Entone Hydra IP Video Gateway Integrated with Minerva iTVManager and Latens Conditional Access

San Mateo, CA, (PRWeb) February 5, 2007 -- Entone, Inc., a leading provider of IPTV customer premise equipment (CPE), today announced that its award-winning Hydra™ IP video gateway is integrated with Latens' conditional access security system and Minerva's iTVManager™ middleware platform. This collaborative effort will enable service operators a more efficient and enhanced IPTV solution that can be quickly and easily deployed.

Entone's Hydra IP video gateway enables service operators to distribute video signals throughout the home using existing coax cabling. Hydra dramatically improves the business case for IPTV services by reducing the installation costs and eliminating the complexities associated with IP video deployment.

"Entone's traction is due not only to our field-proven platform but also from our collaboration with best-of-breed partners such as Latens and Minerva," said Ian Jefferson, Entone's VP of Business Development. "Our tightly integrated IPTV solution will enable operators to go to market faster while minimizing installation cost and complexities of deploying IP video services. We are delighted to be working with such world-class partners."

"Individually the economic advantages of Hydra and Latens' solutions are highly attractive, combined we have a solution that will be extremely compelling to the operators," said Dean Kashlan, Latens' GM and VP of the Americas. "We are pleased to join forces with Entone and Minerva and expect that this will further help consolidate Latens' position as the most powerful, flexible and cost-effective solution in the US marketplace for the secure delivery of IP video."

"Coupled with our field-proven iTVManager middleware platform and Latens' software-based conditional access, Entone's Hydra is the ideal CPE for operators ready to deploy IPTV," said Matt Cuson, Minerva's VP of Marketing.

About Entone's Hydra

Entone's award-winning Hydra™ is a multi-television IP video gateway that has patent-pending technologies which enable it to support up to three simultaneous television streams and broadband Internet access over existing residential coax cabling. It significantly reduces the costs of delivering IP television services to the home.

Whereas previous generations of IP set-top boxes required a separate box for each television in the home, Hydra is a single gateway device that can be shared by up to six televisions with any three of them receiving independent, simultaneous video streams. Video delivery within the home takes place over existing coax cabling, therefore eliminating the need for extensive new Ethernet wiring required by traditional IP set-top boxes.

Hydra's integrated HomePNA 3.0 interface allows for high-speed IP service over existing in-home coax and phone lines. It also has integrated Caller ID features and a built-in ATSC tuner for receiving over-the-air broadcast. Hydra also offers full interactivity and a modular personal video recorder (PVR) with up to 1 Terabyte of storage.

About Minerva's iTVManager

Minerva iTVManager provides the necessary tools to manage all key aspects of an IPTV service. Operations ranging from channel and media asset management to service packaging and pricing, as well as subscriber and device management, are easily performed using iTVManager. Providers that already have a business support system (BSS) or operations support system (OSS) solution for back-office service management can easily integrate Minerva iTVManager into their platform by using a robust set of APIs. Minerva iTVManager automates recurring processes like EPG generation, PPV scheduling and billing and supports High Definition Television.

About Latens' Conditional Access Systems

Latens CA Systems are next generation, standards compliant conditional access (CA) systems optimized for the IPTV, broadband digital cable, one-way cable and satellite markets. Latens CAS is differentiated by providing pure software solutions which replace the proprietary smart cards or embedded set top solutions of traditional CAS vendors with a downloadable CAS system using innovative Secure Software Modules. This provides a more dynamic, secure anti-piracy strategy at a much lower cost. Latens CA systems are technically advanced solutions that are already deployed and providing unsurpassed levels of security and flexibility while maximizing the revenue earned and retained by the operator.

About Entone, Inc.

Entone is a leading provider of IPTV customer premise equipment (CPE) solutions. Established in 1999 by the team that deployed the world's first commercial IP telco video service, Entone's proven technology enables service providers to reliably deliver integrated video and broadband services using existing in-home cabling. Entone has worked with a number of the world's leading video service operators and is recognized for its practical focus on improving the business case for video services by offering products that address key CAPEX issues commonly associated with deploying IP video services.

Entone is a privately held company with headquarters in California and offices in Hong Kong. The company is backed by leading venture capital firms and strategic investors such as Menlo Ventures, Palomar Ventures, and Scale Venture Partners.

For more information about Entone Technologies, go to http://www.entone.com.

About Latens Systems

Latens is a privately held company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, founded by broadcast technology experts. Latens' sole mission is to provide the industry's leading software-based Content & Revenue Protection Systems for pay-TV and IPTV operators, as software security replaces legacy Conditional Access (CA) technology. Latens uses Secure Software Modules to maximize security and minimize the risk of attack. Latens technology has the added benefit that it is easily extended to provide security for the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) and multiple set-top boxes homes. Latens business benefits include lower implementation and running costs, increased business flexibility and major cashflow advantages. http://www.latens.com

About Minerva Networks, Inc.

Minerva Networks, Inc., is the leading provider of open-platform, carrier-class solutions for the delivery of television services over broadband IP networks. More than 85 broadband network operators worldwide use Minerva's products and services to deliver next-generation entertainment and communications applications. Minerva Networks is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, and on the Internet at http://www.minervanetworks.com.

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