Interactive TV Award

If you swing past your local Best Buy and pick up one of those new-fangled LG Smart TVs, you'll find TouchTV's news-clip collection platform available inside [...] TouchTV also announced today an iPad app that'll let you grab those newsy clips from your Apple-based slate of choice. - Interactive TV Award

Google's Android will become the preeminent platform for developers over the next 12 months, edging ahead of Apple's iOS, according to a study by research firm Ovum. Nearly all developers, however, will support both platforms. - Interactive TV Award

[...] Hulu Chief Content Officer Andy Forssell told Bloomberg on Sunday it might raise money this year to spend more on shows you haven’t seen on TV yet. Hulu’s move toward original content follows similar announcements by Netflix, which is going to launch its first original series this spring as well... - Interactive TV Award

MobiTV and Deutsche Telekom are partnering to develop a converged media platform that will enable the delivery of content across multiple platforms including mobile phones, tablets, PCs, Internet TVs and set-top boxes (STB). Deutsche Telekom will integrate MobiTV’s TV Everywhere solution to support the commercial release of its converged media services. - Interactive TV Award

Netflix has launched its subscription VOD service in the UK and Ireland, offering instant and unlimited access to a broad range of films and TV programmes... - Interactive TV Award

Google TV-powered devices for consumers will be around many places at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Google TV partners include CE manufacturers LG, Samsung and Vizio, who join Sony with their own Google TV hardware. - Interactive TV Award

The latest innovation from Roku CEO Anthony Wood and his squad? After reducing the size of its players to a mere hockey puck, it has now managed to fit all the necessary hardware into this tiny dongle, that plugs into the HDMI port of MHL-compatible HDTVs. - Interactive TV Award

The Sling Media SDK is to be integrated into Broadcom’s set-top box system-on-a-chip platforms. It means the placeshifting technology will be made available to manufacturers of STBs and other consumer electronics devices outside that of Sling’s owners EchoStar. - Interactive TV Award

Dutch incumbent KPN has launched a live TV app for Android tablets offering a total of 20 live streaming channels. Live TV for iPhones and Android smart phones is due for release early next year. - Interactive TV Award

Apple is reportedly working on a television that will incorporate voice commands and wireless streaming. - Interactive TV Award

Veteran technology journalist, SIMON APPLEBAUM, recorded an episode of his radio show, "Tomorrow Will Be Televised," live at TVOT NYC Intensive 2011. A replay of the episode--which features interviews with three high-profile CEO's from the interactive TV space... - Interactive TV Award

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt caused some raised eyebrows last week when he claimed that by next summer “the majority of the televisions you see in stores” will come with Google TV. Few took his claim seriously, some even called him insane. It’s easy to see why people wouldn’t believe Schmidt. After all, Google TV’s first iteration tanked miserably. But I’m gonna come out the lone dissenter here and say: Schmidt’s got it right... - Interactive TV Award

Orange France has confirmed that it will be enabling subscribers of its IPTV service 'Orange TV' that own an Xbox 360 to receive the TV service on their games console from spring 2012. - Interactive TV Award

We don't know what the folks at Sling have in store for CES 2012 but they are finally checking items off of last years list, including announcing the launch of SlingPlayer for Google TV... - Interactive TV Award

Dutch cable operator Ziggo has activated its TV app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, enabling subscribers to watch live streams of the main 10 Dutch TV channels. The functionality is already available for iPads. - Interactive TV Award

Apple has emerged as the leading player in the rapidly growing connected TV player market, according to the latest research from the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices service. According to the report, “Connected TV Players: Another Battlefield in the Smart TV War,” global sales of connected TV players—also known as video streaming or internet TV set-top-boxes—will more than double in 2011, compared to 2010. Strategy Analytics projects that the market will reach almost 12 million units globally this year, with Apple alone predicted to sell nearly four million devices. - Interactive TV Award

New TV and entertainment services start rolling out to the MS console... - Interactive TV Award

The media world is quickly changing, being driven by a vast number of new devices from which viewers can access content and the ease of finding content on-demand. Big media companies can no longer rely solely on the strength of their content to win against alternative viewing options: They’re also being forced to be more thoughtful about distribution and the need to be on as many platforms as possible... - Interactive TV Award

Australian telco Telstra is preparing to launch a subscription-based, all-you-can-eat video service next year, along with an innovative new service that will stream video games to its T-Box set-top box, according to reports in The Australian. - Interactive TV Award

German internet users are viewing an average of eight videos a day for 50 minutes, according to the high-tech industry association Bitkom. - Interactive TV Award

Al Jazeera English has unveiled its presence on both Google TV and Google Chrome. Al Jazeera’s updated Google TV application allows users to read the latest news headlines and watch the latest Al Jazeera programmes in HD quality on their connected TV set. Rotating at the bottom of the screen are updates from the Al Jazeera twitter feed, providing convergence between catch-up services and real-time events. Future updates to the app will include a live stream of Al Jazeera’s coverage and additional social features. - Interactive TV Award

Thirty per cent of all televisions sold in France this year can be connected to the internet and the figure will grow to 100% by 2015. There is a need to look into new regulatory issues, according to a new report on connected TV published by the ministries of culture, industry and digital. - Interactive TV Award

Zattoo says it has completely reworked its Live TV Player, making it easier to register and more user friendly. - Interactive TV Award

Eurosport has launched an iPad and iPhone version of its Eurosport Player. The channel will also launch a catch-up TV service for platform operators. - Interactive TV Award

The next time you’re watching The Office on Hulu and wondering if that actor was in “that one movie,” you could find the answer without ever leaving the video-streaming service’s site. Hulu’s Face Match provides users real-time information about actors in select shows... - Interactive TV Award

The third annual Motorola Mobility Media Engagement Barometer has found that consumer hunger for social media connectivity and "anytime, anywhere" entertainment is driving the most dramatic industry convergence in the past 20 years and radically shifting the traditional TV viewing experience. - Interactive TV Award

The UltraViolet initiative, which provides a digital copy of a film for downloading or streaming on any Web-connected device when an eligible DVD or Blu-ray is bought, will make its debut in the UK on Boxing Day, according to the consortium behind the initiative. - Interactive TV Award

Michel Boyon, president of the French media authority CSA, has outlined the regulator’s view on the development of connected television services. - Interactive TV Award

Berlin-based social TV startup Tweek.tv is emerging from stealth mode Tuesday morning with an iPad-optimized web app that utilizes your Facebook social graph to recommend movies and TV shows you should watch... - Interactive TV Award

Microsoft will roll out an update to its Xbox Live platform on Tuesday, which will bring a host of new content to its users. While much of the new content comes from cable and IPTV providers and TV networks, the importance of the update is more in the blending of online and pay TV content, and the ability to surface it side-by-side... - Interactive TV Award