SyncTV Launches Platform to Enable OTT Distribution of Premium Video Content to Multiple Devices

Intertrust-subsidiary, SyncTV, has launched an online video platform, called SyncTV Web Services (SWS), which it says is targeted at premium video service providers such as network operators and broadcasters that are seeking to expand their services to Internet-connected devices. According to the company, the new platform will allow those providers to easily deploy fully branded video services to a broad range of devices, including connected TV's, Blu-ray players, standalone set-tops, game systems and smartphones. It also supports a broad set of ecommerce business models, content ingestion and management, and turnkey app deployment to connected devices, the company says.

SyncTV's press materials announcing the new platform included quotes from OTT stalwarts, Roku and Boxee: "Roku created a truly open platform for the delivery of content to the TV when we announced the Roku Channel Store in 2009," a statement attributed to Roku's VP of business development, Jim Funk, read. "We are pleased to be partnering with SyncTV to help video service providers bring their quality content to the TV for our customers to enjoy"; while a statement attributed to Boxee's VP of marketing, Andrew Kippen, claimed that "the future of the Internet video industry is delivering video to three screens" and that "SyncTV Web Services makes it easy for content owners to deliver video on three screens without having to do extra work--allowing them to focus on what they do best: create great content."

SyncTV claims that SWS enables video service providers to better manage and distribute video content, thanks to the following features:

• "Total branded experience": the company says that service providers have complete control over the user experience across all connected platforms.
• "Turnkey app deployment": the company says that SWS offers integrated, fully skinnable, centrally managed apps for Yahoo! TV Widgets, Blu-ray players, the Roku player, Boxee, iPhone, Android and Palm WebOS.
• "Multiple business models": the company claims that the platform allows service providers to switch seamlessly between premium content models such as subscription, purchase and rental; and that it also supports targeted ad insertion and ad network integration.
• "Download to PC": according to the company, the platform includes desktop applications for Windows, Mac and Linux that allow for content browsing, download and offline playback.
• A branded Web site and embeddable Web player.

According to SyncTV, SWS's business model is "a cost-of bandwidth plus transaction fee." Each time an end-user pays for programming, the company says, SWS receives a portion of the cost of the transaction. There are no set-up fees for video service providers that deploy SWS, SyncTV promises.

In other OTT news:

• Oslo, Norway-based browser specialist, Opera Software, on Wednesday announced a deal with set-top box manufacturer, PeerTV, to deliver its Opera Devices SDK 10.15 for Linux-based devices to the latter's PeerStation line of set-top boxes. PeerTV plans to use Opera's technology to power Web browsing, interactive TV widgets and OTT video on the boxes. Opera bills its Opera Devices SDK as "stick[ing] to Web standards to ensure compliance." According to the company, PeerTV will use its technology to foster new services and content in its offering. PeerStation set-tops with Opera Devices SDK 10.15 are scheduled to be available in the third or fourth quarter. "We required a more competitive solution that was rich in features, allowing us to create better solutions for our customers," PeerTV CEO, Ronnie Jaegermann, said in a prepared statement. "At PeerTV, we emphasize delivering personal content to home televisions, and by using Opera we are better able to personalize the entire TV experience through their innovative and developer-friendly Web technology." Added Opera CEO, Lars Boilesen: "PeerTV is a recognized leader in delivering Internet-based TV to operators. With Opera in the mix, they can now take advantage of standards-compliant, high-performing, Web-based technology and strengthen their overall customer offering. PeerTV is a good example of a customer using the entire breadth of our SDK, and using Opera as a presentation engine, a Web browser and to create widgets."
• At the IPTV World Forum in London this week, IP Vision--a company which is backed by French set-top box vendor, Netgem, and which offers a hybrid service, called FetchTV, that combines reception of linear channels from the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, with OTT access to pay-per-view and subscription-based online VOD services, as well as to free, online programming catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer--has been demo'ing BSkyB's broadband TV service, Sky Player, on its FetchTV SmartBox. The company, which announced a deal to bring Sky Player to FetchTV last October, says that it is in the final stages of beta-testing its implementation of the service, which offers both live and on-demand content, and expects to launch it within two months. As with implementations of Sky Player on the PC, Mac and Xbox 360, existing Sky TV customers will be able to access Sky Player content at no extra charge, in accordance with their core Sky subscriptions, IP Vision says, while non-Sky customers "will be able to sign up to a choice of TV packages via monthly subscription, with a minimum contract of just one month, as well as renting single episodes with no long-term commitment." "We're excited to be in a position to finally show people the look-and-feel of Sky Player when accessed through the FetchTV platform," IP Vision CEO, Eddie Abrams, said in a prepared statement. "We have worked hard to implement the clean and contemporary Sky Player design that Sky delivered to us, ensuring that while accessing its content the proposition is presented to the user in an intuitive and simple-to-navigate environment."