March 25, 2011

IP&TV World Forum success for Pushbutton

Filed under: Blog, Lead — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Eugene @ 3:38 pm

Pushbutton at the IP&TV World Forum 2011

Members of the Pushbutton team spent three days from the 22nd March at the IP&TV World Forum showing new applications and showcasing recent work for LOVEFiLM, BBC iPlayer and Grooveshark.

It’s been a fantastic week in which Pushbutton clearly stood out from the IPTV crowd in both design capabilities and technological innovation in UI and TV apps.

Hundreds of people visited the stand from international Telco company CEO’s to interested members of the press who’d heard about the incredible demos.  Word quickly spread bringing more visitors right to the last minute when other stands were packing up.

Paula Byrne, Managing Director, and James Cumberbatch, Director of Interactive Television and CTO, had the chance to chat face-to-face with hundreds of potential clients and possible partnerships – watch this space!

Alan Weinkrantz  from Everywire was there to interview Paula and film a live demonstration of the pbRemote…

“Someone has finally figured out a much better way to reinvent the traditional remote control. If you’re an operator, get Pushbutton on your radar.” Alan Weinkrantz

March 21, 2011

pbTV: Companion App

Filed under: Applications, Products — Tags: , , , , , , , — Eugene @ 6:10 pm

pbTV is a white-label companion application for mobile devices that enhances the IPTV viewing experience. It is aimed at Telcos and media operators who wish to build a strong brand and interactive presence on the mobile device of choice that their subscribers. It offers your subscribers an attractive new way to discover and interact with ALL your content in a single place – whether it’s on now, on later, on-demand or on their PVR.

So much more than an EPG, pbTV lets users record, purchase, rate and share content, at home or on the move.

Television no longer has our full attention: viewers increasingly have one eye on other devices like mobile phones, laptops and tablets. Turn this to your advantage with pbTV

Get Slick – Free your content from the constraints of the TV remote and on-screen EPG. Exploit the speed and stylish user experience of today’s hottest devices to present your content to its best advantage. Build a reputation for excellence and innovation.

Add Value –Give your subscribers the freedom to browse and interact with your content from the device of their choice, wherever they go. And when they come home, the same application can become the controller for their STB.

Get Personal – Give every member of your subscriber’s household their own pbTV login, allowing them to create their own favourites, access sharing features and see personalised recommendations.

Be Flexible – pbTV’s modular approach allows you to pick and choose the functionality that best meets your subscribers’ needs.
Discover Content – Find the content you want in the way you want:

Key Features

  • See what’s on each channel right now
  • Browse a 7-day schedule to see what’s coming up
  • Find your favourite shows in an A-Z listing covering all channels
  • Browse content by genre
  • See what’s hot right now in “most watched” and “highest rated” listings

Take Control – Tune your STB to your chosen channel with a single tap (at home use only).

Share Content – When a show’s worth shouting about, share that thought with the world: update your favourite social networks direct from the pbTV app.

Record and Purchase – Add programmes and series to your PVR recording schedule, even when you’re away from home. Or purchase On-Demand content for viewing on your STB.

Personalise – Add programmes to your personal Favourites list for easy access and to enhance your recommendations.

Enhanced Metadata – pbTV can be integrated with IMDB to offer rich programme information including extended synopsis or cast and crew credits.

Smart Recommendations – pbTV can be integrated with a recommendation engine to provide more targeted content suggestions.

TV Controls – Add Pushbutton’s pbRemote product as a module within your pbTV application to support full remote-control functionality.

Advertising – pbTV has been designed to support in-application banner advertising. You can choose which (if any) sections feature advertising.
Technical Specifications:
pbTV uses the Microsoft Mediaroom Companion APIs and associated authentication and encryption mechanisms. STB client version 2.0.3.2 or above is therefore required.

To use channel-changing and remote control functionality, the STB and companion device must be connected to the same LAN Network. The companion device may be connected to the network by wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi.

For more information on pbTV, contact: sales@pushbutton.tv

Download the product brochure

pbRemote

Filed under: Applications, Featured, Lead, Products — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Eugene @ 4:18 pm

pbRemote is a white-label application that turns popular portable devices into a remote control for your IPTV service. It’s ready to deploy now on iPad, iPhone and Windows Phone 7 for use with Microsoft Mediaroom STBs.

Key Features

Channel Listings – pbRemote accesses the channel listing from your STB and displays the details on your device. Browse the list and view details of the current programme on each channel. Tap “watch now” to tune the STB to the relevant channel.

PVR Control – Use stop/pause, play, fast-forward and rewind buttons on the application to control the playback of items that have been recorded on the STB.

TV Controls – Use dedicated buttons to adjust the volume, mute/unmute the audio, control closed captions, access the help menu and switch the STB power on or off.

Favourites – Add channels to your personal Favourites list with a single tap.

Menu Functions – Use the up, down, left, right, exit and OK buttons to display and navigate through the on-screen TV Guide and STB menu, view the list of scheduled recordings and select recordings for playback on the TV screen.

Technical Specification

pbRemote uses the Microsoft Mediaroom Companion APIs and associated authentication and encryption mechanisms. STB client version 2.0.3.2 or above is therefore required.

