This is blatently copied from someone else who blatently copied it.
Motorola made a number of announcements at the NCTA's National Show last week:
* It unveiled a new family of DVR's, dubbed the Motorola DCT6400 series, which integrate HDTV support with dual-tuner functionality (allowing consumers to view one HD program while recording another), and which will be commercially available this summer. According to the company, the new boxes are OCAP-compatible and support a wide array of ITV applications, including EPG and VOD apps from Gemstar-TV Guide, Pioneer, Microsoft, Concurrent and SeaChange (which are all members of the Motorola Horizon developer program). The boxes also provide a variety of hardware and other features, including an integrated DOCSIS-compatible cable modem, a smart-card reader, Ethernet and Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Y-Pb-Pr video output, S/PDIF optical and coaxial digital audio outputs, and baseband and RF audio-video I/O's; and enable direct digital connection to consumer audio and video devices via 1394-DTV and DVI interfaces.
* it revealed that its DCT6208 DVR and the first of its 6400-series DVR's, the DCT6412, will feature what the company is calling the "Motorola Home Media Architecture" ("Motorola HMA"). Most significantly, Motorola HMA offers multi-room PVR technology which allows the boxes to function as servers that can be accessed via other, non-PVR-equipped Motorola set-top boxes in a home, using existing EPG and VOD applications. The technology is licensed from multi-room PVR specialist, Ucentric Systems. In addition, Motorola HMA uses standards-based IP technology to enable customers to connect a wide range of devices to their in-home network: according to the company, it will allow customers to configure set-top boxes, digital cameras, mp3 players, PC's and mobile phones through a simple user interface that was also developed by Ucentric. The company also says that Motorola HMA's Java-based open architecture will allow network operators to introduce new IP-based services, such as home security, home monitoring, remote education and remote health management. A key element of the Motorola HMA is IP-over-coaxial technology from fabless semiconductor company, Entropic. The technology, which was developed for the Multimedia over Coax Alliance, allows multiple standard and high definition video and data services to be simultaneously distributed throughout a home, using unmodified coaxial cable.
* It has teamed with voice-recognition technology specialist, Agile TV (note: the latter company's investors include MSO, Insight), on a joint solution that will allow viewers to find programming on an EPG or a VOD portal by giving spoken commands (e.g. "Find the Sopranos," "Scan sitcoms," or "Find movies with Julia Roberts") to their set-top box via a microphone-equipped remote control. The companies say that the solution requires a small receiver to be attached to the viewer's set-top box (they claim that the installation process is very easy), in order to receive the commands from the enhanced remote, and that the solution will work with Motorola's low-end DCT2000 boxes (it has been field-trialed on DCT2000's by subscribers of cable operator, USA Media, for around 15 months). They claim that it recognizes over 100,000 phrases and that it can decipher multiple languages.
* It revealed that it has shipped its 200,000th Motorola Multi-Service Access whole-home residential gateway into the telco TV market. The gateway supports a variety of advanced services, including VOD and on-screen telephony features such as caller ID and message waiting. Motorola acquired the gateway through its purchase of Next Level Communications last year.
* It also extended its long-standing partnership with middleware and applications provider, OpenTV. (See article in this issue.)
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