design

Former Comcast SVP of user experience and product design, Gerard Kunkel, who left the MSO earlier this year (see the article published on itvt.com, January 28th), has joined Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB) as media strategy advisor.

[itvt] is pleased to present a video of "Designing for Television's Multiplatform Future," a panel session at The TV of Tomorrow Show 2011 (took place May 17th-18th in San Francisco). The panelists for the session were:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is on the road this week, we are covering stories in this edition of the newsletter in round-up format:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is on the road this week, we are covering stories in this edition of the newsletter in round-up format:

Due to the large volume of news being generated this week by the Cable Show, we are covering today's stories in abbreviated round-up/summary form:

SnapTV--an Oslo-based company that bills itself as providing customized, turnkey IPTV, VOD, PVR and OTT systems for small and medium-sized ISP's, residential and commercial buildings and the hospitality and healthcare spaces--contacted [itvt] Tuesday to let us know that it plans to launch a turnkey, browser-based user interface at IBC which it claims will bring IPTV services to market in record time.

[itvt] has just published the latest edition of our new regular column, "Jet Set," which is authored by Brian David Johnson, consumer experience architect at Intel Corp. "Jet Set" (the first two editions of which can be seen here and here) explores the future of TV through the prism of the places, people and conversations that Johnson experiences as he goes on a global tour for his new book, Screen Future.

The [itvt] editorial team is currently on the road, so we are covering today's stories in round-up/summary form. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

Portland, Oregon-based interactive TV authoring solutions provider, Ensequence, has conducted another round of layoffs in an effort to refocus its efforts on its core business, hometown newspaper The Oregonian reported last week.

[itvt] has just published an interview with Peter Low, president and CEO of interactive TV authoring solutions provider, Ensequence. Low, whose appointment as CEO was announced in September, discusses his new role at Ensequence, outlines the strategic trajectory of the company's flagship iTVManager platform, provides statistics and other information on the company's various deployments around the world, explains how the company is responding to the emergence of connected TV, and shares his thoughts on the implications for the company of the US cable industry's plans for template-driven interactive TV.

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

Cable MSO, Cox Communications, announced last week that it has upgraded the on-screen interface for its VOD service in Rhode Island and Connecticut, in order to provide "faster and simpler" navigation. The update, which is free-of-charge, is available immediately to digital customers in those states, the company says. "Cox's goal is to provide customers with an attractive, fast and intuitive on-demand experience," Doreen Studley, VP of marketing for Cox New England, said in a prepared statement. "The new features make navigation easy, and Cox has increased the amount of on-demand programming available to subscribers."

In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Richard Burrell (bio), director of media operations at QVC UK; Dan Gardner (bio), founder and lead interaction designer at Code and Theory; Terry Green (

A roundtable comprised of some of the most high-profile designers and
design experts in the interactive TV industry--Patrick Donoghue, SVP
of strategic product development at Cablevision; John Gilles, VP of
media and entertainment at Method; Terry Green, principal of
twenty2product; Dale Herigstad, chief creative officer at Schematic;
Stephanie Otto, CEO of Brainstorm Communications; David Preisman,
VP of interactive television at Showtime Networks; and Suzanne
Stefanac, director of the American Film Institute Digital Content
Lab--provide our listeners with an overview of the current state of the