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ENTiVa launches 'multi-media in a box'
12/05/2009
A Northamptonshire (Towcester) firm is aiming to tap into the growing mobile leisure market as it launches a new entertainment system.
ENTiVA Systems Limited’s space saving system combines audio-visual, internet and security needs into one small box, using wireless connectivity to enable users to watch TV, email, browse the internet, make VOIP calls, chat online, download and store media, view live video (security) and use GPS location.
It works across the globe, wherever there is a wireless or mobile phone signal and uses a touch-screen control panel for ease of use.
Simon Coe, managing director of ENTiVA, which has received support from Connect Midlands, is confident that the product launch is perfectly timed, as more and more people choose to holiday closer to home and consider caravanning, camping and boating holidays.
Mr Coe said;
“People crave their creature comforts when they are away and that now includes all manner of technology gadgets and gizmos. Unfortunately, until now they have had to wrestle with yards of different wires and cables and with space at a premium, the sheer number of boxes has proved a real pain.
“Now is the time to launch the product and I am very grateful for the support I have received from Connect Midlands, particularly Paul Jenkinson and Giovanni Finocchio. I met them via the Connect Midlands InvoRed programme and did both the Right Funds For You and the Amber workshops.
“I am seeking investment to build the business further and their input has been invaluable, especially with regards to the financial side where they have introduced and even helped fund the appointment of our new financial director, Nick Gretton from Secantor. In hindsight I wish we had got involved with Connect sooner to be honest.
“The technology that ENTiVA uses is unique and the system has been designed not only to provide everything that the user on the move wants but to offer a solution to the problems that they face with space, weight and wiring. We have proven the desire in the market for ENTiVA and have distributors ready to place orders and customers ready to buy. We are also in an enviable position in that the mobile leisure market is growing.”
Paul Jenkinson is the regional manager of Connect Midlands, a not-for-profit network backed by emda and part-funded by the ERDF. Their programme has been identified by the Department For Business and Regulatory Reform (BERR) as delivering a best practice model for investment readiness and access to finance.
Mr Jenkinson said;
“Entiva has developed a good quality product and has done plenty of work to become investment ready. They recently won the “Most Likely To Get Funding” category at the Growth Investment Innovation and Investment event, judged by former Dragons’ Den panellist and Red Letter Days founder Rachel Elanugh.
“We wish them well with the product launch and with their search for investment. The InvoRed programme has a lot to offer companies like ENTiVA and we are always keen to hear from companies who have a compelling proposition."
Connect Midlands runs workshops and events across the Midlands throughout the year, with their next popular Amber workshop scheduled for 16th-17th June in Derby.
The ENTiVA system has two components –a touch-screen tablet pc controller and an ENTiVA gateway box. The system also requires a TV screen. The tablet pc controls the system by communicating wirelessly with the ENTiVA gateway. The ENTiVA gateway in turn communicates to the screen which displays the choice of function such as TV, internet or DVD.
Using a wireless connection – either from a local wireless network or from the USB dongle – ENTiVA allows users to watch live TV, watch IP TV, surf the internet and use Video on Demand. For ENTiVA users, there is also a unique ENTiVA email system, online chat between users and a VOIP function which allows users to call other ENTiVA users over the internet globally.
Submitted by T Reid