This year’s ANGA COM opens in what must be one of the most disruptive moments in the history of television distribution.
Briel on: Digital killed the disc, but not (yet) in Germany
Quite a surprise when I walked into the large Dussmann – Das Kulturkaufhaus store in Friedrichstrasse, Berlin, and saw no less than three floors of good, old-fashioned discs – CDs, DVDs, some Blu-Rays, and even a whole section of vinyl.
Can Dutch Delta become a disruptor?
The Dutch regional cable operator Delta is making some interesting moves after having been acquired by Swedish investment vehicle EQT. From being a laggard, the operator could now very well spell the future of cable.
New OTT developments shaking up the industry
The past week saw OTT disruption entering a new phase with announcements by Philips, RTL and Sky – with the latter causing SES and Eutelsat stock taking a beating.
Briel On: Dutch viewers embrace Netflix
Netflix launched exactly a year ago in the Netherlands. Local premium channels adapted themselves to the newcomer, while public and private broadcasters launched a common S-VOD platform.
Briel on – First look at Chromecast
Google promises easy connection with its new Chromecast dongle. And indeed, it is installed in minutes, if not seconds. Just plug the dongle in a HDMI slot of the TV set, connect the power supply, either to an USB port or directly to the mains with an adapter, and off you go.
Briel on: Horizon – teething problems or disaster?
Liberty Global said that there are now 270,000 Horizon boxes in use in The Netherlands and Switzerland. Introduction in Germany and the Irish Republic is scheduled to happen in the next few months.
Briel on: Ziggo ventures into the Cloud
Ziggo is taking a bold step forward by introducing a cloud based service model for interactivity. The philosophy behind it is that CE manufacturers are putting more and more technology in their home devices. It makes sense to take full advantage of the possibilities this offers.
Briel on: how smart is YouView?
A view from the Continent. During the launch of the YouView box, Lord Sugar described the set as a great moment in British television. “It’s not like producing a Sky box, we had to start from scratch, a bit like the first television transmission.” But is it really?
Briel on: CE manufacturers take a smart lead
In the past few months we have seen an acceleration of activities from consumer electronics manufactures. By adding ever more services and apps to their smart TVs they seem to be taking the lead in the connected home.