News

Siemens Increases commitment in the Home Entertainment market by acquiring IPTV software company Myrio (11/4/2005)

Siemens has signed a contract with the US company Myrio Corporation, headquartered near Seattle, to acquire the business. Myrio specializes in middleware and applications for Home Entertainment (HE) solutions, which includes components to create a compelling consumer experience and provide network operators with the management systems for pricing, packaging and applications development. The acquisition means that Siemens will now further enable network service providers to deploy integrated Home Entertainment solutions as part of a growing set of products and services.

According to market researchers, home entertainment is among the fastest growing consumer market segments. The business centers on new applications for the television, and the expanding interaction with other devices and media forms in the home. These include interactive television with option for calling up movies, personal video recording services, online services, and communication applications such as Multimedia Messaging Service, Short Messaging Services and video telephony. Market analysts estimate the potential for advanced video services, including: video telephony, audio, video and games on demand - in excess of 20 billion euros by 2006. Siemens is already a market leader as a system supplier and integrator, winning customers in Europe (Belgacom) and Asia (ADC Thailand).

The Communications Group is showing strategic acumen in developing this position by acquiring its long standing partner - Myrio. Myrio, a specialized 75 person software firm, has been the software partner of choice for Siemens in the home entertainment solutions for over a year. In addition to the account successes with Siemens in Europe and Asia, Myrio also has over 65 other customers globally. "Myrio's middleware is the foundation for developing additional new services in home entertainment," says Christian Unterberger, Head of Fixed Networks at Siemens Communications. "The acquisition means we can focus even more closely on our customers' needs and realize our vision of offering a universal platform for managing customer services."

"We have enjoyed a productive sales and joint development relationship with Siemens for more than two years now, and we view this transaction as the next logical step in building service provider centered applications to leverage their broadband IP networks," said Chris Coles, President and CEO of Myrio Corporation. "I expect this will accelerate and expand our product plans, as well as better support our continuing objective of interoperating with the multitude of vendors that typify these networks around the world."

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