At the same time as it announced the availability of the new test suite, CableLabs also announced the launch of a new ETV Lab at its test facilities, which it says includes a comprehensive collection of ETV user agents for both legacy set-top boxes and tru2way devices from the major US cable operators, as well as test applications, example commercial applications, and various test tools. The organization says that the ETV Lab is open to application developers, programmers, cable operators and device manufacturers (note: more information on the lab can be found at cablelabs.com/certqual/development). “ETV is going to play an important role in the interactive digital video services MSO’s will be introducing, as indicated by the large volume of EBIF and ETV applications on display at the recent Cable Show,” Steve Reynolds, SVP of premises technology at Comcast, said in a prepared statement. “This new ETV initiative from CableLabs is another example of the cross-industry collaboration that will lead to new ways for consumers to interact with content on their TVs.” Added So Vang, CableLabs’ VP of advanced media platforms for the CableLabs’ OpenCable initiative: “Our test program and our interoperability process will continue to advance quickly and stands ready to serve suppliers when they are ready to participate.”

While CableLabs’ ETV technology is designed to enable interactivity on the millions of low-resource cable set-top boxes currently in the field that are incapable of running CableLabs’ more advanced Java-based tru2way middleware, it can also run on tru2way-enabled set-top boxes and television sets. Because an ETV application is bound to a specific channel, ETV apps can be integrated into commercials, allowing viewers to use their remotes to make purchases or request additional information on products. It is therefore a key technology for the US cable industry’s interactive and addressable advertising initiative, Canoe. More information on the ETV specifications is available at opencable.com/specifications/etv.html. CableLabs hosts regular interoperability events for ETV and tru2way. The contact for licensing the new ETV test suite and for participating in these interop events is CableLabs’ senior manager of vendor relations for OpenCable, Phil Bender (p.bender@cablelabs.com).

(http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1evfzGsdv8T_xKJworW0Wrmd21AD97OCMKO3)

Photo courtesy of TechCrunch

In a post its corporate blog, Thursday, video-sharing service, YouTube,
announced the beta-launch of a social TV feature called YouTube RealTime.
According to the company, the new feature, which is implemented through a
persistent toolbar that appears in the lower right corner of the page, will
allow YouTube users to “see which of your YouTube friends are currently
online and what they’re watching; a history of their recent activities on
the site; and real-time notifications when they perform activities like
commenting, favoriting, and uploading.”

The blog posting went on to say that the first 100 people who posted “Yes!
Sign me up” in the blog’s comments section would receive an exclusive
invite to test out the new feature

Australian interactive TV applications provider, Two Way Limited, contacted [itvt] earlier this week to let us know that Sky Racing Active, an interactive TV wagering service that it has created for betting company, Tabcorp, and the Foxtel pay-TV platform, has won an ASTRA Award for “Most Outstanding Use of Interactive Television.” ASTRA (note: the name is an acronym for the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association) is the industry organization for Australia’s pay-TV industry. “Sky Racing Active harnesses innovation to provide a world’s-best interactive service for Tabcorp customers,” Tabcorp COO, Brendan Parnell, said in a prepared statement. “Sky Racing is the most watched channel on the pay-TV platform in terms of duration watched. The ‘press the red button’ service creates an additional dimension for Sky Racing viewers in terms of racing information, choice and convenience.”

Sky Racing Active was launched in Victoria and New South Wales in April, 2008. The service, which is accessed via the red button and offered free-of-charge, provides detailed information, updated in real time, for all thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races for which Tabcorp is conducting wagering that day. Information provided by the app includes track conditions, form guides, scratchings, approximate dividends, results, and final dividends. If permitted by local laws, it also allows viewers to access their Tabcorp wagering accounts and to place various kinds of bets (note: standard local call charges apply when using this functionality). According to Two Way Limited, all betting transactions through the application are encrypted for security. Last November, Two Way Limited announced that it had been granted an Australian patent for the technology underlying Sky Racing Active (note: the patent was the company’s first for a technology that it had developed itself; however, it also holds exclusive rights in Australia and New Zealand to an extensive portfolio of ITV patents and pending patents from UK-based Two Way Media). And in January, the company announced plans to expand distribution of the app to Queensland and South Australia.

Panasonic says that, for 2009, its Viera Cast technology has been extended to three Viera plasma HDTV series; and that it is working with Amazon.com to bring Amazon Video On Demand to its 2009 line of Viera Cast-enabled Blu-ray Disc players by the summer. In addition to Amazon Video On Demand, Viera Cast provides access to YouTube, Picasa Web Albums, Bloomberg News and weather information: Panasonic says that consumers will have automatic access to additional Internet services as they are made available through the platform. “In talking to our consumers, Panasonic identified a strong desire to have access to a wide range of video-on-demand services directly through their television,” Merwan Mereby, Panasonic’s VP of new business development, said in a prepared statement. “The addition of Amazon Video On Demand’s premium service to our Viera Cast offerings delivers the ultimate entertainment experience to consumers. Viera Cast owners now have access to Amazon’s vast collection of movies and TV shows, including HD-quality new releases, as well as the extensive, consumer-generated content Viera Cast already offers via YouTube and Google Picasa. Through Viera Cast, Panasonic now offers consumers access to the most comprehensive library of entertainment content out there, all from the comfort of their couch.”

