April 2009

Apr

29

Mobile App

Virgin Media are shaping the Connected Home. With high speed broadband, high definition TV and integrated applications for mobile, it’s all starting to come together.

Pushbutton was asked to design and prototype a companion app for Virgin’s new VPlayer system (a next generation EPG, and prototype that Pushbutton built earlier!), to be delivered to the mobile platform via Flash Lite.

The mock-up shows how you would be able to take your TV with you, wherever you go. Live TV, PVR recordings from your set top box, and remote record functionality would all be available on the bus, in the pub or at the football. Don’t like watching your team being beaten? Now you can catch up on The Apprentice instead.

Live and prerecorded TV

The prototype app provides a branded portal through which you can access any of Virgin’s content, wherever you are. A searchable, mobile focussed EPG lets you find exactly what you want, and stream it directly to your phone. Not only that, but you can also browse your PVR content and watch snippets of what you’ve recorded, to whet your appetite for when you get home.

Remote Record

Thanks to the app’s Remote Record features, you would never have to miss a programme again. Search EPG listings and select a programme to record, and your set top box will be automatically updated with your choices. Couple this with the ability to watch live TV on your phone, and the prototype shows how in the future you could enjoy the best of both worlds: watch it now on the small screen, or later on the big screen at home.

Third Party Extensibility

In order to allow for future expansion of the app, and also potential sponsorship and revenue streams, we provided an area for third party widgets to be added as necessary. This might be an opportunity for third parties, essentially creating a second tier platform by which Virgin Media would be able to give other brands a presence on a user’s mobile.

Flash Lite

To get the prototype off the ground as quickly as possible, we chose a custom build of Flash Lite to develop with. This means that the prototype can be run either on a phone, or on a Mac/PC, to make demoing it as easy as possible. Several classes from the Pushbutton AS3 Library were re-written for Flash Lite AS2, to ensure the build could benefit from the experiences we had learned from other projects.

Apr

28

Disney 'Stickers' Game

Disney Channel UK’s interactive TV portal was enhanced today by the addition of an innovative ‘Stickers’ game, the first game that Pushbutton have supplied for this channel.

Viewers who play Stickers can take snapshots of their favourite Disney Channel shows, and decorate them with a selection of virtual stickers, some of which are animated.

The game works with users in several ways… It can act as a simple ‘snacking’ game experience, for viewers who are waiting for their favourite show to come on, or it can provide an novel and rich way for viewers to interact with the characters, and with the Disney Channel brand as a whole.

The application was rapidly developed by Pushbutton using their proven OpenTV SDK code libraries. The broadcast content is carefully structured to facilitate inclusion of fresh stickers, themed by season or to tie in with new Disney Channel show launches; this means the service can be kept fresh and interesting, and also gives the channel operator plenty of opportunities to get across their brand or marketing messages.

Pushbutton’s Development Director, James Cumberbatch, said “We’re really pleased with the way this product turned out; above all, the game is great fun to play with! We’re sure it’ll be a great hit with viewers”.

To see the game, visit the Disney Channel portal application by pressing red on Disney Channel or Disney Channel +1

Apr

28

Enhanced TV and Sponsorship

Pushbutton has designed and built a wide range of interactive television services for ITV including ‘red button’ apps for leading shows like Coronation Street, The X Factor, and I’m A Celebrity…. Get Me Out of Here!

Having proved itself with ‘red button’ enhancement for hit shows I’m A Celebrity… and The X Factor, ITV selected Pushbutton to develop a raft of interactive services for Coronation Street.

Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “We are proud of the Coronation Street interactive zone. Winning and delivering this project for the UK’s favourite TV programme is a feather in Pushbutton’s cap”.

“The experience of working with ITV on these iconic shows has given Pushbutton a unique insight into how interactively enhanced television can deliver viewer benefits and commercial rewards for sponsors,” added Byrne.

