Here’s another batch of news briefs as the IBC show in Amsterdam nears the finish line.

Complete Coverage: IBC 2016

-SeaChange International has introduced NitroX, a new user experience for a wide range of platforms, including Android TV, iOS, Android mobile devices, and set-tops equipped with SeaChange’s Nucleus video gateway software and based on the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the software stack for video and broadband CPE that’s being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications.  SeaChange said NitroX supports live TV as well as various free, subscription and advertising based VOD content, and multiple user profiles.

-Berlin-based telecommunications research institute Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI and satellite services provider SES are showing the transmission of virtual reality content over satellite to multiple devices.  The 10K by 2K panoramic video signal, featured at the SES booth, is being relayed directly to an UltraHD TV and VR head-sets for attendees. B&C has more.

Digital security company Irdeto and Scenarist, a maker of multi-format authoring tools, have teamed to provide studios and other content owners with access to a forensic watermarking platform for Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. The combo integrated Irdeto’s TraceMark content-tracking security platform with Scenarist’s Ultra HD Blu-ray authoring system. They said they collaborated with Twentieth Century Fox to develop the technology and ensure that meets the MovieLabs specification for Enhanced Content Protection (ECP).

-Elemental Technologies, the cloud video processing acquired by Amazon Web Services last year for $296 million, said it provided the encoding platform for the capturing of a live streamed 360-degree video concert – the Red Hot Chili Peppers’s performance last week Tuesday (September 6) in Berlin. The concert was captured by four Nokia OZ VR cameras and fed to an Elemental Live 4K encoder for a live stream that was distributed on YouTube.   The event was staged as part of Deutsche Telekom’s Street Gigs concert series, and coincided with IFA, Germany’s leading technology trade fair, which made Google Cardboard VR viewers available.

-Cisco Systems has introduced Cisco Security for Video, a platform being billed as an open and automated approach to security for IP and cloud-based video production and delivery for service providers and media partners. The platform features elements such as VideoGuard Everywhere, the company’s conditional access and multi-DRM system, and streaming piracy prevention tools that identify, verify and eliminate online streaming piracy that can be integrated with open APIs Announced customers for this include Eastlink of Canada; LeCloud the cloud computing and data processing unit of LeEco; Sky; and Sony Pictures Networks India.

-Multiscreen video specialist Kaltura has updated its MediaGo OTT TV user app for iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, as well as Web and connected devices such as the Amazon Fire and Android TV. The new MediaGo template app enables partners to launch OTT services on up to 10 devices out of the chute, the company said.  Other supported platforms include Apple TV, Roku and Xbox, and smart TV ecosystems.

-Massive Interactive has teamed with IBM Cloud Video to offer a platform designed to simplify video logistics management for streaming services that relies on the Massive AXIS platform, which centrally manages, schedules and updates content and UIs across multiple devices. Massive noted that it and IBM Cloud Video will support Lionsgate as it extends the reach of Comic-Con HQ to more connected platforms.

Here’s another batch of news and announcements from the IBC Show that’s underway in Amsterdam.

Complete Coverage: IBC 2016

-Canadian operator Eastlink has tapped the Cisco Systems cloud-based Infinite Video Platform to underpin an Eastlink Stream app that supports live streaming and VOD across a range of devices. Cisco’s platform also uses VideoGuard Everywhere technology to protect content on smartphones, tablets and PCs.

-Philippines-based operator PLDT has licensed the Roku platform to support the launch of a new streaming service and player. PLDT is the fifth operator to sign on for the Roku Powered program, and is the first one in Asia to take that step, Roku said. PLDT’s streaming service and streaming player are expected to launch during Q2 2017 and combine  local Philippines content from Cignal and iflix with content from global providers

-Wurl, a company that specializes in streaming services for pay TV operators, said it is showing its Wurl TV Network broadband channels on platforms from several new partners, including Cisco Systems’ Snowflake guide for MVPDs, Espial’s G4 platform and its Moxi guide (acquired from Arris); Nagra/OpenTV’s IntuiTV guide, and ActiveVideo’s cloud-based platform (ActiveVideo is co-owned by Arris and Charter Communications).

-Altice-owned Portugal Telecom has selected the Arris VIP5662EW Ultra HD set-top for its new MEO 4K service. The wireless device supports the HEVC codec, which is about 50% more bandwidth efficient than MPEG-4/H.264.

-IneoQuest and Conviva have forged a technical partnership focused on enabling high-quality OTT video experiences by combining Conviva’s consumer-side Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement products with IneoQuest’s content preparation and delivery performance quality measurement systems. The combo, they said, will provide an “end-to-end view of Internet video delivery, pinpointing the exact location and root cause of streaming issues.”

Separately, Conviva said Level 3 Communications has signed on as a content delivery network (CDN) collaborator for its QoE Ecosystem Analytics initiative. That gives Level 3 key experience statistics by region and platform type, as well as metrics such as video start time and latency, Conviva said.

