--Corporation also Launches Audio-Described Programming on the BBC iPlayer
In a posting on the BBC Red Button team's Press Red blog last week, Damian Vicary, interactive TV producer for BBC Children's, announced the launch of a revamped red-button interactive TV service for CBeebies, the BBC's digital channel for children six and under. Among other things, the new version of the service (which is accessed by pressing red while watching CBeebies) features:
The BBC announced last week the line-up of content that will be available through its red-button interactive TV service for the next three weeks. Here are the highlights:
--Comcast Launches TV- and PC-Based Caller ID in San Francisco Bay Area
 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."
ActiveVideo Networks (formerly ICTV), a San Jose, Calif.-based company which offers a platform that it bills as intelligently streaming both traditional and Web-based content to digital set-top boxes and Web-connected CE devices and as combining the personalized, dynamic socially connected experience of the Web with the quality, immediacy and remote-control navigation that end-users expect from television (note: the platform, which earlier this year ActiveVideo announced had been deployed by Oceanic Time Warner Cable, and which is also believed to be in the process of being deployed by Cablevision--see article published on itvt.com, June 24th
US broadcast network, Fox, announced Monday that it will air Twitter-enhanced re-runs of the shows, "Fringe" and "Glee," on September 3rd (9:00-10:00PM ET/PT) and September 4th (9:00-10:00PM ET/PT) respectively. The so-called "tweet-peats" will feature tweets from the shows' cast and producers running in a lower-third scroll (they can also be viewed at http://www.twitter.com/fringeonfox and http://www.twitter.com/gleeonfox). The tweets will provide commentary about the episode, answer fan questions, reveal behind-the-scenes secrets and offer insights about the coming season, Fox says.
--Enables Contextual Advertising within Video
New York-based interactive video specialist, KlickableTV (note: earlier this year, the company announced a strategic partnership with IMG Publishing, a division of the sports and entertainment company, IMG--see the article published on itvt.com, July 1st), last week unveiled the latest version of its Web-based interactive video software. According to the company, Beta 1.0, as the new version is called, includes a new API, several player plug-ins, and an integrated ad network.
 Mag Rack Entertainment, the company which was formed last year when Rainbow Media Holdings sold its Mag Rack free-VOD niche-magazine properties to media and technology entrepreneurs, Joe Covey and Matthew Davidge (see [itvt] Issue 8.23, Part 1) and which also acquired the free VOD service, Concert.TV, announced Monday that it has changed its name to Interactivation.
--Is Engaged in "Initial Discussion" with Project Canvas
 A consortium of companies active in the European television market--including broadcasters Canal+, France Televisions and TF1; Germany's Institut fuer Rundfunktechnik; satellite operator SES Astra; and software providers OpenTV and ANT--last week announced the launch of "Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV" (HbbTV), a pan-European initiative "aimed at harmonizing the broadcast and broadband delivery of news, information and entertainment to the end consumer through TV's and set-top boxes with a
--Hillcrest Labs, Nintendo Settle Remote Control Patent Dispute
 The Baltimore Sun newspaper reported last week that IBM has filed a patent for a TV remote control that can be programmed to auto-blog or auto-tweet while the user watches programming (i.e. to automatically provide information about what the user is watching) and that also allows the user to post his or her own custom comments, as well as a screenshot of the program he or she is watching. "A viewer selects a media program to view by use of a remote controller with networking capability," the patent filing reads.
--Widgets Based on Yahoo!-Intel Widget Architecture
PlayJam, the pioneering interactive TV games service provider that was acquired by OpenTV in 2001 (through the acquisition of its parent company, Static 2358), and that was re-purchased in early 2008 by its founder, Jasper Smith (see [itvt] Issue 7.77 Part 1), contacted [itvt] last week to let us know that it will be showcasing new TV Widgets with Yahoo!, Intel and Samsung at the upcoming IFA show in Berlin (September 4th-9th).
Geneva-based Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) last week announced the launch of an interactive digital satellite set-top box, the i-CAN1110SH, designed for Italy's new Tivu Sat platform. The box--which will be marketed under the i-CAN brand and which is the first ADB satellite product to be deployed in Italy--will be distributed in retail outlets throughout the country by ADB's distribution partner, ZAP.
Bristol, UK-based digital TV software provider, Ocean Blue Software--which says it has been working closely with CI Plus LLP (formerly known as the CI+ Forum) since 2008 to contribute to the launch and testing of the CI+ standard, and has developed both a CI+ software stack and CI+ browser to v1.2 of the CI Plus LLP specification--says that it has incorporated various optional features into its Sunrise CI+ product that are detailed in the latest version of the CI+ spec. According to the company, these features include:
--Gotuit Claims It Can Now Deliver Scene-Based Metadata Minutes after a Live Broadcast
Gotuit Media--a company that offers metadata technologies which, among other things, allow end-users to instantly access the parts of a piece of video that interest them, and which can also be used by video publishers to allow end-users to make mash-ups out of their content, using metadata-defined virtual video clips--announced last week that it has integrated its technologies with technologies from Inlet Technologies, a provider of live-streaming and on-demand solutions for digital media. As a result, the company says, video publishers using Gotuit's Video Metadata Management System (VMMS) together with Inlet's Spinnaker 7000 HD real-time streaming encoder can now author premium, scene-level metadata for video programs as they are being broadcast.
VOD technology provider, Concurrent, has released financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year, ended June 30th:
--TiVo Files Patent Infringement Complaints against AT&T, Verizon
--Time Warner Cable, Verizon to Test "TV Everywhere" Model
--Yelp.com Launches Augmented Reality App for iPhone
The [itvt] editorial team is currently traveling in the UK, and, because of time restraints, we have decided to focus our editorial efforts this week on news that has been less widely covered (or not covered anywhere else at all). Three of the more widely covered news stories from the past few days are covered in summary/round-up form below. We anticipate some additional interruption of our regular news publishing schedule over the next few days, so we apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers. Here is the round-up:
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The 2nd Annual TVOT NYC Intensive
The second annual TVOT NYC Intensive took place on Monday, December 5th at 730 Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. We would like to thank everybody who participated and attended for making the event a success!
Read more about the highlights - video and photos to be posted soon.
To find out about future event sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, contact us at swedlow@itvt.com or 415-824-5806
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