Minerva Networks unveiled its iTVManager 4.0. The Company’s fourth generation platform features a robust Widgets Engine which enables blended Internet and Television services, whole-home digital video recorder functionality, new user interfaces as well as advanced redundancy and high-availability features.

Operators deploying iTVManager 4.0 will be able to innovate at a rapid pace. The new Minerva platform comes with a powerful Widget Engine capable of supporting a broad set of applications including RSS news feeds, stocks, weather and traffic information, visual voice mail, caller ID and popular Web 2.0 services.

The addition of whole-home digital video recorder functionality, which enables all of the set-top boxes within the home to access media stored in a single shared PVR unit, enhances the appeal of Minerva’s PVR functionality.

New user interfaces, which are selectable by the subscriber, take advantage of the processing power of next generation set-top boxes to deliver animation capabilities in a highly customizable and localizable environment. Multi-language support comes as a native feature of the new Minerva user interface.

The iTVManager 4.0 back-office APIs have been expanded to facilitate the integration with hospitality entertainment systems so that operators can offer targeted services to hotels, resorts and multi-dwelling communities within their service area. To address the stringent needs of large scale deployments the new platform also supports a robust high-availability and disaster recovery configuration which minimizes downtime even in extreme circumstances.

The iTVManager ecosystem continues to expand as new vendors enter the market and existing suppliers release new products. Growth in the Minerva ecosystem gives operators more choices as they can select partners that more closely align with their specific requirements. New set-top box models supported by iTVManager release 4.0 include the Wistron NeWeb Corporation family of cost-effective devices.

The new Minerva platform is now installed at selected sites around the world. It will be generally available in August 2009.