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RIM’s New BBX OS Converges BlackBerry, Tablet OS & HTML5

RIM is a frustrating and frustrated company. The massive outages that affected BlackBerry email users on three continents last week may have been a miracle of bad timing, just after the iPhone launch, but they were only the most publicized of a string of more avoidable mistakes that are leaving users and developers at the end of their tethers.

The more serious mistake has been RIM’s botched operating system migration strategy. Only now, probably a year too late, has RIM addressed those errors, unveiling a hybrid BlackBerry/HTML5/QNX (Tablet OS) platform called BBX. This will not catapult RIM into the apps major league with Google and Apple, but it may preserve its core user and developer bases a little longer, perhaps long enough to carve out a new position in the evolving mobile Web/cloud world.

That is, however, only if RIM executes better on BBX and the devices that will run it, than it has on the Tablet OS that the PlayBook uses. The decisions along the way to a new operating system have been wrong so many times, that faith in the company is dwindling, despite some promising technologies and a very real affection for the BlackBerry service. RIM has apparently learned nothing from the painful OS transitions of its rivals — Palm’s WebOS and Nokia’s Open Symbian and now Microsoft’s WP7.

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With this appalling history behind it, BBX can certainly benefit from far lower expectations than those that accompanied the QNX-made OS and the PlayBook. BBX plays many of the cards that RIM should have played for the Tablet OS, but frustratingly a year too late and amid significantly deteriorating developer and carrier relations. It addresses the issue of the corporate base far more effectively than RIM did before, preserving a life for legacy BlackBerry apps, supporting native email, and adding new and heavyweight features in key areas such as security and cloud services.

G.hn Cometh

G.hn, which Intel has named HomeGrid, is in field trials now at three major service providers, using STBs that both Sigma and an unnamed major STB maker have produced. We guess that one service provider is AT&T because of Sigma’s commitment to produce a G.hn chipset that’s compatible with the HPNA devices that AT&T is installing; one is Telefonica, which is hosting a G.hn certification event; and the third is a major Chinese service provider because executives at G.hn chipmakers have been so effusive about the Chinese market.

This week, Sigma Design’s main marketing executive Michael Weissman said that, for the first time, there will be boxes at the Broadband World Forum in Paris that have G.hn in them, some with Sigma and some with Marvell G.hn chips. He would not say who, despite our pleas.

Comtrend First to Announce a G.hn Box
Network gear maker Comtrend is the first to announce a G.hn box, its PowerGrid 9050 powerline adapter that uses Sigma Design’s G.hn chips. It’s a direct competitor to HomePlug AV powerline adapters but is in not in any way compatible. The G.hn chips have Sigma’s ClearPath technology that reportedly increases performance at every AC outlet.

G.hn chipmakers have told us that their best market, at least initially, is powerline, not coax, which MoCA practically owns. They say they have a significant performance advantage over HomePlug AV — with or without ClearPath.

Comtrend was showing the adapter in its booth in Paris.

The PowerGrid 9050 allows for the home’s Ethernet network to be extended over existing power lines throughout the home.

Sigma Designs said its G.hn chipset with ClearPath is designed “to reliably distribute multiple 3D, HD IP video streams (HD-IPTV) over power line bridges with high speed and great performance.

Comtrend said PowerGrid demo units will be available in this year’s fourth quarter to selected service providers.

Of course, the HomeGrid Alliance must first qualify G.hn chipsets and then certify that G.hn gear from different manufacturers works together.

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Alcatel-Lucent Promises 100 Mbps over Existing Copper Wires

Lest we forget in the excitement of OTT and smart TVs and Facebook offering TV shows and movies, someone has to deliver all those bytes to the home...

The cable TV companies have been taking broadband market share away from the telcos with their faster DOCSIS broadband technology, especially their DOCSIS 3.0 that uses a combination of optical and coax. Most telcos, with the exception of Verizon and few others, are still trying squeeze as much out of the millions of miles of ancient copper wire they installed decades ago. Most, like AT&T, have run fiber into the neighborhood but connect that to the existing copper wire that runs to the home.

