"DIRECTV is responding to increased demand by our customers to expand their DVR experience. It's very clear that once our customers have DVR service on one TV in their home, they quickly want to have DVR service on all their television sets throughout the home," said Romulo Pontual, executive vice president and chief technology officer of The DIRECTV Group. "We're pleased to be working with Ucentric to deliver a whole home media center solution that offers the best combination of consumer features, ease of use and cost- efficient hardware."
Ucentric's networked media center software provides the underlying software platform for HD and SD video signal networking, device discovery, resource management, bandwidth management and applications networking. DIRECTV-specified whole-home applications make use of the services found in the platform. The solution will be embedded on hardware platforms selected by DIRECTV and will be integrated with NDS conditional access and applications middleware, as well as DIRECTV Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and DVR applications. The new product line is scheduled to be available to DIRECTV customers by end of this year. The whole-home DVR offering will be showcased at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2005 in Las Vegas, January 6-9.
"We're very excited to be working with DIRECTV because they really know how to deploy new technology to benefit consumers," said Michael Collette, Ucentric chief executive officer. "DIRECTV is making optimal use of new technology to provide a widely sought consumer benefit -- a home media center -- without creating a complex new technology experience. They're using in- home networking the right way -- an efficient equipment strategy with substantial cost savings. Consumers will not need to see, touch, manage or otherwise experience a broadband network in their home. The network is embedded in the background and productized so as not to be seen. Instead, they'll watch, pause and record TV with ease on every TV."
The Ucentric Networked Media Center platform supports whole-home DVR functionality, networked personal media and networked broadband applications such as broadband Internet access and telephony.
About DIRECTV
DIRECTV is the nation's leading and fastest growing digital multichannel television service provider with more than 13.5 million customers. DIRECTV, Total Choice and the Cyclone Design logo are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of The DIRECTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV - News). The DIRECTV Group is a world-leading provider of digital multichannel television entertainment and broadband satellite networks and services. The DIRECTV Group is 34 percent owned by Fox Entertainment Group, which is approximately 82 percent owned by News Corporation. For more information visit www.directv.com.
About Ucentric Systems
Ucentric is a leading provider of networked media server software and applications for the new digital home. Its patented technology enables the secure, high quality digital distribution of HD and SD video signals from broadcast, satellite or cable sources to all connected rooms in the home. The Ucentric solution is uniquely capable of unifying networked television, including whole-home DVR with networked personal media (music, photos, home movies) and networked communications (broadband internet access and telephony) -- all on a standards-based, cost efficient, interoperable IP networking platform that can easily scale to support any array of applications.
Ucentric is committed to supporting industry standards and is a member of the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Forum and actively supports CableLab's Open Cable initiative. Based in Maynard, Massachusetts, Ucentric is backed by Polaris Venture Partners. For more information, please visit www.ucentric.com.
