Advanced Television

Marvell powers SFR hybrid

January 14, 2014

SFR has launched its hybrid set-top box powered by Marvell’s ARMADA 1500 Plus system-on-chip (SoC) platform. The ARMADA 1500 Plus is a full HD media processor designed for a wide range of Smart video products. The ARMADA 1500 Plus will power SFR’s hybrid set-top boxes to enable Google services for Smart TV.

“I’m very proud of Marvell’s long-term collaboration with Google in empowering leading service providers to deliver immersive entertainment experiences with new products and services. The successful launch of this innovative device by SFR is a great example of how consumers can enjoy quality content delivered seamlessly through both broadcasting and streaming,” said Weili Dai, President and Co-Founder of Marvell. “I would like to thank the passionate and dedicated engineering teams of Google, SFR, and Marvell in delivering this exciting new product and driving the ‘Connected Digital Lifestyle’ vision to serve today’s global consumers for better lives.”

“Through our joint collaboration with Marvell, SFR is pleased to be the first service provider in Europe to offer consumers Google services for Smart TV powered by Marvell’s ARMADA 1500 Plus,” said Frank Cadoret, Executive Vice President of SFR. “Offering set-top boxes with Google services will further allow us to differentiate our services, while giving subscribers a powerful and enhanced entertainment experience in today’s digital home.”

SFR’s hybrid set-top box offering Google services for Smart TV, available in a compact form factor and simple set up, provides both broadcast and IPTV services to consumers, for €3 per month. Customers, who have xDSL can enjoy IPTV services whereas other subscribers can get a bundled SFR TV/OTT experience. The platform is the first hybrid set-top box in the Europe enabling Google services for Smart TV, and its applications enable the convergence between mobiles, tablets and TV services.

The ARMADA 1500 Plus offers significantly improved graphics performance due to its OpenGL ES 2.0 compatible graphics engine, while real-time 1080p video encode capabilities allow the platform to function as a multi-screen source device, enabling an optimal viewing experience for consumers. Additionally, the ARMADA 1500 Plus incorporates an enhanced security engine that further facilitates more adoption by service operators, as well as its Qdeo video processing HD and 3D video for an immersive entertainment experience.

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