ITV

Tag: Microsoft TV

  • BT announces deals for next gen TV with BBC Worldwide, Paramount, Warner

    BT announces deals for next gen TV with BBC Worldwide, Paramount, Warner

    MUMBAI: British Telecom (BT) has announced deals with three entertainment companies, BBC Worldwide, Paramount and Warner Music Group.

    The agreements bring the launch of BT’s TV over broadband service an important step closer. Starting next year, BT says that its service will combine access to digital terrestrial channels, an extensive video on demand library and a range of interactive services.

    BT Retail CEO Ian Livingston said, A partnership between the country’s leading communications company and three of the worlds leading entertainment groups is great news for consumers in the UK. I am delighted that BBC Worldwide, Paramount and Warner Group share our vision. Our customers will be able to enjoy enhanced TV services and easy access to a wealth of interactive content and new services straight to their TV. Whether you are a music fan, love films or hooked on drama you will get the best in entertainment when you want it. BT is defining next generation TV .

    BT’s next generation TV service will include entertainment on demand  a library of movies, TV and music all available instantly; catch-up TV  programmes from the previous seven days broadcast schedule will be available on demand without the need to record; flexible payment  no mandatory subscriptions; pay-per-view options; a personal video recorder capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming; more than 30 digital terrestrial TV channels; communication services such as instant messaging, chat and video telephony on TV and interactive services such as online games, retail opportunities and community services.

    BT further says that it the only company in the UK committed to providing such a service across the country. BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith, said, With video on demand rapidly shaping the future of television, we are very pleased to be part of BTs TV service from the outset, providing subscribers with blue chip programmes and high quality viewing.

    Warner Music UK chairman Nick Philips says, “We are pleased to partner with BT as the first music provider to this innovative distribution service. Industry leading agreements and unique partnerships like the one we announce today are an important component of Warner Music’s global strategy to become a multifaceted, music content company.

    The agreement with Paramount provides BT with Paramount’s blockbuster films in the pay-per-view window as well as an extensive range or older and classic films from the Paramount movie archive, all on demand.

    The announcement follows BT recent agreements with Phillips to supply the set top box which will deliver the high definition services and an alliance with Microsoft. This will provide Microsoft TV IPTV Edition as the software platform.

  • Tandberg TV & Microsoft ink deal for IPTV collaboration

    Tandberg TV & Microsoft ink deal for IPTV collaboration

    MUMBAI: Tandberg Television and Microsoft Corp. have announced that they have entered into a development and cooperation agreement to integrate Tandberg TV’s encoding technologies with Microsoft TV’s award-winning Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Edition software platform.

    As a further demonstration of the collaboration between the two companies, Tandberg Television will enhance its EN5900 range of advanced video encoders that has been integrated with the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform by incorporating picture-in- picture (PIP) generation functionality into the encoder itself.

    The enhanced solution marks the next step in Tandberg TV and Microsoft’s long- term relationship and demonstrates the companies’ commitment to collaborate on ways to propel the IPTV industry forward.

    Enabling PIP functionality without requiring additional hardware-based tuners in the set-top box is one of the unique features of Microsoft TV IPTV Edition. By incorporating PIP capabilities into the encoding solution, Tandberg TV and Microsoft TV are looking at maximising system efficiencies, because PIP encoding is handled at the encoder. This eliminates processing demands on the acquisition server, which otherwise would need to decode and re-encode the PIP stream, thus reducing the overall cost of the solution and improving the user experience.

    The PIP stream will be generated from the same video source and will consist of a lower-resolution version encoded at a much lower bit-rate than the main stream. Resolution reduction is achieved within the encoder and no additional external components are needed. This solution provides the ability to offer very efficient system design including reliable and effective fail-over to ensure high availability of the TV channel.

    At Supercomm in Chicago, Tandberg TV will have a live, fully integrated IPTV demonstration combining the Tandberg EN5290 standard definition encoder for Windows Media® 9 Series (proposed SMPTE VC-1) with Microsoft TV IPTV edition. This demonstration will showcase the outstanding video quality produced by Tandberg TV’s superior advanced encoding combined with the next-generation user experiences enabled by the Microsoft software platform.

    “To deliver on the promise of IPTV, network operators need to not only give their subscribers the most compelling and competitive digital TV offerings, but also maintain high service quality and low operational costs,” said Tandberg Television director of strategic development Tim Sheppard. “By adding PIP capabilities to our encoding solutions, Tandberg Television continues to innovate and offer more advanced digital TV technology while keeping the needs and priorities of service providers in mind.”

    “Our long-term collaboration with Tandanberg TV is the result of our shared passion for IPTV,” said Microsoft TV Division , director of worldwide partner development Phil Corman. “By adding PIP functionality to Tandberg’s real-time encoders, Tandberg Television and Microsoft TV take another step toward advancing the next-generation television capabilities of IPTV.”

    Microsoft TV IPTV edition is a software platform that allows broadband service providers to deliver compelling digital TV services using their existing IP networks. Leading service providers worldwide — including Bell Canada, BellSouth Corp., Reliance Infocomm Limited, SBC Communications Inc., Swisscom/Bluewin and Telecom Italia — are conducting trials or planning to deploy IPTV services based on the Microsoft TV IPTV edition platform.