Media Center: Press Release
Set-top Box Testing Solution from NDS Selected by Cox Communications
Highlights:
- US broadband and cable giant Cox Communications chooses NDS IEX™ solution to automatically, accurately and effectively test interactive applications on their set-top boxes (STB)
- Quick, accurate testing required as more complicated interactive
applications are rolled out to subscribers on increasingly aggressively schedules
- The highly scalable NDS IEX solution has delivered immediate
and accurate results for Cox
LAS VEGAS (CES) – January 7, 2008 (The
Venetian Hotel, Murano Suite 3201) – NDS,
the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV,
today announced that its IEX™ system has been chosen by Cox Communications as its preferred automated set-top box (STB) testing solution. Cox, a multi-service broadband communications and entertainment company, is replacing manual testing equipment
with the automated IEX solution provided by NDS. After successfully testing an IEX server over the past year on the Scientific-Atlanta platform, Cox has decided to expand its automated
testing program using IEX and to extend automation to include Motorola STBs as well.
The NDS IEX solution combines hardware and software to automatically
test all interactive
applications on STBs operating in both cable and telecommunications
environments. It connects to the STB and runs interactive applications, testing
and rating their performance.
The system can test a wide range of interactive applications,
from simply changing the channel to launching an electronic program guide (EPG), ordering
a Pay-Per-View movie or playing an interactive game through your remote control.
As human testing of these actions can often leave more room
for error than an automated
solution, IEX provides a more accurate and cost-effective alternative
to manual testing.
“With the ever-expanding popularity of interactive services
and applications now available
through the set-top box, requirements and capabilities of testing
equipment have skyrocketed over the past few years,” said Steve Tranter,
Vice President of Broadband and
Interactive Delivery for NDS. “By implementing IEX, Cox
was able to see the benefits of test
automation within mere weeks as well as the scalability of IEX
to meet their specific needs as they change over time.”
“NDS’ automated IEX testing system turns around
fast and accurate results which we are
using to increase our efficiency and to decrease turnaround time
in launching new services,”
said Bjorn Andersson, Lead QA System Engineer for Cox Communications. “IEX
allows us to test applications on an array of set-top boxes faster and
more accurately than we ever
have before. We anticipate operational benefits that will result
in Cox being a more agile competitor, and look forward to rolling out new services and
features to our customers more quickly.”
IEX is a part of the market-leading NDS solutions portfolio
which includes VideoGuard®,
its proven conditional access solution for Pay TV that is currently
deployed on over 78.6 million STBs globally. NDS has expanded its VideoGuard solutions
suite with VideoGuard Mobile™ for mobile broadcasting, VideoGuard
PC™ to secure content in
personal computers, VideoGuard PMP™ for portable media
players and RadioGuard™,
for the HD Radio platform. NDS also offers a suite of software
solutions including middleware, interactive TV applications and digital video recorder
(DVR) technology. MediaHighway® is NDS’ market-leading middleware suite.
There are currently over 69.9
million cumulative NDS middleware clients deployed, and over
8.8 million NDS-powered DVRs in viewers’ homes around the world.
About NDS
NDS Group plc (NASDAQ: NNDS), a majority owned subsidiary of
News Corporation, supplies open end-to-end digital technology
and services to digital pay-television platform operators and
content providers. See www.nds.com for
more information about NDS.
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