TrustSphere, a pioneer of next-generation solutions for ensuring the security, integrity and reliability of the messaging systems that organisations rely upon, has expanded its staff with the appointment of Sydney-based Mark Padginton as its Sales Director for Australia and New Zealand.

Padginton’s responsibilities will include selling TrustSphere’s next-generation solutions throughout the region, establishing relationships with value added resellers (VAR) and partnering with companies with complementary products or technologies.

“Businesses, non-profit organizations and government departments throughout Australia and New Zealand face a variety of email-borne threats, from spear phishers targeting key individuals to steal sensitive data or introduce crimeware, to distributed denial of service attacks to emerging threats that effectively shut down executives’ email,” said Padginton. “I’ve been monitoring the rise of these threats for some time and have joined TrustSphere because it is the right company with the right solution at the right time to combat these threats that comprise the messaging systems which are so vital for organisations to conduct their business.”

Padginton comes to TrustSphere with nearly 20 years’ experience in sales and business development in the IT industry, with a particular emphasis on secure messaging solutions. Before joining TrustSphere he was with Redman Solutions, where he held senior roles in business development and product management. Prior to this, Padginton performed a variety of sales and business development roles as a partner with several IT vendors in Australia and New Zealand, including Actiance, Iron Mountain and Exalead.

“Mark’s proven ability and experience make him ideal for expanding TrustSphere’s presence throughout Australia and New Zealand – two key markets for our security solutions,” said Manish Goel, CEO of TrustSphere. “Organizations worldwide must combat spear phishing and other emerging email-based threats that compromise their messaging systems and impact their ability to do business, and our solutions provide these organizations with the actionable intelligence to restore trust in communication.”

About TrustSphere
TrustSphere is a pioneer in ‘Messaging Intelligence” a next-generation approach to ensuring the security, integrity and reliability of the messaging systems that organizations rely upon. The company has been recognized as a “Cool Vendor” for 2011 by Gartner and its award-winning solutions have been successfully deployed by both large corporations and major government organizations, proving their industry-leading capabilities. TrustSphere’s solutions are available directly from the company and a growing number of value-added resellers and systems integrators. The company has offices throughout the world, including New York City, Australia, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

For more information on TrustSphere and its solutions visit the company’s website at www.trustsphere.com

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Two key executives of TrustSphere, a pioneer in the Messaging Intelligence space, were honored at the annual Online Trust Forum, the annual event of the Online Trust Alliance (OTA).

Manish Goel, TrustSphere’s co-founder and chief executive officer and also chairman of the OTA’s board of directors, received the organization’s Online Trust Leadership Award. Roland Turner, director of TrustSphere’s Professional Services Group, received the OTA’s International Ambassador’s award for his pioneering work across the Asian region.

“Manish and Roland have been outstanding assets to the OTA, contributing substantial time and energy that have been tremendously helpful in our expansion of the organization,” said Craig Spiezle, executive director and president of OTA. “Manish’s insights and objectivity have been invaluable not only for OTA members, but also for the trust community at large.”

“It’s a both an honor and a surprise for Roland and me to be recognized by the OTA in this way. However the real credit should go to the many members of the OTA who contribute their time and expertise to advancing the cause of online trust,” said Goel. “Trust is fragile and online trust is complicated by anonymity over the Internet and the number of vulnerabilities which exist today. The OTA is the ideal forum for securing our cyber infrastructure today and tomorrow as it enables leaders throughout the industry to collaborate freely on solutions to spear-phishing and other critical threats.”

About The Online Trust Alliance (OTA)
OTA’s mission is to develop and advocate best practices, training and public policy which mitigate emerging privacy, identity and security threats to online services, brands, government, organizations and consumers. OTA’s goal is to increase consumer protection, transparency and control of their data and online activities, thereby enhancing online trust and confidence and the long-term vitality and innovation of Internet-based services. For more information about OTA, visit: https://otalliance.org.

About TrustSphere
TrustSphere is a pioneer in ‘Messaging Intelligence” a next-generation approach to ensuring the security, integrity and reliability of the messaging systems that organizations rely upon. The company has been recognized as a “Cool Vendor” for 2011 by Gartner and its award-winning solutions have been successfully deployed by both large corporations and major government organizations, proving their industry-leading capabilities. TrustSphere’s solutions are available directly from the company and a growing number of value-added resellers and systems integrators. The company has offices throughout the world, including New York City, Australia, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

For more information on TrustSphere and its solutions visit the company’s website at www.trustsphere.com

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RGB Networks, the leading provider of scalable multiscreen IP video delivery solutions, today announced that its enhanced Video Intelligence Architecture (eVIA) product suite won a coveted 2011 TelcoTV Vision Award, which was presented at last week’s annual TelcoTV trade show. Determined by a distinguished independent panel of industry executives, the Vision Awards honor the most innovative, leading-edge telecommunications solutions introduced or upgraded over the past year.

