Digital TV Labs is announcing at ANGA 2011 the launch of an HbbTV test suite, designed to provide core conformance and interoperability testing for manufacturers until a full HbbTV compliance regime is in place. The company is also launching HbbTV professional test services.

Ligada iSuite consists of the Ligada Test Server, which manages and delivers HbbTV test applications as well as Ligada iSuite, which has been specifically designed to test the areas where interoperability problems have so far been the greatest for HbbTV. The latter contains test cases that cover the following: audio and video streaming; network resilience tests; application lifecycle (including DSMCC testing); and terminal capability tests.

DISH Network and EchoStar issued the following statement regarding the decision by the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals regarding Tivo:

“DISH Network and EchoStar are pleased that the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously vacated the district court’s contempt ruling regarding our software design around. We are disappointed, however, that the Federal Circuit in a 7-5 split decision has affirmed the district court’s ruling on the disablement question. We intend to seek review of that part of the decision by the United States Supreme Court and seek a stay of the injunction while doing so. We also will be making a motion to dissolve the injunction based on Tivo’s recent representations to the Patent and Trademark Office substantially limiting the scope of the claims at issue in this case. Existing DISH Network customers with DVRs are not immediately impacted by these recent developments. The disablement ruling covers only certain older generation MPEG2 DVRs. We have already upgraded many of these customers and, if we are unsuccessful in obtaining a stay, we will work as quickly as possible to upgrade the remaining customers to our current generation DVRs, as these are not at issue in the ruling.”

According to figures from Ofcom and the Association for Interactive Media and Entertainment, revenues in the UK from premium-rate based interaction with media and marketing has grown over the past year to be worth some £810million, as more and more consumers use their mobile, smartphones, tablets, games consoles and netbooks to interact with TV, print and advertising media content.

Against this backdrop, leading heads of digital from broadcasters, programme makers, print media, brands and retailers will come together in Leeds on 11 May to look at how to further enhance and develop second screen interaction services at Telemedia360.

Nevion debuts VideoIPath, a comprehensive software-based video services management platform for IP and optical networks at NAB (booth SU7217). A significant product introduction for Nevion, VideoIPath brings maximum control, monitoring and management to users' fingertips through an easy-to-use graphical interface.

"VideoIPath delivers comprehensive managed video services enabling broadcasters and service providers to reduce cost and increase revenue," said Nevion CEO Oddbjørn Bergem. "This state-of-the-art distributed platform provides an easy-to-use interface offering customers a solution that moves beyond core video transport to managed video services. By facilitating efficient use of network resources, VideoIPath helps users manage video quality and monetize content."

Parks Associates will host a complimentary industry webcast, "Consumer Cloud Products and Services," featuring CONNECTIONS event sponsors and Parks Associates’ research and analysis on the market for cloud-based solutions. The international research firm forecasts there will be more than seven billion consumer and home network devices worldwide by 2015, creating a substantial foundation for cloud solutions.

The webcast, May 11, will preview key topics and sponsors of CONNECTIONS: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase. CONNECTIONS Sponsors are Association Sponsor CEA; Platinum Sponsors IBM and Technicolor; Gold Sponsors Affinegy, Allegro, HCL, and Rovi; Silver Sponsors AwoX; Independa; LEVEL Studios, a Rosetta Company; PlumChoice; and PacketVideo; and Bronze Sponsors iTOK.NET, mgMEDIA, Roxio, and Troppus, an EchoStar company.

iP4.tv has chosen Ocean Blue Software as their partner to supply DVB software for its new EVO-3x platform. This will be showcased at this year's IP&TV World Forum.

iP4.tv selected Ocean Blue Software's Sunrise HD and Surfsoft PVR software for the DVB-S, T and C receivers, which will also support the leading DVB security standards such as CI+, CONAX and Irdeto.

The EVO3-x platform offers advanced features such as an innovative 3D user interface and high-performance web-based applications. The EVO-3x will support the latest streaming formats such as Adaptive streaming, Progressive Download out of the box, it also offers support for CE-HTML and Adobe Flash 10.x, making it HbbTV compliant and ready for YouView.

