TWC's NYC system chooses N2 Network
Duluth, Ga.-based N2 Broadband's N2 Network will manage video-on-demand (VOD) service for Time Warner Cable's New York City Division, which serves 1.2 million homes. Half of the system's 500,000 New York-area digital subscribers will be VOD-enabled over the next few weeks, with the balance online by year-end.
The delivery-management, back-office and usage-reporting system is designed to securely distribute media assets from content providers to multiple headend locations; streamline and automate the receiving, prioritizing and propagating of on-demand content; and provide a standard interface to cable billing systems, an open reporting platform and a generic Web-based metadata editor so that Time Warner Cable NYC can remotely manage all content media assets in the system and easily introduce new services.
In addition, N2 Broadband directly connects to iN DEMAND to supply hundreds of motion pictures to digital subscribers.
ABC news to go digital with Avid
ABC News last week chose Avid Technology to build out its all-digital news operations, starting with World News Tonight
and ABC's affiliate news service, NewsOne. According to Adam Taylor, vice president of America's sales operations for Avid, the World News Tonight
phase could be operational within a couple of months. ABC News and Avid will convert to all-digital news facilities program by program.
Previously, Taylor said, most of Avid's involvements with ABC dealt with non-news areas of the network.
"We look forward to working with Avid as we transition ABC News onto an all-digital platform," said Preston Davis, president of ABC Broadcast Operation and Engineering.
Avid has implemented all-digital news environments at more than 50 broadcast facilities worldwide, according to AvidPresident and CEO David Krall.
World News Tonight
will use an Avid Unity shared-media network environment to facilitate the simultaneous ingest, output and edit functions between workgroups. When used with Avid NewsCutter systems, ABC will be able to link analog and digital editing, newsroom computer systems, graphics, audio, distribution and asset management.
NCTA seeks papers on broadband topics
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association will host a series of technical sessions at its national show, June 8-11 in Chicago, and needs material. The organization is particularly looking for papers on TV and the Internet, network security, IP telephony, home networking, bandwidth management, data tiering and other broadband-technology hot buttons. NCTA needs submissions by Dec. 16, and, by the way, it has to be new stuff, not papers presented elsewhere.
Those whose paper is chosen will give 15- to 20-minute presentations at the show. Participants are responsible for their own travel and fees.
For more info, check the NCTA Web site, ncta.com, or e-mail Mark Bell at mbell@ncta.com.
iVAST software to be sold by Daikin
Japan-based Daikin Industries Ltd. has agreed to sell, distribute and support iVAST MPEG-4 software for the professional post-production and creator markets. The reseller relationship is expected to accelerate entertainment-industry adoption of the software tools for fully integrated MPEG-4 content production, from encoding and authoring to publishing and delivery.
The iVAST suite of products enables content creators to take advantage of the advanced compression and object-oriented authoring capabilities of MPEG-4. From enhanced DVDs and HDTV to interactive advertisements and on-demand services, iVAST MPEG-4 software enables content creators to incorporate multiple media elements: audio, video, 2-D and 3-D graphics, animation and interactivity.
Motorola teams with Cox
Motorola's Broadband Communications Sector and Atlanta-based Cox Communications Inc. combined for the first retail launch of the Motorola DCP501 home-theater system in Cox's Hampton Roads, Va., system. Audio Connection Inc. and Domes Audio Video Environments, two home-theater dealers serving the Hampton Roads area, are the first to retail the Motorola DCP501.
The DCP501 has DVD/CD/ MP3 capabilities; a digital 5.1 audio/video receiver with five channels x 100 W and AM/FM stereo receiver; and an interactive digital cable receiver. It won the CES Innovations Award at the CES show last January.
The launch marks major milestones for the broadband and home electronics industries, representing the first home-theater product of its kind available for consumers. (It also represents a return to Motorola's roots, which include the manufacture of radios and TVs in the late 1930s and '40s.)
Store associates have been trained by Motorola Broadband on system features to assist customers with the DCP501's plug-and-play functionality in a home environment. Upon purchase, customers receive information on how to activate Cox Digital Cable. Those who purchase a DCP501 from participating retailers and have a subscription to basic-cable service will get one free year of digital cable programming.
