S3 Group announces that Swisscom has chosen StormTest Development Center to ensure the accurate and speedy software testing on IPTV Set-Top Boxes. This deployment, focused on STBs running Microsoft Mediaroom Client, has instantly improved the accuracy of testing as well as turnaround time. Swisscom was previously utilizing manual testing which is often time consuming, repetitive and poses more room for errors.

StormTest Development Center allows automated software testing to be executed efficiently and effectively across multiple digital TV devices. Swisscom is optimizing the solution to test its customized Microsoft Mediaroom Client and TV apps. This simulates the customers' experience and reduces the amount of time required per test hence optimizing the productivity of its development in general. With the streamlining ability of StormTest Development Center, Swisscom can now benefit from a powerful automated software testing framework that is flexible enough to cover a wide range of scenarios -- an objective that was previously unachievable.

Amino has selected Celeno to provide a range of wireless products that complement Amino’s range of award-winning IPTV STBs.

Celeno's OptimizAIR technology will help Amino offer whole home Wi-Fi networking robust enough for HD IPTV distribution, multi-room DVR and Over the Top video and Video on Demand consumption anywhere in the home.

Amino and Celeno will offer the following wireless solutions in the market place.

Amino has sold and shipped its four millionth set-top box. The four millionth device – an M540 PVR IPTV set-top box – will be deployed by Netherlands-based fibre network operator Glashart Media, who have been working with Amino for the last six years.

Amino’s best-selling Aminet range has been installed in more than 85 countries around the world. Since launching its first product to market in 2002, Amino has developed a range of STBs to meet growing demand for IPTV from network operators, hospitality and enterprise markets. From early devices which simply offered standard definition television delivery, Amino has developed a string of award-winning products based on market-leading software development and unique curved styling.

Pioneer Telephone Cooperative is to deploy Amino’s Aminet A540 DVR IPTV/OTT set-top boxes as part of its Pioneer DTV IPTV service. Headquartered in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, Pioneer serves over 40,000 customers across more than 74 communities in Western Oklahoma and has been at the forefront of IPTV deployment in North America.

Under the Pioneer DTV brand, the cooperative offers up to 161 entertainment channels as part of a “quadplay” service including voice, broadband and cellular services.

The Aminet A540 DVR is a high performance HD set-top box which uses new SoC processors and recently enhanced OTT features. These include HTML5 audio and video tags to support the new generation of televisual web sites plus HTTP live streaming adaptive streaming technology. HTTP upgrade and recovery is also included – enabling remote firmware updating.

Amino has secured a contract to provide SkitterTV with its latest OTT-enhanced Aminet IPTV set-top boxes.

A hybrid IPTV/over-the-top video video platform, SkitterTV enables telecom service providers to encode, configure, deliver and monetize streaming media services by combining live TV, audio, web video and personal media assets in one converged entrtainment environment. The Atlanta-based company selected Amino devices because of their ability to deliver both traditional IPTV services and a new layer of content delivered over the open Internet including video-on-demand, gaming, applications and user generated content.

Cisco announces the launch of the industry's first wireless IPTV service with AT&T. Cisco is the sole provider of this advanced wireless IPTV solution featuring new wireless receivers and wireless access points, available across the entire AT&T U-verse TV footprint beginning Monday, October 31.

Consumers can now rely on wireless technology to deliver high-quality video services throughout the home without the need for cables or wires. With this new technology, you can watch TV in virtually any room in the home, even rooms not wired for TV -- like the kitchen, basement or indoor garage. TV content is sent from the Cisco wireless access point via in-home Wi-Fi to the Cisco wireless receiver next to the TV. It's as easy as plugging the TV into a power source, attaching HDMI cables or other audiovisual connection to the TV and pressing two buttons to establish the wireless connection.

Hybrid set-top boxes are rapidly being deployed by pay-TV operators worldwide to help them deliver advanced services and manage bandwidth scarcity in broadcast networks. In 2010, only 40% of set-top boxes worldwide featured hybrid capabilities, with many not yet enabled by software as operators were not ready to deploy IP video services. Hybrid box penetration will rise above 60% by 2016 as operators look at IP-based VOD and advertising solutions, as well as interactive content. Hybrid set-top boxes have the ability to decode video sent over the Internet or over two types of networks (such as satellite and terrestrial).

