--Server-Based Offering Provides Two-Way Connectivity between STB's and Mobile Internet Devices
In its booth (ES-7) in the CableNET exhibit at the NCTA Cable Show in Los Angeles, Tuesday, interactive TV software developer, Zodiac Interactive, unveiled its PowerUp Advanced Messaging Solution (AMS), which it bills as the world's first server-based offering to deliver multiscreen, bi-directional connectivity between set-top boxes and mobile Internet devices. The new offering complements Zodiac's PowerUp platform, which the company says is currently integrated into over 10 million set-top boxes.
According to Zodiac, PowerUp AMS provides a non-intrusive and non-disruptive means through which cable operators and service providers can unify Web and mobile-based messaging services with legacy and next-generation set-top box technologies. By facilitating two-way connectivity across all screens, including all Web, mobile, gaming and set-top platforms, the company says, PowerUp AMS enables multiscreen convergence for all messaging services. "With the tidal wave-like emergence of mobile Internet computing in today's cable ecosystem, it is clear that PowerUp AMS is entering the market as the right solution at the absolute right time," Zodiac CEO, Brandon Brown, said in a prepared statement. "For years, MSO's have counted on Zodiac to provide them with the next-generation, cost-effective software for interactive TV, and PowerUp AMS is no exception. This first-of-its kind solution will enable service providers to quickly deploy new, personalized, subscriber-level services that will not only increase their customer base and competitive advantage, but also reduce expenses and churn."
According to Zodiac, PowerUp is:
- Platform agnostic: i.e. deployable regardless of the set-top platform and network.
- Cost-effective: because it is server-based, the company says, it can be deployed quickly and easily with minimal integration concerns and low resource utilization.
- Able to aggregate and provide content and information properly formatted to the set-top device.
- Robust, while simultaneously being capable of operating in resource-constrained environments.
In addition, the company says, PowerUp AMS provides a pathway to new apps, allowing operators to incorporate tweets, Facebook updates, RSS feeds, broadcast "walled garden" content and any other applications able to be invoked by addressable set-top box messages. According to the company, the solution is currently being tested in live trials.
