VIDEOPROPULSION™ ANNOUNCES TV DEVELOPER STATION BASED ON SUN™ MEDIA APPLIANCE PLATFORM
Economical Server Configuration Enables Rapid Development of Open-Systems Interactive TV, Video on Demand, and Video Networking Solutions
April 8, 2002 - Las Vegas, NV, National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB) - VideoPropulsion™, Inc. announced today the availability of the TV Developer Station. This solution is the third developer configuration available as part of the Sun™ Media Appliance Platform -- a set of three channel-ready configurations that leverage Sun Microsystems systems and iForce[SM] partner solutions to help the interactive television (iTV), Video on Demand (VoD) and broadband Network Equipment Provider (NEP) companies deliver new services. The TV Developer Station is designed to enable the rapid development of server-based applications and services for open-systems interactive TV, video on demand, and video networking.
"An open, multi-vendor solution for iTV and Video-on-Demand provides a solution that can scale to accommodate natural evolution of an emerging market," said Rob Glidden, market development manager, broadband and digital media market development at Sun Microsystems, Inc. "The Sun Media Appliance Platform, developed in collaboration with key iForce application provider partners, delivers NEPs channel-ready configurations that help our mutual customers implement new interactive services, applications and infrastructure services quickly and with less risk."
The TV Developer Station includes:
- The Sun Blade™ 100 workstation,
- one of several VPI VDOPro™ DVB or QAM products for ingest and transmission of MPEG-2 digital video transport streams to standard cable, satellite, or terrestrial head end equipment, and
- VPI's VPiTV™ Player application that provides a Java™ technology-based, user friendly visual interface for receiving and setting up video assets for playback in demonstration and laboratory environments.
The TV Developer Station will be available with application software from Strategy & Technology for the management and creation of DVB-MHP data carousels,and SNAP2's GEAR for creation of MHP applications. Content authoring software for interactive TV broadcasting will also be offered from other technology providers.
"VideoPropulsion has been working with its applications partners and Sun Microsystems to provide a standards based, open systems platform for the development and deployment of digital television services," remarked Barbara Pick, President and CEO of VideoPropulsion. "We are pleased to be reselling these solution packages which provide special leverage for both content creation and delivery of new interactive services. "
"This platform will form the basis of many advances in the provision of scalable software solutions for TV systems. S&T's range of software for interactive TV is designed with this in mind, and we are looking forward to working with Sun, VPI and other partners to provide solutions for the interactive TV community. " said David Cutts, Director of Strategy & Technology Ltd.
Sun Media Appliance Platform
The Sun Media Appliance Platform combines the expertise of companies, including Visionik Interactive TV, Alticast, Kasenna, N2 Broadband, Sun, Strategy & Technology and VideoPropulsion to develop a value-priced, scalable foundation that can allow NEPs, content providers and network operators to rapidly build and deploy interactive services based on multi-vendor open interfaces.
The Sun Media Appliance Platform will use the Java Stream Assembly API being developed through the Java Community Process[SM], JSR 158. The Java Stream Assembly API is a set of Java APIs for the creation, management, and processing of broadcast and interactive stream multiplexes. The Java Stream Assembly API supports the real time assembly of audio, video, and generic data streams through a unified, vendor-neutral interface to create and modify, in hardware or software, multiplexed real time media streams over broadcast (MPEG-2 Transport) or IP networks. The API enables multiplex management including discovery, setup, monitoring, start/stop control and selection, and manipulation of inputs and outputs, as well as modification of a multiplexed stream including adding, dropping, and changing of sub-streams. For more information on the Java Community Process and the Java Stream Assembly API, see www.jcp.org.
iForce Initiative: Collaborating for Customer Success
VideoPropulsion is a member of the iForce[SM] Initiative, the community of Sun, its customers and partners working together create and deliver solutions that help customers reduce risk and time to service. Through their collaboration, the iForce Community with customizable solutions for vertical market segments. |
