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January 2001 Issue

Pulse: Digital Recording Coming to Set-tops
By , Deployment Editor

Digital video recorder (DVR) technology will soon be within reach of cable subscribers, if ongoing deals are any indication.

Motorola’s Broadband Communications Sector, for instance, joined forces with Charter Communications, Vulcan Ventures and ReplayTV in an effort called Project DISCO that aims to create a set-top platform capable of digitally storing video, audio and Internet content.

Motorola plans to integrate the platform into a version of its DCT-5000 set-top box. ReplayTV, which also has partnered with Panasonic, is providing the DVR technology.

In news timed around the Western Show, ReplayTV formally shifted its strategy away from consumer marketing and toward technology licensing, dropping half of its workforce in the process.

Meanwhile, Scientific-Atlanta entered an agreement with Keen Personal Media to develop and license Keen’s DVR storage management subsystem, a component of Keen’s TV4me personal video recorder (PVR) software suite.

The agreement calls for integrating Keen’s DVR component with the PowerTV operating system (OS) that runs in S-A’s advanced set-top boxes. S-A also will support the development of a peripheral device from Keen that will attach to current generation Explorer set-tops.

Keen’s standalone box includes DVR technology, such as storage management and VCR-like functions (such as fast-forward and play). But it also carries a preference engine that makes it a bona fide PVR.

PVR technology, commonly associated with TiVo, enables the creation of personal viewing profiles. Philips, Sony and RCA have incorporated TiVo service into separate product lines, some directed at the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) market.

A new unit of information storage provider Western Digital, Keen acquired key components from another PVR start-up, MetaByte Networks.

"We’re the first announced embedded licensee of MetaByte’s preference engine and storage management engine," Keen’s Vice President of Marketing Greg Kalsow says.

MetaByte’s MbTV technology automatically creates a viewer profile. By contrast, TiVo requires viewers to input their preferences through "Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down" buttons.

MetaByte’s Vice President of Technology Labeeb Ismail says MbTV’s preference engine creates its profile, or "thumbprint," by monitoring 150 parameters, such as the time of day and length of time a program is watched.

Ismail says MbTV uses standard electronic program guide (EPG) data but also has its own EPG library for customers needing one.

While MetaByte’s technology is destined (through Keen) for S-A set-tops, Ismail touts his software’s flexibility.

"We build all these capabilities into a separate module, which can either be integrated into a middleware, such as OpenTV, Liberate, MSTV, Canal Plus, or PowerTV, or function as a standalone," Ismail says.

MetaByte also aspires more than original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vendor status, with planned service offerings including targeted advertising and t-commerce.

As for Keen and its PVR device, Kalsow says an open architecture design and ability to manage digital streams differentiates it from ReplayTV and TiVo. He also highlights Keen’s strategy to market through multiple system operators (MSOs).

Apart from Charter (via Project DISCO), several other MSOs are exploring this technology. In late November, ReplayTV and AT&T Broadband launched a joint marketing trial of ReplayTV’s DVRs in Denver and Boston. AT&T is also anticipating a more integrated DVR solution.

Last summer, Time Warner Cable launched a ReplayTV trial, while Comcast began offering ReplayTV and TiVo as a leased service to select markets.

For now, the industry appears more comfortable with DVRs than with full-fledged PVRs, whose personal viewer profiles raise concerns about privacy. MbTV says it protects privacy by storing personal profiles in residential devices, rather than at a remote server.

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