With the conference already one day old, IBC, the annual Amsterdam-based jamboree for the TV and video sector, has now opened its exhibition floor and that, in turn, has opened the press release floodgates.
Scores of announcements from video and TV technology and services companies have hit the wires in the past 24 hours -- here are a few that grabbed our attention.
Norwegian IP video transport vendors Nevion and T-VIPS AS are merging to form a single company with, the companies claim, "critical mass, increased market presence and [the ability to]… realise our shared vision to shape the future of media transport right across the media value chain." Whatever the reason, good luck to them: Specialized equipment for IP video transport is an important niche, but so far doesn't seem to have taken off in a big way financially. (See T-VIPS Touts IP Video at IBC, Nevion Manages Optical Video and T-VIPS Tackles Video Monitoring.)
Swedish video delivery technology specialist Edgeware AB has announced a couple of new European engagements. EpicTV, a unit of Finnish network operator Elisa Corp. , has used Edgeware's Distributed Video Delivery Network (D-VDN) system to build a pan-European content delivery network (CDN) that will be used for the transport of premium over-the-top (OTT) sports, movies and TV content. The vendor, recently profiled by Light Reading, has also had its technology deployed by Dutch cable operator Ziggo B.V. , which is delivering TV and video services to iPads, iPhones and iPods as well as TV sets. (See EuroProfile: Edgeware.)
Broadpeak , a Technicolor (Euronext Paris: TCH; NYSE: TCH) spin-off, has launched nanoCDN, a "CDN technology that leverages home networks to dramatically reduce infrastructure investments for operators and enable them to more efficiently deliver high-quality video services to end users." The company says the first application supported by nanoCDN is live OTT video, with more to follow. It also announced that its former parent, Technicolor, is integrating nanoCDN into its home gateways.
Speaking of Technicolor, the French vendor says it has shipped 150 million set-top boxes since the first one was boxed up in 1994.
— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading
So it's not just the large operators that are building their own CDN capabilities -- even a niche, OTT services player such as EpicTV feels the need to build its own capabilities... you gotta wonder at the economics!
So it's not just the large operators that are building their own CDN capabilities -- even a niche, OTT services player such as EpicTV feels the need to build its own capabilities... you gotta wonder at the economics!