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Portland, Oregon-based interactive TV authoring software and services provider, Ensequence, has launched a software suite, dubbed "on-Q Publish," which it says will enable advertisers, programmers and operators to quickly and cost-effectively update, customize and publish programming- and advertising-related interactive TV applications on any cable or satellite platform for broadcast into multiple markets. The company will demo the new software, which is now commercially available and which it is touting as "the first multiplatform interactive TV authoring software suite," at the NCTA’s National Show in Atlanta next week.

According to Ensequence, on-Q Publish allows content to be updated, regardless of whether it was initially created using XML, HTML/Java Script, Ensequence’s own on-Q Create product suite, or any other commercially available ITV authoring tools. The company says that the new software offers a user-friendly Web interface, which enables non-technical production personnel to refresh, update and maintain existing ITV applications without requiring knowledge of the technology, deployment details or broadcast environment. This, Ensequence claims, will make it easy to localize interactive content for commercials, sporting events, game shows, real-time voting and other enhanced TV applications. "on-Q Publish enables content owners, advertisers and operators to tap into new geographical markets while keeping viewers engaged with fresh interactive content," Ensequence president and CEO, Dalen Harrison, said in a prepared statement. "The feedback from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive. With on-Q Publish, customers speed through the development, testing and certification process with ease because they don’t need to repeat the testing and certification process."

Ensequence claims that on-Q publish enables anything from simple content changes to full application reskinning. It says that, among other things, it allows template applications to be reused across multiple programming and advertising genres, and that it allows national campaigns to be customized with information on local retailers. The software is fully integrated with the company’s on-Q Air and on-Q Ready software suites, enabling live applications to be updated with dynamic data. It contains two tools: on-Q Editor, which features a Web interface that allows authors to enter and edit their applications, and on-Q Editor Eclipse, a plug-in that Ensequence says allows the creation of new projects from any source.

In other Ensequence news: the company says that Cox Communications, the third-largest cable MSO in the US, has selected its on-Q software suite–including the new on-Q Publish tool–for the development of standards-compliant interactive TV services. The company’s partnership with Cox, financial terms of which have not been disclosed, will make the on-Q suite available to the MSO’s content providers and advertisers. The deal represents Ensequence’s first OCAP MSO contract in the US: it will see the on-Q software being used to create applications that are compliant with the OCAP standard, as well as with CableLabs’ new OpenCable Enhanced Television Binary Interchange Format standard, when the latter is fully developed. Cox will run applications created using the on-Q software on its OnRamp and OCAP middleware platforms, using TVWorks’ Application System products and technology. "As we work to realize the possibilities and promise of interactive television, we’re confident that Ensequence is the right vendor to help us accomplish our goals," Vince Groff, Cox’s director of ITV product development, said in a prepared statement. "Ensequence’s support for CableLabs’ ETV and OCAP cable standards, their ability to provide our programming partners with tools to develop dynamic new interactive TV experiences and their expertise in interactive TV technology and deployment were key in our decision."

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