Interactive TV News Round-Up (V): Irdeto, KHOU, Minerva Networks

Submitted by tracyswedlow on March 3, 2011 - 11:47pm

--Irdeto Launches ActiveCloak for Media

--Houston TV Station, KHOU, Launches Connected-TV Widget

--Minerva Networks Powers Advanced TV Services for City of Salisbury, NC

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been busy this week working on the TV of Tomorrow Show 2011, we are covering recent news in round-up/summary form. We anticipate that it will take us a couple of days to catch up with all the news we plan to cover: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us.

Content security specialist, Irdeto, has launched ActiveCloak for Media, which it bills as "the first and only dynamic security solution to protect and monetize high-value digital entertainment assets throughout their entire lifecycle and across a wide range of consumer devices...While DRM systems use encryption and rights expressions to ensure that digital entertainment is used appropriately, the DRM itself is often a target for attack," Irdeto's press materials continue. "Once the DRM is circumvented, the digital content is free for unauthorized copying and use. Even when implemented using modern device-specific hardware security, DRM solutions are not able to withstand and recover from the attacks currently faced on today's increasingly open platforms. ActiveCloak for Media elevates basic DRM platforms to take application protection to a new level with integrated renewability, diverse security and piracy monitoring for a wide range of popular content distribution platforms--including tablets, smartphones, iPads, PC's, connected TV's, game consoles and hybrid STB's. At its core, the system leverages lifecycle security services to continuously monitor and manage potential threats throughout a piece of content's entire economic lifetime: smart client device agents proactively protect embedded or downloadable media applications from attack, and a security server monitors the agents' integrity and provides them with security updates. With ActiveCloak for Media, security mechanisms are reconfigured and automatically renewed to prevent loss of platform integrity over time, minimizing the risk that revenue will be lost, content licenses will be withdrawn or that the service provider's reputation will be damaged. Irdeto's Cloakware technology is already present in marquee solutions from Netflix, Adobe, Sony, Logitech and Comcast, and is a critical part of the Boxee Box by D-Link. Early ActiveCloak for Media customers include major global cable operators and several OTT service providers. The solution will initially address the secure playback of recorded content from a PVR to a PC and the secure streaming of VOD content from the Internet to STB's or iOS and Android devices. In addition to expanding support to other popular media platforms in the near future, Irdeto also plans to extend ActiveCloak to protect eBooks, apps and games."
Houston-based local TV station, KHOU, has tapped Devici (formerly Widget Realm) to create an interactive TV widget for connected-TV devices equipped with the Yahoo! Widget Engine. The widget allows viewers to access news headlines, weather information, entertainment content, sports, the show "Great Day Houston" and other streaming video, and can be displayed as a partial overlay on whichever channel is currently being watched. "The new KHOU widget will be distributed to millions of Internet-connected devices on the Yahoo! Connected TV platform around the world," Susan McEldoon, KHOU's president and general manager, said in a prepared statement. "KHOU viewers with the latest HD sets can access the KHOU widget from the Yahoo! Gallery, and we look forward to expanding our connected-TV presence to other TV platforms."
IPTV middleware and applications provider, Minerva Networks, has announced that Fibrant, a broadband service provider owned and operated by the city of Salisbury, North Carolina, is using its platform to offer "next-generation" TV services. Fibrant "is targeting up to 10,000 fiber-to-the-home customers for advanced television services," Minerva states in its press materials. "The new TV services include high-definition broadcast television (HDTV), whole-home digital video recording (WHDVR), video-on-demand (VOD) and Internet TV. The Minerva solution also features a TV widget engine for the delivery of third-party applications including RSS news feeds, stocks, weather and traffic information, as well as visual voice mail, caller ID and popular social networking services. Minerva is also planning to help Fibrant deliver local community television, online education services and digital signage."