CES 2010: DLNA Works With Pay-TV Operators To Deliver Video Across Home Nets

Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, CableLabs Support Alliance's Standards Effort

Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/7/2010 1:38:52 PM

The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) announced that it is working with cable, satellite and telco TV providers -- including Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications -- to develop standards for the playback of premium HD video and music across devices to be certified by DLNA.

Las Vegas —  

The new DLNA standards are being designed to let pay-TV subscribers access movies and network programming more easily available for playback across digital televisions, Blu-ray Disc players, game consoles and set-top boxes around the home.

 

DLNA said the first new guidelines, for playback of high-value, premium commercial content across home networks, will be published later this year.

 

Cable, telco and satellite companies "recognize that the home network as enabled by DLNA is a very suitable, convenient and available landing zone for the content and services they deliver, replete with servers to store the content and TVs on which to display it," said DLNA president and chairman Scott Smyers, who is also a senior vice president at Sony Electronics.

 

The CTOs of the three biggest cable companies voiced their support for the initiative.

 

"With the new DLNA guidelines, Time Warner Cable will be able to offer premium cable content to a wide variety of retail consumer electronics devices in a secured manner and with a quality user experience," Time Warner Cable CTO Mike LaJoie said in a statement. "Our participation in DLNA will provide our customers with a greater number of choices in the devices they can use with our service."

 

Commented Comcast CTO Tony Werner, "We're working to continually innovate our products and services to offer consumers unparalleled choice and control for a differentiated entertainment experience. The new DLNA guidelines and certification will support that goal by giving our customers the ability to enjoy content when and how they want on a range of devices."

 

"At Cox, we are dedicated to helping our customers get more out of their digital lives," added Cox CTO Scott Hatfield. "The new DLNA guidelines have the potential to transform the delivery of premium content. Customers who prefer to access music and video on-the-go could augment their current set-top box with the ability to have services delivered to their media devices."

 

CableLabs also weighed in. "CableLabs supports DLNA's commitment to better, easier sharing of digital content throughout the digital home," CableLabs president and CEO Paul Liao said. "The new guidelines will help to further the reach of cable services; giving consumers the confidence that the DLNA-certified devices they purchase in retail outlets will work with their set-top boxes."

 

The DLNA has more than 200 member companies, including Broadcom, Cisco, Comcast, DirecTV, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Panasonic, Rovi, Sony and Toshiba.