Technology Companies Form RVU Alliance To Develop Remote User Interface

Broadcom, Cisco, DIRECTV and Samsung are forming an alliance to develop a specification for a full-featured "pixel accurate” Remote User Interface (RUI) that will form the core of the new RVU technology. The RVU Alliance complements and benefits existing industry interoperability initiatives and underscores its founders’ commitment to the sharing of digital content in the connected home.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• RVU Alliance’s pixel accurate RUI technology will provide an identical user experience on all RVU-based thin client CE devices throughout the connected home, including digital TVs (DTVs), digital media adapters (DMAs) and set-top boxes (STBs).
• Refinements to the user experience can be deployed in the home with a single update in the RVU-based media server appearing on all subscribing thin client CE devices.
• RVU technology is expected to accelerate the availability of service provider content throughout the connected home. A server-controlled, common user experience helps enable the rapid introduction of new features and applications that typically accompany commercial content.
• One important industry interoperability initiative is the Digital Living Network AllianceSM (DLNA®), of which RVU Alliance founders are promoting members.
• The RVU Alliance is an Oregon-based non-profit mutual benefit corporation with membership participation at Founding Promoter, Promoter and Contributor levels. For more information about the RVU alliance, visit www.rvualliance.org.

"We believe both consumers and service providers will embrace consumer electronic equipment with RVU technology because it enables a high quality digital entertainment experience throughout the connected home. We are committed to the RVU technology and are planning to deploy it in media servers and clients beginning early in 2010.” said Rômulo Pontual, DIRECTV’s chief technology officer.

Martin Manniche, chief technology officer for Cisco Consumer Business Group said "Cisco’s vision is to enable people to live a connected life that is more personal, more social and more visual. The RVU technology represents an excellent step towards achieving that vision in the home entertainment environment.”

Rich Nelson, Vice President of Marketing for Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group said "As consumers look for new ways to connect, share and enjoy commercial content throughout the home, Broadcom is committed to enabling connectivity for an enhanced digital entertainment experience. By supporting RVU technology on set-top box, digital TV and Blu-ray system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, we are enabling a consistent look and feel on connected devices in the home.”

"With the addition of RVU technology, device software integration process is simplified for consumer electronics manufacturers such as Samsung. We're excited about the RVU RUI and how this technology has DLNA as its foundation." said Thomas Rhee, Samsung's SVP of Digital Set Top Box.