News Round-Up (IX): Tunerfish, WGBH, Widevine, Sonic Solutions, Saffron Digital, Hisense

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been on the road the past few weeks, we are covering recent news stories in summary/round-up form. We anticipate that it will take a few days for us to catch up with all the recent news: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. We apologize for any inconvenience to our readers.

• Tunerfish, a new social TV service developed by employees of Plaxo, the address book/social networking service that Comcast acquired back in 2008 (note: Tunerfish is a business unit of Comcast Interactive Media--for more on the service, see the articles published on itvt.com, May 24th, June 28th and July 22nd), has announced the launch of a version of its service for the iPhone and iPod touch. "This first release is a full-featured version of our recently launched social discovery engine for TV, movies, and online video," the company states in a blog post. "So, now you can have the power of 'social TV and movies' in your pocket, wherever you go, whether that's your living room, your local sports bar, or the movie theater." Tunerfish says that an Android version of its service should be available in a few weeks. A demo video of Tunerfish for iPhone/iPod touch is embedded above.
• Boston-based public television station, WGBH, has announced the appointment of Alexis Rapo as VP of broadband and interactive media. She joins the company from Disney-ABC Television Group, where she was VP of ABC Digital Media and led multiplatform strategy, product and online video and content development for ABC.com. According to WGBH, she will "work in close collaboration with WGBH content vice presidents, television and radio executive producers, and education directors, addressing the dynamic between consumer behavior and WGBH content and delivery opportunities [and] will serve as WGBH's voice regarding broadband and interactive initiatives to public media industry counterparts including PBS, NPR, CPB, PRI and PRX, as well as funders, collaborators and policy-setting bodies." The station says that, while at Disney-ABC, Rapo "played an integral role in the creation and implementation of numerous 'industry first' technical innovations by ABC, including being the first to offer full episodes on iTunes (October 2005); first to stream ad-supported full episodes online (May 2006); first to offer full episodes on-demand on a mobile platform (with Sprint, May 2007); first to stream episodes online in true 720p HD (Fall 2007); first to offer expert and user commentary with full episodes online (Fall 2009); and most recently, the first network to offer an ad-supported, full video app on the iPad (April 2010)."
• Content protection and video optimization specialist, Widevine, has announced deals with Sonic Solutions, Saffron Digital and Hisense. According to the company, the deal with Sonic will enable it to "provide retailers the opportunity to offer movie services on a broad array of mobile devices and smartphones from a range of manufacturers"; and will combine "Widevine's digital rights management (DRM) and adaptive streaming technologies with Sonic's RoxioNow entertainment platform, [enabling] expanded device support [that] will help increase the reach of retail partner storefronts by facilitating the efficient, secure, and optimized delivery of movies and other video content to popular Android, iPad, iPhone, and Blackberry devices. New device support is expected to be rolled out by partners this holiday season," the company says. Meanwhile, the deal with Saffron will, Sonic claims, allow the latter to "extend its support for connected TV services that are adopting Widevine, and also to develop further its solutions for Apple and Android devices. Widevine's video optimization and DRM is being integrated into Saffron Locker, Saffron Digital's comprehensive DRM service which enables various DRM's to be interoperable," Sonic states in its press materials. "Using Saffron Locker, content can easily be authorized for use on multiple devices...The addition of Widevine to Saffron Digital's domain-based DRM ecosystem further enhances the companies' capabilities in supporting connected TV's, Android, Apple and RIM-based devices. Saffron Digital works with the main OEM and CE manufacturers, directly with movie studios, and increasingly with retailers, proactively facilitating the provision of their services across digital platforms." Finally, the deal with Hisense will see the China-based TV manufacturer incorporating Widevine's adaptive streaming, "virtual DVD-like" controls and DRM technology onto its connected TV sets. "Hisense is the top LCD TV brand in China, and has maintained that position for the past seven years," Widevine states in its press materials. "It exports to over 130 countries and regions throughout the world and holds nearly 30% of the LED TV market in China as of the first half of 2010. By incorporating Widevine's video optimization and DRM platform, telecom, cable, satellite, and Internet providers will be able to deliver a high-quality over-the-top experience directly to Hisense TV's."