TELUS has selected Mariner xVu IPTV service monitoring solution to assist with customer assurance of its IPTV-based Optik TV.

SupportVu, an application within Mariner's award winning xVu suite of IPTV Quality of Experience monitoring tools, will deliver real time performance insight to both Optik TV's customer support and field repair stakeholders.

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).

Exterity announces a new version of its market leading AvediaPlayer receiver range. The upgrade offers an enhanced core browser that improves visual functionality for organisations who want to provide live or on-demand access to TV, video and AV content over an IP Network. The receivers will be demonstrated for the first time at xSolutions in Excel London on Exterity’s stand - C9.

This latest version of the AvediaPlayer receiver harnesses the power of the Ant Galio 3.1 browser, improving visual performance and supporting dynamic graphics, including screen fades and transitions, ideal for digital signage and for creating innovative and bespoke interfaces. The updated receiver also provides an enhanced platform for third party and bespoke development using Exterity’s Receiver Development Kit. The receivers support both SD and HD up to 1080p.

Harmonic announces that Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative of Walterboro, S.C., has selected the Harmonic ProStream 1000 with ACE high-density, real-time transcoder to power HD and SD video for its 290-channel IPTV service, based on the Microsoft Mediaroom platform.

The ProStream 1000 with ACE "any-to-any, any-to-many" real-time transcoding solution provides PRTC with Microsoft picture-in-picture capability and support for HD and SD, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video and audio transcoding of up to 20 HD or 60 SD channels in a compact and power-efficient one rack unit chassis. The platform's industry-leading density enables PRTC to meet the growing demand for digital TV services.

HickoryTech has launched CloverLeaf's AppDaily TV apps solution. CloverLeaf's AppDaily includes an app store, a personalized quick-access dashboard, a full suite of over 40 localized news and information apps, and CloverLeaf's DashDaily community publishing apps.

With AppDaily, providers of IPTV and other managed television services have an easy-to-launch comprehensive solution for offering a complete app solution to their video subscribers. AppDaily is available on major television platforms, and reflects CloverLeaf Digital's continuing commitment to providing independent service providers with the interactive services they need to compete in a changing market.

The way viewers watch TV has become a multi-screen, multi-tasking experience. According to Nielsen, nearly 30 percent of TV viewers looked up info related to a TV program while they were watching it. AT&T U-verse TV customers now have new and better ways to bring together their favorite social apps on their smartphone or tablet with what they're watching on TV.

With the U-verse IP platform, U-verse TV and High Speed Internet customers can now connect their qualifying smartphone or tablet to any U-verse receiver in the home to use a variety of apps that provide real-time TV content and social features on your device, since the apps recognize what you're watching on U-verse TV.

Exterity is taking place at Earls Court 2 in London next week from 19 - 20th October. Throughout the show, the company will be showcasing its market-leading range of enterprise-class IPTV solutions, including some recent additions to the portfolio. It will be demonstrating how it enables organisations to distribute high definition live TV and digital video content over building, campus or wide area IP networks.

Some of the updates include the new AvediaPlayer Viewer which offers integration capabilities supporting the delivery of live HD TV and video streams via PC desktop applications including Microsoft Office. This improves corporate and internal communications as live TV, video addresses from the CEO, corporate training and more can all be accessed in Outlook, utilising space alongside employees’ emails for viewing.

As the IP&TV Forum Middle East & Africa 2011 is fast approaching, we would like to remind you of some of the fantastic reasons to attend this must-attend event. Etisalat are once again the Strategic Operator Partner of this event and this year they are heavily involved as usual:

31st October – OTT Special Focus Day

Etisalat and LG entered into a unique partnership that will see Etisalat's broadband services and content delivered through LG's new range of smart TVs. In light of these developments Etisalat will focus on the strategising on monetisation and opportunities within the OTT space for operators, technology providers and CE manufacturers.

