DLNA Launches VidiPath Certification Program for Retail Products Supporting Subscription TV

  • Subscribers will be encouraged to look for new brand name, VidiPath, when shopping for retail devices that deliver service providers’ full viewing experience on many different screens in home.
  • Previously identified as CVP-2, Guidelines were developed through a close collaboration between service providers and consumer electronics (CE) product manufacturers.
  • More than 15 companies have already begun pre-testing their products to prepare for Certification.

DLNA® Member Achievements Commended Awards given to individuals for exceptional accomplishments and company contributions

PORTLAND, Ore., April 15, 2014 – The Digital Living Network Alliance® (DLNA®) today announced it has awarded 10 Members with DLNA Outstanding Contribution Awards for work completed in 2013. The winners were from DLNA Member companies Access, AT&T, CableLabs, CEWIT Korea, Intel, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Telecom Italia.

“The 2013 Outstanding Contribution Award recipients epitomize the types of individuals responsible for helping DLNA achieve its goals,” said Donna Moore, DLNA executive director. “The Alliance continues to flourish due to its members’ expertise, and specifically because of the contributions and efforts of award winners such as these.”

DLNA award winners are nominated by their DLNA peers for exemplary efforts towards the fulfilment of DLNA’s mission, whether through exceptional committee performance or for leadership in reaching a principal DLNA goal. Nominees must be vetted and approved by the DLNA Board of Directors before their awards are bestowed. The 2013 award winners played a particularly significant role as the organization prepared to release CVP-2 Guidelines earlier this year, enhancing and extending the digital lifestyle by enabling consumers to enjoy their service providers’ full subscriber experiences on many different screens in the home. This year’s winners also were instrumental in driving the many ongoing DLNA programs and initiatives that have enabled the organization to create one of the world’s largest ecosystems of interoperable networked entertainment and media devices.

Honorees described their contributions and commitment to the DLNA organization as follows:

Boris Wang, sales manager, Access: “As the China Task Force Chair, with support from ACCESS, I organized two major seminars aimed at increasing DLNA’s influence in China, especially among mid-small manufactures. I also helped to arrange meetings between the Alliance and China-targeted operators, governmental departments and other customers. As a software company, ACCESS provides the latest DLNA solutions to the market, and our reputation has been greatly increased through DLNA marketing activities in China.”

Barbara Stark, lead member of the technical staff, AT&T: “AT&T is proud to be working with DLNA towards a future where consumers can effortlessly access content from any device. I am honored to be recognized for my contributions to the Alliance and look forward to continuing the work.”

Ryan Chiang, senior standardization lead, CableLabs: “CableLabs, working closely with DLNA Members from the service provider and consumer electronics communities, is proud to have contributed to the development of the DLNA CVP-2 Guidelines published earlier this year. The Guidelines enable delivery of premium cable content to a wide variety of consumer devices, such as televisions, tablets, game consoles, Blu-ray players, and HDMI sticks. CableLabs is a member of the DLNA Board of Directors, and has hosted several DLNA Plugfest events to promote the interoperability of DLNA CVP-2 products under development. It is my honor to be recognized by the Alliance for contributions to the CVP-2 effort .”

Ilchul Yoon, senior research assistant, CEWIT Korea: “CEWIT Korea has been working on sharing DLNA technologies and membership benefits to small/medium-sized companies in Korea. I am very grateful to be recognized for our contributions to expanding DLNA ’s Korean community, and also look forward to continuing the collaboration with DLNA as we reach out to non-members and show them the benefits of joining the Alliance. ”

Richard Bardini, system engineer, Intel: “As a long-time DLNA member, Intel has seen how DLNA’s Guidelines and Certification Program are key to device interoperability in the home for consumers. I was pleased to be a part of an important low-power initiative, overseeing a program to update the UPnP specifications in this area so we could extend the DLNA Guidelines and preserve baseline device interoperability without fragmenting the UPnP ecosystem with DLNA vendor extensions. I am humbly honored for being recognized by DLNA’s Board with an Outstanding Contribution A ward for this activity.”

