satellite

DirecTV said Tuesday that its DirecTV DVR Scheduler app for iPhone/iPod touch has been downloaded by over a million users since launching last March. In 2009, the app, which is now also available on Android devices and on the Palm Pre and Pixi, was selected as one of forbes.com's Best Branded Mobile Apps, named Best Mobile Application by the Mobile Excellence Awards, and highlighted as one of Apple's Favorite Staff Picks, the satellite TV provider says.

Here is a brief round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

Syabas, a Fremont, Calif.-based company that specializes in over-the-top set-top hardware and software, said Tuesday that it has signed a deal with Thinking Screen Media (formerly known as Frame Media) to offer the latter's FrameChannel content widgets on its Popcorn Hour A-110 and C-200 OTT set-top boxes and on its new DAVID platform, a "working prototype" of which it plans to unveil at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month.

Interactive TV and conditional access technology provider, NDS, said Monday that it has teamed with Australian pay-TV operator, Foxtel, to develop a bookable promos service, based on its XTV DVR technology. The service, which NDS claims is the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, allows viewers watching a trailer for a show to book a recording of that show to their DVR by pressing the green button on their remote. According to NDS, the service lets viewers book recordings of movies, individual programs or entire series immediately or up to weeks in advance.

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

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.

Satellite TV operator, DirecTV, on Tuesday announced a deal with Mark Cuban's HDNet that the companies say will result in over 20 hours of HDTV programming from HDNet, and over 25 movies from its sister channel, HDNet Movies, being made available on DirecTV's VOD platform every month. "HDNet has been a part of the DirecTV platform since its debut in 2001 and we are excited to continue to grow our relationship with the launch of its new on-demand service," Dan Hartman, DirecTV's SVP of programming, said in a prepared statement. "HDNet's line-up of unique movies and sports programming is a perfect addition to the DirecTV On Demand platform, which offers more than 5,000 titles for customers to choose from."

Video monitoring technology provider, Volicon, has launched an Interactive Services Module (ISM) for the Observer RPM (Remote Program Manager), its post set-top box video service assurance solution for cable, IPTV, mobile and satellite service providers. According to the company, the new ISM extends the Observer RPM with capabilities that allow operators to test the quality of their on-demand and interactive TV content and advertising alongside their linear TV offerings.

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

InteractiveTV Today [itvt], the first, best and most widely read news source on interactive and multiplatform television, is pleased to present the fourth annual

TV of Tomorrow Show,

Multiscreen video-management software solutions provider, ExtendMedia, said Tuesday that its OpenCASE platform is now powering a "TV Everywhere"-type service for Canadian pay-TV operator, Bell TV.

Rovi (formerly Macrovision--for more on the company's name change and the repositioning it heralds, see the interview with Rovi chief evangelist, Richard Bullwinkle, that was published on itvt.com, July 16th) said Wednesday that Freeview Australia has signed a multi-year cooperation agreement for Rovi-held EPG patents.

The BBC announced last week the line-up of content that will be available through its red-button interactive TV service for the next two weeks and beyond:

Content protection specialist, Irdeto, said Tuesday that it has teamed with interactive TV middleware provider, OpenTV, set-top box vendor, Pace, and interactive TV applications provider, TeleIdea, to develop and implement a "highly complex" broadcasting solution for Turkish satellite TV provider, Digiturk. According to Irdeto, the companies' joint solution is now enabling Digiturk to deliver various advanced digital TV offerings, including push- and subscription VOD (P/S-VOD) with HD PVR.