Product category:
Embedded Software and Operating Systems
News Release from: Cabot Communications
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 27 May 2003
Humax signals entry into UK terrestrial
TV market
Humax is set to enter the UK terrestrial TV market after signing a contract with UK-based digital TV software specialist Cabot Communications.
Humax is set to enter the UK terrestrial TV market after signing a contract with UK-based digital TV software specialist Cabot Communications, who will provide the MHEG-5 engine and over-air-download module for a portfolio of innovative DTT products to be rolled out in the next 12 months This is the first terrestrial TV venture in the UK for Humax, which captured significant share of the German satellite market to become market leader in just three years
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 26 May 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Software ported to run on NEC digital TV chips
Cabot Communications has ported its Digital TV Software Suite onto NEC's EMMArchitecture2 range of DTV silicon devices.
Toshiba chooses engine for interative digital TV
Toshiba Information Systems UK has selected the Mercator MHEG-5 engine to develop interactive services for its next generation of digital terrestrial TV receivers.
Dale Heathcote, Commercial Director, at Humax believes the company can achieve similar success in the UK: "We already offer the most comprehensive range of digital set-top boxes available worldwide for cable and satellite TV.
We believe we are in a prime position to develop innovative and feature-rich products for the UK free-to-air market.
Our aim is to offer a value-added proposition to UK, based on our strong legacy of product development, to offer differentiated products at an attractive price-point".
Further reading
Development kit speeds interactive applications
Mercator is the first 'out-of-the-box' MHEG-5 development kit to help set-top box and interactive digital TV manufacturers keep pace with the fast-evolving UK MHEG-5 digital standard.
Software is key to Philips reference design
Philips and Cabot Communications have developed a complete integrated reference design for iDTVs and digital STBs, enabling analogue TV manufacturers to quickly enter the emerging DTV market.
Speedy solution to set-top-box middleware
The latest version of the Eclipse DVB-T middleware software development kit has several additional features to help manufacturers to bring high-quality products to market more quickly.
Cabot's Mercator MHEG-5 engine and Callisto over-air-download module were selected after a rigorous technical competitive tendering process.
According to Dale Heathcote, Cabot Communications offered several advantages over other suppliers: "We believe the quality of interactive services is a key differentiator in the rapidly maturing UK free-to-air market, so our choice of MHEG-5 engine was critical.
We selected Mercator because it is one of the fastest MHEG-5 engines in the market and offers impressive ease of integration.
Cabot's track record of achievements in the free-to-air market were also an important factor, together with the company's strong engineering credentials.
Cabot demonstrated they had the right processes in place to work alongside our R and D team to meet some tight deadlines.
Similarly, the Callisto over-air-download module can demonstrate a proven track record of successful field upgrades, which was an absolutely critical requirement for us".
The Mercator MHEG-5 engine is currently adopted by ten manufacturers and deployed in over 40% of the 300,000 Freeview receivers shipped monthly in the UK.
Keith Potter, Managing Director of Cabot Communications concluded: "We are obviously delighted to win this contract, which provides further proof of our leadership in digital TV software technologies.
We look forward to establishing a long-term partnership with Humax, based on a high level of engineering cooperation to ensure a compelling customer offering".
The Mercator MHEG-5 engine offers a complete software development kit (SDK) for implementing a consumer-ready MHEG-5 implementation onto a set-top box, integrated digital TV or PC-TV card.
Mercator is available for most CPU architectures and includes the CHIL (Cabot high level interface) API for platform independence.
The Callisto over-air-download (OAD) is a complete portable and fully documented software object library that allows robust and reliable field upgrades.
Using the Callisto security, encryption and authentication (SEA) option, manufacturers can guarantee their receivers are protected from erroneous or malicious downloads using advanced public cryptography.
• Cabot Communications: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