RGB’s first-of-its-kind eVIA suite is anchored by the company’s Video Multiprocessing Gateway (VMG™) and TransAct Packager, which together form the industry’s most complete, flexible and highly scalable IP-based solution for delivering and monetizing live and on-demand TV Everywhere content for TVs, PCs, tablets and other mobile devices.

“To be selected for a TelcoTV Vision Award is an achievement worth commending,” said Joseph Braue, Executive Vice President and Group Director of UBM TechWeb’s Light Reading Communications Network, which co-produces the event with the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. “Our judges found that RGB’s unique eVIA solutions stood out among its peers.”

A Vision Award winner in 2009, the widely-deployed VMG is the industry’s highest capacity transcoder, capable of simultaneously transcoding 500+ MPEG-2 and MPEG-4/H.264 video streams into optimal video codec output for any access network, as well as instantly adapting bitrate and resolution levels for delivery to any mobile device. Additionally, the multi-function VMG performs high-density transrating, grooming and ad insertion, all within a single highly-scalable, carrier-class platform.

Praised by customers for its many unique features, the TransAct Packager – a Vision Award finalist in 2010 – is RGB’s adaptive streaming solution. This flexible platform “packages” video programs into multiple versions for viewing in Apple HTTP Live Streaming, Microsoft Smooth Streaming and Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming formats. This technology is leading the way for a new adaptive bitrate ad insertion ecosystem that allows service providers to target advertisements at a very granular level, ushering in a new era of lucrative hyper-targeted advertising with personalized messages reaching their target audience at the regional, neighborhood or even subscriber level.

“The Vision Award judges recognized that the growing popularity of tablets and other mobile devices requires telco carriers to adopt a standards-based solution to not only deliver top-quality multiscreen video, but to also reap the revenue benefits of hyper-targeted ads,” said Ramin Farassat, Vice President, Product Marketing and Business Development for RGB Networks. “Our eVIA solution meets that need, and its TelcoTV Vision Award victory shows that industry experts also recognize the ability of its winning combination of performance and features to make carriers successful in TV Everywhere.”

About RGB Networks
RGB Networks enables video service providers to migrate to a multiscreen environment for the delivery of linear and on-demand video over managed and unmanaged IP networks. Wide adoption of the company’s IP video solutions is based on core strengths in transcoding, advertising and overlay insertion, and statistical multiplexing. RGB’s solutions for video delivery to TVs, desktop and mobile devices are built to deliver the highest video quality at the best price-performance on the market—they uniquely offer the density and scalability required to support the growing demands of consumers with integrated functionality that simplifies operators’ network architectures and minimizes operational costs. RGB’s products are deployed by over 200 cable, telco, satellite, OTT and mobile operators in 30+ countries. Venture capital investment firms include Accel Partners, Comcast Interactive, Focus Ventures, Granite Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners. RGB is a private, profitable company based in Sunnyvale, California with offices around the world. For more information, please visit our website – www.rgbnetworks.comwww.rgbnetworks.com – and IP video blog – www.rgbnetworks.com/blog – and follow us on Twitter @RGB_Networks.

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Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, today announced its Sentry® digital content monitor now enables cable television operators to ensure the quality of their live and on-demand services delivered using adaptive streaming through the quick identification and diagnosis of video and audio quality issues that can impact viewers’ quality of experience (QoE).

“Cable operators are realizing as they utilize adaptive streaming technology to compete with the growing number of over-the-top (OTT) providers, that an exceptional QoE is the best way to ensure the superiority of their services,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “Sentry’s combination of advanced audio and video quality monitoring capabilities and proven performance make it an ideal solution for ensuring adaptive streaming quality and is another demonstration of our commitment to ensuring that Sentry addresses operators’ most pressing QoE requirements.”

The key to Sentry’s new adaptive streaming monitoring capabilities is its ability to perform its unique Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) analysis on video streams encoded in the H.264 codec used for adaptive streaming. PVQ enables Sentry to identify video artifacts that are due to over-compression, which commonly happens with motion-intensive programs like sports and action movies. Such over-compression artifacts are virtually undetectable by simply looking for packet loss and represent a major threat to video quality.

