foxtel

Australian interactive TV company, Two Way Limited, has partnered with Australian pay-TV operator, Foxtel, to develop an interactive TV application, called "Chat On," that is accompanying the latest season of the reality show, "Australia's Next Top Model," on Foxtel's OpenTV-powered platform.

Syabas, a Fremont, Calif.-based company that specializes in over-the-top set-top hardware and software, said last week that it is partnering with 3D technology provider, RealD, to equip its new PopBox OTT set-top box with the ability to display high-definition 3D content (note: for more on the device, which features a user interface design from Moxi UI designer, Dewey Reid, see the article published on itvt.com, January 5th).

Australian interactive TV company, Two Way Limited, said Wednesday that Tab Active--the interactive TV wagering service which it developed in partnership with Tabcorp Holdings and Foxtel, and which is available to Foxtel and Optus TV subscribers in New South Wales and Victoria--enjoyed its strongest performance to date in October.

Interactive TV and conditional access technology provider, NDS, announced Tuesday that Australian pay-TV operator, Foxtel (which employs OpenTV middleware alongside various interactive technologies from NDS), has chosen its NDS Dynamic Audience Measurement System, integrated with TNS Media Research's RaPiDView audience measurement service, to track and analyze audience behavior across its network and to enable the introduction of advanced advertising products.

Macrovision--the company which last year acquired the US's dominant EPG developer, Gemstar-TV Guide, and which recently announced that it would change its name to Rovi, as part of a complete revamp of its brand identity--and interactive TV and conditional access technology provider, NDS, announced last week that Australian pay-TV provider, Foxtel, has signed a multi-year license agreement for Macrovision's EPG patent portfolio.

Dublin, Ireland-based interactive TV authoring solutions provider, emuse, is powering an interactive TV application for the Fox8 reality series, "Australia's Next Top Model," on the OpenTV-powered Foxtel pay-TV platform. Dubbed "Game On" and accessed through the red button, the new application allows viewers to play along with the show by giving their opinions as it unfolds and guessing who will be eliminated at the end of each episode. Immediately after the show's broadcast, opinions and results from the "Game On" app are made available on the "Australia's Next Top Model" Web and 3G sites.

Australian pay-TV provider, Foxtel (note: the company offers an array
of interactive TV services, powered by OpenTV middleware),
contacted [itvt] earlier this month to let us know that it has launched a
new ITV game on its Gamesworld service. Entitled MAX Music Trivia
and developed by Two Way TV Australia (note: the latter holds the
rights to various ITV games and games technologies developed by
UK-based Two Way Media), the new game can be accessed directly
via the Gamesworld portal or by pressing the red button while watching
the MAX music channel. "By introducing MAX Music Trivia, Foxtel is
providing a fantastic new interactive quiz for music buffs," stated
Foxtel's executive director of sales and product development, Patrick

Australian pay-TV provider, Foxtel, has tapped US set-top box manufacturer, Pace, to supply it with HD DVR's for its new HDTV service, HD+. Pace is providing two DVR models--the TDC850NF and the TDS850NS--both of which feature 320GB hard drives and quad tuners: two of the tuners will be dedicated to program recording, while the third will enable end-users to continue to view live TV while two programs are being recorded, and the fourth will be dedicated to the EPG, so that full program information can be accessed even when all three other tuners are being used. The fourth tuner will also be capable of delivering HD and SD push-VOD content to end-users.

--Launches ITV Trivia Games for Australian Football and Rugby

Australian pay-TV provider, Foxtel, recently contacted [itvt] to let us
know about the various interactive TV services it is offering in
conjunction with its programming this month (note: Foxtel's ITV
services, dubbed Foxtel Active, are powered by OpenTV middleware):