Sonic AuthorScript CE Enables Common Platform Set-Top Box with DVD Recording and Playback

Sonic Solutions announced today it is demonstrating its Sonic AuthorScript CE engine on a new digital video recorder (DVR) recently launched by Pace Micro Technology, a leading digital set-top box provider specializing in the development of emerging technologies across all television platforms.

Pace's recently announced Tahoe HD DVR is expected to be one of the first DVRs with DVD burning and playback functionality to be compatible with several different North American cable conditional access systems. With AuthorScript CE running on the Broadcom BCM7038 chipset, Multiple System Operators (MSOs) can offer their customers easy, powerful, and reliable DVD play-and-burn features. The Pace Tahoe HD DVR is being demonstrated at the Pace booth (#5958) at this week?s National Cable Television Association (NCTA) Show.

Sonic's collaboration with Pace is the latest in a series of recent licensing and development relationships that Sonic has formed to broadly deploy its AuthorScript technology beyond the traditional PC and into the CE market. At CES in January 2005, Sonic announced that Broadcom, a leading provider of highly-integrated semiconductor solutions for broadband communications, has licensed AuthorScript CE for inclusion in Broadcom?s set-top box reference platforms; in late 2004, Sonic announced that cable hardware provider Scientific-Atlanta is embedding AuthorScript CE into its popular DVR set-top boxes. TiVo recently released its popular TiVo ToGo service which is based upon the AuthorScript engine; AuthorScript also provides the DVD formatting and burning functionality built into Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Pace is demonstrating its complete family of products for use in all of today?s current US cable systems. The newest members of its set-top box family include the Tahoe HD DVR and Chicago SD all digital products.