HSN Shop by Remote, which is accessed directly from HSN's flagship
television channel, is currently the only live ITV shopping application
deployed in the US. Like the original version, which was developed by
Tandberg Television (then GoldPocket), the new version will enable
viewers to make purchases directly with their remote control. "HSN's
'Shop by Remote' is revolutionizing television," Ensequence CEO, Dalen
Harrison, said in a prepared statement. "By working with Ensequence,
HSN is giving more distributors the opportunity to offer their
subscribers the next generation of interactive home shopping through
the power of the TV remote control."
In other Ensequence news: the company has signed a three-year
extension of its three-year-old deal with Major League Baseball
Advanced Media (MLBAM), that has seen it develop an Emmy-winning
multiscreen broadband video application for the latter, dubbed MLB.TV
Mosaic. The companies recently launched an upgraded version of MLB.TV
Mosaic to coincide with baseball's Opening Day. "When we set out to
develop the MLB Mosaic, one of our key objectives was to create a truly
unique interactive television experience, which would allow our
passionate fans to watch baseball in a whole new way," Justin Shaffer,
SVP of new media at MLB.com, said in a prepared statement. "Ensequence
has been a valuable partner in helping us achieve this goal. Ensequence
has pushed the envelope on what we have been able to create, and in
some cases invented new technologies to meet our needs. Today, MLB is
the only sports league able to deliver such an immersive experience."
According to the companies, the latest version of the application
features higher-quality video and 16:9 video feeds, and allows viewers
to select from a comprehensive line-up of live, final and preview games
at the top of the screen: a drag-and-drop feature enables viewers to
personalize the app's video mosaic configuration, and view up to six
live games simultaneously (to watch a game in full-screen mode, viewers
double click on one of the mosaic's thumbnail screens). The app also
offers interactive player trackers and fantasy baseball alerts: the
player trackers allow viewers to load their fantasy roster and favorite
teams into the application; then, when something of note happens in a
live game featuring one of their tracked players, the app sends them a
real-time alert and lets them click over to that game. In addition, the
app features on-demand functionality: when live games are not
available, viewers can watch whole games on-demand, as well as outtakes
from the previous night's games and archived footage of every game back
to 2005. MLB.TV and the MLB.TV Mosaic application are priced at $19.95
per month (or $119.95 for the entire season).
