--Switzerland's Netstream to Use Entone, Minerva Solutions for HD IPTV
Entone, a company that specializes in IPTV home connectivity
solutions, and IPTV middleware and applications provider, Minerva
Networks (note: the companies have a history of collaboration),
recently unveiled a whole-home DVR solution, which they
subsequently demonstrated at the telecommunications industry's
NXTcomm tradeshow in Las Vegas. The solution consists of Entone's
Hydra HD IP video gateway with whole-home DVR, integrated with
Minerva's flagship iTVManager platform. According to the companies,
the Hydra HD IP video gateway allows service providers to offer
whole-home DVR and other advanced IPTV services throughout an
end-user's home using existing in-home coax cabling, without requiring
a set-top box at each television set. They claim that the solution allows
end-users to independently record, pause, play, rewind and fast-forward
live or recorded programming from any television set in their home
network with just a single device. "To be competitive in this dynamic
market, it's important for operators to get new revenue-generating
services to market as soon as possible," Ian Jefferson, Entone's VP of
business development, said in a prepared statement. "By leveraging our
close partnership with Minerva Networks, we're able to offer a
multi-stream IPTV solution with whole-home DVR capabilities that is
ready to be deployed."
In other Entone news: The company says that Swiss ISP, Netstream,
has selected its Hydra HD IPTV video gateway and its Amulet HD
IPTV receiver for Minerva-powered HD IPTV service deployments in
Switzerland. According to the company, Netstream provides managed
services and systems integration to a number of high-profile telcos in
that country. "Our customers wanted a reliable solution that would
allow them to rapidly deploy IPTV services," Netstream CTO, Reto
Kasser, said in a prepared statement. "We needed a robust IPTV set-top
solution that was integrated with Minerva Networks' iTVManager
middleware platform. We selected the Entone solution because of its
field-proven track record and its capability to use existing in-home
wiring infrastructure."
According to Entone, the Hydra HD and the Amulet HD use MPEG-4
compression technologies and are pre-integrated with a range of
middleware and DRM solutions. They also offer various optional
features, such as an ATSC/QAM tuner (for North America) or a
DVB-T/DVB-C tuner (for EMEA), as well as DVR capability; in
addition, Entone says, they support a broad range of home networking
technologies, including 802.11n, HomePlug and HomePNA 3.0 (which
allow them to support whole-home DVR).
