CloverLeaf, Minerva Bring IPTV-Based Interactive TV Services to Two Independent Telcos

CloverLeaf Digital, a Brooklyn-based interactive TV applications developer that specializes in building and managing localized "walled-garden" services, and IPTV middleware provider, Minerva Networks, announced Monday that two independent telcos--Pineland Telephone Cooperative in Georgia and WT Services in Texas--have launched CloverLeaf's interactive TV services on IPTV systems powered by Minerva's iTVManager middleware. Those services include 1) Accedo Broadband's Funspot arcade, casino and puzzle games (note: CloverLeaf signed a deal with Accedo last November to offer the Swedish company's games to independent telcos in North America); and 2) CloverLeaf's flagship DotDaily walled garden service. The latter provides localized news and information, including news and sports coverage from the Associated Press, local weather from AccuWeather, local movie guides, and horoscopes, as well as an array of content--including community events calendars, school lunch menus and community slideshows--published by community organizations, using CloverLeaf's DashDaily community content publishing tools. "Two-way interactive services are the easiest and least expensive way for service providers such as WT Services and Pineland to start to truly deliver on the promise of IPTV," Lawrence Brickman, CloverLeaf's managing partner, said in a prepared statement. "We are pleased to be able to leverage Minerva's technology to be able to dynamically localize DotDaily for all 41 of the communities to which Pineland delivers IPTV services."

Minerva bills its iTVManager as a comprehensive software platform for the delivery of next-generation IP-connected TV services, including HDTV, PVR, whole-home DVR, pay-per-view and VOD. The platform features an API, in order to allow third-party developers such as CloverLeaf to integrate new communications and entertainment applications into it. "Minerva is committed to supporting third-party applications that add value to the IPTV offering," Minerva product manager, Benoit Boningue, said in a prepared statement. "We look forward to working with CloverLeaf to offer increasingly advanced interactive services to our mutual customers."