CES 2020 Notebook: 'Filmmaker Mode' Secures Buy-In From TV Makers & Video Producers

Technicolor is here to live-demo two versions of its "Jade" 4K-capable set-top box -- one running Google's Android TV and another operating the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the open source software managed by a joint venture of Comcast, Charter Communications and Liberty Global. The setups speak to the move by the industry to extract the software layer from the hardware/device and establish multiple options for the pay-TV and OTT video marketplace. Jade also builds in a Broadcom systems-on-chip, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, far field voice control and decoding for AV1, a new bandwidth-efficient, royalty-free codec. (See Royalty-Free Video Codec AV1 Keeps Gaining Ground.)

Locast, a non-profit startup that provides OTT-delivered local broadcast TV in several major US markets covering 40 million households, has launched a GoFundMe page to help it raise funds for its legal defense against CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC/Disney. Locast alleges that the broadcasters have colluded and sued to shut down Locast over copyright claims, while Locast believes its business is protected in part by its non-profit status. (See US Broadcasters Move to Squash Locast's Counterclaims and Locast: Broadcaster-Led Lawsuit 'Objectively Baseless' & 'an Unlawful Sham' .)

Sweepr, a startup that has developed a customer care platform for the smart home, said the Amazon Alexa Fund participated in the company's $9 million Series A funding round as a strategic investor. Alexa is one of the voice platforms that Ireland-based Sweepr has already integrated into its offering for ISPs and other types of service providers. (See Startup Wants to Help ISPs Turn Smart Home Customer Care Into a Profit Center.

Taking aim at "NEXTGENTV," the consumer brand for ATSC 3.0, the next-gen broadcast TV standard, OTT and video software company Vewd has integrated BitRouter's ATSC 3.0 and ATSC 1.0 receiver software package into its operating system. The tie-in of BitRouter's ATSC3pack will enable TV and set-top box makers to launch hybrid TV devices supporting ATSC 3.0, starting later this year, Vewd said. (See TV Makers to Launch 20 ATSC 3.0-Powered TV Models in 2020 and Shout It Out Loud: 'NEXTGEN TV' Is ATSC 3.0's Go-To-Market Brand .)

Synamedia, the company formed from the acquisition of Cisco's video software business in 2018, said E-Vision, a unit of Etisalat Group, is using the company's Infinite platform to power a new cloud-based, multi-country, multi-tenant OTT service in the MENA (Middle East and Africa) region and Pakistan.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading