Amino Technologies Share Discussion Threads

[taylor20] 19/1/2007 13:26

No figures, but should be pretty good, is AMO finally gaining traction?

[cootuk] 19/1/2007 06:40

I see Microsoft have demo'd the Xbox 360 as an IPTV solution - one less box to buy.

[ffastfill] 12/1/2007 13:20

article about takeover off ffastfill and a possible tie up with amino

[darrin1471] 05/1/2007 13:45

Price rise on low volume trades appears to be a single buyer buying in response to the appointment of Keith Todd. Keith Todd could even be the buyer?
Keith Todd has a history of changing companies focus. More licensing and less manufacturing?

[fegga] 05/1/2007 11:13

i lifted this from citywire.co.uk

it is dated 13th december. i should have got back in before christmas - its that old hind sight thing - but anyhow am more than happy to be back in at sub 70p.

The Herald investment trust has increased its stake in Cambridge-based broadband network and systems company Amino Technologies.

The £326 million trust (HRI), which focuses on the technology sector and is managed by Katie Potts, has added to the 530,000 shares it held in the £31.5 million firm with the purchase of 1,970,000 shares representing a 4.29% interest.

In October Amino (AMO) lowered its full-year estimates after experiencing problems with its MPEG-4 products.

This was combined with news non-executive chairman Grant Masom is to leave the firm alongside non-executive directors Nick Kuenssberg and David Gammon.

[langland] 03/1/2007 11:21

Looks like this may have turned. Appointment of new chairman is positive IMO.

[dickbush] 07/12/2006 12:58

I think the suggested revenue and volume for the second half is a clear indication that the company has achieved a much lower unit value on the old, non-MPEG4, products. Presumably, with the old inventory cleared, the margin between revenue and cost of sales can improve a little on non-MPEG4 products.

A very large trade today. Now that's out of the way,perhaps the share price can start some sort of recovery.

[darrin1471] 06/12/2006 18:31

Pace and Thomson had MPEG4 delays with Hybrid stb's. You may remember the shortages of HDsky+ stb's around the time of the World Cup.
HD and MPEG4 components have long lead times and Amino are probably committed to buying them. Pace had to write down the value of some of their components because by the time they were ready to go in the stb they had a lower market value and the customer was not willing to pay the extra for a delayed product.

[dylanl] 06/12/2006 16:27

Thanks for the responses...

I don't need (or want) to sell but do see easier money elsewhere. I don't know if I do see 52p as a good investment, if I did I'd probably invest. Amino's MPEG4 problems should be industry wide so I suppose it would be worth investigating to see how they are progressing relative to everyone else. I still like the look and approach of the company just not the share price.

Not convinced by the Microsoft connection, I assume they'll stick to the software side of things.

[darrin1471] 06/12/2006 14:17

DylanL: News is all possible jam tomorrow. I thought Amino had reached fair value around 70p. At 50p they should represent better value but now Amino have MPEG4 delays. Delays may result in lost sales or the devaluation of components already bought. I have not bought Amino for these reasons but I am watching closely for a turn around in fortunes.
Can you offset your losses to reduce capital gains or do you have another share that you think will do better than Amino? If you were looking at Amino for the first time today would you consider them a potential good investment at 52p?

[dickbush] 06/12/2006 13:39

See especially page 2.



Just guesswork, but if Microsoft are divorced by Alcatel, they may become a consolidator to provide an end-to-end solution. Its hard to believe they are going to walk away from this market. Obviously, there are plenty of other STB manufacturers from which to choose.

[dylanl] 06/12/2006 10:55

Seriously thinking about cutting my losses with this one, even with seemingly posotive news it looks destined to remain at these levels.

Someone convince me otherwise!

[darrin1471] 30/11/2006 13:29

WNC to bundle IntAct(TM) software stack with a range of IPTV STBs as part of an
offering to IPTV operators

Amino Technologies plc ("Amino"; stock code: AMO) announces today that its Amino
Communications subsidiary has signed a licence agreement with Wistron NeWeb
Corporation ("WNC") for Amino's IntAct(TM) IPTV solution.

Based in Taiwan, WNC is the subsidiary of Wistron Group. It is a major original
device manufacturer ("ODM") supplying products to a wide range of markets
including satellite TV, cable TV and the communications sector. Its customers
include many market leading product companies and tier 1 telco and satellite TV
service operators.