Verimatrix will be featuring Chief Technology Officer Petr Peterka as a speaker at Digital Hollywood Fall 2011, Oct.17-20 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey, CA. At the conference, he will share recent trends in digital rights management and revenue security for dramatically expanding multi-network, multi-screen services.

Peterka's panel, "Protecting the Product: Content Rights and Technology Solutions in Media and Entertainment: Implementation of Technology Strategies" will be held on Wed., Oct.19 from 3:50 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. During the session, he will address the entertainment and media industries ability to manage its content and control its distribution, while simultaneously making it available to an ever larger customer and device base. Specifically, he and his co-panelists will explore, from the point of view of the technology companies, the possibilities and potential of DRM in the evolving content landscape.

EXFO announces the launch of its EXpert IPTV Test Tools, the latest addition to EXFO's FTB-platform-based EXpert testing software series. Combined with the EXpert IP and EXpert VoIP applications, as well as EXFO's FTB-1 Ethernet and OTDR test modules, EXpert IPTV brings to the industry the most comprehensive and powerful triple-play solution in a portable device designed for growing FTTH deployments worldwide.

Consumers say AT&T U-verse TV outperforms all competitors in customer satisfaction in the North Central, South and West regions, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Residential Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study released today. Since its premiere on the J.D. Power and Associates rankings in 2008, this is the third time that U-verse TV has received the highest results in all three regions where it was ranked and the fourth year in a row that AT&T U-verse topped the South and West regions.

Customers ranked AT&T highest in overall satisfaction in a study that evaluates performance and reliability, customer service, cost of service, billing, programming and offerings and promotions. The annual study measured customer satisfaction with residential TV providers, including Internet Protocol TV, cable and satellite services. In all, 23,880 video customers in the U.S. participated in the study.

Netgem has been selected by P&TLuxembourg, Luxembourg's leading telecom operator, to upgrade its service to next-generation IPTV offering. Netgem will provide P&T with its software and intelligent set top boxes to give its subscribers a unique rich TV experience. The enhanced service will be rolled out in October 2011.

A great new and enriched TV experience

The use of Netgem's nCloud architecture, based on its embedded software and intelligent set-top boxes, gives P&T the flexibility to integrate value added content, including Video On Demand, the popular Catch-up TV service from RTL Luxembourg and other Internet applications, regardless of whether this comes from P&Ts managed IPTV or unmanaged Over-The-Top network.

Parks Associates will host service providers, content owners, and CE makers at CONNECTIONS Europe, November 8-9, Amsterdam, to discuss opportunities in the worldwide market for operator-provided, cloud-based value-added services, which will exceed $8.5 billion in 2015.

The executive conference has keynotes from Siemens and Orange and a variety of sessions and special lunch roundtable discussions on the best strategies to monetize the connected home.

XOS Digital announces the launch of two new college sports apps on Boxee’s popular Internet TV platform, making the company the first to bring college sports to the software. This service will create a cutting edge on-demand college sports platform fans to watch current and classic content on-demand.

The XOS Digital apps on Boxee will stream the largest collection of current and classic content available. Fans are now able to play, pause and replay their favorite moments from some of the most watched games and documentaries in history. By going to SECOnDemand.com and XOSSports.com to sign up for “My Library”, fans will have access to a content library and the ability to purchase premium content on Boxee.

Verimatrix announced that its Verimatrix Video Content Authority System for IPTV has been deployed on the Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo J.S.C. network. As the global number one in IPTV content protection, VCAS for IPTV enables the secure delivery of live, on-demand and interactive video services, as well as offering a solid upgrade platform that PTK can use to cost-effectively enhance its competitive advantage.

The Verimatrix security solution was integrated with an end-to-end IPTV platform developed in partnership with BeeSmart, the acknowledged interactive TV solution provider for service operators and hospitality market, which provided the IPTV middleware solution, and Harmonic's leading head-end solutions. This marks the eighth IPTV project Verimatrix has implemented together with BeeSmart.