Hybrid Set Top Boxes Becoming the Norm

(Business News & Technology News, 11 Aug 2009)

The majority of IP set top boxes shipping in Europe have had terrestrial tuners for last several years. Motorola has deployed cable/IP hybrids with Verizon and Telia Stofa of Denmark. Terrestrial and satellite set top boxes with DVRs have been shipping with Ethernet connections for a while. By In-Stat estimates, 19% of satellite set top boxes shipped in 2008 had IP connections, and that number is expected to grow to 48% of shipments in 2013. The +Le Cube box from Pace for Canal+ of France is a feature-packed example of a hybrid box with satellite tuners, a hard drive, IP, USB, and HDMI connections.
The capabilities of hybrid boxes are powering services from new providers like Sezmi TV and Daily Media TV. Traditional TV service providers, like Canal+, are moving from just requiring an Ethernet connection for future use to bringing in content via IP to use the connection. Progressively downloaded VOD and place-shifting are two of those applications. Additionally, with an IP path, broadcasters with archived content can offer a catch up TV service for the TV, not just the PC.
Hybrid boxes are not specific to any geographic markets. Telefónica will be buying satellite/IP and cable/IP boxes for its Latin American operations. Telcos are finding that using satellite transmission for the broadcast channels and the IP network for on demand and other interactive content allows them to deliver a TV service without needing to upgrade their DSL network to the 10+ Mbps that is the norm for video, more if they plan to offer HD. For those that own cable networks, using IP may allow them to expand their reach to customers beyond the cable network.
ANT is taking advantage of the hybrid move to expand its market focus. ANT has been focused on pure IPTV boxes with customers such as Chunghwa, France Telecom, and Telecom Italia. Their embedded browser technology has 60 manufacturer licensees and has been deployed globally in more than 10 million end devices.
A few years ago, ANT looked at the challenges faced by set top box suppliers, such as the long 10 to 16 month development cycle required when porting a browser to the box. At the time Javascript extensions were required for drivers and media players to support the IP video service. ANT addressed these challenges by adding a media framework that extended the browser with a common set of APIs to applications that want to use those resources. ANT’s Galio client and Galio browser, which form Galio platform, were developed to improve set top box time to market by eliminating the need for Javascript extensions.
The Galio platform has been architected to interact with content no matter where it is coming from, whether via satellite, cable, terrestrial or IP link. It is agnostic to the transport stream, but knows where the content is coming from and reads the metadata, so it can pull in widgets or portal applications that relate to linear content. Metadata and channels are aggregated to take all video to present to the EPG as a unified application.
ANT also launched the ANT Academy developer community to bring in close partners to work with them to bring their services into Galio. This creates a tightly integrated solution for operators and content companies who will launch the first of those services at the end of 2009.
Humax and KAONMedia, both suppliers of satellite set top boxes, are the first Galio platform licensees with hybrid satellite/IP technology. Galio will enable them to customize applications for services in target markets. Commercial products that use the Galio platform are expected from Humax and KAONmedia before the end of 2009. For example, Humax will offer a box for the Freesat service in the UK that enables access to the BBC iPlayer catch up TV service on TV.