LAS VEGAS--April 24, 2006 Aspera, Inc., a developer of breakthrough technology for bulk data transfer, today announced that its high-speed file transfer software will be available with the HP Digital Media Platform (DMP) -- an enterprise framework for network-based storage, processing, management and distribution of digital media assets. Aspera's software adds state-of-the-art speed, secure file transfer and bandwidth control to HP's integrated solution platform for end-to-end digital media management.

"Our products are developing into a full-transfer platform capable of supporting all types of applications -- uploads, downloads, directory synchronization and peer-to-peer exchanges -- on any computing platform -- desktop, laptop, server and embedded platforms such as handhelds and televisions," said Michelle Munson, President and Co-Founder of Aspera. "We are excited by the confidence HP has shown in us and look forward to working with them to provide comprehensive file transfer solutions to our mutual business customers and consumers."

With the adoption of file-based workflows, and increasing dependence on collaboration in the production process, often with resources at global distances, the need for a breakthrough in wide-area file transfer performance has never been greater. Whether studio customers are moving content to off-site rendering farms, exchanging content with producers on location or with post-production vendors, distributing finished content to broadcasters or consumers, or even restoring content from distant archives, fast and predictable file transfer is critical. Yet with conventional file transfer technologies, large-media transfers can be doggedly slow and unpredictable with variable network conditions, offering limited to no control over transfer finish times or priorities. Aspera's technology solves these fundamental problems of conventional file transfer and is enabling the entertainment industry to realize the efficiencies of file-based workflows.

"Our goal is to make the HP DMP the key technology platform for driving an all-digital media supply chain -- from content creation to distribution to consumption," said Willem de Zoete, vice president, Digital Entertainment Services, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. "We selected Aspera for its security, predictable performance, adaptive bandwidth control, and flexible, open architecture that can be seamlessly integrated into other applications."

In the past two years, Aspera's file transfer products have been deployed at several Hollywood studios, service companies, post-production houses and major broadcasters, totaling several hundred licensed transfer endpoints on six continents in media and entertainment.

The mechanisms of Aspera's transport technology and the features of its software products are specifically designed to give the operator (or third-party application and platforms like the HP DMP) precise, on-the-fly control of the finish time of individual transfers and the bandwidth used relative to other traffic. Unlike conventional or even accelerated TCP-based transfer technologies, the speed of Aspera transfers will not degrade as links become more congested. In addition, unlike other reliable UDP-based transports, the core is lightweight and does not require specialized hardware in order to maintain high transfer speeds. Aspera's FASP transport has no theoretical throughput limit. The protocol throughput scales from 50 kbps to Gigabit speeds independent of network latency and will remain efficient through packet loss rates of 50% or more. Aspera's complete built-in security is important to media and entertainment customers, and the ability to centrally track all file transfer transactions, including file metadata, status of the transfer, and the conditions of the network, allow users to generate customized reports for monitoring and billing.