sign in sign up
<<
Home , Boxee Box, Sling Media, Smart TV

CES COVERAGE Smart TV, Smart Homes Take Top Billing at CES At the annual extravaganza known as the International CES, vendors introduced many new bandwidth-gobbling devices and services. These will present opportunities for providers that can offer robust .

A BBC Staff Report

he biggest, baddest trade show of them all – the Inter- national Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas Teach January – was bigger and badder than ever this year. The 2012 International CES drew a record 153,000 attendees, including 34,000 from overseas. More than 3,100 exhibitors, occupying 1.9 million square feet of exhibit space, introduced APRIL 24 – 26 • INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL – DALLAS an astonishing 20,000 new products. As usual, the show offered a foretaste of what will drive New consumer electronics devices consumer bandwidth demand: more indispensable gadgets, are affecting bandwidth demand in more video content, more high-resolution formats, more (and MDU housing. Find out more at the easier) connectivity and more services moving to the cloud. For broadband service providers, two noteworthy trends Broadband Communities Summit. were over-the-top video – especially delivered to TV sets – and home monitoring and control. Over-the-top video has been proprietary hardware. Digital photo frames, though they can gathering steam (and making broadband providers anxious) still be purchased in any Walmart or Best Buy store, failed to for several years, but the home monitoring market is just be- generate excitement at this year’s CES; this category may soon ginning to take off. be superseded by tablet . TV has been slow to catch on despite Google’s ef- fort to assemble an ecosystem of device makers, service provid- More gadgets, more video content, ers and application developers. Users don’t find the interface particularly inviting; more important, Google failed to line up more high-resolution formats, more enough content. At present, the software is available on only a few models. However, as analyst Colin Dixon of The connectivity, more cloud services. Diffusion Group points out, because Google is “the only com- pany at the table with an ostensibly open platform,” Google TV could eventually become as prevalent in the TV world as First, a Grain of Salt Android is in the mobile world. (Dixon doesn’t expect that to Not all the consumer electronics products and services intro- happen any time soon.) duced with great fanfare in earlier years have met expecta- In any case, Google TV should probably be seen as part of tions. That’s no surprise, given the continued weak economy a long-term strategy that includes the makeover of YouTube and other challenges. Cisco discontinued the Flip camcorder from a destination for cat videos to a home for mainstream but last year – who needs a Flip when filming videos on a smart- independently produced long-form content – in other words, phone and uploading them to Facebook is so easy? (However, the TV of tomorrow. Other aspects of the strategy involve introduced three Flip-like devices at this year’s CES, building a gigabit network in the two Kansas Cities to test the so Cisco may not have had the final word on this subject.) TV of tomorrow and, perhaps, offering a pay-TV service over Cisco also discontinued the Umi personal telepresence system, the KC networks. which most observers thought vastly overpriced. Sezmi, which 3DTV has also been slow out of the gate. A Parks Asso- offered an over-the-top video service, exited the business and ciates survey of broadband households conducted just before sold its patents – again, a case of consumers’ rejecting expensive the 2011 holiday shopping season found 3DTV ownership and