Rebekka Porath, CE technology policy manager, Intel: “Intel has been engaged with DLNA for more than a decade. DLNA’s Guidelines and Certification Program are vital to realizing the vision of enabling consumers to enjoy ‘any content, anywhere, and on any device. ’ I am proud that my company has been part of taking yet another step towards this vision with my contribution to DLNA’s continuing efforts to optimize media interoperability, and am delighted to be recognized by DLNA’s Board with an Outstanding Contribution Award.”

Sunil Sreedharan, project manager, Sony: “DLNA is all about interoperability. The key to interoperability is a very strong test and certification program, and I am happy to have contributed to this important work within DLNA. I am thankful to the Alliance for recognizing my contributions and look forward to making continuing contributions to the DLNA ecosystem. ”

Raffaele de Peppe, industry relations and cross business initiatives, Telecom Italia: “This recognition of my contribution as European Task Force Chair is to be shared with all the many other individuals and companies who joined forces with me to make DLNA a more significant brand in the European market. Collectively, this group has participated in the most significant industry events as proud DLNA speakers, and contributed to sales force training events and many other activities. Telecom Italia, like other European companies, strongly supports DLNA as an enabling force in the consumer electronics space, driving interoperability and ease of use for consumers who want to share and enjoy personal and premium content delivered through broadband technologies.”

Additional award recipients were: Hirokazu Ishikawa, manager, Panasonic, and Yoori Lee, engineer, Samsung.

About DLNA The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a technology standards organization driven to build industry consensus to advance the interoperability of products in consumers’ connected homes. Founded in 2003 with a current membership of more than 250 companies, this unique multi-industry collaboration continues to implement an innovative set of guidelines utilized by service providers, electronics manufacturers, and software developers to provide consistent performance in a connected home environment. Consumers can share and enjoy personal and premium content, regardless of manufacturer, on a wide variety of products including mobile devices, PCs, set top boxes, AV receivers, game consoles, TVs and more. DLNA has also created a robust certification program which tests and verifies the interoperability of products built to its standards, ensuring consumers that devices branded with the DLNA Certified mark will successfully connect and exchange content. Additional information about the Alliance is available at www.dlna.org. Find the Alliance on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dlnacertified or on Twitter @DLNA. DLNA's leading member companies include ACCESS, ARRIS, AwoX, Broadcom, CableLabs, Comcast, Dolby Laboratories, DTS, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Time Warner Cable and Verizon.

The Digital Living Network Alliance Releases CVP-2 Guidelines for Viewing Subscription TV Content on Multiple Home Devices

PORTLAND, Ore., March 18, 2014 – The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA®) today released the organization’s CVP-2 Guidelines and announced that DLNA Members can begin certifying products to the specifications in September. The availability of devices such as TVs, game consoles, tablets, phones, PCs and set top boxes certified to the CVP-2 Guidelines will enable consumers to enjoy their service providers’ full subscriber experiences on many different screens in the home.

“We are very pleased to be releasing DLNA’s CVP-2 Guidelines,” said Scott Lofgren, chairman and president of DLNA. “The availability of devices certified to the CVP-2 Guidelines will enable more consumers to view subscription TV content on more screens, all the while maintaining the full subscriber experience and user interface. Numerous DLNA members have been building and pre-testing products to the CVP-2 Guidelines and previewing their capabilities at a variety of industry venues and events, and we expect to see many exciting new products entering and achieving DLNA Certification in September.”

CVP-2 Guidelines were developed through a close collaboration between service providers and members of the consumer electronics product development ecosystem. These Guidelines are an extension of the standard DLNA Guidelines and enable client devices certified to the CVP-2 Guidelines to interoperate and share media with the billions of existing DLNA Certified servers. As CVP-2 capabilities are built into home network products, consumer choice will be improved for seamlessly enjoying subscription TV content from providers on multiple devices in the home.

