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Vidiom Systems Corporation and OCAP Development LLC Strike an OCAP Distribution Deal

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 March 2005, 12:00 CST

BROOMFIELD, Colo., March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Vidiom Systems Corporation, a leading technology solutions provider to the cable and consumer electronics industries, has signed a licensing agreement with OCAP Development, LLC that includes rights to distribute the OCAP middleware implementation from the OCAP Development, LLC. The OCAP Development, LLC, a joint venture between Time Warner Cable and Comcast was created for the purpose of speeding up the adoption of OpenCable Applications Platform (OCAP) specification and easing the implementation of the OCAP middleware onto hardware platforms in the U.S. cable market. Under this agreement, Vidiom has the rights to license the stack to operators, silicon vendors and consumer electronics manufacturers worldwide to build OCAP and DVB-MHP devices.

Vidiom Systems designed and developed the OCAP middleware while under contract to Time Warner Cable and later to the OCAP Development, LLC. This reference implementation was created with a portable design, making it easily adaptable to the multiple set-tops, televisions, operating systems, and chipsets available today and in the future. Time Warner Cable will deploy Scientific-Atlanta receivers based on this OCAP.

"Vidiom is proud to have worked on OCAP since its inception. We assisted in the development of the specification, watched it mature through the standards process, built an implementation, and now with our flexible porting layer can assist in its deployment and adoption on a multitude of Operating systems and platforms," said Timothy R. Wahlers, CEO and President of Vidiom Systems.

With this agreement, Vidiom offers the widest range of OpenCable products and services available in the industry. In addition to the OCAP middleware, Vidiom also provides engineering services including porting and integration, its VISION Workbench application development tools, vCert(TM) an Automated Test Environment for pre-certification of STBs and TVs, training courses and technical documentation for OCAP and other television technologies.

"Vidiom has been involved with OCAP since its inception and today's announcement solidifies the important role they will play as the platform continues to develop," said Kevin Leddy, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development for Time Warner Cable. "Vidiom's role as distributor and integrator of the OCAP Development LLC middleware will help accelerate the development of next generation applications and ensure the continued delivery of advanced digital products to Time Warner Cable customers."

Steve Heeb, Vice President Product and Business Development for Comcast said, "This is an exciting next step in the progression of OCAP becoming a widely available software platform for cable operators and application developers."

OCAP, part of the OpenCable initiative created by CableLabs, has been adopted as a standard by the SCTE. The goals of the OpenCable initiative are to provide a unified, open standard that allows programmers to deploy interactive services over multiple cable networks, enables supplier competition, and creates a retail market for digital cable receivers.

About Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable owns and manages cable systems serving 10.9 million subscribers in 27 states, which include some of the most technologically advanced, best-clustered cable systems in the country with more than 75% of the Company's customers in systems of 300,000 subscribers or more. Utilizing a fully upgraded advanced cable network and a steadfast commitment to providing consumers with choice, value and world-class customer service, Time Warner Cable is an industry leader in delivering advanced products and services such as video on demand, high definition television, digital video recorders, high-speed data, wireless home networking and Digital Phone. Time Warner Cable is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (http://www.comcast.com/) is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable networks and in the provision of programming content. The Company is the largest cable company in the United States, serving more than 21 million cable subscribers. The Company's content businesses include majority ownership of Comcast Spectacor, Comcast SportsNet, E! Entertainment Television, Style, The Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network and G4techTV. Comcast Class A common stock and Class A Special common stock trade on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbols CMCSA and CMCSK, respectively.

About Vidiom Systems Corporation

Vidiom Systems Corporation provides software solutions to cable operators, content and technology providers, and consumer electronics manufacturers. Specializing in the design and development of middleware, iTV applications, and tools, as well as services including software engineering, technical documentation, testing, and training, Vidiom's staff has the experience to develop the innovative system solutions our clients require. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Vidiom Systems has additional engineering offices in Portland, Oregon, and Des Moines, Iowa. For more information about our television technology products and services please visit our website at http://www.vidiom.com/.

Vidiom Systems Corporation

CONTACT: Michael Malcy, VP Marketing of Vidiom Systems Corporation,+1-303-604-0800

Web site: http://www.vidiom.com/http://www.comcast.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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