It’s only been a couple of weeks since the European Broadcasting Union demonstrated the potential of the HbbTV specification at IBC2009 in Amsterdam. But it won’t be long before Europeans start seeing the results – before Christmas according to some pundits. And once compatible devices are out in the market, they say the speed-to-market of applications developed for the platform will be incredibly short… as the industry looks to new models that embrace open API’s and SDK’s much like Apple has done with the iPhone and the Open Source movement online with enormous projects such as Sourceforge. With an HTML environment activated by a simple red button, in the same manner as a Web portal, the resulting content can be delivered over the IP stream.

How similar this will be to the UK’s Project Canvas initiative, announced in February 2009, remains to be seen – and it’s still not clear which platform will really rise to the top or if they will, in fact, reach compatibility at some point. But Project Canvas does bring together content from some of the UK’s biggest channels, including the BBC ITV, Channel 4 and Five. They are working on a more ambitious project to bring what is called catch-up TV and a variety of other programming and interactive services to television sets as soon as next year. But the move faces scrutiny as the BBC is a public broadcaster and particularly from Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV which is the leading player in the satellite TV in the UK. In a speech last month, Sky heir apparent, James Murdoch abolutely slammed the BBC as an”Orwellian” institution—a provider of “state-sponsored” news with “chilling ambitions”. There were whispers of an an even more hair-raising Microsoft and the Beeb hooking up at IBC, as the partnership was not ruled out the industry titans.

The great news is, for the web development community, HTML arriving on the TV scene will surely mean flocks of coders, designers and entreprenuers making a transition to the next stage in the evolution of TV 2.0 – which may very well provide the next tech bubble much needed in this recession.

And it looks to be levering as possibly not only an EU standard, but also a global one. Asian companies such as Korea’s Tru2way are already picking up on the new standard from the European ETSI and teaming up with global player Alticast. which offers HBBTV with PVR, a pluggable HTML Browser and Flash modules. And Korea’s Kaonmedia has hooked up with Founding member of the HBBTV initiative – ANT in their latest foray into the Asian Market. And Ant pitched a TV portal running a selection of HbbTV services based on the their Galio HbbTV Platform at IBC 2009.

During the IBC show in Amsterdam, Pleyo takes on Yahoo TV with its browser and widgets engine, which is compliant with W3C specifications and compatible with HbbTV (enabling access to interactive applications issued from broadcasting, Satellite or DTT, and broadband Internet networks), and a few other extensions for interactive TV based on the HbbTV standard. The Origyn Web Browser (OWB) is based on Apple’s Webkit and is more particularly designed for TV sets, TV decoders and other consumer electronic devices.

Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV or “HbbTV”, is THE major new pan-European initiative aimed at creating one standard for the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs and set-top boxes providing terrestrial TV players a platform to keep up with IPTV development in terms of Web and TV convergence.

HbbTV

Developed by industry leaders to effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of available content targeted at today’s end consumer, Hybrid Broadband‐Broadcast Services is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C.

The new technology is also called hybrid television because it uses over-the-air transmission as well as broadband connections and can do a lot. It’s terrestrial TV’s play at competing with rapidly emerging IPTV services which are more supple when it comes to Web/TV convergence.

What’s most brilliant about this technology, from the perspective of social media and other developers coming from the web is… it will open up possibilities of using open API’s and SDK’s which will allow independent developers to create customized applications. Imagine watching a sports program that ended with a page of links to similar, archived programs, or to the Web sites of online retailers selling tickets to the events.

HbbTV products and services provide the consumer with a seamless entertainment experience with the combined richness of broadcast and broadband. This entertainment experience will be delivered with the simplicity of one remote control, on one screen and with the ease of use of television that we are used to. Through the adoption of HbbTV, consumers will be able to access new services from entertainment providers such as broadcasters, online providers and CE manufactures – including catch-up TV, video on demand (VoD), interactive advertising, personalisation, voting, games and social networking as well as programme-related services such as digital text and EPGs.

So who else is tapping into HbbTV at the moment?

Within a few months, German viewers with specially equipped televisions will be able to watch public broadcasters’ Internet television services, which let users catch up on the shows of the previous week, whenever they choose, via their computers.

And the environment is less volatile in Germany, with the German-led hybrid TV project, which has support from several French broadcasters and a wide range of technology companies is seeking to create a set of hybrid TV standards for broadcasters and makers of TVs and set-top boxes. Broadcasters could then create and market their own hybrid services.

Luxembourg-based Inverto Digital Labs, which is now a supporting member of the new HbbTV standard, has stated that its retail high-definition hybrid set-top box platform Scena 6 will support it. They plan to enter the German market in Q1 2010 and will support a CE-HTML browser from French firm Pleyo, which is working together with Inverto to launch a rich selection of Web-based widgets on the box, such as news feeds, mailboxes, weather updates, Twitter, stocks and games. The platform will also offer a variety of hybrid applications such as ARD’s catch-up service for the ‘Tagesschau’ newscasts, access to ZDF’s ‘Mediathek’ library with hundreds of on-demand programmes, and access to RTL’s super-text service, which also combines streaming clips on-demand.

