November 20, 2010

Pushbutton to open Canadian office

Filed under: 2010 archive, Press — Tags: , , , , , — Eugene @ 12:27 am

Pushbutton, the award winning interactive TV agency, headquartered in the UK, is opening an office in Canada. The plan was announced during the iTV TVOT Intensive conference in New York, this week.

The Canadian operation will be headed by Pushbutton’s latest recruit, Shane Wilson, who will also act as Director of Product Development, North America.

The news follows hot on the heels of major product announcements from the fast-growing agency, that last week unveiled two significant digital TV projects in Europe.

During November the company revealed that it is the development house behind the BBC’s iPlayer product that will shortly roll out on the BT Vision platform in the UK. It also announced its new role as Digital Partner for LOVEFiLM, Europe’s largest subscription service, streaming movies and TV episodes over the Internet and sending DVDs by post. This followed the launch of the LOVEFiLM service on Sony PlayStation 3, also developed by Pushbutton.

Commenting on the opening of Pushbutton’s Canadian office,  Paula Byrne, Managing Director said “Pushbutton has an outstanding track record over the last eight years in developing products and services for key content and technology clients around the world. 2011 will see us begin to launch our own IPTV and Connected Device products and services that play to our significant strengths in user interface design and application development. We are delighted to have someone of Shane’s calibre to help us in this task and look forward to accelerating our product development with him on board”.

Pushbutton Director of Interactive Development, James Cumberbatch added “This is a very exciting stage in the growth of Pushbutton. The establishment of a Canadian office and the appointment of an experienced IPTV expert as our Product Development Director positions us well to fully exploit the many opportunities in the market. Shane will be working closely with myself and the rest of the Pushbutton design and development teams to help us achieve our aggressive product development strategies in the world of Digital TV”.

Speaking about his new role, Shane Wilson said “This is the perfect time to join Pushbutton. I have followed the company and its success for a number of years and have a huge amount of respect for the team. Pushbutton’s Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV work is outstanding. Now that Canadian Service Providers from coast to coast have deployed Microsoft Mediaroom, there is a significant opportunity to deliver great IPTV apps in this territory and throughout the world”.

The opening of the Canadian office demonstrates Pushbutton’s commitment to the North American market. The company set up a US base on the West Coast in March 2010.

November 11, 2010

Pushbutton builds BBC iPlayer for BT Vision

Filed under: 2010 archive, Press — Tags: , , , , , , — Eugene @ 4:08 pm

The BBC chose Pushbutton as lead developer to build its popular video on demand service, iPlayer, to run on BT Vision.

The deployment taps Pushbutton’s Microsoft Mediaroom expertise on which BT Vision’s BBC iPlayer is based. In 2009 Pushbutton won an award from Microsoft for the quality of its Mediaroom design and build work.

In a release issued today BT wrote “BT Vision will introduce BBC iPlayer over the next five months, in a phased release starting in early December. All BT Vision customers will be able to access the service by April 2011.  Once complete, the service can be accessed by selecting BBC iPlayer from BT Vision’s programme menu.”

Marc Watson, chief executive of television and online services, BT Retail, said: “We are really excited to be partnering with the BBC to bring the BBC iPlayer service to BT Vision customers. The launch of BBC iPlayer on BT Vision adds to the vast range of quality entertainment already available to our customers.”

This will be the full BBC iPlayer package, offering almost all of the TV and radio programmes available online through a simple and intuitive BBC iPlayer-branded application, eventually replacing the BBC content on BT Vision’s existing 50-hour “TV Replay” package, which offers a small selection of BBC TV programmes.

Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “BBC iPlayer for BT Vision is the single most prestigious third party deployment of a Microsoft Mediaroom application anywhere in the world, and Pushbutton is immensely proud of the application we have created. It is both powerful and elegant, and provides a glimpse of the IP-powered television of the future.”

Daniel Danker, BBC General Manager for Programmes and On Demand, said:  “Licence-fee payers love the option of enjoying BBC iPlayer’s high-quality experience and vast choice of programmes on the living-room TV, and we’re delighted to be able to bring the service to BT Vision.”

