“Imagine a world where finding, enjoying, storing and moving content is easy. Because TV should be easy.” You would think these are the words from an Apple (AAPL) ad for its much speculated upcoming iTV.
You could not be more wrong. With a little help from Cisco Systems (CSCO), soon every player in the TV market will genuinely be able to make such a claim.
Who would have thought that Cisco would go for the kill even before Apple gives birth to iTV?
Cisco has announced that it will pay about $5 billion to acquire a British software company NDS Group.
NDS has a solid pitch, ‘An amazing user experience is critical to the operator’s success. Thanks to powerful MediaHighway® set-top box software and intuitive EPGS and UIs like the award-winning NDS Snowflake™ UI, NDS makes it easier for your customers to maximize their enjoyment and use more of the services you have to offer. The NDS Studio Design team will create a unique look and feel for your operation, or choose from a wealth of existing solutions.’
The pitch gets better, ‘Delivering content to TV is just the beginning in the world of anywhere, anytime, on any device. With solutions like the NDS Unified Headend™, NDS Unified Gateway™ and VideoGuard Connect™, NDS has created complete end-to-endsystems that will enable you to maximize your content investment and revenues, push your brand and give your customers the flexibility to enjoy their content on all of the devices they own.’ …Read more at Forbes