Cisco unveils new video projects

At an exclusive presentation in Munich, US IT company Cisco has announced a range of new video projects and technology partnerships which aim to shape the future of the market.

The announcement follows the company's recent acquisition of the digital and interactive television technology provider NDS.

There could be an ideal outcome ahead for all in the value chain with the advanced advertising technologies currently being deployed and highlighted by Cisco through which the advertising industry can reach their exact desired target group while viewers only see commercials relevant to them. The method which Cisco jointly developed with UK-based pay-TV provider BSkyB will only let advertising which matches the individual household through the TV screen, for example commercials for a family amusement park appear for households with children.

The system is based on the fact that each household can be identified through the pay-TV subscription contract which also gives further indications, for example that children live in the household as the parents subscribe to the kids package or that they are sports or movie fans. Market research data is also used.

Technically, the individualised advertising is made possible through the customers' personal video recorders (PVR): the commercials are played out from their hard disks instead of live cable, satellite or IPTV streams, and the replacement of the ad goes unnoticed by the viewer. The system has been running as a test in the UK and, according to earlier reports from BSkyB, will be fully introduced in the UK in 2014.

With another new solution currently being tested, Cisco is responding to the strongly growing consumption of video content on the Internet, such as live TV streaming, catch-up portals, video-on-demand services and video platforms, for example through connected TV sets or tablets. In this situation, an add-on box is connected to the Internet routers of a sample audience, which then tracks the consumption of video content. This way, TV broadcasters and advertisers would be able to obtain exact data on the reach of their IP-based video offerings compiled by an independent body.

Moving on to the core Cisco video offering, the Connected Video Gateway, which Cisco has developed for digital TV platform operators, forms a central distribution hub for video content within a household. With the product, which is part of the Cisco technology system Videoscape Unity, all IP-capable reception devices such as connected TV sets, tablets and computers are provided with media content through a multimedia box. This functions via HTML5 by the simple distribution of an URL to the Internet browser. The advantage is that the viewer doesn't have to install any software, while the platform operator saves the cost of having to programme apps for all devices. Also, viewers get an identical user interface on all screens. As all reception devices are connected to the gateway, interaction is possible, for example using the iPad as a remote control for the TV set.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/technology-news/item/2443-cisco-unveils-new-video-projects.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/technology-news/item/2443-cisco-unveils-new-video-projects.html