EE Chooses HbbTV for UK Service
UK telco EE has launched an HbbTV service, EE TV, which is free to existing broadband/landline packages or
Media Broadcast Begins -T2 Trial
German DTT operator Media Broadcast spoke out in support of the DVB-T2 platform in June this year (Display Monitor Vol 21 No 23). The company has now launched a pilot project to test -T2 with HEVC in Berlin. Trials are planned to last for 18 months, covering the entire broadcasting system chain.
Orange Signs Netflix Agreement
Orange will offer Netflix on its set-top boxes in France from November. Orange has more than 10 million subscribers, so the deal would be a significant boost for the newly-launched service.
Roku Tests Mirroring
Roku is beta-testing a screen mirroring feature on its Roku 3 and Streaming Stick devices. The feature can be used with select Windows 8.1 and Android products, worldwide.
Sony Enters Chinese Console Market
Sony will follow Microsoft into the console market in mainland China, with a facility in the Pudong New Area packaging around 200,000 Playstation 4 units annually. The consoles will go on sale in December.
Spanish Pay-TV Grows With Multi-Play
Pay-TV adoption in Spain is being boosted by combination packages, which roll five services (mobile and landline phone; mobile and fixed internet; and TV) into a single product. According to Spanish regulator the CNMC, 345,000 new customers took these multi-play packages in Q1’14, for a total of 1 million subscribers. 52.2% of total pay-TV subscribers … Read more
Subscribers Rise but Revenues Fall in Europe
Revenues will fall for more than 40 European TV operators between 2013 and 2020, says Digital TV Research. Having risen from $33.7 billion in 2010 to $35.8 billion in 2013, the firm expects revenues to reach $36.2 billion by the end of the forecast period. Analogue to (often cheaper) digital conversions and greater competition (such … Read more
Tricolor Reaches 15 Million Subscribers
Russian DTH operator Tricolor TV signed its 15 millionth subscriber in Q3. It began the year with 15.17 million subscribers, but only 10.66 million were active. More than 99% of new subscribers elected to take HD services: Tricolor now has almost 4.2 million HD subscribers, of which more than 3.9 million are active.
Viamotion Expands With HTTP Streaming
Anevia’s Viamotion Suite has been updated, and can now support media content streaming via the internet, using conventional HTTP servers. HbbTV can also be used as a secondary live source or for catch-up or video-on-demand. Viamotion has also been made more secure; the MPEG-DASH protocol enables DRM standards to be delivered using the Suite, as … Read more
Rumour: Sony’s TV Service to Arrive This Year
Sony’s upcoming web-based pay-TV service (Display Monitor Vol 20 No 2) will be live on Sony TVs and PS4 consoles this year. The New York Post claims that the service will cost $80 for 100 channels, although other sources have pointed to $60 or $65 price points.
Sharp Aims at 8k Next Year
Japan’s Nikkei claims that Sharp will produce 8k TVs by 2015. The company aims to establish itself as a leader in the field, ahead of Japan’s trial 8k broadcasts in 2016. Sharp has now reached a point where it can supply 8k displays to broadcaster NHK, for testing. An 8k TV showing content at 120fps … Read more
Watch Adam Sandler in High-Res, Thanks to Netflix
Netflix continues its UltraHD progress with the news that it is preparing to film four new, original films in the format, starring and produced by Adam Sandler. The deal will revolve around Sandler’s other commitments, so the films (all separate projects) are not expected to be released for some time.
