Mountain View, Calif. ¨December
19, 2001 - Kasenna, Inc., Tivella, Inc., and GCT- Allwell Technology, Inc. today announced a significant milestone in their alliance partnership. Tivella's iTV middleware and media-on-demand application has
been fully integrated with Kasenna's MediaBase streaming video technology on GCT- Allwell's set-top boxes. The effort has culminated in successful completion of all interoperability tests, providing a
proven, turnkey, end-to-end solution for VOD customers. The successful integration offers network operators a choice of Tivell's enabled, competitively priced set-top boxes from GCT-Allwell and the
high-performance MediaBase MPEG streaming media server from Kasenna, all based on open standards. Service providers in the hospitality and multiple dwelling unit (MDU) market can now deploy a broad spectrum
of interactive applications including video-on-demand, music-on-demand, and TV-based Internet browsing services over a broadband IP infrastructure. In addition, the solution can be easily deployed across
pre-existing analog/RF cable systems and legacy Ethernet networks.
Tivella's iTV middleware running on GCT-Allwell's set-top box provides video-based internet browsing, an electronic program guide, TV
tuner with channel surfing capability, Video-On-Demand services, live and off-disk multicast delivery of streaming programming, and conditional access with parental controls. In addition, Tivella's iTV core
client and application software provide a technology platform that enables integrated network management including self-service client account management, set-top box registration and maintenance, subscriber
profiling, remote software upgrades, and a back office integration.
Kasenna's MediaBase combines the core elements required to stream video assets over IP networks, including content management,
distribution and delivery. In addition to its availability on the Irix, Linux and Solaris operating environment platforms, Kasenna is committed to providing standards-based, non-proprietary solutions for VOD
server content acquisition, distribution, and streaming of all MPEG formats.
"Kasenna's commitment to open server hardware platforms, operating systems, and MPEG open-standards is very complementary
to the middleware and application software we provide. This flexibility gives operators the ability to easily add revenue-generating services like VOD and TV-based Internet services" said Sofin Raskin,
President and CEO for Tivella. "We look forward to working with Kasenna to deploy truly integrated VOD solutions specifically targeted for the MDU-Hospitality marketplace."
"Our
partnership with Tivella is significant in that we both promote standards-based platforms that are open and non-proprietary," said Mark Gray, CEO for Kasenna. "This approach will provide customers
an easy way to capitalize on performance increases and cost decreases attributed to advances in processor, network, and storage technologies. We are pleased to be working with Tivella which shares our
open-standards philosophy." About Tivella
Tivella is a global provider of TV-centric middleware and application software solutions for broadband IP markets. Tivella's success is
built on developing and integrating IP-based interactive video systems designed specifically for hospitality and residential/MDU environments. Tivella's development team has an extensive background in the
telecommunications, data communications, and interactive TV industries. Privately held, Tivella is headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California. Additional information regarding Tivella, Inc. is available at
http://www.tivella.com
. About Kasenna
Kasenna
delivers broadband infrastructure software that enables network service providers, content providers and enterprises to build carrier class streaming media networks and applications. More than 1,200
customers use Kasenna¡¯s software technology worldwide for streaming media network deployments, media archive and browse systems, distance learning and corporate communications applications. Kasenna is a
founding member of the Internet Streaming Media Alliance dedicated to finalizing the MPEG-4 standard and certifying MPEG-4. In January 2000, Kasenna, Inc. spun off from SGI with funding from U.S. Venture
Partners, Alloy Ventures, Entertainment Media Ventures and SGI. Kasenna, pronounced [kah-SEN-ah], is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. The company may be accessed internationally at http://www.kasenna.com
. About GCT-Allwell
GCT-Allwell
Technology is a privately held company providing set top box hardware platforms for advanced IP-based network applications. GCT-Allwell's products have been widely used as network devices, thin client
devices, power-line broadband communication devices, Internet appliances, and in wireless communication and home gateway installations. The parent company, Allwell, is based in Taiwan. Founded in 1998,
GCT-Allwell is based in Los Angeles, California. Additional information regarding GCT-Allwell, Inc. is available at http://www.allwell.tv . For more information, press only : GCT-Allwell
Tony Kuo
tony@gctglobal.com
Kasenna
Warren Allgyer
warren@kasenna.com
Tivella
Sofin Raskin
sofin@tivella.com |
