recommendations

Due to the large volume of news generated by the IFA, IBC and CEDIA trade shows--and because the [itvt] editorial team has been working on TVOT NYC Intensive 2011--we are covering stories in this issue in round-up/summary format. We anticipate that it will take us several days to catch up with all the recent news: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us.

Because the [itvt] editorial team is catching up with a backlog of news--and has also been working on TVOT NYC Intensive 2011--we are covering stories in this issue in round-up/summary format.

Taboola, a New York-based provider of video recommendation engines (note: the company was founded in 2007 by a team of veteran Israel National Security Agency researchers who it says "leverag[ed] years of advanced practical mathematical research experience" in order to develop its technology), contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that it has expanded its partnership with online video platform provider, Brightcove (note: for coverage of the original announcement of the partnership, see the article published on itvt.com, November 2nd, 2009), in order to "enable small and medium businesses to affordably run [its] video recommendation engine in conjunction with the Brightcove platform." The company says that smaller Web sites using Brightcove's $499 Expre

Due to the large volume of news coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show, which kicked off Wednesday in Las Vegas, we are covering stories in this issue in summary/round-up form. We anticipate that it will take us several days to catch up with all the news generated by the show: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. Our regular news coverage will return shortly.

Due to the huge volume of interactive TV-related news generated over the past few days by the IBC, we are covering stories in this issue in round-up format. We anticipate that it will take a few more days for us to catch up with all the recent news: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. Our regular news coverage will return shortly.

Taboola, a New York-based provider of video recommendation engines, said Wednesday that Revision3--a company which bills itself as "an actual TV network for the Web," and which produces its own original, broadcast-quality programming for distribution on the Web, mobiles, and TiVo and other connected-TV devices--has been using its EngageRank engagement-based video recommendation technology for the past month or so, with what Taboola describes as "extraordinary" results.

Epix, a subscription-based multiplatform (linear, VOD, online) premium programming service which is a joint venture between Viacom, its Paramount Pictures arm, MGM and Lionsgate, said last week that it has tapped ChoiceStream to provide movie recommendations to users of its EpixHD.com service (note: the latter is available to authenticated customers of Cox, Mediacom, Charter and Verizon FiOS TV).

The [itvt] editorial team will be on the road this week and next, so we will be covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

bee.tv, a Milan-based provider of programming recommendations technology for TV, Web and mobile, has announced the availability of a free iPhone app in the Apple iTunes App Store. According to the company, the new app enables users to receive personalized recommendations for content ranging from real-time broadcast programming to online and mobile TV shows and movies. It generates content recommendations using a proprietary technology that bee.tv says analyzes and matches individual tastes and preferences.

As expected (see the article published on itvt.com, May 5th), Google unveiled a connected TV platform at its I/O developer conference in San Francisco last week.

Ericsson on Wednesday launched its OpenStream Catalog Gateway, a content discovery solution that the company claims will help operators better promote the content in their VOD libraries and differentiate their TV offerings.

Related Content Database (RCDb), a company that until recently described itself as "a leading provider of software and services for network-connected Blu-ray discs, players and other connected devices," made a slew of announcements at the NCTA Cable Show, Tuesday, that appear to signal its intent to penetrate the cable interactive TV space. It announced:

A Hungarian company called Gravity R&D contacted [itvt] Monday to alert our readers to the international unveiling of its new Gravity Impress recommendations technology, running on the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV platform, at the NAB show in Las Vegas this week. The technology, which the company says has been fully integrated with Mediaroom 2.0, is being demo'd in Microsoft's booth (SL220).