--Secures 23 North American Deployments for Joint Solution with Avail
--Signs up New Systems Integrators in Middle East
IPTV middleware and applications provider, Minerva Networks, has
released version 3.2 of its flagship iTVManager platform. According to
the company, the new software release, which was unveiled at the
recent NXTcomm show in Las Vegas, enhances the platform's existing
PVR functionality, provides a robust application-development
environment, and expands the platform's ecosystem.
iTVManager's enhanced PVR functionality consists of a new series-
record capability and a new bandwidth-management tool that allows
operators to select between one-stream and two-stream record
functionality. The platform's new application-development
environment, meanwhile, has been enabled by the addition of a set of
API's which Minerva says will allow third-party developers to quickly
build and deploy communications applications (note: at NXTcomm,
Minerva demo'd new iTVManager applications from Integra5,
MetaSwitch and Nortel). Finally, the expansion of the platform's
ecosystem consists of support for a number of new set-top boxes,
including the Amino 130 and the Entone Hydra HD. "Our team has
been able to address many key customers' demands in this new
release," Minerva COO, Jean-Georges Fritsch, said in a prepared
statement. "Constantly adding new features, enabling new third-party
applications, and giving our customers choices makes our platform
more and more appealing in the rapidly growing IPTV market."
Minerva claims to have secured 15 new customers for iTVManager this
year.
In other Minerva Networks news:
- The company and its partner, Avail Media (note: the latter offers
telco operators a white-label IPTV content solution consisting of
several hundred live and on-demand channels, encoded in MPEG-4
and featuring both standard- and high-definition content), say that
they have deployed a joint solution at 23 North American sites. The
latest operator to deploy the Minerva/Avail solution, which the
companies say drastically reduces headend costs, and, through the
iTVManager middleware, allows operators to offer advanced
services such as interactive TV and PVR, is Colorado Springs-
based PorchLight Communications, which is using it to offer IPTV
service in El Paso and Teller counties over a quad-play FTTH
network. "We tried to deploy services with a competing
middleware platform," PorchLight CTO, Corey Smith, said in a
prepared statement. "We switched to Minerva once we realized
their best-of-breed service management platform is fully integrated
with the Avail Media content offering."
- The company says that it has signed up three new systems
itegrators in the Middle East to support what it says is a growing
number of deployments of its iTVManager platform in that region.
According to Minerva, the integrators--ACT in Egypt, Bond
Communications in the United Arab Emirates, and Mannai in
Qatar--have completed iTVManager training and are now
integrating several end-to-end IPTV delivery systems in their
respective countries. Minerva says that it is in the process of
building an international network of systems integrators that are
qualified to deploy IPTV services with Minerva-certified
ecosystems. According to the company, its ecosystem partners offer
a range of components, including set-top boxes, conditional access
systems, and video systems, that complement its IPTV service
management and delivery software; it also says that third-party
developers are bringing to market a range of converged
entertainment and communications applications that are designed
for use with its technologies. "Our new Middle East regional
channel partners will enable a host of companies, including
telephone companies and communications service providers to
resorts and housing developments, to offer triple-play bundles,"
Minerva CEO, Mauro Bonomi, said in a prepared statement.
"ACT, Bond Communications and Mannai will help make IPTV a
success in the region."
