News

Philips and Mediabolic Joint Reference Design Delivers an Easy, Cost-Effective Next-Generation Solution for Accessing and Displaying Digital Media Content on a TV (3/6/2005)

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG) (AEX:PHI) and Mediabolic, Inc., a leading provider of end-to-end software solutions for connected entertainment products, today unveiled a reference design that enables manufacturers to build a variety of connected consumer products to display, manage and distribute digital media content throughout the home. Based on Philips' Nexperia(TM) PNX1500 connected media processor and Mediabolic's middleware, the solution allows users to access music, photos and videos, and enhances their experience by bringing networked applications to their television. The Philips reference design can be used either as a standalone next-generation digital media adapter (DMA) or as an integrated TV module. Philips will demonstrate its new reference design at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2005, May 31-June 4, in booth #201A.

"Integrating a DMA solution into TVs is an excellent example of how the DMA market will inevitably shift away from stand-alone products and toward simple, common-sense converged models," said Michael Greeson, co-founder and president of The Diffusion Group. "We see this as a solution that will help push consumer adoption of DMAs while boosting margins for TV manufacturers, a trend we see impacting the entire consumer electronics industry in a powerful and profitable way."

Philips' Nexperia PNX1500 supports decoding of all leading audio, image and video formats, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, H.264 and Windows Media Video. It supports standard definition (SD) to HD up-conversion with advanced de-interlacing, and integrates an LCD controller and advanced graphics engine. Its full-resolution MPEG encoding and integrated IDE and PCI controllers allow the reference design to be easily extended for both digital video recorder (DVR) capability and wireless connectivity.

"Philips has always been a pioneer in innovation and is the most prevalent silicon in televisions today," said Daniel Putterman, president and CEO of Mediabolic, Inc. "This partnership will give consumers the best television experience possible. Our technology combined with the power of Philips' superior media processing allows us to give OEMs and ODMs the time-to-market and cost benefits necessary to remain competitive, and at the same time provide a truly extraordinary digital home entertainment platform."

Mediabolic's unique architecture provides PC and Internet applications optimized for a lean-back, remote-controlled TV viewing experience. These applications include playback of personal entertainment content and access to premium online content. Mediabolic's technology is rigorously tested to meet interoperability standards including Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and emerging DRM standards. It is designed to Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) guidelines and also adheres to key specifications including Intel Networked Media Product Requirements (NMPR).

"Mediabolic's software makes it possible to unleash media content and applications from the PC or Internet, and to deliver them to the TV simply and intuitively," said Giel Rutten, senior vice president, TV Solutions, Philips Semiconductors. "By combining Philips' Nexperia media processors with Mediabolic software in a single reference design, we are offering manufacturers a flexible and cost-effective network media player solution."

Pricing and availability

The new reference design from Philips will be available in July 2005 for USD $5,000.

www.semiconductors.philips.com