Connected Home News

iPlayer passes 10mn views on Virgin Media in June

July 21, 2008 - UK cable operator Virgin Media has revealed that there were 10.5mn views of the BBC's iPlayer catch-up service via Virgin in June of this year, following its launch on the platform in May.

TiVo adds YouTube service

July 18, 2008 - TiVo has announced the availability of a YouTube service on TiVo Series3 and HD digital video recorders (DVRs).

DVR penetration reaches 25% in US

July 17, 2008 - Penetration of digital video recorders (DVRs) in the US has risen 5% in the past nine months to reach 25%, according to new figures from research firm Nielsen, as pay-TV operators "aggressively" try to drive uptake of the devices.

Microsoft strikes Xbox deal with Netflix, PS3 counters with own video service

July 16, 2008 - Microsoft has struck a deal with online video rental service Netflix that will enable the Xbox 360 games console to stream Netflix movies to users in the US, while Sony has revealed its own plans to enable PS3 owners to download and watch videos via their console.

Upper middle class households are target for Internet-connected TV devices, says study

July 15, 2008 - New research has found that the target US household for Internet-connected TV devices is in the upper middle class with an income of between US$100,000 and US$150,000, ideally with children and located in a metropolitan area on the East or West Coast.

BT to invest £1.5bn in fibre network

July 15, 2008 - UK incumbent telco BT has announced plans to invest £1.5bn in the deployment of fibre-based, super fast broadband to up to 10mn homes in the country by 2012, with top speeds of up to 100 Mbps by 2012 and the potential of over 1,000 Mbps in the future.

New BT Home Hub offers up to twice the range

July 14, 2008 - UK incumbent telco BT has introduced a new Home Hub wireless router, based on the 802.11n draft specification and offering up to twice the range of the previous generation of Home Hubs.

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