Exent secures new investment from Intel, Cisco

Israel-based games on demand provider, Exent Technologies, has announced that it has secured new investment from Intel and Cisco, which the company plans to use to further its portfolio of digital distribution technologies.

"Intel and Cisco bring us strong strategic value and solidify our path of expansion beyond broadband value-added services into holistic PC and video gaming entertainment services for media companies," commented Exent CEO Zvi Levgoren.

Providing digital distribution and gaming services with a variety of business models, Exent's services support try-before-you-buy options, ad-based games, digital rentals, downloadable purchases and subscription models. The company currently provides games-on-demand services for numerous major providers, including Turner's GameTap, Comcast, Yahoo, Verizon and a growing range of PC games from Microsoft.

The company intends to utilise at least part of the investment to optimize its gaming output and services for Intel's new Viiv technology chipsets, enabling PC gameplay via standard television sets.

"PC and video games are great experiences on the Viiv platform," commented Kevin Corbett, VP and GM, content services group, Intel Digital Home Group. "Exent provides a dramatically improved user experience, fast time to-market, and enables the launch of innovative subscription service into the market."

"In cooperation with all our strategic investors, we are proud to facilitate the evolution of user experiences from the PC into mainstream living room entertainment, through Intel Viiv technology-based PCs, set-top boxes and other CE devices," Levgoren concluded.