Time Warner Cable has launched a free, user-generated content service, called PhotoShowTV, that allows customers to create so-called "PhotoShows" out of their personal photos and videoclips and then place them on the operator's VOD platform for public viewing. The service is currently available on Time Warner Cable's Hawaii system, which has traditionally served as a test bed for the operator's advanced services. To use the service, customers must subscriber both to Time Warner Cable's digital service and to its Road Runner broadband data service. The service is based on software, dubbed PhotoShow Deluxe, which is located on the Road Runner portal and which is provided to Time Warner Cable by a company called Simple Star. The software is designed to enable end-users to easily assemble digital photos and video clips into multimedia presentations, complete with captions, music, animations, transitions and effects: customers submit their content by clicking on a "share tab" on the PhotoShow they want to upload (note: the software, which has been available on Road Runner since April, also allows customers to share their PhotoShows on other Web sites and via email). All submitted content is screened by Time Warner Cable, and, once posted to the operator's VOD service, is available for what the operator describes as a "limited" time, in order to accommodate new content. The user-generated PhotoShows on Time Warner Cable's VOD service are organized into such categories as Events, Pets, Family, Sports and Travel. "Marking another first in the history of television, Time Warner Cable's PhotoShowTV continues our company's tradition of innovation and being able to successfully match new products with customers' interests," Bob Benya, Time Warner Cable's SVP of on-demand product management, said in a prepared statement. "By converging our digital cable and high speed online service, this new feature brings sharing the family photo album to a whole new level and gives users the opportunity to put their favorite photos and videoclips on TV."
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