Rovi in Multi-Year, Multi-Country EPG Deal with Samsung

Rovi (formerly Macrovision--for more on the company's name change and the repositioning it heralds, see the interview with Rovi chief evangelist, Richard Bullwinkle, that was published on itvt.com, July 16th) announced Monday that it has signed a multi-year, multi-country EPG technology and patent licensing agreement with Samsung Electronics.

According to the company, the deal, whose financial terms have not been disclosed, allows Samsung to incorporate Rovi EPG technologies into its next-generation TV sets and other consumer electronics devices. "Samsung Electronics continues to be at the forefront of innovation, providing consumers with television products with world-class picture quality, design and energy efficiency," Samsung VP, Kyung Shik Lee, said in a prepared statement. "By working with Rovi, we are dedicated to bringing an advanced digital home entertainment experience that empowers consumers to find their favorite content on the television while also enabling them to discover new programming quickly and easily." Added Rovi's EVP of sales and services, Tom Carson: "As the choices in content, channels and viewing platforms increase exponentially, consumers need advanced guidance technologies that will help them find out 'what's on.' We're excited to be working with Samsung on bringing an enhanced digital home entertainment experience to the consumer." Rovi bills its guide technologies as providing consumers with "simple and intuitive" access to digital media content of all types, as well as a "personalized home entertainment experience" that makes it easy for consumers to find the content they want. The company recently unveiled a new digital media guide for CE devices, code-named "Liquid" (see article published on itvt.com, July 16th).