WNC has the right to bundle the IntAct(TM) software solution with a range of
Set-Top Boxes ("STBs") to be supplied to customers across the Asia-Pacific
region and to particular tier 1 telcos in the European Union and North America.
These STB products are expected to begin shipping in sample volumes towards the
end of H1 2007.

According to Mike Arden, Principal Analyst at ABI Research, Asia Pacific is
poised to be the biggest market with an explosion of IPTV services over the next
few years and subscribers rising from 2 million in 2005 to over 22 million by
2011.

Haydn Hsieh, CEO & President of WNC, commented, "Given the market forecasts and
potential for IPTV, we wanted to enter the IPTV market quickly and in a big way.
We needed to find a software partner to give us the time to market advantage we
needed and Amino's IntAct was our best option". He continued, "By licensing the
IntAct IPTV software, we can provide our customers with a proven solution that
is already pre-integrated with most of the popular Middleware, Conditional
Access and VOD servers on the market, enabling a vastly reduced time to revenues
- a critical consideration in a highly competitive market".

"The significance of this relationship is that tier 1 service operators can now
buy IPTV STBs, fully integrated with Amino's market leading software, from a
market leading ODM", explained Bob Giddy, Amino's CEO."

[darrin1471] 29/11/2006 10:02

SES Americom Uses Amino

NOVEMBER 03, 2006


Amino, a leading IPTV platform supplier, and SES AMERICOM, the largest satellite services provider in the U.S., today announced a multi-year set-top box agreement to support IP-PRIME, an innovative, centralized IPTV distribution service serving telephone companies across America today.
As part of the agreement, Amino will provide its cutting-edge AmiNET130 set-top box, a fully flexible standard and high definition, MPEG-2/4 AVC/H.264 capable device, to enable SES AMERICOM's end-to-end delivery of its IP-PRIME IPTV service to consumer homes throughout the U.S. Rural telephone companies in three cities are already in advanced trials of IP-PRIME, which enables telcos and broadband service providers to greatly cut deployment costs and accelerate time to market.
"Amino IPTV set-top boxes are proven and tested around the world and provide a powerful choice for service providers tapping the open, turnkey IP-PRIME content distribution platform to effectively and affordably offer a compelling lineup of world class television," said Alan Young, chief technology officer for SES AMERICOM. "The Amino devices are the first of several set-top boxes to be selected for IP-PRIME, which is a truly open delivery solution designed to eliminate barriers to entry and drive competition in the world of IP television."

[robsbell] 09/11/2006 10:38

China Deal


Good to see AMO doing business in chinese market, great potential here for growth.

[dickbush] 07/11/2006 16:56

NDS Announces Integration of Synamedia(TM) Metro IPTV Middleware with Amino Aminet Platform

All Business Wire NewsNDS NNDS (Brussels:NNDS), the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, and Amino, a leading IPTV platform supplier, announced today that the NDS Synamedia Metro middleware solution has been integrated into the AmiNET130 advanced IPTV platform. The integration of Synamedia Metro with the AmiNET130 provides telco operators with a second generation IPTV solution for a fast and economical deployment of next-generation IPTV services. The combination of Amino's advanced set-top box plus the functionality, performance and scalability of Synamedia Metro offers telcos the most leading edge IPTV offering available today.

NDS Synamedia Metro provides operators with a complete IPTV middleware solution based on its MediaHighway(TM) set-top box (STB) middleware application development platform which is running on 44.7 million set-top boxes today. Through this solution, NDS Synamedia Metro brings the world's most advanced technologies to telcos and their digital subscribers, including advanced SD and HD Electronic Program Guides, interactive TV applications, Video on Demand and interactive games.

Synamedia Metro also includes NDS VideoGuard(R), the world's most deployed video content protection system with 66.7 million active clients. The integration with the AmiNET130 includes the VGS version of VideoGuard, which provides an extremely secure hardware solution that does not need smart cards in the STB. The solution uses the security tools available on the processor in the Amino set-top box which communicates with secure headend security servers. NDS has worked closely with the major chipset manufacturers to develop these non-proprietary secure processors - one of which is implemented in the AmiNET130. VideoGuard DRM further extends this capability to provide secure content portability to PCs and personal media players.

