Software (Media Players, Middleware, Browsers, Stacks, …) News

Viacom and ACCESS partner on automotive TV in Germany
Aug 19, 2019 – ACCESS is acquiring from Viacom (VIMN) the right to make linear feeds of MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon available in German-language for integration into in-car infotainment systems being developed by German car manufacturers.
News categories: ACCESS CO., Viacom, Dr Neale Foster, Raffaele Annecchino, Automotive, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Germany, Middleware

TELUS Home Assistant giving Optik TV customers hands-free voice control
Aug 15, 2019 – TELUS has launched TELUS Home Assistant, a Google Assistant-based platform that gives Optik TV customers the freedom to control their entertainment experience hands-free using voice commands, at no extra cost.
News categories: TELUS, Blair Miller, Canada, Digital TV, IPTV, Set Top Box, Smart Home, UX

Consolidated Communications launches CCiTV in Southern Maine
Aug 12, 2019 – Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ: CNSL) has introduced CCiTV, a 200-channel TV service that includes restart/replay TV, voice-activated remote control, HD with 4K compatibility and cloud-based DVR storage to enable viewing of content anytime, anywhere.
News categories: Consolidated Communications, Rob Koester, Cable TV, Digital TV, Set Top Box, USA, UX

HONOR Vision first smart screen device with Huawei's HarmonyOS
Aug 10, 2019 – HONOR has launched its HONOR Vision Series at the 2019 Huawei Developer Conference (HDC). Equipped with three Huawei chipsets, HONOR Vision is the world's first smart screen device to carry Huawei's self-developed HarmonyOS.
News categories: HONOR, Huawei, George Zhao, China, Digital TV, Middleware, Semiconductor, Smart Home, Smart TV

Huawei launches HarmonyOS distributed operating system
Aug 9, 2019 – At the Huawei Developer Conference, Huawei launched HarmonyOS – its microkernel-based, distributed operating system. HarmonyOS will first be used for smart devices like smart watches, smart screens, in-vehicle systems, and smart speakers.
News categories: Huawei, Richard Yu, China, Digital TV, Middleware, Smart Home, Worldwide

Altice USA smart speaker offers hands-free Altice One voice control
Aug 7, 2019 – Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS) has unveiled its Altice Amplify home speaker. The device features Devialet's sound technologies and has Amazon Alexa Built-In. Altice Amplify also offers hands-free voice control of the Altice One entertainment and connectivity platform.
News categories: Altice USA, Devialet, Hakim Boubazine, Franck Lebouchard, Cable TV, Digital TV, Set Top Box, Smart Home, USA, UX

Worldwide Pay TV market far from dead
Aug 6, 2019 – The increasing adoption of video streaming platforms has created significant challenges to traditional pay TV. Yet, despite this, the overall pay TV market is expected to grow to more than 1.1 billion subscribers in 2024, according to ABI Research.
News categories: ABI Research, Khin Sandi Lynn, Android TV, Digital TV, Market Research, Worldwide

Sony captured 30% of VR hardware revenues in 2018
Aug 5, 2019 – Strategy Analytics' data on the VR headset market shows a decline in annual hardware revenues for the first time. The decline is confined to the low value segment however. The forecast shows continued growth in the Console and PC-tethered VR segments.
News categories: Strategy Analytics, David MacQueen, David Kerr, Market Research, Metaverse, Worldwide

ACT Fibernet launches OTT set-top box
Aug 1, 2019 – ACT Fibernet has launched an OTT media streamer called ACT Stream TV 4K. ACT Stream TV 4K runs on the latest Android 9.0 Pie version and enables content streaming from Netflix, Hooq, YuppTV, Zee5, Hungama Play, Sony Liv, and other similar platforms.
News categories: ACT Fibernet, Android TV, Digital TV, India, Set Top Box, Streaming