Germany
consumer electronics manufacturer Loewe Opta has released a new line of
digital TVs with electronic programming guide software that is based on
the eXtremeDB Fusion data base developed by Issaquah Washington based
McObject.
The technology will allow the same programming guide
software to be used across all Europe market for different languages and
characters, making it much easier for the manufacturer to get its
products to market faster and to sell those products over much wider
geographical area.
The McObject data-base is also used in DirecTV's set top boxes in the U.S.
"We
are unique in that we were the first to create a data management system
designed to be embedded in a set top box," noted Ted Kenney, marketing
director at McObject in an interview.
Traditional data base
management systems from companies like Oracle were too large for use on
settop boxes and for many years settop box manufacturers designed the
software from scratch, Kenney added. That slowed product development and
made it harder to add new feature or customize the applications to
specific markets.
"Increasingly you are seeing manufacturers use
off the shelf data bases," for both settop boxes and a variety of
devices like TVs or Blu-ray players that are connected to the Internet,
he noted.
This speeds product development, makes it easier to
adapt the products to different markets and reduces costs. The product's
tiny code size of about 150K and its equally frugal CPU requirements
reduce the television's hardware requirements, producing lower
manufacturing costs.
The McObject eXtremeDB Fusion data base will be used on Loewe Opta's new Individual SL and Compose SL connected TVs.