"We are very pleased to announce another strong offering for the IPTV market, and another successful partnership between NDS and Amino," said Dr. Dov Rubin, vice president and general manager, NDS Americas. "We think telcos need a cost-effective, secure IPTV integrated solution and this integration will enable them to provide the most cutting edge, next-generation applications to their customers."

Roy Kirsopp, vice president and general manager of Amino, added: "We are very excited to be working with NDS again to expand our market leading range of integrations with IPTV middleware offerings. NDS is already established as one of the leaders in conditional access and by integrating their proven middleware solution into our advanced IPTV set-top box, we can offer reliable solutions to telcos as they work to bring IPTV services quickly and economically".

This integration builds upon several customer deployments around the world where NDS technology has been successfully integrated with Amino IPTV set-top boxes.

[dickbush] 03/11/2006 10:48

FierceIPTV

It's that time of year again. TelcoTV, arguably the biggest show of the year for those following the IPTV sector in the U.S., starts Monday in Dallas, Texas. As always I will be there covering the more interesting panels, interviewing industry luminaries and providing extensive coverage of the always elaborate parties (another pirate ship soiree this year, Entone?) Be sure to follow my daily coverage of the event at fierceiptv.com. In anticipation of TelcoTV, I have interviewed numerous analysts and industry executives, instead of hoarding all the pre-show thinking, I thought I'd share a bit:

"I think one of the big things at the show will be the more widespread availability of MPEG-4 HD encoders, which service providers have been waiting for. This means that the price/channel is starting to reach a range where service providers are willing to pay. Also, the introduction of the first IP set-top boxes based on system-on-a-chip reference design should lower the cost of IP STBs and make it more affordable to roll out IPTV per subscriber. Finally, I think we'll hear about more rural ILECs getting into the business with the help of content." Jeff Heynen, Infonetics

"I wouldn't categorize anything as a hot topic: I don't think that there's been a killer app or a burning topic that's rising to the top or one that's going to command attention at the show. That said, there are a few areas that will continue to be important: One is the content piece, that is, how do service providers get a hold of TV programming and VOD content? That's always been a huge issue... This show will have more 'drill-downs,' less of "What is IPTV?" and more focused sessions on middleware, etc. There will also be more telco testimonials--I don't know if I'd characterize them as horror stories--maybe there are a few good news stories, too." Ken Couch, Director of IPTV, Nortel

"Video Internet services are another disruptive force for cable and telephone carriers. The popularity of services such as YouTube, Skype, and Google on-demand video are driving carriers to upgrade their networks for high-demand video services. In 2006, Apple, Amazon and Netflix are expected to introduce video download services over broadband networks, as well as large entertainment companies such as Walt Disney, Fox and NBC in 2007. In the broader market, the biggest game-changer may be wireless networks. There is insatiable demand for wireless services and mobile devices. Some market watchers predict Google, Microsoft and Yahoo may join forces with entertainment and news giants to bypass legacy carrier networks entirely with new Wi-Max networks. Wi-Max has the ability deliver video-centric services at network speeds up to 30 mbps, about 50 times faster than the typical broadband connection. In short, network consolidation, video centric Internet services, and broadband wireless networks have the ability to change everything." Kevin DeNuccio, president and CEO, Redback

"With regards to hot topics... AT&T transitioning to offer HD on their U-Verse system" will be a major point of discussion at the show. Alan Weinkrantz, blogger and president of Weinkrantz PR

"We're seeing a trend of the STB being the center of media in the home, not just television. It can now stream to your PC or your handset... Also, everyone keeps talking about IPTV as something that's going to be competing with cable. It's not. That's not the vision of IPTV. All these innovations on the Internet, I think you're going to see that on TV. There are probably more than 5,000 TV channels in existence around the world: With satellite service you may get 500 to 1,000 of them, but with IPTV you'll be able to get them all... Also we're going to see YouTube going HD in the next 3 to 5 years and apps like YouTube are going to bring more innovation to IPTV, especially in N. America." Kaynam Hedayat, CTO, Brix Networks

"Look at the EU's Television without Frontiers, they're calling it the A/V Directive, we can't say 'television' anymore because entertainment has become a blend of three different cultures: The culture of broadcast where we regulate the distribution of content; the culture of the Internet, which is ad-hoc and decentralized, people post whatever they like; and the fixed-line culture, where telcos provide the infrastructure and others provide the content. So there exists lots of conflict and lots of blurring between these three... The chief stumbling block for IPTV service providers to date has been access to content." Lara Srivastava, ITU's Telecom Policy Expert/Analyst

[taylor20] 01/11/2006 12:19

Good summary Darrin, this recent report may have stoked a little of the share price recovery.

