shammo stated explicitly that we’re likely to see content and wireless data delivery bundled together from certain content providers. In other words, a network like ESPN would cover the … Read more

Verizon FiOS IPTV Media Server Slated For Fall Launch

Back at CES, we admired Verizon’s upcoming six-tuner IPTV Media Server (VMS) and thin clients. And while it appears “soon” is off the table, the company has put a stake in the ground at NAB for a September launch. FiOS TV has long offered a whole-home DVR experience, but this evolved solution takes on more of … Read more

Microsoft: A 10-Year TV Timeline Before the Xbox One

Microsoft Xbox One as TV

Microsoft has been a frenemy to the pay-TV industry for a long, long time. So now that the company is taking over TV interfaces with its Xbox One HDMI pass-through feature, I thought it worth looking back over the company’s (sometimes torturous) history with pay-TV providers. (Note: Nothing on Media Center PCs or WebTV here. That’s another story.)

Timeline

2003 – Microsoft TV Foundation Edition Launches in June at the National Show
Microsoft’s software platform for the cable industry includes an interactive program guide that operators can use to create “On-Demand Storefronts”

2004 – Microsoft and Comcast do a deal to bring the Foundation software to subscribers in Washington state
Microsoft gets its big break in the cable industry
Microsoft TV Foundation guide for Comcast
2006 – AT&T launches U-verse IPTV service with Microsoft inside
U-verse is the first major IPTV service in the U.S., and it runs on Microsoft code

2006 – Microsoft announces the Xbox Video Marketplace
New video store cements the Xbox as a Trojan Horse in the living room

2007 – Comcast gives up on Microsoft’s Foundation software
Microsoft’s short (and not sweet) dance with Comcast ends

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Belkin & Sling Media Settle Patent Infringement Suit

While the Slingbox may be the most well known placeshifting technologies, there have been others… And Sling Media rival Monsoon, makers of HAVA and Vulkano devices, licensed their tech to Belkin under the @TV brand in 2012. Presumably due to Belkin’s broad retail footprint, Sling took issue and launched a patent infringement suit in January. Monsoon … Read more

Samsung To (Re)Enter CableCARD Fray

Just when you thought the FCC and Charter had put the final nail in CableCARD’s coffin, Samsung reveals plans to produce a hybrid cable+OTT set-top box for a fall 2013 launch. Assuming the FCC gets around to granting TiVo’s analog tuner waiver request in a timely fashion. Smart Media Player, an innovative product with a compelling consumer … Read more

Bose QuietComfort 20 Brings In-Ear Noise Cancelling

It’s come to my attention that Bose will soon launch the next entrant into their QuietComfort range of noise cancelling headsets. However, unlike the current QC 15 and QC 3, the incoming QuietComfort 20 moves to an in-ear design. While I’d have preferred an update to the on-ear or around-ear models, I’m told the QC20 have … Read more