44 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | January/February 2012 CES COVERAGE interest in the mid-single digits. Broad- Kurt Scherf, vice president and prin- casts in 3D continue; ESPN, despite cipal analyst at Parks Associates, calls the rumors that it would drop 3D, actually Streaming Stick “a game changer broadcast a boxing match in 3D from for the smart TV market,” adding, “It CES. However, the scarcity of content takes the leading streaming platform and viewers’ disappointment with the and integrates into the TV in a way that experience have kept 3D from becom- no one has been able to do before.” ing a force to reckon with – so far. themselves are becoming The size of a USB flash drive, the Roku Stream- more versatile. For example, ’s Connected Video ing Stick plugs into a TV and delivers stream- smart TVs feature built-in HD cameras Despite some failures, online video re- ing online video. and microphones, which enable voice mains the dominant theme of consumer and gestural controls as well as Skyping. electronics. Analyst firm NPD In-Stat the emerging over-the-top approaches.” The TVs offer more than 1,400 apps, and expects the number of connected devices NPD In-Stat forecasts that more than installed to grow from 257 million units the number of third-party developers has 23 million hybrid STBs will ship in grown to 25,000. New family-oriented in 2011 to 1.34 billion units in 2016. North America in 2012. Mobile devices such as services include photo sharing, syncing Roku, the manufacturer of a popu- of fitness goals and activities, and inte- and tablets – which are multipurpose lar dedicated video player, introduced a but are particularly well suited to video – gration of educational programming new device that promises to make its old with educational progress monitoring. have been wildly successful, and CES device obsolete: the Streaming Stick, a featured plenty of them this year. A new Like Roku, Samsung appears to have Wi-Fi-enabled device about the size of a category called the ultra- cracked a tough problem that limits USB flash drive that plugs directly into book made its debut. , based adoption of smart TVs – their tendency a TV to deliver streaming video. The on Intel Sandy Bridge processors, are to become quickly outdated in a fast- stick, which can be controlled by a TV lightweight, powerful that share changing world. Samsung’s new Evolu- remote, will not require cables or a sepa- many of tablet computers’ advantages. tion Kit lets owners upgrade their TVs’ Some even have touchscreens. rate power source. Like Roku players, it “smarts” on a regular basis without hav- Other successful categories include will deliver more than 400 channels and ing to invest in new televisions. connected Blu-ray Disc players, hybrid will receive free software updates and set-top boxes, set-top boxes dedicated to channel enhancements. Sharing Content OTT video and connected (aka smart) Of course, the stick can be attached Across Devices TVs. Smart TVs, which were shown only to televisions that have the neces- Another boost to online video may come by every major manufacturer at CES, sary receptacle, but Roku designed the from the UltraViolet standard. In an ef- have proven popular with consum- device using MHL, a new standard that fort to discourage users from illegally ers. The same Parks Associates survey makes use of HDMI connectors on TVs burning DVDs, the industry has strug- that showed little demand for 3DTVs and that has been adopted by nearly 100 gled to provide a legal, authenticated showed much higher ownership of, and vendors. Best Buy’s house brand, Insig- method for consumers to store pur- interest in, connected TVs. According nia, plans to bring out stick­-compatible chased video content in online “lockers” to numerous surveys, the great majority TVs later this year. and view it from multiple devices. of people who buy connected TVs use them to online video in addition to standard video services. For those who aren’t ready to replace their television sets, hybrid set-top boxes remain a less expensive solution. “The next logical iteration is for the set-top box to enhance and expand traditional TV-related services by permitting to content from the or from Internet-like Web services that provide a ‘walled garden’ of authorized content,” says Gerry Kaufhold, research director of NPD In-Stat. “By combining tradi- tional TV services with ‘enhancements’ that come in via broadband, content owners and service providers think they can successfully compete with all Samsung’s for its smart-TV products features a variety of popular services and content.

January/February 2012 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 45 CES COVERAGE

CES Insights From Parks Associates Video Services, Pay TV, and OTT Broadband households in North America and Consumer viewership of online video dramatically Europe own an average of 5.4 and 4.8 connectable increased in the past few years, and this trend will devices respectively. continue in 2012. • By 2016, ownership of these devices will almost dou- • Nearly 70 percent of U.S. broadband households ble to 9.8 in North America and 9 in Europe. viewed online video on their PCs at least monthly in • Increasing adoption of connected platforms capable 2011, compared with 38 percent in 2006. of accessing this content online will fuel growth in • recently announced that its members around digital media distribution in 2012. These devices in- the world viewed more than 2 billion hours of con- clude desktop computers, smart TVs, Blu-ray Disc tent in Q4 2011 alone. players, game consoles, laptops, , tablets • Consumers acquired an increasing number of plat- and smartphones. forms they can use to watch . Through- • Each device category is at a different stage of matu- out 2012, households will consume more and rity, and penetration will follow a different growth more video on mobile devices such as tablets and rate. Overall, connected devices will more than dou- smartphones. ble their presence among broadband households.

