Advanced Television

ActiveVideo joins RDK community

September 11, 2014

Colin Mann @ IBC

Cloud-based software platform ActiveVideo has joined the RDK (Reference Design Kit) community as a licensee and to provide a cloud-based browser for delivery of HTML5-based interactive TV UX, content and applications to RDK devices.

The RDK is a pre-integrated software bundle that provides a common framework for powering customer-premises equipment (CPE) from TV service providers, including set-top boxes, gateways, and converged devices. RDK is supported by more than 160 licensees including CE manufacturers, SOCs vendors, software developers, system integrators, and TV service providers. It is administered by the RDK Management LLC, a joint venture between Comcast Cable, Time Warner Cable, and Liberty Global. It enables TV service providers to standardise certain elements of these devices, but also easily to customise the applications and user experiences that ride on top.

ActiveVideo’s CloudTV software platform is a browser in the cloud that enables pay-TV operators to virtualise CPE functions for the purposes of delivering next-gen user interfaces, online content, and interactive advertising for TV across pay-TV operators’ entire footprints.

By connecting the RDK framework to the cloud, ActiveVideo:

  • Complements RDK-based devices with cloud rendering of applications and services to expand service reach and mitigate against device obsolescence

  • Enables consistent TV experiences across heterogeneous footprints of RDK as well as non-RDK devices; and

  • Allows application developers to evolve and normalize application experiences across RDK implementations.

“ActiveVideo’s expertise and leadership in advancing cloud rendering of applications fills an important need within the RDK community, as operators seek to capitalise on cloud technologies to create their own user experiences on top of the RDK software stack,” said Steve Heeb, president and general manager of RDK Management. “The RDK is being embraced by more and more operators, technology partners, and systems integrators that are all committed to having a more open and flexible technical foundation for next-gen devices.”

“RDK’s ability to standardise application development across the pay-TV ecosystem is accelerating creation and deployment of advanced services,” said Jeff Miller, president and CEO of ActiveVideo. “By combining the RDK’s device-based approach with the power of the cloud, we can help the RDK and industry at large achieve greater scale, faster time-to-market and consistency for television experiences across entire device footprints.”

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