Five Industry Leaders Work With Microsoft TV to Enable Broadcasters to
Transition To Interactive TV More Easily
At the National Association of
Broadcasters convention, NAB2001, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability
of new broadcast tools supporting the Microsoft TV platform from five
industry leaders: Avid Technology Inc., Chyron Corp., Norpak Corp.,
VertigoXmedia and vi[z]rt Ltd.
Many of these tools are being shown for the
first time at NAB2001, and all are designed to help accelerate the creation
and delivery of interactive TV programming using recognized tools, equipment
and editing resources. The availability of these tools will speed the
creation of mainstream interactive television by making it easy to integrate
interactive content during the writing and editing process of a TV program.
Microsoft“s pioneering work with leading tools providers is an outcropping
of its industry-leading interactive TV developer program. By supporting
Microsoft TV, these companies are helping make it easy and possible for
content creators everywhere to create compelling interactive TV programming
and applications.
„The Microsoft TV Developer Program is helping companies such as Avid,
Chyron, Norpak, VertigoXmedia and vi[z]rt create the tools that broadcasters
use to make interactive TV a reality today,“ said David Witus, director of
content programs for the Microsoft TV Group at Microsoft. „Through their
involvement in the developer program, these companies are demonstrating
strong support for the Microsoft TV platform while making it easy for the
broadcast industry to integrate high-quality video and graphics with
interactive elements, resulting in some amazing new TV programming.“
Chyron
Chyron will be demonstrating a complete range of
interactive TV production and automation tools, including Lyric iTV for
professional television graphic-oriented iTV content creation and
triggering; CG Interactive, which enables the large installed base of
existing and new Chyron graphics systems to automatically produce
synchronous enhanced television, even in a live environment; and DCC
Interactive, providing seamless broadcast automation support for ATVEF
content.
„We have been excited by the enthusiastic support we have received from
Microsoft and the iTV community and are proud to provide solutions optimized
for the Microsoft TV platform,“ said Bill Hendler, vice president of the
Interactive Division at Chyron.
The release is part of a joint agreement made between Microsoft and Chyron
to integrate Chyron“s playback graphics package for interactive TV in the
Microsoft TV platform. Chyron is an industry leader in the development and
delivery of products and services for standard TV broadcasting,
high-definition TV, interactive TV and broadband delivery.
vi[z]rt
vi[z]rt announced the release of its content pilot I-Extensions developed exclusively for the Microsoft TV platform. content
pilot I-Extensions take advantage of the Microsoft TV platform by using
templates that generate broadcast-quality graphics for television and the
Web as a script is being written, enabling broadcast producers to prepare
content for broadcast and the Web in one simple application. This reduces
the time and expense associated with the production of interactive TV
programming.
„We are excited by our relationship with Microsoft TV and adding new content
delivery capabilities for our customers,“ said Greg Petroff, vice president
of marketing at vi[z]rt. „vi[z] content pilot I-Extensions is remarkably
simple to use for Microsoft TV and the Internet. It is part of our strategy
to provide tools that efficiently and productively allow broadcasters to
create, manage and deliver high-quality content across broadcast,
interactive, Internet and wireless media.“
Avid
Avid, the company that delivers the solutions that
Make, Manage and Move Media, has added an interactive design tool to its
editing products that allows producers to work in tandem with interactive TV
teams. The design tool adds HTML triggers in the Avid timeline along with
audio and video tracks for seamless, complete editing of an entire
interactive TV program at one time. The new interactive features were
designed to support the Microsoft TV platform and ATVEF standards, the most
widely used standards for creating interactive TV content.
„Avid is pleased to work with Microsoft to offer another powerful solution
to the nonlinear production process,“ said Robert Stacy, director of product
marketing for Media Composer at Avid. „Content creators and video
producers will now have the ability to offer additional services to their
clients through tools that enable them to create interactive elements,
streamline production and work collaboratively in a familiar environment –
the Avid timeline.“
Norpak
Norpak will be showing new solutions for interactive
TV, HDTV and data broadcast with its latest solutions that support the
Microsoft TV platform. The Norpak WHAZ-it Interactive TV Monitor is the
first professional data-monitoring solution available for systems running on
the Microsoft TV platform. Norpak and Microsoft TV have been working to
develop encoder systems that allow broadcasters and network operators to
filter and/or replace, in real time, embedded interactive TV data based on
predetermined rules established by the broadcaster. WHAK-it provides
real-time localization of national content.
VertigoXmedia
VertigoXmedia has released the latest
version of its flagship product, Producer On Air 2.0. Producer On Air allows
broadcasters to collect content from the Web, wire feeds, newsroom systems
and other outlets and convert the data for delivery to the Web and
interactive TV programs through satellite, cable or mobile devices. By
establishing a reactive link between multiple media-delivery channels,
VertigoXmedia enables broadcasters to produce dynamic content that is
updated automatically in response to viewer feedback. This reduces the time
and costs associated with producing interactive TV content. The content is
easily distributed through the Microsoft TV platform, using open standards
technology, and is delivered seamlessly to the viewer.
„The combination of Microsoft TV and our Producer On Air content automation
platform allows broadcasters to easily integrate interactive TV
functionality into their existing broadcast environment,“ said David
Wilkins, president and CEO of VertigoXmedia. „By allowing broadcasters to
use production tools they are already familiar with, Microsoft TV becomes an
extension to their existing workflow, rather than a whole new process that
needs to be managed separately.“
SpinTV Joins Microsoft TV Developer Program
Microsoft also announced that SpinTV has joined the
developer program. Spin TV“s Studio Suite supports ATVEF standards, allowing
content developers to easily create and deploy interactive TV content,
speeding the development and delivery of interactive TV programming. Future
versions of the product will be designed to support the Microsoft TV
platform.
In addition to being demonstrated in the five tools provider exhibits, the
Microsoft TV platform will be shown in the Microsoft Internet Theater.
UltimateTV service, the exciting interactive TV service from Microsoft
and available by subscription on DIRECTV units, will also be running in the
Interactive Living section of the E-Topia exhibit. UltimateTV incorporates
the best of personal video recording, interactivity and Internet on TV in
one service and in one box and is powered by the Microsoft TV platform.
About the Microsoft TV Developer Program
The Microsoft TV Developer Program offers members exclusive and up-to-date
information about the Microsoft TV platform, including software updates,
access to a wide range of Microsoft TV solution providers, discounts on
training events for tool developers, co-marketing opportunities with
Microsoft and a Tools Developer Kit.
The tools providers support the Microsoft TV platform by offering content
creators the ability to easily generate interactive programming that is
compliant with interactive programming standards.
About the Microsoft TV Platform
The Microsoft TV platform is a standards-based, client and server software
family that enables network operators and their partners to deliver the most
compelling interactive TV services to consumers. The platform supports a
range of TV devices – from current and next-generation set-top boxes and
digital video recorders to integrated television sets, entertainment
appliances and other computing devices. Through the platform, network
operators and hardware providers can team up to offer consumers an
unparalleled range of services, from e-mail and Internet on TV to
interactive programming, electronic program guides and digital video
recording.
Microsoft TV also creates significant new economic opportunities for network
operators and the more than 1,000 companies worldwide who have chosen to
work with the platform to deliver or supply the services, programming,
hardware and software for the interactive TV industry. Microsoft TV supports
open standards and is backed by the technical expertise, support and broad
third-party developer community Microsoft is known for. It is an integral
part of the Microsoft .NET vision of empowering people through great
software – any time, any place and on any device. More information about the
Microsoft TV platform can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/tv/.
Weiterführende Links:
- http://www.microsoft.com/tv/
