SysMedia, a UK-based company that specializes in content-management and production systems for teletext, subtitling and interactive TV, says that Singapore's StarHub used its Plasma Gold interactive TV content-aggregation and delivery system to power an enhanced TV service it offered to accompany its coverage of the recent soccer World Cup (note: StarHub employs OpenTV middleware). The service was available to customers who were equipped with StarHub Digital Cable's digital set-top box and who had subscribed to the company's World Cup pay-per-view package. It allowed them to access multi-camera views of World Cup games, as well as a range of information and statistics, including team line-ups, half-time and full-time scores, statistics on ball possession, shots on- and off-target, corners, free kicks, fouls, group information, fixture listings and telecast details. According to SysMedia, the service was "almost totally automatic" in operation, taking its input from standard XML data feeds.
In addition to acquiring and installing Plasma Gold, StarHub employed SysMedia's application design services to create the initial framework for the application: as well as collating fixture and group table information from StarHub's own Web site, SysMedia provided a live data application that processed and presented information from a Press Association sports feed that was related to the match being broadcast. According to SysMedia, the entire project was closely overseen by its regional partner, Magna Systems & Engineering, which installed the necessary hardware infrastructure and which was on-hand during the deployment of the application itself. "Timelines were very tight with a clearly immovable deadline for the World Cup's opening match," SysMedia CEO, Andrew Lambourne, said in a prepared statement. "That the system was on-air on time is ample testament to how Plasma Gold and SysMedia's application deployment team really can assist in the rapid launch of new interactive services."
In other SysMedia news: the company has provided [itvt] with an update on what it will be showcasing at the upcoming IBC show in Amsterdam. It says that it is extending its interactive services offering with the introduction of "complete end-to-end solutions for dynamic syndicated data feeds." According to the company, these are deployable onto any platform and are equally suitable for customers with or without an existing interactive service. It says that they process and format incoming feeds with individually tailored servers and set-top box applications for fast and clear presentation, allowing broadcasters to easily provide a "unique and topical interactive experience." SysMedia also plans to demo Plasma Gold's new production capabilities in IPTV and HD.
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