Tektronix, the leading provider of digital content monitoring solutions, today announced that its award-winning Sentry® digital content monitoring solution is a finalist in this year’s Cable & Satellite International magazine’s Product of the Year Awards. The CSI Awards, which are presented at the IBC tradeshow in Amsterdam in September, recognize technical excellence and innovation in the cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcasting and IPTV industries.

Sentry was selected as a finalist in the “Best Monitoring or Network Management Solution” category in recognition of its new Perceptual Video Quality (PVQ) monitoring feature. Sentry’s new PVQ capability helps video service providers (VSP) tackle content errors when the program suffers artifacts due to over-compression which is common in motion intensive programs like sports.

“Reaching the finals of the prestigious CSI Product of the Year Awards is the latest accolade for Sentry and a further acknowledgement that Sentry remains a state-of-the-art solution for the detection and diagnosis of video and audio errors that impact viewers’ quality of experience (QoE),” said Eben Jenkins, general manager, Video Product Line, Tektronix. “Sentry has been proven in deployments with the top U.S. cable operators and many other VSPs who use Sentry to ensure they deliver programming with the best possible picture and sound quality.”

Cable & Satellite International launched the Product of the Year awards back in 2003 and have attracted over 150 entries every year, gaining the endorsement of the industry’s leading technology suppliers.  This year’s winners will be announced at the award ceremony held at IBC on Friday, September 9 at 6 p.m.

About the Sentry Monitoring Solution

Sentry is a 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 correct these issues, thus ensuring an optimal quality of experience (QoE) for subscribers.  Sentry accomplishes this through its unique combination of 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.  Sentry is proven in deployments with service providers worldwide, including nine of the top 10 U.S. cable operators.

For more information visit www.tektronix.com or call 310.227.8620.

Follow Tektronix on Twitter – @tektronix.

Follow the Mixed Signals product line on Twitter — @mixedsignalsinc

About Cable & Satellite International

Cable & Satellite International (CSI) is a technology publication targeting the global video market, including cable, satellite, IPTV, mobile and terrestrial broadcast platforms. CSI assesses technology trends and provides detailed product analysis relevant to the core video delivery functions – namely content contribution/backhaul, distribution/transport, playout/transmission and home networking. CSI also analyzes the wider triple and quadruple play landscape.

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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RGB Networks, the leading provider of scalable multiscreen IP video delivery solutions, today announced the launch of its Enhanced Video Intelligence Architecture (eVIA), a suite of products and technologies including RGB’s award-winning Video Multiprocessing Gateway (VMGTM) and TransAct Packager, that provides hyper-targeted ad insertion capabilities for the integrated delivery and monetization of video to multiple screens over adaptive streaming delivery protocols.

Online and mobile viewing of premium video content is increasingly complementing and augmenting the traditional TV experience. In order to monetize premium video services over new adaptive streaming protocols, a new video ad insertion infrastructure, based on open-standards, is required. To meet this need, RGB Networks, leveraging years of industry-leading ad insertion expertise, is bringing a first-of-its-kind product suite to the market with eVIA based on adaptive bitrate ad insertion technology.

RGB’s eVIA multiscreen IP video delivery and ad insertion ecosystem utilizes advanced adaptive bitrate streaming to facilitate targeted advertising down to the neighborhood, device or even specific individual subscriber demographics. The key benefits of delivering ad insertion in this manner is that video service providers have a simpler, cost-effective and more scalable solution than offered by traditional ad insertion methods while allowing hyper-targeting down to the most granular level. With increased revenues from targeted advertising, video service providers will be able to offer subscribers enhanced multiscreen services, such as OTT video delivery, nPVR, and Catch-up TV. The eVIA framework also gives providers the added benefits of cost-effective and seamless program substitution, blackouts and channel switching utilizing the same infrastructure.

“With end-users expecting personalized video services to be accessible on any network connection and on any device, providers are searching for options to increase revenues and lower the cost of delivering TV Everywhere services,” said Yuval Fisher, Chief Technology Officer for RGB Networks. “With eVIA’s hyper-targeted ad insertion capabilities, providers can increase revenue while simultaneously upgrading their networks to support large scale deployments of both on-demand and linear content to multiple devices.”

According to a Digital TV Research study, the average revenue per user for TV services will fall over the next five years. Two trends contributing to this decrease are consumers going to sources other than traditional video providers for video content, and at the same time video service providers being unable to increase their ad revenues. Adaptive bitrate ad insertion combined with OTT delivery opens the door to the possibility for operators to deliver advertising content to specific interest-based segments in a network, raising their revenues.

“With eVIA’s adaptive streaming ad insertion capabilities, providers can take charge of and monetize content in a way they were unable to before,” continued Fisher. “As providers accelerate the rollout of their TV Everywhere services, the investment in new IP infrastructure means they must look beyond the traditional ad insertion methods. Utilizing this new hyper-targeting adaptive streaming architecture, eVIA ensures providers around the world can truly monetize their content, off-set costs and successfully future-proof their business models.”

About RGB Networks’ Enhanced Video Intelligence Architecture (eVIA)
eVIA from RGB Networks provides a suite of standards-based products that provides advanced HTTP streaming video services for the delivery and monetization of video to multiple screens. Designed to be highly flexible, the eVIA ecosystem provides the scalability necessitated by the accelerating growth of multiscreen services, with industry-leading density and reliability designed into every component.

Leveraging RGB’s years of ad insertion expertise, eVIA enables service providers to monetize HTTP streaming services, whether on managed or unmanaged networks, finally providing true targeted advertising capabilities, leading to a new revenue source for operators.

This first-of-its-kind architecture will take HTTP streaming services well past today’s capabilities with shorter adoption time than usually seen with new technologies.

At IBC 2011, stand 4.C78, RGB Networks will demonstrate for the first time adaptive bitrate streaming in Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) format utilizing its eVIA product suite. A white paper providing more details on RGB’s eVIA can be downloaded at www.rgbnetworks.com/resources.

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 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 firms Accel Partners, Comcast Interactive, Focus Ventures, Granite Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners have invested $63 million in the company. RGB is a private, profitable company based in Sunnyvale, California with offices around the world. For more information, please visit www.rgbnetworks.com.

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Tyfone (www.tyfone.com), a mobile financial solutions provider, today announced the issuance of a seminal patent for over the network provisioning of add-on smartcard secure elements.

This new patent covers programming of smartcard circuitry in add-on electronic transaction cards in response to communication received over a network. This includes programming the electronic transaction card to operate as credit, debit, or stored value cards. Communication over a “network” includes wired, wireless, or cellular networks.

The patent, US 7,954,717, entitled “Provisioning Electronic Transaction Card in Mobile Device” has an effective filing date of February 22, 2005 and was issued on June 7, 2011.

Enabling electronic devices to leverage NFC communication standards for completing highly secure contactless transactions necessitates the use of a secure element, such as a smartcard. Plastic cards with smartcard secure elements for financial transactions are generally provisioned with identities before delivery to the user. Mobile devices using secure elements can benefit from the ability to provision multiple user identities and remote over-the-air management of identities into the secure element.

“We recognized early on the benefits of supporting over-the-air and over-the-wire programming of add-on secure elements in electronic devices, especially for financial transactions,” said Dr. Siva Narendra, president at Tyfone-North America. “The issuance of this patent is evidence of Tyfone’s thought leadership with respect to technologies that Trusted Service Managers (TSMs) will require to scale and manage mobile handsets for use in secure ID and NFC applications. We are excited to be bringing solutions to the market during a time of tremendous global interest.”

This patent addresses the use of add-on cards that may include smartcard circuitry. Technologies covered encompass the use of wired or wireless networks for provisioning transactional identities and information into a smartcard in an add-on slot of mobile devices. One application of this technology can be found on the company’s SideTapTM MicroSD cards; other examples may include add-on form factors such as SIM cards or mobile device sleeves. This technology enables programming of add-on cards in intelligent electronic devices used by plastic credit, debit and pre-paid card manufacturers, and personalization bureaus either within their secure facilities or in an instant personalization environment such as kiosks.

Tyfone’s secure technology used in SideTap cards along with its u4ia® mobile financial services platform enables a customizable digital wallet for any device that is capable of secure mobile banking, mobile ID and NFC payments services. Consumers appreciate the ability to tailor their mobile digital wallet, just as they do with the wallet in their purse or pocket today. Technologies covered in this patent address management of a consumer’s mobile digital wallet remotely over a network.

