IBC 2011 – AMSTERDAM. EchoStar has launched a new IP enabled set-top box capable of running the Android operating system. The HDX-200 is designed to provide an interface between the Internet or IP network and a consumer’s TV screen and as such caters for both over-the-top providers as platform operators also looking to provide IP-based services.
Rhod Williams, general manager, EchoStar Europe said the product suited a number of in the field applications. “The HDX-200 was designed to be dual functioning – firstly, to enable over-the-top service providers to reach customers with TV centric apps and services, and secondly to be rolled out as a multi-room IP client device, allowing TV operators to extend services from a central gateway to other display devices throughout the home network.”
EchoStar was demonstrating its new set-top with a version of Angry Birds, though the company acknowledges the need for the creation of TV-centric applications.
Also on show was a secondary set-top box only fractionally larger than a business card. These slave devices could be found around the show with Pace and Technicolor among those with variations. Such devices feed into a main set-top or gateway, though can also double as a router.
