CAS thriving in the region

IMS even identified China Digital TV (formerly known as Beijing Novel-Tongfang Digital TV Technology) as a leading CAS supplier in the Chinese market, which IMS predicts would increase Chinese company's worldwide market position from eighth at the end of last year to fourth or fifth by the end of 2010.

IMS says "the growth of Chinese digital cable has rapidly become the single-largest force in DTV. As a result, CAS providers have been successful in China and are forecast to continue to gain share against all of the major western CAS providers".

One "western" CAS provider that has a presence in China and a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific is Irdeto, which has dual headquarters in Amsterdam and Beijing. Recently, Irdeto reports that its DVB CAS will be part of Hebei Broadcasting and TV Information Network (Group) and Xinjiang Broadcast & TV Transmission Network's digital migration process.



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Read all 'Ascent Ti' posts in Crave

The Colorado-based satellite TV provider filed suit in Delaware Friday, asking the court to declare that Dish's current DVR software does not violate TiVo's '389 patent.

Dish says in the filing that it updated its software nearly two years ago in response to TiVo's patent violation suit. It wants TiVo to stop making public statements that allege that the current software on Dish's DVRs are still in violation because it's "causing uncertainty in the marketplace for DVRs," according to the court filing.

A TiVo spokesperson said the company had not yet seen the filing, and therefore could not comment.

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Digital leaves few options for replacing portable sets

"That's the way it usually goes, although with it being an LCD screen and digital tuner, (the price) may not drop too much," he said.

The loss of all those analog portable TVs removes an important way to communicate with the public during an emergency, said Keith Harrison, assistant administrator of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management.

"When we get information out to people, we like to get it out by every means possible," said Harrison, who also is president of the California Emergency Services Association. "A lot more people watch TV than listen to AM radio."

But the digital TV transition isn't a major public safety issue because broadcast radio is still available to deliver important messages, he said.

"In preparedness kits, we tell people to have a battery-powered radio," Harrison said.


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No 'D-Day' for Cable Firms

3If you have cable television from a company that will go 100 percent digital: You will need a converter box or a digital TV. 3 If you have cable television from a company that will not go 100 percent digital: You need not make any changes. News You can use

The transition from analog to digital television is seven months away for those who receive free over-the-air programming.

However, for many cable companies, that transition will take longer.

That's because there are two digital transitions: the broadcast transition and the cable transition.

At midnight on Feb. 17, 2009, by federal law, every analog television that uses "rabbit ears" or an antenna to receive free over-the-air programming will go static. This is the digital broadcast transition.



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All-in-one PCs strengthens home theater application niche, adds

The model features a touchscreen high-definition (HD) LCD. Sony's VAIO all-in-one series and Dell's XPS One also have built-in entertainment features.

These home theater PCs support streaming and downloading of movies and TV shows via Windows Media Center. In May 2008, CinemaNow, an online movie service provider, teamed up with Microsoft for rentals and sales of about 3,400 programs. It offers two options: direct PC-to-TV connection for direct viewing, and the burn-to-DVD function, which supports multimedia access across devices such as PC, TV and DVD player.

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KVH Reports Results for Second Quarter of 2008

KVH Industries, Inc., is a leading manufacturer of systems to provide mobile access to satellite TV, communication, and high-speed Internet, as well as navigation, pointing, and guidance solutions for defense and commercial applications. The company's products are based on its proprietary mobile satellite antenna and fiber optic technologies. An ISO 9001-certified company, KVH is based in Middletown, Rhode Island. For more information, visit http://www.kvh.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For example, forward-looking statements include statements regarding our financial goals for future periods, anticipated revenue growth, anticipated profitability, anticipated orders for our mobile communication and military products, and anticipated improvements in our competitive position.



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University of Kansas researchers give thumbs up to TV band white

We were testing against real TV signals that you expect a normal user to see, the release quotes Evans as saying. We could generate digital TV signals, then crank in an amount of power from the prototype of what a white space transmitter would look like and we crank more power until the digital TV signal would fall over.

According to university researchers, the operation of unlicensed devices in the TV band could be accomplished with no significant impact upon DTV receivers in the area.

Last year, Evans presented evidence to the FCC citing the center work to show that white space devices do not create interference for TV viewers when operated under appropriate rules.

For more information, visit http://www.news.ku.edu/2008/july/2/whitespace.shtml.



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