The global installed base of connected TV devices, including smart TVs, videogame consoles, Blu-ray players, digital media adapters and set-top boxes, has reached a billion units and will double over the next five years, Strategy Analytics said in a report (http://bit.ly/TSsDzL). Other findings: (1) Internet connectivity was found in 87 percent of all consumer electronics devices shipped in 2013; (2) Globally, the average home owns 2.8 connected CE devices, with the highest average ownership in the U.S. at 7.7 devices; (3) Global retail spending on CE products will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2017; (4) Average annual global retail spending per home on all CE products grew 2.9 percent in 2013 to $485.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Technology Partnership is planning to create the LGBT Technology Institute as an affiliate organization from its “research, analysis, and educational activities,” it said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1qW5wD5) Wednesday. “Social entrepreneur” and consultant Allyson Dylan Robinson will be the institute’s director, it said.

The FCC must not underestimate the difficulty of captioning time-sensitive online video clips when setting an implementation deadline for a draft order on the matter, NAB officials told staff from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s office in a June 30 meeting, said an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/TOaZ0f) posted in docket 11-154. The draft order is set for a vote at the commission’s meeting Friday (CD June 18 p10). To allow broadcasters to develop the processes to track and replace time-sensitive clips, “the obligation should” begin “no earlier than mid-2017,” NAB said. It also takes at least 12 hours for the process of re-encoding the clips with captions to be completed, NAB said. “The process requires re-formatting the video clip for all potential video players used via consumers on the Internet.” The commission also shouldn’t immediately apply its captioning quality standards to such clips, NAB said. “The variety of formats for online video clips and the fact that there are inherent problems involved with synchronicity in online video clips due to the Internet’s architecture means those standards may not always be met."

The Supreme Court’s Aereo ruling lends further support to the petition to declare AT&T’s offering of public, educational and government access channels on U-Verse inadequate, said the Alliance for Community Media in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday to dockets including 09-13(http://bit.ly/1sXJKR5). The decision “lends further support to ACM’s position that AT&T’s U-verse video service is in fact a ‘cable service,'” it said. Therefore, AT&T is subject to Communications Act Title VI, which sets provisions for cable systems and franchise procedures, it said. ACM opposed AT&T’s stance that it provides a multichannel video service and not a cable service. U-Verse is “in fact engaging in one-way transmission of video programming to subscribers,” said ACM. It began to revisit arguments for its 2009 petition last month after AT&T announced its intent to buy DirecTV (CD June 6 p6).

Globecomm will deliver high-definition digital broadcast technologies to an Asian broadcaster and a U.S. state university’s broadcast journalism facility. For the broadcaster, Globecomm will design and integrate a multi-studio facility that includes a fiber distribution network, content contribution system and disaster recovery facility, it said Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1ml8dfw). The deals combined are valued at $17 million, it said.

Comments on an FCC public notice on the aggregate interference cap and use of proxy channels in repacking stations were due Wednesday, the same day the item appeared Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1lU9gBZ). The lack of notice stems from a mix up in delivering the information to the Federal Register, an FCC official told us. The commission will likely be lenient in accepting late comments on the item, the official said. The public notice announcing the call for comments was released by the FCC June 2 (CD June 4 p17). Replies are due July 22.

The Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent for Video Call Center, a live talk TV start-up venture by former cable analyst Tom Wolzien. The technology allows a TV host “to take the reins of a show without the normal control room,” Wolzien said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1olyx7I). It handles multiple video callers at the same time, “with many screened and simultaneously ready for the TV host to select to air,” it said.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Aereo backs up Comptel’s argument that interconnection rights and obligations are “technology neutral” and don’t change with the transition to IP technology, said CompTel CEO Chip Pickering in a blog post (http://bit.ly/1lPkoA7). The high court rejected Aereo’s argument (CD June 26 p1) (see separate report above in this issue) that its technology distinguishes it from a cable operator and takes it out of the reach of the Copyright Act, said Pickering. Aereo’s arguments are similar to those used by incumbent phone companies, Pickering said. “A change in the transmission technology used to deliver a telephone call from one party to another does not alter the statutory obligations of the network providers to interconnect in order to enable the delivery of the call.” Since the end result of an IP transmission is the same to the customer as a TDM transmission, the regulations shouldn’t see a difference between them, Pickering said. “Interconnection is the lynchpin that allows customers of one provider to communicate with those of a different provider and remains as necessary today as it was 18 years ago.” The FCC should clarify that “large incumbent phone companies must interconnect on an IP-to-IP basis for managed VoIP traffic,” Pickering said Monday.

The Society of Motion Picture and TV Engineers extended to July 7 the call for papers for its Technical Conference and Exhibition Oct. 21-23 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. SMPTE describes the conference as the “premier annual technology event” for current and future developments in media technology, content creation, image and sound, over-the-top and related arts and sciences. Papers are sought on such topics as Ultra HD, second screen and alternative content, AV compression, content security and display technology (http://bit.ly/VC15jZ).

Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia, responding to subscribers’ “overwhelming and touching” support, sent them an email Tuesday urging them to “raise your hands and make your voices heard.” Tweets, emails and Facebook posts “have made it clear how important it is for so many Americans to have access to a cloud-based antenna” for viewing live broadcast TV, he said (http://bit.ly/V8gpUW). He asked subscribers to tell Congress “how disappointed you are that the nation’s highest court issued a decision that could deny you the right to use the antenna of your choice to access live over-the-air broadcast television.” He urged them to tell their stories of why having a cloud-based antenna is important to their families and to “show them you care about this issue.” He asked subscribers to “stand together for innovation, progress, and technology” and directed them to ProtectMyAntenna.org. A company spokeswoman said the email “will be the only statement from Aereo at this time.” The company shut down its streaming video service Saturday (CD July 1 p6).