Eagle Broadband Adds PVR Capability to IP5000 STB

--Launches Low-End IP3000 STB, Secures Deployment with AllAccess

IPTV technology and services provider, Eagle Broadband, says that it has added dual-tuner, dual-streaming PVR functionality to its existing MediaPro IP5000 standard- and high-definition IPTV set-tops. Until now, Eagle has targeted the IP5000--which supports Web browsing, gaming, VOD and other interactive services--at the hospitality industry: it says that the HD version of the box, for example, has been installed at a new luxury casino in Las Vegas, in what it claims is the largest IP-based HDTV deployment in the hospitality space to date. By adding PVR functionality to the IP5000 series, Eagle hopes to make it a more attractive proposition for IPTV providers serving the residential market and competing against cable and satellite companies, most of which now offer PVR-enabled set-tops. "With the availability of our new IP3000 [see below] and IP5000 with PVR functionality, IPTV service providers now have a powerful combination of advanced features and functionality at the lowest possible cost, enabling them to offer a full range of highly competitive video services to their subscribers," Eagle president and CEO, David Micek, said in a prepared statement.

Features claimed by Eagle for the IP5000 platform include support for a range of commonly used VOD and middleware platforms; advanced content security and DRM; support for MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video compression; an advanced Intel-architecture graphics and memory controller with a highly integrated graphics accelerator (the architecture consists of dedicated multimedia engines, executing in parallel to deliver high-performance 2D, 3D and motion compensation video capabilities, the company says); a VESA DDC2B-compliant display interface and a digital video outport to provide NTSC and PAL broadcast standards. The box can be figured with different capacity hard drives, in accordance with service provider requirements.

In other Eagle Broadband news:

• The company has launched a standard-definition set-top, the MediaPro IP3000SD, for the residential IPTV, hospitality and other vertical markets. Eagle says that the launch of the new low-end box should, like its addition of PVR capability to the IP5000, accelerate its ongoing push for the residential IPTV market. Features claimed by Eagle for the new box include support for multiple middleware and VOD systems; advanced content security and DRM technology; support for MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC (H.264); a compact footprint and fan-less design; support for both NTSC and PAL broadcast standards; and an advanced system-on-chip architecture with an integrated graphics accelerator. "We developed the IP3000 to meet the specific needs and growing demand from telephone companies, new broadband providers and hospitality operators for a very cost-effective, fully featured, low-end IP set-top box for the hospitality and residential IPTV markets," Micek said in a prepared statement. "Eagle's goal is to build upon our successes and expand in the low-end hospitality market, while leveraging additional set-top box revenue opportunities with our IPTVComplete video service offering [note: for more on IPTVComplete, see below]. From this solid base, we can pursue additional vertical markets including enterprise, point-of-sale and others that require higher-performance in a smaller, lower-cost form factor."
• The company says that it has received a $1.6 million order for its MediaPro IP set-tops from AllAccess Technologies, which will use them for a multi-state IPTV roll-out. According to the company, the order includes a mix of PVR-enabled standard- and high-definition MediaPro IP5000 boxes and standard-definition IP3000 boxes, all of which will be equipped with Minerva's iTV Manager middleware. AllAccess will use the set-tops, together with Eagle's IPTVComplete solution, to provide basic, premium and high-definition programming, VOD and other services over fiber broadband networks to high-end multiple-dwelling units (MDU's) and planned communities in Florida, Nevada, New York, New Jersey and other markets. (Note: IPTVComplete is billed by Eagle and its partner on the solution, France Telecom-subsidiary, GlobeCast, as an end-to-end IPTV system. According to the companies, the solution incorporates over 200 channels of standard- and high-definition IPTV programming, VOD and pay-per-view services, and digital music services. The companies say they have secured full multicast video content rights for distribution of the programming over fiber, DSL and other private IP networks. They claim that IPTVComplete can save operators that want to deploy IPTV services up to $2 million in up-front capital expenditures which would otherwise have to be made to acquire and install an IP headend, secure all the necessary content rights, provision circuits, aggregate content, operate and maintain the headend, and perform various other tasks involved in launching and offering such services. Eagle brings to the partnership IP video content rights that it says it has secured over the years, its line of IP set-top boxes, and its experience in delivering IP video services, while GlobeCast brings its IP network and global IP satellite distribution capabilities. The partners say that GlobeCast's satellite distribution infrastructure will allow them to offer a high-quality IPTV video signal anywhere in the US, that can then be distributed over an operator's existing fiber or DSL broadband network. Operators pay a monthly fee for the service, alongside a per-subscriber fee.)

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