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ViXS XCode 5100 family, the first commercially shipping, quad stream HD transcoder and XConnex 1030 enable converged DOCSIS Media Gateway applications

TORONTO , March 9, 2012 /CNW/ -ViXS Systems Inc. announces today two System on Chip (SoC) solutions enabling DOCSIS media gateways - the XCode 5191, a quad HD to HD transcoder, in production today, and the XConnex 1030 MoCA2.0 solution, general sampling in Q2 2012. Both devices are cost optimized to be used in DOCSIS media gateway platforms.

As cable operators near completion of the roll-out of DOCSIS3.0 infrastructure, DOCSIS media gateways allow operators to take advantage of the high downstream bandwidth to deliver IP Video over DOCSIS to subscriber homes. With the rapid adoption of tablets, smart phones and other mobile platforms, consumers are demanding content on any device with a capable display, over any home network or outside the home. The demand for anytime, anywhere entertainment is leading to an explosive growth in the number of client devices in the subscriber home, and dramatically altering the consumer viewing experience. The XCode and XConnex families provide the transcoding and MoCA technologies to address these trends in DOCSIS media gateways.

The XCode 5100 family presents a powerful solution for quad transcoding functionality within DOCSIS media gateways. It is bolstered by the deployed and robust ViXS Xtensiv software including Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), and transcryption capabilities, and by the unique applications hosting capabilities found in the XCode 5191. Integrated with and running on the XCode SOC is the Apple content streaming protocol software called HTTP-Live server or HLS to support Apple iPad devices. ViXS transcoding at low bit rates ensures excellent video quality on iPAD / tablets, PCs and smart phones even in a bandwidth constrained home network. XCode5191 also integrates dual Gigabit Ethernet interface providing seamless connection to DOCSIS3.0 modem SoCs. All of this enables an optimal system architecture for delivery of IP video and seamless integration of video, voice, data, and Conditional Access (CA) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) in a DOCSIS media gateway.

"The XCode 5100 family, deployed with pioneering patented and proprietary technology, has truly set a new standard with its ability to process multiple high definition streams, and to do multiple concurrent operations on each of those streams", said David Jones , VP Marketing & Business Development at ViXS. "XCode 5100 family combined with XConnex MoCA products provide the ideal platform for manufacturers designing converged DOCSIS modem / gateway applications."

ViXS XConnex 1030 MoCA 2.0 SOC delivers 400+ Mbps data throughput over 16 nodes enabling distribution of multiple HD streams within the home. XConnex 1030 also supports 500 Mbps of throughput for two node Turbo mode with full backward interoperability to MoCA 1.1 devices and the ViXS XConnex 1020 and 1025 devices. XConnex 1030 supports MoCA 2.0 power modes and advanced security features. XConnex 1030 paired with ViXS' XConnex 1000 MoCA 2.0 RF Transceiver with integrated LNA, Power Amplifier (PA) and Transmit/Receive (T/R) switch provides a robust high performance end-to-end MoCA 2.0 solution.

Some of the features for XCode 5191 include:

About ViXS Systems Inc.

ViXS is a multimedia solutions innovator providing technologies for processing, managing, securing and distributing high quality video and audio allowing seamless control, conversion, and connectivity between many classes and sizes of digital entertainment devices.

ViXS supplies advanced System-on-Chip semiconductors, software solutions and hardware reference designs for the world's top manufacturers of Digital TVs, DVDs, Set-top boxes, Personal Video Recorders, PCs, Network-Attached Storage devices, Residential/Home Gateways, Blu-ray players/recorders, as well as Broadcast and Professional Equipment OEMs.

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ViXS® Announces Quad Transcoding with MoCA2.0 for DOCSIS Media Gateways

Experience the connected digital home delivered by ViXS' smart processing solutions

TORONTO , March 9, 2012 /CNW/ - ViXS Systems Inc. will demonstrate to cable operators the latest in the connected home digital media processing and networking technologies at the CableLabs Winter Conference in Philadelphia March 11 - 13.

"With the rapid growth in tablets, smartphones, and mobile devices, consumers are demanding anytime, anywhere entertainment on any smart device inside the home or outside the home. ViXS' smart processors put the company firmly at the center of this new TV viewing experience," said Sally Daub , President and CEO of ViXS Systems. "ViXS looks forward to demonstrating how its leading-edge technology enables a large portfolio of new advanced networked media devices, including: media gateways, advanced set top boxes, and streaming media and connectivity solutions."

Transcoding, media processing and home networking are critical to maintaining a managed networked digital media revolution. At the CableLabs Winter Conference, open only to CableLabs member companies and demonstrating vendors, ViXS will showcase its latest solutions to leading cable MSOs. The following demonstrations will be shown in ViXS' private demo room:

About ViXS Systems Inc.

ViXS is a multimedia solutions innovator providing technologies for processing, managing, securing and distributing high quality video and audio allowing seamless control, conversion, and connectivity between many classes and sizes of digital entertainment devices.

ViXS supplies advanced System-on-Chip semiconductors, software solutions and hardware reference designs for the world's top manufacturers of Digital TVs, DVDs, Set-top boxes, Personal Video Recorders, PCs, Network-Attached Storage devices, Residential/Home Gateways, Blu-ray players/recorders, as well as Broadcast and Professional Equipment OEMs.

ViXS is headquartered in Toronto , Canada with global operations and offices in Europe , Asia and North America. ViXS has filed more than 373 patents worldwide with over 114 patents being issued to date. Listed for four years running as one of Deloitte's fastest growing North American companies, ViXS is setting new standards in the way digital entertainment is viewed and transmitted across an endless array of multimedia products.

For more information on ViXS, please visit our website:www.vixs.com.

