Broadband Communications Sector and NDS, a News Corp company and a leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay TV, say they will combine select products to offer cost- effective digital interactive television platforms to the global market.
As part of the deal, Motorola will offer the NDS iTV and conditional access solutions as an optional feature of Motorola‘s DVi1000 and DVi3500 DVB-based interactive digital set-tops. These solutions include NDS‘s Open VideoGuard(TM) conditional access solution, Core(TM) middleware, XTV(TM) personal video recorder (PVR) technology and various Value@TV(TM) iTV applications. In addition, Motorola will also offer the Ikonic+(TM) Interactive Programming Guide.

According to an official release, the two companies are developing a DVB Simulcrypt capability with NDS‘s Open VideoGuard(TM) conditional access solution, which will enable Motorola‘s MediaCipher(R) conditional access technology and NDS to work together in a single system.

The new Motorola DVi1000 set-top is an enhanced-broadcast, digital-cable platform that can be deployed at a comparable price point as an analog cable set-top, while delivering more programming channels and the subscriber benefits that come with digital cable. In addition to receiving high-quality digital cable broadcasts, subscribers with a DVi1000 set-top benefit from an expanded channel line-up, superior user interface, and telco-return for impulse pay-per-view (PPV).

The Motorola DVi3500 set-top is a low-cost, advanced-interactive DVB-compliant digital decoder with an integrated EuroDOCSIS modem. The DVi3500 digital cable set-top can be deployed at a comparable price point as a typical advanced analog cable set-top -- while delivering more programming channels and subscriber benefits.

While broadcasters, MSOs, cable ops and consumers grapple the possibilities and frailties of CAS in India, set top box (STB) manufacturers are dealing with the more practical aspects of the system.
DALVI, a six-year-old encryption systems company that‘s looking to be a major player in the conditional access market in the country, is one such. The company that has been in talks with MSOs and cable ops for the last two years has already migrated from having a linear power supply to a switch mode power supply in order to cater for voltage variation within India. The company has also had to develop and deploy a fingerprinting functionality to help combat the use of illegal signals being transmitted throughout the country, says DALVI‘s business development manager Lewis Zimbler. This functionality enables the operator to make any decoder transmit a number on the TVs that it is feeding signals to, he says.

The company has tied up with Catvision Products for distribution and is already in discussions with partners for setting up its own STB manufacturing facility in India, Zimbler says.

Elaborating on the advantages his product offers, Zimbler says DALVI system encoders can readily interface with standard video modulators used in SMATV, CATV, VHF/UHF and MMDS so making upgrading to DALVI simpler.

The DALVI system uses an in-band addressing system such that a single head end can service any form of RF network, i.e., terrestrial, HFC, Coax, MMDS and Satellite or a combination of any transmission media. This means that an operator can have total control from a single location for a variety of networks. The system caters for 99 scrambled channels, offers 48 tiers, can control any number of headends from a single location and supports Pay Per View.

According to Zimbler, single networks of over 1,000,000 subscribers can be combined without any difficulty, likewise smaller networks of only a few subscribers can also be handled with the same degree of functionality and control.

Its creativity is reaping rich rewards. Literally. MTV India‘s Poga - Heal Your Life campaign took home the award for "Best 3D Animation" at the regional Asian Television Technical and Creative Awards held in Singapore on 20 June.

The campaign, a first in a series of spoofs on alternative healing therapies like yoga, was the joint winner of the award.

MTV Thailand‘s partner Imagimax was the winner in the "Best Station ID" category. The "Just Arrived" ID tells Thai viewers they can now watch MTV 24-hours, in MTV‘s trademark hip and funky style. MTV Taiwan came in second for its "Anti Piracy Promo" in the "Best Promo" Category, with the lighthearted promo using three eminent artists to underscore a serious message - the negative impact of buying pirated CDs.

The Asian Television Technical and Creative Awards, in their second year, were organized by Asia Image magazine, which received 528 entries from 16 countries this year including China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. A panel of broadcast, production and post-production professionals from around the region judged the competing works.

Everyone seems to be getting into it now. The latest entrant into the television software space is Hindi film character actor Paresh Rawal.
The versatile actor, whose irresistible comic performance in the latest Bollwood flick Awara Paagal Deewana is drawing accolades from critics and masses alike, is all set to turn producer with a comedy he is producing for Sahara TV.

 comedy Shubh Mangal Sawdhan is a tri-weekly beginning 15 July. Produced under the banner Playtime Productions, the project is a joint venture of Paresh and his partner Hemal Thakker.

It is directed by Sameer Kulkarni and stars Dilip Joshi, Amit Mistry, Suchita Pavate and Ritu Deepak among others.

While more information on the serial is awaited, one hopes that this is just the beginning of a long innings as TV producer for Paresh, whose finesse as actor is acknowledged universally.

For more information stay tuned.