IPTV equipment sales exploding to $6.8B,
subscribers to 68.9M by 2009

"...The number of IP set top boxes (STBs) sold worldwide will nearly triple between 2006 and 2007, led by China-based Yuxing InfoTech and UK-based Amino Communications, who are currently the worldwide leaders in IP STB unit shipment market share..."

[darrin1471] 25/10/2006 20:46

IPTV is going to huge, the future. The convergence of television, entertainment, computers, telecommunications both mobile and fixed. A couple of years ago Amino gave the impression of being a leader in this technology but unfortunately this type of product can not be created by one company. Amino's boxes are the combination of dozens of other company's chips, technologies and software. All these suppliers are not going to just support Amino, but will sell or licence there technology to anybody who has the cash. Subsequently hundreds of companies are making IPTV stb's to different standards. Amino was always to small to become a big player in IPTV and even in their own backyard they were unable to win business from BT. Why would BT spend billions of pounds on the 21c project and then risk delays by contracting a small company like Amino to supply a vital component. Philips has had enough problems with the resources they have at their disposal.
IPTV will not be a big bang where the masses transfer to IPTV. It will be more of an evolution. Hybrid IPTV is only months away with Sky and BT, but Amino is not involved.
Amino's boxes are pure IPTV, but the Telecoms companies do not have the network to support mass adoption of such technology. Amino has found business with the smaller telcos and within the hospitality market. This niche is not the leading position investors hoped for.
Amino management and the falling share price have reflected this change in potential and now they have been hit by delays in MPEG4.
MPEG4 compression is an outside technology and has been beset with delays and faults. Both IPTV and high definition set top boxes have been delayed due to MPEG4 and delays may have been beyond Amino's control.
With lowered expectations and with Amino being close to small profits and cash generation, big investors are going to want there spare cash out of Amino before the management find a new pet project to spend it on. A reduced financial safety net will focus the managements mind. A share buyback will also give larger investors the liquidity to sell some of there holdings.
It has all been very sad for investors in Amino, both large and small, but it is difficult to see what else the management could have done.
I have been sitting on the side watching Amino since they listed and recently felt they had reached fair value. However I did not buy as I still think Pace are the better prospect, although they have also yet to deliver their potential due to MPEG4 delays and other product delay problems.
Until the MPEG4 delays and any other issues are resolved I will remain clear of Amino as the risk/reward balance does not look good. One day I hope to make a profit out of Amino

[cootuk] 25/10/2006 19:46

Looks like they can deliver the kit on supplied spec, but it's the customers who haven't got their end sorted out integrating it into current networks.
I guess we are looking at a couple of years away now, when everyone else will have caught up in technology and margins will be hammered.

[corrientes] 25/10/2006 17:17

Only bought this because the technology looked good, the company was going to take off and the FT were full of praise at the time.Fortunately I sold part at a profit but should have stuck to things familiar. Maybe in a couple of years down the line.......

[seconduser] 25/10/2006 15:27

Robsbell, not too sure you were that wrong. New technology needs time.. far more time than most give it. The technology they have is interesting and they seem to have a lead in some niches. The share price will be volatile until hard revenue streams are established. It's just being punished short term. I saw the change in non Execs as positive. New companies start with non Execs who can raise finance/establish company, but need to move onto to movers and shakers in their sector to build business. We'll see, I could be horribly off mark but I at least expect it to recover some of today's lost ground by the end of the week.

[robsbell] 25/10/2006 14:22

I honestly thought AMO were looking good, share price recovering from a long downward slide . Last set of results were upbeat forecasts were for profits, and now AMO have to come clean about the current prospects, great new products can,t get parts though, and the markets not quite ready for them yet and we are going to lose money.
I could never understand why AMO seemed to be winning contracts for roll outs and awards for their systems and the share price kept on drifting lower, looks like the market new best on this one though.
I am so glad I didn,t average down, holding on though no point selling now, will wait and see what happens.