DigiSoft, a Cork, Ireland-based provider of technologies for developing, deploying and managing interactive TV applications (note: the company is attempting to penetrate the US market and now operates an office in Louisville, Colorado), has unveiled a product called "IPTVBox," which it is positioning as a "one-stop shop" for designing, developing, integrating, and testing interactive applications for IPTV networks. According to the company, IPTVBox is based on the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation and its 64-bit AMD Opteron processor, and uses the NetBeans integrated development environment, in tandem with DigiSoft’s own software development kit, to create Java-based interactive applications that will run on a range of IPTV set-top boxes and middleware platforms. (Note: DigiSoft has bundled a development license for its DigiHost platform, with its DigiHost SDK, an SD/HD video server, NetBeans and other Java development tools, into the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation; the latter supports multiple operating systems, including Solaris, Linux and Windows.)
According to DigiSoft, IPTVBox uses a built-in video server containing sample AV content to simulate linear broadcast TV and VOD environments for development of EPG’s and VOD clients, and for application launching. The product is based on the iTVBox product which DigiSoft released in Europe last year, and which is targeted at digital terrestrial broadcasters looking to develop interactive applications. "We initially launched the iTVBox for broadcasters, but found strong interest from system integrators and software companies that support broadcasters, as well as advertisers and government bodies," DigiSoft’s SVP of global IPTV solution sales, Fintan McKiernan, said in a prepared statement. "We expect to see similar cross-discipline demand for our new IPTVBox, taking into account the considerable interest that has been shown globally in IPTV technologies. We are extending our international DigiHost User Group to cover the emerging IPTVBox community, who will also have access to the extensive resources of the Sun Developer Network. There is a whole new world of opportunities for interactive TV within IPTV, leveraging the always-on broadband connection necessitated by IPTV, which is also the life blood for engaging interactive TV."
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