-Nokia has launched a multiscreen advertising solution platform that supports targeted ad placements for linear TV, time-shifted TV and video on demand. Nokia said the offering, called the Velocix Multiscreen Advertising Solution, is in trials with several operators in the United States, and supports a variety of ad decision servers including Cadent Technology's (formerly BlackArrow) Central  and Campaign systems.

-Video download specialist Penthera said it has released a new version of its Cache&Carry platform featuring Fastplay, a “buffer-free” video launcher, and support for Apple FairPlay and Google Widevine Digital Rights Management during streaming, downloading and offline playback.

-Japan Digital Service Corp. is using Ericsson’s cloud-powered MediaFirst suit to underpin an OTT platform for cable operators across Japan. The solution suite includes the Ericsson MediaFirst TV Platform, MediaFirst Video Processing, MediaFirst Video Delivery and Video and Storage Processing Platform (VSPP). Additionally, Ericsson will provide JDS with system integration services and ongoing support and consultation. JDS today offers  traditional multi-channel broadcast programs (about 200 channels in UHD, HD and SD) to more than 200 individual cable operators with a combined 6 million subscribers.

-ContentWise said it will integrate its video personalization system with the Alticast AltiPlex SDP (Service Delivery Platform) and AltiPlatform middleware to provide pay-TV and OTT operators.

-BT TV has selected the Accenture Video Solution (AVS) platform to support its current and future BT TV offerings, including BT Sport. Accenture said its platform support both live streaming and video-on-demand on multiple devices including smartphones, tablets and computers.

-Reality Check Systems (RCS) has taken an equity stake in Singular, a company that creates real-time graphics for OTT productions.  Financial terms were not released, but tied to the investment, RCS will collaborate with Singular on the development of Singular Live, a cloud-based platform for creating and delivering personalized, interactive graphics across a range of connected devices. Singular Live is slated for commercial launch in Q1 2017. 

Nagra and Samsung have jointly introduced TVkey, a USB-based direct-to-TV security platform for pay TV operators that enables consumers to sign up and pay for TV services directly on Samsung TVs.

Nagra said the device meets all key MovieLabs requirements for Enhanced Content Protection, a component required by Hollywood for 4K/UHD and High Dynamic Range HDR fare, movies offered in early release windows and other high-value content.

The product’s framework is based on a Nagra-designed root of trust in TV chips that communicates securely with the TVkey device. It also use hardware-based watermarking and operator-controlled device service revocation, the company said.

Nagra said TVkey will open up several customer acquisition models and options for pay TV operators, including retail bundling with TV sets and special content packages.  It can also be made to support free preview periods without the need for a separate set-top box.

The first TVkey market deployment will occur in Q4 2016, with multiple “leading pay-TV operators across two continents” slated to launch TVkey-based services in 2017, the companies said.

Samsung is the first announced TV partner, but the platform’s “framework” will be made available to other TV makers and security vendors.  

As part of that plan, Nagra and Samsung plan next year to create an “independent”  TVkey Trust Authority to license the TVkey technology to others.

Nagra will show off TVkey at next week’s IBC show in Amsterdam. 

Taking aim at the gigabit home, AirTies Wireless Networks has introduced a new whole-home WiFi system based on the Air4830 access point.

AirTies, which is pitching a platform based on multiple APs, taps into the company’s WiFi mesh platform and supports 2 Gbps of total wireless data via 4x4 11ac Wave 2 Mu-MIMO technology at 5GHz simultaneously along with 2x2 11n technology at 2.4 GHz. The product also ties in a “Client Steering” technology that helps device connect to the best available access point.

RELATED: Sky Meshes With Whole-Home Video

AirTies announced it just ahead of IBC, noting that the Air 4830 will be commercially available by year-end.

AirTies’s strategy is largely based on deals with cable operators and other types of service providers. It has an installed base of more than 15 million devices worldwide, and has partners that include Sky (including Sky Q in the UK, Germany, Austria, and Italy), Vodafone, Singtel, Midco, Swisscom,  and, of recent note, Frontier Communications.

NeuLion and Nokia have inked a partnership whereby NeuLion will help to distribute virtual reality and video 360 content captured with Nokia’s OZO VR camera and player software platform. 

Working with content owners and content rights holders, they will offer a jointly integrated platform that allows for a single stitched live video feed from OZO cameras to be sent directly to NeuLion MC Encoders for packaging and delivery to VR apps via the Internet using NeuLion’s Digital Platform.

They said they will demo the integrated offering at next month’s IBC show in Amsterdam.

Nokia’s OZO is a spherical camera with eight sensors and eight microphones for the capture and post-production of 360 video and VR content. NeuLion and Nokia noted that they recently captured a live event using OZO, which was positioned inside the arena.

“We are excited to partner with NeuLion to provide their customers with an integrated solution to deliver 360 and VR experiences over-the-top,” Tarif Sayed, director of business development for Live VR & the OZO Player SDK for Nokia, said in a statement.

“Now that live 360 video and virtual reality are hitting the mainstream, you need an end-to-end platform that includes production and delivery to make it happen. We are excited to be working with Nokia on this new capability,” added Roy Reichbach, president and CEO of NeuLion.