VIXS, the ViXS logo, XCode, XConnex and Xtensiv are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ViXS. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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ViXS® Showcases the Future of Media Processing, Connectivity and Mobility at CableLabs® Winter Conference

Leveraging on the popularity of social media, Citibank Singapore has launched the first credit card in the country to integrate social networking as part of its core card features.

With its new Clear Platinum Card, cardmembers are engaged through three ways.

"Clear Deal of the Month" allows cardmembers to customise their card experiences and rewards every month.

Benefits are also tailored to the consumer's increasingly online lifestyle, with 5X rewards for online shopping for the first time in Singapore, while engaging them via mainly electronic communication platforms such as social media, instead of traditional marketing channels.

Ms. Jacquelyn Tan, Head of Credit Payment Products at Citibank Singapore Limited, said: "With the new Citibank Clear Platinum card, we are building on the role of the consumer?s voice in this social media space to give cardmembers the power to actively customise their own card experiences, from merchant promotions to events, for the first time in Singapore."

During the launch, members also get the chance to win weekly prizes, as well as a grand prize at the end of six weeks, where they can work with Citibank Singapore to customise a party of his/her choice worth S$5,000.

ellenja@sph.com.sg

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Citibank launches 'social networking' credit card

Published by David Gilson at 14:00 UTC, March 9th 2012

These days, social networking apps are the hub of our online life. They entertain us, bring us together, let us communicate, and explore. Therefore it's imperative that any mobile platform provides a great experience for working with networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Symbian has long enjoyed the powerhouse of Gravity for Twitter, Facebook, and others; but in the last 12 months it has been joined by a set of impressive Qt-based applications. Here we gather together the reviews of our favourite applications to cover all of your needs.

LinkedIn Review| Score N/A| Store| Free

LinkedIn is the lesser publicised social network aimed squarely at professionals. Its core features are sharing links, participating in group discussions, and making new contacts.The client provides access to all the core functions - for example, users can read and post status updates, with an option to have the update tweeted.LinkedIn provides a home screen widget, which gives an overview of one's invitations and inbox messages, along with a search link.

Facebook Review| Score 90% | Store | 1.50

There are quite a few Facebook applications for Symbian, however a favourite in the All About Symbian (virtual) office is fMobi. It is one of the most feature-complete Facebook applications on any platform, and has a unusual style mimicking the Symbianapplication menu.

Here's a summary of Steve's take on fMobi,

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Top Five Symbian Social Networking Apps

ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2012) Mutations in HIV that develop during the first few weeks of infection may play a critical role in undermining a successful early immune response, a finding that reveals the importance of vaccines targeting regions of the virus that are less likely to mutate. A new study in the journal PLoS Pathogens, led by researchers at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, applied the same next-generation technologies that have revolutionized sequencing of the human genome to study how HIV adapts within the first few weeks after infection.

Ragon and Broad investigators applied an approach called pyrosequencing that allows the simultaneous sequencing of hundreds of viral variants within an individual over the course of infection. These data provided a substantially deeper and more sensitive view of the complexity of mutant strains circulating in a patient following HIV infection and how each of those strains evolves over time. Combining these genetic data with detailed immunological analyses enabled a comprehensive evaluation of viral-host interactions during the critical acute phase of HIV infection.

The study revealed that the majority of early, low-frequency mutations developing during the first few weeks after infection represent rapid adaptations to avoid the response of CD8 'killer' T cells, which play a key role in recognizing and eliminating HIV-infected cells. "These data reveal the ability of HIV to rapidly avoid front-line immune responses attempting to contain the infection," says Todd Allen, PhD, senior author of the study and a Ragon Institute faculty member.

More importantly, Allen notes, their study revealed that rapid viral escape from a few dominant immune responses coincided with the inability of individual patients to maintain early control of HIV. "The ability to sensitively assess early virus evolution across the entire HIV genome revealed that limiting the ability of HIV to become resistant to the earliest immune responses may be a critical component of a successful vaccine," he says. "Therefore, the key to controlling a highly variable pathogen such as HIV may lie in a vaccine's ability to redirect immune responses towards more critical, highly conserved regions of the virus that are unable to successfully mutate."

An important component of the study was development of novel bioinformatics tools to handle the enormous and highly diverse sequence dataset and to assemble the thousands of sequencing reads into complete HIV genomes for analysis and detection of genetic mutations. While next-generation sequencing approaches have helped transform the sequencing of mammalian genomes, the high degree of sequence diversity within and between HIV strains has hindered the routine application of those powerful sequencing approaches to highly variable pathogens such as HIV. In the current study the researchers were able to apply their approach to successfully sequence the entire HIV genome from dozens of infected individuals.

"The genomic and computational tools developed as part of this study allow researchers to interrogate the complete HIV genome and to identify genetic variants of the virus with unprecedented resolution, allowing us to obtain a novel map of how the virus is changing during the course of an infection." says Matthew Henn, PhD, the lead author of the study and director of Viral Genomics at the Broad Institute.

Efforts to develop an effective vaccine against HIV have been thwarted in large part because of the virus's ability to rapidly mutate and avoid host immune responses. However, notes Allen -- an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School -- "HIV is not able to mutate at will. Some of these mutations substantially cripple the virus' ability to replicate, which appears to be critical to enabling a few individuals to uniquely control HIV without the need for therapy."

Understanding more precisely how HIV evolves in an individual and how mutations correlate with the ability to control HIV may provide critical insight into the design of more effective vaccines to contain and possibly prevent infection altogether. Efforts are underway at the Ragon Institute to harness these findings to develop and test novel vaccine approaches against HIV that limit its ability to mutate and escape immune control.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

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Deeper view of HIV reveals impact of early mutations