In the past 12 months, 12.7 percent of U.S. pay-TV Mobile CE and Services subscribers downgraded their pay-TV services. Global shipments exceeded 460 • This trend will impact ARPU and overall revenues and million units in 2011 and will reach 1.3 billion units resonate throughout the content ecosystem in 2012. in 2016. • Operators will continue to explore new and creative Smartphones drive mobile data adoption, putting more ways to monetize their investments in VOD and pressure on mobile operators’ network capacity man- multiscreen delivery systems. agement and data plan pricing models. Smartphone Providers rapidly expanded their multiscreen user growth translates into skyrocketing mobile data services in 2011 as a deterrent to subscriber and usage, which will test network capacity as well as pric- revenue loss due to online video and OTT services. ing power of the operators. Operators have several solu- • By mid-2011, 80 percent of U.S. pay-TV subscribers tions to manage this data traffic, including the following: could receive on-demand content on non-TV screens 1. Intelligent network policy protocols to prioritize in their homes through services provided by their network traffic by type through solutions from pay-TV providers. companies such as Tekelec • Growth in multiscreen services will continue in 2012 2. Traffic optimization tools for data-intensive appli- despite implementation costs and unproven busi- cations such as video, using solutions from com- ness models. panies such as Bytemobile • By the end of 2012, the impact of multiscreen offer- 3. Offloading solutions such as Wi-Fi and small cell ings on subscriber churn and business models will be technologies from companies such as Kineto clearer to operators. Wireless and IP Access 4. Expanding capacity by acquiring spectrum and Platforms and Networks Worldwide sales of “fixed” connected consumer moving traffic to efficient networks such as LTE. electronics such as smart TVs, connected Blu-ray Only 58 percent of U.S. mobile data users are very players, game consoles, and digital video media satisfied with their monthly data quotas, and only 41 players will grow from 156 million in 2011 to more percent are satisfied with the prices of their current data than 320 million in 2016. plans. How mobile operators address consumer data • Regardless of whether Apple enters the smart TV mar- needs and dissatisfaction with costs will be critical issues ket with its “iTV” product, gesture recognition and in 2012. voice control will be defining features of the smart TV experience. Robust tablet sales point to a dramatic shift in • Trends to watch in the smart TV space include in- content consumption behaviors in the next few teractive features between the TV and portable de- years. vices, automatic content recognition solutions, ap- • Worldwide, 56 million media tablets (excluding e- plications development and the impact to all video book readers) were sold in 2011, and sales will top delivery channels – pay TV, download, streaming and 280 million units in 2016, making tablets a major broadcast. computing and Internet media platform.

46 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | January/February 2012 CES COVERAGE

• Tablets will overtake PCs as the top Internet traffic management systems can mine customers’ smart- driver by platform in 2016, when U.S. household pen- meter data and provide meaningful comparisons, etration will exceed 67 percent. individualized recommendations and real-time feed- back about usage anomalies. Advertising and Second-Screen Activities • Broadband and security providers are starting to of- Second-screen content and ad integration will take fer energy management and home controls. Offer- off in 2012. ings from early entrants ADT and Verizon will be fol- • Almost 20 percent of U.S. smartphone and tablet lowed by offerings from Time Warner Cable, owners currently search for TV program information and AT&T. on these devices while they watch TV, despite the • Among U.S. broadband households, energy moni- limited availability of synced applications. Creating toring has the highest appeal among possible value- and enhancing second-screen synergies offer new added services, followed by energy management revenue streams and ad inventory opportunities. services. However, the revenue potential from these Consumers are becoming more comfortable with services may be limited, as no single payment plan personalized TV and Internet advertising. gets the majority of support. As a result, there are • More than one-third of TV and Internet users are several different paths to market – for example, bun- comfortable with personalized TV and Internet ad dling energy management with and targeting techniques (38 percent and 34 percent monitoring, offering an energy monitoring service respectively). for a nominal fee and packaging energy manage- • Generally speaking, consumers are more comfort- ment with security and remote control. able being targeted by advertisers (involuntarily) • Big-box retailers are also entering the market. Lowe’s than with providing personal information to receive is offering energy management products with the ads for products or services of interest. launch of its Iris platform.

Connected-Home Systems and Services Enhanced capabilities offered by IP-based security Energy management is moving into mainstream will expand the percentage of U.S. households with markets. professionally monitored services to 30 percent by • Smart-meter deployments will reach 56 million by 2020. 2015, at which time 45 percent of U.S. households • Of the 30 percent of U.S. households with security in will have smart meters. Smart meters and the data 2020, more than half will have IP-based services. they generate will enable utilities to add services to • Broadband ISPs will capture 80 percent of the IP- improve their relationships with consumers. Energy based security market.