Ocean Blue Software is targeting the growing number of IT companies that are looking to move into the connected digital TV market. The company has today released a paper "Software Technologies and Variations in Global Digital TV Markets", designed to give IT companies a brief insight into some of the key challenges in tackling the global TV market.

Available for free download here, the paper cites the fundamental difference between US and UK markets as a prime example. The US is dominated by cable services, whilst the UK's primary services are Freeview, Sky and Freesat. This leads to fundamental differences in digital standards that manufacturers must accommodate to address each market.

Netgem has made its Home Cloud SDK available to application developers, Internet service providers and operator partners. Netgem is further developing its partner ecosystem to enable third parties to take advantage of its IPTV 2.0 open architecture. This application framework is designed for the development of live and on-demand TV and multimedia applications. Using the open and fully documented APIs telecom operators and their partners can develop their local ecosystem of applications and services to differentiate their offering from competitors. Since Netgem is a pure technology vendor it does not interfere with the economics of the relationship between operators and developers, who are able to share 100% of the revenue.

EXFO announces the launch of an enhanced broadband service test suite for its MaxTester DSL. Specifically designed for first-line technicians, the MaxTester DSL provides the desired combination of DSL and Ethernet interfaces, ideal for testing in both the outside copper plant and the residential triple-play environment.

To further increase the productivity of service providers and their installation teams, the MaxTester DSL comes with an optional IPTV test suite and Web browser. With the new IPTV test suite, technicians can save their most commonly used channels to automatically join the selected channels and verify their availability as well as their quality of service. Like any other test on the MaxTester DSL, clear pass/fail results are displayed on the unit's GUI. As for the integrated Web browser, it maximizes the use of the MaxTester DSL's six-inch color LCD screen to show Web content. It can also be used to demonstrate website connectivity and access internal technician sites for additional testing or job management.

Tivus has commenced a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, installation of its HD IPTV in a 1406 room downtown hotel property owned by Host Hotels & Resorts.

"I am pleased to announce installation of our unique ad-insertion HD IPTV and content-on-demand system is now underway in a Host-owned property," commented Shiva Prakash, Tivus' president and chief executive officer.

Last week, the Company announced it had entered into a memorandum of understanding to deploy its new IP based, in-room content-on-demand systems in certain Host Hotels & Resorts properties.

WCIX.NET announces STB Advertising, a new service poised to become the premiere IPTV advertising platform. STB Advertising introduces an unprecedented resource for publishers seeking to maximize the revenue potential of every piece of content, content owners needing a low barrier to entry into the potentially lucrative IPTV market, and for advertisers requiring precision targeted marketing capabilities to maximize advertising budget ROI.

IPTV is rapidly emerging as the preferred TV viewing option by overcoming the limitations of traditional broadcast and cable TV. IPTV provides a more interactive, personalized and virtually limitless content viewing experience.

Europe’s cable industry announces a leap forward with 102 million separate Revenue Generating Units deployed among European consumers and businesses, according to Screen Digest figures pre-released prior to Cable Congress 2011.

The rapid growth in RGUs demonstrates that Europe’s households are continuing to opt for the wide range of high quality services offered by cable companies through their fibre-powered networks.

ISE will this year provide a forum for Cabletime to launch a comprehensive Partner Programme targeting resellers whose customers will benefit from IPTV, digital video and HD quality products.

Cabletime already works with an established network of audio visual specialist integrators, but with the growth of digital content delivery across LAN/WAN and 3G networks, the company is keen to extend its programme to a broader channel audience.

Verimatrix announces its role in securing the OViVO video service from Personal Media Technology. The Russian service provider has deployed the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System for its personalized digital TV service to protect over-the-top video services and enable an untethered viewing experience for a wide range of downloaded content. Verimatrix will be demonstrating its VCAS powered security solutions in Hall 3 Booth 507 at CSTB 2011.

Ooyala Grows Revenue by Nearly 200%, Customer Base by Over 50%, and Delivers Record Number of Video Technology InnovationsMajor Brands, Publishers, and Online Media Leaders Flock to Ooyala for Online Video Publishing, Management, Analytics, Monetization and Personalization

Ooyala outlined achievements across its business in 2010 including:

• Revenue grew by nearly 200%;
• Ooyala customer base grew by over 50%;
• Expanded U.S., European, Asian, and South and Central American business operations by over 70%
• more..