NTT Cyber Communications Laboratory Group, a research division of Japan’s largest telecommunications operator, and Expway, a provider of Electronic Content Guides, said that Plala Networks, an IPTV service provider in Japan, has deployed its fourth Media IPTV service using a technology jointly developed by NTT Cyber Labs and Expway for its Electronic Program Guide (EPG).
The innovative metadata system is based on the XML format, allowing enhanced description of content for easy access, navigation and viewing. Expway brought NTT its expertise in the management of metadata and efficient compression of EPG content using the BiM format. The system improves EPG data transmission and makes efficient use of network bandwidth.
Plala Networks said the metadata system allowed it to adopt a new graphic user interface using metadata instead of the conventional interface using HTML and Javascript languages. One of the advantages is the greatly improved user-interface of the deployed set-top box.
For more information, visit www.ntt.co.jp/ and www.ntt.co.jp/cclab/e/contact/.