In an adaptive streaming monitoring application, Sentry examines H.264 video streams immediately after they have been transcoded from MPEG-2 and just prior to them being fragmented and encrypted. This is a critical point in the adaptive streaming process as transcoding can introduce QoE-impacting video errors that are virtually undetectable after encryption. Simultaneously with the H.264 monitoring, Sentry examines the accompanying audio programs encoded in the AAC codec predominantly used in adaptive streaming. This combination ensures that operators can detect video and audio issues that will propagate downstream and degrade customers’ viewing experience.

Tektronix will demonstrate Sentry’s H.264 video PVQ, and AAC audio QoE and loudness monitoring capability, and other advanced capabilities at the upcoming Cable-Tec Expo, November 15-17 in Atlanta.

Sentry is an award-winning, comprehensive content monitoring solution for cable, telecom, IPTV and other video service providers. Sentry enables the early detection and diagnosis of video and audio issues (i.e., video freeze, macro-blocking, loss of audio, etc.) whenever or wherever they occur in the network, so service providers can deliver services with excellent quality, thus ensuring an optimal QoE for subscribers. Sentry accomplishes this insight through its unique combination of an unprecedented visibility into network anomalies at the IP and content layers, scalability to monitor every program in the network, and its real-time, 24/7 operation.

For more information about Sentry visit http://www.tek.com/products/video-test/digital-content-monitors.html or call 310.227.8620.

Wonder what else Tektronix is up to? Stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

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Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Tektronix, the market leader in broadcast video test, monitoring and analysis solutions, today announced its Sentry® digital content monitor has received a 3.5 Diamond rating in the Broadband Technology Report’s prestigious 2011 Diamond Technology Reviews, marking the fifth consecutive year in which Sentry has been recognized in this annual review of the top products and solutions available to the cable television industry.

Established by Broadband Technology Report in 2005, the Diamond Technology Reviews (commonly referred to as “the Diamonds”) are determined by unbiased evaluations from a distinguished and independent panel of Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) national board members and cable engineering experts, including senior executives from the largest U.S. cable operators.

“The judges always seem to be impressed with the Sentry’s upgrades, and this year was no exception. Once again Tektronix received an excellent Review score,” said Rob Stuehrk, president and publisher of Broadband Technology Report.

Beyond application of the newest technology, entries are judged by innovation, ease-of-use, efficiency, reliability and contribution to profitability. This year’s Diamond judges noted Sentry’s newly-enhanced audio monitoring features, of special importance in the wake of the Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act which will soon require that ads be no louder than the programs they accompany. The advanced monitoring capabilities of Sentry make it an ideal solution for this non-trivial task given the hundreds of channels that cable operators will have to continually monitor.

“Scoring so well in its fifth Diamond Technology Reviews is a reflection of Sentry remaining the industry’s most advanced content monitor as well as a recognition of its success in the market, with nine of the 10 largest U.S. cable operators using it provide an optimal quality of experience QoE for their subscribers,” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “Adding the ability to detect overly loud commercials in the multi-channel cable environment is just the latest example of our commitment to ensuring Sentry can address operators’ current and future needs.”

Tektronix will demonstrate Sentry’s audio loudness monitoring and other advanced QoE monitoring capabilities at the upcoming Cable-Tec Expo, November 15-17 in Atlanta.

Sentry is an award-winning, comprehensive content monitoring solution for cable, telecom, IPTV and other video service providers. Sentry enables the early detection and diagnosis of video and audio errors (i.e., video freeze, macro-blocking, loss of audio, etc.) whenever or wherever they occur in the network, so service providers can deliver services with excellent quality, thus ensuring an optimal QoE for subscribers. Sentry accomplishes this insight through its unique combination of an unprecedented visibility into network anomalies at the IP and MPEG layers, scalability to monitor every program in the network, and its real-time, 24/7 operation.

For more information about Sentry visit http://www.tek.com/products/video-test/digital-content-monitors.html or call 310.227.8620.

Follow Tektronix on Twitter (@tektronix) and Facebook.

About Broadband Technology Report
Broadband Technology Report (BTR), celebrating its 7th anniversary in 2011, is the cable and telecom industry’s premier source for product and technology news, and is the most successful and fastest growing online outlet for product information and deployments; reviews and rankings; technology expertise; and buyer/seller facilitation. BTR’s portfolio includes online, print and video assets, all designed to help network operators build, upgrade and maintain high-performance communications networks. BTR, backed by over 70 years of combined industry experience, delivers its email, online, print and video production services to more than 21,000 subscribers. If you are interested in subscribing, consult http://broadbandgear.net/subscribe/. BTR is owned by Hermes Media, LLC.

