| |
| |
|
Broadband Internet Information |
|
|
|
LifeHealthInsurance.ca The Coming Television Revolution
The revolution is just getting started and will be begin to make its mark this year. By 2010, it will begin to take off. By 2025, it will be the standard for all TV viewing. It's called Internet Protocol Television, or IPTV for short. IPTV works with a set-top box connected to any broadband interface and to a TV. It will allow users to choose among thousands (and eventually hundreds of thousands) of hours of programming, including movies, sports, classic TV, etc., and download their selections from the internet to the hard drive of the set-top box. Initially, set-top box hard drives will be able to store up to 300 hours of programming at a time, but capacity will expand as the technology becomes more refined. Also, download times will become shorter and shorter as broadband connection speeds become faster and faster. Eventually, a two-hour movie will be fully downloadable in a couple of minutes. Once the programs are downloaded to the hard drive, they can be viewed on the connected TV at any time via a DVR-type interface provided by the set-top box. Besides the convenience of an all video-on-demand (VOD) environment, IPTV will provide a much wider range of programming than broadcast, cable, and satellite TV, or even major video chains, could ever provide. Because the programming is available from the internet, it will be almost completely unlimited and unconstrained. Programming from all over the world will be available along with every imaginable genre of niche programming. Also, previously unreleased independent films that have been sitting on shelves for years due to the lack of a distribution source will suddenly become available to the masses via IPTV. Films that previously could not be made at all will become a reality and be available on the IPTV services. Long forgotten films and TV shows will have new life breathed into them by IPTV. To top it all off, much of this programming will be eventually be available in high definition (HDTV)! Most IPTV platforms will be divided into "channels", but not the same kind of channels that we have grown accustomed to with traditional TV services. In this case, a "channel" is defined as a division of an IPTV service by individual content provider. Each content provider carried by a given IPTV platform will have its own guidelines for delivering programming on its channel. Some will provide their content for free to everyone who owns a given IPTV product. Some will be subscription based, i.e., everything on their channels will be available for a monthly or annual subscription. Others will be all pay-per-view. Still others will provide a combination of all of the above. Several entrants into this market have either already debuted or plan to debut sometime this year. Among those are Akimbo (www.akimbo.com), DAVETV (www.dave.tv), TimeShifTV (www.timeshiftv.com), and VCinema (www.vcinema.com). Please see their respective websites for more details, as each one will offer a slightly different variation of IPTV technology. In addition, a joint venture between TiVo (www.tivo.com) and NetFlix (www.netflix.com) will be starting up later this year. TiVo plans to eventually make the entire Netflix DVD library available to its customers on an on-demand basis via a broadband connection to a TiVo box and a TV. Other potential IPTV contenders will be announcing their intentions over the next year or two. One of these nascent IPTV services headquartered near my home has already started placing "help wanted" ads in my local newspaper. Within the next 20 years, all the fuss over broadcast TV indecency will become irrelevant, as there will be very little other than news and live sporting events on broadcast TV. The major networks will shift most of their entertainment programs to IPTV to avoid all the broadcast content restrictions currently being enforced by the FCC. Eventually, broadcast TV will cease to exist. Cable and satellite services as we know them will also become extinct. Yes, there will still be cable and satellite platforms, but they, along with DSL and wireless internet services, will exist merely as conduits for bringing broadband internet into homes and offices. There won't be any more cable and satellite TV, per se. The now 60-year-old paradigm of television schedules in which programs air at specific times on specific days of the week will pretty much be a thing of the past. Everything, except what's left of broadcast TV, will be exclusively available on demand via an IPTV platform. These developments in no way mean that all TV programming will become more risqué. While there will be plenty of risqué programming available to those who want it, there will an almost unlimited supply of family and religious programs available. With a veritable smorgasbord of entertainment options at your fingertips, there will be something available for all tastes. IPTV may not turn out to be a TV utopia, but it's at least going to come close that ideal. Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Hopewell, VA. He also serves as a political columnist for American Daily and operates his own website - http://www.commenterry.com - on which he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How Peer to Peer (P2P) Works Peer to Peer (P2P) Technology- How it works:Ever wondered how P2P works? This guide will run down most of the major P2P services and how they work. Peer to Peer technology lets people share files over a network on the internet. Its On! (Free Internet TV - Watch TV Online) Get ready because "there's going to be television out the wazoo!" This according to Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN - U.S. Ka Band -Affordable Satellite Internet On The Way! Ka Band VSAT* satellite internet technology has enormous possibilities for telecommuters, rural locations and eventually for Motor Home users around the U.S. Long Arm of the Law Reaches New Internet (RIAA, Internet-2, i2hub Lawsuit) Have you heard of the new Internet? It's called Internet 2 and this time they're not fooling around. The Abilene Network , begun in 1999 provides the main backbone and they're a pure optical network wired for speed. Time to Redefine Telecom Telecommunication, according to Wikipedia, is the extension of communication over a distance. In practice, it also recognizes that something may be lost in the process; hence the term 'telecommunication' covers all forms of distance and/or conversion of the original communications, including radio, telegraphy, television, telephony, data communication and computer networking. Broadband is State-of-the-Art Internet Access: How Can a Broadband Cable Benefit You? We are now well ensconced in a time when the Web is riddled with graphics, animations, sounds, and videos, bringing about a necessity for superior internet access such as that which broadband can provide. The fact is that anything less than the speed supplied by a broadband cable has become inadequate for today's Web users. Two Enter Internet Battle Consumers understand that when there is more competition in a market, there are lower prices. This is especially true in the computer industry where it is reported that 68% of households have a computer. What are Your Internet Connection Solutions? Of primary concern to all internet users is their actual connection to the internet.A user needs to look at all the factors and weigh the benefits and costsReliability - is the connection available 24/7, or do you get a busy signal?Speed - at what speeds can a user upload and download files?Costs - what are the setup and monthly costs for the internet connection service?Support - is support available 24/7 and is it free or is there a cost associated with it?Availability - is the desired service available at your location?Available options with good and bad features include:Local dial up with phone company (local isp) - While this many times is the simplest, often times, they are the most costly and support can be an issue. Why You Should Switch To A Fast Internet Connection With high-speed Internet access becoming available in more and more areas, perhaps it is now available in your neck of the woods. If it is, you might be wondering if it makes sense to upgrade from dialup. Webmail - What are the Benefits? There are so many different webmail services on the internet, from the huge ones like Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, to the much smaller ones from private websites and ISPs. There is a lot to worry about with e-mail these days but some of these front line webmail services are really a great way of helping to protect your system. Broadband - Will it Affect Your Online Marketing Future? The coming age of general Broadband use bearing down upon us, minute by minute, is going to leave many changes in its wake. Some will be welcome; others will demand all we can do, just to keep up!Of course, items like high quality graphics, streaming video and movies on demand will be commonplace. Mind Machine Interfacing SQUID:In 1984 I was partnered with a Cable TV engineer and founding father by the name of Ray Osborne. He was working with people developing oscillating noise loop broadband technologies. Beta Testing First Mobile Internet Satellite Broadband, Part II We were the first beta testers of a Mobile Command Center with full Internet Access in 1999. Our mobile command center was also the first unit with WiFi and Internet Mobile Access. How to Troubleshoot Your Internet Connection for DSL or Cable Service One of the common problems among internet users is testing their internet connection to pinpoint the exact problem. There is a big number of internet users who use DSL, and cable modem service. DSL Internet is a Simple and Easy Way to Get Fast Internet Service DSL - which stands for Digital Subscriber Line - is a great way to get high-speed internet service, without having to get a cable modem, or live in an area that has cable lines. DSL providers have very fast and comparatively cheap internet connectivity. Understanding Broadband - Are You Ready To Upgrade? Are you ready to upgrade your residential service to DSL or business service to real broadband or T1? Well, the answer lies in what you need. Before you can realize your needs, you must understand more of what the word broadband really means. Finger Protocol - TCP/IP Suite The "finger" protocol is used to return information on users on a specific host. Information that can be gained by using the finger is to see if someone is actively logged on to a server, or find a valid username. How to Secure your DSl / Cable Internet Connection Against Malicious Attacks Securing your Windows Xp computer is done by achieving two main tasks.The first, is to prevent unauthorized users sitting at your computer and logging in through your keyboard. Internet Service Providers Internet Service Provider or ISP is a company that provides access to the Internet.Before choosing an ISP, it is important to assess your company's business and marketing goals. Compare Cable vs. DSL Okay, so you are finally tired of those slow dial-up internet connections, and you want to go broadband. Good deal.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
