Espial has joined the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF), an industry organization dedicated to creating a mass market for IPTV by defining and publishing free-of-charge, standards-based specifications for end-to-end IPTV services. As one of the newest members of the OIPF, Espial will actively align the company's strategic focus with the Forum's mission to enable more interactive, personalized, and end-to-end IPTV experiences for end users.

"We are responsible to our customers to continually improve the Smart TV experience," said Kirk Edwardson, director of marketing at Espial. "With a strong product portfolio in the VOD middleware, media server, and Smart TV browser environments, Espial brings knowledge of the entire IPTV value chain — from the aggregation of content, storage, and delivery to client devices and interfaces — to the Open IPTV Forum. We believe that our insight and expertise will enhance the IPTV specifications."

The Open IPTV Forum has published two open standard specifications for IPTV to enable the deployment of interoperable end-to-end IPTV solutions. Currently, the OIPF is developing a specification to bring personalized linear and on-demand content services to multiscreen environments. Other works in progress include support for 3D content, IPv6-based networks, secure streaming, and a variety of browser enhancements. As IPTV technology continues to evolve, the OIPF will ensure the published specifications keep pace with the changing IPTV market.

Espial's open standards software is used worldwide by cable and IPTV operators, as well as consumer electronics manufacturers. By supporting OIPF specifications, the company's Espial TV Browser — a high-performance TV browser powered by WebKit and HTML5 — enables service providers and connected device manufacturers to deliver a more compelling and customized TV experience to viewers.