Abox42 GmbH unveils at IBC 2016 in Amsterdam its new Smart STB platform M50, developed for advanced operator projects worldwide.
The M50-Series SmartSTB is based on Broadcom’s latest Ultra High Definition high performance 12,000 DMIPS system-on-a-chip BCM7252S. The M50 platform combines processing power and speed for decoding of HEVC up to 4K video with up to 60 frames per second and for unbeatable UI performance.
The M50 STB platform also includes fast Wifi as an option, up to 802.11ac, 1 GBit/s Ethernet and USB 3.0 interface. M50 supports built-in Bluetooth 4.0, RF for hybrid remote controls and support of Smart Home services via Zigbee / Thread standard. Multichannel video recording is possible via fast external USB 3.0 hard disks up to 4 TeraByte capacity.
On the software side the M50 STB platform includes Abox42 SmartSDK middleware and development environment. Due to Abox42’s approach in software compatibility, M50 SmartSTBs can be integrated into existing operator’s environments since its software stack is compatible with all other current Abox42 M-series STB platforms.
The SmartSDK supports an ultra-fast HTML5 browser based user interface and application environments including HbbTV. All major streaming formats for IPTV, OTT and DVB are supported. On the DRM/Software-CAS side the M40 is ready for Verimatrix VCAS, Marlin, Playready, SecureMedia and WideVine. The M50 SmartSDK is upgraded to support HEVC on both 4K and on Full-HD in all combinations and with all Streaming formats like HLS and DVB-T2.
The M50 Smart STB-series is available in various configurations to support different network environments. The IPTV/OTT version is available for pure IP operators. M50 Hybrid-DVB versions are available for DVB-C, DVB-T/T2 and DVB-S/S2 networks to support all traditional Pay-TV environments in combination with Hybrid-DVB and OTT/IPTV.
The M50 is ready for Smart Home Services via the built in IoT Gatway. Offering new Smart Home services will provide the operator additional revenue streams beside the core TV product and will help to reduce churn among existing customer base.
“The M50-series is the most powerful SmartSTB we ever built and it can be quickly integrated into existing environments.” said Matthias Greve, CEO of Abox42.
“For the first time it is possible for an operator to mix different hardware models and generations in one service offering due to the compatibility of the device, which we provide via our unique SmartSDK. So an operator can have a clear upgrade path to 4K/UHD and Smart Home Services in his exiting network, based on a fully compatible software stack.”
“We are delighted that Abox42 decided to integrate our latest high performance Ultra HD solution BCM7252S”, said Stuart Thomson, Broadcom Senior Director of Marketing, Broadband Communications Group.
“As consumer interest in Ultra HD continues to grow, the BCM7252S offers a unique UltraHD feature set to power the next generation of Set Top Boxes for the operator market”.
Besides the SmartSDK, the M40-series runs Abox42 OPX TV user interface. OPX TV offers an HTML5 user interface for the essential TV services. OPX supports both IPTV/OTT and all traditional DVB use cases like live TV, PVR (local and network), EPG, and VOD. OPX TV can be customized to the operator’s brand image and can be easily integrated into exiting middleware and back end systems.
In addition to the complete software solution on the SmartSTB, Abox42 offers an extensive line of SaaS and cloud TV services to manage the deployment, installation and operation of the M50 in the field, like managing the software life cycle and collecting reporting data from the costumers. With the additional OPX Cloud TV services, Abox42 offers a full range of SaaS services for a complete first screen TV solution like channel management, EPG Data, Tariff- and price models, user management and provisioning which can be quickly integrated into existing Billing, Provisioning- and CRM infrastructures of the operator.
The M50 will be demonstrated on the Abox42 booth J20 in Hall 14 during IBC.