UK-based home shopping programmer, JML, has tapped Miniweb to develop an interactive TV service for its channels on the Sky satellite-TV platform, using Miniweb’s flagship TV Key and Key & See offerings (note: Miniweb, which was founded by former BSkyB interactive TV executive, Ian Valentine, raised $32 million in new funding last year–see [itvt] Issue 8.06 Part 1).

Viewers of JML’s five channels on Sky (JML, JML Home & DIY, JML Choice, JML Lifestyle and JML Cookshop) are prompted to press the “interactive” button on their remote control (i.e. not the red button that is the usual means for accessing interactive TV services on the UK’s digital TV platforms), and to then select “TV Keys” from a menu. They then use their remote to punch in a special JML TV Key in order to access the programmer’s new interactive TV service, which allows them to use their remote to browse and purchase products: the TV Key, which is displayed on-screen on JML’s channels, consists of the letters “JML,” which equate to “565″ on the remote control keypad (note: like URL’s, Miniweb’s TV Keys allow viewers to access the interactive service they are associated with at any time, and can therefore be used in print and other non-TV advertising, as well as in time-shifted/recorded video, in order to direct consumers to an advertiser’s or programmer’s interactive services). Thanks to Miniweb’s Key & See technology, viewers continue to see the JML channel from which they launched the interactive TV service as they use it. JML is promoting its “JML” TV Key (which appears on-screen as a key-shaped icon) across its programming and is also running regular advertisements, as well as an email campaign, alerting viewers to the new interactive TV service that it unlocks.

The new JML interactive TV service that is accessed through the TV Key is simply a version of JML’s existing Web site that has been re-designed and re-purposed for the TV screen, using the BSkyB-developed WTVML mark-up language. “We’re excited that JML has recognized the benefits of our Key & See service,” Miniweb CEO, Andrew Carver, said in a prepared statement. “It has been specifically designed to allow broadcasters to enhance their channel with Web-style interactivity, making interactive TV more affordable and delivering additional audience participation and revenue streams. Possible applications of the service are as varied as the many channels that are available to today’s TV viewers. Previous-generation interactive TV services using broadcast technologies have been expensive to launch and maintain and have experienced limited success. Miniweb is leading the industry in using Internet Protocols and open standards to deliver interactive content to the TV. In line with Miniweb’s vision, the BBC has recently announced Project Canvas which aims to deliver Internet content to the TV at some point in the future. However Miniweb’s solution that is being adopted by JML is available now and, through our cross-network platform, will be compatible with new Miniweb enabled, broadband-connected TV’s, as that market develops. This provides broadcasters like JML an increasing base of viewers who will be able to purchase products via their TV’s.”

According to PBS, the portal, which will be monetized through banner ads, DVD sales and in-video sponsorship and advertising spots, will offer “thousands” of hours of programming, including such high-profile shows as “The American Experience,” “American Masters,” “Antiques Roadshow,” “Frontline,” “Frontline/World,” “Great Performances,” “Julia Child Cooking with Master Chefs,” “Masterpiece Theater,” “Nature,” “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer,” “Nova,” and “Nova ScienceNow.” The length of time each title will be available on the portal will vary in accordance with the distribution strategy of its owner. PBS also says that plans are in place for its producers to deliver regular Web-original content to the new portal, and that the portal will offer curated “collections” of content from its extensive library. According to a report in the New York Times, the site will “allow users to upload video, make comments and otherwise interact with the site and one another.” For example, the newspaper says, in conjunction with the new Ken Burns documentary series, “The National Parks,” the site will invite viewers to upload their own videos of US national parks.

To mark the fact that the portal was officially launched on Earth Day, it is currently showcasing a series of environmentally themed programs, including full episodes from “Frontline,” “Nova,” “Jean Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures,” “Planet Forward,” and “Nature.” Each of the programs “addresses the causes of our planet’s environmental crisis and suggests ways to reverse the course,” PBS says.

The portal allows users to search for programming by theme, episode, host and date. PBS says that the service will provide local PBS stations with easy access to signature programming for their Web sites, as well as the ability to share their own locally produced programming with a national audience and other PBS stations (this, the broadcaster says, will provide increased opportunities for local producers to be discovered by national audiences). “This launch illustrates our commitment to deliver PBS’s signature programming to the widest possible market,” Jason Seiken, PBS’s SVP of interactive, said in a prepared statement. “Our goal is to ensure that audiences have online access to the remarkable depth and breadth of PBS programming–in a format that puts the user in control.”

PBS is also using the portal to premiere new programming: the first episode of “Time Team America”–a new show that features a team of archaeologists who visit “America’s most intriguing archaeological dig sites” and “race against the clock uncovering the past as they unearth the site’s buried secrets” (note: the show is based on the “Time Team” format that originally aired on the UK’s Channel 4)–is being made available on the site in advance of its broadcast premiere in July. “Having the ability to reach a national audience through PBS.org expands our mission in a way we could not do otherwise,” Oregon Public Broadcasting president and CEO, Steve Bass, said in a prepared statement. “For OPB-produced national series like ‘Time Team America’ and ‘History Detectives,’ the player lets us meet the audience wherever they live. It gives us one more way to enrich their experience.”

PBS says that the new portal is part of an ongoing strategy to attract new audiences and become the “premiere multimedia destination for online content in science, history, children’s programming, documentaries, dramas and live performances.” As part of that strategy, last September the broadcaster launched a broadband video service for children, the PBS KIDS GO! Video Player, which it claims is now streaming over a million video clips a week, and which now also offers a range of interactive games. PBS member stations can link to the service from their Web sites and can also incorporate its player component as a module on their sites.