Microsoft To Ship Windows CE DXPAK With Built-in Support for iGST CyberPro5000 Broadband Streaming Media Chip

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, March 6, 2000

iGS Technologies, Inc., (iGST) Tuesday announced that Microsoft is integrating support for iGST's CyberPro5000 broadband streaming media chip with the DirectX Platform Adaptation Kit (DXPAK), Microsoft Corp.'s new development package for creating Windows CE-based applications for advanced Internet-enabled TV set-top boxes.

DXPAK will include sample drivers that enable STB applications written using DXPAK to run out of the box on Windows CE-based STBs and evaluation platforms based on the CyberPro5000, including iGST's own PCI evaluation cards. The CyberPro5000 provides streaming media processing and blending for multiple streams of broadband video, audio, graphics and interactive Internet web pages.

DXPAK simplifies the development of advanced Windows CE-based STB applications by providing APIs that make it easy to integrate video, graphics and sound. Included are APIs for DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectShow, Media Player, MIDI, Wave In/Out and audio mixing. With a single CyberPro PCI evaluation card, OEMs can evaluate all of these functions.

"At the Western Cable show, Microsoft used set-top boxes based on CyberPro to perform the first demonstrations of transparency and TVChat for Microsoft TV," said Mike Raghavan, vice president of Corporate Marketing and Strategic Alliances at iGST. "We're extremely pleased to have worked closely with Microsoft to enable CyberPro5000 broadband streaming media chip for DXPAK."

"The powerful APIs provided by DXPAK greatly simplify application development for advanced Internet-enabled set-top boxes and information appliances based on Windows CE," said Don Chouinard, marketing manager for the Windows CE Group at Microsoft. "By adding drivers for iGST's CyberPro streaming media processor, we're able to provide an out-of-the-box streaming media solution that makes STB design and application even easier."

The CyberPro5000 is the world's highest performance, most highly integrated streaming media processors. Utilized in advanced set-top boxes and information appliances from the world's leading OEM manufacturers, CyberPro combines a hardware graphics accelerator with a fully-programmable NTSC/PAL TV encoder, a video processor that provides integrated scaling, de-interlacing and time-based correction and an AC97 audio processor. Key features include:

-- Hardware alpha blending (tView) for advanced transparency effects. -- Direct video pass through (eView) for enhanced broadcast-quality display. -- Two video ports for mixing analog TV with digital TV or PIP. -- Support for multiple, independently scalable video windows. -- Macrovision copy protection. -- A Direct FlexiBus(TM) interface to most major embedded CPUs and compatibility with most major RTOSs.

iGS Technologies, Inc., is the leading supplier of high performance, highly-integrated streaming media component solutions for broadband and Internet set-top boxes and Digital TV. iGST has developed strategic alliances with leading CPU and RTOS companies and has major blue chip OEM designs worldwide in these markets. FMI: http://www.igst.com.