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Microsoft partners with major players on IPTV Edition-powered SoC STBs
With Zune and Vista hogging all the headlines these days, you may have forgotten that Microsoft is also hard at work pushing its IPTV Edition software platform into living rooms around the world, so the software giant decided to take the Broadband World Forum Europe in Paris as occasion to remind us just how committed it is to TV over the internet. The major announcement to come out of the conference was the immediate availability of system-on-a-chip set-top boxes powered by Redmond from several of the major STB hardware manufacturers, including Cisco, Motorola, Philips, and Tatung. All of these boxes will provide the end-user with HD and DVR support and on-demand viewing as well as more advanced capabilities like multiroom streaming and home media networking. Most of the new offerings -- such as Tatung's STB2000 series, Philips' BT-bound hybrid IPTV-DTT STB, and Cisco's unnamed models -- use an SoC based on Sigma Designs' 8634 chipset, with Cisco also hitting up STMicroelectronics for its silicon. Moto, meanwhile, announced that AT&T would be be the first customer to take delivery on its new devices, which -- as we already knew -- will be heading into the homes of the few, the proud, the U-verse subscribers. So congrats, Microsoft, on another product category successfully infused with your special brand of software, but now that you've become a major player in this realm, remember to watch your back -- FairUse4IPTV could be right around the corner.
IFA 2006: ATI announces Xilleon 260 for 1080p HDTVs
ATI has been putting chips in HDTVs and set-top boxes for a while now, and at IFA recently they announced their latest, the Xilleon 260. This system-on-a-chip processor is a single chip solution that will power "full HD" or 1080p HDTVs for worldwide markets. It handles HD deinterlacing, 3D comb filter, dynamic contrast, noise reduction, sharpness, and color control as well as audio.Previous versions have been in HDTVs from many leading manufacturers including samsung and JVC, although it's not immediately clear if these do motion-adaptive deinterlacing for non-1080p content. We'll be eagerly awaiting the first TVs to include these processors to see what the quality is like.
NEC's 3D SiP processor enabling high-def playback on portable devices
NEC's new chip design and manufacturing process is going to enable them to build processors small and efficient enough to decode video at resolutions comparable to HDTV on cell phones and other mobile devices. While we've covered versatile system-on-chip (SOC) processors making their way into set top boxes and Blu-ray players, NEC's system-in-package (SiP) SMAFTI (SMArt connection with Feed-Through Interposer) design uses a 3D to overcome conventional SiP hurdles and enable data transmission at up to 100Gbps. Apparently this "microbump connector" will move data around at 10 times the speed of existing technology, making your handheld much more powerful. Finally, we can expect devices using SMAFTI to begin appearing during the first quarter of 2007. Since we're not electrical engineers, much of that is gibberish but the possibilities are so nice we can't even decide which rumor to start. High-def iPod? Microsoft's Zune/Xboy HDTV player on the go? Managed copy-enabled cell phones for your HD DVDs? Of course the most likely possibility is some cool Japan-only mobile phone (Chinese non-HD n930 pictured above), but does anyone else think HD resolution on a 3-inch screen might be overkill? (Nah, not us either.)
