Humax has been selected as a second source for the “Worldbox,” a next-gen class of hybrid QAM/IP video devices from Charter Communications that will support the MSO’s new downloadable conditional access system (DCAS) and its cloud-based interface and applications.

A Charter spokesperson confirmed the selection of Humax, but wouldn’t talk about the financial terms of the agreement or what percentage of Charter’s Worldbox business would be going to the South Korea-based supplier.

But the selection is a clear indicator that Charter intends to source boxes from a variety of suppliers using an “open” downloadable security architecture that is also in use at Cablevision Systems. Samsung Electronics and Humax are among the known vendors Cablevision has picked to supply “Future Services Portal” boxes that utilize its DCAS.

At the International CES earlier this month, Cisco Systems was revealed as the first supplier of the Worldbox, which will initially feature two models -- an HD-DVR and an non-DVR HD client device (the Cisco-made non-DVR model is pictured above). Cisco has been tapped as a “key” supplier of Worldboxes through 2015, providing a “substantial share” of them to Charter, while also supplying the platform’s downloadable conditional access system and digital rights management platform.

Charter hasn’t announced any other Worldbox suppliers. However, Arris hopes to be in the mix, as it will have “equal opportunity to bid on the Worldbox [business], as any other competitor,” Bob Stanzione, Arris’s chairman and CEO, said last week at an investor conference.

 Humax officials have yet to comment for this story, but the selection by Charter obviously gives its U.S. cable ambitions a boost.

Last April, Time Warner Cable announced that it had picked Humax to build the MSO's first device based on the Reference Design Kit (RDK), a preintegrated software stack for video and broadband devices that is being managed by Comcast, TWC, and Liberty Global.  What is not known is how that deal, which centers on an IP-based HD client that can support TWC’s next-gen UI, will carry forward if and when Comcast and TWC complete their proposed merger.

Humax has also been linked to the Xi3, an IP-only, RDK-based client device that Comcast is developing for its X1 platform (a Humax-made model passed through the FCC in 2012). Comcast, however, has been using Xi3s made by U.K.-based Pace for its initial rollout.

Las Vegas – International CES – Charter Communications and Cisco Systems used this week’s gadget-fest to unveil the “Worldbox,” a hybrid IP/QAM video device that will use downloadable security and a cloud-based interface that will serve as central components of the MSO’s next-gen video platform.

The companies also announced that Cisco will serve as  a “key” supplier of the Worldbox through 2015 as well as the device’s downloadable conditional access system (DCAS) and digital rights management platform (Charter will use Cisco’s VideoGuard Server for the DCAS and its VideoGuard DRM for security on client devices).

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Cisco will supply a “substantial share” of Worldboxes while also continue to provide CableCARD boxes to Charter until it migrates current and acquired systems to the new DCAS solution. Execs here said the DCAS in use by Charter shares the same “open” architecture for the downloadable system now deployed by Cablevision Systems.

Here during an event for press and analysts, Charter and Cisco showed off the Worldbox and the cloud-based guide that will grace it. Charter has already developed two versions of the Worldbox – and HD client (pictured) above and an HD-DVR model that will come equipped with 1 terabyte of storage. Both models contain 16x4 DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems, 1 Gigabyte of RAM and USB connections “to enable future applications.”

Charter expects to start deployments of the Worldbox and the new downloadable security system in select markets in “early 2015,” an MSO official said. Charter is currently testing the Spectrum Guide with tens of thousands of customers in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Looking ahead, Charter expects to deploy downloadable security to its current systems this year, and then will continue deployment to acquired systems that will come way of a deal that hinges on the pending Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger.

Charter will also look to deploy the new guide to all set-top boxes across its footprint, including older boxes that don’t speak IP, by leaning on a system from ActiveVideo Networks that processes the guide on the network and send the video content and the interface in an MPEG stream. Update: Zodiac Interactive is supplying the software stack powering the device. 

That network-based approach  “makes every box and every TV in the Charter footprint state-of-the-art,” Tom Rutledge, Charter’s president and CEO, said. It also means Charter won’t have to swap boxes to get its new UI deployed broadly. "Smart networks make dumb screens smart," he added. "We can take any kind of device and make it a sophisticated device." 

Rutledge also talked up the economics of the new platform, calling it a “breakthrough in terms of cost and capability.”

While Cisco is Charter’s initial source for the device, Charter is expected to add others into the mix. Charter said it is working with vendors toward manufacturing compatible boxes for the retail market as well.

The network-based processing system will also pave the way for Charter to render its UI on retail boxes. Here at the show, Charter showed a proof-of-concept of the Spectrum Guide running on a Roku box.

“We are proud to join Charter today to showcase the leading edge IP and cloud-based video solutions they are developing, and the Cisco products at their core, Cisco chairman and CEO John Chambers said in a statement. “We are proud to join Charter today to showcase the leading edge IP Charter’s new video solution, featuring cloud-driven video experiences offered across many devices will be a huge win for Charter subscribers.”