The new UltraViolet standard, which can use a mobile device to find content loading CDs,” he says. “Upstream band- dozens of technology companies sup- and then “throw” that content to a TV to width could be a big barrier.” port, promises to do just that. Though watch it. Initially, M-GO will be avail- TV Everywhere also remained an usability problems have prevented the able on ultrabooks; on Samsung Smart important theme. For example, Cisco standard from gaining traction, Ama- TVs, Blu-ray Disc players and Galaxy added TV Everywhere capabilities to zon announced that it will begin sell- tablets; and on VIZIO televisions, tab- its Videoscape hybrid TV platform. ing movies in UltraViolet format from lets, Blu-ray Disc players and stream Videoscape, which has been deployed a major studio. Neustar, a company players in the VIZIO Internet Apps Plus by such providers as Canada’s Rogers that provides basic telecommunications ecosystem. TDG’s Dixon comments, Communications, YES of Israel and infrastructure services such as phone “If you purchase an UltraViolet movie Numéricable of France, will now offer a number portability, will manage the on- through the store, you should consistent look and feel across devices. line locker. be able to play it through M-GO.… Service providers can use Videoscape to UltraViolet­-compatible offerings at That will be a good test, when M-GO deliver live and on-demand video to as CES included Technicolor M-GO, a is released, to see if the UltraViolet stan- many as six devices in a home, including cross-platform, cloud-based search and dard is truly a standard.” personal computers and mobile devices. discovery engine that offers seamless Dixon also notes that consumers who access to content across all connected use UltraViolet will have to upload their Home Monitoring devices. M-GO can also be used with own movies to the online locker. “The and Control smartphones or tablets as a “second- drawback is that to upload few hundred Home monitoring and control is shap- screen experience” – that is, a consumer DVDs will take much longer than up- ing up as the next revenue opportunity

January/February 2012 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 47 CES COVERAGE

an energy control kit, features a ther- mostat control, appliance controls and a circuit box sensor to measure electricity usage throughout the house. Add-on devices include remote door locks, pan- tilt-zoom outdoor cameras and window and door sensors that turn lights on when a door or window is opened. The monthly charge is the same no matter which package a customer chooses or how many devices are added. Verizon says nearly 60 percent of users access the service via mobile devices. Another service provider that offers services is Deutsche Telekom, which will implement Smart Connect platforms from Sumitomo Electric Networks beginning in mid- 2012. Subscribers will be able to use a remote , smartphone or tablet to lock or unlock doors, control lights Pella’s SmartSync technology, integrated with Lowe’s Iris system, allows shades and blinds to be con- and appliances, and manage heating trolled through Web-enabled computers and smartphones. (Courtesy of Pella Windows and Doors) and air-conditioning equipment. for broadband service providers. Even though home-automation systems typi- Vendor Spotlight cally operate over ZigBee or Z-Wave ADT...... www.adt.com networks inside homes, residents need AlertMe ...... www.alertme.com reliable broadband connections to use Amazon...... www.amazon.com the systems remotely (for example, to let Broadcom...... www.broadcom.com a repair person into a home or turn on Cisco Systems...... www.cisco.com the home air conditioner before leaving D-Link...... www.dlink.com the office). For systems that include net- Evolve Guest Controls...... www.eguestcontrols.com worked video cameras, upstream band- ...... www.haier.com IBM...... www.ibm.com width is critically important. Ingersoll Rand...... www.ingersollrand.com Dedicated do-it-yourselfers buy and Insignia...... www.insigniaproducts.com install these systems themselves, but InstallerNet...... www.installernet.com many consumers prefer buying them Intel...... www.intel.com from telecom providers that can set up LG...... www.lg.com/us the systems and bundle the service into a Lowe’s...... www.lowes.com regular monthly bill. Verizon, which last Lutron...... www.lutron.com year launched a home monitoring service Mindspeed...... www.mindspeed.com Motorola Mobility/4Home ...... www.motorola.com based on the Motorola Mobility/4Home Myriad...... www.myriadgroup.com platform, recently selected InstallerNet Poly-Control...... www.poly-control.com as its professional installer of choice. Rockethome...... www.rockethome.de Customers can either install the equip- Roku ...... www.roku.com ment on their own or use InstallerNet, a Samsung...... www.samsung.com nationwide referral network, to schedule ...... www.slingmedia.com a professional installation with a local Somfy Systems ...... www.somfysystems.com installer at a discounted rate. Sumitomo Electric Networks...... www.sei-networks.com Technicolor...... www.technicolor.com Verizon offers two packages. The Tri Cascade...... www.tricascade.com more popular package, a home moni- VIZIO...... www.vizio.com toring kit, lets customers turn lights on Whirlpool...... www.whirlpool.com and off remotely and peer through net- ZyXEL...... us.zyxel.com worked cameras. The second package,

48 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | January/February 2012 CES COVERAGE

