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CableLabs Formally Adopts MHP as Core Spec for OCAP Industry research consortium, CableLabs, has formally adopted the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Group`s Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) open API as the core specification for its set-top box software initiative known as the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP). Like MHP, OCAP will be a software layer that allows applications to run seamlessly on any set-top box. Central to both platforms is, of course, Sun`s Java - a fact which will surely increase interest in companies that develop TV-centric Java applications. One important result of the collaboration between CableLabs and DVB is that it will allow content and application developers to build services that can be deployed worldwide-though the 2 R&D bodies concede that "regional differences" do still exist. U.S. middleware developers such as Sun, Microsoft, Liberate, and OpenTV have, of course, been working with MHP for some time, both in their role as partners of CableLabs` initiative and as they pursue various projects in Europe, where MHP is rapidly gaining acceptance. Finland`s recently deployed digital terrestrial system, for example, has embraced MHP applications from the start. And in late October, Motorola said that it will use OpenTV`s MHP-compatible middleware for its new DVi4000 set-top boxes targeted at the European market. MHP does, however, have its critics: at a recent event in Germany, a representative from Liberty Media, Miranda Curtis, said that Liberty (rapidly becoming a major cable presence in the German market with its purchase of TeleColumbus and 6 other cable networks) does not plan to embrace MHP right away because it is too expensive to embed on boxes and would stall advanced services. Nevertheless, [itvt] believes that adoption of the MHP-based OCAP is a very welcome development for the U.S. market, whose growth has been stalled by the lack of set-top box standards. |
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| aus der Diskussion: | ******* DVB ******* |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | junkstro (15.11.01 08:01:52) |
| Beitrag: | 54 von 54 (ID:4886305) |
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