We're back from the holidays and pleased to once again resume the weekly IPTV headlines feature article. In the upcoming weeks we are going to be holding a poll on whether you would like to receive this as a weekly newsletter. We've always considered our RSS feed to be our newsletter since you can filter it as you see fit but we have received numerous emails inquiring about a newsletter. To be continued...

This week you will definitely want to take some time reviewing the headlines below. Now I admit...we gathered articles from the entire spectrum of issues that impact TV or IPTV but we believe there are some really informative pieces.

First, the battle between online video providers continues to heat up. Google opened up their video store. AOL bought the video search engine Truveo.

2006 International CES set records last week with more than 150,000 total attendees, 23,000 international attendees, and exhibit space at 1.67 million net square feet.

HD DVD and Blu-ray continue to battle it out in the high definition arena.

Online is the place to be:

• E! online prepares for their launch of their broadband channel
• Sail.tv takes off covering sailing and watersports
• Learning Now Network (LNN) launches with news, educational magazine shows and public service programming and each participating school also receives a "producer kit" that enables teachers and students to create, write, record and produce their own news stories to be seen on LNN

On that last point...where was this when we were in school? Are we preparing the youth for the growing world of video blogging?

And here are the headlines...

Net Neutrality Goes to Washington
Light Reading - January 12, 2006
"As Internet distributed video poses a threat to telco and cable TV, lobbyists are working hard to reframe the "net neutrality" discussion among lawmakers and regulators in the nation's capital."

"In fact, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will discuss the issue in a hearing February 7."

IPTV grapples with MPEG4 and HD
ElectronicsWeekly.com - January 12, 2006
"The advent of high definition (HD) and MPEG4 technology is causing problems in the deployment of IPTV (Internet protocol TV) for larger operators, according to Cambridge, U.K.-based IPTV software specialist Amino."

Billing and Provisioning for Long-Term IPTV Success
Converge! Network Digest - January 11, 2006
"IPTV is the new battlefield for gaining the residential customer base of the future. More interactive entertainment and communication options – pay-per-view, high-definition programming, video conferencing and distance learning, for example – will surely capture consumer attention. However, the real winners of the new residential services dollar will not likely be the operators with the swankiest technology offerings, but those who can deliver and interact with customers without hitches. In other words, the smooth provisioning and billing of services."

IPTV banned in Zhejiang
ShanghaiDaily.com - January 11, 2006
"SHANGHAI Media Group, the only nationally licensed Internet Protocol Television provider has had its IPTV service banned in east China's Zhejiang Province, Shanghai Securities News reported today."

AT&T Launches IPTV Service in Texas
TCMnet - January 10, 2006
"AT&T has reportedly launched its new Internet-based TV service in San Antonio, Texas – home of the company’s headquarters."

"The new service, which is delivered via IP technology, boasts 200 channels, including HBO, MTV, ESPN, Discovery Channel and A&E, along with all three major broadcast networks. It also offers several hours of on-demand programming."

E! swings 'Vine' online
CNET News.com - January 11, 2006
"Dubbed "The Vine @ E Online," the channel will raise its virtual curtain during E!'s "Live From the Red Carpet: Golden Globe Awards" preshow broadcast Monday and will showcase the simulcast in addition to the ceremony's postshow highlights packaged to be seen by online viewers."

Coming soon to TV land: The Internet, actually
CNET News.com - January 8, 2006
"At the International Consumer Electronics Show here this week, a future dominated by Internet Protocol TV, or IPTV, seemed possible, maybe even inevitable."

Watch This
Information Week - January 9, 2006
"For years, the television industry has been pleading with viewers, "Don't touch that dial." But the audience is no longer listening; it has pressed for more control, variety, and flexibility in how it consumes content. With the increasing penetration of broadband connections, powerful home computers, and time-shifting digital recorders, the public has gotten what it wanted and become more than mere "viewers." Now, the TV industry is scrambling to keep up."

Evolving the TV User Experience
Converge! Network Digest - January 9, 2006
"A new and enhanced TV user interface (UI) is of vital importance to both television users and operators. Driving the need for a new TV user experience is the rapid introduction of new content, services and applications, including on-demand viewing and gaming. Moreover, an innovative TV interface can help triple-play operators differentiate their video offerings in this highly competitive marketplace."

Telefónica signs up 200,000 IPTV users
TeleGeography - January 9, 2006
"Imagenio offers 48 television and 15 audio channels, and is available as a standalone service or as part of a triple play package; it is now available to more than four million households in 140 municipalities."

IPv6: World's Largest Technology Upgrade On Deck
Information Week - January 9, 2006
"A panel battled the topic of when companies should deploy IPv6 and where the technology will make the greatest impact. The discussion took place at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas last week. In the end, the four panelists agreed to disagree. But all said companies should examine methods to ease future deployments, such as planning a transition and making certain future hardware and software purchases are IPv6 ready."

High-definition battle recalls Beta, VHS fight
Northwest Herald - January 9, 2006
"It was supposed to be the grand unveiling of a new generation in home entertainment when Kevin Collins of Microsoft Corp. popped an HD DVD disc into a Toshiba production model and hit 'play.'"

"Nothing happened."

Will Video Kill the DRM Stars?
Light Reading - January 9, 2006
"Some of the largest consumer tech brands in the world -- Apple Computer Inc., Microsoft Corp., and now Google -- all have their own flavors of video digital rights management (DRM). But that doesn't necessarily mean that smaller IPTV-focused DRM companies like Verimatrix Inc. and Widevine Technologies Inc. are dead to rights."

BellSouth mixes satellite into its IPTV trial
CNET - January 4, 2006
"BellSouth, the No. 3 U.S. local telephone company, said on Wednesday that it signed a deal to receive satellite video services from SES Global as it moves ahead with test plans to deliver television over the Internet."


Here are some additional articles we never got around to posting during the holidays:

IPTV Q&A With Microsoft TV's Ed Graczyk
XChange - January 1, 2006
"As we stand on the threshold of the new year, vendors and carriers tell us that mass market IPTV is just steps away. So, for xchange’s first special On the Tube supplement, Editor in Chief Paula Bernier spoke with Ed Graczyk, director of marketing and communications for the Microsoft TV division at Microsoft Corp., about the status of IPTV today and what lies ahead."

Reuters Tests News Video Service For Web Sites
InformationWeek - December 20, 2005
"International news agency Reuters is testing a streaming video service that's available to Web sites at no charge."

Softbank, Yahoo Japan start Internet TV service
BizReport - December 21, 2005
"The two companies said the joint venture, TV Bank Corp., would operate a new streaming video service called "Yahoo!Doga," which aims to be a portal site for about 100,000 different programmes including movies, sports and music shows as well as drama series from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea."

Soon you can watch your own TV channel
The Hindu Business Line - December 21, 2005
"YOU could soon have an exclusive TV channel for your family. You could even see the person calling you on your home telephone on TV even as you talk. Or imagine being able to record and rewind the latest live action in cricket."