S3 Group Licenses Comcast Reference Design Kit, Continues to Broaden Its Portfolio to Meet the Needs of Global Operators

S3 Group supports RDK Initiative to more quickly deliver next gen video offerings

SAN JOSE, Calif. August 15, 2012 – S3 Group, an international digital TV company that enables programmers and operators to accelerate the end-to-end delivery of multi-screen TV, announced today that it has licensed the Comcast Reference Design Kit (RDK) and will now provide its professional services to integrate the RDK onto set-top box (STB) platforms.  The Comcast RDK is a pre-integrated software bundle that creates a common framework for powering tru2way®, IP or hybrid set-top boxes and gateway devices to accelerate the development and deployment of next-generation video services. 

Comcast licenses the RDK to OEMs, SIs, SOCs, software vendors as well as MVPDs to create a community of innovators focused on bringing rich, multi-screen TV home entertainment experiences to consumers faster.  S3 Group will support the RDK’s innovative approach by harnessing its trusted system integration experience for multi-screen digital TV devices, along with its StormTest® suite of automated testing solutions, to ensure industry-leading quality and timely deployment of devices to the end customer. 

“The Comcast RDK Initiative marks an important moment for our industry. Our licensing deal with Comcast provides crucial added value for those operators looking to implement the RDK – which can now be accomplished utilizing the expertise from S3 Group that they’ve come to know and trust,” said Philip Brennan, VP TV Technology, S3 Group.  “Our support of the Comcast RDK, combined with more than 18 years’ experience in digital TV system integration and solution development, is a testament to why S3 Group is the optimal choice for operators who are under increasing pressure to deliver reliable platforms and best QoE (Quality of Experience) to their customers.”

“With the RDK, Comcast is seeding the growth of a community-driven software platform that addresses one of the industry’s biggest problems – the lengthy process of device development and deployment,” said Steve Reynolds, Senior Vice President, CPE and Home Network for Comcast. “With the cooperation of S3 Group and others, the RDK provides operators, developers and device vendors the foundation required  to innovate at a fast pace – a requirement in today’s rapidly-changing multiscreen TV environment.”

S3 Group’s professional services and StormTest portfolio enable operators’ engineering and repair departments to ensure their content delivery platforms work flawlessly, regardless of where the content is coming from and which device is being used to consume it. The Comcast RDK licensing relationship further establishes S3 Group’s proven experience in software integration for its customers, adding to the portfolio of the middleware that the company supports, including OpenTV, NDS, Microsoft Mediaroom, Ericsson, Zenterio ZIDS, and others.  

About S3 Group:

S3 Group enables programmers and operators to accelerate the end-to-end delivery of multi-screen TV. We do this through a combination of test automation technologies, advanced platform diagnostics and professional service delivery applied across the platform lifecycle. Founded in 1986, S3 Group, a multinational technology company, focuses on three business areas: TV Technology, Semiconductor and Telehealth, and has development centers and sales offices in Ireland, USA, Poland, Czech Republic and Portugal with representatives worldwide. S3 Group is the proud winner of the prestigious Irish Software Exporter Award 2011 from the Irish Exporters Association (IEA). Visit www.s3group.com/tv-technology for further information.