Tag Archives: CableBox

Here’s the cable industry’s counter offer to fix TV boxes

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Earlier this year the FCC voted on a plan to fix crappy cable boxes. Dubbed "Unlock the Box," the plan would make cable companies open up their services for use on boxes made by other companies. Now, after a few months of complaining and poking holes...

Time Warner Cable tests the ‘evolution’ of streaming TV in NYC

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Confirming plans Engadget exclusively revealed to you, Time Warner Cable is very close to publicly testing a way for its internet-only customers to get TV services. Fundamentally the big change is that until now, to get TV service and access to its...

Comcast invests $150 million in Arris as part of Motorola Home deal

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Comcast now has some extra skin in the cable box and modem business, as the provider has just agreed to invest $150 million in Arris. If the name sounds familiar, it should -- this is the company that recently purchased Motorola Home from Google for $2.35 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast will purchase roughly 7.85 percent of Arris, and in the very same stroke, halve Google's stake in the company, which previously sat at 15.7 percent. After the deal is complete, Google will end up with an additional $150 million in its pocket. As for what we can expect, Bob Stanzione, CEO of Arris, sounded off: "We believe this investment by one of our largest customers is a strong indication of customer support for the Motorola Home acquisition and its potential to accelerate innovation to the benefit of the industry and consumers." So, yeah... both companies will be working together more closely. For some additional insight behind the terms of the deal, you'll find the PR after the break.

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Via: Multichannel

Google sells Motorola Home cable and internet box business to Arris for $2.35 billion

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Ever since Google announced it would acquire Motorola Mobility last year there have been questions about what it would do with the company's large internet and TV set-top box business, and now that question has been answered: it's selling Motorola Home to Arris for $2.35 billion in cash and stock. Another maker of cable boxes and modems, Arris says the acquisition will both increase its product offering, and increase its patent portfolio thanks to a license to "a wide array" of Motorola Mobility patents. The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies, and they expect the deal to close in Q2 2013.

The potential of slipping Android / Google TV into the cable box business through the back door was a tantalizing, but unfortunately probably not a dream shared by the operators that are Motorola's customers. Naturally, Google will be hanging onto the mobile device business and related patent library that spurred the $12.5 billion acquisition in the first place, but will own about 15.7 percent of Arris. We'll be hopping on a conference call to find out any more details in a moment, check out the press release after the break. Now, who holds the rights to that Motorola home automation tablet?

Update: Listening to the call, Arris explains one of its reasons for the move is that until now, two (unnamed) customers comprised half of its business, but afterwards, five customers will make up half of its business. Also important is an included "low" cap that limits Arris' liability in the case of IP damages from lawsuits like the one currently ongoing with TiVo.

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FCC clarifies set-top box IP interface requirement and extends deadline to 2014

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FCC clarifies IP interface requirement and extends deadline to 2013

You may have not noticed, but your cable box at home has a Firewire port on it, designed to serve up content to other devices in your home. This almost useless port -- thanks DRM -- is a result of an FCC mandate that has been enforced for almost ten years. Due to the lack of use, the cable industry asked that the rules be updated to require an IP interface instead. That request was granted in the fall of 2010 and was supposed to go into effect this very month.

Evidently two years wasn't long enough to find an acceptable industry standard stack to deliver video over IP, so TiVo and the cable industry requested an extension. The FCC let it be known last week in a Memorandum Opinion and Order that a single standard wasn't actually required, as long as the IP interface on the cable box used an industry standard -- the Commission did bless the DLNA Premium Video Profile as a suitable example. We'll have to wait and see if any other standards are in the mix, but regardless, TiVo and the rest of the cable industry now have until June of 2014 before every one of their boxes has to be able to deliver HD content to 3rd party devices like TVs, Blu-ray players and tablets via IP. In this particular context, TiVo is being treated as a cable company box supplier, although we're not sure how this will apply to its retail devices. Only time will tell if this mandate will bear fruit, but with any luck, the second time will be a charm.

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Source: FCC