Amino Communications will showcase a range of enhanced IPTV set-top boxes at IBC 2011 offering OTT capability to deliver a richer, more dynamic entertainment experience for consumers.

All Amino devices – from its Freedom media centres offering OTT functionality to the cable, satellite and terrestrial markets through to the Aminet IPTV range – will now provide operators with the ability to offer a compelling mix of broadcast, on-demand, and content from the open Internet including social media, gaming and applications.

ANT asserted its claim in the multiscreen TV market with the launch of ANT Galio Move. Maximising the functionality of today’s set-top boxes and TV’s, ANT Galio Move combines extended live TV viewing with market leading, companion device TV services, responding directly to the growing demand by viewers for a ‘TV everywhere’ experience.

Industry analysts have stated that seventy per cent of portable device owners use these whilst watching TV. ANT Galio Move enables TV viewers to make the most of their traditional viewing experience, through simultaneous use of ‘second screen’ TV features on a companion device such as the iPad. ANT Galio Move allows users to take the TV experience beyond the living room by streaming live and recorded content directly from the STB or TV via Wi-Fi to their companion device anywhere in the home.

Sigma Designs demonstrated a full line of hybrid IP set-top box solutions for cable, satellite and the Brazilian International Standard Digital Broadcast - Television (ISDB-T), also called SBTVD. These solutions will help service providers deliver the best combination of broadcast services over cable, satellite or terrestrial with Sigma's world renowned IP-optimized media processors. This is the first time Sigma Designs will demonstrate a hybrid solution of ISDB-T in Brazil. The demonstrations are taking place at ABTA, the leading TV exhibition at the Transamerica Expo Center in Sao Paolo - Booth C7.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "World Market for Semiconductors in Set-top Boxes" to their offering.

“World Market for Semiconductors in Set-top Boxes”

The semiconductor industry has been revamping from the recession, and this trend is witnessed in the set-top box (STB) market as well. The STB market, despite the decline in sales in 2010, has recovered in the last quarter. The market is poised to witness double-digit growth rates in the future. This study focusses on three main components of the STB, namely decoders, demodulators, and tuners. The individual market forecasts and an update on the technology trends are provided in this research service.

MRG reports that the global IPTV market will grow to US$49 billion in service revenues and 113 million subscribers in 2015—as multi-screen video usage drives wireless services to new highs. Systems revenue for the 7 key CapEx IPTV products analyzed will grow to US$4.8 billion in 2015, with STBs representing about 60%.

As consumers add Wi-Fi for using smart devices within their homes, market growth continues largely due to trends toward mobile lifestyle habits of 18-55-year-olds.

Worldwide set top box revenue, as a whole, will decline slightly in 2011 over 2010, with Latin America and Middle East/Africa the only regions showing any increase in shipments. However, despite the general maturation of the market, IP set top box shipments are forecast to increase by over 1 million units in 2011 according to In-Stat.

Motorola Mobility UK Ltd is giving service providers an elegant and cost-effective solution for expanding their service offerings with the new Motorola VIP1853 – an IP set-top with a 'click-in' Digital Video Recording (DVR) module. The Motorola VIP1853 was designed to reduce set-top box deployment costs for operators without compromising on performance by enabling them to choose the DVR capacity for set-tops.

With the Motorola VIP1853, service providers can market a set-top that can be easily upgraded for customers wanting to add DVR capability to their basic box or wanting to expand their recording capacity with an additional or larger capacity module. The flexible design of the Motorola VIP1853 offers a choice of DVR capacity – it has an 8GB DVR module that supports trick play/pause functionality, and hard drive capacity can be increased to 160, 320 or 500GB for full featured DVR functionality.

InfoValue has partnered with Enseo for providing IP-based HD television, HD Video-On-Demand, and full-featured service portals for the hospitality markets.

The partnership between InfoValue and Enseo recently resulted in a 1300 room hotel deployment in downtown Philadelphia. The system utilizes InfoValue’s SuiteTV solution with the Enseo HD3000 IP set-top box. The head-end features a full IP HD channel lineup with over 50 channels of free-to-guest programming and a complete selection of new release HD VOD Hollywood movies.