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Wednesday 7th January


Volicon names Andrew Sachs Senior Director of Marketing for Cable/IPTV market
Alpha Networks showcases new generation IP-STB


Volicon names Andrew Sachs Senior Director of Marketing for Cable/IPTV markets

Volicon has announced the appointment of Andrew B. Sachs as senior director of marketing for the cable, IPTV, and mobile video operator industry. In his new role, Sachs will be responsible for developing the market for Volicon's Observer and Observer RPM solutions, which enable video operators to automatically evaluate the quality of their broadcasts, VOD and interactive services, and advertising offerings at headends and remote locations.

Sachs has more than 18 years of experience in test and measurement solutions. Since 2005, he has served as service assurance solution owner in JDSU, where he was responsible for development and go-to-market strategies for the company's IPTV/digital video monitoring solutions for IPTV and cable operators in APAC, EMEA, and the Americas. Other previous positions include director of workflow solutions and marketing for Acterna/JDSU, where he led the commercial launch of a hybrid portable OSS solution for field operations, and director of engineering in the network services division of Telecommunication Techniques Corporation (TTC).

Sachs holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Maryland at College Park.
"It was an easy decision for me to join Volicon. The company has all the key ingredients for success, including an A+ management team, solid product and technology leadership, and a well-established customer base in the broadcasting industry," said Sachs. "I believe there is tremendous potential for Volicon's solutions in the video operator industry because the Observer RPM is the only solution that can provide assurance of broadcasts, VOD and interactive services, and advertising offerings where the viewer experiences them: at the set-top box. I'm looking forward to helping develop that potential even further."

"In the content delivery world, there is a tremendous push in the industry for video quality, interactive content, and targeted advertising. The evolution of assurance to the edge is only natural. We believe the Observer RPM is well positioned to offer these companies a true competitive advantage," said Julius Perl, vice president of marketing at Volicon. "Andrew brings precisely the mix of skills and experience that we need to unlock our true potential in this market area, and we are excited to have him aboard."

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Alpha Networks showcases new generation IP-STB

Alpha Networks, a global player in the networking ODM/OEM industry, presents its new generation IP-STB AST-1105 featuring a software customisable platform to meets the needs of value added resellers and telcos.

As broadband penetration fuels growth in IPTV, telcos/MSOs/carriers are expecting to have a total solution STB that can enable them to deliver multiple entertainment services and HD content to consumers. AST-1105 is tailored to fulfill such needs. Leveraging partnerships with IPTV technology providers, AST-1105 is pre-integration with a selection of leading middlewares, CA and DRM systems, VOD servers, and embedded browsers that offer great flexibility for custom designs. In addition, AST-1105 is built with in-house DLNA 1.5 software stack and it is extendable to support hybrid DVB-T/S/C STB.

By using a powerful dual-core SoC hardware platform, AST-1105 supports high performance 64-bit DDRII memory and extensive video/audio decoding capability, including HD/SD H.264/AVC, HD/SD AVS, VC-1, HD/SD MPEG-2, DivX3/4/5/6, AAC, Dolby, MP3, WMA, and more. Connection to HDTV via HDMI 1.3 for up to 1080i resolution is provided as well as support for Mosaic Mode. For connectivity interfaces, AST-1105 is equipped with dual SATA-2 ports, dual USB connectors, an eSATA connector, and an SD card reader.

"Interactive services and high definition multimedia entertainment that consumers have long desired boost the expansion of the video-on-demand and IPTV markets. Alpha Networks has decades of experience in networking technology, and thereby is well-positioned to accelerate growth by delivering cost-optimal solutions with customizable software design and rich multimedia formats support that can enable telcos to broaden their value-added service offerings,"said Mr. Tim Kang, the CTO of Alpha Networks.

To see a live demonstration of the AST-1105 IP-STB at 2009 International CES, please visit Alpha Networks at booth #60000, Las Vegas Hilton.

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