Motorola DVR media hubs presented at CES

Motorla released a new digital video recorder (DVR) at CES that lets consumers access and share video recordings, video-on-demand (VOD) content, pictures and music in and around the home with the introduction of the new Motorola QIP family of products.

The new Motorola QIP6416 is a high-definition (HD) capable, dual-tuner DVR with watch-and-record capability; the Motorola QIP6200 is a single-HD tuner set-top; and the Motorola QIP2500 is a single-tuner standard-definition model.

These three new Motorola set-tops are the first to include built-in home media networking capabilities. Using a technology known as MoCA (short for Multimedia over Coaxial Alliance), the Motorola QIP set-tops can create a multimedia network using the existing coaxial cable already found in the walls of a consumer's home. This network is capable of transporting high-definition video, high-quality digital voice, and high-speed data to televisions, DVR, game consoles, wireless access points, and home computers.

The products are also unique because they support two different network architectures within the same device, providing service providers with a choice in way they can deliver digital video services into the home: The first supported is the traditional quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) method commonly used today by cable operators, which sends video information to the home over radio frequencies. The second is the newer, emerging video-over-IP method, which delivers video to the home using packets of data.

Verizon Communications is the first Motorola customer to offer QIP series set-tops, as part of the Verizon FiOS TV service now available in parts of Texas, Virginia and Florida. In an agreement previously announced, Motorola is providing video network infrastructure and video consumer premises equipment related to Verizon's launch of video services on the company's new fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. Verizon uses QAM to deliver scheduled programming and IP to deliver on-demand video to FiOS TV customers.