About Tyfone
Founded in 2004, Tyfone’s corporate headquarters are in Portland, Oregon, and its Asia-Pacific headquarters are in Bangalore, India. Tyfone connects money and mobility via a highly secure, scalable and flexible mobile financial services solution tailored to meet the evolving needs of consumers, financial institutions, mobile network operators, transportation companies, and retailers. Operating in any standard memory card slot, Tyfone’s u4ia® platform and its companion SideTap™ memory card comprise the world’s first patented, neutral, and comprehensive memory card-based payments solution for mobile contactless payments. Tyfone and its partners enable a suite of services including Mobile Banking, Mobile Identity Management, Mobile Remote Payments, Mobile Retail Services, and Mobile Contactless Payments. For more information visit www.tyfone.com.

Some names and brands mentioned may be claimed as the property of others. u4ia, Tyfone, and SideTap are trademarks of Tyfone, Inc.

Star One Credit Union, the ninth largest credit union in the US with more than $5 billion in assets, has signed an agreement with mobile financial solutions provider, Tyfone (www.tyfone.com), to deliver next generation mobile banking services to it members.

“As the Silicon Valley’s largest, member-owned financial institution, Star One prides itself in offering valuable, progressive financial solutions, and a consistent user experience to its members,” said Margarete Mucker, vice president of remote services at Star One. “After careful evaluation, we determined that Tyfone not only meets the mobile banking requirements we were looking for, but also has the technology, vision and culture to provide our members comprehensive mobile financial services well into the future. Tyfone’s platform is of great value to Star One and our members. We chose Tyfone not only because of their robust banking solution but also due to their NFC contactless payment, corporate banking and secure identification capabilities.”

Tyfone’s direct integration to Star One’s Fiserv XP2 core has additional benefits.  Mobile bankers will experience rapid responses, and the direct access to core data offers flexibility for additional features. With this agreement, Tyfone brings the latest in progressive mobile banking services to Star One members, allowing Star One to offer standard mobile banking features as well as several industry first features — account aggregation, rate watch, Regulation D counter, mobile remote deposit capture (mRDC), bill pay, and an array of customizable alerts.

“Star One is the ninth largest credit union out of more than 7,500 in the US, making it also one of the top 100 financial institutions in the country,” said Mark Miyamoto, director of sales at Tyfone. “Star One’s success is a credit to its mission of delivering valuable financial services to its members and Tyfone looks forward to helping Star One carry forth this commitment in the mobile environment.”

Mobile banking is nearing an inflection point where basic mobile banking functions alone are insufficient. Tyfone multi-mode mobile banking for any device (SMS, App, Web) is based on its u4ia® mobile financial services platform that in addition enables NFC contactless payments and strong ID authentication, providing comprehensive digital wallet and payment services for Credit Unions.

“Our strategy has been to bring comprehensive mobile financial services to the market and we are happy to see innovative credit unions like Star One select Tyfone.” added Miyamoto.

About Tyfone

Tyfone connects money and mobility via a highly secure, scalable and flexible Mobile Financial Services (MFS) infrastructure that is tailored to meet the evolving needs of mobile network operators, transportation agencies, retailers and financial institutions. With its complete MFS platform and global alliance partners, Tyfone is uniquely qualified to deliver issuer-centric turnkey solutions with fully-integrated contactless payments capabilities. To discover why Tyfone is becoming the partner of choice for MFS technologies to many of the world’s leading organizations, visit www.tyfone.com.

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RGB Networks, the leader in high-capacity multi-screen video delivery, will demonstrate how cable operators can deliver advanced multi-screen video services and advertising seamlessly and cost-effectively to TVs, PCs, tablets and other mobile devices at its booth (#400) at the annual CANITEC Expo in Puebla, Mexico, May 25-27. The demonstration will be powered by RGB’s award-winning Video Multiprocessing Gateway (VMG™)—the industry’s only carrier-class platform for multi-screen video delivery—and TransAct Packager—RGB’s flexible adaptive streaming product.

“The market for premium video services is becoming increasingly competitive as service providers deploy new video offerings that can be delivered to devices beyond the television. In order to remain the dominant video provider in their market, cable operators must transition to IP-based video delivery and leverage the capacity of their managed broadband networks to offer a better multi-screen ‘TV Everywhere’ experience than their competitors,” said Nabil Kanaan, Senior Director of Product Marketing for RGB Networks.  “At CANITEC, we will show how cable operators can utilize our Video Multiprocessing Gateway to stay ahead of the competition by quickly and cost-effectively deploying video services to any device without overhauling their existing video delivery and ad insertion infrastructure.”

