Will Dell be selling and supporting the CETON cablecard 4 tuner dvr

A:    It’s been an exciting time at Ceton and we’ve made a number of milestones over the last 8 months on our way to commercial availability of the Multi-Channel Cable TV Card.

• Most importantly, we’ve completed the development process for the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card itself, as well as the testing process with Microsoft for support in Windows 7.
• We’ve added support for Switched Digital Video so the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card will support SDV on Windows 7 PCs via a Tuning Adapter.
• We’ve also adapted the card to a smaller PCIe Low Profile form factor to accommodate slim Entertainment PCs.
• We’ve expanded the product line to include 2-tuner, 4-tuner and 6-tuner versions of the card.
• The 4-tuner version will enter the CableLabs Certification process shortly, which is the final step before we can release it commercially.

A:    The Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card is a first-of-its-kind solution for enabling advanced cable TV services natively on Media Center PCs.

• It supports playing or recording up to 6 high-definition cable TV channels simultaneously, including premium channels, without the need for any cable set-top boxes.
• It also enables secure distribution of all TV programming, including live and recorded shows as well as premium and encrypted channels, to additional TV sets in the home via Media Center extenders.

A:    Initially the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card will be available in a 4-tuner configuration, enabling a single Media Center PC to watch and/or record up to 4 live HD channels at once. Over time we plan to introduce an entry-level 2-tuner version for consumers as well as a premium 6-tuner version for specially pre-configured OEM PCs.

A:    With the recent change in CableLabs licensing, we’re pleased to announce that the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card will be available both as a standalone retail offering as well as bundled in new PCs from leading OEM partners that will be announced in the future.

A:    The Ceton PC card supports the maximum number of TV tuners that are supported in Windows 7:

• Windows 7 Home Premium supports a maximum of 4 tuners
• Windows 7 Professional supports a maximum of 4 tuners
• Windows 7 Ultimate supports a maximum of 4 tuners

Certain OEMs license the Advanced Entertainment Pack (AEP) for Windows, which enables support for more than 4 tuners. The Ceton 6-tuner PC card is a solution for those OEMs and systems.

If Microsoft were to expand the number of tuners supported in Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate to 6 tuners then the 6-tuner Ceton card would be offered on those platforms as well.

A:    The card is expected to be available by Q1 2010

A:    We’re in discussion with a number of OEMs, as well as with other potential partners, and interest has been very high. We haven’t announced our partners yet but expect to in the coming months.

A:    With the recent change in CableLabs licensing, we’re pleased to announce that the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card will be available both as a standalone retail offering, as well as bundled in new PCs. We hope that PC OEMs will offer both pre-configured and upgrade options, though it is ultimately up to them to decide which options work best for their customers

A:    The Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card has been designed for Windows 7 specifically and has been extensively tested with Windows 7 by both Ceton and Microsoft.

We will support the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card on new or upgraded PCs that meet the published system requirements and are running Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate, which are the versions that include the Windows Media Center functionality.

A:    Subject to change: Windows 7 Premium with minimum Intel Pentium Dual Core E5400 or AMD Athlon II X2 240 processor, 4 Gigabytes of RAM, HDPC compliant graphics, and HDMI out or DVI out with sound card.

A:    This is difficult to answer broadly because there physical constraints on many motherboards for PCIe Low Profile cards. The full height card can be used with any motherboard which accepts minimum configuration above.

A:    With the recent change in CableLabs licensing, we’re pleased to announce that the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card will be available both as a standalone retail offering , as well as bundled in new PCs from leading OEM partners that will be announced in the future. Consumers will be able to purchase the standalone retail product to build their own system as long as it meets the published system requirements.

A:    The Ceton PC card supports all digital rights associated with a cable channel, including copy freely.

A:    With the recent announcement by Microsoft and CableLabs that Windows 7 supports Switched Digital Video, we’re pleased to announce that the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card has been designed to support SDV as well via the Switched Digital Video Tuning Adapter available from your cable operator.

A:    A CableCARD is a PCMCIA form factor card you get from your cable operator that enables a device like a PC to receive, display and record encrypted cable TV channels. Devices using a CableCARD can play and record standard- and high-definition cable TV channels -- including premium channels like HBO, Showtime and Starz -- without the need for a separate cable set-top box.

A:    The Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card supports all U.S. cable systems and requires a CableCARD from your local cable operator. CableCARDs differ from cable operator to operator and are obtained directly from the cable operator. You need to contact your operator for the correct card and installation instructions.

A:    The US cable industry has a required certification program that is designed to make sure products like set-top boxes, cable modems, TV tuner cards and other devices that connect to a cable network comply with the relevant cable industry specifications. Once a product has passed the certification process, it becomes CableLabs Certified and can then be sold commercially.

A:    Founded in 1988 by cable operating companies, Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. (CableLabs®) is a non-profit research and development consortium that is dedicated to pursuing new cable telecommunications technologies and to helping its cable operator members integrate those technical advancements into their business objectives.

A:    We appreciate your interest in testing the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card, however the beta program is closed. We expect commercial availability of the card by Q1 2010.

A:    If you purchase a new PC pre-configured with the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card:
If your Ceton card comes bundled with a cable-ready PC from an OEM, the card itself will not require any additional installation. Once you set up your Media Center PC, you will need to contact your local cable company and request a CableCARD that is compatible with the local cable system. They will either send you the card or schedule an installation date (some cable operators still require that they install CableCARDs themselves). Once the CableCARD is installed you would just go through the normal set-up procedures for a Media Center PC and, if applicable, any Media Center extenders you have.

If you purchase the card as a standalone retail product:
Ceton and Microsoft have extensively tested the set-up and installation process for the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card to make it as easy and foolproof as possible. Once the card is physically installed in the PC, you’ll need to download and install the driver from the Ceton website and then run the standard Media Center set-up process, which will recognize the Ceton card and configure the tuners. Once you set up your Media Center PC, you will need to contact your local cable company and request a CableCARD that is compatible with the local cable system. They will either send you the card or schedule an installation date (some cable operators still require that they install CableCARDs themselves). Once the CableCARD is installed you would just go through the normal set-up procedures for a Media Center PC and, if applicable, any Media Center extenders you have.

A:    The Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card takes advantage of standard Media Center Extenders including the Xbox 360 to distribute live and recorded programs to multiple TV sets in the home. No special installation or configuration of the extenders is required by the Ceton card.

Depending on which versions of Windows 7 and the Ceton card you have, you will be able to distribute either 2, 4 or 6 live TV channels around the home with a single CableCARD installed and using a single RF connection.

So in a typical 4-tuner home installation, you could have 4 different TV sets in 4 different rooms, each watching or recording (or some combination of watching and recording) a different show in HD at the same time.

Of course you could have other configurations as well such as the following with the 4 tuner card:

• 1 TV set watching live TV while the Media Center DVR records 3 other shows at the same time (4 live streams total)
• Four HD channels recording on 1 TV set while other TVs in the home are playing back previously recorded shows.
• 2 TV sets each recording 2 live shows at once (4 live streams total)
• 2 TV sets watching a different live channels each, while 2 other TV sets are each recording 1 different show to the DVR (4 live streams total)

A:    We recommend a wired Ethernet or coax (MoCA) network be used between the Media Center PC and any other devices connected by Media Center Extenders. In order to send high-definition content from the Media Center PC to other TVs in the home without degrading the quality of the picture, you will need bandwidth and quality of service that exceeds the capabilities of most WiFi networks today.