Minerva Networks recently announced significant extensions to its open, standards based application development suite to complement its IPTV services management software platform. Included are a number of new APIs and tools to fully customize and enable next generation IPTV applications, such as personalized recommendations, advertising, and e-commerce. Interactive applications can be built using standard web tools and then seamlessly integrated via an XML interface with Minerva’s iTVmanager software. Minerva’s development tools are believed to give content providers the ability to interact with the viewer in realtime. Unlike traditional interactive TV architectures that require expensive pre-encoding of the video, the Minerva solution can use any VOD or Live TV content, including user submitted videos. While the program or movie is being viewed, the Minerva software on the set-top box connects with the interactive application server. Using standard XML, the application server specifies and controls the position of text, graphics and navigation buttons on the TV. Even video playback and trick play functions can be directly controlled (or disabled) by the application. According to Minverva, the highly flexible system can be used to enable telescopic advertising, distant learning, polling/voting, fantasy sports, basic games, shopping applications and can also tie into cross platform applications on the PC or mobile phones.

itaas, a provider of advanced TV application services, has ported their cross platform MPTV client application to the Minerva Networks’ IPTV framework. The MPTV application allows viewers watching video channels to purchase any associated content such as video clips, ringtones, and wallpaper and download them to their mobile devices

SOURCE: Minerva Networks

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Minerva Networks Expands IPTV Application Development Suite And Integrates With itaas? MPTV Platform

TDC has deployed VDSL2 broadband technology in Denmark to deliver Triple Play services, including Internet, IP Telephony and IPTV, over a High-Performance Broadband architecture. The VDSL2 system is now in field test.

VDSL2 is the next major DSL broadband technology and the first to allow Ethernet end-to-end architectures, which will simplify networks. The early availability of VDSL2 systems will be key for vendor interoperability testing processes in 2006.

Dan Sörensson, Chief Technology Officer, TDC, says: “Ericsson has met our requirements for the current EDA ADSL2+ rollout and likewise demonstrated IP/Ethernet-based DSL solutions that also let us move forward into the VDSL2 market, in line with our ambition of always being first with the fastest offerings for our customers.”

Martin Mellor, head of Broadband Access at Ericsson, says: “We are very pleased to extend our cooperation with TDC into a new technological area. TDC’s ambitious goals allow us to continually improve our EDA solutions and remain at the technological forefront, as we approach the VDSL2 market with great expectations.”

Ericsson addresses the VDSL2 market with a fully featured IP/Ethernet system that builds on the extensive experience gained from three years of EDA field deployments.

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Ericsson provides TDC with VDSL2 based high performance broadband

IntAct, an Amino Technologies, public limited company, today announced an agreement with Opera Software that will enable IntAct to sub-license Opera’s porting technology to its customers. This pre-integration extends the capability of the IPTV client solution available from IntAct, which already offers operators and manufacturers a robust solution after rollouts in approximately 700,000 IPTV STBs worldwide.

IntAct is also providing the ability for operators and application developers alike to develop rich and compelling end user solutions, which can be ready for live deployment much more quickly and easily than before. To enable the development of such applications, IntAct will offer Opera specific IntAct Software Development Kits, targeted to give application developers the most complete tool to write interactive TV applications such as EPG, Infotainment, and messaging amongst many others.

“In sublicensing Opera’s browser technology, IntAct can now offer an extension of its solution to allow developers, manufacturers and operators to purchase a pre-integrated turn-key IPTV STB client solution up to and including the presentation layers, allowing them to focus on the application itself and not worry about the lower levels of design.” said Karthik Ranjan, VP Sales and Marketing for IntAct. ” Not only that, but buyers can be very confident in the solution, which combines best of breed elements with the most widely deployed IPTV client stack in IntAct, together with the most widely deployed embedded browser in Opera.”

Opera’s API is a feature-rich, high performance interface that allows developers to integrate Opera with their customised user interfaces and graphical toolkits. “The combination of Opera and IntAct enables operators and STB manufacturers to deliver the most compelling end-user solutions to market more rapidly,” said Scott Hedrick, EVP Opera Software.

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IntAct To Offer Opera Browser As Part Of Its IPTV Client

In May, Germany’s two public broadcasting corporations, representing a total of fourteen stations, announced that they would only make their programs available to IPTV operators whose solutions support important European television standards such as DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting).

Cable, satellite, terrestrial broadcasts or broadband networks – there are various ways of transmitting digital television. “The advantage of DVB is that it covers all these possibilities seamlessly with its standards, and the DVB project has also developed MHP (Multimedia Home Platform), a standard for interactive applications such as voting, home shopping and gaming”, said Juergen Heiles, who is responsible at Siemens Communications for standardization in topics related to Home Entertainment.

The latest initiative on IPTV standardization comes from the ITU (International Telecommunication Union). The objective of an IPTV working group established in early 2006 is to bundle the various international standardization activities. This goal accords with the commitment of Siemens Communications to drive global standards. “We are agreed there is no need to reinvent the wheel, but that the DVB standards platform, which has already proven its great value internationally, can be used,” noted Juergen Heiles.

DVB Project sets the standard for IPTV

Ericsson has announced an end-to-end IPTV solution. The offering will make possible a complete range of IPTV services, such as broadcast TV (both standard and high-definition quality), video on-demand, network personal video recording and electronic programming guides.

Claes Odman, Vice President, Multimedia Solutions, Ericsson, says: “IPTV is much more than traditional TV broadcast over the IP network – it is about integrating media with communications services to deliver personalized, interactive television no matter where the viewer is.”

Ericsson’s vision of personalized IPTV services delivered over broadband is based on open standards, including the combination of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) technologies, for digital entertainment, with the IMS standard for delivering enriched communications services.

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Ericsson jumps into IPTV as well