NDS and CyberLink Join Forces to Securely Deliver TV Entertainment to PCs

LAS VEGAS (CES) — NDS Group plc (NASDAQ: NNDS), the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, and CyberLink, a world leader in digital home software solutions, have partnered to integrate NDS VideoGuard PC technology with CyberLink’s PowerCinema home entertainment solution for PCs. This integration establishes the PC as a key device in the pay-TV experience. Vendors selling PCs with CyberLink PowerCinema can now offer a direct connection to leading pay-TV operator services.

PowerCinema supports full TV services including live broadcast channels, digital video recording (DVR) functions, Electronic Program Guides (EPGs), secure content downloads, on-demand services, and Video-on Demand (VOD). By integrating the NDS VideoGuard® technology, PowerCinema enables operators to expand their services to PC owners, and extend their market reach.

The VideoGuard PC solution uses hardware-based security and a USB VideoGuard Key™ to provide a secure way of extending content usage rights beyond the set-top box. The VideoGuard PC solution ensures that you can extend your existing services such as broadcast TV and VOD to PCs. It also maintains secure storage for the ultimate solution of content protection convergence.

The partnership between NDS and CyberLink marks an important first-to-market opportunity for PCs to be able to securely interact with a pay-TV system. PCs featuring CyberLink PowerCinema with NDS VideoGuard PC integration are expected to start shipping on 3Q’07.

“Our partnership with such a ubiquitous PC technology as CyberLink PowerCinema presents a win-win situation for our pay-TV operator customers, PC vendors, and consumers”, said Joseph Deutsch, Vice President of Product Marketing, NDS. “Because VideoGuard combines CA and DRM to protect TV services as well as the licensing and content rights, operators can rely on secure content transfer between DVRs, PCs, and Portable Media Players (PMPs). Users can therefore enjoy their high-definition content on their PCs along with the flexibility to move it to PMP devices or CDs without compromising the content owner’s rights.”

Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink added: “CyberLink PowerCinema offers a complete TV solution for enjoying high-definition digital TV from satellite, cable and IPTV service providers. By working with NDS to integrate VideoGuard PC, we now support the world’s leading conditional access technology for premium pay-TV content. This collaboration delivers an extremely valuable solution for PC companies and pay-TV operators who can now expand TV’s reach onto a new PC platform within the digital home.”

“We are delighted to integrate VideoGuard PC into PowerCinema” continued Chang. “We have decided to partner with NDS, a company that has the industry’s best track record for conditional access and digital rights management. This ensures that pay-TV operators will see our “Cyberlink inside” PCs as a natural extension to their network and provide subscribers the freedom to enjoy the best services and content beyond the living room.”

This solution for the PC market follows NDS’s earlier integration of VideoGuard Mobile™ and Electronic Service Guide (ESG) with CyberLink’s Mobile DTV player, enabling any pay-TV operator to provide a true end-to-end secure multi-platform, multi-network service.