justAd.TV Says its Interactive TV Advertising Solution Is Interoperable with Sun Java Media Client

Tel Aviv-based start-up, justAd.TV, announced Sunday that it has successfully demonstrated interoperability of its justAd.TV set-top box agent with the Sun Java Media Client software (note: both the US tru2way and the European MHP interactive TV standards are based on Java technology). It says that this interoperability will allow TV providers to easily insert its embedAds advertising formats into non-linear TV viewing experiences, such as VOD and PVR, without necessitating changes or upgrades to their video delivery network.

justAd.TV bills its technology--for which it says a patent is pending--as offering "a new approach for advertising in VOD and PVR services while preserving the viewing experience." In contrast to advertising solutions that insert a 30-second spot before, within or at the end of a video stream (and that therefore risk having viewers use their remotes to fast-forward through those spots, or else risk "irritating viewers, degrading the overall viewing experience and potentially reflecting negatively on advertiser brands" by disabling fast-forwarding), the company says, its solution is "focused on the proactive nature of non-linear TV, bringing new ad formats invoked when the user engages with his TV to pause the stream, rewind, or fast-forward to another scene, thus minimizing user frustration." "We've been hearing from TV providers a lot of frustration about the complexity of implementing current video-insertion solutions, that it became clear to us that this is where we cannot compromise," Yariv Erel, justAd.TV's co-founder and CEO, said in a prepared statement. "Interoperability with Sun's Java-based technology, the foundation for set-top box industry standards, adds another proof point to the viability of our solution and makes us confident in our promise to deliver a low-investment solution to our TV provider customers."

According to justAd.TV, its cross-platform set-top box agent is part of a pre-integrated solution that also includes "smart tools" and a "telco-grade ad-serving platform": the company says that the solution employs Sun's GlassFish Enterprise Server, which "provides a robust network enrichment process ensuring that every ad is suitable for the viewer and relates to the context of the show that is being watched." "We are excited by the wave of new Java-based applications for TV from companies like justAD.TV," Eran Vanounou, general manager of Sun Microsystems' Israel Development Center, said in a prepared statement. "By leveraging our tuned API's, justAd.TV was able to integrate its STB Agent application with the Sun Java Media Client platform in less than two weeks. The combination of justAD.TV's latest technology enhancements with Sun Java Media Client and GlassFish Enterprise Server, the industry-leading open source application server, will help to enable service providers to rapidly launch new, feature-rich, revenue-generating interactive television services and provide the foundation for justAD.TV's powerful network enrichment process."

justAd.TV, which was founded in 2008 and which says it hopes to release its initial product later this year, will be demoing its interactive advertising solution and its complementary Sun authoring tools at JavaOne in San Francisco this week. [itvt] hopes to publish more details on the solution, as well as some visuals of its interactive ad formats, shortly.