Niveus Media, Inc.

Niveus (pronounced: NIVV-ee-uss) Media, Inc. is a privately held, Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of Media Servers, Extender devices, and Storage & Control solutions, designed specifically for the home entertainment market.

History

Niveus was founded in May 2002 by Timothy Cutting (CEO) and Brian Paper (Vice President Operations) and Sean Patterson (who left the company in 2003). Since inception, Niveus’ products have been recognized at numerous events such as WinHEC, Connections, and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), hosted by both Intel and Microsoft. Niveus’ 2007 Media Servers were among the first Windows Vista Ultimate-based Media Center systems to incorporate Intel’s Viiv™ technology including Core 2 Duo processors, HDMI output, and CableCARD technology, allowing access to digital HD content and DVR functionality without the use of a set-top box.

Products

Now in the sixth generation of product, Niveus offers ten Media Server solutions, including the Summit Series and Pro Series, as well as a selection of accessories including the Niveus Disc Changer – Ice Vault 200, Niveus A/V Storage Server, Niveus Digital Cable Receiver, the Niveus Media Extender – EDGE, and a number of proprietary software plug-ins.

Niveus Media Server
Niveus’ Media Servers, based on Microsoft’s Windows Media Center (Vista Ultimate) platform, store, aggregate, and provide access to entire collections of digital media (Music, Photos, TV, Videos, and more) and offer a whole-home entertainment experience. Niveus Media offers a variety of Servers to match the end-user’s desired storage, optical drive, configuration, and number of zones within the home. The Media Server line includes the passively cooled Summit Series models Rainier, Denali, and Denali Limited Edition and the rack-mountable Pro Series n4, n7, and n9. All Niveus Media Servers are capable of storing, managing and playing television, music, radio, movies, photos, and more.

Niveus Digital Cable Receiver
Compatible with Niveus’ Summit Series and Pro Series Media Servers, the Digital Cable Receiver is an external, dual CableCARD device designed to enable HD Cable television capabilities. Optimized for dual HDTV CableCARD recording, the Niveus Digital Cable Receiver enables the recording of one high definition channel while simultaneously watching another high definition channel. Multi-zone access is enabled via the Extender for Windows Media Center Platform, which Niveus leverages via the Niveus Media Extender – EDGE.

Niveus Media Extender – EDGE
Based on Extender for Windows Media Center technology and featuring proprietary Niveus Media Technology, the Niveus Media Extender - EDGE extends the Niveus Media Server experience to additional rooms of the house. The EDGE allows access to cable, high-definition TV, a wide array of video formats, digital music, paid movies, photos and more from any TV in the house, with a wired network connection. EDGE supports the same interface as the Niveus Media Server, and playback of television and true 1080p video.

Niveus Disc Changer – Ice Vault 200
With support for over a thousand DVD discs when daisy chained, the Niveus Disc Changer, paired with a Niveus Media Server, enables the legal storage and playback of most DVD movie collections. The Niveus Disc Changer inherits all the video & audio performance of the Niveus Media Server and due to secure, digital connection via firewire, all DVDs are decoded and played back through the ISF Certified Niveus Media Server.

Niveus Storage Server
Featuring Niveus Reflection™ Technology, UPnP Support, the Niveus A/V Storage Server provides 2 to 4 Terabytes (2000 - 4000 Gigabytes) of scalable storage and offers accessibility and data redundancy to protect digital assets. Additional Niveus Storage Servers can be placed on a home network, enabling a modular upgrade path for limitless home storage. With hard drives isolated in an anti-vibration chamber, the Niveus Storage Server has no fans for silent and cool operation.