Service providers won’t have the Stuart Sikes, president of Parks Associ- nar Homes. It lets consumers remotely smart-home market all to themselves. ates. “While there have been various manage door locks, heating and cooling, Lowe’s, the world’s second-largest home simple applications such as remote man- video , lights, shades and en- improvement retailer, entered the mar- agement of HVAC systems that have ergy usage via Web-enabled computers ket with a cloud-based home manage- delivered significant savings, until now and most smartphones and tablet com- ment system, Iris, which will be avail- there have been few comprehensive of- puters. Users can also receive text alerts able in mid-2012. AlertMe, a British ferings aimed at the mass market. Lowe’s notifying them of when people arrive at company, provides the software and hub new Iris product and service platform and depart from their homes. device for Iris. has the attributes needed to break down Ingersoll-Rand showed several new Iris, which Lowe’s says “will offer these barriers and reach the consumer features at CES, including the ability to simple, scalable solutions at price points with a scalable solution at an affordable record live home video, trigger recording attractive to the mass market,” will al- price, and it should position the com- based on specified parameters, and ac- low customers to control thermostats, pany as a formidable leader in this space.” tivate window and door sensors during locks, lighting and appliances from any Ingersoll Rand, whose Trane and nighttime hours only. Later this year, mobile device. Customers will also be Schlage devices are used both in Verizon’s the company plans to add whole-home able to monitor and protect their homes offering and in Lowe’s, also showcased its energy monitoring at the circuit level with video cameras and door, motion own system, Nexia Home Intelligence, at and an astronomical clock that enables and fire sensors. CES. Nexia, which won design and en- homeowners to adjust lighting and “This is an exciting development in gineering awards at the show, is included shades based on sunrise and sunset the connected home space,” comments in many of the new houses built by Len- times.

CES Insights From Ericsson ConsumerLab Ericsson researchers identified the hottest consumer the relevance of news by providing necessary social trends for 2012 and beyond, based on annual interviews commentary. with 100,000 individuals in more than 40 countries and 4. Mobile phones play a significant role in everyday more than 10 megacities. They found life. Consumers show most interest in mobile ser- • Connectivity has become as essential as roads and vices that are directly related to nearby places or lo- electricity. cal services. Although 90 percent of all smartphone • Social media are redefining news reporting. owners always carry their phones with them, only 80 • Anyone can now be a service provider. percent of them mention carrying money. Michael Björn, head of research at ConsumerLab, 5. Transparency is more important than privacy. says, “Consumers have taken to smartphone apps like People are getting used to living transparent lives, fish to water. Touch and direct access via icons hide the and they expect companies and other organizations complexity of Internet services, and people are now to act transparently as well. willing to explore many new areas of everyday life – 6. The cloud makes things easy to use. Sharing infor- anything from recipes to receipts – that benefit from mation and having several devices connected at all connectivity. We just concluded a study in emerging times is becoming the norm for consumers, resulting markets and found that even first-time mobile-phone in the introduction of more cloud-based services. users very quickly become Internet users. Connectivity The main driver is ease of use. is becoming an increasing part of their daily activities.” 7. Everything connects. Mobile data surpassed voice in Some of the findings include the following: the fourth quarter of 2009 and doubled voice in the 1. Connectivity is king. Connectivity has become as first quarter of 2011. Consumers are increasingly con- essential as air. Once they are connected, consumers necting to the Internet and to things around them, say the Internet is one of the last things they would such as cars, vending machines and ticket gates. give up if they had to reduce their expenses. 8. In uncertain times, consumers strive for control. 2. Everyone can be a service provider. There is a huge demand for new services. The Internet makes it pos- In times of economic instability or when disasters sible for both companies and consumers to invent such as earthquakes occur, we see renewed interest new solutions, such as apps. among consumers in services related to utilities such 3. Social media redefine news reporting. Social me- as water and electricity. Likewise, a change in dispos- dia drive consumption of pictures, video clips and able income is driving demand for consumers to be music, and now they also help consumers judge in control of service consumption.

January/February 2012 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 49 CES COVERAGE

