CableLabs clues us in…

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

April 21, 2008

3 Min Read
Digeo's New Cable Box Has a Name

While Digeo Inc. wasn't in the mood this morning to tell us anything new about its forthcoming CableCARD-based HD-DVR for MSOs in the wake of a helpful licensing deal with Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. (Nasdaq: GMST), CableLabs apparently is.

CableLabs, the Louisville, Colo.-based cable R&D house, blasted out an announcement today that highlights some of the demos set for the 2008 iteration of CableNET, the technology showcase that's being assembled for next month's Cable Show in New Orleans, and, lo and behold, there's the product name of Digeo's new cable-centric box in black and white: the Moxi HD DVR 3012. (See CableLabs Highlights Demos.)

Although we now have a name for the box, the specs are still hard to come by. According to CableLabs, the Digeo box will support the company's nifty user interface, dual tuning, and a "streamlined processor and increased hard drive." Oh, and integrated support for the removable CableCARD.

Here's the comprehensive list of demos set for this year's CableNET pavilion, which will emphasize the tru2way platform and advanced video apps, but here are a few other nuggets I pulled from it:

  • Charlie Ergen's in the house! Well, at least one of his companies will be. EchoStar Technologies, the Dish Network LLC (Nasdaq: DISH) spinoff, will show off the SlingModem, a TV place-shifting device that also happens to sport an integrated Docsis 2.0 cable modem. (See EchoStar Unit Unveils SlingModem.)

  • Attention Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) : The High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) will present a 400 Mbit/s home networking demo using 1394 over coaxial connections.

  • Infinera Corp. (Nasdaq: INFN), which has deals with Cox Communications Inc. and other MSOs already in the bag, will give showgoers the opportunity to touch its 100 Gbit/s DTN digital ROADM (reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer).

  • Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) will give us a chance to see firsthand how this "Tuning Resolver" thingy enables one-way CableCARD TVs and set-tops to act like interactive devices and use apps like switched digital video (SDV). (See As the 'Tuning Resolver' Turns.)

  • Oversi Networks Ltd. will be back to pitch its delivery platform for Internet video and P2P traffic, a topic that hasn't attracted any controversy or anything like that. (See Comcast, Pando Crafting 'P2P Bill of Rights' and (See Net Neutrality Gets Its Hearing.)

  • Remember Clique Communications ? Well, they're apparently called Pixel3 now, according to the CableLabs release. At CableNET, Clique/Pixel3 will demo "ImageIQ," a "breakthrough application that takes standard-definition video and upgrades it to HD quality." Given all the recent controversy on the subject of HD quality these days, is this really a great idea? (See Cable Degrades Us All.) But we'll have to see this in action (booth action, anyway) before we can pass judgment.

  • Ruckus Wireless Inc. is showing off a whole home multimedia platform using 802.11n and WiFi meshing technology. We mention them because cable engineers gave the company high marks back in February. (See Ruckus Rules.)

  • Sigma Designs Inc. (Nasdaq: SIGM) will have a set-top box of the future to gawk. It will feature embedded tru2way with four narrowband tuners -- three for SD and HD channels, and another that can be used as a Docsis 3.0 connection. IPTV, anyone?

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News

About the Author(s)

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

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