Press Release

August 24, 2004, Ottawa, Canada Espial, leading provider of set top box software and IPTV applications, today announced that Access Devices has licensed Espial Escape for its DVB and IPTV set-top boxes. Access Devices selected Espial for the performance and flexibility its software, as well as the responsiveness of the customer services team.

Integration of the Espial Web browser to the DVB software stack will allow Access Devices’ customers to leverage the free to air services currently available in Europe, completely future-proofed by the jointly DVB-IP enabled architecture. Espial’s commitment to standards-compliance and pre-integration allowed Access Devices to get new products out of the factory and into the home quickly and with minimal risk.

“Espial software offers an outstanding user experience – its architecture is clear and readily customizable,” commented Access Devices’ Head of Marketing Anthony Allison. “Embedding the Espial browser in our DVB and IPTV systems creates robust, powerful solutions that can be quickly adapted to new markets and customers.”

Users can expect intuitive interfaces that make access to Video On Demand, Web browsing, email and chat services quick and simple for every level of user. Espial software enables IPTV set top box manufacturers to deliver broadcast TV content with the capability of rolling out new applications that are responsive to market needs. Easily integrated with any middleware or VOD supplier, Espial software can scale to meet the requirements of low-end to high-end set top boxes.

Access Devices offers a range of products that provide access to digital TV (DVB), IP-based video-on-demand (VoD) and combined DVB+IPTV services. For the service providers, telcos, broadcasters and partners offering these individual and integrated services, the potential is vast. Already, a number of national-level rollouts are under development with anticipated volumes measured in millions of units.

“Access Devices creates high performance, low cost set top boxes for the mass market. The modular nature of Espial software provides design flexibility that allows our customers to choose the capabilities that best meet the needs of their market: future-proofed so that applications can be swapped out with minimal time and risk,” says Dr. Neale Foster, Director of Marketing for Television for Espial.

About Espial

Espial is the leader in creating scalable set top box software and IPTV applications. In addition to a robust technology platform, Espial has a reputation for excellence in creating or enabling graphical user interfaces, Video-on-Demand, Web Portal and Browser capabilities and T-commerce applications. Espial’s software solutions allow consumer electronics manufacturers to reduce their time to market and development risk for technologically advanced TVs, DVD recorders, set-top boxes, and mobile phones – anything that requires an enhanced user experience. Espial has more than 100 device design wins with companies such as Intel, Motorola, LodgeNet, Philips and Samsung, and has deployed proven solutions for home and mobile broadband networks. Visit www.espial.com for more information.

About Access Devices (ADL)

ADL designs and manufactures a range of high performance, low cost DVB-T and IPTV set-top systems. The company’s goal is ‘to give people simple access to the converging worlds of information and entertainment’. www.accessdevices.co.uk