CES Insights From ZyXEL: Implications for Service Providers Following are excerpts from a Broadband Communities Inside a home, technologies for connectivity include interview with David Thompson, director of product man- high-power wireless for TV use, power line network- agement at ZyXEL Communications, which manufactures ing and HPNA. Wired networks that use HomePlug and broadband customer-premises equipment. HPNA can support higher-bandwidth applications such as OTT video and IPTV without running any new wires. What do new consumer devices mean for service Existing power lines and coax lines can be used for home providers? networks. Over-the-top video is growing by leaps and bounds. The The HomePlug Powerline Alliance just announced Box, Roku 2 and Google TV all lead to an increased the availability of the HomePlug AV2 specification, need for getting higher speeds into the home. Some which will allow 500 Mbps home networking equipment providers are putting in usage caps, but quite a few and support higher transfer rates within the home. Our more are trying to meet the growing customer needs for new Homeplug adapter looks like a power adapter – you increased speeds and content. Many telcos are pushing plug it into a wall and plug the cable into the DSL to its highest limits – 45 Mbps to 50 Mbps for ADSL box. That lets you get Internet into a room where you with pair bonding or even higher speeds for VDSL, both otherwise wouldn’t have coverage. constrained by the length [of copper loops]. We’ve seen more trials of bonded DSL in the last six months than Didn’t power line networking have problems in the we’ve seen in a while. Most homes already have at least past? two pairs running to the house. Newer versions of power line networking are much We’re also involved in vectoring trials now. Vector- more reliable and easier to use. If the three little lights ing [elimination of DSL cross talk] has to be supported are all green, you’re OK; if they’re yellow or red, you’re on both sides, so it may require new customer-premises not. We did a large-scale trial with a North American pro- equipment, but virtually all the equipment we’ve an- vider, and it worked in 96 percent of the homes. Earlier nounced in the last year can be upgraded to support versions were reliable up to 30 Mbps of bandwidth, and vectoring. Vectoring does amazing things for DSL’s reli- now with the new adapters it’s even better than that. ability and overall speed. It’s a very useful technology for telcos to roll out, especially if they don’t have to upgrade Why don’t telcos use wireless connections? their customer-premises equipment. Consumers are starting to overload their wireless con- [Another option for telcos is to bring fiber all the way nections. With all the devices now connected – iPhones, to the home.] Most fiber ONTs have no - tablets, TVs, laptops, game consoles, Blu-ray Disc players – ing or even Wi-Fi built in; a provider either gives a cus- everything begins to slow down. There can easily be 10 tomer an Ethernet connection into the home or puts a or 12 Wi-Fi-enabled devices in a home, all on 2.4 GHz, so second gateway inside the house. With our universal wireless congestion is becoming a bigger problem. gateway device, when a customer migrates from copper Also, no standard Wi-Fi router handles video well, to fiber, the provider puts an ONT on the side of house and no service providers are trying to deliver IPTV over and connects it to the Gigabit Ethernet port in the gate- wireless without dedicated boxes. We make a wireless way inside. The customer doesn’t see any change, just streaming adapter (the WAP5605) that’s optimized for higher speeds. video and uses a different frequency, 5.8 GHz, to avoid congestion. Telcos are using it as an upsell or when they What’s the advantage of using a residential gateway don’t want to run new cabling through a home – if there with fiber to the home? Gateways can support services such as device manage- are no existing cables where the customer wants to put ment through the TR-069 protocol. There’s nothing keep- the TV and they don’t want to run Ethernet connections. ing telcos from continuing to manage [customer devices] We’re looking at getting to the point where streaming through TR-069 when they switch to fiber. Full manage- video wirelessly is less expensive [than using a wired ability, quality of service, help with Wi-Fi settings and so network], but we’re not quite there yet, except in a few forth – everything is still available. cases where there’s a particularly difficult cable run. We also have a 60 GHz short-range product. It carries Does broadband video increase bandwidth require- video signals via HDMI from a transmitter to a receiver. It ments inside the home? lets consumers get rid of the cables hanging down from Yes. If you’re watching online video on your computer or their wall-mounted TVs, so it’s a good upsell product for smart TV and the speed of the network within the home IPTV providers. Telcos didn’t even realize they had this isn’t fast enough, you’ll have buffering. problem till we showed them the solution! Customers

50 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | January/February 2012 CES COVERAGE

are willing to spend money to keep their living rooms and talks back to the cloud. We put one or more USB looking nice. Each transmitter handles four devices, so ports on the gateway and get an adapter to Z-Wave or you can attach a set-top box, a game console and more. ZigBee. The service provider enables applications on the It keeps the cables nice and short. gateway that use the adapter to talk to Z-Wave or ZigBee devices in a home. Any new opportunities for service providers? There is a market for people who want to know how The biggest one is home automation and monitoring, much power any given device is using. If they find out a together with energy-monitoring applications such as TV is using a lot of power, they can plug it into a power controlling a thermostat with an iPhone or seeing how strip and turn it off. Then there are applications such as much power you’re using. ZyXEL is making an OSGI- turning appliances on and off remotely – those are real enabled gateway that connects to in-home appliances applications that consumers want now.

