Pace App Café brings online apps to managed TV services

Pace demonstrates groundbreaking US App Café at IBC 2010

Pace plc (LSE: PIC), a leading global developer of digital TV technologies, will be demonstrating its groundbreaking new Pace App Café at IBC 2010.

Launching initially in the USA, the Pace App Café is a unique service allowing payTV operators to harness the potential of online applications within an integrated managed TV service. It offers hundreds of applications in a store front format for subscribers to download directly to their individual set-top boxes, enhancing their experience and solidifying the payTV service’s position at the heart of the home.

The new service will be customised with each operator’s unique brand and marketed by Pace under the trade name ‘Pace App Café’. The service is based on Pace’s North American Engineware™ software platform and is underpinned by a standards-based Flash Lite® Engine and published Software Development Kit (SDK).

In addition, the Pace App Café will provide access to other high-profile and popular online services including the following:

• Social networking applications
• Web based video portals
• Internet radio and music stations
• Online photo services
• Weather
• Personal finance
• Sports scores
• Operator service and support

“Cable operators are always looking for ways to provide more services to their subscribers using the existing hardware they have in the home. The Pace App Café is a great way for the operator to enhance a subscriber’s experience by providing them with popular applications and custom content via the set-top box,” said Pace America’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Tim O’Loughlin. “We continue to see a strong push from consumers and operators to consolidate advanced functionality in the set-top box and make it the center of the home entertainment experience.”

The applications can pull their data feed from any internet connection in the home, including a cable modem or home network. At launch the system will get its data from the stand alone cable modem in the home; however, future iterations could run from the DOCSIS modem that is embedded in nearly all Pace boxes.

The onscreen presentation of each application is designed to work alongside existing Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and VOD applications. Many of the applications have the ability to coexist with live or recorded television programming, so subscribers can get a constant update of information.

Pace expects the App Café to be in subscriber homes in North America later this year.