13 September, 2010, Cambridge: ANT, the leading provider of software and services for the delivery of digital TV, today announced that Humax, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of digital set-top boxes, has selected ANT to deliver a Sky Player implementation for use with its Freeview HD products. ANT’s implementation of the Sky Player TV specification has been developed in collaboration with BSkyB and benefits from the full capabilities of the ANT Galio Platform.

Humax offers two products for the UK’s Freeview HD service: the HD-FOX T2 set-top box and HDR-FOX T2 digital TV recorder. The boxes provide subscription-free access to HD channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and S4C Wales, plus up to 50 standard definition digital TV channels, and also offer a range of exciting new multimedia and home networking capabilities.    Through the addition of the extensively deployed ANT Galio Platform, users of the Humax Freeview HD boxes with an appropriate Sky subscription will be able to access the Sky Player service, which provides consumers with more ways to access the wide variety of live and on-demand Sky programming through a highly intuitive user interface. By working with connected TV vendors BSkyB is able to further its strategy of bringing more content to consumers via an increasing number of devices.

ANT and Humax have worked closely with the BSkyB technical team to deliver the Sky Player user interface which is designed specifically to deliver the best possible TV experience. ANT has leveraged its considerable experience in developing high performance and portable embedded TV applications to implement the Sky Player specification.

Graham North, Commercial Director, Humax, commented: “ANT is a long-standing and trusted software solutions partner of Humax and we have been impressed by the way the ANT team has contributed to our product offering. With the addition of Sky Player, our Freeview HD boxes are primed to deliver HD content, home networking features and a range of catch-up and on-demand services to UK TV viewers.”

Simon Woodward, CEO, ANT added: “We are delighted to be working with Humax to support the Sky Player service, in doing so we have again broadened the capabilities of our product offering. BSkyB has for many years been a hugely influential player in the UK TV market and through this collaboration has enabled ANT to continue its strategy of working with the leading industry players to enable device manufacturers to deliver the best on-demand and live TV services.”