TiVo said it has renewed an agreement with J:COM, Japan’s largest cable operator, in the form of a multi-year license for TiVo’s G-Guide and other intellectual property.

TiVo said the new license agreement covers J:COM’s cable VOD service, and has been expanded to cover OTT subscribers accessing content on mobile devices and PCs. G-Guide is an HTML5-based guide, and an "xD" implementation is a mobile version for smartphones and tablets. 

TiVo said the agreement also extends to J:COM’s license to cover its over-the-top subsidiaries. Financial terms were not disclosed.

RELATED: TiVo, Roku Strike Multi-Year Patent Deal

TiVo manages OTT assets that are tucked into the Intellectual Ventures (IV) patent portfolio. That came into play in February 2016, when Rovi, prior to its merger with TiVo, and IV announced an agreement in which their patents and intellectual property would be managed under a unified licensing program.

J:COM, Japan’s largest cable operator, has tapped Ericsson for a next-gen, multiscreen TV service that will utilize Ericsson’s cloud-powered MediaFirst platform.

J:COM’s new offering, to become available to about 3.7 million subscribers, will also feature hybrid set-tops that use the Reference Design Kit (RDK), a preintegrated software stack that’s managed by a joint venture of Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (coming way of Charter’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable).

RELATED: Ericsson Connects With The RDK

In addition to providing personalization features and a cloud-based interface, the new platform will also support Ultra HD content, they said.

Ericsson, which announced the deal ahead of this week’s IBC show in Amsterdam, said the basic design phase for J:COM’s new offering will get underway in Q4 2017.

The deal marks a significant win for Ericsson’s MediaFirst platform, which is also being used by Canada’s Telus for a new IPTV service called Pik TV that runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered set-top.

RELATED: Telus Soft-Launches Skinny Bundle IPTV Service

“Consumers have more choice than ever before and it is therefore imperative that we stand out from the crowd to remain competitive in an ever-cluttered TV landscape, Hirohiko Imura president of J:COM, said in a statement. “We believe that a seamless and personalized TV Everywhere service will enable J:COM to create that distinction. By deploying Ericsson MediaFirst TV Platform, we will have access to a range of uniquely intelligent, high performance solutions that will help us to transform our television offering and strengthen our position at the forefront of TV innovation.”

ActiveVideo, the cloud video joint venture of Arris and Charter Communications, said it has notched a deal to help Japan’s J:COM roll out a new “web-like” VOD interface for the operator’s already deployed set-top boxes.

They said the new user experience will feature snappier response times and integrate personalized searches, without requiring J:COM to change out its set-top boxes.

J:COM is enabling it using ActiveVideo’s virtualized CloudTV GuideCast technology, which renders the HTML5 user interface in the cloud and delivers it to boxes as an MPEG video stream that can be supported by QAM-only or IP-capable boxes that are outfitted with the CloudTV Nano client module.

RELATED: ActiveVideo Gives VTR’s VOD Platform a Boost

The J:COM deployment is a significant one for ActiveVideo, which was acquired in 2015 by an Arris-Charter joint venture and also works with other MVPDs such as Altice USA, Liberty Global and Deutsche Telekom. Arris holds a 65% of the J.V. and serves as the sales channel for ActiveVideo's CloudTV platform outside of sales to Charter.

RELATED: Arris, Charter Close $135M ActiveVideo Acquisition

J:COM serves about 5.28 million homes in the Sapporo, Sendai, Kanto, Kansai, and Kyushu-Yamaguchi regions. It's been a known customer of ActiveVideo's, but today's announcement marks the deployment phase of their relationship.

“The user interface is the customer’s point of entry to our on-demand library,” said Masaaki Agaya, GM, service planning division at J:COM, in a statement. “The power of the cloud has enabled us to offer our subscribers a next-generation UX that overnight is opening the door to engaging new viewing experiences on the same familiar set-top boxes.”

“J:COM’s success is further proof of how STB virtualization allows operators to rapidly transform user experiences for every subscriber by enabling delivery of faster, larger and more intuitive user experiences,” added Jeff Miller, president and CEO of ActiveVideo.

Casa Systems said Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM), Japan’s largest cable operator, are getting a bit tighter on the tech front. 

Casa said J:COM will tap its C100G converged cable access platform (CCAP) for the convergence of its data and video services on a unified platform. CCAPs are high-density platforms that support both the functions of the cable modem termination system and the edge QAM. 

Last April, J:COM picked Casa’s DOCSIS 3.1-capable C100G to support the rollout of broadband service that topped out at 320 Mbps in the downstream. 

J:COM’s deployment of Casa’s CCAP began earlier this year. J:COM serves over 5 million households. 

“Casa has proven its ability to deliver fully converged, commercial services over a CCAP,” Kazuhiko Masuda, J:COM’s senior corporate officer and GM of the MSO’s technology unit, said in a statement. “Now, we will be able to provide both video and data over one platform while reducing OPEX and network complexity.” 

Casa, which has been chasing Arris and Cisco Systems in the cable access network market, also counts customers such as Mediacom Communications, Wave Broadband and DNA, Finland’s largest operator. Time Warner Cable (now part of Charter Communications) has also been working with Casa.