Interactive TV News Round-Up (VII): Two Way Limited, Vudu, Sony, YouTube, Green Parrot Pictures

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been busy this week working on the TV of Tomorrow Show 2011, we are covering recent news in round-up/summary form. Once again, we anticipate that it will take us a few days to catch up with all the news we plan to cover: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us.

• Australian interactive TV company, Two Way Limited, has announced that fixed-odds betting on racing events is now available on Tab Active, the ITV wagering service that it developed in partnership with Tabcorp Holdings and Foxtel. "Fixed-odds betting has supplied all of Tabcorp's turnover growth in recent months," the company states in its press materials. "For the six months to December, Tabcorp announced that revenue from fixed-odds betting grew by 48%, while revenue from tote betting declined by 3.3%. Fixed-odds betting has only become available via the Tab Active service today, following the completion of technical changes by Tabcorp. Users of the Tab Active service will be able to switch between tote and fixed-odds betting (on races where it is offered by Tabcorp) simply by pressing a button on their Foxtel remote. Users will also be able to compare the current tote and fixed odds on win bets."
• In other Two Way Limited news: The company announced last month that it had signed an agreement with Betfair to deploy a new interactive TV sports betting service. "The service will be rolled out on the new generation of TV sets and Blu-ray players with built-in connections to the Internet," the company states in its press materials. "All of the major TV manufacturers are currently selling these TV sets in Australia, and around the world. The built-in Internet connection can be used to provide downloads of movies, TV shows, games, and other interactive applications directly to the TV set. The service to be deployed by Two Way in Australia will be capable of taking bets, via the TV remote control, on all sports events broadcast by free-to-air TV, pay-TV, or any form of IPTV. The proposed deal between Two Way and Betfair runs for a minimum of three years. Under the deal, Two Way will receive a license fee for its technology, and an ongoing share of all revenue generated by Betfair via this platform. Two Way is also appointed as Betfair's exclusive provider of all sports betting services via any TV platform for the term of the deal."
• Walmart-owned OTT service, Vudu, has announced that it has begun shipping on the 2011 line of Sony connected Blu-ray players. "Vudu, a subscription-free service, provides consumers with the highest quality cinematic experience via instant streaming of 1080p movies with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound," Vudu states in its press materials. "The Vudu library boasts the most extensive collection of HD and HDX movies from all major Hollywood studios, offering most titles the same-day as DVD release. On Sony's 3D-enabled devices, users can also access 3D content. All 2011 Sony Blu-ray Disc Players and Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Systems feature Vudu, including: BDP-S280, BDP-S380, BDP-S480, BDP-S580, BDP-S780, BDV-E280, BDV-E580, BDV-E780W."
• YouTube has announced that it has acquired Green Parrot Pictures, a company that offers technology that is billed as improving video quality and playback speed while reducing bandwidth demands. "Some of YouTube's most popular or moving videos are shot using low-quality mobile phones and video cameras," the company states on its blog. "Take, for example, videos of recent protests in Libya. Although emotionally captivating, they can be jerky, blurry or unsteady. What if there was a technology that could improve the quality of such videos--sharpening the image, reducing visual noise and rendering a higher-quality, steadier video--all while your video is simply being uploaded to the site? You can imagine how excited we were when we discovered a small, ambitious company based in Ireland that can do exactly this." Examples of Green Parrot Pictures' work can be seen here.