Siemens to Enter IPTV Business

Siemens has acquired leading Internet protocol television software company Myrio to increase its commitment to the rapidly growing home entertainment market.

Myrio specializes in middleware and applications for home entertainment 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.

Myrio’s middleware handles the navigation to content and services directly from the network service provider. They are made available to the customer’s television set over a broadband connection via Internet Protocol (IP). The middleware essentially comprises two components: servers running on the network and client software that runs in a set top box. Both software components have to work hand-in-hand and control the requisite, sometimes very complex network functions so that the desired services such as video on demand, gaming or video telephony are delivered flawlessly. This is why middleware is considered the “brain” of home entertainment. The quality of the middleware is also important because it is the interface with the customer – on whose acceptance the value of home entertainment ultimately depends. Users should be able to select every service on their television set as simply as possible using a remote control, with all of the complex communication between the client and server components being handled by the service provider. This is the essence of the Siemens solution.