Additional home monitoring and mail alerts when intrusions or distur- viding visibility up to 15 feet. Pan- control news from CES included the bances occur and can trigger record- tilt-zoom functionality allows a user following: ing from integrated external devices, to pan a camera up to 340 degrees • IBM ecosystem: Though it did not including doorbells, alarms, lighting and tilt it up to 100 degrees. • Haier “cloud-living” TV: White- make any product announcements and motion sensors. Another new camera, the Enhanced Wireless N goods manufacturer Haier is placing and had no booth, IBM showcased Day/Night Home Network Camera, televisions at the center of connected a smart-home ecosystem it is devel- comes equipped with enhanced mo- homes. Its “cloud living” TV is the oping along with several partners, tion detection and night vision to see hub of a smart home, relaying infor- including Lutron and EnBW. The up to 15 feet in pitch black. The cam- mation to cellphones and comput- system features a cloud remote plat- era also has a built-in microphone. ers and serving as a remote control form, a residential gateway and wire- • ZyXEL Web cameras: ZyXEL for washing machines and other less home control sensors. Communications launched the appliances. (If that’s not impressive • Rockethome platform: Rocket- CloudEnabled series of Web cam- enough, Haier also showcased mind- home demonstrated its platform for eras, featuring cloud-based tech- wave technology that allows users intelligent metering and home man- nology that eliminates traditional to change TV channels and volume agement, powered by Mindspeed installation processes. Video feeds levels with their thoughts. Unfortu- processors, which lets consumers op- are accessible via Internet-connected nately, Broadband Communities re- timize their home environments for personal computers, iPhones or An- porters missed that demonstration.) comfort and efficiency. Users link droid devices. The cameras incorpo- • Samsung connected washing home appliances and multimedia rate 802.11n wireless technology to machine: Samsung took laundry- equipment inside the home and over enable uninterrupted surveillance, room technology to a new level with the Internet, then control them and and an array of Infrared LEDs auto- its connected washing machine, the automate functions while measuring matically illuminate dark areas, pro- Wi-Fi-enabled WF457 washer. Via usage and efficiency. A home security management suite is also included. • Tri Cascade thermostat: Tri Cas- cade announced an energy gateway thermostat with a management ap- plication that will allow homeown- ers to reduce energy consumption by up to 35 percent. Two-way com- munications with utility companies help the utilities balance demand and supply by shedding load during times of critical peak demand. • D-Link Cloud Camera: This cam- era has remote pan/tilt capabilities and automatic day/night viewing of live HD video feeds from any desktop or with an iPhone, iPad or The Digital Health Summit at CES focused on a fast-growing market where health, wellness and Android device. The camera sends e- technology converge.

January/February 2012 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 51 CES COVERAGE

