DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) is moving closer to pay TV nirvana by testing a "receiver-less" home media center concept based on an RVU-based technology. If all goes well with the trial, the company will begin a nationwide rollout in October, removing the need for consumers to have a set-top box for every television in their home.
RVU is a consumer electronics industry-backed technology that enables a gateway device like an advanced set-top box to work with client devices such as connected TVs, Blu Ray players and other set-top boxes. It was developed by the RVU Alliance (RVUA), whose membership, in addition to DirecTV, includes Broadcom, Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), Samsung and Verizon (NYSE: VZ). DirecTV is using an RVU-enabled server (HR34) and a new platform to feed signals to its home media clients and RVU compatible televisions, the satellite provider said.
"The DirecTV Home Media Center is going to simplify the way our customers watch television throughout their homes and give them access not only to their favorite content in HD and DVR functionality on each television, but to a consistent feature-rich user interface, no matter what room they are in," Romulo Pontual, DirecTV's executive vice president and CTO said in a news release.
For more:
- see this news release
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