“Providing our products and services on the devices that our customers love and use is increasingly important to us,” said Mark Hess, senior vice president, Comcast Cable. “The DLNA CVP-2 Guidelines will provide a standardized platform for Comcast customers to watch the content they want on a broad range of devices within the home.”

"The CVP-2 standard enables the continued innovation and evolution of the multi-platform video experience,” said Steve Necessary, vice president of product development, Cox Communications. “This effort will enable Cox to expand the ecosystem of devices that integrate with our highly personalized Contour service offering by giving customers the flexibility to choose the device platform that best suits their needs.”

"DLNA’s new CVP-2 Guidelines provide the industry with a foundation to significantly enhance consumer enjoyment of premium content offerings from their service provider. Content providers' rights are preserved, devices will have greater functionality, and consumers will have greater viewing device options. This is a win for all stakeholders, ” said Tom Lookabaugh, chief R&D officer, CableLabs .

"DLNA has established a widely recognized and important standard for interoperability between networked home and mobile entertainment devices. CVP-2 extends the benefits of the DLNA standard to subscription TV content while supporting the full range of subscriber features, security and user interface capabilities," said Brett L. Sappington, director of research with Parks Associates . "Because of the FCC's prompting for an industry standard that allows TV services to be delivered to CE devices, North American cable operators will be among the first to adopt CVP-2."

About the CVP-2 Guidelines In addition to enabling a consistent user interface for viewing subscription content, CVP-2 Guidelines also preserve the rights of content providers. CVP-2 includes Digital Transmission Content Protection over Internet Protocol (DTCP-IP) to protect content streamed within the home, and authentication capabilities that establish a common, automated and secure mechanism for verifying CVP-2 on client devices.

CVP-2 also provides for remote diagnostics and optimizes the consumer viewing experience by including support for Moving Picture Expert Group Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), an adaptive delivery technology for high-quality streaming regardless of bandwidth variations on the home network. A Networked Device Power Save feature enables devices certified to the CVP-2 Guidelines to meet today’s tighter power regulations and voluntary energy efficiency initiatives. Additional details about CVP-2 are available by downloading the DLNA CVP-2 white paper.

Click here to purchase the CVP-2 Guidelines.

Quotes from DLNA Members:

ACCESS “For media sharing to really take off, it needs two key technologies: interoperability between CE devices and security mechanisms that are trusted by the studios,” says Joerg Eggink, product director at ACCESS. “DLNA already provides the interoperability that the CE device industry demands. The DLNA CVP-2 Guidelines now provide the trusted framework that the content business requires, making premium media sharing truly ready for prime time. As a CVP-2 technology vendor, we see that CVP-2 Guidelines will underpin new and exciting business models and we're already seeing very high levels of interest from our broadcast and CE device customers.”

Joerg Eggink, Product Director at ACCESS

Alcatel-Lucent “CVP-2 helps move the industry towards a simplified method of video delivery to connected devices. Alcatel-Lucent is convinced that ultimately operators will migrate the DLNA server function into the network so that client devices can stream content from source s within the cloud.”

Paul Larbey, Head of Alcatel- Lucent’s IP Video Business

Allegro Software "The new DLNA CVP-2 standard allows both service providers and consumer equipment manufacturers to cost-effectively deploy premium digital media throughout the home." said Bob Van Andel, president of Allegro Software, a leading provider of DLNA Technology Components.

Bob Van Andel, President of Allegro Software

ARM “The major benefit of DLNA’s CVP-2 standard is the inclusion of HTML5 technology, which enables premium content consumption and consistent rich user interfaces across a myriad of devices,” said Karthik Ranjan, marketing director, operator relations, ARM®. “The ARM ecosystem has invested heavily in HTML5 technology within the mobile market, which will in turn provide huge commercial gains for the Pay TV sector as it will have access to the constant and rapid innovation. Adopting DLNA CVP-2 will offer operators, content providers and manufacturers a greater choice of energy-efficient and cost-effective system-on- chip platforms based on the latest ARM CPU, graphics and security technologies.”

