RVU Alliance™ Remote User Interface Now Included in DLNA® Interoperability Guidelines

The Digital Living Network Alliance^® (DLNA^®) and the RVU Alliance™ today announced that the RVU Alliance Remote User Interface (RUI) has been incorporated into the DLNA Interoperability Guidelines. The relationship between the two organizations underscores the importance of consumer access to service provider content throughout the digital home. These new guidelines allow service providers to export the look and feel of their features to DLNA Certified devices.

“DLNA understands that today’s consumers aren’t tied to the living room for watching movies. They expect to be able to access the premium content that they receive from their service provider subscriptions on a multitude of devices,” said Nidhish Parikh, chairman and president of DLNA. “By incorporating RVU RUI into our Interoperability Guidelines, we’re providing consumers with new, innovative ways to connect and consume their digital content. Imagine being able to access DVR functionality on a non-DVR device. RVU RUI makes this possible and can now be included in DLNA Certified products.”

The RVU Alliance is an industry alliance consisting of service providers, technology companies and consumer electronics manufacturers. RVU RUI is a Remote User Interface technology that provides for pixel-accurate display of a service provider’s User Interface on compliant client devices when used with a compliant RVU server.

“Incorporation of RVU RUI into DLNA Interoperability Guidelines is another major milestone in the evolution of the RVU specification,” said Henry Derovanessian, president of the RVU Alliance Board of Directors. “Cooperation with DLNA furthers adoption of RVU into the worldwide community of connected home devices, assisting both consumers and service providers alike.”

RVU systems are already on the market, with service provider DIRECTV having launched its HR34 RVU server in late 2011. At the 2012 International CES event in January, Samsung showcased the protocol in three of their 2011 connected TV models, indicating that RVU support will be in all 2012 connected TV models.

“I applaud DLNA for adopting the RVU protocol into its Interoperability Guidelines,” said Romulo Pontual, chief technology officer and executive VP at DIRECTV. “The availability of this light-footprint Remote User Interface technology in the DLNA Guidelines will accelerate DIRECTV's rollout of products capable of delivering our service directly to DLNA Certified devices.”

“Samsung embraces widely available standards for our CE products,” said Stephen Goldstein, vice president, sales and marketing at Samsung. “This latest addition to the DLNA specification paves the way for consumers to enjoy Pay TV operator class services on a growing suite of interoperable devices.”

“AwoX believes in the added value brought by Remote User Interface technologies to DLNA,” said Alain Molinié, CEO of AwoX. “Support for RVU RUI technology builds on our current support for the Consumer Electronics Association’s Web-based Protocol and Framework for Remote User Interface. We look forward to introducing our Software Development Kit for RVU in the U.S. this fall.”

RVU RUI is included in DLNA Interoperability Guidelines now. For more information about DLNA or the Alliance’s global standards, please visit www.DLNA.org or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dlnacertified.

About DLNA

Members of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) share a vision of an interoperable network of personal computers (PC), consumer electronics (CE), mobile devices and service providers in and beyond the home, enabling a seamless environment for sharing and growing new digital media and content services. Founded in 2003, the group established and maintains a platform of interoperability based on open and established industry standards that, when used by manufacturers will support the sharing of media through wired or wireless networks. More than 200 multi-industry companies from around the world have joined DLNA, committing the time and resources necessary to achieve their vision. DLNA's Promoter Members include: ACCESS, AT&T, AwoX, Broadcom, CableLabs, Cisco, Comcast, DIRECTV, DTS, Dolby Laboratories, Ericsson, HP, HTC, Huawei, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, Technicolor and Verizon. Additional information about the Alliance, its participating companies and membership benefits is available at www.dlna.org or find the Alliance on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dlnacertified or on Twitter at @DLNA.

About RVU Alliance

The RVU Alliance is an Oregon-based non-profit mutual benefit corporation formed to develop a specification for the RVU technology including a full-featured “pixel accurate” Remote User Interface (RUI). Founding Promoter members are Broadcom, Cisco, DIRECTV, Samsung and Verizon. Other Promoter members are BSkyB, Cortina, Entropic Communications, Huawei, Humax, JetHead Development Inc., LG, MOrega, Pace PLC, Sigma Designs, Solekai Systems, ST Microelectronics, Technicolor, Trident Microsystems and Vixs. The RVU Alliance complements and benefits existing industry interoperability initiatives and underscores its founders’ commitment to the sharing of digital content in the connected home. For more information about the RVU Alliance, please visit www.rvualliance.org.