--Enters Partnership with Interactive Design Company, Schematic

At the NAB show in Las Vegas this week, Zodiac Gaming has been teaming with Sun Microsystems on a demo, in the latter's booth, of cross-platform, multiplayer gaming. The demo sees Zodiac using Sun's Java technology on an OCAP set-top box, a PC and a mobile handset to allow NAB attendees to play games, such as Texas Hold'em, with other attendees on all those three platforms. "Tremendous revenue opportunities exist in driving interactivity between the 60 million digital set-top boxes, 175 million personal computers and 210 million mobile phones in the US," Michael Rivkin, CEO of Zodiac's parent company, DevelopOnBox, said in a prepared statement. "Java technology provides the ideal platform on which to achieve this convergence." Zodiac was also trumpeting its commitment to OCAP and Java at the NCTA National Show earlier this month. It demo'd an array of OCAP-based games in the booths of Alticast, Unisoft, Pace Micro and Vidiom. Meanwhile, in its own booth, it demo'd a range of cross-platform OCAP and OnRamp products, including a Karaoke system, a multiplayer poker game, and a games portal.

In other Zodiac Gaming news: the company has entered a partnership with interactive agency, Schematic, to enable sophisticated graphics and other features on deployed cable set-top boxes. The companies say their partnership will leverage Zodiac's graphics engine--which they claim "pushes the capabilities" of current set-top boxes--to allow Schematic to implement "next-generation" user interface designs (for such services as VOD, games-on-demand, channel guides and more) that will feature improved animation, transitions and overlays, a richer color palette and alpha channels. "Cable companies cannot afford to wait five to 10 years before the next generation of boxes are rolled out to their customers," Schematic's SVP of business development, Steven Spieczny, said in a prepared statement. "The current landscape is changing fast as satellite providers and various triple-play ventures are taking market share. The partnership between Schematic and Zodiac Gaming is an immediate way for cable companies to differentiate their offerings and maximize the value of each current subscriber." Zodiac and Schematic previously collaborated on user interface design for Cablevision's iO: Interactive Optimum digital cable service.

Posted April 27, 2006 by
InteractiveTV News Blog