LG could look to the cloud and simple devices beyond Horizon

Following the launch of its next-generation Horizon set-top box, Liberty Global will look to the cloud to deliver services alongside the deployment of relatively simple consumer premises equipment as part of its future technology strategy, according to Aamir Hussain, chief technology officer, Europe at the international cable operator.

Speaking at the international technology summit at ANGA Cable this morning, Hussain said that, in the future, the whole middleware stack would need to sit in the cloud and the end consumer devices would need to be kept simple. Hussain said that beyond the launch of Horizon, Liberty Global’s soon-to-launch next generation set-top, the company was in ongoing discussion with its technology partners as part of the process of thinking about what would come next.

Hussain said search functionality needed to happen in the cloud. Consumers needed access to search results delivered from the back-end rather than a consumer device in order to provide unified results, recommending content that is available to that consumer in the cloud and on devices in the home, he said.