Iptv Middleware

Microsoft adds Envivio, Harmonic to Mediaroom ecosystem

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:48:24 -0500

Microsoft is announcing in conjunction with TelcoTV 2008 that the number of households worldwide using its Mediaroom software has doubled in less than a year to more than 2 million homes with about 4 million set-top boxes worldwide. Paula Reinman, director of marketing for Mediaroom, also said the company has gained new ecosystem partners in the form of encoding/transcoding companies Envivio and Harmonic. Both companies have had their solutions qualified by the Microsoft Mediaroom Interoperability and Qualification Lab.

For more:
- Microsoft benchmarks its progress with Mediaroom. Release.

TelcoTV: Ericsson to debut new middleware

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:33:53 -0500

Vendor giant Ericsson's new IPTV middleware solution will make its U.S. market premiere at TelcoTV 2008 this week in Anaheim, Calif. The company also claims in a statement that the end-to-end solution is the first "pre-integrated with IMS and also operates across traditional networks."

The in-house development joins the existing pieces of Ericsson IPTV approach, including IPTV network infrastructure, video processing solutions and video-on-demand technologies - with interoperable third-party products from companies such as Accedo Broadband, Agama Technologies, Amino, HP, SecureMedia, Sun Microsystem, Tilgin, Verimatrix, and ZyXEL. Ericsson's new middleware, which conforms to Open TV Forum specifications, will enable any-screen, any-network content consumption, and with IMS additionally will support presence, messaging/chat, extended parental control and other features.

Though IPTV deployments thus far mostly have proceeded outside of the IMS standards reach, Ericsson's IMS integration is not surprising, given that the vendor has been among few vendors over the last few years with an aim to have IPTV supported within IMS. That strategy is looking particularly valid after the recent Global MultiService Forum interoperability tests that looked to further the case for combining IPTV and IMS.

IPTV consolidation: Espial to acquire Kasenna

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:29:35 -0400

Canadian IPTV middleware vendor Espial Group said it will acquire Kasenna, a competitor based in Sunnyvale, Calif., in a move that will aid consolidation in the fragmented IPTV middleware sector. The $6.5 million deal likely will close later this month.

According to Espial, the combined company will have more than 100 service provider customers supporting about 2.4 million IPTV customers. Kasenna customers include Cavalier Telephone, CenturyTel, FastWeb, Kentucky Telephone, SaskTel, Tennessee Telephone, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications and Knology.

The IPTV middleware market also includes companies such as Minerva Networks, Innovate Systems, Quative, Thomson, Nokia Siemens Networks and many others, though some service providers also have opted to test or use their own middleware, which has made the landscape even more competitive and fragmented.

For more:
- see this report at Multichannel News

Related articles:
IPTV middleware vendors have chased opportunities at independent telcos IPTV middleware report
IPTV middleware problems reportedly delayed some carriers this spring IPTV middleware report

Microsoft Mediaroom adds partners, reaches 2 million

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:52:10 -0400

Microsoft recently announced a beta version of its Mediaroom Presentation Framework, and now says that it is bringing on several new partners to its Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV ecosystem. Those partners include Hewlett-Packard, Tech Mahindra, 180Squared, Agilent, IneoQuest and Harris. Microsoft claims that 2 million IPTV subscribers are now using Mediaroom, and that the second million have come on board only in the past month. The new partner alignments show that the software giant is bringing more systems integration and management expertise into its ecosystem.

For more:
- check out this coverage at IPTV News

Related articles:
Microsoft released the Mediaroom Presentation Framework last month Microsoft report
The French Soft At Home venture is looking to challenge Microsoft Microsoft report

NSN to offer hosted IPTV solution

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:49:07 -0400

Could we be in the early phases of an IPTV hosting/outsourcing trend? Midwest Video Solutions, in offering a shared headend solution, is not the only company allowing telcos interested in selling TV services to do so over a hosted platform. Nokia Siemens Networks, a global vendor giant with much experience deploying IPTV gear for carriers, has developed a broad hosted IPTV platform, including encoders, video servers, digital rights management functions, back office and other elements. This should help telcos intimidated by the complexity and cost of building and managing their own comprehensive systems to get into the game.

As many of the obvious early adopters progress in their IPTV build-outs, such hosted platforms could keep the line moving with a second phase of build-outs yet to begin. If telcos buy in to the hosted option, we are likely to see more major vendors develop their own hosted platforms. Could we also see IPTV hosting specialists emerge? Similar things have happened in every telecom sector where hosting has become a force.

For more:
- check out this coverage at Light Reading Europe

Related articles:
- NSN's IPTV middleware unit Myrio has seen telco customers experience delays. NSN report