Samsung Electronics held its first "Free the TV Developer Day" at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, Tuesday. According to the company, the event was designed to bring together "notable leaders across the connected-TV ecosystem"; help developers better understand its Samsung Apps connected-TV platform (and its SDK), which it says is now available in around 120 countries; and support its "Free the TV Challenge" (see the article published on itvt.com, August 12th), a contest which it says will award $500,000 in prizes and is designed to encourage development of innovative interactive TV applications for the Samsung Apps platform.

Here are some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer Group (IMPG) has announced the winners of the 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media.

US cable-industry research, development and standards organization, CableLabs, has provided some information on the technologies that were featured at its Innovation Showcase, Monday. The Innovation Showcase, which was part of CableLabs' Summer Conference, saw 11 companies pitching new technologies to conference attendees, who then voted for the one they deemed most likely to succeed in the marketplace. The winner was BelAir Networks' new BelAir100SP Strand Picocell (see below):

Last month (see the article published on itvt.com, August 2nd), online video content discovery specialist, Clicker Media, announced the launch of a social TV service, called Clicker Social, which it billed as "allow[ing] people to discover, share, rate, discuss, and check-in to shows on Clicker and third-party partner sites."

[itvt] has just published an AUDIO INTERVIEW with David Preisman, VP of interactive television at Showtime Networks, and Geoff Katz, co-governor of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer Group, in which they discuss Showtime's high-definition EBIF-based "Showtime Sports Interactive" application.

Unique Event Will Enable Advertisers, Agencies, Broadcasters and Other Stakeholders to Engage in Productive Dialog with Canoe Ventures, the Company Charged with Implementing Cable's Vision for a National Interactive TV Platform

Tickets on Sale Now: Special Early-Bird and Group Rates Available

http://www.thetvoftomorrowshow.com

VOD and advanced advertising technology provider, SeaChange International, contacted [itvt] Wednesday to let us know about its plans for next week's CableLabs Summer Conference (August 15th-18th). The company says that it plans to launch the SeaChange EngageTV Validator, which is designed to guarantee quality of service for EBIF-based subscriber applications that make use of VOD resources, and that it will also showcase its Watch & Buy tcommerce extension for VOD services.

Samsung Electronics America on Wednesday launched the "Free the TV Challenge," a competition which it says will award $500,000 in prizes and is designed to encourage development of innovative interactive TV applications for connected TV's, Blu-ray players and Blu-ray home theater systems. The company also announced Wednesday that the number of applications available through its Samsung Apps store has more than doubled since the latter's launch five months ago, and that the store now offers apps in five categories: video, gaming, social media, sports and kids.

Unique Event Will Enable Advertisers, Agencies, Broadcasters and Other Stakeholders to Engage in Productive Dialog with Canoe Ventures, the Company Charged with Implementing Cable's Vision for a National Interactive TV Platform

Tickets on Sale Now: Special Early-Bird and Group Rates Available

http://www.thetvoftomorrowshow.com

[itvt] has just published "10 REASONS TO LOVE COMIC-CON," a photo essay by our "Jet Set" columnist, Brian David Johnson, consumer experience architect at Intel Corp. (note: the "Jet Set" column explores the future of TV through the prism of the places, people and conversations that Johnson experiences as he goes on a global tour for his new book, Screen Future).

Because the [itvt] editorial team has been on the road the past few weeks, we are covering recent news stories in summary/round-up form. We anticipate that it will take a few days for us to catch up with all the recent news: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. We apologize for any inconvenience to our readers.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Interactive Media Peer Group (IMPG) has announced the nominees for the 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media.

The nominees for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media: Fiction are:

US cable-industry research, development and standardization body, CableLabs, is trumpeting the success of an Advanced Advertising Interop event it held, June 14th-18th, to prove interoperability, based on the SCTE-130 standard, across a number of advertising interfaces. The weeklong event was organized in partnership with SCTE DVS/Working Group 5, the SCTE committee charged with working on advanced advertising, and with Canoe Ventures, the company tasked with implementing the US cable industry's plans for interactive and addressable advertising.

International interactive TV industry body, AFDESI (the Association for the Development of Enhanced TV Services and Interactivity), has announced the winners of its 2010 International ITV Awards: