By Alexander Cameron, Managing Director, Digital TX Ltd.

Even 10 seconds of the ridiculously over-valued X-Factor and American Idol make me want to vomit. They are so frighteningly mediocre, vacuous and repetitive that I invariably find myself staring into a worrying abyss of creative bankruptcy that's pumped into millions of people's homes every night through their TV screen. On the side of the road gossip magazines are flourishing, all with the same look, formula and material.

Recently when I was mid-rant, complaining about how Simon Cowell, the man who gave us the TeleTubbies single, was able to accurately judge talent at a karaoke popularity contest on its artistic merit, I screamed out that what I wanted was another Jimi Hendrix. That guy blew everyone away and was a revolution. People's hair stood on end when they saw him play on their black and white TVs. Nobody had seen anything like it, even having seen Elvis. The Sex Pistols followed.

I have a confession to make. BT Vision doesn't excite me. Neither do any of the fancy new IPTV services that are rolling out all over the world. I'm thoroughly underwhelmed, and I'm sure I'm not supposed to be feeling that way, working in the IPTV industry. But honesty is usually more important than diplomacy from an advocate. I hope more than anything that they take off as it will be a springboard to more interesting ideas.

An interesting survey result was in the Fortune article mentioned in our previous post:

Whatever happens, one thing is for sure: the phone companies are going to need a zippy name for their video service. A separate Accenture survey of 6,000 consumers worldwide asked respondents if they knew what "IPTV" was. Some 4% said they thought IPTV was a reality television show.

And yet another confirmation of IPTV Acronym Soup.

Digital TX Limited offer a very popular 1-day IPTV/VoD workshop that aims to save delegates up to 12 months of research time by telling them everything they need to know about IPTV in a single day.

Are you looking to learn more about IPTV and video on-demand? The IPTV workshops are still going on so visit http://www.iptvworkshop.co.uk/ and mention code TVON2006.

The industry and its technology moves so fast that it is easy for information to become outdated and for people to lose track of all the things they need to know. This document is a typical briefing sheet supplied in the workshop that covers all the main points that are essential for any executive or technician to understand.

Alexander Cameron has been on a writing rampage again as he describes in his latest essay the road to the future of IPTV. Issues discussed include:

• The age of the Internet
• What’s our vision for the future?
• Internet TV won’t take us that far
• The Holy Grail of IPTV
• There’s nothing special about video-on-demand
• Choice and content overload

And there are other sub-topics sprinkled in-between such as the misunderstanding of IPTV along with customer and company reactions. Alex’s work is always interesting so check it out.

By Alexander Cameron, Managing Director, Digital TX Ltd.

Imagine travelling down a motorway at 110 miles per hour, passing hundreds of signs with half of you feeling you just want a leisurely drive and the other half panicking that you're late. Some of the other cars are crashing into the central reservation or veering off the left lane violently never to be seen again, some are just sitting behind you watching what you'll do, and some are cruising with you in parallel so they can wave at you from the other window. Others are just parked in the hard shoulder doing nothing.

You're so busy trying to keep up your speed, answer calls on your mobile, work out when you'll need to put more gas in and fend off what the other cars are doing that you've also forgotten the most important thing: the one thing you thought you already knew and couldn't set off on the journey without. You know where you started, but you don't know where the road leads. You're all racing so fast that nobody knows where they are going. Point B is a mystery. All that seems to matter is the mile of distance ahead, but no-one has looked at the map and or taken much notice of the road signs. Nobody has any realistic idea of what's down that long road or what it will take to both get and stay there.

Technology moves at such a breathtaking speed that we almost always lose track of everything but the race. Westminster village is unfortunately the same. NHK, the Japanese inventors of the new Ultra HD (U-HDTV) video system invented high definition video over 30 years ago in the 1970s, although it was first introduced in the 1990s and still is yet to see significant deployment at this precise moment in time, despite the predictions of its ubiquity by market analysts. Their latest thinking is that U-HDTV won't see any practical consumer installations for the next generation, or at least 25 years.

Business without mission or purpose is like life without purpose, with the additional consideration of having to be able to react to change quickly and follow the money to survive. Many companies talk mission, but its lip service to flashy self-help consultancy doublespeak or a meaningless gesture that does very little to encourage their employees in the way they think it will. Business is about people, and companies are made up of people. Without mission or purpose, there is little chance for momentum to speed up or innovation to blossom. People react to vision as it touches their soul, not simply their need to pay the bills.

Cable Digital News analyst, Michael Harris, makes a point on the differences between IPTV and VoIP as a technology and the actual IPTV and VoIP services we continue to hear touted by providers. While many ride the wave of these highly touted new-age offerings with their new fiber rollouts, the services they actual provide are a combination of technologies that have long existed. Check out the full story.

John Withnell, a seasoned professional in interactive TV services and Managing Director of Long Dog, has published a paper entitled Interactive TV Services for IPTV. The document provides a high level look at interactive services and how they can help the growth of IPTV. Check it out.