Designed specifically to address a number of advanced video processing applications, RGB’s modular VMG performs transcoding, transrating, ad insertion and re-coding in a highly integrated configuration. The VMG’s ability to transcode programs from MPEG-2 into the more bandwidth-efficient MPEG-4/H.264 makes it an integral part of a complete multi-screen solution, while its very high capacity, scalability and reliability make it ideal for large-scale deployments. The flexible VMG also addresses large screen applications, such as H.264-to-MPEG-2 transcoding and HD-to-SD downconversion.  At CANITEC, attendees will see the chassis-based VMG deliver an integrated multi-device experience while simultaneously performing seamless insertion of ads.

The advertising demonstration will showcase the ability of RGB’s VMG to work together with SeaChange International’s Spot linear ad insertion system as an integrated multi-screen transcoding and ad insertion solution, controlled by the SeaChange Adrenalin^TM multi-screen video back office with full DRM support, to make seamless ad placements into mobile, PC and TV streams.  In the future, SeaChange’s massively scalable Infusion^TM Advanced Advertising Platform is expected to integrate with RGB’s VMG.

RGB will also demonstrate its TransAct Packager, an advanced adaptive streaming solution that ingests MPEG-4/H.264-encoded programs and creates multiple versions of each program encoded at different bit rates which are then packaged in the Apple HTTP Live Streaming, Microsoft Smooth Streaming and Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming formats.  This advanced adaptive streaming capability complements the exceptional transcoding performance of the VMG, enabling cable operators to cost-effectively deliver programming of the highest quality to the PCs, tablets, mobile devices and Internet-connected set-top boxes of millions of viewers.

Also at CANITEC, RGB will highlight the capabilities of its complete line of products for digital simulcasting, a proven network architecture that enables operators to reclaim substantial analog bandwidth that can be devoted to digital services, such as HDTV.

RGB executives will be available throughout the CANITEC Expo at booth #400 for interviews and demonstrations.

About RGB Networks
RGB Networks enables video service providers to migrate to a multi-screen environment for the delivery of linear and on-demand video over managed and unmanaged IP networks. The company’s success is based on core strengths in transcoding, advertising and overlay insertion, ultra-dense modulation 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 firms Accel Partners, Comcast Interactive, Focus Ventures, Granite Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners have invested $63 million in the company. RGB is a private, profitable company based in Sunnyvale, California with offices around the world. For more information, please visit www.rgbnetworks.com.

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Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) announced today it has selected location-aware mobile search expert, xAD (www.xad.com), as its local search partner for the award winning BOLT mobile browser. Through this partnership, locally relevant user searches from within BOLT will now be provided with xAD results, specific to the user’s location search terms.

“Local searches account for a huge portion of the searches from mobile handsets,” says Bitstream director of product management, Ritu Varma. “By leveraging the local search results provided by xAD, the BOLT browser becomes an even more useful tool for our users.”

BOLT users don’t have to do a thing to start benefiting from the enhanced local search results provided through xAD. A BOLT user simply types a search term into the existing BOLT search bar, and if the search term contains something locally relevant, for example “San Diego restaurant,” then BOLT will automatically serve the user the enhanced local xAD search results.

Bitstream has rolled out local search powered by xAD to its users in the U.S. initially, with plans to expand the localized search capabilities out to Germany, U.K. and France in the near term.

xAD delivers locally relevant search results  all over the country, and with a network of over one million advertisers has become the second largest source of mobile local search traffic in the U.S. Thanks to xAD’s LocalAdXchange, the company’s network returns highly relevant local targeted results 80 percent of the time – more than double any other provider.  xAD local search results deliver additional value by providing more than just a sponsored listing; xAD local results include reviews, offers, maps, directions, and more.

The award winning BOLT browser has been installed more than 20 million times in over 200 countries around the world, and leads the industry as the most advanced and fully featured mobile browser available for phones of all types.  BOLT is a free download for people using mobile phones that run Java ME (also known as J2ME) applications – approximately 75 percent of the world’s estimated 4 billion mobile phones – as well as BlackBerry smartphones.

BOLT is available to download for free at http://boltbrowser.com.

