SoftAtHome, a company created by Orange, Thomson ( News - Alert) and Sagem Communications to help service providers deliver convergent applications for the Digital Home, said today that it’s marking a series of milestones achieved during its first six months.
“In the six months over which SoftAtHome has been operational, we have successfully developed and integrated a number of cutting edge technologies into our Home Operating Platform, aligned ourselves with standard bodies and launched our partner program to certify integrators. Last but not least, we established a relationship with Etisalat ( News - Alert) as likely customers as well as potential shareholders in the company,” said François Josserand, chief executive officer of SoftAtHome. “It’s been six intense months for us, as we continue to build our company and are well on our path to change the dynamics of the Digital Home.”
The company has been keen to align itself with standard bodies, such as the DLNA Forum, to ensure its support in driving forward interoperability between different devices and enabling content to be seamlessly shared. At Broadband World Forum Europe 2008, SoftAtHome announced its association with the Home Gateway Initiative. The SoftAtHome Operating Platform is compatible with the HGI ( News - Alert) specifications, enabling complete interoperability with Service Providers’ networks, equipments and services.
The company also announced its association with the WiFi ( News - Alert) Alliance, enabling Service Providers and Integrators to create WiFi certified solutions on the SoftAtHome Operating Platform. SoftAtHome is also a member of the Broadband Forum, which seeks to provide full interoperability among devices as well as manage and deliver advanced IP services to customers.
The Home Operating Platform fosters a new ecosystem made up of service providers, application developers, technology vendors, equipment manufacturers, integrators and chipset vendors, to accelerate the advent of the truly converged Digital Home. SoftAtHome today announced its Certified Partner Program, which is designed to provide integrators with the tools and resources needed to customize, integrate and distribute SoftAtHome solutions to customers.
In addition, the company is building OEM relationships with companies such as Bluestreak and Visiware. Bluestreak’s MachBlue is integrated into the SoftAtHome Operating Platform, delivering exceptional interactive Flash applications to consumers. Visiware, as a developer partner, provides a catalog of interactive games and has developed a strong expertise in delivering intuitive navigation interfaces for television. These applications leverage content delivered through broadband connectivity and merge it to TV to enable convergent services.
SoftAtHome is now associated with Etisalat, the largest operator in the Arab world. Etisalat is planning to launch multi-play offers in their markets using the SoftAtHome Operating Platform – which will be showcased at the Gitex Technology Week in Dubai.
“This collaboration further strengthens the relationship between the two companies and paves the way for the deployment of leading convergent services in the UAE,” Josserand said.
Mani Soundararajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Mani’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
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