Amino announces hybrid OTT STB with Intel's CE4100

A press release from Amino adds to the OTT discussion, or more generally: IP-based services replacing dedicated networks (PSTN, CATV). Is OTT a threat, an opportunity, or something in between for traditional video network operators?

The OTT sector can be subdivided in three groups:

1. Start-ups. There are dozens, including at least three in the Netherlands: UCD, Stream Group, and a promising newcomer: Metrological, that I wrote about in this report. Others include Sezmi, that just raised another $25m and launched a pilot. Trials, trials, more trials ....
2. OTT giants, with an established revenue stream. Apple (Apple TV), Netflix (Roku), but where is Google? All its efforts are going towards mobile: search, ads, display ads (AdMob), operating systems (Android, Chrome OS), applications (VoIP, maps), possibly a smartphone and a Clearwire stake. Is IPTV the next big leap for Google? Are they awaiting all these trials to see who gets most successful - and then buy it, just like they did YouTube?
3. Traditional operators. As usual, newcomers may open up the market, but traditional players more than once end up winners. Once they feel the heat, they embrace the new technology and rebalance their revenues away from their legacy sources of income. With Amino, an established STB vendor, announcing an Intel CE 4100 based box combining broadcast and OTT video, this may just be happening once again.