Espial IPTV unveiled the latest version of the Evo service platform during IBC 2006 in Amsterdam this week. With new features and applications, Evo offers IPTV operators the fastest UI performance in the industry combined with an incomparably cool subscriber experience that is fully skinnable and brandable. In addition, Evo continues to be the IPTV industry benchmark for openness and flexibility, adding support for a range of new standards and customization tools such as HTML 4, JavaScript 1.5, AJAX, and Flash 7.

The latest version of Evo leverages its unique data-driven architecture to deliver a very small set-top box footprint and a truly open framework for managing IPTV services with standards-based APIs for complete customization and integration. It also enhances an advanced set of IPTV applications and components such as Electronic Programming Guide (EPG), Video on Demand (VOD), Personalized Settings and Web Portal.

"Evo provides a superb user experience and an opportunity for our customers to deploy IPTV services that attract subscribers and generate revenue," said Phil Thompson, Executive Vice President, Product Management, mPhase. "We were impressed with how quickly and extensively we could modify the UI and provide applications for our customers to attract IPTV subscribers. With the latest version of Evo, we are now able to help them develop and offer new applications even more quickly."

Specific enhancements to the Evo service platform include the following new features and applications:

• Advanced binary-compressed EPG data handling that allows more EPG data on the client while using significantly less memory, providing lightening-fast searches and optimizing network updates and refresh speeds.
• Evo-Browser application support for the latest internet standards including HTML 4, JavaScript 1.5, DOM1, DOM2-Events, CSS 2.1, CSS-TV and DVB-HTML. Additionally, Evo-Browser introduces brand new support for the popular AJAX and Macromedia Flash 7 web standards creating a flexible and dynamic development environment that helps IPTV operators or third parties deliver rich and sleek walled-garden services and Internet-on-TV.
• Evo-Enchant UI- a new skinnable user interface template that operators can easily customize, brand and modify. This user interface showcases the rich and fast performance of Evo applications and opens a new opportunity for differentiated IPTV services that can increase operator revenues.
• Pay-Per-View, Telephony Services and Music Channel applications.

"The quality of experience in an IPTV subscriber environment is crucial to the success of any offering," said Jeff Heynen, Directing Analyst, Broadband and IPTV, Infonetics Research. "Without customization, differentiated TV applications, and an architecture built for speed and reliability, IPTV operators will not succeed. Espial provides a unique offering for IPTV deployments that require reliability, scalability, openness and an eye-catching user interface."

"Hands down, Espial's Evo offers operators the strongest quality of experience to lock in IPTV subscribers without losing any performance/cost ratio benefits," said Dilshan De Silva, Director of Product Management for IPTV middleware and applications, Espial. "Evo's data-driven architecture allows IPTV operators to offer turbo-fast performance with advanced IPTV applications, while leveraging open APIs to quickly and cost-effectively evolve their IPTV offering as needed."

At IBC, please see Evo at the mPhase booth (3.411), Tilgin stand (4.299), or in Espial's meeting room UAM1 upstairs from the central auditorium.