--CableLabs' Next ETV Interop Begins February 22nd, Deadline for Applying Is January 29th
--DirecTV Begins Public Beta of Multiroom DVR
--Report: Hulu Mulling Plans to Launch Subscription Service
--Kaltura Releases Video Extension for Moodle
--Live Interactive Broadband Video Spin-Off Planned for Channel 4's "Embarrassing Bodies"
--Move Networks Appoints Eddy Hartenstein, Sol Trujillo to its Board
--SureWest Launches Microsoft Mediaroom-Based IPTV Service
--Ustream Launches Pay-Per-View Capability
--Verizon Rolls Out Interactive TV Upgrade in Pittsburgh and West Central Florida
--Vimeo Beta-Launches HTML5 Video Player
Because the [itvt] editorial team is busy working on The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd-4th in San Francisco) and on our new EBIF Intensive event (March 5th in San Francisco), we are covering a number of stories in this issue in summary form:
--Concurrent Forms Advisory Board to Provide Counsel on Cross-Platform Strategy
--DirecTV to Launch Three 3D TV Channels
--DISH Network, EchoStar Announce "TV Everywhere" Products
--Hillcrest Labs Integrates Freespace with Broadcom's Bluetooth Chipsets
--iN Demand Names Bob Benya President and CEO
--ThinkAnalytics Joins NDS's Recommendations Engine Partner Program
--NDS to Offer End-to-End e-Publishing Solution
--Sky Says its 3D TV Service Will Be Compatible with Sets from LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony
Here is a brief round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:
--Thomson Launches Satellite Set-Top Box with OTT Capabilities
Syabas, a Fremont, Calif.-based company that specializes in over-the-top set-top hardware and software, said Tuesday that it has signed a deal with Thinking Screen Media (formerly known as Frame Media) to offer the latter's FrameChannel content widgets on its Popcorn Hour A-110 and C-200 OTT set-top boxes and on its new DAVID platform, a "working prototype" of which it plans to unveil at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month.
--Live, Interactive US Open Coverage also to Be Offered on USOpen.org
 US satellite-TV provider, DirecTV, has announced plans to offer extensive interactive TV coverage of the upcoming US Open tennis championship (August 31st-September 7th). The coverage will include five extra live court channels, in addition to the main feeds from ESPN2 and CBS, on DirecTV's multiscreen Mix Channel.
--In Response to Cable Operators' Concerns, Box Now Allows Limits on Its Placeshifting Capabilities
 In a conference call with financial analysts, Monday, following the company's release of its second-quarter results, EchoStar Technologies president, Mark Jackson, provided a fairly cautious-sounding update on the prospects for a cable deployment of the T2200S, a tru2way-based, "Slingloaded" (note: the latter is a term that has been trademarked by EchoStar to designate its non-Sling Media-branded set-top boxes that offer TV place-shifting and other Sling Media capabilities), multi-tuner HD DVR that has been designed specifically for the US cable industry (note: for an extensive overview of the box's features,
Read more
--Is Found in Contempt of Court, Must Disable Features on its DVR's
 US District Judge David Folsom ruled Tuesday that DISH Network (formerly EchoStar Communications) owes TiVo $103 million (plus interest) in additional damages in the so-called "Time Warp" patent case between the companies, that it must disable certain features on DVR's that it offers its subscribers (according to news agency, Reuters, all but 193,000 of DISH's appro ximately 4 million deployed DVR's will be affected), and that its efforts to find a workaround for technologies that were previously determined to be T
 US satellite-TV provider, DISH Network, has launched a service called DISH Remote Access that allows its subscribers to manage their DVR-equipped receivers remotely from any Internet-connected device (note: a similar service has been offered by rival DirecTV for some time now). According to DISH Network, the service, which is offered at no additional cost to subscribers equipped with the company's broadband-connected ViP Series DVR's, incorporates a comprehensive search functionality that looks for desired content throughout a nine-day programming guide.
--Signs VOD Deals with Gravitas Ventures, Eurocinema
--Offers Multiscreen ITV App for US Elections
--Launches New DVR Products
--Signs Audience Measurement Deal with Rentrak
Satellite TV provider, DirecTV, recently offered an interactive TV
application to accompany its coverage of the French Open tennis
tournament. Dubbed French Open Interactive and available from May
25th through June 1st, the application was developed by DirecTV in
partnership with the Tennis Channel and ESPN2. It offered complete
coverage of play on five courts during the tournament's first six days,
and eight hours of coverage on Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June
1st: according to DirecTV, the service offered a total of 350 hours of
tournament coverage. At the core of the service was a "mix" channel
that allowed viewers to watch up to six live matches simultaneously,
 
In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," Steven Roberts, SVP of new media and business development at DirecTV, and Tyler Slocum, the company's senior director of ITV and DVR services, provide an update  on DirecTV's interactive TV offerings. Topics discussed include usage statistics for DirecTV's various ITV services, the company's ITV strategy, its future ITV and DVR plans, and more.
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[i]Database
 Our [itvt] free industry database called The [i]Database contains many listings of operators, broadcasters, software developers, design firms, manufacturers, Web sites, consultancies and many more organizations and people working in the interactive multiplatform TV industry. Upload your company or yourself!
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