on2/picosoft/equator/korea/adsl
On2 Lands ADSL Set-Top Box Deal in Asia
By @NY Staff
Video compression specialists On2 Technologies (AMEX:ONT) announced a deal with Korea-based Picosoft Co. to design a low bit-rate ADSL video-on-demand set-top box.
The New York-based On2 said the device will use On2's VP4 compression codec, client and server software, and Equator Technologies' Dolphin reference design platform based on its MAP-CA chip; Web browser and e-mail clients would be included as well. The new set-top box will be capable of streaming DVD-quality video at connection speeds under 1 megabit per second
Picosoft would build the box for ADSL users in Korea and distribution into additional Asian markets. Manufacturing and integration work of the box is set to begin in the second quarter of 2002.
"This is a seven figure deal that will start generating revenues for us this month," said Douglas McIntyre, On2's CEO and president.
In addition to the licensing fees the company will collect for each set-top box sold, On2 is taking in consulting fees for retrofitting the On2 compression applications with the other software applications in the boxes.
On2 will work with Picosoft and chipmaker Equator to configure the set-top boxes with video and audio operating systems and digital rights management functions; McIntyre reckons that between four and five million homes in Korea have broadband connections through ascynchronous DSL connections.
The only disadvantage to that kind of usage is that the subscribers farthest away from the ADSL central office have more signal degradation. That makes for plenty of market opportunities for On2's compression technology that helps the broadband provider squeeze more into the subscriber's bandwidth potential.
On2 makes money from licensing its video codecs for use in set-top boxes, electronic gaming devices and wireless applications. The company also offers video encoding, hosting, streaming and consulting services for streaming media plays.
December 12, 2001
AI
