Author
Charles Cheevers
Lately, I’ve been seeing the increased cadence in the ways we are changing how we consume broadband, entertainment and digital life elements in our homes and how our world is really headed to services and applications that make our lives easier, more immersive and more fun.
We are seeing people embrace the use of new virtual reality tools to design their homes to the limits of their imagination, even before opening a can of paint or touching a single brick.
My children, who don’t remember when YouTube didn’t exist, will one day explain to their kids who use autonomous cars what a driver’s license is and how Dad used to press ‘pedals’ looking out the front window all the time. And friends and family have quickly become comfortable speaking to their smart assistants even when in my company, changing the conversation dynamic and paving the way for a brand new immersive, unlimited entertainment and informed connected home experience. This speed of change is making consumers embrace and adopt technology that will make their lives easier and make day to day tasks or use of new services simpler and easier – and it is this desire that will accelerate some of the new services we are targeting at the consumer home.
These are exciting times for the entertainment and media industry which is evolving rapidly each year. With the recent acquisition of ARRIS and Ruckus Networks, CommScope has the resources and resilience of a Fortune 250-sized company that can help our customers evolve their business models for the future while preparing the future of connectivity.
This new immersive connected era is a key theme at IBC 2019 in Amsterdam, one of my favorite conferences as the best and brightest minds in the industry share new ways of thinking that will certainly disrupt the status quo.
Here’s a sneak peek into what we’ll be sharing in Hall 1, stand B19.
Evolving the TV Experience: We debuted the Smart Media Device (SMD) category at last year’s IBC. This year, we’re showcasing the evolution of the concept, which combines functionality of the most important devices in the connected home to drive new levels of consumer engagement and revenue. The SMD is a set-top, smart speaker, visual smart assistant, IoT hub, video & teleconference and remote control—all in one. This new in room device works with the screen palette of the large screen TV to create a Home command and control center function. This large screen Command Center creates a more hands free, personalized, connected, and convenient way to enjoy all the media, services, and applications in the digital home.
We believe it’s the future of the set-top and an area of incredible potential for operators looking to develop new, stickier, sensory and immersive home services. We’re also accelerating the User Experience (UX) design evolution of the TV experience with Android™ TV, RDK, and KreaTV®. And we’ll be showcasing the new CommScope industrial design and next-generation high-performance set-tops with integrated OTT services.
The Wireless Connected Home: The home is becoming increasingly connected, and so are our digital experiences. This area will showcase how we’re delivering the next era of connectivity both to the home and throughout the home—with multi-Gigabit services, app platforms and HomeAssure™, which optimizes coverage and performance with integrated extenders, apps, and cloud services. The power of HomeAssure™ to be able to make Wi-Fi® connectivity transparent as well as make real time decisions to ensure consumer has the most optimal experience on their Wi-Fi connected devices is the critical platform for customer satisfaction.
Managed Network Services: As enterprises look to deliver connectivity to their customers, we’re providing the platforms, portals, and hosted services to deliver seamless wired and wireless experiences.
Enhanced Video Experiences: The future is personalized. We’ll highlight how solutions like our ME-7000 and MDC are increasing efficiency in video delivery, while integrating with next-generation advertising, content protection, and services to deliver truly exciting new customized consumer experiences.
Innovative Video Distribution: Game-changing solutions improve the efficiency of primary video distribution for content creators and programmers. As video service providers of all types look to optimize video delivery, we will show how our solutions simplify operations, reduce operational expenditures and accelerate deployment of tomorrow’s services, including evolution of the cable headend to all-IP video. We’ll also demonstrate how we’re delivering end-to-end video network orchestration solutions.
Unlocking the best user experience
The worlds of broadcast and broadband are intersecting. Join us for an engaging discussion on trends fueling the explosive growth of media and entertainment consumption:
- ‘Good film choice – should be with you next Wednesday’ chaired by Darren Fawcett, vice president of Technology Solutions, at 9:30 AM on the 14 September
- The talk will also feature a supporting paper on ‘Full Duplex and Extended Spectrum DOCSIS® for tomorrow’s 10G future,’ from our Distinguished Systems Engineer, CTO Office, Frank O’Keefe
As my colleague Joe Chow put it, we have a bright future ahead of us. CommScope continues to focus on technology and business model trends that will shape our industry while addressing ways to provide new levels of engagement via multi-screen delivery, interactivity and immersive experiences.
