SeaChange International, Inc. will take the stage at the 15th VideoForum in London tomorrow to highlight the growing range of new content opportunities in on-demand television worldwide. In the conference session "IPTV: Opportunities in a Video World," George Breen, president of SeaChange's interactive division, will present the next wave of applications to drive new revenues and attract subscribers, including games and DVD-on-demand.

February 7-9, 2006
Earlscourt 2, London, UK

VideoForum is the annual technology event for everyone involved in creating and distributing TV programmes and video content.

Amongst others, VideoForum features:

• Comprehensive Production & Post technology exhibition - camcorders and production tools, lighting and sound equipment, editing and effects systems Huge range of software, hardware and services for DVD authoring and replication Over 140 free seminars on topics ranging from studio lighting to the broadcast use of DV & HDV
• New features dedicated to HDTV, IPTV and mobile media
• New Apple Expert Theatre

Harris Corporation today announced the expansion of its content delivery solutions portfolio to include a new, comprehensive Internet Protocol television (IPTV) offering. Harris' new offering is the only solution in the industry that spans three key layers of an IPTV architecture: business and operations; infrastructure; and test and measurement, monitoring and network management applications. As the only vendor capable of delivering a solution with this breadth and scale, Harris' IPTV offering will enable service providers to create and deliver complex cross-delivery advertising campaigns, programming playout and other network-based services across broadband network infrastructure.

Detecon, Inc., a leading global telecommunications and information technology consultant, has released several key predictions and caveats for the emerging IPTV industry. Detecon's IPTV: Technology and Development Predictions, is a must-read for those interested in keeping current with IPTV technology and market developments.

Brix Networks, provider of the most widely deployed converged service assurance solutions, today unveiled its new BrixVision IPTV service assurance portfolio, a comprehensive offering that gives service providers complete visibility into the quality of video content, the underlying delivery infrastructure, and the overall customer experience.

A new report from MRG, IPTV Home Networking Strategies, 2006, describes the strategic importance of the Home Network for IPTV (IP TV) operators. It describes how a Home Networking strategy can improve the competitiveness of an IPTV service against Cable and Satellite services, and position the IPTV operator well in the looming battle against the PC and CE (consumer electronics) industries. Extending their management systems to include the Home Network will give IPTV operators an entry into the home that none of these other companies can match today. In addition, the IPTV operators can use the Home Gateway and IPTV Set-Top-Box to provide both local and network based services. These strategies can give IPTV operators an important early lead because neither the Cable or Satellite companies have the two-way communications infrastructure, or the Set-Top- boxes, that can compete against these services.

Harris Corporation's Broadcast Communications Division's products and systems for the emerging mobile TV market will be on display at NAB2006. Recent launch announcements from two mobile TV networks have signaled the dawn of true, live broadcast television delivery to handheld devices in the United States. Harris' participation in early stage trials across Europe and Australia, well-documented in 2005, has positioned the company as a leading transmission vendor for mobile TV requirements. The company's mobile TV transmission solutions have been used to develop and prove the effectiveness of the DVB-H, FLO and T-DMB standards for mobile broadcast television. At NAB2006, Harris will highlight its total content delivery solutions for mobile TV that expand far beyond transmission to include infrastructure, broadband software and distribution equipment.

Verizon continues to win franchise agreements and announce new locations for rolling out its FiOS broadband service and FiOS IPTV service. Now despite the frequent announcements, the actual amount of locations Verizon FiOS is offered is still quite limited. Regardless, they continue to increase momentum which begs the question is BellSouth and AT&T falling behind?

TeleGeography is reporting that Finnet will be launching IPTV this month. "Finland’s Finnet Group says it will launch broadband TV services via three of its local telecom companies this month, with at least another five operators due to roll out services by April."

Widevine Technologies, the world’s most deployed provider of downloadable content protection and digital forensic solutions, today announced the immediate availability of Application Level Encryption. Application Level Encryption is a patent-pending method of encrypting video content, eliminating the need to integrate with downstream video infrastructure equipment. It significantly reduces the capital and operational costs normally required to integrate content protection with VOD and nPVR/nDVR systems and expands video operators’ flexibility to securely deploy a variety of video consumer devices, business models and service offerings.

TV Worldwide.com, Inc., a fast-growing web-based global TV network, today announced that it will webcast the 7th Annual "Capital Cyber Bowl" to benefit the Touchdown Club Charities of Washington D.C. This unique event has attracted widespread sponsorship and national interest while highlighting a local rivalry that exists between tech executives and their brick and mortar counterparts in the web-savvy Northern Virginia business community.

Northern Sky Research (NSR) today released its newest survey and forecast report: Mobile TV 2006- Enabling Rich Video on the Go. The report examines the potential for mobile TV over both broadcast and unicast networks. The report also examines the business case for mobile TV, the various technologies planned to support it and the plans of mobile carriers and vendors to target this emerging mass market opportunity.

Eric Bangeman over at Ars Technica provides some insight into how much bandwidth Verizon's FiOS TV will consume. He also discusses whether FiOS TV would seriously limit the amount of bandwidth third party content providers would have remaining.

"With over 80 percent of network capacity devoted to [FiOS] TV, that leaves the remainder for all other traffic. So will Google, ESPN.com, and Ars Technica be battling to squeeze through that last <20 percent devoted to broadband access? Not quite."

Check it out.

Broadband users soon will have a new category of content to view as Scripps Networks, the leader in lifestyle media, prepares to launch the first of its targeted broadband channels this month. HGTV KitchenDesign goes live to consumers at the beginning of January with more than 200 streaming videos on the latest design trends, step-by-step instruction for kitchen fixes and expert room makeover tips. The dynamic online platform, accessed at HGTVKitchenDesign.com, also will include a variety of interactive tools to enable the user to personalize, plan and share ideas and projects.

Redback Networks Inc., a leading provider of next-generation broadband networking systems, today announced immediate availability of NetOp™ Policy Manager 2.0, a policy and service management software solution for building Smart Broadband Networks for new applications such as on-demand video and broadcast IP TV services. Redback’s NetOp Policy Manager 2.0 tightly integrates with the SmartEdge® platform to help service providers quickly deploy a wide range of revenue generating IP services in a cost-effective manner.