Applications
Tandberg Television brings IPTV video head-ends to Globalcomm 2006
MUMBAI: The Globalcomm 2006 to be held in Chicago this month will see Tandberg Television making its advances in the global standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) IPTV video head-end market.
With the recent acquisition of SkyStream, Tandberg Television comes to Globalcomm with expanded compression capabilities. The acquisition combines two highly-complementary technology lines, providing Tandberg Television with increased encoding density and new transcoding solutions and expanding its premium SD video quality and HD AVC encoding. Thus, it is able to provide the industry with the broadest and most flexible IPTV video head-end solution set, informs an official release.
The expanded range of Tandberg Television IPTV products is designed to provide both large and small telcos with the necessary choice and flexibility to efficiently advance their IPTV service roll-outs. The enlarged product line, packaged in telco or broadcast chassis form factors, presents the industry‘s widest selection of encoding and video processing technologies for streaming, transrating, transcoding, high density encoding and premium encoding with solutions that are shipping today for standard definition and high definition MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and SMPTE VC-1, adds the release.
As a result of the acquisition, Tandberg Television‘s Globalcomm booth will show fully operational SD and HD IPTV video head-ends with a number of new innovations including:
— Unified IPTV head-end control and management with Tandberg nCompass will provide integrated control for all Tandberg IPTV solutions, enabling telcos to save money through improved operational efficiency.
— Advancements in Picture in Picture (PiP) with the launch of SD PiP on the NEBS-certified, telco-designed Mediaplex and iPlex platforms, as well as SD and HD PiP on the Tandberg premium encoding range.
— Launch of a new HD encoder designed to meet the needs of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 Telco/IOC markets. Called the Tandberg EN5960, the HD platform has been well-received initially with several successful U.S. carrier deployments already completed. The EN5960 extends Tandberg Television‘s market leadership in HDTV.
Tandberg Television will also continue its tradition of open integration by working with leading systems integrators, middleware providers and consumer device manufacturers to provide operators with complete systems. The Globalcomm booth will include live demonstrations with both Myrio TotalManage, Myrio Interactive and Microsoft TV IP-TV Edition middleware and leading set-top box vendors.
Tandberg Television EVP Jim Olson said, “Globalcomm will see Tandberg Television cement its lead as the IPTV compression powerhouse. Our unique offering of choice and flexibility enables operators to mix and match their head-end infrastructure investment to maximize utilization of existing network infrastructures (SONET, ATM and IP), to leverage increased bandwidth efficiencies and to select the most appropriate video compression performance and density to support picture quality requirements on a per channel/per program basis.”
“What‘s more we will show telcos at Globalcomm how they can integrate our IPTV video head-end systems with our range of revenue-generating solutions for advanced IPTV services. These include Push/Pull video on-demand, interactive television, mobile TV and ad insertion, all of which will truly differentiate a telco‘s offering from standard cable services in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets,” he added.
HD and SD Picture-in-Picture
According to the release, Tandberg Television is showcasing its latest developments in Picture-in-Picture (PiP) technology that increase operator options for real consumer benefits, such as enabling second channel live viewing, advanced video mosaics, next-generation video programming guides, user configurable multi-view screens and the simultaneous delivery of content to mobile, handheld or web streaming devices.
Tandberg Television will launch SD PiP on both the iPlex and Mediaplex video head-ends. These carrier-class platforms are complete head-end systems in a single chassis that enables a new level of converged services over any last mile access infrastructure (xDSL, FTTx, and CATV). The Mediaplex and iPlex video platforms are the industry‘s first fully-integrated switched digital video head-ends to deliver MPEG-4 AVC encoding, MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 AVC transcoding, PIP encoding, transrating, remultiplexing and routing. With flexibility, and highly-dense capacity of up to 48 MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 AVC encoders or transcoders, Tandberg Television‘s Mediaplex and iPlex platforms can distribute hundreds of high-quality video channels in multiple formats and rates to millions of subscribers simultaneously.
In addition, HD PiP capabilities will be shown on the Tandberg premium HD platform. Delivering outstanding quality and 3-in-1 resolution choices, the Tandberg EN5990 encoder is able to output MPEG-4 AVC HD main video (either 720p or 1080i), “HD-PIP” which is user selectable with resolutions from 192×192, SIF through to full resolution SD running between 256Kbit/s -> 5Mbit/s and “Micro-PIP” with 96×96 (PAL) / 96×80 (NTSC) resolution. This ability to deliver a full resolution SD version of the HD channel opens up several possibilities for broadcasters and operators and enables a number of HD user multiview applications. With HD source in and both HD and SD versions of the same channel out, SD only subscribers would get a chance to see the HD channel content. Tandberg Television has been shipping SD PiP in its premium EN5920 and EN5930 MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 encoders since last year
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
