Amino Communications has taken the wraps off a new IP-based digital set-top with on-board digital video recording capabilities.
The device, dubbed the AmiNET500, comes equipped with an 80-gigabyte hard drive and Java-based DVR application that was built in-house. Taking a step beyond dual-tuner DVR boxes being deployed today by some cable operators, Amino’s IP-based DVR will handle up to three video streams– enough for users to watch one channel and record up to two others simultaneously.
“This is the beauty of IP,” says Mike Greenall, vice president and general manager of Amino’s product group. “There are no tuners in the box.”
Adding more concurrent streams is a mechanism of the available bit rate, adds Nick Ebsworth, product manager of the AmiNET500. “Having three streams is quite a good compromise between the power of the technology and the power of the box.”
The “500” box is a follow-on to the AmiNET100, a pocket-sized, all-IP box being used domestically by telcos such as SureWest Communications. Amino also has a supply deal in place with UTOPIA, a fiber-to-the-home project in Utah.
A SureWest spokesman says his company does not yet have the new Amino DVR in hand, but is interested in testing it.
Amino also has plans to offer an HD-capable box based on MPEG-2 and advanced codecs. An Amino-built HD-DVR is expected in 2005.
