Imagine Communications has appointed Jamie Howard as president and CEO. According to the company, Howard has over 20 years of senior management experience in the digital media, cable and broadband communications industries, and has successfully led the launch of new digital TV, voice and data services by a number of start-ups and large, established companies. Most recently, Howard was COO of BigBand Networks (note: Imagine co-founders, Doron Segev and Ron Gutman, are also former BigBand executives). He was also one of the founding executives of @Home Network, and subsequently served as president and CEO of @home Benelux. He also served as president and CEO of VoIP technology and service provider, Bazillion. In addition, his resume includes executive engineering and general management positions at a number of tier-one MSO's in major markets, including TCI in Chicago and Continental in Los Angeles. Among other honors, he is a recipient of the US Cable Television Industry Trade Association NAMIC Lifetime Achievement Award.
In June, Imagine unveiled the first in what it says will be a series of 
"PersonalizedTV" platforms: the QOD Gateway, which is designed to enable operators to deliver services such as VOD, HD VOD, targeted advertising and personalized audio "on a massive scale." The company claims that the QOD Gateway incorporates a novel, third-generation method of video processing and statistical multiplexing for standard- and high-definition VOD. It says that the product allows up to 15 Variable Bit Rate (VBR) VOD streams to share the same 256 QAM channel, with equivalent quality to today's maximum of 10 Constant Bit Rate (CBR) VOD streams. Similarly, the company claims, the product allows three HD VOD VBR streams to occupy a 256 QAM channel as opposed to today's maximum of two HD VOD CBR streams. In addition, it says, the product allows standard- and high-definition streams to be mixed and matched within the same QAM channel. According to Imagine, the QOD Gateway runs on off-the-shelf hardware available from multiple suppliers. While the product is initially optimized for VOD applications, future software releases will apply its core technology to real-time media processing applications, including switched digital video, IPTV, targeted ad insertion, network PVR, personalized audio and more, while adding various new features personalized to the individual subscriber, Imagine says.
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