NDS has announced that Sky Deutschland, the largest pay-TV operator in Germany and Austria, has selected NDS XTV(tm) secure integrated digital video recorder (DVR) technology to power its Sky+ HD DVR service. HD set-top boxes (STB) featuring XTV will enable recording of as many as 50 movies in SD or up to 25 movies in true HD. Sky HD receivers will also be capable of receiving future HD 3D services.

Sky already benefits from the advantages of an end-to-end digital TV solution from NDS; having previously selected NDS MediaHighway(r) STB software, NDS VideoGuard(r) content protection technology, and an NDS electronic program guide (EPG). This end-to-end infrastructure enables Sky to swiftly launch service enhancements such as this new HD DVR device powered by XTV. XTV technology provides viewers with the flexibility to manage their TV viewing, enabling them to record programming to view when they want; with the ability to record one channel while viewing another, pause live TV and resume playback and also to play, pause, rewind and fast forward any of their recorded content. Fully integrated with the NDS end-to-end solution for Sky, viewers also benefit from MediaHighway middleware that uses a Flash(tm)-based engine and takes the Sky user experience to a higher level.