ANT plc, the market leading provider of software and solutions for IPTV, hybrid TV and digital home products, announced today that UK-based set-top box developer Complete Media Systems Ltd (CMS) has licensed ANT GalioT and ANT Fresco for use in IPTV set-top systems targeted to operators from Europe to the Far East.

CMS now has set-top multimedia centers based on ANT Fresco in more than 15 trial IPTV deployments in the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Hong Kong, Finland, Malaysia, Italy, Russia, China, Bulgaria, Austria, Romania and Lithuania. CMS is now in the process of integrating ANT Galio across its entire range of standard and high definition set-top multimedia centers. Its new Galio-based high definition set-top multimedia center (CMS 1080) will be available to operators from April 2006.

The integration of Galio on CMS set-top multimedia centers enables network operators to deliver advanced interactive services with a highly dynamic, standards-based user interface platform. Galio allows for quick and simple development for a more compelling and engaging user experience, which is the fundamental point of interaction between the user and an IPTV service and critical to the success of the deployment.

"ANT is already our client software vendor of choice with Fresco on the multi-codec CMS 500, and we are happy to continue our relationship by integrating Galio into our latest high definition IPTV set-top multimedia centers," said Philip Smith, chief marketing officer, C MS. "Our customers are demanding low-cost, highly functional systems. ANT helps us to maintain our price leadership with the amazingly small footprint of its open standards-based embedded client software."

The Galio browser is the fundamental part of the ANT Galio Client, the world's first incarnation of a TV Application Manager. Galio enables fast, compact and easy-to-build mixed-media IPTV applications, combining local device set-up menus and controls with interactive applications and EPGs. This flexibility provides operators with the ability to evolve their service offerings to meet new heights of customer service delivery.

"CMS is very active in the market, providing technological advances more commonly associated with a much more expensive product," said Colin Shave, executive director, sales at ANT plc. "ANT Galio and ANT Fresco are a natural foundation for an enhanced user experience on the CMS 500 and CMS 1080 set-top boxes."