KIT digital has been selected by TV2Moro to deploy a new IPTV STB service to deliver programming to ethnic consumers in North America. The TV2Moro/KIT digital partnership has a minimum term of 48 months, and involves platform development fees, ongoing platform licensing fees, and a revenue share model based on the number of subscribers adopting the service.

Hotwire Communications has selected Motorola’s fiber-to-the-home, MPEG-4 HD encoder and IP set-top solutions for the delivery of both residential and commercial broadband services. Specializing in multi-family communities, Hotwire Communications is the latest in a series of ultra-broadband network and FTTH wins for Motorola that range from tier-one deployments to smaller telecom and cable operator rollouts.

The new FTTH deployments using gigabit passive optical networking technology will enable Hotwire to significantly expand its service tiers with more HD and VOD content as well as Internet speeds ranging up to 100+ Mbps. Hotwire will deploy the field-proven Motorola AXS2200 optical line terminal and Motorola ONT1400GT optical network terminal throughout its customer footprint.

Advanced Digital Broadcast announced that STRONG GROUP will become a distributor for ADB’s advanced line of IPTV set-top boxes. STRONG will carry the ADB 2800, 3800 and 5800 series of IPTV STBs which will be sold under the ADB and i-CAN Brands.

The ADB-2810W, its latest entry-level HD IPTV set-top box specially designed for operators looking for cost efficiency without compromising on the features. The unit supports the most deployed video standards including MPEG-4 HD/SD, WMV9, DivX and XviD. It offers 3D user interface, and UPnP-based home networking, and Windows Media Connect. The unit is fully supported by ADB’s IPTV SDK allowing for operator customisation.

Tilgin's new cost-optimized Mood 400 IP Set-top that greatly reduces operator costs for deploying a PVR enabled IPTV service. The new Mood 400-022 IP Set-top Media Center offers a broad range of managed High Definition IPTV service capabilities, of which advanced PVR is the foremost. Reducing costs for deploying this feature is critical as more and more consumers rank PVR functionality like pause live TV, time-shift and schedule recordings as the most important features they would like to have in their TV service. Recent consumer research presented by Deutsche Telekom shows that the top two TV features appreciated by consumers are Pause live TV with Time-shift (58%) and Scheduled Recording (52%). 81% of TiVo PVR users would rather give up their iPod than be without their PVR service.

Amino has signed a landmark agreement that will see its new H.264 HD based AmiNET530 PVR STB play a key role in the expansion of Estonia's IPTV market. Elion has reached an agreement to use Amino's AmiNET530 Set-Top Box to offer premium services to its consumer and business IPTV subscribers. Based on state of the art H.264 HD technology, the AmiNET530 will enable Elion to provide tiered triple-play services with additional channels and HD TV and PVR services. Elion will begin introducing the PVR capabilities in November, with the HD service following later in the year.

AccessKey IP announces that the first two phases of its project with CSI Digital is complete and was delivered on time. The project is in phases, wherein AccessKey will develop a series of Set Top Boxes, to address multiple segments of the industry in conjunction with the marketing and sales efforts of CSI. CSI Digital looks to leverage AccessKey's advanced proprietary technology for the IPTV field including its customer-specific adaptability that AccessKey offers

The Ekioh UI Engine utilises the Scalable Vector Graphics open standard from the W3C, to provide a fast, flexible and customisable user experience. The nationwide Freewire service available to students across the UK has so far largely concentrated on offering its IPTV service via a PC or Mac client. The service is also now available on STBs using Industria's Zignal 2.0 middleware and the Ekioh UI Engine. It is now in operation at four university campuses across the UK. As Inuk expands its Freewire student IPTV service off-campus over the Cable & Wireless national LLU network, this Ekioh solution will be provided as an integral element of the STB solution for every customer on the platform.

Motorola and Deutsche Telekom collaborate to deliver IPTV in Germany and Deutsche Telekom will use Motorola's HD-ready IPTV set-tops for its "T-Home Entertain" services. The collaboration will enable T-Home customers to access a variety of multimedia applications in addition to standard TV offerings using a high-quality, optimized Motorola set-top which is already equipped for future services.

UTStarcom has begun shipping IPTV set-top-boxes in China featuring predictive text input solution eZiText in English and Chinese. The licensing agreement signed last November solidifies Zi Corporation's relationship with UTStarcom and opens the door to other potential applications for Zi's leading input products within the UTStarcom family of products and solutions. Zi is to receive fixed royalties under this agreement.

Tilgin has won an order of High Definition IPTV technology from a major incumbent telecom operator in the Middle East. This field trial order is part of the operator’s initial IPTV deployment and IPTV technology evaluation taking place this quarter. The order value is limited. The operator plans to later expand its IPTV offering to it’s over 850,000 broadband subscribers.

Sigma Designs' SMP8634LF media processors are being used in I-O DATA’s new, updated set-top box models, the AV-LS500L and AV-LS500UL. The set-top boxes have been designed under the name of “TV Connected PCs” exclusively for “GyaO NEXT,” VOD service launched in June, 2007 by the USEN CORPORATION, a Japanese domestic cable music broadcasting company. Sigma’s advanced media processors enable “TV Connected PCs” to decode both standard and high definition video and audio signals into playable formats so the viewers can enjoy “GyaO NEXT” programs on TVs with bigger screens.

Tilgin has won an order of its IPTV technology from the broadband subsidiary of one of the largest and most influential multi-utility companies in Denmark. The order value of this initial order is approx 0.5 million USD. Tilgin will be delivering its High Definition Mood 400 IP set-tops and management software as part of an end-to-end IPTV ecosystem.

The Danish utility has extensively deployed a Fiber-to-the-Home network and will deliver a broad portfolio of next-generation broadband services, including High Definition IPTV. The services will be commercially roll-out directly. The company has more than one hundred thousand residential and business customers, whom they over time will be able to offer High Definition IPTV as they continue to build out its network.

IMS Research is forecasting that shipments of integrated digital TVs will grow to 143 million in 2013, up from and estimated 52 million in 2007. Given that Samsung, LG, Sony, and Funai have signed on to make tru2way certified iDTVs for the US and Korean cable markets and that every iDTV sold in the EU must support a conditional access module interface for pay TV, are the days of the set-top box numbered?

Faced with stiff competition in the cable market and from telcos vying for TV viewers, traditionally risk-averse cable operators are becoming increasingly “bipolar,” supporting a roadmap that may require the deployment of new STBs with more advanced features and functions, while also apparently aiming to drive the ubiquitous STB to extinction.

Meanwhile, STB vendors are offering a variety of new features to entice operators. When it comes to STBs, operators have traditionally tread carefully, and have largely been unwilling to “shop around” much for new technologies.

Amino launches the AmiNET130M, the market’s first 100% digital HD IPTV STB, at the NXTcomm conference in Las Vegas. With HDMI as the only available method of connection to the TV, the AmiNET130M is cheaper and simpler to install than other HD IPTV STBs. As a result, for any service provider whose primary proposition is HD the AmiNET130M lowers the cost of connecting a customer.

The AmiNET130M acknowledges that TV purchasing trends have shifted significantly towards HD-ready flatscreens, and the product complements the AmiNET130 which supports a full range of traditional TV connectors. The AmiNET130M retains all of the other benefits of it’s sister product, including offering service providers the ability to deliver end-to-end digital HD TV as a multicast or on-demand multi-room video experience. Like the AmiNET130, the AmiNET130M supports MPEG-4, allowing channels and services to reach customers over longer distances or when they have lower bandwidth broadband connections.