the connected world supplement special report Supplement sponsored by


Since the advent of television, viewing has been characterised by one single, linear feed coming directly through a screen in the living room. In recent years, the number of screens in the home has proliferated, with televisions appearing in bedrooms and kitchens and computers maturing the ability to show programming. Jamie Fink, senior vice-president of technology at Pace plc, reports.


However, new devices and screens still continue to arrive in our homes and services such as iPlayer and Hulu have popularised television viewing on the laptop and PC; Hulu alone supplied 260 million monthly streams in 2010. Adding further to this proliferation of new devices, the arrival of the iPad and its growing list of competitors have introduced the tablet PC to the living room and ‘multi-screen’ applications have brought


programming to smartphones. These developments have fuelled consumer demand to have access to a broader range of digital content than ever before, on more screens around the home, with the living room television becoming home to previously unimaginable levels of live, on demand and recorded content. Whilst some may argue that these changes could erode payTV, in fact it has fuelled new growth opportunities for the industry. PayTV providers have seized upon new content demands and devices, and changing user habits as opportunities to build value-added services for their subscribers, differentiating them from competitors and enhancing the consumer


The road to the Connected Home D


espite this growth and diversification in the market, the central living room screen has


remained the mainstay of the television experience.


Jamie Fink, senior vice-president of technology at Pace plc.


+Le Cube,


developed by Pace in conjunction with Canal+.


experience to increase retention. For example, Canal+ secured its place as the premier payTV service in Europe with the introduction of the first HD TV service and more recently Sky TV in the UK was first to market with 3D TV. As over the top technology capabilities increase, the ability for payTV operators to add these into their offerings to bring the most advanced services to customers becomes more important than ever. In response, providers have introduced IP and on demand services as part of their payTV offering and are moving fast to further increase the depth of their services and expand their influence within the home by delivering their range of content and services to multiple screens. PayTV providers are looking to ‘own’ the home by offering a full connected home solution through the set-top


In-home technology is the vital component in moving towards the connected home and as a partner to the world’s largest payTV operators, Pace is cutting through the complexity to create a connected home with seamless delivery of TV and other digital content.


Making the vision a reality


Pace, working with Canal+, took some early steps towards this vision with +Le Cube in 2006. +Le Cube was the first set-top box to provide a parallel IP/non IP TV service and opened up the possibility of on demand and IP content to European viewers through the Canal+ on demand service. Upon release, +Le Cube was the most advanced set-top box available, but in the succeeding years catch up and on demand programming has quickly become an expectation, not a novelty, in the living room. The introduction of hybrid boxes has now made IPTV a mainstay in the home.


More recently, Pace has made the TV experience more holistic with Pace’s Home Content Sharing (HCS)


38 l ibe l the connected world supplement march/april 2011 l www.ibeweb.com


box. However, they are faced with the challenge of how to manage the huge complexity created behind the scenes and deliver a simple, easy to manage experience, both for them as the service operator and for their customers.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68