GlideTV Unveils New User Interface App for its GlideTV OTT Navigational Device

GlideTV--a Pleasanton, Calif.-based start-up which last fall launched its first product, the GlideTV Navigator, a $149 palm-sized navigational device that is targeted at consumers who have connected their PC to their living-room TV and that is billed as combining the functionality of a keyboard, a mouse and an AV remote (see the article published on itvt.com, October 15th)--on Monday unveiled a new user interface application that is designed to work in OTT environments in conjunction with the Navigator product. The company bills the new "big screen" application as "mak[ing] it easy to access the full breadth of the Web while eliminating the need for a keyboard and mouse." "People see the advantage of using a laptop or mini-PC connected to their HDTV because it gives them the broadest access to the Internet," GlideTV president, Chris Painter, said in a prepared statement, "but browsers, keyboards and mice just don't cut it in the living room. Our new software and our beautifully designed handheld touchpad, makes it easy to use a PC to watch Internet content on an HDTV."

According to GlideTV, features of the new application include "What's On," a "TV-friendly" gallery of cover art that "in a single glance" lets users see what movies and videos are available across multiple sites. The feature allows users to browse the entire Web by entertainment category and genre, instead of having to search for content on a site-by-site basis, the company says. The company also bills the new Navigator app as being designed to support multi-tasking, allowing users to, for example, "watch a show and search for news about their favorite celebrity at the same time--or hop from YouTube to Hulu to Facebook, all while streaming Pandora in the background." Other features touted by GlideTV include predictive text for searches and quick zoom-and-touch scrolling, in order to make long Web pages easier to read.

In related news:

• In a posting on its corporate blog, Monday, OTT specialist Vudu (which has been acquired by Walmart) announced that it has now shipped on connected TV's and Blu-ray disc players from Samsung, Toshiba and Vizio. It previously announced that it had shipped on devices from LG Electronics and Mitsubishi, and it is also expected to ship on devices from Sanyo and Sharp.
• A&E Television Networks' AETN International arm has announced an agreement with Samsung to offer a "This Day in History" widget for its History channel on all TV sets, Blu-ray disc players and mobile devices outside the US that are equipped with the Samsung Widget Engine. According to the company, the widget, which launches this month, will be available on Samsung TV sets in over 80 countries in Europe and Asia and on Blu-ray disc players in 26 European countries. The widget, which will be refreshed daily, is based on the "This Day in History" feature that was created for History.com and that highlights historical events that occurred on a particular day across a range of genres, including General Interest, Civil War, Sports, Automotive and Literary.