Motorola launches a new update of its innovative Motorola Communications Convergence Engine, the software behind next-generation TV that combines the convenience and ubiquity of classic TV with the control and personalization of the Internet. The Storefront 1.0 update brings new options to the entire process of marketing and bundling IPTV, Internet and physical goods. Introduced at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show, the CCE update will also help network operators deliver services such as video and gaming that millions of consumers want, when they want them, to the device(s) of their choice.

CSI Digital is announcing its continued commitment to provide IPTV services to telecommunications providers. CSI Digital has partnered with Power & Telephone Supply to help with these efforts. It was recently made known that SES Americom is ceasing its end-to-end IPTV Solution, IP-Prime, by July 31, 2009. CSI Digital has launched a transition program to assist customers that need to re-acquire programming.

Sigma Designs will demonstrate an extensive range of high definition consumer technology solutions powered by the company’s SoC solutions at CES 2009 in Las Vegas. The following solutions will be demonstrated Thursday, January 8 through Saturday, January 10 at Sigma’s Digital Living Demo Room inside a hospitality suite located at the Las Vegas Hilton, Suite #2992.

Verimatrix announces Bouygues Telecom as the latest network operator in France to deploy the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System for IPTV. Bouygues Telecom is securing its MPEG-4 live broadcast and on-demand video content delivered via ASDL to the Bbox home gateway, which was launched in October 2008.

Bouygues Telecom has deployed a highly sophisticated IPTV system combining the services delivered by two major head-ends in France. The TV channel lineup is a combination of several free-to-air and premium pay channels, including the main provider of premium channels in the French market. Verimatrix enabled Bouygues Telecom to market the solution in an extremely short timeframe thanks to VCAS for IPTV's rapid and smart integration capabilities. An innovative roadmap, a fast time-to-market and advanced security capabilities have been the main decision factors for implementing Verimatrix's software-based content security solution.

Orange and Canal+ have signed a multiannual agreement to allow Orange triple play customers who are not eligible for TV by ADSL to subscribe to Canal+ and/or Canalsat, as well as Foot+. Via Astra satellite, in 2009, Orange triple play customers with satellite TV will be able to receive these offers directly on a single ADSL/satellite hybrid set-top box provided by Orange.

A technical cooperation agreement between Orange and Canal+ Group will allow both partners to use the same satellite resources. To broadcast its own channels, Orange also signed an agreement with SES Astra. The service that Orange TV is offering its triple play customers via the Astra satellite will thus be close to that available via ADSL

The National Lacrosse League launches the NLL Network, an online grid of 13 channels streamed online at NLL.com. The channels will feature live, high-quality online video broadcasts of NLL regular season and playoff games for the 2009 season at no cost to the viewer. Fans will be able to embed their favorite team's channel on MySpace, Facebook or other websites making the NLL the first professional sports league to virally broadcast live games. The NLL has selected Mogulus Pro platform to power the NLL Network.

Broadcom and Adobe announce the integration of the Adobe Flash Platform into Broadcom's latest DTV and STB system-on-a-chip platforms. The collaboration paves the way for rich Flash based entertainment experiences on televisions that offer viewers new options for accessing web content on their TVs.

With Adobe Flash Lite 3 software supported in the Broadcom BCM3549, BCM3556, BCM7400 and BCM7405 SoC solutions, TV viewers will be able to view Flash based content and applications from popular online providers and entertainment sites. Broadcom DTV and STB platforms with integrated Adobe Flash support are expected to be available to manufacturers in the first half of 2009. Broadcom will demonstrate Adobe Flash support on its BCM7405 and BCM3549 solutions at this week's 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Amazon announces that it will offer customers the ability to instantly purchase, rent and watch digital movies and TV episodes from its popular video service, Amazon Video On Demand, via the Roku Digital Video Player. Beginning in early 2009, the Roku Player, which currently supports only the Netflix service, will offer access to Amazon Video On Demand’s more than 40,000 commercial‐free movies and television shows enabling Roku customers for the first time to watch new release movies titles instantly.

Samsung and Yahoo! announce a new Internet-based service to Samsung televisions available in the spring of 2009. Select models in Samsung’s 2009 flat-panel HDTV line-up will be powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, a fifth-generation applications platform that enables TV watchers to interact with and enjoy a rich set of “TV Widgets.” TV Widgets make it easy to interact with Internet content and services to complement and enhance the traditional TV viewing experience. The lightweight Javascript and XML applications bring content, information and community features available on the Internet within easy reach of the remote control. The new televisions will be displayed at CES 2009 in Samsung’s booth located at Central Hall, Booth #11033.

Consumers looking to cut costs without sacrificing satisfaction for Internet, television, and telephone service should consider bundling with Verizon FiOS or AT&T U-verse. In Consumer Reports' latest survey of major telecom providers and bundled services, featured in the February issue, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse, whose networks are fiber-optic based, were the most consistently satisfying providers for their Internet, television, and telephone services.

NTT America will be speaking on the Planning for an IPv6 World in 2010 panel at the 2009 International CES. Cody Christman, NTT America’s Director of Product Engineering, will discuss Hikari-TV, the first large scale, commercially successful IPTV over IPv6 service. The Hikari-TV service, which is operated by NTT Plala, comprises 76 channels including HD channels, more than 10,000 video on demand titles and over 13,000 titles in its karaoke service, and is accessible to consumers via a “Broadband button for Hikari-TV” on the remote.

CCID Consulting and the first Chinese consulting firm, recently released its article on China's IPTV market. In 2008, with China Telecom's vigorous promotion, China's number of IPTV subscribers grew rapidly, up 100% year-on-year. The rapid growth drove the development of IPTV's equipment market, and with the promotion of free and bundling marketing, subscribers in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong have taken shape. However, telecom operators have found it difficult to gain profit in IPTV. In 2009, because of global financial crisis, telecom operators' capital and resource investment in IPTV promotion will meet tests. How to guarantee the IPTV market's sustainable development has become the whole of the industrial focus for IPTV.

Concurrent announces a new software release for its MediaHawk line of video servers. The release is SCTE-130 compliant and features many new functionality and capacity enhancements, most notably play list support enabling advanced advertising.

The SCTE-130 standard supports a unified platform for addressable advertising, providing inventory and placement definitions, while merging content and subscriber metadata for targeting zones - or, in a unicast environment, for targeting individuals. Concurrent has already upgraded many of its Everstream data collection and management products to comply with SCTE-130 standards. With the addition of play list support to the MediaHawk video server, Concurrent can now supply an end-to-end solution supporting targeted ad insertion, ad bumpering and ad replacement.

comScore released its November 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that U.S. Internet users viewed 12.7 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 34 percent versus year ago.

In November, Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 5.1 billion videos viewed (representing a 40 percent share of all videos viewed), with YouTube.com accounting for more than 98 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 439 million videos (3.5 percent), followed by Viacom Digital with 325 million (2.6 percent) and Yahoo! Sites with 304 million (2.4 percent). On the heels of a surge in viewership in October, Hulu retained its #6 position with 227 million videos viewed (1.8 percent).

Net Insight has received an order for an IPTV virtual head-end distribution network in the US. The Nimbra platform is a versatile transport solution with several unique features for virtual head-end solutions, including redundant head-end protection switching. IPTV operators deploying virtual head-end services based on the Nimbra platform not only get a network but a multi-service transport infrastructure that opens up new business opportunities, including video-on-demand, games-on-demand, and e-commerce.

Net Insight delivers the world´s most efficient and scalable optical transport solution for Broadcast and Media, Digital Terrestrial TV, Mobile TV and IPTV/CATV networks.