iWedia unveils Android TV Operator Tier launcher

iWedia, a leading provider of software components and solutions for TV devices to service operators and Consumer Electronics manufacturers, has announced the release of STAGE, an Operator Tier Android TV launcher, along with a new Teatro adaptive bit-rate media player and a new web browser.

STAGE is a pay TV user interface for Android TV STBs compliant with Google’s Operator Tier specifications. It provides a live TV oriented STB UI featuring service list, content list, zapping banner, EPG and PVR, gives access to video-on-demand and catch-up TV, apps and games, as well as to search, promotions, and recommendations.

The launcher is available for pure OTT STBs as well as for hybrid boxes where is makes use of the Android TV Input Framework (TIF) and creates a unified service list.

The product is a white label UI designed to be easily customisable, brandable and skinnable to fulfil the operator’s specific UI requirements, according to iWedia.

STAGE has already been chosen by several operators which are preparing the launch of their services for the end of the year or the beginning of next year, according to the company.

“Google’s Operator Tier specifications allow the TV operators to own the STB UI and to use it to deliver their brand and universe to their subscribers and to prioritize content, channels, and recommendations. We have designed STAGE as the ideal starting point for them to achieve that quickly and efficiently,” said Dejan Popov Tapavicki, Product Manager at iWedia.

iWedia has also released an adaptive bitrate (ABR) media player optimised for live TV use cases.

Developed and maintained in-house, Teatro ABR Media Player gives support to the latest versions of HLS and DASH. It is pre-integrated with a number of DRM, analytics, and ad insertion systems. Designed to be light and require few CPU or memory resources, it allows for fast zapping and implements advanced bitrate adaptation algorithms, according to iWedia. It is available for Android TV and AOSP as well as for Linux.

Teatro ABR Media Player has already been chosen by several major operators which are preparing the launch of their services that are expected to happen before the end of the year or beginning of next year.

Finally, iWedia has released a Web browser targeted at TV devices.

The Teatro TV Browser is a Blink-based HTML5 / CSS3 / DOM3 / JavaScript browser which can be delivered for both Linux and Android environments. It supports the latest W3C specifications for open Internet browsing as well as the major walled garden/TV portals specifications for OTT TV services including HbbTV 2. It supports the MSE and EME extensions for DRM integration and can be enhanced with a collection of companion products such as HLS and DASH access libraries and a subtitle engine.

The web browser is accompanied by a navigator which allows for page back and forward, multi-tab browsing, as well as for history, bookmarks and cookies management. This white label navigator is meant to be customised to fulfill the device manufacturer’s requirements with respect to user experience.

Teatro TV Browser has already been selected by major TV chipsets makers and TV sets manufacturers which are preparing the launch of their devices. These deployments are scheduled for the end of the year or the beginning of next year.

iWedia will exhibit at IBC in hall 5, stand B40.