Karthik Ranjan, Marketing Director, Operator Relations

AwoX “AwoX is convinced of the great added value for service providers to distribute their TV content and user interface on any regular smart TV and mobile, without requiring them to use an additional set top box,” said Alain Molinié, president of AwoX. “AwoX is committed to delivering software development kits allowing our customers to deploy smart TVs certified to the CVP-2 Guidelines, on a variety of chipsets or operating systems. ”

Alain Molinié, President

Broadcom Corporation “The new CVP-2 standard is an opportunity for service providers and operators to deliver content to more consumer devices,” said Dr. Stephen Palm, Broadcom senior technical director, Broadband Communications Group. “Broadcom applauds DLNA’s efforts to enable reduction of total energy consumption in the home using modular Energy Management and the integration of the IEEE 1905.1 nVoy standard to provide detailed home networking diagnostics.”

Dr. Stephen Palm, Senior Technical Director, Broadband Communications Group

Myriad “The announcement of these CVP-2 Guidelines is an important milestone for DLNA as it provides operators with a standardized, cost-effective way to rapidly reach more devices with premium content securely,” said Olivier Bartholot, vice president of Corporate Development. “Myriad’s modular CVP-2 product provides the ability to connect a wide range of consumer electronics devices, including Android, providing interoperability and access to operator’s premium and cloud based services on any device”.

Olivier Bartholot, Vice President of Corporate Development

Videon “As a provider of middleware and end-user apps, Videon uniquely understands the dual benefit of CVP-2. By allowing users to simply move protected media between devices and offering service providers greater control over the user experience, CVP-2 will enable a full range of content to be shared throughout the home. ”

Scott Kovesdy, Vice President of Marketing and Sales

About DLNA The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a technology standards organization driven to build industry consensus to advance the interoperability of products in consumers’ connected homes. Founded in 2003 with a current membership of more than 250 companies, this unique multi-industry collaboration continues to implement an innovative set of guidelines utilized by service providers, electronics manufacturers, and software developers to provide consistent performance in a connected home environment. Consumers can share and enjoy content, regardless of manufacturer, on a wide variety of products including mobile devices, PCs, set top boxes, AV receivers, game consoles, TVs and more. DLNA has also created a robust certification program which tests and verifies the interoperability of products built to its standards, ensuring consumers that devices branded with the DLNA Certified mark will successfully connect and exchange content. Additional information about the Alliance is available at www.dlna.org. Find the Alliance on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dlnacertified or on Twitter @DLNA. DLNA's leading member companies include ACCESS, ARRIS, AwoX, Broadcom, CableLabs, Comcast, Dolby Laboratories, DTS, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. 

DLNA® to Demonstrate Premium Content Guidelines for Connected Home at IBC 2013

AMSTERDAM, 13 September, 2013 The Digital Living Network Alliance® (DLNA®) will be showcasingits set of connected home standards on the latest DLNA Certified® devices at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC). In addition, the Alliance will be using consumer devices to display DLNA’s Premium Content Guidelines to illustrate how users will be able to receive high-value content from service providers all over the world. As part of this demonstration, DLNA will show devices built to standards for RVU and HTML5 remote user interfaces (RUI), which allow service providers to maintain a consistent user interface with different devices, ensuring consistency in appearance for end users.

Devices used for the demonstrations include the latest DLNA Certified® TVs, media players, set-top boxes, smartphones and tablets from the world’s leading manufacturers.

WHO: Member companies including ACCESS, AirTies, ARM, AwoX, DirecTV, Parrot, Seagate , and SiliconDust will be alongside DLNA representatives to demo the latest advancements in connected home technology.

Additionally, Raffaele de Peppe, the Chair of DLNA ’s European Task Force, will discuss how DLNA is

revolutionizing the way consumers interact with digital content in the connected home on a panel in the Connected Consumer Debates.

WHEN: IBC 2013 will be held September 12 –17, 2013. De Peppe will serve as a panelist for “The ‘Connected World Assembly of Associations’” panel at IBC Connected World taking place on Monday,

September 16 from 3 –4 p.m. CEST in Hall 14.