ESPRE Solutions is pleased to announce that an article written by ESPRE's CEO, Pete Ianace, has been published in the February issue of TMC's Internet Telephony Magazine. The February issue is dedicated to the advantages of IPTV and is appropriately titled, Strike it Rich with IPTV. The article, IPTV Trends, highlights the advantages of IPTV offerings by today's major telecommunication providers and the competitive threats telcos will face in their rollout.

The Age provides a good overview of IPTV, next-generation networks, triple-play, and what it means for telecoms. If you're new to the technology, this is a good read.

The article also offers a view on the Australian regulatory environment and industry, "As I have often written in the past, the Australian Government does not realise any of this is happening. Its ridiculous attempts to restrict certain types of service to certain media have made it a laughing stock in the industry. Digital TV has been hamstrung by restrictions on licences and the less said of the datacasting debacle the better. And they think broadband is ADSL." Check it out in its entirety.

Start with a PON and add a splash of STB. Make sure your MPEG-2 or H.264 is garnished with some CA and DRM. The end result may be FiOS or Max but it's all IPTV.

Are you confused? We sure are…

Hello. We'd like to welcome all our viewers to another episode of "TVover.net's Cookin' for the Mass Scale." Today, we are going to show you how to make mouth watering and nutritious IPTV Acronym Soup just like Grandma used to make. This seemingly easy delicacy proves to be quite a difficult task with the various flavors and ingredients out on the market.

Below are the ingredients for IPTV Acronym Soup, just assembled in a different manner. This recipe is always a hit at our house. We rarely have any leftovers!

INGREDIENTS:
-3 teaspoons set-top box (STB)
-1 cup IP video headend
-3 lbs passive optical network (PON)
-1 tablespoon conditional access/digital rights management (CA/DRM)
-1 tablespoon management
-content (MPEG-2 or H.264/MPEG-4)

DIRECTIONS:
For IPTV, combine sweet and tangy set-top box, video headend and PON in a large saucepan. Stir in CA/DRM. Cook, stirring, for several hours until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in management. Carefully roll out the end result. Garnish with content. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

All clear now? Perhaps not…

Let's step back and define exactly what IPTV is.

IPTV has finally morphed from relative obscurity to prominence, but operators haven't fully explored IP technology's full potential, according to Jeffrey Soong, CEO of Hong Kong-based IPTV enabler Broadband Network Systems Ltd (BNS).

Speaking at a panel at the Ninth Economist Telecommunications Roundtable in Hong Kong this week, Mr. Soong said that as consumption patterns of video programs continue to change, IP technology gives IPTV operators the ability to offer content and services across multiple access platforms with innovative business models, a key advantage over cable and satellite operators.

Light Reading writes an interesting news analysis on the high costs and challenges IPTV service providers face when customers want IPTV on multiple TVs in a house. This is somewhat of the same dilemma we face now with cable companies who charge for extra digital boxes in each room, only now we're possibily talking about completely new wiring throughout the house. According to the article, the breakdown in costs associated with wiring a house includes, "two additional set-top boxes at $150 each, new CAT-5 cabling at $50, approximately eight hours of skilled installation at $50 per hour, and a "windshield cost" (gas and depreciation on the service vehicle) of $50."

The engadget featured a two part interview will Bill Gates over the past two days. If you haven't checked them out, you will definitely want to read the entire transcripts. In part one, engadget questioned about the next Xbox console, whether or not Microsoft is going to come out with a competitor for the PlayStation Portable, and the future of Windows Mobile. In part two, engadget enquired about HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray, IPTV, Windows Media Center and DTV, and why the Tablet PC has struggled in the marketplace.

Relating to home entertainment and IPTV, Bill Gates discussed the difference between a set-top box and the Media Center PC. He also explains how IPTV would work in regards to both technologies, specifically relating it to video-on-demand and recorded shows.

The WSJ writes, "Welcome to Ground Zero of the information revolution: the living room." The article covers the battle that is heating up between different industries over who will control the living room.

"In some sense, there are really two separate match-ups: cable vs. telephone to deliver traditional and on-demand television programs, and PC vs. consumer electronics to provide the hardware in the home-entertainment system. But to an increasing extent, everybody wants a piece of everything."

Jonathan Takiff writes "Now you can see much more TV" in The News Sentinel. The article provides an explanation of the developments that have occurred this year relating to telcos, cable TV companies, and the IPTV industry.

Takiff starts with SBC's announcement to introduce an IPTV offering over fiber-optic lines. Some of the features that SBC is looking to offer were also discussed. "Rolling out at year's end in a few markets, SBC's IPTV service will include on-screen caller ID when the phone rings, simultaneous multichannel (or TV plus Internet site) viewing on a single screen and personal video recorder functionality on every television in the house." Verizon's FiOS service is also covered.

Derek Kuhn writes a great article entitled "IPTV: Making it Work" at Converge! Network Digest. The article is a good overview of the challenges and issues facing companies looking to enter the IPTV and video industry.

Kuhn points out that while there is an opportunity for telephone companies and other service providers to offer broadband services in North America, the window of opportunity is small. Therefore time to market the new services will be vital to compete against the seated cable companies.