Companion application pairing requires the companion device and the STB to be connected to the same LAN Network. The companion device may be connected to the network by wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi.

pbRemote has been tested on the 2.0.3.2 Xbox client, the Cisco 430, Motorola VIP 1200, the Motorola VIP 216 and other Microsoft Mediaroom-compliant STBs. The remote control companion application has been tested with various routers including Actiontech and Linksys products.

pbRemote will be rolled-out to other devices including Microsoft Slate and Android devices in the coming months

For more information on pbRemote, contact: sales@pushbutton.tv

Download the product brochure

What Everywire.com had to say… http://bit.ly/fqzHps

March 16, 2011

Pushbutton delivers Oregan browser version of LOVEFiLM’s Watch Online service

Filed under: 2011 archive, Press — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Eugene @ 1:19 pm

On the 14th March  LOVEFiLM, Europe’s largest subscription service, streaming movies and TV episodes over the internet and sending DVDs by post launched its Watch Online service on Oregan Networks’ Onyx media browser.

Pushbutton worked closely with LOVEFiLM on the interface design, integration of the front end with LOVEFiLM API’s and back end systems, and with the Widevine digital rights management (DRM) platform.  LOVEFiLM announced the appointment of Pushbutton as its “official digital partner” in November, 2010.

Pushbutton’s Head of Interactive Television and CTO, James Cumberbatch, said “The solution made use of Pushbutton’s Calcium Framework. This allowed us to easily port the Watch Online  service to a new platform and integrate tightly with the Widevine playback component.”

The launch of the Watch Online service on Oregan Neworks’ Onyx media browser further increases LOVEFiLM’s platform capability to address a broader cross section of internet-connected television and set-top boxes.

March 14, 2011

pbRemote powers IP&TV World Forum demos on Pushbutton stand

Filed under: 2011 archive, Blog, News, Press — Eugene @ 12:05 pm

Pushbutton will use its own pbRemote product to power demos on its stand at IP&TV World Forum in Olympia, London, next week.

Team members will be holding iPads loaded with the pbRemote app. They will use pbRemote to select demos and bring them up on our brand new, super slim, Samsung LED televisions.

pbRemote is not just another TV-related app. It has been built from the ground up to sync directly with Mediaroom-based STBs. – and can therefore offer the full range of remote commands from a range of mobile devices including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. It offers a full palette of remote commands including pause live TV, record, volume, change channel, and add to favourites.

If you are attending the show, come and see us at stand number 131 and ask for a demo. We want you to see for yourself how cool pbRemote is – and we also want you to be impressed by the demos we select for you to see using it.

In addition to pbRemote, we’ll also showcase pbTV – a full blooded companion app designed to run on iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices. Like pbRemote, pbtv is designed to sync with Mediaroom based STBs and is a  ‘white label’ solution that enables operators to add their own branding and unique features.

The Pushbutton stand will also showcase recent client work – including LOVEFiLM for SONY PlayStation®3 and BBC iPlayer for BT Vision.

Commenting on pbRemote, Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “All platform operators need a companion app solution. The good thing about Pushbutton’s offering is that pbRemote is ready to deploy NOW – and it enables the operator to make that land grab in the minds of their subscribers.”

pbRemote from Pushbutton - virtual remote

March 11, 2011

Pushbutton designs and builds new game for Camelot

Filed under: Blog, News — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Eugene @ 12:15 pm

Camelot have launched a new 3D game designed and built by Pushbutton called ‘Treasures of the Deep’ to join its growing portfolio of 3D ‘Instant Win’ titles. Treasures of the Deep costs £2 to play, and offers the chance to win a £60,000 prize plus a range of smaller cash prizes and free goes.

The game is a submarine-based under sea adventure. It is visually delightful with sunbeams piercing the blue ocean and hitting the seabed. A particle engine was used to simulate the action of shoals of fish swimming in formation just above the ocean floor. The aim of the game is to collect the treasure scattered in chests sitting on the seabed. The player steers the submarine by selecting flashing dots on a sonar-like treasure finding device.

Mini games associated with the main adventure, allow the chance of winning additional treasure and more air to replenish the sub’s tanks and continue the game. Collected treasure is displayed in a prize table beside the main action screen, so that players can see at all times how close they are to winning a cash prize.

Pushbutton Managing Director, Paula Byrne, said “I am extremely proud of ‘Treasures of the Deep’. It looks stunning and demonstrates how the Pushbutton team really get what works best in a prize-driven gaming environment.”

Treasures of the Deep for Camelot

March 7, 2011

Pushbutton to unveil ‘white label’ products at IP&TV World Forum

Filed under: Blog, News — Tags: , , , , — Eugene @ 3:40 pm

Pushbutton will be exhibiting at the IP&TV World Forum from the 22nd– 24th March, at Olympia in London. This major conference and exhibition brings together industry professionals in connected and IP-powered television from all over the world.

The Pushbutton team will show new interactive products that have just been released from our research labs, and are now being offered as ‘white label’ products for IPTV operators and broadcasters to offer on their platforms now.

In addition to our new ‘white label’ product offering, the stand will showcase some recent examples of high profile client work  – including LOVEFiLM running on multiple devices, BBC iPlayer for BT Vision, and a live demonstration of pbRemote as an iPad-based selection tool for our show demos.

You’ll find us at stand 131, near Microsoft and Intel (see map).

Or to book an appointment in advance, email info@pushbutton.tv.

Pushbutton at IP&TV World Forum

© Pushbutton 2010