The news this week seemed to hinge on user consumption trends for cable and video services, starting with an interesting piece of research: The “man’s best friend” status has traditionally been claimed by our canine companions, but something entirely more technological (and less in need of maintenance) is apparently questing after the role: in a new national consumer study, many Americans said they see their TV sets less as entertainment devices and more as companions, with 60 percent of U.S. consumers leaving the TV on whether they're actively watching or not. The survey found that Americans are continuing to redefine their relationship with television, to the point of incorporating it into the most personal of life’s moments. In fact, more than a fifth (22 percent) admitted to watching or listening to the TV while they are intimate with their partners. And for some (35 percent), their relationship with their TV is so strong they'd rather watch the same show at the same time as a family members or roommates, but in a separate room. And, the majority of people (55 percent) talk to the TV during programs and sporting events.

To read all of the study results, please click here.

Meanwhile, the needs of leisure travelers are changing, and hoteliers the world over are providing guests with premium content that is no longer a luxury, but a must-have. Samsung (News - Alert) is leaping into the space with equipment that integrates Samsung’s LYNX DRM into a company’s smart box or other headend solution. Hoteliers can choose equipment from DISH Network, Pico Digital, Technicolor (News - Alert) and Video Propulsion.

Samsung LYNK DRM technology allows encrypted content to pass safely and to display on hotel TV. This provides hoteliers a cost-effective alternative protection system, significantly reducing expenses, while maintaining system integrity and security. Hoteliers can thus produce more content with a smaller footprint.

Check out all of the angles in our full analysis.

ARRIS has made a win in the home gateway space. Consolidated Communications is coupling the ARRIS Whole Home Solution with the Converge Media Management Suite for its Kansas City subscribers. The ARRIS Whole Home Solution enables subscribers to record as many as six HD channels simultaneously and delivers 75 hours of HD recording. As it supports multi-room viewing, the solution offers a converged entertainment experience across the home. Also, users can browse the Internet and overlay specified content such as sports, weather information and more.

The deployment details can be found here.

Also in the ARRIS-hybrid TV continuum, the company also announced that it has partnered with Wurl to debut an open platform for cable operators that merges over-the-top (OTT) content with traditional programming services on the company’s set-top boxes. ARRIS initially introduced Arris (News - Alert) Market after engaging with several cable service providers to understand and define their desired apps. It uses HTML5 for customizing genres, tailoring the store front, implementing specific apps, and other custom requests.

In addition, pay TV operators can use Wurl's APIs and hosted apps to provide their subscribers with unified linear plus OTT programming services delivered through traditional set-top boxes and other connected devices.

To find out more about the platform, click here.

Heading to India, Hathway Cable and Telecom, India's largest cable broadband service provider, recently selected Broadcom’s (News - Alert) DOCSIS 3.0-based chipset to power its new high-speed broadband offer. Officials said that Hathway is the first multi-system operator to launch a DOCSIS 3.0 network in India, which is capable of transmitting data at speeds greater than 300Mbps. “Broadcom's advanced DOCSIS 3.0 chipsets provided the innovation we needed to cost-effectively upgrade our equipment and meet growing consumer demand for on-demand video consumption to our subscribers across the country," said Jayant Changrani, Hathway’s president of technology.

For full details on the rollout, click here.

Capacity for storing recorded TV shows for viewing later has become a differentiation point for many pay-TV providers and standalone set-top box providers, especially with many families having different queues for different members. VBox Communications has announced an unusual approach to DVR capacity: its TV gateways now support whole-house recording of live TV to a Windows network shared folder or Network Attached Storage (NAS).

This new capability gives users expanded storage for content that can then be easily viewed from any device on the home network. The feature allows users to schedule future recordings, or record live TV, directly to a Windows network shared folder on a PC, or to NAS devices on the home network.

VBox launched its line of TV gateways in February 2014, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The device receives broadcast live TV from subscription terrestrial, cable and satellite sources, converts the signal to IP at the consumer's home, and streams it across the home network to any connected device, alongside (over the top) OTT content.

Read more about the functionality by clicking here.

And finally, as the media and entertainment advertising sectors continue to evolve, Float Left Interactive and Newsmax Media have announced that Newsmax Media's Newsmax TV has expanded its soft launch of the new multi-platform news and information channel to Android, smartphone, and OTT devices, making it available to an estimated 100 million devices nationwide. Float Left Interactive TV app solutions allow Newsmax TV’s audience to access the channel whenever they want, regardless of their Android device (e.g., phones, tablets or Google (News - Alert) TV). Newsmax TV was available to 35 million satellite homes and businesses when it soft launched in mid-June, targeting an audience of more than 80 million Baby Boomers. It offers independent news with a mainstream conservative tilt.

For more information, click here.

To check out more details on all of this and more, visit our homepage. And have a great weekend!