The Corrie application enables fans to read ‘Catch-up’ notes on episodes they may have missed, get a sneak preview of this week’s new episodes, and get all the news and gossip from the studios.

And for the first time ever on ITV, Corrie fans will be able to watch alternative video streams of Corrie content via the red button.

Menu screens and graphics for the mobile services were also created by Pushbutton. The ITV Mobile portal is built and maintained by Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) and Refresh Mobile.

There will also be exclusive interviews with the cast, montages of Corrie history and the opportunity to enter exclusive competitions to win Corrie merchandise or visit the set.

When Pushbutton’s Coronation Street interactive service was launched in 2005, ITV’s Jane Marshall, Commercial Development Director for ITV Consumer said:

“Coronation Street is Britain’s best loved and most popular TV programme and we’re delighted to be launching these exciting new services. With Corrie joining I’m A Celebrity… and The X Factor, ITV’s mobile, online and red-button services give viewers the best interactive entertainment offered by any broadcaster.”

Apr

28

Interactive Portal

Disney Channel UK has launched an ambitious new interactive service for viewers watching on the Sky digital satellite service, designed and built by Pushbutton, the interactive television specialists.

The service is accessed via the red or text buttons, and offers a rich menu of content and games based around the channel’s most popular shows.

The new service is designed to be ‘ultra lite’ in terms of its bandwidth overhead – yet it loads fast, is highly performant, and has much more content than the old service.

The main viewer benefits are a package of enhanced TV content services – such as quick access Disney channel programme listings, Quizzes, free to play games, star profiles, news updates, and dedicated content hubs for key Disney Channel franchises such as Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Witches of Waverly Place, Camp Rock and High School Musical.

A ’shout out’ service enables viewers to send messages to their friends that will appear in a ticker on the live channel. The shout out service works via a dedicated section on the Disney website.

Following on from the successful launch of the portal, Pushbutton was commissioned to enhance the service further with the addition of two ‘free to play’ video games. ‘Cows Come Home’ is a Phineas and Ferb game in which the boys have to herd cattle into pens, and ‘Stickers’ offers snapshot fun in which viewers can take pics of Disney channel stars from live shows and then customise them with fun, animated stickers.

To manage the content on the red button service, Pushbutton provided Disney with a sophisticated and custom built content management system (CMS) that has proven to be a robust and flexible tool for updating the service.

Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said ”That a global media giant like Disney has placed its faith in Pushbutton is a tremendous endorsement for the company – and it is a trust that we believe we have more than paid back with the quality of the service we have designed and built. Delivered on time, on budget, to a bespoke design agreed with the client – we are extremely proud of the work we have done for Disney.”

”It sailed through Sky’s exacting SSSL testing procedure, achieving a first time pass, which again given the complexity of the project is a huge compliment to the expertise and quality of the Pushbutton team,” added Byrne.

Apr

28

Juicy Jackpot Slots

Pushbutton worked closely with Sky to create a fun slots game which is now live as part of the Sky Vegas Interactive service.

Available 24/7 on the BSkyB digital satellite platform, the new game allows users to stake from as little as 20 pence per spin for the chance to win a substantial progressive jackpot prize, as well as a range of payouts based on the traditional single-line fruit machine format.

For players who want to continue to watch television while they play Juicy Jackpot the game offers a picture-in-picture mode. The rich feature set and vibrant animated UI, presented particular technical challenges for the development team at Pushbutton.

James Cumberbatch, Pushbutton’s Development Director, commented “Our team worked closely with designers and technical staff at Sky over a long period to achieve this great-looking result. We’ve managed to squeeze what are effectively two games – one full-screen and one picture-in-picture, into the bandwidth often allocated for just one.”

Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, added “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved with the Juicy Jackpot 2 service, and we’re excited to be working on more of these games with Sky through 2008 and beyond.”

Last year Pushbutton helped Sky to launch an interactive TV Guide and reminders service targetted at users without PVR set-top boxes.