S3 Group said it has been selected by Kabel Deutschland, the largest cable operator in Germany, to automate the testing of multiscreen services across consumer premises equipment platforms, including Apple iOS and Google’s Android OS devices.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but Kabel Deutschland will use S3’s StormTest Development Center to integrate the testing of its TV services, including mobile video applications into its test framework.

S3 said the agreement announced Tuesday, made in concert with this week’s ANGA COM conference in Cologne, marks an expansion of the use of Development Center in Kabel Deutschland.

“Subscribers want a great user experience, regardless of the device being used. By integrating all devices into our existing test framework Kabel Deutschland will be able to test feature updates and new services faster,” said Bernd Hansen, Teamleiter Service Management at Kabel Deutschland, in a statement. “In particular, mobile video application testing with StormTest will give us a reliable, repeatable, and automated method to assure the quality of multiscreen user experience.”

“The modern television experience is now inherently multiscreen,” added John Maguire, chief strategy officer, TV Technology, at S3 Group. “This is challenging contemporary service delivery methods, requiring more efficient processes, and agile development methods. With StormTest Development Center we will enable Kabel Deutschland to deliver new services and features at Internet speed.”

Kabel Deutschland is also a licencee of the Reference Design Kit, the preintegrated software stack for IP and hybrid QAM/IP set-tops and gateways being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Time Warner Cable.  RDK Management is using S3 to oversee its code management function. 

In addition to KD, S3 Group’s customers include Astro, BT, Comcast, Liberty Global, Mediacom, RDK Management LLC, Sky, Swisscom, Time Warner Cable, and Videotron, among others. 

Vodafone will push ahead with its plans to rebrand Kabel Deutschland, the German MSO it acquired in the fall of 2013.

Vodafone will drop the KD name later this year, Jens Schulte-Bockum, CEO of Vodafone Deutschland, told German business newspaper Handelsblatt,according to Broadband TV News. Plans for the pending brand change emerged last summer.

“We are currently preparing the detailed plans for this move. The name Vodafone will in future also stand for competence in cable,” the Vodafone exec told the pub.

Among recent activities, Vodafone’s Germany cable subsidiary is working with Cisco Systems to develop a cloud-based video service that will be ready to go during the operator’s 2016/2017 fiscal year. More details are expected to be shared at the IFA conference this fall. 

KD is also a card-carrying member of the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software bundle for cable set-tops and broadband devices. KD was named an RDK licensee in February 2014.

Kabel Deutschland, the largest cable operator in Germany, has lined up a partnership with Cisco Systems whereby the Vodafone-owned MSO will tap the vendor to develop a next-gen, cloud-based video service.

The multiscreen platform will be market-ready during KD’s 2016/2017 fiscal year, with more details to be unveiled at the IFA conference in September.

Though the debut of KD’s service is a ways off, it will aim to offer converged access to broadcast TV, on-demand content, as well as catch-up and other time-shifted TV that will be fed by a new video hub and other Cisco-made video devices that will be tied together by a unified interface.

KD and Cisco did not provide more technical detail, but a source said it’s likely that that the new platform will utilize the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for hybrid and IP-based devices that’s being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global. An emerging form of the RDK, commonly called RDK-B, will also work with cable broadband devices such as modems and voice/data gateways.

KD has already shown a strong interest in the RDK. Last February, the MSO announced that it had licensed the platform, noting that the time that the RDK is “one of the most positive and promising developments in terms of standardization across device platforms. The addition of other licensees, such as Active Video Networks, have helped to bring more cloud-facing components to the RDK.

Here’s another sampling of what else is making news as the IBC show (September 11-16) gets rolling in Amsterdam (please go here for our first IBC news roundup):

-Media data management and analytics company Mediamorph has raised a $10 million in a  Series B found led by Liberty Global Ventures, with help from  Smedvig Capital, an existing Mediamorph investor. Mediamorph, which has raised $23 million so far according to Crunchbase (Mediamorph confirmed that figure), said it expects to close the round soon, with the participation of one or two more additional investors. The latest round, “will help us invest in our data management platform and bring on key hires to further scale our business,” Rob Gardos, the recently named CEO of Mediamorph, said in a statement.

-Elliptic Technologies said it is working with CableLabs to provide a reference implementation for DLNA’s CVP-2 (Commercial Video Profile-2) specs that utilizes Elliptic’s tVault for DTCP-IP (Digital Transmission Content Protection over Internet Protocol)  security system. DLNA just unveiled “VidiPath” as the consumer-facing brand and label for a certification program that will test CE video devices, including retail products, that are capable of supporting an MVPD’s full suite of services and user interface. Elliptic and CableLabs will provide a CVP-2 server reference design that uses Elliptic’s security and will facilitate client testing and the interoperability of VidiPath/CVP-2 devices.

-Cisco Systems said it’s expanding its Videoscape Virtualized Video Processing (V2P) system to virtualize and orchestrate the key functions required to deliver multiscreen video. Instead of requiring pay-TV operators to hardwire optimized gear for each type of screen, Cisco claims that its new orchestrated approach creates a common pool of hardware and software for multiscreen delivery.

-Broadcom has unleashed a family of eight hybrid satellite/terrestrial broadcast chipsets for set-top boxes that support High Efficiency Video Compression (HEVC)/H.265, a codec that is billed as 50% more bandwidth-efficient than MPEG-4/H.264. Broadcom said it’s also combining HEVC with the modulation efficiencies of DVB-S2, DVB-T2 (terrestrial standard for Europe and South Africa) , ISDB-T (terrestrial standard for Brazil, Latin America, the Philippines, Botswana and Japan) and ATSC (North America and Korea), and home-side IP connectivity using the 2.0 version of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance standard.

-IneoQuest Technologies said it has inked a deal to supply  video headend monitoring systems to Kabel Deutschland, the largest cable operator in Germany. KD’s systems connect about 8.3 million homes.

-Accedo has launched Accedo VIA, a next-gen multiscreen platform for PCs, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and gaming consoles. Accedo stitched VIA together in tandem with several tech partners, including DivX, Elemental Technologies, Movideo, MPP, NexStreaming, NXP Software, Ooyala, PayWizard, Comcast-owned thePlatform, Verimatrix, Vimond, VisualOn and Xstream.

S3 Group said Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s largest cable operator, has selected the vendor’s StormTest Development Center to provide service validation testing on a range of consumer premises equipment.

Under the deal, KD will tap the test platform for both test and product environment, including live service monitoring, channel lineup validation, and A/V and caption quality assurance. S3 noted that its platform will interface with Kabel Deutschland’s headend to validate video service configurations, and integrate with CPE to test services and simulate subscriber viewing experiences prior to deployment.

“S3 Group’s end-to-end service validation platform enables us to replace time-consuming manual tests with more accurate, efficient and repeatable test cycles across our device platforms and software configurations,” said Bernd Hansen, KD’s teamleiter, service management.

KD, which supplies services to about 8.4 million homes passed, announced in February that it had licensed the Reference Design Kit (RDK), a preintegrated software stack for IP-capable set-tops and gateways being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.

In addition to KD, S3 Group’s customers also include Astro, BSkyB, BT, Comcast, Liberty Global, Mediacom, Swisscom, Time Warner Cable, Videotron and RDK Management, the joint venture of Comcast, TWC, and Liberty Global that is managing the Reference Design Kit for IP-capable set-tops and gateways. Of recent note, Dublin-based S3 opened a new office in Philadelphia to support new and existing business in the region and to accommodate growth it’s seeing in the domestic cable sector.