Amino Wins HD IPTV Set-Top Order from Pioneer, Ports Espial Middleware to its HD Set-Top Range

Cambridge, UK-based IPTV set-top box manufacturer, Amino Communications, said Monday that it has secured a "significant order" for HD set-tops from Oklahoma-based Pioneer Telephone Cooperative. According to the company, the deal sees Pioneer--which offers a 161-channel pay-TV service that can be bundled with various fixed-line, mobile and broadband services--using Amino's A130 and A130M set-tops as part of a major upgrade for its approximately 50,000 customers.

According to Amino, although the upgrade comes as Pioneer also switches its middleware provider, the transition has been seamless, thanks to Amino's experience in integrating over 80 IPTV ecosystems. "Our digital TV offering gives us a competitive edge, and delivering HD will further reinforce our market-leading position," Scott Ulsaker, Pioneer's manager of long distance, broadband and video services, said in a prepared statement. "The A130 series is proven technology that combines excellent performance with sleek good looks that our subscribers will be pleased to have in their homes."

In other Amino news: The company says it has ported Espial's IPTV middleware, the Evo TV Service Platform, to its HD set-top box range, including the new models, hybrid compatible A532 and A132. This, Amino says, means that it has "once again increased [its] ecosystem presence with another industry-leading pre-integrated solution."

According to Espial, the Evo TV Service Platform features Evo Client, which it bills as an intelligent, small-footprint set-top box middleware that delivers a sub-second user experience for a range of TV applications. The company says that service providers can use its authoring environment to quickly build and customize user interfaces that support "exciting interactive applications and compelling content." It also provides an application development environment, Espial says, that includes tools, methodologies and open API's in order to enable operators to build additional applications; and incorporates a toolkit that allows user interfaces and applications to be "seamlessly" ported for a consistent user experience across set-top boxes. "We are delighted that Evo Client has been ported to Amino's elegant HD range of STB's," Espial president and CEO, Jaison Dolvane, said in a prepared statement. "The easiness of the port means telcos and their customers will have confidence to switch to new STB's and have a reliable service that performs to the highest standard. We look forward to working together to provide this high-performance solution to customers around the world." Added Amino CEO, Andrew Burke: "Having pre-integrated middleware is a must in this industry. It increases the functionality of our STB's and further enhances our partner relationships. We are happy to continue our strong working relationship with Espial."