--Service will Also Use Thomson Hardware, Nagravision Content Protection
Liberty Media-owned interactive TV middleware and applications provider, OpenTV, announced last week that its existing customer, Singapore-based pay-TV provider, StarHub (has around 117,000 digital subscribers), has chosen it as a technology partner for the development of its next-generation set-top box platform, which will support PVR service and other interactive TV features. (Note: the StarHub DVR, as the new box will be called, will be based on hardware from Thomson and will employ content-security technology from Nagravision; the latter is also serving as the platform's system integrator.) According to StarHub, the new box, which will incorporate dual tuners and a high- capacity hard disk, will use OpenTV's Core 2.0 middleware and its PVR 2.0 software to support a range of PVR capabilities (including one-button recording, pausing of live television, multi-episode recording, rewind, fast-forward and slow motion), as well as VOD and push VOD, and two-way interactivity (including chat, SMS, email, and an application that allows viewers to purchase pay-per-view movies). The box will also be fully integrated with StarHub's EPG, so that it will be able to record desired programs, even if a channel's broadcast schedule changes. It is scheduled for commercial availability within the next six months.
OpenTV products that StarHub has deployed in the past include version 1.1 of its Core middleware, OpenTV Streamer (manages the generation and delivery of ITV services to and from the set-top box), OpenTV Publisher and the OpenTV Software Development Kit (authoring and development tools), OpenTV Account and OpenTV Advertise (designed to enable secure commerce and advertising functions), and the OpenTV HTML Package (a browser solution). Interactive TV services currently offered by StarHub include an EPG, video mosaics, and a number of games.
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