US DRM specialist Verimatrix has announced a deal with Hong Kong-based Anyplex to secure its over-the-top VoD service using its VCAS system. Anyplex delivers premium content to any Anyplex-enabled devices, such as set tops, connected TVs, iPhones, iPod Touch and iPads.
Anyplex is a VoD service provider and content aggregator which offers Hollywood movies and local TV episodes streamed over the Internet through connected TVs. The deal is one of the first of this type for Verimatrix, to go along with its traditional IPTV conditional access offerings and a deal announced in September to offer online content to Blu-ray players.
Back in September days before the IBC show, Verimatrix joined with Envivio and Edgeware to develop a fast track set of OTT tools and cut a deal for their use with Ericsson. At IBC it announced its Viewright web client to provide authentication services for HTTP Live Streaming ‘ aimed at fast-tracking pay TV operators to launch OTT content services. And this looks like its first pubic success.
Anyplex hopes that by using an established video DRM like Verimatrix, it can secure more US Hollywood content earlier in its release window. The Anyplex systems uses Apple’s Live Streaming system, and Verimatrix is one of the few DRM companies which offers content protection over it. HTTP Live Streaming addresses automatic bitrate for OTT services to multiple device types with different screen resolutions, and its core benefit is a very small on device memory footprint.
The system will use an adapted version of VCAS called VCAS for Internet TV, which includes extensions to the baseline security in HTTP Live Streaming, which the company says lets operators support subscription and transaction based Pay TV services.