The first focus of the partnership will be integrating rtv EPG information into the television recommendation system developed by FOKUS. The partners will demonstrate standardised EPG data driving a personalised television schedule live at IFA 2007. rtv is published by DSV, Deutscher Supplement Verlag, part of arvato AG, which is wholly owned by Bertelsmann AG.
“With rtv, we welcome a partner to the Next Generation Media Lab whose extensive collection of current electronic information, including EPG data for more than 160 television channels, supplies the content our technical systems need to demonstrate their functionality,” said Dr Stefan Arbanowski. “With DSV and its subsidiary TVI, TV Information Services, we have also gained an innovative partner that has already carried out extensive preliminary work on personalising television content and information about that content.”
In the first step, the Next Generation Media Lab integrated available television-programme information, known as electronic programme guide data, into the FOKUS NextGenMedia Client. This IMS-based IPTV client runs on media PCs and set-top boxes, combines NGN, IPTV, and multimedia services, and acts as an IPTV terminal. It provides access to broadcast and telecommunications services, including conventional live television and interactive, personalised media.
“For us as a content provider, the FOKUS Next Generation Media Lab offers an ideal environment in which to tailor our services closely to viewers’ and users’ preferences,” said Jan Reichold, responsible for development and technology at TVI. “The recommendation system developed here, based both on knowledge of individual interests and on upcoming content, opens new routes to personalised television and even a personal electronic television magazine.”
Unlike existing EPG and IPTV systems that lack freely available interfaces, FOKUS is using international IPTV standards under development by ETSI, DVB, and ITU-T. A joint focus is the Broadband Content Guide, or BCG, an extension of the current EPG that was still undergoing standardisation.
