Motorola adds SunUp to multiscreen platform
Buys US software house for its video content delivery system, spanning handsets, tablets and set-tops
Published: 10 May, 2011
READ MORE: M&A | Motorola | Mobile Content | Tablet
With its portfolio spanning smartphones, tablets and set-top boxes, Motorola Mobility should be well positioned for the trend towards multiscreen content. With an eye on this market, it has acquired SunUp Digital Systems, a software house specializing in video delivery to multiple devices.
The company's platform supports content deployment, digital rights management and partner or consumer payments, on behalf of a service provider. It could enable Motorola not only to sell the various devices on which video will be viewed, but to offer carriers a full platform. This would usually be the domain of back end systems vendor, but Motorola Mobility is now separated from its infrastructure stablemate and is looking for ways to differentiate its devices and add value for operators.
"Consumers are increasingly using companion devices to augment and personalize their entertainment experience, and with the acquisition of SunUp, Motorola Mobility strengthens its ability to enable service providers to rapidly create and manage advanced revenue generating video services across multiple screens," said John Burke, SVP of converged experiences at Motorola.
This is the latest in a series of move to build a converged platform around Motorola's handsets, tablets and set-top boxes, and to enhance its Medios multiscreen service management system. Since the split from Motorola Solutions, the vendor has added the SocialTV Companion Service to Medios. This enables tablets and smarpthones with HTML5 browsers to act as secondary TV screens and support social features, integrated with the user's viewing on the primary television.
In February, the vendor made an unspecified strategic investment in Catch Media, provider of the Play Anywhere digital rights locker platform. And in March it acquired Dreampark, a Swedish IPTV middleware group, a further step to creating a full blooded IPTV software suite to go with the lower value business of set-top hardware. This followed pre-split acquisitions such as DRM specialist Secure Media and Bitband's distributed VoD server business. Motorola also recently added a wireless video bridge.
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