Alcatel-Lucent has been aiding them in that squeeze effort. This week it said it now has VDSL2 Vectoring technology commercially available. The new technology, which we reported on several years ago when it was being tested in its labs, will help some telcos hit speeds up to 100 Mbps over copper wiring. The cablecos are already achieving 100 Mbps and more with DOCSIS 3.0, which did not require them to run new cables.

Alcatel said its vectoring technology uses sound cancellation to limit interference and crosstalk. It increases DSL speed and the distance over which the higher speeds can be attained.

“Our objective is to help operators and nations ‘get to fast, faster,’” said Alcatel-Lucent’s president of its wireline division Dave Geary. He said they would need less time to recoup their investments, and make it easier for to meet various national broadband goals.

Rob Gallagher, principal analyst and head of broadband and TV research at Informa, said Alcatel-Lucent’s launch of the VDSL2 vectoring is timely because service providers and governments worldwide intend to boost broadband speeds but the costs and complexities associated with fiber-to-the-home deployments have been a major obstacle. He said VDSL2 Vectoring can make superfast broadband speeds available to many more people, much faster than many in the industry had thought possible.

It will also make the telcos competitive with the cablecos, whose global footprint is much smaller than the telcos, unfortunately for consumers that don’t have another company competing for their broadband account.

It said VDSL2 Vectoring has been tested extensively in the labs and in the field with Belgacom, Telekom Austria and Turk Telekom.

RVU Remote Technology Aims for CE Device Interoperability with Pay TV Gear

JetHead, which specializes in developing embedded software for CE makers, has been deeply involved in the development of the RVU remote User Interface (UI) technology. David Bye, its VP of marketing and business development, provided an update to our article in last week’s edition.

Bye says the word “remote” does not refer to the device’s remote control but to the fact that the server — usually the pay TV service’s whole home DVR — is projecting the RVU interface on a “remote” device/display such as a TV set. “The ‘remote’ device,” he said, “can be a small and inexpensive pay TV STB, a TV, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console or anything else connected to a display.” Users operate the remote control that came with the device, with the possible exception of the TV set where the pay TV company’s remote can usually be used also for the TV. Key strokes on the remote control are sent by the device to the server; the server interprets the key, renders the UI and sends it to the device for display — instantaneously, of course.

The RVU remote software could be embedded in any new TV set or any TV-connected device.

RVU was developed by pay TV companies with the goal of protecting their content and projecting their UI onto every remote device in the home.

The pay TV companies’ initial plan is to get the RVU code embedded into TVs and the STBs that they deploy — as DirecTV is doing with Samsung TVs and Pace STBs. It could later show up in devices connected to TVs, such as a Blu-ray player, a smart TV adapter like Google TV or Apple TV or, we hope, even the next generation of smart surround sound systems.

“Today,” Bye said, “the UI that is being projected is basically a TV centric UI designed for the TV viewing experience, as most devices are connected to a TV sized display.”

Samsung, DirecTV Lead the Way
The RVU was first shown at CES in three Samsung LED smart TVs, which will work for DirecTV’s 19.1 million subscribers. Subscribers will be able to watch live and DVR content on the Samsung smart TVs without the need for STBs other than the whole-home STB/DVR. Oh happy day! One less box and fewer wires in the AV stack!

Samsung and DirecTV are founding members of the RVU Alliance.

RVU allows a STB server to provide a multi-room, complete viewing experience that includes DVR services, without the need for additional set-top boxes in homes that have more than one connected TV.

Boo-Keun Yoon, president of Samsung’s visual display business, said that products developed on RVU standards will help accelerate the development of features and applications that provide “a truly customizable, immersive entertainment experience that can be enjoyed from the comfort of the home.” He said Samsung will embed support for RVU in its future smart TVs.

Pace Will Use JetHead’s RVU
For those that don’t own an RVU-capable TV set, they’ll need their main DVR to have it. STB maker Pace has developed with JetHead a small client box, the C30, for DirecTV’s whole home platform, available by year-end.

The C30 RVU client STB will be compatible with RVU servers from pay TV service providers, including DirecTV’s HR34 Home Media Center that is currently in field trials.

Pace said the C30 is the first to get RVU Alliance certification, which it said is “a major milestone in the development of whole home client/server technology for the US pay TV industry, and in the adoption of the RVU standard.”

Pace America president Mike Pulli said whole-home solutions are a prime example of the innovation happening in the US and their rapid deployment is a high priority for customers such as DirecTV.

