Liberty Global Taps Samsung, Intel, NDS, Nagravision to Develop New Multimedia Home Gateway

International cable operator, Liberty Global, on Wednesday announced plans to work with Samsung, Intel, NDS and Nagravision to build a new multimedia home gateway device for its digital TV customers. According to Liberty Global, the device will be an all-IP platform, capable of distributing video, voice and data throughout the home and to multiple video displays; and will sport a user interface that will "seamlessly" integrate video content, widgets, apps, and an advanced search and recommendation engine that the company promises "will forever change how our customers experience digital TV and IP-based content." The device is scheduled for deployment to Liberty Global's European cable customers in the first half of 2011.

Liberty Global says that Samsung will build the new gateway, which will be powered by the Intel Atom CE Media Processor. The device's middleware and user experience will be provided by NDS, based on Flash technology, the company says, while Nagravision will provide its conditional access component through Nagra Media Access. The solution is slated to support MoCA and WiFi and to participate in the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) ecosystem. "This revolutionary platform will provide LGI's customers in Europe with a groundbreaking new product that has long been anticipated but never delivered: a seamless, intuitive way for people to access their live, time-shifted, on-demand, and Web-based content on the television," Liberty Global president and CEO, Mike Fries, said in a prepared statement. "Consumers everywhere are increasingly demanding smart, elegant and simple tools to navigate, share and enjoy their video content. Together with our partners, we are making this experience a reality for our customers." Added NDS's chairman and CEO, Abe Peled: "This innovative platform will revolutionize entertainment in the home, introducing the next generation of multimedia services enabled by NDS' world leading MediaHighway middleware technology, and a state-of-the-art user experience based on the award-winning NDS Snowflake. The convergence of multiple platforms through one device will provide a truly unified experience for Liberty Global customers."

In other technology news: BigBand Networks has announced that Buckeye CableSystem will extend its switched digital video infrastructure using BigBand's IP video solution to offer new IP video services to multiple platforms. BigBand's IP video solution consists of vIP PASS, which is designed for rapid deployment of IPTV leveraging existing infrastructure, and CVEx, a control plane that is billed as optimizing bandwidth and service delivery across RF and IP transport layers. The Buckeye deployment marks the first publicly announced deployment of vIP PASS in North America. "We are evolving our network capabilities and video services to meet the demands of the next-generation of multi-tasking viewers by offering them the content they want to watch without creating an additional silo for IP video delivery," Buckeye CTO, Joe Jensen, said in a prepared statement. "We worked closely with BigBand to assemble a solution that builds upon our existing infrastructure, using the same network and backoffice systems we employ today, to develop a high quality and reliable delivery method that will scale to deliver IP video quickly and cost effectively."