Interactive TV will be more attractive to shoppers than advertisers for the next several years, Jupiter Media Metrix has predicted.
Some of the largest makers of chips and interactive TV software have teamed to design Linux-based set-top boxes, aiming to create a lower-cost product than that from software giant Microsoft. Motorola and Pace Micro Technology represent the set-top box makers in the 24-member venture, dubbed TV Linux Alliance. By creating a standardised framework for Linux-based software for interactive TV, the alliance hopes to bring the technology to market more quickly and with lower development costs and fewer integration issues than by working alone. "The current operating systems were not particularly built to foresee such developments'' as increased processing power and memory capacity, particularly when manufacturers begin adding more networking interfaces and peripheral devices to set-top boxes, Mitchell Kertzman, CEO of Liberate Technologies, said at a news conference. The alliance includes Microsoft's rivals in the interactive television market, such as Liberate Technologies, OpenTV and ACTV, in addition to chipmakers STMicroelectronics, Conexant Systems and Broadcom. Other participants include Sun Microsystems; digital video recorder makers TiVo and ReplayTV; high-speed Internet company Excite@Home, whose investors include cable operators AT&T, Comcast and Cox Communications; and Lineo, a developer of Linux operating systems. Jerry Krasner, executive director of Electronic Market Forecasters noted that the alliance "should keep competition at the operating system layer thriving.'' Broadcom recently announced that it has developed a blueprint for set-top boxes that will use Microsoft's most advanced interactive TV software.
Optus has confirmed its interactive television platform is on track with technical suppliers and over 35 content providers on board.
Communications chipmaker Broadcom has developed a blueprint for set-top boxes that will use Microsoft's most advanced interactive TV software.
Microsoft has signed a deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to build an upgraded version of its UltimateTV interactive-television technology with the broadcasting giant.
Now I don't want to call myself a prognosticator -- much less intimate that I had any influence over the following decision -- but in the weeks since I blogged about Channel Ten's lack of an online strategy, things have certainly changed.
Communications minister Stephen Conroy today announced the controversial web filtering blacklist will be scrapped and be replaced with a whitelist-based filtering regime, to be administered by viewer voting through a family-friendly digital TV-only show called 'The White List'.
As the NBN bypasses the airwaves and offers a new pipe into 90 per cent of Australia's homes, could long-languishing IPTV services spell the beginning of the end for TV as we know it?
Will ninemsn and Yahoo7 maintain their dominance in the fight for the share of our internet time? Will they continue to adapt and survive?
For a start-up, timing can be crucial. For Antony McGregor Dey, the horrors besetting the American print publishing industry couldn't have come at a better time.
For all its publicised benefits, why is iTV still having such a hard time making it in Australia?
As more people consume multimedia online, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are quietly upping the ante with new search tools for video.
A major question for Australia is whether the rollout of broadband should be on the basis of a push (from the service providers) or a pull (from the users)-or both.
Stan James has purchased EMC storage networking technology through Dell, to better serve customers in its shops, online and through call centres.
Max is Adobe's premier developer conference and this year it featured Star Wars, flying monkeys and electric cars.
For all its publicised benefits, why is iTV still having such a hard time making it in Australia?
In a relatively short time frame, you may be able to use your TV to rent software on demand, browse the Web hassle-free, and vote somebody off the island.
Converging technology has turned fridges into televisions, and phones into cameras, but just how far will convergence take us?
The Whistler preview focused on the start-up screen, which allows for easy switching between user profiles without rebooting, a scanner and camera "wizard" that simplifies storing and distributing digital photos and enhanced networking capabilities for running all those devices throughout the home.
Interactive online computer gaming is widely touted at the next big thing for games consoles. ZDNet Australia peers into the future of online, interactive fun.
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