With multiplatform iTV gaining ever momentum in the U.S. and abroad, UK-based Softel (www.softelgroup.com) said that its MediaSphere playout systems are deployed by a wide variety of operators and programmers that are now streaming interactive TV applications to more than 50 million households every week. MediaSphere is an iTV platform that helps developers, creative agencies, operators and programmers create, test and demonstrate interactive apps, then verify them in iTV infrastructures, as well as stream them to viewers' directly.
Among the users of MediaSphere are the BBC, Comcast Entertainment, ESPN, MTV, Shaw Cable, Showtime, Starz, Technicolor, Time Warner Cable and Turner Broadcasting.
The company said that MediaSphere lets developers create and validate their apps with a headend simulation environment that drives real STBs. It also facilitates the demonstration of new applications and allows creative agencies to test their products in focus groups where participants can use remote controllers.
MediaSphere provides the tools for verifying that applications correctly interact with the various elements of the interactive infrastructure before deployment. When verification is complete, operators and programmers can use MediaSphere to deploy apps, streaming interactivity over multiple platforms and across a complete variety of middleware software modules, simplifying workflow and increasing viewers' reach.
