DVB, an industry consortium that develops open, interoperable technical specifications for the delivery of digital media and broadcast services, today announced that an open source reference client for DVB-I is now available. The source code is provided via DVB's GitHub account. Developed in collaboration with Sofia Digital, the reference client and related materials are released under the open source MIT license and will help to accelerate deployments of the DVB-I specification.

"The events of recent weeks have clearly shown that television remains a popular and vital medium for information and entertainment," said Emily Dubs, head of technology at DVB. "With broadband-enabled devices typically orchestrating users' digital lives, this new reference client demonstrates the potential for DVB-I to play a vital role in uniting the wide range of linear services available to viewers, whether over broadband or broadcast networks."

"This is part of a shift by DVB to deliver more value to its members and to the industry, looking beyond the specifications themselves," said Peter MacAvock, chairman of DVB. "By providing this reference client, DVB hopes to encourage the adoption of DVB-I specifications in industry solutions for delivering linear television over the internet."

AVer Europe, the award-winning provider of video collaboration solutions and education technology solutions, has today announced the UK launch of CB-310, its interactive control box designed to increase the capability of existing equipment within the classroom and raise student engagement.

As a stand-alone Android™ module, the CB-310 easily connects to any display and is designed for seamless integration via multiple output ports. The device keeps costs low by making the most of existing equipment within the classroom, fully integrating with TVs, interactive whiteboards, monitors, projectors and visualisers. The CB-310 allows educators to use Windows®, Mac®, Chrome® and Android™ platforms at the same time by simply switching input sources.

The powerful ScreenShare technology of the CB-310 allows students to work on a smartphone, tablet or laptop then wirelessly share their thoughts with everyone. By remotely mirroring the content from a range of devices, the CB-310 provides a platform for all students and enables new possibilities within the learning and teaching environment as a result.

The CB-310’s split screen feature enables up to four different student ideas or presentations to all be displayed simultaneously, making it a perfect solution for side-by-side comparisons and group collaboration.

“The CB-310 control box helps educators to make the most of their existing equipment inventory through flawless integration, while also helping to engage students using inclusive collaboration tools,” explains Rene Buhay, AVer Europe Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “The possibilities at your fingertips with the CB-310 make it the hub of any classroom.”

AVer Europe’s CB-310 control box is available with a 3-year warranty at MSRP £479. For more information, please visit www.avereurope.com.

mediaClass, a globally active provider of OTT TV everywhere solutions, has announced its own developed AI-based recommendation Engine.

”We have been testing and measuring the success rate of the engine for some time," says mediaClass CTO Stilian Tchlakov. "For this release we have settled on two operator-selectable modes, both of which offer excellent results."

"Without giving too much away technically, mode one is based on AI analysis of personal preferences and searches; mode two is based on studying and machine learning the watching-behaviour of hundreds of thousands of anonymous subscribers” adds mediaClass Head of Research and Development Youri Kalinov. "The mediaClass AI Recommendation Engine uses state of the art technology from Liberate AI to predict and deliver viewer-specific television content recommendations. This is a step change from what has been possible in the past."

“Judging from the measurement results I have seen, the Liberate AI machine learning technology certainly gives us a significant edge," details mediaClass EVP Manelli Hosseini. "We will be providing the engine as an integral part all mediaClass deployments. We now have to decide whether to market the recommendation engine as a standalone package to offer its advantages for non-mediaClass deployments.”

mediaClass reports a sustained acceleration in demand for subscription based services offering video content directly to connected viewers. Bypassing traditional broadcast and satellite platforms, OTT services are typically streamed over the top – meaning over any internet connection rather than a proprietary network.

"Given the rapid changes in product offerings and market trends, the choice of OTT and streaming technology is absolutely key," says mediaClass EVP Manelli Hosseini. "The established OTT middleware products on the market are incremental improvements and add-ons to older IPTV-based systems. This leaves them with a heavy footprint requiring massive servers which are inefficient and inflexible."

"Using our detailed knowledge and long experience of TV services to develop a modern, agile architecture and approach, we invested heavily to develop a full product range from scratch. The key parameters for our customer-centric view were to speed up deployment and enable a low-cost legacy IPTV path for service providers and telcos who want to move to a world-class offer which is disruptively affordable. We have developed our own software modules for functions including a content management system, digital rights management and AI recommendation engines as well as CDN and mobile clients."

