At the TelcoTV show in Anaheim last month, Ericsson unveiled its new IPTV middleware to the US market. According to the company, the middleware forms the core of an end-to-end solution that is aligned with specifications set by the Open IPTV Forum, and is the first IPTV middleware solution to be pre-integrated with IMS (it also operates across traditional networks, the company says). Ericsson bills the end-to-end solution as combining various of its own products--including the new IMS-enabled IPTV middleware, IPTV network infrastructure technologies, video processing solutions and VOD technologies--with third-party products from such companies as Accedo Broadband, Agama Technologies, Amino, HP, SecureMedia, Sun Microsystems, Tilgin, Verimatrix and ZyXEL (note: earlier this month, Viaccess announced that it had signed a security software and services agreement with Ericsson that will see it supporting the latter's IMS-integrated IPTV solution). The company claims that the new middleware gives operators the flexibility and scalability they need to create, trial and deploy a "personalized and interactive TV experience" to their subscribers, and to offer a "complete TV package that includes the combination of communication and entertainment as well as interactive, mobile and on-demand functionality." "We have combined our leading network solutions, service layer applications and systems integration capabilities to launch an industry-shaping TV platform that delivers on our vision of the Individual TV Experience," Eric Cooney, Ericsson's head of TV solutions, said in a prepared statement. "Our focus is on enabling operators to differentiate their TV offerings and offer innovative services that attract, retain and excite the consumer."
