Product category: Embedded Software and Operating Systems
News Release from: Cabot Communications
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 14 September 2004

Anglo-Italian accord on interactivity

Cabot Communications and Alticast have formed a strategic partnership to deliver the first open standards-based digital TV stack to support both MHEG-5 and MHP interactivity

Cabot Communications and Alticast have formed a strategic partnership to deliver the first open standards-based digital TV stack to support both MHEG-5 interactivity for the UK, and MHP interactivity for emerging iDTV markets in Europe. With over 3 million deployments between the two companies, Cabot currently commands 65% of the UK MHEG-5 market and Alticast over 60% of the Italian MHP market.

Cabot has more than 2 million deployments with over 20 major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the European digital television terrestrial market, including Daewoo, Goodmans, Humax, JVC, Philips, Pioneer and Toshiba.

As a result of the partnership, manufacturers can avoid the high costs associated with developing and supporting point solutions for individual national markets.

Additionally with a pre-integrated and easily customisable solution, iDTV and set top box manufacturers can benefit from superior time to market and avoid duplication of integration efforts.

Legacy analogue systems, national regulation and local conditions have led to a lack of harmonisation between national DTT roll-outs across Europe.

For digital TV and set-top box manufacturers, this currently means building different software platforms that conform to variations in language support, EPGs, parental ratings, channel ordering and MHEG-5 or MHP interactivity, a strategy which is expensive and compounded by the support costs of multiple model variants.

To overcome this, Alticast's AltiCaptor MHP stack will be integrated as a plug-in to Cabot's new Aurora DVB middleware - the first open standards-based middleware solution with MHEG-5 interactivity that meets the transmission requirements for every national DTT network across Europe.

Keith Potter, Managing Director of Cabot, commented: "The partnership with Alticast allows us to develop another industry first, with the only middleware TV stack that addresses all the complex requirements of the European digital TV market".

"With over 3 million deployments between us, this strategic partnership brings best-in-class and mass deployed digital TV software into one unique, industry-leading middleware solution".

Seung-Lim Jee, CEO of Alticast, said: "By building Europe's first complete open-standards middleware, Alticast and Cabot have enabled manufacturers to build truly European-ready digital TV receivers in the minimum time with the minimum of engineering resources".

"Previously manufacturers developed point solutions with significant integration efforts but now, for the first time, they can get everything they need in one middleware solution".

The integrated pan-European solution will be ready in Q1 2005, and will be available on multiple digital TV semiconductor platforms, with the first commercial set-top box incorporating Aurora and Alticaptor technology expected to be in volume production in Q2 2005.

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