Interactive TV News Round-Up (II): Broadcom, Sling Media, Myriad, Civolution

Because of the volume of news already being generated by next week's 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and because the [itvt] editorial team has a backlog of news to cover following TVOT NYC Intensive 2011 and our post-event vacation, we are covering stories in this issue in round-up/summary format. We anticipate that it will take us several days 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.

•  Chipmaker Broadcom and EchoStar-owned TV placeshifting pioneer, Sling Media, on Wednesday announced the integration of the Sling Media SDK into new set-top box system-on-a-chip (SoC) platforms from Broadcom. "The collaboration paves the way for manufacturers of STB's and CE devices to offer consumers a solution to enjoy watching their favorite television content wherever they want on whatever device they want, with an Internet connection," the companies state in their press materials. "Sling Media's licensed software ecosystem supported on the Broadcom MoCA 2.0 Gateway SoC gives users a full-featured multiscreen, multiplatform viewing solution. Broadcom-powered boxes with Sling Media software will be available by the third quarter of 2012. Subscribers will have the ability to watch any content available on the STB on the widest range of portable devices with full authentication. Sling Media's pioneering placeshifting technology coupled with Broadcom's leadership in high-performance STB platforms enable a wide range of content with a consistent viewing experience for service operators' customers who demand a simple, high-quality way to watch television on the go. With the wide adoption of broadband-connected smartphones and tablets, video consumption is growing rapidly." (Note: more information on Broadcom's new MoCA 2.0 SoC portfolio is available here; and information on other new SoC's for OTT and hybrid TV that Broadcom unveiled Wednesday is available here.)
• In related news: Myriad Group announced Wednesday that its Alien Vue software is now supported on a range of Broadcom set-top box platforms, enabling the delivery of Android-based interactive apps to the TV. "The Myriad and Broadcom solution provides TV viewers an Android-like environment with access to thousands of new apps and entertainment services," the companies state in their press materials. "Broadcom-enabled STB's with Myriad Alien Vue also support plug-ins like Myriad Connect & Share, which offer multiscreen functionality for personal and premium content. This DLNA solution gives TV consumers access to the Android marketplace while offering operators increased revenue opportunities...Myriad Alien Vue is a complete end-to-end Android solution powered by Myriad Alien Dalvik technology. The release includes an app store that can be fully branded. Myriad Alien Vue also supports additional plug-in components like Myriad Connect & Share, providing multiscreen functionality for personal and premium content. Myriad Alien Vue is unique in that not only does it allow customers to leverage their existing TV and set-top box equipment to access Android apps, it also works seamlessly with mobile phones and tablets giving users complete control over their TV experience."
• Automatic content recognition (ACR) technology provider, Civolution, said Wednesday that it will debut a new real-time content-triggering service for app developers at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week. "The new service enables synchronized ad delivery to second-screen applications by leveraging Civolution's extensive broadcast monitoring infrastructure of more than 1,700 TV channels worldwide, of which more than 1,250 are national and local channels in North America covering all 210 Designated Market Areas," the company states in its press materials. "Civolution's newest offering for second-screen and smart-TV application providers, as well as social-TV platforms, is a server-side content-triggering service that provides real-time recognition of broadcast content such as advertisements, movies, TV series, music, and more. By automatically notifying application providers in real time of what content is airing on which channel, the service allows for the synchronization of value-added functionality such as content-specific background information, hyperlinks, and synchronized social newsfeeds, all within the developer's second-screen or smart-TV applications. The application provider can thereby offer users a more powerful and engaging TV-synchronized experience. In addition, the service enables application providers to work more deeply with advertising agencies and brands to further monetize their app platforms. Through Civolution's real-time ad identification and triggering service, to be demonstrated at CES, synchronized ads or ad-interactivity can be delivered to second screens, extending the advertising experience over multiple screens in a synchronized manner. The new content-triggering service complements Civolution's award-winning SyncNow second-screen synchronization solution. Upon client-based identification through audio watermarking or fingerprinting, the SyncNow product enables identification and synchronization between broadcast, on-demand or recorded television content and interactive applications on devices such as a tablets, smartphones or laptops. Additionally, Civolution is providing automatic content recognition technology for integration with smart TV's, enabling all the value-adding opportunities of SyncNow on the larger main screen of the TV set itself. Adding the new server-side content-triggering service allows for a perfect balance between functionality and scalability over hundreds of TV channels and many millions of consumer devices. CES marks the introduction of the solution’s new brand name SyncNow, replacing the previous title, VideoSync."