Tandberg to Demo "Device-Aware Backoffice for Multiplatform TV" at CableLabs Summer Conference

Ericsson-owned Tandberg Television announced Friday that it will debut what it is calling the "cable industry's first device-aware backoffice for multiplatform TV" at this week's CableLabs Summer Conference in Keystone, CO, and at next month's IBC show in Amsterdam. According to the company, the new solution--which is the latest version (5.0) of its OpenStream Digital Services Platform (note: the platform, which Tandberg acquired via its purchase of N2 Broadband back in 2005, is used by, among others, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter)--is designed to address the fact that "new consumer behaviors, combined with broadband everywhere on multiple devices and an explosion in video content, pose significant opportunities for cable operators looking to deliver a more personalized television experience integrated across the three screens of TV, PC and mobile." It says that it addresses various challenges posed by the existing cable infrastructure, including "the difficulty to re-use subscriber management and billing systems, to re-use content distribution and asset management systems, and to enable new services to subscribers." It claims that it will allow cable operators to expand on-demand services revenues and enhance their subscriber relationships while minimizing deployment costs. "TV as we know it is changing and service providers need to offer everything on-demand, because their customers expect it," Andrew Rowe, Tandberg's VP of software product management, said in a prepared statement. "Using the newly enhanced OpenStream system for multiscreen services, cable operators can now take the next step from content aggregator to valued partner by providing their subscribers with a seamless viewing experience across multiple platforms."

According to Tandberg, the new version of OpenStream--which it says is available today--incorporates new "device awareness capabilities" that allow operators to leverage their existing on-demand investment to enable multiplatform TV. The system also enables support of VOD deployments with both MPEG-4 AVC-capable set-top boxes and legacy MPEG-2 boxes, the company says. Its CableLabs and IBC demo's are billed as including "session-shifting," which allows a subscriber to pause playback on one device (for example, a PC) and then resume playback of the same video on another device (for example, a TV or mobile phone). The company says that the platform is enabled by OpenStream's awareness of a device's capabilities concerning access network, video format and client functionality, allowing it to tailor the user experience and video streaming for that device. This "awareness capability" is also billed as enabling advanced advertising and marketing promotions across multiple screens, allowing subscribers to enjoy more viewing and purchasing options that ever before.

In other CableLabs Summer Conference-related news:

• Arris says that it will demo a complete solution for cable operators to deliver IP video (IPTV) from the headend to the home. According to the company, the solution is an integration of its IP and converged media platforms. It says that the demo will see it streaming on-demand content and interactive advertising from a single server and a single on-demand/advertising management system. These IPTV streams, it says, are distributed from the headend using bonded DOCSIS 3.0 channels over a multi-wavelength RF-over-Glass (RFoG) optical network, terminating on an IP set-top box, with the entire process being monitored by the Service Assurance network surveillance platform. "We are very pleased to be a part of CableLabs' Conferences," Arris CTO, Ken Wright, said in a prepared statement. "This end-to-end IP video demonstration exemplifies Arris's ability to take several industry-leading technologies and integrate them seamlessly into a solution that solves MSOs' next-generation architectural and advanced advertising requirements." Arris's demo will involve several of its advanced advertising collaborators, including BlackArrow, OpenTV and Sigma Systems.
• Digital video networking specialist, BigBand Networks, says it plans to demo "the latest advances in cost-effective and unified digital video delivery across multiple screens and devices" including: 1) Efficient delivery of IPTV and Web video to multiple screens and devices, leveraging existing network infrastructure, via the company's Converged Video Exchange (CVEx) and vIP PASS solutions; it says the demo will highlight reliable and scalable delivery of both traditional variable bitrate video to a legacy set-top box and a YouTube vIP PASS Web session to a PC--all in the same QAM channel; the company bills its new CVEx platform as an intelligent control plane that provides a unified means to deliver and manage video services across networks and devices. 2) Network-based personalized TV, giving service providers the ability to offer each subscriber a dedicated stream, whether they are watching linear programming, accessing non-linear content, or repurposing content from the Internet. 3) A next-generation EdgeQAM platform that provides "highly reliable, fully redundant and efficient" delivery of multiple services, including SDV, VOD, addressable advertising, IP video and timeshifted TV.
• Sigma Systems says that it will demo a solution that allows cable operators to segment audiences in order to better target their advertising, and also to use the same architecture for other advanced advertising initiatives such as interactive and cross-platform. According to the company, its Sigma Systems Subscriber Information Service (SIS), as the new solution is called, allows cable operators to securely manage subscriber data in customer profiles and generate audience qualifiers which define new and "more granular" customer segments that advertisers can use to target their campaigns and leverage dynamic ad insertion for linear and VOD advertising. The company says that operators can also use the SIS for interactive advertising--for example, for providing RFI fulfillment responses information on tru2way and EBIF platforms--and for rolling out advanced advertising in a multiscreen environment, including broadband and mobile devices. Sigma's Summer Conference demo is billed as showing the SIS's ability to qualify and segment audiences for TV advertising in compliance with the SCTE-130 standard. It says it will also show how exposing customer information in the SIS enables operators to cross-promote and up-sell additional services: for example, promoting premium movie channels to non-premium digital subscribers who like watching movies. "The ability to segment and target audiences is key for cable TV operators to attract advertisers," Sigma Systems CTO, Brian Cappellani, said in a prepared statement. "Audience segmentation also allows operators to engage their subscribers through personalized, addressable ads. An added high-value benefit of our SIS is its ability to authorize subscriber access to TV and premium content across any access point, including broadband. This means operators could use SIS is multiple ways, such as for advertising via TV, mobile and broadband; to promote additional services to existing subscribers; and even to activate broadband video services."