March 18, 2014

Google and Viacom Settle YouTube Lawsuit

About seven years ago Viacom brought a copyright lawsuit against Google that looked like it could have major implications on broadcasters' content being posted to YouTube without their consent. Today, it feels like a footnote for an issue that has seemingly settled itself as the two sides announced an out-of-court settlement. Crowd-sourced content websites like YouTube are essentially protected from litigation because the courts don't see them as liable for what their users do.  In essence, they provide a platform, but they can't be expected to police every single use of that platform. This also protects sites like Facebook from

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March 17, 2014

Internet of Things Will Be Bigger Than You Think

Interesting report from Emily Adler at Silicon Alley Insider on just how big the "Internet of Things" (IoT) could become. BI Intelligence estimates there will be over 9 billion (yes, billion) devices connected to the Internet by 2018. Cable operators and vendors stand to provide the infrastructure needed to support such a system. Read more about what the future of the IoT might look like in Adler's post.

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March 17, 2014

Mobile Madness: NCAA Adds Windows 8, Kindle Fire to Streaming Roster

The NCAA is continuing its push to provide more mobile options for TV subscribers to watch as much college basketball as possible during the 2014 men's basketball championship tournament. Streaming apps were already available to subscribers from Google Play and Apple's App Store. Now anyone with a Kindle Fire, Android-powered, or Windows 8 tablet can add their devices as options to watch all the dunks, buzzer-beaters, and upsets in this year's tournament. Cable-provided broadband remains the best option for viewers to avoid latency and ensure high-quality video. Read more about the NCAA's streaming offerings at Investor's Business Daily and Multichannel

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March 17, 2014

2.6M Broadband Subs Added in 2013

Leichtman Research group released findings that the top 17 U.S. and telco providers added 2.6 million net broadband subscribers in 2013, about 95% of subscribers added in 2012. Cable continues to dominate the overall broadband subscriber market, with 49.3 million subscribers vs. 35 million from telcos. Read more about the report and analysis from Jeff Baumgartner at Multichannel News.

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March 14, 2014

DOCSIS 3.1 ‘Ahead of Schedule’

Speaking at Cable Congress in Amsterdam, CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney said the first hardware compatible with DOCSIS 3.1 is expected this year, with field deployments slated for 2015 – well ahead of the original expected date of 2016. Read more about McKinney's comments on DOCSIS 3.1 at Cable Congress from Digital TV Europe.

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March 13, 2014

CableLabs Investigates ‘Virtual’ CCAP

More and more broadband vendors are looking for ways to turn traditionally hardware-based functions into software. Doing so could enable cable operators and vendors to develop new offerings at Web scale. Leading the charge in enabling the cable industry to explore this trend is CableLabs, whose director of SDN, Chris Donley, talked to Multichannel News about a new investigation into a virtual form of Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP). Read the full story on CableLab's virtual CCAP investigation on the Multichannel News website.

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March 12, 2014

Cable’s Big ‘Small Cell’ Opportunity

Multichannel News is reporting the results of a cross-industry survey from Amdocs/Real Wireless which may reveal a new revenue stream for cable operators.  The survey showed that 70% of mobile-network operators (MNOs) are prepared to to use small cell networks rolled out or owned by third parties – cable operators are well positioned to be those third parties, they say. Read the full story on the Multichannel News website.

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October 30, 2013

NEW GENERATION OF DOCSIS TECHNOLOGY

Louisville, CO - CableLabs, the nonprofit research and development consortium for the cable industry, today announced the availability of its DOCSIS 3.1 PHY (physical layer) and MULPI (MAC and Upper Layer Protocol) specifications. DOCSIS 3.1 technology will enable a new generation of cable services and help operators continue to meet consumer demand for high speed connections and sophisticated applications, positioning them to be the providers of choice in their markets. “To meet the demand for higher speed access and increased network efficiency, CableLabs completed the development of DOCSIS 3.1 specifications 40 percent faster than previous DOCSIS projects,” said Phil McKinney,

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August 13, 2013

YOUi LABS NAMED THE “BEST NEW IDEA”

Keystone, CO — YOUi Labs was selected in an informal poll for having the "Best New Idea" as part of informal polling conducted following the "Innovation Showcase" presentations held during the CableLabs Summer Conference this week. Eight companies participated in the showcase session, which provides each company with 10 minutes to present and demonstrate a technology solution for cable. YOUi Labs demonstrated uSwish, a framework for powering entertainment systems across platforms. Once again, The CableLabs’ Innovation Showcase event has brought great technical innovators with unique products to the cable industry. “CableLabs works hard to facilitate innovation within the cable industry,

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