Eatoni and Avinity Make Rich Web Content Easy to Search and Navigate on Interactive TV

Eatoni and Avinity Make Rich Web Content Easy to Search and Navigate on Interactive TV

NEW YORK and AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- TV is moving beyond broadcast as rich web content becomes available on interactive TV networks. Effective search and navigation has become critical, while any viable solution must be able to work with existing remote controls. Eatoni and Avinity are pleased to announce that they have solved this problem by integrating Eatoni's predictive text entry solution with Avinity's digital TV content server. The solution will be demoed at the IBC 2007 conference in Amsterdam beginning September 7th, and is available now for customer licensing.

Avinity's RenderCast interactively provisions multi-media content to any digital TV on any existing two-way network. By integrating Eatoni's text entry solution, the content can be searched and navigated using powerful text- based search, accessible from any standard remote control on any set-top box. Thus users need to purchase no new hardware to achieve a web experience on digital TV. Besides its ability to function using any remote control, Eatoni's non-dictionary predictive text solution is ideal for search applications since such searches often involve words such as names and addresses which are not common dictionary words. With Eatoni, any word, common dictionary word or not, is simply entered with close to one keystroke per character.

"With Eatoni integrated into RenderCast, we've got the right blend of technology to bring a lean-back or lean-forward Web 2.0 experience straight to the user, leap-frogging all the obstacles which have blocked that experience up to now," says Ronald Brockmann, CEO of Avinity. "With RenderCast, there's no longer any excuse for not offering users a great iTV experience. Operators already have all the technology they need right there in their hands," added Howard Gutowitz, CEO of Eatoni.

For further information visit the Avinity booth 5.224 at IBC Amsterdam (Hall 5), www.avinity.tv or www.eatoni.com

About Avinity Systems BV

Avinity was founded by a team of serial technology entrepreneurs in early 2005 with a broad experience in the video and networking industry. Avinity develops its own technology and intellectual property and has filed for patents.

The company has launched its RenderCast platform to bring Internet content to digital TV with several operators and content partners in Western Europe, and will expand globally during the second half of 2007.

Avinity is based at the Hilversum Media Park, the hotspot for TV and New Media in the Netherlands.

About Eatoni

Eatoni specializes in the design of optimized hardware and software for ambiguous keyboards. Eatoni is based in New York City, and has been making text entry on handheld devices easier to use since 1998. Eatoni products have been integrated into a wide range of products and platforms, including remote controls, cordless phones, and cell phones. Eatoni customer manufacturers include CCT, DeTeWe, Dial Face, Inventel, Philips, RTX, Sagem, Siemens, and vTech.

Eatoni also makes applications based on its text entry methods, including for the Symbian and Brew platforms. An Eatoni application, Eatoni Mail, is distributed by Verizon in the US, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, by Movistar in Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, as well as by Movilnet, Centennial, nTelos, and Unefon.

Eatoni's products are covered by a portfolio of US and international patents. Licenses to use Eatoni's technology are available from Eatoni. The Eatoni, LetterWise, EQx, and families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc.

For more information on Eatoni, visit www.eatoni.com, or write contact@eatoni.com

Source: Eatoni

CONTACT: Howard Andrew Gutowitz, CEO, Eatoni Ergonomics, Inc.,
+1-212-337-3322, ext. 1

Web site: http://www.eatoni.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment