Eagle Kingdom Technologies (EKT), an international supplier of advanced STB solutions, is further evolving the STB platform with its first Hybrid STB - DIP5026.

Global operators today are looking for smaller form factor STB solutions that are small and easy to connect. Enabling visual delights, Hybrid Set Top Boxes help viewers to access multiple TV delivery streams with its option of power plug and enable pay-TV operators to have a more flexible application deployment. The new DIP5026 is a PowerPlug style STB that plugs directly into the main power socket eliminating the need for a separate power adaptor commonly required in today’s Hybrid Set Top Boxes.

"We were inspired to come up with a radical new idea for a STB after being asked by some major operators for a dongle type solution." Richard Smith, chief executive officer of EKT said in a statement.

"We knew the limitations of the power and form factors of the HDMI dongles and needed to come up with something that will fit with every TV set in every living room,” added Smith.

With its built in Wi-Fi and RF4CE remote reception, the unit can be placed in any position, even behind the TV set, making this the ideal companion for Flat Panel TVs, emphasized the company official.

Powerful enough to offer a class leading user experience, the new DIP5206 comes with EKT’s proprietary solidTV software that will work as a stand-alone solution with full HTML5 and HbbTV 1.5 Compliance.

"By thinking out of the box our engineering team came up with this fresh new approach, allowing the operators to give its customers a great interactive TV experience in a true small form factor, which makes it the ideal complement for today’s flat panel TV sets whilst maintaining all the benefits of a stand-alone STB," Smith mentioned.

EKT also confirmed that it will demonstrate the Hybrid PowerPlug STB during the TVConnect in London from 18-20 March.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, EKT has been delivering a wide range of Zapper to Advanced Hybrid Boxes, and is one of the few business partners that offer a true one stop solution for Operators. Certified and integrated with many CA (News - Alert), DRM and licenses, EKT is a partner of choice for many tier one operators around the world.

Back in 2013, Telefónica Czech Republic chose Eagle Kingdom Technologies (EKT) to supply its new interactive STB solution, which was aimed to allow the telco's subscribers to experience true HD graphical user interface capabilities, together with the latest features in IPTV (News - Alert) interactivity.