VIA and NXTV Form Hotel In-Room Digital Entertainment Alliance

Reprinted from a VIA Technologies press release:

Taipei, Taiwan, 18 July 2002 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with NXTV, Inc., a provider of next-generation broadband services to hospitality and resident markets.

NXTV, Inc. will adopt the VIA Eden™ Platform in their Broadband Intertainment System™ that provides guests with digital movies-on-demand, high-speed TV and laptop Internet access, interactive video games, a branded hotel portal and digital satellite TV programming via DirecTV. NXTV has deployed its products at a number of upscale and award winning hotels in Los Angeles including the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel, the St Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa, the Hotel Bel-Air and the Four Seasons Beverly Hills Hotel.

“Technology is becoming an increasingly significant part of the travel experience,” said American Hotel & Lodging Association President and CEO Joseph A. McInerney, CHA. “More and more travelers are basing their lodging choices on the availability of in-room high-speed Internet access, digital movies-on-demand, and video games. Lodging properties use this technology to increase their competitiveness while meeting the needs and wishes of the traveler.”

The VIA Eden™ Platform-based PCs, combined with NXTV’s broadband delivery system, give hotel guests instantaneous connectivity to their e-mail and the Internet along with a wealth of rich entertainment and information sources right in their own rooms. The fanless x86-based systems are highly reliable with no moving parts, and are fully compatible with Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, powering the latest and most advanced multimedia applications in an elegant housing without set-up or configuration hassles.

“The success of our Broadband Intertainment System is spurred on by its small footprint, ease of use and vast capabilities based on high speed Internet connectivity,” said James W. Miles, President and CEO of NXTV. “The VIA Eden Platform is perfect for small quiet systems that have to be unobtrusive but highly capable of broadband Internet based multimedia applications.”

“We are very excited to be involved in what we consider to be one of the most innovative digital broadband delivery systems available,” noted Richard Brown, Director of Marketing for VIA Technologies, Inc. “By combining the fanless VIA Eden Platform and other market leading technologies like wireless connectivity and dedicated bandwidth to each Broadband Intertainment System, NXTV has established itself as the recognized leader in digital TV programming.”