Advertisement

Arris confirms the Shaw Gateway DVR's Moxi bloodlines, hints at more to come

The six tuner Shaw Gateway DVR we mentioned recently is built on Arris hardware, and now the company revealed more information about its Whole Home Solution setup at its core. The press release after the break details the specs used by Shaw's implementation (500GB hard drive, HD UI, four port router, MoCa and optional WiFi N) plus additional capabilities the Shaw Gateway hasn't taken advantage of yet (over the top video from the internet, VoIP, an integrated DOCSIS 3.0 modem and user media sharing). We spoke to Senior VP of Marketing and Development Stan Brovont and found out that this particular project has been under development for about a year now, and many of the features are in response to focus groups indicating that the number of tuners and hard drive space (the 500GB drive was up to Shaw) were among the most important features.

While he did mention there were other partnerships not yet announced in the pipeline and couldn't comment on any potential return to retail for the Moxi-derived system, our friend Dave Zatz dug up a Multichannel News post mentioning a similar system coming to Oregon local provider BendBroadband. Check the Arris press release after the break for more details, we'll keep holding out hope for another retail DVR option in the marketplace.



Show full PR text

Shaw Communications Deploys the ARRIS Whole Home Solution, Offers New Multi-Room PVR Service

Suwanee, GA – May 11, 2011: ARRIS (Nasdaq: ARRS) announced today that Shaw Communications Inc., Canada's largest television provider with over 3.4 million subscribers, has launched the ARRIS Whole Home Solution in its Calgary system, to be followed by a nationwide launch in its other markets.

To be marketed as the Shaw Gateway experience, the platform will initially feature the solution's multi-room Personal Video Recorder (PVR) functionality -- consisting of a six- tuner, multi-room HD PVR with 500 GB storage; customized, intuitive User Interface; 4 port Ethernet home networking router; MOCA® 1.1+ home networking technology; and optional 802.11n capabilities. Additional features will be rolled out to Shaw customers on a market-by-market basis in the near future.

"The ARRIS Whole Home Solution is a powerful and full-featured platform that will accelerate and ease the transition of content delivery to a cost-efficient, all-IP model," said ARRIS Broadband Communication Systems President Bruce McClelland. "We are delighted to be working with a technology innovator like Shaw Communications to bring the complete and customized broadband experience of the future into their customers' homes."

The ARRIS Whole Home solution consists of the ARRIS Media Gateway, a multi-services platform providing integrated multimedia entertainment to the entire home, and ARRIS Media Players, which connect to each television to enable individual service delivery.

The solution's centralized gateway provides multimedia entertainment services including broadcast and narrowcast video, video on demand, DOCSIS® 3.0 high-speed data and two lines of carrier-grade voice over IP, as well as Internet over-the-top and media sharing of user-generated content. It also supports DLNA™ to connect with subscriber owned DLNA-enabled devices across the home network and it supports CableCARD™ conditional access.

ARRIS Media Players located throughout the home support full HD video delivery via HDMI, component, and composite outputs, front and rear USB ports, 10/100 Mbps Ethernet and MoCA 1.1+. The Media Player also features front panel navigation and clock along with a backlit remote control.

For more information, please visit: www.arrisi.com/get/ipvideo/

About Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications Inc. is a diversified communications and media company, providing consumers with broadband cable television, High-Speed Internet, Home Phone, telecommunications services (through Shaw Business), satellite direct-to-home services (through Shaw Direct) and engaging programming content (through Shaw Media). Shaw serves 3.4 million customers, through a reliable and extensive fibre network. Shaw Media operates one of the largest conventional television networks in Canada, Global Television, and 19 specialty networks including HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada,
History Television, and Showcase. Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (Symbol: TSX – SJR.B, NYSE – SJR). For more information about Shaw, please visit www.shaw.ca.

About ARRIS
ARRIS is a global communications technology company specializing in the design, engineering and supply of technology supporting triple- and quad-play broadband services for residential and business customers around the world. The company supplies broadband operators with the tools and platforms they need to deliver carrier-grade telephony, network video processing, whole home video, demand driven video, next-generation advertising, network and workforce management solutions, access and transport architectures and ultra high-speed data services. Headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia, USA, ARRIS has R&D centers in Suwanee; Beaverton, OR; Chicago, IL; Kirkland, WA; State College, PA; Wallingford, CT; Waltham, MA; Cork, Ireland; and Shenzhen, China, and operates support and sales offices throughout the world. Information about ARRIS products and services can be found at www.arrisi.com.