Henry Derovanessian, president of the RVU Alliance and SVP of DirecTV said the certification is a major achievement in the development of the RVU client/server architecture.

Ben Payne, VP of engineering at JetHead, said the RVU technology is “fully compatible with 1080p video, 3D TV, and DTCP-IP content protection.”

RVU’s Advantages
The RVU Alliance points out these advantages of RVU remote technology:
- The exact same look and feel on every CE device.
- Network technology agnostic.
- Supports live TV and DVR playback.
- Supports extensions for advanced UIs and client capabilities such as 3D stereoscopic TV. 3D graphics are coming in RVU 2.0.
- Industry-standard protocols DLNA and UPNP.
- Uses the client’s graphic capabilities.
- Efficient network utilization.
- Lightweight footprint in the client device.

The RVU Alliance’s founding members were chipmaker Broadcom, box maker Cisco, CE device and STB maker Samsung and two pay TV operators, DirecTV and Verizon. Samsung’s upcoming DVRs for Liberty Media are not likely to have the RVU technology initially.

Quite a number of other companies have joined the RVU Alliance including more chip makers, box makers, pay TV operators and CE companies. Based on that, it has a good chance of succeeding.

Standard for Delivering 2D, 3D, Mobile TV Being Developed

When you eavesdrop on shoppers in electronics stores, there’s the sense that 3D still doesn’t look like it’s ready for TV despite all the claims by set makers and the studios. When consumers first watch an HD TV and see a movie, sporting event or nature show, they say, “Hey, I have to have one of those.” That’s not true with seeing a 3D set for the first time — and with those awkward 3D glasses.

Now the TV industry’s Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) says it’s overseeing the development of a technology standard for delivering 3D content to fixed terrestrial receivers and to mobile devices in real-time. It hopes the technology can be deployed in a year. It said 2D TV sets will also be able to show the video.

“The addition of 3D TV capability to the digital TV (DTV) broadcast standard will foster new broadcast services while preserving the integrity of legacy TV receivers by adopting a system that allows for simultaneous delivery of 2D HDTV, Mobile DTV, and 3D programs within the same channel while ensuring backwards compatibility,” said ATSC president Mark Richter.

CableLabs and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) are also working 3D standards.

AirTies Picks Quantenna’s 4X4 Wi-Fi Chips for Streaming HD Videos

The big news this week was the Google-Motorola Mobility deal. However, the most important news in the set-top box business is that Turkey-based STB maker AirTies, which has been using Broadcom’s Wi-Fi chipsets with 2X2 MIMO, will make two STBs with Quantenna’s Wi-Fi chipsets with 4x4 MIMO.

Motorola Mobility (soon to be Google’s STB maker) and Netgear have previously announced they will use Quantenna chipsets in some of their networked boxes. Swisscom, a major purchaser of STBs, is an investor in Quantenna.

Quantenna touts its chipset as the “ultra-reliable Wi-Fi networking for whole-home HD video streaming with unmatched range and performance.” It said its “state-of-the-art” wireless video performance combined with AirTies’ MAC-level distribution software enables solutions that are capable of “flawlessly delivering multiple simultaneous HD video streams in the home through as many as three concrete floors.”

Yep, three concrete floors! That should work even in Europe with its stone and concrete walls as well as the States with its mostly sheetrock homes.

“The biggest challenges in wireless video streaming have always been how to mitigate interference and penetrate concrete walls,” said Metin Taskin, AirTies CTO. He said AirTies and Quantenna have successfully combined to overcome these problems.

Taskin said, “Our tests show a performance level that outstrips anything available in today’s market in terms of quality, range and reliability.” He said he’s “hugely” optimistic about the potential impact of the combined technologies on the wireless home networking marketplace.” He might have added its impact on wireline home networking like MoCA, HomePlug, wireline Ethernet, HPNA and HomeGrid.

The first AirTies products with the Quantenna chips are new versions of AirTies’ wireless video access points: the Air 4610/1 and Air 4640/1.

AirTies will show them in its IBC 2011 booth at RAI September 9 through 13.

Quantenna rival Celeno says it does a better job handling multiple streams of HD video with its 3x3 Wi-Fi chipsets and delivering wireless streams to single MIMO devices like tablets and smartphones.

