After conducting a trial of the tool with Japanese operator Jupiter Telecommunications (J:Com), Concurrent is now making its HTML-based VOD application-authoring platform commercially available.
Concurrent’s MediaHawk Prism authoring platform leverages commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Web-development technologies and standards. It is hosted on a Microsoft.NET Web server.
Operators can develop pages that could be used to promote time-shifted TV and network DVR content. Web pages are accessed over the DOCSIS network via a commercially available Web browser stored on the set-top box.
With MH Prism, MSOs (or third-party developers) may create custom, traditional VOD menu navigation including category-based menu navigation, jacket art display of VOD titles and launch of VOD titles and previews. It can allow the incorporation of scaled video in customer interfaces, and is capable of supporting marketing packages and special promotions.
“As the volume of on-demand content continues to explode, advanced navigation technologies are needed to connect the consumer with the programming they desire,” stated Michael Pasquinilli, vice president of engineering, On-Demand, Concurrent. “MH Prism represents the next-generation of VOD navigation application development, targeting a new generation of IPTV, OCAP and DOCSIS enabled set-top boxes.”
