|
4 September, 2003
Sydney, Australia - September 4, 2003 - Leading Australian satellite television provider AUSTAR today announced that it has selected itv|world’s groundbreaking In|Orbit Validate technology to automate the testing of its interactive TV (iTV) applications which will reduce costs and improve the quality and productivity of its iTV operations.
AUSTAR and digital media technology and services company itv|world jointly developed the In|Orbit Validate product, which provides a flexible testing system specifically designed for iTV middleware and iTV application conformance testing.
itv|world’s CTO Patrik Molander said, “In|Orbit Validate is a world-first technology, providing a genuine solution for iTV operators looking to reduce the manual effort and costs of iTV application testing procedures.”
”Until now, AUSTAR’S interactive testing has been performed manually using a detailed test script and a remote control - a process still in use by many interactive television operators around the world. In|Orbit Validate’s innovative technology has been designed to automate this process, ensuring quality of service when upgrading set top box middleware versions in iTV receivers as well as when launching new interactive services - resulting in real productivity gains and a significant shortening of the time to market when launching new iTV applications and services,” Mr Molander said.
AUSTAR’s iTV Technology Manager, Ian Harris, said, “The new In|Orbit Validate technology is a major improvement to the monitoring and testing of AUSTAR’s interactive products. It enables us to further improve the quality and reliability of our iTV service, which provides substantial benefits both to AUSTAR and to our iTV content providers.”
“This latest technological development once again shows that AUSTAR continues to lead the Australian market in iTV. After pioneering iTV in this country, we now have over 1 million iTV enabled customers across regional Australia. We are proud to introduce this ground-breaking technology to Australia and the Asia Pacific region,” Mr Harris said.
In|Orbit Validate will replace several previous manual systems and will be incrementally applied to all interactive applications being broadcast by AUSTAR.
Background information for editors attached
About In|Orbit
The full In|Orbit product suite from itv|world comprises a comprehensive set of tools for network operators and broadcasters offering interactive services. In|Orbit products provide automation, scheduling, synchronisation, content management and workflow support for interactive play-out. In addition, In|Orbit provides tools for automating middleware and application conformance testing as well as a content management system tailor-made for interactive broadcast purposes. itv|world has licensed the In|Orbit technology to BBC Broadcast for managing the delivery of BBC’s interactive services across multiple channels on satellite, terrestrial and cable platforms in the UK, and to the Australian pay-TV operator AUSTAR, where it is used for middleware and application conformance testing.
About AUSTAR
AUSTAR is Australia's premier subscription television provider in regional and rural Australia and capital cities Hobart and Darwin. Australia's second largest subscription TV provider, AUSTAR has over 400,000 homes connected in its service area of 2.3 million homes, delivering a world of entertainment and information. AUSTAR provides a comprehensive range of premium TV programming plus narrowband Internet services and mobile telephony using a combination of sophisticated satellite, wireless and cable technologies. AUSTAR’S Interactive Services are available to subscribers to the AUSTAR TV Service. AUSTAR is dedicated to bringing quality entertainment and information to Australian regional and rural communities. With an intimate understanding of the regions in which it operates, AUSTAR is committed to superior customer service and sophisticated technology.
About itv|world
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia and Gothenburg, Sweden, itv|world has established itself as one of the industry’s leading interactive media software companies, specialising in innovative software solutions for broadcasters, media companies and network operators wishing to generate revenues from the delivery of interactive content and services. Drawing upon the international expertise of a development team of senior software engineers and managers, itv|world’s solutions are developed in consultation with network operators and broadcasters around the globe. In October 2002, the world's leading broadcaster of interactive services, UK's BBC, chose itv|world's scheduling and automation product In|Orbit as a step towards minimising operational costs and increasing productivity in the play-out of interactive services. For further information please visit: www.itvworld.com .
++ For further information or visuals please contact:
itv|world
Charlotte Faunce - Media Relations
Phone: + 61 2 9288 4711
Mobile: +61 407 009217
charlotte.faunce@itvworld.com
AUSTAR
Emma Foster
Corporate Affairs Manager
Phone: +61 2 9295 0139
efoster@austar.com.au
| 
