Ucentric hooks up DirecTV media service
Karen Brown,
Ucentric Systems made a major connection at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, announcing a licensing deal with DirecTV Inc.to supply its Home Media Center software platform on the satellite provider's digital video recorder service offering.
Under the licensing deal, DirecTV will offer a new DirecTV Home Media Center service consisting of a main DVR box and smaller client boxes on additional TVs in the subscriber's home. Using that system, subscribers can then tap DVR service on all of the TV sets in HD and SD digital formats, as well as listen to music and view digital photos. The boxes will also use conditional access and applications middleware supplied by NDS Corp.
The system is being demo'd this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. DirecTV plans to start offering the Home Media Center service by the end of the year.
Snagging a contract with the leading U.S. satellite provider is a major step for Maynard, Mass.-based Ucentric and its media center platform, according to CEO Michael Collette.
"For us, really, they are the biggest account in the world in the sense that their commitment to DVR is as strong as anyone's, and they are the largest visual network in the world," he said. "One of the interesting things about what they are doing is they are really taking this notion of a connected home product beyond simply the pay-TV, whole-home DVR component, and they are going straight to the media center configuration - which strategically is very, very important, I think."
Ucentric has already completed much of the integration of its software with the DirecTV boxes, "so a substantial portion of the delivery is already done," Collette noted.
While the value of the licensing deal is not being released, "it's very substantial," he said. "It's not a trivial, corner commitment - it's a major commitment.
Karen Brown,
Ucentric Systems made a major connection at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, announcing a licensing deal with DirecTV Inc.to supply its Home Media Center software platform on the satellite provider's digital video recorder service offering.
Under the licensing deal, DirecTV will offer a new DirecTV Home Media Center service consisting of a main DVR box and smaller client boxes on additional TVs in the subscriber's home. Using that system, subscribers can then tap DVR service on all of the TV sets in HD and SD digital formats, as well as listen to music and view digital photos. The boxes will also use conditional access and applications middleware supplied by NDS Corp.
The system is being demo'd this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. DirecTV plans to start offering the Home Media Center service by the end of the year.
Snagging a contract with the leading U.S. satellite provider is a major step for Maynard, Mass.-based Ucentric and its media center platform, according to CEO Michael Collette.
"For us, really, they are the biggest account in the world in the sense that their commitment to DVR is as strong as anyone's, and they are the largest visual network in the world," he said. "One of the interesting things about what they are doing is they are really taking this notion of a connected home product beyond simply the pay-TV, whole-home DVR component, and they are going straight to the media center configuration - which strategically is very, very important, I think."
Ucentric has already completed much of the integration of its software with the DirecTV boxes, "so a substantial portion of the delivery is already done," Collette noted.
While the value of the licensing deal is not being released, "it's very substantial," he said. "It's not a trivial, corner commitment - it's a major commitment.