Quantenna is ecstatic about the deal because it’s another “proof-of-concept.” Lionel Bonnot, VP of sales and business development at Quantenna, said, “AirTies has built a strong reputation for optimizing 802.11n technology using dual-mode concurrent architectures and other proprietary enhancements.” He said Quantenna is excited about how well the AirTies boxes perform using Quantenna’s 4x4 MIMO chipsets with advanced beam forming and channel-optimization capabilities.

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‘Sony Is Fighting The Wrong War’

After a company like Sony has lost money for eight straight years in its TV operations and says it unexpectedly found it’ll lose another billion dollars this year and sell five million fewer TV sets than it had predicted, well, people outside the company are going to take notice.

Faultline’s Peter White says:

“The problem is that Sony could drop out of almost ALL of its businesses and it has to keep some of them.

“Samsung wins by having the best LCD and flash memory technology in the world. Sony does not have this basic leadership in technology. It once had it, but no longer.

“Everyone knows that the way for Sony to win is to behave as a single company instead of six separate, competing units.

“It could and must be a globally strong online movie service, good enough to compete with Netflix, through Qriocity, but has it done this? No. It could make it either free or cheap for the first year with every TV set. Has it done this? No.

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BBC Launches TV-Friendlier iPlayer

Following in the wake of launching an iPlayer service for outside the UK, the BBC has announced a new iPlayer version that’s fine-tuned for use on TV sets.

It wants to cater to the many consumers that are becoming accustomed to watching Internet-delivered videos on their TV sets. Smart TVs, game consoles like the Sony Playstation, Blu-ray players and smart TV adapters like Apple TV are beginning to sell well in the UK and the original iPlayer, when implemented on them, did not take advantage of the big screen and lean-back viewing experience.

The BBC will also need an appealing iPlayer app on CE devices in the States.

It has been popular on smartphones and PCs but consumers’ viewing habits for online content now include the TV set. About 1.7 billion programs were viewed on the iPlayer last year, with 8 million weekly users last month, about 21% of the UK’s broadband users.

Only Google’s YouTube gets more online video requests.

The TV version can be operated with the user’s TV remote. There are better personalization features like remembering searches and short cuts for accessing frequently viewed shows.

“It feels like TV,” said Gideon Summerfield, the BBC’s executive product manager for iPlayer on TV. “It’s much easier to use and it’s more personal. It’s designed from the ground up for televisions. ”

In a signal to the over-35 crowd, the BBC said it will add more shows from its archives to the iPlayer and make them available for longer than the typical seven-day window. It’s about time!

Daniel Danker, the BBC’s general manager of programs and on-demand said the BBC is well aware of the iPlayer’s existing popularity on TV sets. He said the iPlayer is already available on over 300 connected TVs and Blu-Ray disc players, which “has resulted in a five times growth of iPlayer on TV over the last six months alone.” He said that at that rate of growth, over half of iPlayer use could be in the living room “in the next few years.”

The new version will also support devices better with video streams in different formats and resolutions.

“We are bringing the iPlayer to its natural habitat,” Danker said. “We wanted to make using the iPlayer on TV as easy as channel flipping.”

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Global BBC iPlayer App Launches

BBC Worldwide has at last launched a version of the iPlayer that is available in countries outside the UK, initially only on iPads. It’s priced at a somewhat controversial annual rate of €49.99 ($71.35 or £44), controversial because it’s much less than UK residents pay for the annual fee to watch the BBC on their TV.

It’s also available monthly for €6.99 ($9.97 or £6.14).

Things have changed remarkably since the iPlayer was first launched, especially in advanced markets like the States and the EU. The challenges the global iPlayer will face are:

- Many consumers have acquired DVRs, a better way for watching “catch up TV,” especially if it’s over a week old.

- With the spread of smart TVs, Blu-ray players, gaming consoles and smart TV adapters, consumers have grown accustomed to watching shows on the TV, not just on PCs and iPads. That means the BBC will have to develop apps for every smart TV platform, no trivial matter.

- OTT subscription services like Netflix, Hulu and Hulu Plus have enrolled millions of consumers who can now get many current and prior TV shows and movies for a flat monthly rate.

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