Technicolor Demonstrates First NAGRA-Certified Android TV™ Set-Top-Box at IBC 2016
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Sept. 9, 2016 – PRLog — New advances in smart set-top-box technology are emerging that enable operators to not only provide their full Pay-TV package, but also extend services – via customer premises equipment (CPE) – to online content demanded by consumers in a convenient and secure manner, says Gaëtan Delcroix, VP of Customer Product Management at Technicolor’s Connected Home Division.
NAGRA, for instance, has recently certified the industry’s first Android TV™ set-top-box (STB) – Technicolor’s MediaPlay SKIPPER. The STB integrates the capabilities and security features of traditional broadcast CPE offered by service providers, with the ability to deliver convenient access to a wide array of over-the-top content and online services, such as next-generation TV apps for Android™.
“We are really bridging two worlds,” Delcroix says. “In the world of the open devices like a smartphone, you can install many apps on the device. In the more traditional world of the set-top box, we have devices designed to deliver broadcaster content that must be delivered in a highly secure manner. NAGRA-certified CPE – leveraging the NAGRA Advanced Security Certification (NASC) program and NAGRA On-Chip Security (NOCS) hardware security – bridges these two worlds, making it possible for service providers to offer consumers broader content choices in a highly secure manner.”
Traditional set-top box technology was architected to provide robust security for valuable, broadcast and film technology, explains Delcroix. The challenge with this approach is that it delays time to market in delivering innovative features that consumers demand. It can take 12-to-18 months for a service provider to add new services to the set-top box market.
“As a result, this segment of the industry was always catching up to what was happening in the computer, tablet, smartphone market,” Delcroix says. “By having the Android TV capabilities in the device, users can install any of their favorite apps and enjoy all their entertainment. This is really a big deal.”
Technicolor will be demonstrating the MediaPlay SKIPPER STB during IBC 2016 at its technology venue – RAI Amsterdam – Europaplein 22, 1078 GZ Amsterdam, Netherlands, Hall 15, Demo Suite: M7 — during the IBC 2016 conference in Amsterdam September 9 – September 14, 2016.