Argentine telecommunications facilities provider Servicios y Telecomunicaciones SA (SYT) has chosen a complete mediaClass OTT TV Everywhere solution as the core of a newly launched Rocstar TV Everywhere platform. The system is designed to allow carriers, cable operators and ISPs to offer own-brand TV Everywhere OTT products based on a strong channel line-up and premium content. All functions are provided through an operator-class version of mediaClass software, customised and integrated into servers at SYT's headquarters in Buenos Aires.

"We signed the agreement with SYT at the April 2019 NAB Show and have been very busy adding specific features for Rocstar TV local markets," says mediaClass EVP Manelli Hosseini. "This new service will allow easy white-labeling for carriers, ISPs and cable operators to offer full TV Everywhere OTT and IPTV with their own brand and their own app. The system includes all the advanced TV Everywhere features – content source processing and storage, digital rights management, subscriber management, viewer analytics and an AI-based recommendation engine. We have also built in true multi-tenancy which is often claimed but not delivered. The resultant service is very easy to use, includes automatic configuration, and is highly cost efficient."

mediaClass announces Broadcast-Pro, a new version of its end-to-end IPTV/OTT multiscreen platform. Broadcast-Pro is designed for broadcasters and content owners who are looking to launch an independent TV-everywhere service for their customers.

Broadpeak®, a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, today announced that its nanoCDN™ multicast ABR and umbrellaCDN™ CDN selection solutions are gaining significant momentum in the Android TV environment. As the popularity of Android TV dramatically grows, with 99.2 million devices expected to be shipped by 2022 and more than 140 pay-TV operators using Android TV, Broadpeak's video delivery solutions are empowering content providers and pay-TV operators around the world to offer better-quality television experiences on Android TV screens.

"Android TV is the fastest-growing platform in the digital TV market, used by tens of millions of consumers and hundreds of operators," said Jacques Le Mancq, CEO at Broadpeak. "By integrating several of Broadpeak's video delivery solutions into the Android TV framework, we're enabling content providers and operators to take full advantage of the environment, offering support for ultra-low-latency live streaming, server-side ad insertion and replacement, advanced video analytics, cloud PVR, and the ability to deliver an exceptional UHD and HDR broadcast-quality experience."

Broadpeak will demonstrate its solutions for Android TV during the APAC Android TV Summit, Nov. 12-14, in Bangkok, Thailand at The Berkeley Hotel Pratunam in Suite 13304. Key highlights will include:

nanoCDN™ multicast ABR for Android TV operator tier: Deployed on more than 100 devices, Broadpeak's nanoCDN multicast ABR solution enables pay-TV operators to deliver content on an Android TV operator-tier set-top box (STB), using multicast to carry ABR formats (e.g., CMAF) and solving the issues of scalability and latency raised by ABR distribution.

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), in collaboration with Google and 3SS, has created an integrated OTT and broadcast live sports workflow on Android TV™, delivering essential tailored features such as picture-in-picture, multi-view and personalized mosaic. At IBC2019, on Harmonic Stand 1.B20 and Google Stand 14.E02, the companies will demonstrate how pay-TV operators can now deliver personalized, low-latency live sports experiences on OTT and hybrid set-top boxes (STBs) using Harmonic's VOS® cloud-native live video platform, a powerful UHD STB and the 3READY custom launcher application from 3SS.

Viaccess-Orca (VO), a global leader providing OTT and TV platforms, content protection, and advanced data solutions, announced today that Orange Spain has deployed a new Android™ TV set-top box (STB) secured by VO's DRM solution for its IPTV service. This new STB will enable Orange Spain pay-TV subscribers to access a wide range of premium content, including Ultra HD, live, and VOD, protected by VO.

KRK Systems, part of the Gibson family of brands, introduces its revolutionary KRK Audio Tools App for iOS and Android. This free suite of professional studio tools includes five useful and professional analysis-based components that work with any monitor setup, and one powerful tool (EQ Recommendation) that helps acclimate the new KRK ROKIT G4 monitors to their individual acoustic environment.

Amino, the global media and entertainment technology solutions provider, announced today that it will be showcasing its ‘Operator Ready’ Android TV solution, which is powered by its Google certifiedAminoOS software, at NAB Show 2019 in Las Vegas April 6 to 11. AminoOS gives pay-TV operators the agility to customize and brand an advanced user interface via an Android TV deployment, which can include the latest functionality along with access to more than 150 premium over-the-top (OTT) apps.

 Vewd, the world’s largest smart TV OTT software provider, today announced that Sascha Prüter has joined the company as Chief Product Officer. Previously, Mr. Prüter led Google’s product and engineering efforts for Android TV and worked directly with the world’s leading smart TV OEMs, OTT providers and pay TV operators to establish the platform as one of the leading smart TV and set-top box operating systems globally.