ADB in tru2way Set-Top Deal with Evolution

Geneva, Switzerland-based set-top box manufacturer, Advanced Digital Broadcast (note: the company, generally known by the acronym ADB, is the corporate stablemate of Vidiom and Osmosys), says that Evolution Digital, a company that specializes in bandwidth reclamation solutions and advanced set-tops, will serve as a "key partner" in its efforts to sell tru2way-enabled set-top boxes to smaller North American cable operators. "We welcome Evolution into the ADB family of distributors," Jim Lomax, ADB's EVP of worldwide sales, said in a prepared statement. "ADB has employed a strategy of using strong distribution partners around the world to represent our industry-leading set-top and software solutions for smaller network operators. We believe that their technical prowess, along with their team's years of experience and relationships in the US cable industry, make Evolution the ideal distributor for ADB's cable products. Evolution is providing more than just a stocking distributor relationship to the customers it supplies. Evolution brings together key networking elements, to offer complete solutions to smaller operators, which is in line with our overall customer approach."

Under the terms of the companies' deal, Evolution Digital will carry ADB's full line of cable set-top boxes, all of which are integrated with OCAP/tru2way software from Osmosys. Those boxes include the ADB-6880CDX HD DVR, which ADB says allows viewers to watch one program while recording up to three other programs simultaneously; is DLNA certified, so that it can function as a home-networking server or client over Ethernet and MoCATM interfaces; and supports 3D graphics. Other boxes covered by the deal include the ADB-6820CD, which the company says is AVC-based, supports SD and HD reception using MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, is fully DLNA-compliant, and offers an optional MoCATM interface; and the ADB-4820CD, a tru2way-certified device that features an "ultra-slim" design, allowing it to sit behind a flat-screen TV set.

In other ADB news:
--The company has secured a deal to supply Israeli pay-TV operator, Yes, with its ADB-7820SX HD DVR. The deal builds on an earlier deal that saw ADB provide Yes with an initial supply of HD set-top boxes when it launched its HDTV service in 2007 (note: ADB has provided Yes with DTV equipment for around seven years now). According to ADB, the 7820SX offers dual tuners, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 support, support for DVB-S2, a single-chip processor, an HDMI interface, and two S/PDIF outputs. The box also offers an Ethernet interface, enabling such services as pause-live-TV, and incorporates NDS VideoGuard conditional access technology and NDS MediaHighway middleware. According to ADB, the box's various high-speed data ports allow for the connection of a wide range of external devices, including DSL or cable modems, hard drives, pen drives and memory card readers, thus allowing such services as VOD and IP streaming. "We are very pleased to collaborate once again with ADB and NDS," Yes CTO, Itzhak Elyakim, said in a prepared statement. "We believe that this new product will allow us to optimize our digital television operation through features such as advanced video coding, while at the same time enhance our service portfolio by allowing us to access new revenue streams by offering new premium services such as high-definition television and digital video recording. We have worked very closely with both ADB and NDS to ensure that we are able to offer our consumers a feature-rich product that enables them to access the very best in digital home entertainment." ADB also claims that the ADB-7820SX is environmentally friendly: the box offers "minimum energy consumption," in accordance with Yes's environmental requirements, ADB says, and its accessories and packaging are built from recyclable materials.
--Earlier this month, the company announced that it had shipped over 1.5 million IPTV set-top boxes, a figure that would make it one of the largest IPTV suppliers in the world. Its IPTV set-top business has been driven largely by sales of hybrid IPTV boxes in the European market. "We are proud to present such a range of award-winning solutions, which complement and build on our family of high-definition digital TV products," ADB CEO, Francois Pogodalla, said in a prepared statement. "Our goal is to deliver to our customers advanced technology compatible with scalable deployment requirements. This requires the ability to meet the highest level of performance and quality standards over a comprehensive line of products." ADB also recently announced that it has joined the Open IPTV Forum, an industry organization devoted to developing open standards for end-to-end IPTV solutions.