IPTV English News by InformITV (16/02/2009)
Interactive TV breakthrough promised in America Interactive television could finally break through in the United States as cable and satellite operators come under pressure from online video. Some fifty million subscribers will be able to…
Interactive TV breakthrough promised in America
Interactive television could finally break through in the United States as cable and satellite operators come under pressure from online video. Some fifty million subscribers will be able to receive interactive television services this year, finally reaching a critical mass audience.
Boxee social media centre opens new applications
Boxee is an open source social media centre application from a startup company of the same name that has been attracting attention. It brings together locally stored and online media in a single application with an intuitive user interface. After closed testing period, it has opened up registrations and now claims to have 200,000 active users.
Sky comes down on Ofcom for interventionist regulation
British Sky Broadcasting has sharply criticised the communications regulator Ofcom in response to its latest review of the pay television sector. Criticising the imposition of “highly interventionist regulation” the satellite broadcaster says “It is time for Ofcom to take a step back” and “avoid being led into a misadventure which threatens to push Ofcom far outside the bounds of mainstream regulatory thinking”.
Digital television delay approved by Congress
Congress has voted to postpone the end of analogue television in America by four months to give consumers more time to prepare for the digital transition. The bill passed on its second presentation, by a vote of 264 to 158, to go forward to President Barack Obama for his signature. The incoming Obama administration maintains that preparations for the digital transition had been mismanaged.
Competition Commission blocks Kangaroo
The Competition Commission has blocked UKVOD, otherwise known as Project Kangaroo, the proposed video on demand joint venture between the BBC, ITV and Channel Four. It has concluded that none of the other remedies proposed could remove the threat to competition in the video on demand market.