WHERE: DLNA demonstrations at IBC 2013 will be held in Hall 14, Stand 14.430 at The Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Congress Centre .

WHAT: IBC is the premier annual conference and exhibition for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and media content worldwide. IBC invites more than 50,000 attendees from more than 160 countries in the electronic media and entertainment industry.

About DLNA The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a technology standards organization driven to build industry consensus to advance the interoperability of products in consumers’ connected homes. Founded in 2003

with a membership of more than 250 companies, this unique multi-industry collaboration continues to implement an innovative set of guidelines utilized by service providers, electronics manufacturers, and software developers to provide consistent performance in a connected home environment. Consumers can share and enjoy personal and premium content, regardless of manufacturer, on a wide variety of products including mobile devices, PCs, set top boxes, AV receivers, game consoles, TVs and more. DLNA has also created a robust certification program which tests and verifies the interoperability of products built to its standards, ensuring consumers that devices branded with the DLNA Certified mark will successfully connect and exchange content. Additional information about the Alliance is available at www.dlna.org or find the Alliance on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dlnacertified or on Twitter @DLNA .

DLNA's leading member companies include ACCESS, ARRIS, AT&T, AwoX, Broadcom, CableLabs, Cisco, Comcast, DIRECTV, Dolby Laboratories, DTS, Google, Huawei, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, Time Warner Cable and Verizon.

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DLNA ® Announces Two Additions to Board of Directors

Portland, OR June 6, 2013 – The Digital Living Network Alliance ® (DLNA®) today announced two additions to its Board of Directors . The newly elected Board members from CableLabs® and AwoX join seven other elected individuals from DLNA member companies Broadcom, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Technicolor, Samsung, and Sony. They are chartered with overseeing the development of standards that allow for the sharing of content between consumer electronics products, mobile devices, service provider equipment, and PCs, regardless of manufacturer.

WHO: The two newly elected Board members are Amol Bhagwat, senior architect, Video Systems in the IP Video Technologies Group at CableLabs, and Olivier Carmona, director of technical marketing at AwoX.

Amol Bhagwat has been elected as the new permanent director of the Alliance. Bhagwat is an active DLNA participant and past DLNA board member. He has led the Alliance’s efforts to define DLNA

Premium Video guidelines and their enhancements to enable commercial content over the DLNA ecosystem. Mr. Bhagwat manages several projects within CableLabs that are focused on distribution of cable content and interactive services over the home network.

Olivier Carmona has been elected to the position of director with a set term of two years. Carmona previously served as a representative of the DLNA Board of Directors and is the current chairman of the Compliance and Test Committee. He has led DLNA efforts in driving increased standardization and openness for home networks. At AwoX, Carmona oversees marketing, technical evangelism, and standardization.

WHAT: The DLNA Board of Directors consists of nine individuals from DLNA member companies who oversee and facilitate the cooperation of more than 250 member companies to provide consumers with an interoperable network of consumer electronics, mobile devices, service provider equipment and PCs. DLNA technology enables multi-branded digital products to interoperate and share digital content, making it easier for consumers to connect and enjoy their digital content.

About DLNA Members of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) share a vision of an interoperable network of consumer electronics (CE), personal computers (PC), mobile devices and service providers throughout the home, enabling an environment for sharing and growing new digital media and content services. Founded in 2003, the group established and maintains a platform of interoperability based on open and established industry standards that, when used by manufacturers will support the sharing of media through wired or wireless networks. More than 250 multi-industry companies from around the world have joined DLNA, committing the time and resources necessary to achieve their vision. DLNA's Promoter Members include: ACCESS, AT&T, AwoX, Broadcom, CableLabs, Cisco, Comcast, DIRECTV, Dolby Laboratories, DTS, Google, Huawei, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Nokia, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, Technicolor, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. Additional information about the Alliance, its participating companies and membership benefits is available at www.dlna.org or find the Alliance on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dlnacertified or on Twitter @DLNA .

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