Telco

Announcing the Schedule of Sessions for TVOT NYC Intensive 2011

[itvt] is pleased to announce the schedule of sessions for the second annual TVOT NYC Intensive (Monday, December 5th, at 730 Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan). A PDF version can be downloaded here.

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.

[itvt] is pleased to present a partial list of speakers and panelists for TVOT NYC Intensive (November 18th, New York City), our new event devoted to the new national interactive TV platform and the rise of the ITV economy. Please be aware that we are currently finalizing the participation of a number of other speakers and panelists, and that we will be announcing these shortly, together with the schedule of sessions for the event.

The [itvt] editorial team is currently on the road, so we are 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. It will likely take a short while 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. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

[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.

A number of companies have contacted [itvt] over the past few days to let us know about their exhibit plans for the TelcoTV show, which takes place in Orlando, Florida this week (November 10th-12th):

CloverLeaf Digital, a Brooklyn-based interactive TV applications developer that specializes in building and managing localized "walled garden" services, said Monday that it has signed an umbrella agreement with Iowa Network Services (INS), a company that is owned by a group of 122 independent telcos and that provides a range of telecommunications services to those telcos and other companies. According to CloverLeaf, the deal will enable the Iowan independent telcos served by INS to offer their IPTV subscribers its interactive TV services cost-effectively.

IPTV middleware and applications provider, Minerva Networks, announced Wednesday that it has made various enhancements to its client software platform, which it says significantly reduce the effort required to deploy set-top boxes based on Sigma Designs' next-generation devices. According to the company, it has been working closely with Sigma Designs to integrate their respective environments so that no third-party software components are needed to built a high-performance set-top box based on the companies' technologies. It says that tight integration between Minerva client software and Sigma Designs devices enables hardware manufacturers to minimize development expenses and deliver cost-effective next-generation set-tops in a timely fashion.

[itvt] has just published in-depth interviews with Jeff Miller, president and CEO of ActiveVideo Networks, a company that specializes in technologies for cloud-based interactive TV and whose customers include Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, and with Amir Littman, co-founder and VP of business development at 180Squared, a company best known for providing software and integration services for Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV platform.

InteractiveTV Today [itvt], the first, best and most widely read news source on interactive and multiplatform television, is pleased to present the fourth annual

TV of Tomorrow Show,

Verizon FiOS TV's VOD service has begun carrying videos from Howcast, a broadband video service that offers short-form instructional/how-to videos (note: Howcast, which features over 100,000 videos in 25 categories on its Web site, operates an Emerging Filmmakers Program that sees it working with filmmakers looking to create videos for it: it pays them a basic fee of $50 per video, and, if their video generates over 40,000 views, provides them with a 50% split of any advertising revenues the video generates; it also produces videos in-house and through partnerships with other media companies).

UK incumbent telco, BT, said Thursday that it has signed a five-year exclusive agreement to carry a new subscription VOD service, called Bolly & Beyond, on BT Vision, its Microsoft Mediaroom-powered, interactive TV-enabled hybrid IPTV service (note: the service is enabled via a hybrid set-top box that allows viewers to access linear channels from the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, alongside IP-delivered on-demand and interactive content).

US incumbent telco, AT&T, on Monday announced the roll-out on its Microsoft Mediaroom-powered U-verse TV IPTV platform of various interactive and on-demand products for the upcoming football season.

According to the company, a new "College Football Extras" VOD category will provide "free, unique" content from top college football programs, including those of Georgia Tech, the University of Connecticut, the University of Kansas, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, and all the Big Ten Conference teams. At launch, the company says, it will offer highlights from the 2008 season and a preview of the 2009 season, and will add more content from each featured university throughout the season.

Microsoft announced Wednesday that it is seeking to make its Mediaroom IPTV platform more cost-effective for smaller operators to deploy, by adding support for virtualization.