November 10, 2010

LOVEFiLM appoints Pushbutton as digital partner

Filed under: 2010 archive, Press — Tags: , , , , , — Eugene @ 1:14 am

Today LOVEFiLM launches on PlayStation®3 (PS3™) through award-winning developer Pushbutton who have signed a significant agreement to partner with LOVEFiLM and act as an extension of the service’s internal development team.

LOVEFiLM, Europe’s largest subscription service, streaming movies and TV episodes over the Internet and sending DVDs by post, has entered into a long-term strategic partnership with Pushbutton to develop services for digital platforms which will be rolled out onto multiple devices. This will allow LOVEFiLM to rapidly develop the service’s multi-country, multi-territory and multi-product deployment.

The partnership will see LOVEFiLM further develop its interactive content applications, user interfaces and service guides to be playable on many new devices across new territories ensuring the largest possible audience for future use.

The PS3™ launch follows in the wake of successful deployment in March 2010 of the Sony Bravia and Blu-ray devices version, also developed by Pushbutton, which won the Best New Product of the Year at the International Business Awards.

Pushbutton is well known for its work with leading brands such as the BBC, ITV and Microsoft. Over the past four years they have developed a framework to facilitate development and expertise in the area of IPTV and connected device deployment including cable, satellite, Internet Connected TV’s, Games Consoles, Tablets and hand-held devices.

In addition to offering its 1.4 million members access to over 67,000 titles for rental, LOVEFiLM now offers thousands of films and TV shows available to ‘Watch Online’ via the LOVEFiLM Player and on connected devices including SONY BRAVIA, Samsung TVs and starting today the PlayStation®3.

LOVEFiLM Group Digital Officer, Lesley Mackenzie, said,

“Today’s annoucement will allow LOVEFiLM to build upon our leadership in launching compelling and ground-breaking video content on many different platforms. Our work with Pushbutton over the last 12 months has convinced us that they are the absolute best partner to work with as we accelerate our digital roll out plans internationally. Their ability to quickly get to grips with delivering to a diverse range of digital platfroms including consoles, IPTV and a multiplicity of connected TV and handheld devices is second to none. They were the obvious choice of partner in what is a very exciting period in the digital growth of LOVEFiLM.”

Managing Director of Push Button Ltd, Paula Byrne, said,

“Pushbutton is delighted to be chosen by LOVEFiLM as its digital partner and looks forward to bringing the LOVEFiLM service to a wide variety of digital devices. Helping big brands with ambitious digital rollout plans is what we do best. It plays to our strengths in designing and developing screen-based services that exploit the potential of a variety of devices and platforms in  the rapidly changing digital media landscape.”

PlayStation®3 App

Filed under: Featured, LOVEFiLM, Work — Tags: , , , , , , — Eugene @ 12:09 am

PS3™ gamers can now access the popular LOVEFiLM digital media rental service from their favourite games console.

Pushbutton has designed and built a LOVEFiLM app to enable PS3™ users to manage their account, view trailers, read reviews, select Blu-ray discs to be sent through the post and, best of all, have movies streamed directly over the Internet to their PS3™.

When a movie is played on the PS3™, users have all of the controls they would have with a DVD disc – pause, fast forward, stop, rewind, and play.

Using the PS3™ controller, you can search for your favourite actor, genre, or browse pre-selected LOVEFiLM collections. But it’s not all one way traffic. This is a fully interactive service, so when you have viewed the movie, reach for your DualShock and rate it.

At the heart of the LOVEFiLM PlayStation®3 service is Pushbutton’s powerful Calcium© engine. This core code enables Pushbutton to develop cross-platform applications, specifically tailored for the TV experience.

The service is now live and is FREE to existing LOVEFiLM customers.

Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “This is a slick and elegant app that PS3 players are going to love. It is also our second SONY app for LOVEFiLM, and we are immensely proud to be associated with these two household names in electronic media.”

© Pushbutton 2010