Digital TV Set-Top Box Decline in Price & Size

Broadcasting & Cable reports that the days of the large, $300-plus standard definition digital set-top box appear to be long gone. Set-top vendors Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta both showed small digital set-top boxes at the NCTA show in Atlanta that will sell to cable operators for less than $100.

The digital-only boxes are targeted at operators deploying �digital simulcast� technology that will convert the existing analog tier to all-digital operations. They are also designed to work in conjunction with high-end �multi-room DVR� set-tops that will record and store programming in the living room and then deliver it over a coax-based home network to multiple televisions in the home.

Motorola�s new Digital Cable Client (DCC) 100 set-top is slightly bigger than a paperback book and was shown at NCTA as part of a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) network that linked it to a hi-def DVR equipped set-top, as well as a mobile phone, to allow content sharing between devices.

Motorola spokesman Paul Alfieri says that the company plans to deliver another sub-$100 product, a �MoCA Module,� that would have a coax connection on one side and an Ethernet connection on the other to allow PCs to be easily connected to digital cable set-tops as part of a home network.

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth

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