CTAM Summit 2009: Pace Debuts Multiroom DVR
Vendor Demonstrates ‘Home Content Sharing' System at CTAM Summit
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 10/26/2009 12:31:29 PM
Denver — Click here for more CTAM Summit 2009 coverage.
Pace has developed a multiroom DVR solution for cable operators that can deliver up to nine HD simultaneous streams within a household, using a centralized-storage device to connect multiple HD set-top boxes, the company announced at the CTAM Summit here Monday.
The Pace Home Content Sharing (HCS) system is built around a single network-attached storage device -- dubbed the DC900x (pictured at left), it's the size of Pace's HD set-top boxes -- which is integrated with Rovi's Connected Platform software and the i-Guide interactive program guide. The i-Guide IPG is developed by the joint venture of Rovi and Comcast.
"It's full-functional, dual-tuner, multiroom DVR in every set-top in the home," Pace Americas vice president of sales and marketing Tim O'Loughlin said. "Everything you can do on the DVR in the living room, you can do anywhere else in the home."
The vendor is showing the Home Content Sharing solution with Rovi at the CTAM Summit this week in Denver, as well as SCTE Cable-Tec Expo Oct. 28-30.
The HCS delivers video using the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) 1.1 standard. O'Loughlin said Pace's existing non-DVR HD set-tops will be capable of supporting HCS with the addition of an external MoCA dongle. Pace expects to ship its first MoCA-enabled HD set-tops at the end of the first quarter 2010.
Currently, the HCS works with i-Guide release A25, although O'Loughlin said it will also work with the more recent A28 version.
Pace's HCS system, in addition to distributing up to nine simultaneous HD streams throughout the home, allows subscribers to concurrently record six HD programs while maintaining full trick-mode capability, according to the company. It also provides advanced DVR features including a folder system, a bulk-delete tool, and the ability to bookmark playback to resume in another room.
Pace, based in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, has more than 950 employees worldwide.
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