Vendors enhance video service capabilities

There has been a lot of activity on the video services front recently. Here are three of the most interesting recent announcements:

SkitterTV to use Amino set-top boxes
SkitterTV, the hybrid IPTV/over-the-top video platform used by small telcos (CP: HCTC Skitters into converged video era), announced that it will use “OTT-enhanced” set-top boxes from Amino. SkitterTV chose the Amino products—A140 and A540 with digital video recorder--because of their ability to deliver traditional IPTV services as well as a “new layer” of Internet-delivered content including video-on-demand (VOD), gaming, applications and user generated content.

The Amino set-top boxes use HTML5 and HTTP live streaming (HLS). HLS works by selecting optimum network speeds over open and unmanaged networks to support, making it well suited for delivering VOD and live TV from cloud-based services without additional network investment, Amino said.

SkitterTV already has supported service using internally developed set-top boxes (CP: Skitter rolls out its own hybrid set-top box) as well as set-top boxes from Roku (CP: Roku box opens this month with Skitter).

CHR aims to simplify Mediaroom provisioning
Engineering consulting and software firm CHR Solutions announced the availability of Media—an interface aimed at automating the provisioning process for the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV platform by integrating Mediaroom with service providers’ back office systems including OMNIA and OASIS.

Using Media, customers now will be able to, for example, order a new channel and have it activated without assistance from customer service representatives or technicians, CHR said.

Consolidated Communications simplifies video uploads
Consolidated Communications said it will use the DashVideo local video publishing application from CloverLeaf Digital to enable cities, schools and other community organizations to easily upload videos to Consolidated’s VOD service.

Offering localized content is an important way that service providers in smaller markets have been able to differentiate their offerings (CP: Independents diving into local content). But keeping up with the transcoding and uploading process can be challenging for the service providers.

DashVideo automatically manages the transcoding of the video, delivers it to the specified server and processes the metadata and descriptive content input by the uploading organization, CloverLeaf said.

Consolidated launched DashVideo in all of its IPTV markets in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas.