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Philips showcases advanced home entertainment and communications solutions at IBC 2006


WEBWIRE

Friday, September 08, 2006, Amsterdam, the Netherlands - IBC 2006 is to provide Philips with a broad platform to showcase its advanced product solutions in high definition TV, IP-based communication solutions and home control.

Throughout the show, Philips will be demonstrating its latest HD-ready TV sets and HD receivers, a wide range of IP broadband related products including IPTV set-top boxes, videophony and VoIP solutions, as well as intelligent remote control products for consumer and institutional sales.

High definition viewing experience
Philips is continuing to help drive the rollout of HDTV in Europe with award-winning HD-ready FlatTVs and HD set-top boxes for leading European broadcasters and operators. Coupled with the imminent launch of Blu-ray Disc devices, Philips is taking a strong lead in offering consumers the best possible home entertainment high definition viewing experience.

Visitors to IBC will be able to see Philips latest MPEG4 AVC based HD set-top boxes for German, British, Dutch and French operators, including the Philips Cineos DSR9000, which has been introduced in Germany for reception of Premiere HD services for both satellite and cable. These receivers will be joined at the RAI by new HD set-top boxes for deployment in the Netherlands, including an HD Interactive set-top box for UPC with built-in EuroDOCSIS return path. Alongside basic HD Set-Top Boxes, Philips will demonstrate HD-DVR functionality. The product line-up demonstrates that HD is widely being deployed across all networks - over satellite, cable and IP.

In the retail market, Philips launched its satellite and terrestrial Standard-Definition Digital Video Recorders (DVR) this month at Berlin’s IFA show. These are equipped with 160 GB Hard-Disk Drives and are intended for the market in continental Europe. Both satellite and terrestrial versions come with the ergonomic, multi-brand universal remote control. The satellite version will support the Unicable standard, allowing two individual tuners to be fed by a single cable.

As digital terrestrial broadcasting continues its steady growth through Europe, Philips is introducing a new digital set-top box for free-to-air services after having sold more than a million units in the UK. The Philips DTR210, on show at IBC, will initially go on sale via retail outlets in the UK, France and Germany. Designed to offer high performance at a very attractive price point, the DTR210 set-top box brings together the highly efficient Nexperia™ PNX8316 chipset from NXP Semiconductors (founded by Philips) - optimized for DVB-T reception - with Philips’ award-winning features like the ’Pulse Killer Chip’ for interference-free reception, and ’Fast Zapp’ for quick and convenient channel surfing.

Enabling Triple Play IP Services
As triple play services are now widely offered by cable and telecom operators, Philips has positioned itself as a full range supplier of CPE (Consumer Premises Equipment) solutions for these operators. In this context, Philips is working in new areas of content distribution - specifically broadband IP networks - and will be showcasing a number of new concepts at IBC. Among these will be an advanced H.264 hybrid IP/terrestrial HDTV set-top box featuring MSTV with DVR functionality, as well as a demonstration of video telephony on IPTV set-top boxes, enabling operators to extend their array of services.

Philips will show the SNV6520 IAD (Integrated Access Device), a full triple-play gateway with broadband access, Voice over IP and Quality of Service (QoS) features supporting IPTV delivery and Wi-Fi home networking.

Philips is expanding its presence in IP-based home communications, with a growing portfolio of regular and VoIP-based DECT phones, headsets and webcams. Among the VoIP phones, Philips offers retail products in cooperation with Skype and Microsoft, and customized solutions for operators based on the SIP protocol. At IBC 2006, Philips will be demonstrating the world’s first PC-free DECT phone for Skype, the VOIP841. The retail version of this product is customized for Skype consumers that want to take full advantage of the cost savings of IP telephony. The VOIP841 combines sharp design with total ease-of-use, offering consumers a genuine plug-and-play solution to making calls via the Internet with perfect clarity and for little or no cost.

Philips will also be demonstrating at IBC its innovative VP5500 cordless home videophone, being introduced in the Netherlands in partnership with KPN, the Dutch national telecommunications provider. As simple, intuitive and easy to handle as a conventional DECT phone, the H.263 based VP5500 combines Wi-Fi with an integrated 240-degree swiveling VGA camera to create a fun and unique way for consumers to stay in touch with family and friends.

Advances in home control
Visitors to IBC 2006 will be able to see how Philips is addressing the growth of A/V devices in homes, the increase in online and stored multimedia content, the greater popularity of wireless home networks, and the emergence and integration of automation appliances - all of which emphasize the need for simplified control.

With products such as its acclaimed Pronto line of universal remote controls, Philips has long enjoyed a leading position in the development of advanced home control systems. In 2006, Philips is taking that lead further with a range of innovative products and technologies enabling consumers to remotely manage their home entertainment and infotainment devices and content with total convenience and absolute simplicity.

In particular, Philips has taken a leadership position in the set-top box market, supplying remote controls to leading service operators and receiver manufacturers through continuously applying new technology advances, such as two-way RF communication. ’2-way RF’ allows information to be sent back to the remote control from the equipment, enabling users to remotely navigate the menus, functions, programming and content on the equipment from wherever they want to be in the home - even a different room.

Philips is also showcasing at IBC its latest range of universal remote controls for both retail sales and supply with set-top boxes. Philips has applied considerable innovation to the universal remote control, reducing complexity and significantly shortening the time it takes to set up a URC.

Philips addresses these complexities using an optimized database structure, with improved user interaction and simplified set-up instructions. This ease-of-use advance can be found in a new universal remote control supplied by Kabel Deutschland.

Philips’ approach to remote control ease-of-use can also be found in the Prestigo SRU9600, showcased at IBC. On sale in retail outlets in Europe, this URC delivers a consumer experience based on total simplicity. A touchscreen LCD illuminates only the controls required to operate the selected A/V device, ensuring the user doesn’t have to worry about buttons they don’t need. A rotary controller enables easy navigation through set-up and to access the control screens for each device loaded into the system. Simple and general commands, such as volume and channel up/down, can also be activated by hard keys.

Philips will be present at IBC2006 from Friday 8 September until Tuesday 12 September on stand 1.181.

FlatTV and Nexperia are trademarks of Royal Philips Electronics.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies and Europe’s largest, with sales of EUR 30.4 billion in 2005. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 158,000 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter



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