About BOLT®

The acclaimed BOLT mobile browser has the most faithful rendering of Web pages of any browser in its class. This fast mobile browser quickly and accurately displays Web pages on mobile phones just as they would appear on desktop computers. BOLT is the only browser for mobile phones of all types to support streaming video from popular media sharing sites such as YouTube and MySpace. Based on the same WebKit rendering engine used by the iPhone’s Safari and Android’s Chrome browsers, BOLT is compatible with the majority of the world’s 4 billion mobile phones. BOLT features a patented split-screen viewing mode, intuitive keystroke shortcuts and copy/paste functionality, and offers a user-friendly, feature-rich mobile browsing experience for even entry-level mobile phones. Download BOLT for free at http://boltbrowser.com – the mobile Internet has never looked this good on your phone.

About Bitstream

Bitstream Inc. develops software technologies and applications for the graphic art and mobile communications industries. Bitstream’s award-winning fonts and font technologies enable device manufacturers and application developers to render the highest quality text in any language, on any device, at any resolution. The company’s MyFonts brand is the world’s leading provider of fonts to consumers. Bitstream’s Pageflex brand enables marketers to easily produce customized communications in print, email and online. The company’s latest offering is the BOLT mobile browser, which has been installed by millions of users worldwide since its release in February 2009.  For more information visit www.bitstream.com.

About xAD, Inc.

xAD connects local businesses to mobile consumers. xAD is the largest local mobile search and advertising network in the United States. The company’s patented mobile optimization technology identifies who, what, and where an end user is, and serves the most relevant click, call and check in based advertising. The xAD team has years of experience in developing mobile search algorithms, and has successfully applied this knowledge to unlock the potential of the local mobile market. xAD publishers and advertisers benefit from the scale and reach of the LocalAdXchangeTM platform that manages billions of search and ad requests with the largest combined network of more than one million local and national performance-based advertisers. For more information on xAD, visit www.xAD.com.

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RGB Networks, the leader in high-capacity multi-screen video delivery, today announced that its TransAct Packager product has been selected as a finalist in the “Best Digital Processing Solution” category in the prestigious 2011 Technological Innovation Awards, sponsored by the SCTE of the United Kingdom. Selected by a distinguished panel of industry experts, the SCTE Awards recognize the most innovative technological advances in the broadband arena to have been introduced into the marketplace in the past year.

Launched in November 2010, RGB Networks’ TransAct Packager fundamentally changes how video service providers can choose to deliver content to users. The product enables providers to deliver large-scale, cost-effective programming of the highest quality across PCs, tablets, mobile devices and set-top boxes, by using advanced adaptive streaming capabilities to segment streams. Through ingesting H.264 encoded video streams carried in an MPEG-2 transport stream (TS) and producing segmented output in Apple HTTP Live Streaming, Microsoft Smooth Streaming and Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming (Zeri) formats, the Packager is proven to deliver superior video quality and significantly save costs over legacy streaming technologies.

Additionally, the TransAct Packager encrypts content by integrating key exchanges with leading Digital Rights Management (DRM) servers, works seamlessly with firewalls, and effectively manages and compensates for packet drops and temporary bandwidth changes that are common on wireless networks.

“With the growing desire by consumers to watch premium video content on a wide variety of devices, operators are faced with increasing challenges such as network bandwidth, firewalls and infrastructure support issues. However, with RGB’s TransAct Packager, video service providers can ensure that their network infrastructures are capable of delivering the same high quality of video services to any video-enabled device,” said Andy Salo, Director, Product Marketing for RGB Networks. “Being recognized by the SCTE Technological Innovation Awards for the second year running is a significant accomplishment and further validates our continued commitment to leading the multi-screen video revolution.”

In 2010, RGB’s Video Multiprocessing Gateway (VMG™) won the SCTE Award for overall Technological Innovation of the Year, as well as the award for Best Digital Processing Solution. The modular, carrier-class VMG is the industry’s highest capacity transcoding solution, and has been deployed by cable operators and telecom carriers in large-scale multi-screen video delivery operations around the world. The VMG works in conjunction with the TransAct Packager to provide a highly integrated transcoding and packaging solution.

This year’s award winners will be announced at the SCTE’s Gala Dinner on April 2, 2011 at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom.

About RGB Networks
RGB Networks enables video service providers to migrate to a multi-screen environment for the delivery of linear and on-demand video over managed and unmanaged IP networks. The company’s success is based on core strengths in transcoding, advertising and overlay insertion, ultra-dense modulation 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 firms Accel Partners, Comcast Interactive, Focus Ventures, Granite Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners have invested $63 million in the company. RGB is a private, profitable company based in Sunnyvale, California with offices around the world. For more information, please visit www.rgbnetworks.com.

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