Press Releases

ACCESS Becomes Supporter of HbbTV Initiative

Company plans to release HbbTV compatible solution to support worldwide growth of connected TV market

Tokyo, Japan, – February 4, 2010 – ACCESS CO., LTD., a global provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile, beyond-PC and digital TV markets, today announced that it has become a supporter of HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV), a major pan-European initiative aimed at harmonizing the broadcast and broadband delivery of news, information and entertainment to consumers through connected TVs and set-top boxes.

By becoming an HbbTV supporter, ACCESS joins a group of industry leaders – including broadcasters, software and media solutions providers and consumer electronics manufacturers – all committed to provide the consumer with a seamless entertainment experience with the combined richness of broadcast and broadband. It is yet another step in the company’s strategy to embrace industry standards that drive the expansion of the global connected TV market. ACCESS is also an active supporter of the OIPF (Open IPTV Forum) and CE-HTML standards, which provide a basis for the HbbTV specification, as well as of the BML (Broadcast Markup Language).

A pioneer in providing advanced software solutions to the digital TV market, ACCESS is now working on bringing HbbTV compatibility to its leading NetFront^™ products, including NetFront^™ Browser and NetFront^™ Living Connect, its DLNA solution. The first HbbTV-compatible ACCESS products are expected to be available in the European market before summer 2010.

“Bringing more multimedia content and services to television sets while offering consumers an easy, seamless experience is key to the mass adoption of the connected TV experience,” said Tomihisa Kamada, president and CEO, ACCESS CO., LTD. “As a supporter of the HbbTV initiative, we are committed to leverage our expertise in the digital TV area to provide solutions that will help grow this market worldwide.”

NetFront Browser is the most advanced, versatile and powerful full Internet browser for mobile and beyond-PC devices. Specifically designed and optimized to deliver high performance in resource-constrained environments, it has been deployed by major operators, handset manufacturers and consumer electronics manufacturers around the world. The worldwide demand for ACCESS’ NetFront products, including NetFront Browser, has grown to approximately 850 million deployments, representing over 1,960 different models.

About ACCESS
ACCESS CO., LTD. is a global company providing leading technology, software products and platforms for Web browsing, mobile phones, wireless handhelds, digital TVs and other networked devices. ACCESS’ product portfolio, including its NetFront^™ Browser, ACCESS Linux Platform^™ and Garnet^™ OS, provides customers with solutions that enable faster time to market, flexibility and customizability. The company, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operates subsidiaries and affiliates in Asia, Europe and the United States. ACCESS is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mother’s Index under the number 4813. For more information about ACCESS, please visit www.access-company.com.

About HbbTV
Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV or HbbTV, is a major new pan-European initiative aimed at harmonizing the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs and set-top boxes. The HbbTV specification was developed by industry leaders to effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of available content targeted at today’s end consumer. It is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C. HbbTV has a wide range of supporters from across the broadcaster and CE industries, details of which can be found at www.hbbtv.org where more details about HbbTV draft specifications can also be found.

© 2010 ACCESS CO., LTD. All rights reserved.
ACCESS, the ACCESS logo, NetFront, ACCESS Linux Platform and Garnet are registered trademarks or trademarks of ACCESS CO., LTD. in the United States, Japan and/or other countries.
The registered trademark LINUX^® is used pursuant to a sublicense from Linux Mark Institute, the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a world-wide basis.
DLNA is a registered trademark of the Digital Living Network Alliance. Digital Living Network Alliance is a service mark of the Digital Living Network Alliance.
All other trademarks, logos and trade names mentioned in the document are the property of their respective owners.