TELUS today launched a new TELUS TV service, powered by Microsoft Mediaroom, with events in Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary. With their new service, TELUS is set to bring some exciting improvements to the TV viewing experience for their customers. Among the features that customers can enjoy with the new TELUS TV service are:

• PVR Anywhere, which enables users to record a show, or an entire series, on any connected television and watch it on any other connected television in any room in the house (up to 6 TVs in the home can be connected to TELUS TV).
• The ability to record up to three shows simultaneously from any room.
• High recording capacity – 115 hours of High Definition (HD) or 295 hours of Standard Definition programming.
• The ability to rapidly surf channels with Instant Channel Change.

If you’re a fan of Mediaroom, especially if you’re in Canada, you’ll want to check out the TELUS site for full details of the news.

https://about.telus.com/cgi-bin/media_news_viewer.cgi?news_id=1180&mode=2

 by Jonathan Usher

That means you’ll be able to use your Xbox 360 to not only enjoy great games, but also experience the best in U-verse TV. On Xbox, AT&T U-verse customers will be able to get live and on-demand programming, including HD and Total Home DVR content, and the unique interactive apps and features.

by Scott Rowe

Mediaroom 2.0 enables TV service operators to deploy the Mediaroom platform as an ‘entertainment cloud,’ bringing their premium TV services to more subscribers than ever before, across more screens, with more content. This will allow our operator customers to expand the reach and scope of their TV services with a single platform. The many enhancements in Mediaroom 2.0 include:

More screens – Mediaroom 2.0 enables TV/video services to be enjoyed on a range of screens, including the TV via set top box, Xbox 360, Windows 7 PCs via Windows Media Center, popular Web browsers for Windows PCs and Macs, and in the future on compatible smartphones.

More customers – TV/video services powered by Mediaroom 2.0 can be delivered to any broadband consumer, not just to customers on a managed-QoS IPTV network. Support for key technologies such as IIS Smooth Streaming and Silverlight enables the delivery of the best possible viewing experience over varying network capabilities and conditions.

More content – With Mediaroom 2.0, operators can bring together live and on demand TV with externally hosted content from Internet TV partners and other Internet-based content sources, all in one place with a consistent, easy to use interface. A new, highly visual, on-demand storefront is designed to drive subscriber usage and satisfaction by providing a richly visual browsing, discovery and playback experience. Support for playback of content protected with PlayReady, Microsoft’s advanced content access and protection technology, creates further opportunity for content to be delivered and the consumer experience to be monetized by the operator.

See the Mediaroom 2.0 press release here.

If you are at the show, stop by and visit us at Booth 7144.

For more information about Microsoft at CES visit the Microsoft News Center.

by Scott Rowe

Casa TV for Xbox 360 gives customers access all their live Casa TV channels and on-demand programming via their Xbox 360. Customers will also be able access recorded shows stored on their set-top box and set recordings via their Xbox 360 console. They will even be able to start watching a recorded TV show in one room, pause the action and finish watching on another TV connected to their Xbox 360.

Casa TV for Xbox 360 also integrates with Xbox LIVE enabling users to have a live voice chat with one of their Xbox LIVE buddies while watching TV, or receive an invitation to play a game while watching a television show, accept the invitation, and launch into the Xbox game.

The service will be available to new and existing Vodafone Casa TV subscribers. Customers will be able to choose to get an Xbox 360 as part of their subscription package or install the Casa TV software on an existing Xbox 360 console. The software is available for a stand-alone price of €9.90.

Vodafone Casa TV, which was launched in July 2009, offers over 100 television channels, including all the most popular channels and favourite premium channels in Portugal. It also offers an extensive on-demand library with Videoclub offering hundreds of films from the leading studios and independent producers, including box office hits and films in High Definition (HD), as well as a catch-up TV service, ‘Passou na TV’.

The Vodafone Casa TV service is based on Microsoft Mediaroom and was implemented and customised for Vodafone Portugal by Alcatel-Lucent.

Ted Malone, senior director of product management in the TV, Video & Music business at Microsoft comments, “We’re pleased to be partnering with Vodafone to offer Microsoft Mediaroom for Xbox 360 to their Casa TV subscribers.  Casa TV for Xbox 360 will allow consumers to use their Xbox 360 as both a fully-functional Xbox 360 gaming console and a high definition digital set-top box.  In a highly competitive market, delivering a branded TV experience to the screens and devices consumers use the most gives our Mediaroom customers a real competitive advantage.”

For more information about Casa TV visit https://www.vodafone.pt/main/Particulares/vodafonecasa/IPTV/

by Scott Rowe

Called “connected video recorder” it means Entertain customers can record on one DVR and access and watch recordings on any other screen in the house.  Customers can even start watching a recorded show on one screen and then finish off watching on another, picking up the action just where they left off.

The Anywhere feature has proved a big success at at&t where it is marketed as Total Home DVR.

See here for more details from Deutsche Telekom.

by Scott Rowe

Over the same period service revenue is expected to grow from US$12 billion to US$38 billion.

Information about the IPTV Global Forecast: 2009 to 2013 (November 2009) report is available at here.

by Scott Rowe

Citing the recent launch of MTS Ultimate TV, Frost & Sullivan lauded MTS Allstream's use of innovation and competitive intelligence to provide superior value, drive customer satisfaction and gain market share.

MTS Ultimate TV service offers Whole Home PVR functionality capable of recording up to three programs at the same time and playing back programs from any connected television in a subscriber's home.

See MTS Allstream release here.

by Scott Rowe

by Scott Rowe

Bluewin TV has a new name: Swisscom TV. According to the company the product name change is part of a strengthening of the Swisscom umbrella brand which took place in 2008. Three years after its launch, Swisscom TV has really caught on in the mass market. Over 200,000 customers use the service which offers 140 channels and 130 radio stations including over 1,000 online stations.

For full details see Swiscom press release here.

by Scott Rowe

Screen Digest recently compared the VoD revenues of the top 5 Mediaroom customers with the incumbent pay TV competitor in their market. Screen Digest found that Mediaroom services generated VoD average revenue per user (ARPUs) that were on average 3x higher.

Richard Broughton, Senior Analyst at Screen Digest said: “In a crowded pay TV market what sets Mediaroom services apart from many traditional TV services is their ability to offer extensive real-time VoD libraries. Mediaroom also allows service providers to market and promote their libraries through subscription VoD packages, in-guide promotions and custom built VoD portal applications.”

Click here for more details.

by Scott Rowe