M+E Daily

MESA at IBC: Kaltura Upgrades OTT TV App; Aspera Wins More Partners

Members of the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) continued to announce new technologies and partnerships at the IBC conference in Amsterdam, and it’s been an especially busy event for Kaltura.

After announcing the launch of the VR Alliance at IBC, the New York-based video technology provider, on Sept. 12, introduced a new version of its MediaGo over-the-top (OTT) TV user app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, the web, TVs and other connected devices. The new version of the app allows media companies to launch full-blown OTT services quickly on all connected devices, it said in a news release.

Kaltura also added support for Amazon Fire and Android TV devices for its OTT platform. Kaltura planned to demonstrate at IBC the Amazon Fire and Android TV apps as part of the MediaGo template apps that already included AppleTV, Roku, Xbox and five connected TVs, it said. For functionality, the TV apps have also been upgraded with the ability to replay live TV, and also include improved search and personalized recommendations based on users’ Facebook friends.

For its template mobile applications, Kaltura introduced a new design that includes support for split view on iOS devices and moving background images; a better user experience; and the ability to customize the app by changing logos and colors, and changing the look of the home page.

The new template application also supports the latest release of the Kaltura video player and makes it easier for users to access free content and buy subscriptions of standalone videos, it said. The player also supports all major digital rights management (DRM) technologies and download capabilities, it said.

Aspera/IBM

IBM announced continued adoption of its Aspera Files hybrid cloud-based content sharing service and introduced new advancements in the platform that it said are enabling more media and entertainment companies globally to speed content collaboration and distribution.

Aspera Files is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering on IBM Cloud that accelerates the sharing and secure transfer of large files and directories – including the largest content files and associated metadata – directly from its native storage environment whether on the user’s premises or in the cloud.

The cloud service is offered as an all-inclusive platform hosted on the IBM Cloud with built-in Aspera transfer service and IBM Cloud object storage.

Files can also seamlessly connect Aspera transfer nodes and storage running on all major third-party cloud infrastructure providers and storage deployed on customer premises to provide fast, secure, and direct transfer of content of any size, at any distance independent of the storage location, the company said.

A new pay-as-you-go option allows customers to take advantage of the power of the Aspera platform with a cost-effective offering that the company said scales with customers’ businesses. New customers, including Beelink Productions in Dubai, action concept in Germany and Outpost VFX in the U.K. are using Aspera Files to replace what IBM said are existing and “often cumbersome” content sharing techniques, and to exchange content with an ecosystem of other Aspera users.

Separately, IBM said Fox Sports Australia selected high-speed file transfer solutions from IBM’s Aspera division to streamline and accelerate the content sharing capabilities of global providers. Fox Sports, which broadcasts more than 13,000 hours of live sports programming each year across the network’s seven channels, turned to Aspera Shares and Aspera Point-to-Point software to simplify and accelerate the process of program sourcing, IBM said.

Technicolor

Technicolor demonstrated its MediaPlay SKIPPER at IBC, saying it was the first NAGRA-certified Android TV set-top box.

New advances in smart set-top-box technology are emerging that allow operators to not only provide their full pay TV package, but also extend services – via customer premises equipment (CPE) – to online content demanded by consumers in a convenient and secure manner, according to Gaetan Delcroix, VP of customer product management at Technicolor’s Connected Home Division.

Technicolor’s MediaPlay SKIPPER integrates the capabilities and security features of traditional broadcast CPE offered by service providers, with the ability to deliver convenient access to a wide range of OTT content and online services, including next-generation TV apps for Android, Technicolor said.

Traditional set-top box technology was designed to provide robust security for valuable broadcast and film technology, Delcroix said in the company’s news release. But the challenge with that approach is it delays time to market in delivering innovative features that consumers demand, Technicolor said, adding it can take 12 to 18 months for a service provider to add new services to the set-top box market.

“By having the Android TV capabilities in the device, users can install any of their favorite apps and enjoy all their entertainment,” said Delcroix.

Dell EMC/OpenText

OpenText entered into a definitive agreement to buy Dell EMC’s Enterprise Content Division (ECD), including Documentum, for $1.62 billion, the companies announced Sept. 12. ECD offers a suite of enterprise content management (ECM) solutions that also include the InfoArchive and LEAP product families.

As part of the deal, the software, associated services and employees of ECD will be integrated into OpenText, the companies said. The acquisition is expected to deepen OpenText’s enterprise information management (EIM) offering with a substantial portfolio focused on ECM and information life cycle management, they said. OpenText will “further strengthen its vertical offerings, customer base, managed services, and geographical coverage,” the companies said.

OpenText and Dell EMC also announced they plan to negotiate and enter into a strategic commercial partnership to expand customer offerings and to better serve customer needs.