Proprietary Technology

*Niveus Glacier™ Passive Cooling
To combat fan and hard drive noise while keeping the system running cool, Niveus Media has developed a patent-pending Passive Cooling technology dubbed Niveus Glacier Passive Cooling. Niveus Media uses heat pipe technology to conduct the heat from the processor, the graphic card, and the northbridge to the heat sink extrusions on all Niveus Media Servers. The Summit Series Media Servers and Storage Server use heat sink extrusions to dissipate the heat out and away from the unit. Thermal pads are used in and around every hard drive that goes into a Niveus Media Server, or Storage Server. These pads additionally serve to dampen the vibration caused by the spinning hard drives, creating an effective silencing system.

*Niveus ConvergencePanel™ (patent-pending)
All Niveus Media Servers include the proprietary ConvergencePanel which offers A/V-style connectors and ports for optimal integration into a home entertainment network.

*Niveus Reflection™ Technology
Featured on the Niveus Storage Server, Niveus Reflection ™ allows an unlimited number of additional Internet connected Storage Servers (in remote locations) to mirror the data and reflect any incremental changes on the master Storage Server. Users are granted access to content from virtually anywhere they reside. For security and reliability, the Reflection technology also allows for automated backup of several Storage Servers to the master server. The Niveus Reflection™ Technology adds the ability to mirror data from your home Niveus Storage Server to additional Niveus Storage Servers via the Internet.

*Niveus Software & Plug-ins
Niveus is continually developing value-added features to enhance the Windows Media Center platform and integration with other Niveus products. Niveus software updates are almost always free to current owners and are backwards compatible with previous years.

Awards

* 2008 International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards, Home Theater Accessories Honoree: Niveus Media Center - Sierra Edition

* 2008 International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards, Best Of Video Components: Niveus Media Center – Denali Limited Edition

* CEA’s 2008 Mark of Excellence Award Finalist, Best Distributed Audio Video Product: Niveus Media Extender – EDGE

* The Perfect Vision Editors Choice – Best Media Center PC Server: Niveus Media Center – Rainier 500HD Edition

* TecHome Builder's 2007 Innovative Housing Award Winner, Best Media Center: Niveus Media Center - Rainier Edition

* CEA's 2007 Mark of Excellence Award Finalist, Best Media Server: Niveus Media Center - Rainier Edition

* 2007 International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards, Home Theater Accessories Honoree: Niveus Media Center - Rainier Edition

* 2007 International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards, Home Theater Accessories Honoree: Niveus Media Center - n9

* [http://niveusmedia.com/pr_awards.htm More Awards]

Associations

Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA)

Accreditations

Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) Certification

References

1. [http://www.niveusmedia.com Niveus Media]
2. [http://www.extenderforwindowsmediacenter.com/ Extender for Windows Media Centers website]
3. [http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/blogs/ian/archive/2008/02/05/niveus-media-formally-announce-media-center-companion-3-0-and-basic.aspx The Digital Lifestyle]
4. [http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/sep07/09-26ExtendersDigitalLifePR.mspx Microsoft Unveils Extenders for Windows Media Center]
5. [http://thegreenbutton.com/blogs/chris_blog/archive/2007/09/06/207109.aspx The Green Button]
6. [http://www.cepro.com/article/niveus_media_releases_movie_library/ CE Pro - Niveus Releases Movie Library]
7. [http://niveusmedia.com/pr_awards.htm Niveus awards]
8. [http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/exclusive-first-hands+on-with-niveus-cablecard-equipped-vista-media-centers-249252.php Gizmodo's Exclusive: First Hands On With Niveus' CableCARD Equipped Server]
9. [http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2036988,00.asp PC Magazine's Super Bowl-Worthy Entertainment Systems]
10. [http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/awards/innovations/rd_2008honorees.asp 2008 International CES: Innovations Honorees]
11. [http://www.ce.org/Events/Awards/1005.asp CEA Mark of Excellence]
12. [http://www.techomebuilder.com/ihta/2007winners.html#hometechproducts TecHome Builder's 2007 Innovative Housing Tecnology Award winners]

External links

* [http://www.niveusmedia.com Niveus Media website]