--Company Delivers Interactive TV Lab Environment to Indonesian Government Agency
Helsinki-based interactive TV company, Icareus, said Wednesday that it has developed a "new kind" of interactive, over-the-top (OTT) TV offering that will be targeted at senior citizens in Finland. The company says that the first customer of the "SeniorTV" OTT Platform and service is a Finnish company called EcoTec that is launching it under its own brand, SmartCare TV.
According to Icareus, SeniorTV enables Ecotec to offer senior citizens a service that allows them to be more independent and to live longer in their own home, thus improving their quality of life. Because communication is an important part of life, the company says, SeniorTV provides a familiar and easy-to-use user interface for one-to-one video calling and other videoconferencing functionality that helps seniors stay in touch with their friends and family. The video communication feature can also be used for personalized direct communications with doctors and nurses, the company says. In addition to its communications capabilities, SeniorTV offers various entertainment features, including VOD, RSS news feeds, and what Icareus describes as "simple games suitable for the elderly," including memory games and Sudoku. Other features include a remotely managed calendar that is designed, among other things, to provide seniors with reminders to take their medications.
Icareus says that it is seeking international OTT, IPTV and cable partners for the SeniorTV platform and service, which was developed by its Icareus Studios arm. "In Western countries, the so-called baby boom generation is getting old quickly," Mikko Karppinen, director of Icareus studios, said in a prepared statement. "Unfortunately in today's hectic world many senior citizens are also lonely. To keep in shape mentally and physically, visual communication with other people is extremely important. SeniorTV is a product for this particular target group and provides a new way to increase our operator partners' ARPU." Added EcoTec CEO, Jouni Makipaa: "TV is a medium that provides a robust platform, economical solution, big screen and easy-to-use controls, that everyone knows how to use. With our SCTV service platform, we can improve senior citizens' life quality."
In other Icareus news: The company said Wednesday that it has delivered an "interactive TV laboratory environment" to BPPT in Indonesia (note: the latter is a non-departmental government agency under the auspices of Indonesia's Ministry of Research and Technology, which is tasked with "carrying out government duties in the field of assessment and application of technology," Icareus says). According to the company, the lab solution includes its Playout PC100 Compact, its iTV Suite Author content authoring tool, and its iTV Suite Component Pack. It says that the solution will enable BPPT to research, develop and pilot interactive TV services both in the laboratory and in small local networks, and thereby provide professional digital TV research services to public and private organizations in Indonesia. This work, the company says, is critical to the future deployment of interactive TV in Indonesia.
According to Icareus:
- The Playout PC100 Compact provides a complete broadcasting solution for DVB ITV data service testing and development; and provides all the basic functionality needed for managing and broadcasting MHP-, OCAP (tru2way)-, Ginga-, MHEG-5- and HbbTV-based content. It consists of an object carousel generator, a PSI/SI generator, a scheduler and a transport stream multiplexer. Icareus says that the version it has supplied to BPPT is for DVB-MHP environments.
- The iTV Suite Author is a visual content development tool which enables "rapid development of interactive digital TV content and applications by anyone."
- The iTV Suite Component Pack is an extension to the company's authoring tools, which consists of various components that are intended to help speed up the ITV application development process. Icareus says that the version delivered to BPPT includes MHP application components.
