X Media Research has announced a technology conference devoted to set-top boxes (STBs) and the “related technology ecosystem.” Set Top Box 2.0 will take place Dec. 6 in San Jose, Calif.

According to the event's organizers, the event is aimed at:

• Set-top box manufacturers
• Cable, telecom, and satellite companies
• Content aggregators, distributors, and producers
• Software/middleware providers
• Chipset/semiconductor manufacturers

The event's “gold sponsor” is Intel, while “silver sponsors” include Scientific Atlanta and Macrovision.

The conference's website does not yet have a complete agenda or list of speakers, but the information available so far gives a good indication of the event's content. Sessions currently listed include:

• Cross Platform Initiatives Bridging the nth Screen” will discuss intelligent set-top boxes that allow content delivery not only to PCs, cell phones, and other portable devices. The session aims to help attendees “understand the technologies which will enable cross platform initiatives, as well as the business models which will support deployment of these advanced features.”
• “Next Generation STB, What Will It Need to Have to Earn Customer Respect?” will discuss the potential for STBs to become the center of the connected consumer's home. This session, hosted by Macrovision, will discuss what STB manufacturers may need to do differently to finally win over the consumer, according to the organizers.
• “The Here, Now and Future of IP STBs” will review how operators and Cable MSOs can deliver interactive IPTV services, billing customers via integration into their back-end IP Multimedia Subsystem networks. The session will be hosted by Movial, a Finnish company that helps vendors develop Linux-based devices.
• “Applications and Usage Models Enabled by Entertainment Networks,” will discuss whole-home entertainment networks provided by telcos or satellite/cable MSOs. The session aims to explore future applications overlaid onto entertainment networks, and examine their technical requirements.
• In “Set-Top Box as Home Entertainment Server,” the topic will be the “next generation of intelligent set-top boxes that can store, search, manage, transcode, and distribute media throughout the home.” It's said these will be key to helping operators generate additional revenues and reduce churn.
• “Java ME — The Killer Middleware?” will examine Java ME “as an alternative to the complex and technically-limited middlewares on the market today for IPTV.” The session will explore the reasons why browser-based solutions come up so short, and discuss how the browser could still have a role in a Java ME STB for IPTV, cable or satellite IP hybrids.

Registration for the show costs $375 before Nov. 15, and $450 thereafter. For more information, visit the event's website, here.

 
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