Latest research from Ofcom reveals that more UK viewers are taking greater control over the way they watch television as the total number of digital video recorders sold reaches almost nine million (8.9 million).

Its Digital Progress Report for the first quarter of 2009 showed that the number of digital recording devices which allow viewers the ability to pause, store and rewind live programmes had increased by nearly one million on the quarter.

Leading research organisations including the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) and Juniper Research have recently released reports on the current mobile advertising market and its future.

This year represents the first time truly quantitative research has become available on mobile advertising, and the numbers indicate conflicting trends in this nascent market, points out Xtract, providers of social intelligence software for mobile operators.

For example,

Dynamics processing specialist Jünger Audio has made a number of significant sales in the Middle East, indicating that its LEVEL MAGIC technology for controlling the level and loudness of broadcast audio is providing broadcasters with a viable solution to an increasingly irritating problem.

Bridge Technologies has announced that Budapest-based HFC Technics has become a distributor of the VideoBRIDGE series of IP Probes for IPTV monitoring. HFC Technics will supply VideoBRIDGE's award-winning technology to broadcasters, telcos, and network operators throughout Hungary, providing the most advanced end-to-end monitoring solution available in the industry.

Harris Corporation has installed a range of interoperable broadcast products spanning its high-definition solutions portfolio at Videocon, a leading direct-to-home (DTH) network operator in India. The Harris system provides a complete integrated playout solution for Videocon's operations in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, which will support the distribution of more than 150 channels.

Harris Broadcast Communications has appointed Sebastian Ruchti as key account manager for Eastern Europe and Germany. Based in Munich, Ruchti will be responsible for developing customer relationships in countries such as Croatia, Ukraine, Slovenia and Hungary, and will also be in charge of some German accounts.

8% of consumers across the UK, France, Germany and the USA admitted to downloading video content illegally from file sharing websites, a new consumer research study by Futuresource Consulting reveals. The study, ‘Living With Digital: Consumer Insights into Entertainment Consumption', used a representative sample in each country and provided respondents with a list of legal and illegitimate download sites from which to select.

According to some estimates, the digital signage market is set to grow beyond $2.5 billion (£1.47 billion) in 2009, creating a new advertising and sales channel for content producers, technology suppliers and brand owners alike.

The growing commoditisation of display, networking and content delivery technologies are beginning to make digital signage a low cost way to communicate with a faster return on investment than traditional static or printed displays.

OpenTV Corp., a software and technology provider of advanced digital television solutions, has launched an end-to-end middleware solution for Southern Yinshi Network Media Ltd, a subsidiary of Southern Media Corporation, one of China's leading broadcasting groups. Southern Yinshi is responsible for the digital conversion of 18 municipal and city cable networks of Southern Media Corporation.

Argosy, supplier of HD broadcast, cables and studio infrastructure products, is celebrating the first anniversary of the installation of its high-definition infrastructure products at Lime Pictures, one of the UK's largest independent producers.

The build and install process began in early January 2008 with a strict delivery schedule for transmission of the first programme in HD, by Channel 4, on 2 June. The Argosy products were integral to this process and formed a major part of the complete overhaul by Lime Pictures of its production and editing facilities.