API (Application Program Interface)

The Application Programme Interface is the operating system which provides the EPG and interactive functions in the digital receiver. It is the equivalent of Windows in a PC. Existing proprietary APIs such as MediaHighway and OpenTV have fought a battle for the same dominance that Windows achieved but the tide has turned in favour of an open standards API. Many people believe that should be MHEG-5 and Canal+, the owners of MediaHighway, have committed to changing over to it. But MHEG-5 is an anathema to the Americans. The common denominator for the future is Java and this has now been adopted by the DVB Project for their Multimedia Home Platform development. MHEG-5 and other existing systems will become plug-in classes to a Java Virtual Machine.