CES Insights From Broadcom: Connecting Everything “Connecting everything” is an apt tagline for Broadcom, vices as well. Palm sees set-top boxes as key to this ef- whose system-on-chip solutions and embedded soft- fort. Though some device manufacturers focus on Blu- ware products deliver voice, video, data and multimedia ray Disc players as connectivity hubs, Palm asks, “Do you connectivity in home, office and mobile environments. even need that disc player anymore? People are getting Because its solutions power so many devices, the com- their video from the network, so we’re focusing on con- pany is well-positioned to discern trends throughout the nectivity and features for the set-top box – that’s where entire consumer electronics industry. the sweet spot is.” At CES, Broadcom introduced six new set-top box In fact, even a smart TV might need help from a smart and hybrid gateway platforms based on the MoCA 2.0 set-top box by the time it’s a year or two old. Palm ex- standard. This new version of MoCA (short for Multime- plains, “When people buy a TV, they don’t want to replace dia over Coax Alliance) – a home networking protocol it soon, but they do want new features and functions. for sending broadband data over – more So we see a need for an over-the-top set-top box – than doubles its predecessor’s performance and en- a small-form-factor device with a lot of functionality. hances broadband video quality. It enables more en- People don’t feel so bad about replacing that.” ergy efficiency, supports higher levels of security and He adds, “In order to get a TV cost-competitive, it has the support of operators that include Comcast, Cox can’t have much memory, CPU, or 3D graphics. That all Communications, DIRECTV, , Time Warner costs money. If you were to build a TV that could run Cable and Verizon. the kinds of applications that will be available five years Steve Palm, Broadcom’s senior technical director, from now, you couldn’t sell the TV.” says the need for MoCA – and for faster home networks generally – is driven by TV Everywhere. “It has a lot of The Quest for a Universal Device names, but it’s really about getting commercial content Though most of Broadcom’s reference designs are incor- onto all kinds of devices in the home,” he says. “Tablets, porated into set-top boxes made for service providers, mobile phones, smart TV – these are all important pieces it also released designs at CES for OTT devices that con- to getting the infrastructure out there.” The challenge sumers could purchase from electronics stores. for service providers, Palm adds, is finding a backbone The company also makes chipsets for hybrid boxes on which to move data in the home. He believes coax is that offer access to both broadcast TV and over-the-top the obvious choice in most homes. “Cable and satellite content from a single device. These include hardware have been using coax for a long time, and MoCA is still hybrids with TV tuners and software hybrids with built- the technology of choice for wired needs.” in access to pay-TV content. However, there is still no In response to concerns about network power man- universal device that supports access to any service. agement, MoCA 2.0 was designed to put network de- “Today, if you don’t have the right connector on a tab- vices into low-power mode when they are not being let, you can’t get cable service. There’s one box per ser- used and wake them only to perform a task. Palm of- vice,” Palm says. “The end game is that consumers should fers an example: “Suppose you have your main set-top be able to get any content and any service on any device.” box in the living room, not doing anything, but you’re Sling Media, whose devices “sling” live TV program- in the bedroom and you want to schedule a recording ming to other screens inside or outside a home, offers to watch later. The set-top box in the living room has another approach to distributing video. (Sling can be gone to sleep, but the set-top box in the bedroom says, considered the original TV Everywhere.) Broadcom has ‘Hey, wake up and schedule something.’ It gets it all or- now built Sling software into one of its MoCA gateway ganized, and when it’s done, they both go back into low- chipsets. This gives service providers the option of al- power mode.” Device manufacturers, service providers lowing subscribers to watch premium broadcast con- or users can set the parameters for putting devices into tent on any wireless Internet-connected device. sleep or wake modes. Palm explains, “Sling’s software is really good at fig- uring out how to get behind firewalls and also figuring Why Set-Top Boxes are Key out how good the Internet connection is and adjusting Broadcom doesn’t restrict its efforts to MoCA, however. the bit rate accordingly. That built-in transcoding lets It supports many other standards – including DLNA, Wi- us support variable bit rates on the fly in a set-top box, Fi, Wi-Fi Display, NFC, HomePlug and Ethernet – with without having a separate box.” the aim of turning any of the almost 2 billion noncon- Broadcom also announced support for Myriad Alien nected digital TVs in the world into Internet-connected Vue, a new TV platform that allows Android apps to run smart TVs and delivering video content to mobile de- alongside existing television functions. Alien Vue lets

52 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | January/February 2012 CES COVERAGE

service providers add thousands of applications and en- the set-top box], but sometimes service providers have tertainment services to their set-top boxes without com- their own middleware. Alien Vue allows Android games pletely overhauling their operating systems. to work with their operating systems – the best of Palm says, “People are accustomed to putting cool both worlds.” software, games and so forth on their phones and tab- Palm’s summation of 2012 CES: “Good, healthy com- lets, and now they’ll be able to put Android apps on set- petition spurs great innovation. We’re seeing some re- top boxes. Typically Android is the [for ally cool things.”

a smartphone and a wireless router, expiration times of perishables. where in the home, an outdoor wire- a consumer can monitor cycle se- • LG and Whirlpool also showed less IR camera and a Wi-Fi repeater. lections, remaining time and fin- smart appliances. • Poly-Control door lock: This ishing alerts and remotely start or • ADT interactive smart home new Z-Wave controlled lock can pause the washer. Samsung’s Smart solution: ADT Pulse now makes be mounted on almost any existing Care system diagnoses washer is- up almost a quarter of ADT’s new door lock. sues and sends alerts to consumers’ residential sales. This home monitor- • Evolve Guest Controls thermo- smartphones. The WF457, the first ing and control solution helps pro- stats: Evolve debuted thermostats smart grid–ready­ Samsung washer, vide 24/7 monitoring of intrusion, and infrared motion sensors for the was a 2012 CES Innovations Award fire and carbon monoxide along hospitality industry. honoree. with video of events, lighting, cli- • Somfy Systems: Somfy, which • Samsung grocery app: Samsung mate control, appliances and more. manufactures motors for window also introduced a grocery manager New additions include an indoor, coverings, introduced technologies app for refrigerators that will allow low-light wireless camera, a wireless for controlling window coverings consumers to track the locations and touch screen that can be used any- along with lights and thermostats. v

January/February 2012 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 53