About the Diamond Technology Review program
The BTR Diamond Technology Reviews (“the Diamonds”) is a renowned industry program now in its sixth year – that was developed to recognize some of the top products and solutions available to the cable industry as determined by a stellar panel of MSO engineering experts. Engineering executives from Bright House, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Suddenlink, Sunflower Broadband and Time Warner Cable served as third-party judges for the 2011 Diamonds. Every year, BTR invites vendors to submit written information about products/solutions that have been released or upgraded since the previous year’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo (October 2010). Criteria used in the Diamonds rankings include, first and foremost, unique technology or application thereof, innovation, ease of use, efficiency, reliability and contribution to profitability.

About Tektronix
For more than sixty years, engineers have turned to Tektronix for test, measurement and monitoring solutions to solve design challenges, improve productivity and dramatically reduce time to market. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test instrumentation for engineers focused on electronic design, manufacturing, and advanced technology development. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Tektronix serves customers worldwide and offers award-winning service and support. Stay on the leading edge at www.tektronix.com.

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TA Associates (www.ta.com), a leading global growth private equity firm, today announced it has made a significant investment in Aicent Inc. (www.aicent.com), a leading provider of data network, messaging and roaming solutions to telecom network operators worldwide. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

With over 180 telecom operator customers in more than 120 countries, Aicent provides a platform for cross-border and cross-network data delivery solutions to mobile network operators serving more than three billion mobile users worldwide. Its services enable mobile phone users to easily download data and send and receive SMS (Short Message Service) or MMS (Multimedia Message Services) messages across different mobile networks globally. Aicent is headquartered in San Jose, California with R&D and support operations in Beijing, China.

Aicent’s client base includes nine of the world’s ten largest operators, with customers such as AT&T, Verizon, DoCoMo, Deutsche Telecom, Telefonica O2, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. The company has a strong foothold in the rapidly growing Asian markets, with over 90 percent operator coverage in Asia and 100 percent coverage in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

“We are delighted to partner with a company that has achieved such strong growth since its inception,” said Jason P. Werlin, a Senior Vice President at TA Associates. “Aicent launched one of the world’s first GRX networks in 2001, and has established itself as a global hub for mobile operators. The rise of the smartphone and the increasing demand for mobile broadband services has provided the right backdrop for Aicent to roll out a number of groundbreaking products.”

“The new partnership with TA Associates will help strengthen Aicent’s market position and allow us to continue to bring innovative solutions to our customers,” said Lynn Liu, Founder, President and CEO of Aicent. “TA has a proven track record when it comes to backing fast-growing profitable telecom businesses and importantly, as an investor, it has a truly global outlook.”

The markets served by Aicent are set to enjoy continued rapid growth. “The explosive growth in mobile data traffic will undoubtedly require mobile network operators to ramp up capacity,” said Hythem T. El-Nazer, a Principal at TA Associates. Mobile data traffic is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 92 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to the Cisco Virtual Networking Index. By 2015, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to account for the largest percentage of monthly mobile data usage.

“Aicent’s existing product range and exciting new services in development will mean that the company remains a key player in connecting mobile networks and their customers across the globe,” said Kurt R. Jaggers, a Managing Director at TA Associates.

TA Associates has more than four decades of investing experience, focusing on profitable growth companies. TA’s prior investments in the communications sector include AboveNet Communications, Aurora Networks, FreeWave Technologies, Idea Cellular, MetroPCS Communications, Micromax Informatics Limited, SBA Communications, TARGUSinfo, TEOCO and WIND Telecom S.p.A.

Goodwin Procter provided legal counsel to TA Associates. Morgan Keegan served as financial advisor and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati provided legal counsel to Aicent.

About Aicent, Inc.
Serving more than three billion mobile users around the world, Aicent, Inc. is a leading provider of data network services and solutions for global mobile operators. To enable interoperability between Aicent customers and other networks, Aicent operates one of the world’s largest GPRS and 3G network exchanges, connecting to over 180 operators, including nine of the world’s ten largest. Through extensive peering arrangements, the Aicent network reaches nearly all GPRS/3G operators around the world. The company also operates integrated mobile messaging services, including one of the world’s first and largest multimedia messaging exchanges, and offers other value-added services to help carriers maximize revenue opportunities. For more information, visit www.aicent.com.

About TA Associates
Founded in 1968, TA Associates is one of the largest and most experienced middle-market growth private equity firms. The firm has invested in over 400 companies globally and has raised more than $16 billion in capital. With offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong, TA Associates leads buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the technology, financial services, business services, healthcare and consumer industries. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.

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