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Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we will be covering most stories in summary/round-up form over the next few weeks. Here is a round-up of the latest broadband video and over-the-top (OTT) news:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we will be covering most stories in summary/round-up form over the next few weeks. Here is a round-up of interactive TV content news for the past few days:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we will be covering most stories in summary/round-up form over the next few weeks. Here is a round-up of broadband video news for the past few days:

[itvt] has just published the latest edition of Rick Howe's regular column, "The iTV Doctor Is In!" This week, GW Shaw, executive director of AT&T U-verse marketing, discusses AT&T U-verse TV's interactive TV apps strategy, and how that strategy has been shaped by what it has learned from its customers since launching its first ITV apps back in 2006.

MLB.com, the digital arm of Major League Baseball, announced Wednesday that, starting with the 2010 season, its subscription-based, live streaming-enabled broadband video service, MLB.TV, will for the first time offer portability. According to the company, subscribers to the service will be able to access a complete season of 2,430 games on a range of portable interactive platforms, including the new Apple iPad and the MLB.com At Bat 2010 app for iPhone/iPod touch. The company says that it expects to be able to announce additional platforms for MLB.TV's live streaming prior to baseball's Opening Day.

Deutsche Telekom announced last week that it has added more interactive TV features to Liga Total!, a subscription-based package of coverage of German soccer's Bundesliga that it offers on its Microsoft Mediaroom-powered IPTV platform, Entertain.

The BBC has unveiled its multiplatform/interactive TV coverage plans for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. According to the corporation:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we are covering a number of stories in this issue in summary form:

Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new, post-TVOT EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we are covering a number of stories in this issue in summary form:

On Demand Group (ODG), the London-based content-aggregation-and-management subsidiary of SeaChange International, contacted [itvt] Wednesday to let us know that it is providing a fully managed VOD offering for United Arab Emirates-based telco, du, as part of the latter's du TV and du TV+ IPTV services.

A number of items of broadband-video and live-streaming news have come across [itvt]'s desk over the past few days. Here is a brief round-up:

Imaging and video technology specialist, HDlogix (note: the company's main product lines are ImageIQ, a suite of image and video optimization and enhancement technologies; Clique, a set of mobile and desktop video communications client software applications; and Hue, a range of HD Web cameras), contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that it powered what it says was the first live 3D broadcast ever to be shown on giant screens at a major sporting event--during last Sunday's football game at Cowboys Stadium between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers, which was attended by 80,000 fans who were given

Broadband video platform provider, Ooyala, said last week that it partnered with Tokyo-based Gotcha Media to deliver a live stream of last month's Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) heavyweight title bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers. According to the company, its live Internet streams of the event generated "ground-breaking" viewer numbers in Japan, and viewership of the on-demand version of the fight continues to grow even a month after the event. Ooyala claims that its platform's scalability allowed Gotcha Media to deliver high-quality video to over 15,000 concurrent viewers in Japan.

Verizon announced Wednesday that it has launched an NBA League Pass interactive TV widget on its FiOS TV service. According to the company, the free widget allows viewers to order NBA League Pass, an NBA subscription package that provides up to 40 out-of-market live NBA games per week, via their remote control; and also provides them with instant access to headline news, player reports, game-time alerts and more.

In what may be one of the most unusual examples of convergence to date, two researchers from Japan's Keio University have developed a microwave oven that plays YouTube videos while the user waits for their food to cook. Dubbed the Castoven, the device incorporates a 10.4-inch LCD screen into its door and also integrates a speaker.

Designed to be connected to a home computer, and powered by an Adobe AIR app that accesses videos through YouTube's API, the Castoven--which is not yet available for sale--selects the videos it displays based on length: thus, if the user is warming up their Hungry-Man TV dinner for six minutes, the device will automatically play a six minute-long video.