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–Teams with Innovative Systems on "Turn-Key" IPTV Solution
–Licenses S3’s coLinkTV Software
–Forms Mobile TV Partnership with weComm
–Unveils "Zoomable" EPG
–Secures HD PVR Win with Digiturk

Liberty Media-owned interactive TV middleware and applications provider, OpenTV, made a number of announcements at the recent IBC show in Amsterdam:

• It said that it has formed a strategic partnership with Innovative Systems, a supplier of advanced telephony technology and services, that will see the companies offering an integrated "turn-key" IPTV solution for telcos. The solution, which will be marketed by Innovative’s US sales and support team, will feature IPTV set-tops running OpenTV Core2 middleware, together with PVR software and a suite of interactive TV and telephony applications. According to the companies, the solution will include an EPG with VOD capability; news, weather and sports apps; and on-screen caller ID, voicemail management, and other services that blend TV, the Internet and telephony. It will support both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, and both standard- and high-definition video. Innovative Systems will offer an integrated headend server, based on its recently announced IMS Application Server for set-top box and subscriber management: the IMS/IPTV server will include OpenTV’s Streamer and Notify capabilities, enabling IPTV management, ITV application distribution, and dynamic messaging capability in a redundant, carrier-grade hardware platform, the companies say. "This relationship accelerates our continued progress in the evolving IPTV world, enabling us to leverage our core competencies in advanced digital television with Innovative Systems’ significant experience and customer relationships in the independent telco market," OpenTV CEO, Jim Chiddix, said in a prepared statement. "By offering a complete, turn-key IPTV solution, we hope to accelerate the time to market that telcos can expect. And by partnering with Innovative, which has a long and successful track record in the independent telco market with more than 500 customers, we think we can make faster progress developing and delivering a reliable, scalable solution that will form the basis for the continued extension of our product line-up." OpenTV’s and Innovative’s integrated IPTV solution will initially be built for set-top boxes from Cambridge, UK-based IP set-top box company Amino.
• It said that it has licensed Silicon & Software Systems’ (S3) coLinkTV adaptation software to support the development of its Core2 and PVR2 middleware. According to S3, coLinkTV provides set-top box manufacturers and pay-TV operators with the adaptation software required to rapidly deploy secure, interactive, high-definition set-top box and PVR applications. The companies say that it will provide a key porting layer between OpenTV’s middleware and STMicroelectronics’ STi71xx and STi51xx processor families, thus enabling rapid deployment of set-tops based on those processors: they claim that it offers a flexible architecture which substantially reduces manufacturers’ development costs and risks while providing a fast path to OpenTV certification. coLinkTV is already used by a number of set-top box manufacturers in OpenTV-enabled products, and is integrated with a number of conditional access systems, the companies say. "The strategic relationship between S3 and OpenTV for coLinkTV delivers a major competitive advantage to manufacturers and operators wishing to rapidly deploy market-leading, high-definition, functionally distinctive STB’s, and PVR’s," Paul Kavanagh, S3’s digital consumer marketing manager, said in a prepared statement. "OpenTV’s decision to use S3’s coLinkTV in their development reference platform is a clear endorsement of our ability to provide differentiating value and compelling benefits to their client base."
• It announced a strategic partnership with mobile technology company, weComm, which it says will allow it to offer its pay-TV customer base and other broadcasters and programmers an integrated mobile TV solution. The solution combines features and functionality from OpenTV’s middleware and other digital TV software offerings with weComm’s wave technology. According to the companies, the solution–which is available immediately–will extend OpenTV’s middleware features into the mobile environment allowing, among other things, direct access on the mobile phone to EPG’s that have been ported to OpenTV’s platform; the ability to use a mobile phone to program DVR’s remotely; and the ability to view live or on-demand TV programming by navigating through the EPG resident on a mobile phone. According to weComm, its solution is available on Symbian OS, Microsoft Windows Mobile, and Java phones, and has been ported to over a hundred handsets, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung and LG phones, and the RIM Blackberry. "We are delighted that we will be able to offer a seamless solution to our customers that bridges the pay-TV experience with the mobile phone experience in a user-friendly manner," Ben Bennett, OpenTV’s SVP and managing director for the EMEA region, said in a prepared statement. "This integrated solution is intended to make it easy for our customers to extend their TV experience across multiple platforms and devices, and to allow those viewers to personalize that experience in ever more compelling ways. One simple example of this Mobile TV is to enable OpenTV’s PVR users to record programs seamlessly and remotely from the mobile handset." Added weComm COO, Oliver Sturrock: "Integrating weComm’s interactive mobile TV technology with OpenTV’s industry-leading technologies offers a solution that will seamlessly extend TV-based interactive services to the mobile phone. We think that these solutions will help broadcasters and operators extend their content and services to a younger and more mobile audience."
• As [itvt] reported in Issue 6.92 Part 2, OpenTV also used the IBC show to unveil a new "zoomable" EPG. For an overview of the EPG, http://www.itvt.com/features-OpenTV-ZoomableEPG-2006.htmlclick

In other OpenTV news: just prior to the IBC show, the company revealed that existing customer, Turkish satellite-TV provider, Digiturk, is deploying its HD PVR technology, a solution that leverages its OpenTV Core2 middleware and its OpenTV PVR2 software. Digiturk plans to launch HD PVR service in the first half of next year. The service will include a push-VOD offering, that will allow subscribers to select titles from what Digiturk says will be a "comprehensive" and frequently updated line-up of films and TV programs and download them to their set-top box’s hard drive; it will also feature a PVR programming guide application, which the companies say will allow viewers to watch and record multiple channels at the same time. The service will initially be deployed on Pace Micro’s triple-tuner TDS850IDI HD DVR, together with conditional access technology from Irdeto. "This agreement enables Digiturk to launch Turkey’s first high-definition digital TV platform, with a Personal Video Recording solution, and reaffirms OpenTV’s global leadership position," OpenTV’s Ben Bennett said in a prepared statement. "Using OpenTV’s technologies, Digiturk will be able to offer advanced digital services across its range of set-top boxes. We are delighted to be Digiturk’s partner of choice and look forward to advancing the growth of digital television services in Turkey."

Originally Published: September 27, 2006 in [itvt] Issue 6.96 Part 3

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