Interview: Mediabolic – Jeremy Toeman, Associate Vice President of Product Management

By Alexander Grundner | March 12th, 2004 (0) Comments

We caught up with Jeremy Toeman, Associate Vice President of Product Management at Mediabolic, and asked him a few questions related to the Mediabolic M1 Entertainment Platform middleware software solution for connected home entertainment devices. M1 is currently featured in the Denon NS-S100 (TechTV’s “Best of Show”) and the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Wireless Music Adapter.

Tell us a little bit about Mediabolic.

Mediabolic, Inc. is a software company that licenses technology to enable connected entertainment devices in the digital home. The company is almost five years old, is based in San Francisco, CA, and has 35 employees, primarily software engineers. The original vision of the company centered on the concept of a ‘home server’ capable of media, information, communication, and other services. Mediabolic focused on digital media serving and sharing technologies, and is today the leading software provider in the space. The company has struck deals with Pioneer, Fujitsu, Denon, HP, Creative, and other major PC, CE, and device manufacturers. The company also has strategic relationships with key enablers, including chip companies such as Intel and Sigma Designs, content companies including AOL, Yahoo and RealNetworks/Listen.com.

How is Mediabolic’s technology powering current connected home entertainment devices?

The Mediabolic M1 Entertainment Platform is being used in several commercially available networked entertainment products. The HP Digital Media Receiver, which started shipping last winter, uses the M1 software to stream music and photos wired or wirelessly from one or more PCs in the home to a television. In October, Creative introduced the Sound Blaster Wireless Music device, a networked audio component that uses a wireless connection to stream PC music to a stereo, while presenting an intuitive user interface on the device’s LCD-based remote control. This past January, Fujitsu began offering the M1 Player software to enable the MyMedia experience on thirty different PC models. Also in January, the Denon NS-S100 dual-tuner PVR server won the TechTV “Best Home Media Device” and overall “Best of Show” awards during the 2004 International CES.

How is Mediabolic incorporating industry standards like: Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Intel’s Networked Media Product Requirements (NMPR), which help to facilitate the development of interoperable digital home products?

Mediabolic’s software platform leverages industry standards, specifically including UPnP and NMPR. In fact, the company’s M1 Server component was the first commercially available software product which was certified as NMPR compliant. We are also members of the Digital Home Working Group (DHWG), and intend to meet their specifications as well, once they are available.

How does Mediabolic see its middleware software product evolving in the next three years?

Over the next few years, we anticipate our M1 Platform to evolve and grow as the industry changes. With the growth of digital radio and HDTV services, clearly a focus on higher-quality media services will be important to Mediabolic. Additionally, the M1 platform will continue to evolve into new product categories, including portable media players (which the company is presently demonstrating), as well as embedded into ‘traditional’ consumer electronics devices such as televisions and receivers.

Does Mediabolic plan to “brand” its user-interface software so that consumers will easily recognize and be comfortable using it like TiVo has done?

Rather than attempt to create a brand, which is an extremely expensive proposition, Mediabolic instead enables its partners to reskin or rebrand products independently. This lets the major players, such as HP and Fujitsu, continue to keep their direct relationship with consumers, while Mediabolic can focus on industry awareness. The M1 logo is featured prominently on all licensed products or is visible within the graphical user interface itself. This approach enables the company to become more pervasive in the industry, while scaling our growth to meet the increasing demands.

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