From the hardware side, Global company, STM Electronics, also recently announced they completed a Proof of Concept (POC) next-generation Set-Top Box (STB) solution at IBC 2009, capable of receiving interactive digital television services via broadcast or broadband Internet connections.

In the USA, there are only about 10 million Americans accessing Internet-delivered content on their TVs today, so who will be the one to bring it mainstream? Who knows… there seems to be no movement to a single standard and it looks like a race-off to see who will dominate the landscape.

Terrestrial, cable, satellite and IPTV providers are all innovating in a hurry to fend off web-based TV superstars such as Hulu before they proliferate. And Google with their Youtube seem to be nowhere in the picture, content to let others get in the early fray and perhaps step in later with a loud thump.

Yahoo Connected TV is a potential candidate and is driving hard and taking a hardware approach to widgetize TV via the next generation of TV’s themselves. It was only a month ago that Yahoo! and Intel announced the Widget Channel, the first in a series of initiatives that will bring what Yahoo! calls the “Cinematic Internet” even closer to living rooms across America. But there are plenty of questions which remain about how the service will operate and how successful it will be in reaching consumers.

However, the company managed to convince a number of consumer electronics heavyweights to include the widget service in their future products, announcing partnerships with companies including Samsung Electronics Co, LG Electronics Inc and Sony Corp. The service will be included in TVs being shipped in North America and to 10 countries in Europe.

And Verizon Communications has integrated special widget versions of Facebook and Twitter with its FiOS TV (fiberoptic) offering. The company has joined hands with social media innovators like Facebook Connect, Twitter, ESPN, Veoh, blip.tv, and Dailymotion to offer users a fresh Web experience. The services will allow FiOS TV subscribers to connect with others while they watch TV. They can also search and view a variety of online, personal PC-based videos on their television screens simultaneously.

Yahoo! TV Widgets – Interactive TV and Intel CE 3100 Demo

The behemoth in the USA will likely be Adobe’s new Open Screen Project… and they have teamed up with the likes of the BBC, Cisco, Comcast, HTC, Intel, LG Electronics, Marvell, Motorola, MTV Networks, NBC Universal, Nokia, OpenTV, Palm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Texas Instruments, The New York Times, Toshiba, and Verizon Wireless partnering to use the Flash and eventually the Air Platforms to provide rich interactive experiences across computers, devices, and consumer electronics.

However, getting in as a development partner is another story and snagging a piece of the action with the US$10 million Open Screen Project Fund is likely not to be easy. Having said that, there are some inspiring examples at the site. It’s certainly not an Open Source project by any means.

Richard Kastelein, a social media strategist and publisher, is CEO of new startup, Agora Media Group LLC, a new creative and innovation agency based in London, UK. He works with partner in the global travel industry and in emerging technology such as Social TV. Kastelein has been building online communities for over a decade and is an Open Source evangelist. He’s an adept team player – a publisher, writer, photographer, marketing director, web developer and graphic designer with more than 20 years experience in the development and operation of newspapers, magazines, web media and marketing of multinational, companies in international settings.

Whilst the mainstream media players are quietly pushing their technology and innovation teams to the maximum across the world in a race to marry Social Media and TV, most of the public remains oblivious and left out of the loop, mainly due to offerings being in Proof of Concept (POC) stage or not even… and still on the chalkboard.

However, one sector, the Hotel and Hospitality is one of the earlier beneficiaries from the advances that have been made provision and delivery of TV and other services over Internet Protocol will likely be early corporate adopters of Social TV now that network technologies that include the provision of Ethernet networks in hotels is now a standard requirement. Add a wireless keyboard and an advanced TV remote, you can do pretty much anything.

And buzz is starting to generate in this sector as hotels are coming out of a slump and are looking for new ways to attract the web and media savvy 25-45 year old, Gen X and Y generations who are a lucrative target group in many of their marketing strategies. Social TV in a hotel would certainly be an historical PR victory for any marketing team.

IPTV distribution system in hotels is pretty straight forward… providing high quality, full screen digital TV over an Ethernet network using an existing IP network. Not only can digital satellite and terrestrial channels can be broadcast directly to TV’s anywhere in a hotel – but now there’s the opportunity to implement Social TV as well.

We live in a networked society, and our contact list, for most of us who will never see a cradle to grave job, is paramount. Imagine if you could not only sleep in a hotel, but also create a profile in the social TV network and then find others in similar business paths, or potential new partners right in the hotel… whom you could have lunch with or meet up in a pub. Or imagine you could organize short seminars, get people to sign up and do mini ‘unconferences’ or conferences with others whose businesses can converge with you own.

This is great, not only for the guests, but also for the hotel. They will not only be able to offer better service to their clients, but also be able to come to understand their own demographics more… with a Social TV Facebook social media scenario or clone, there’s plenty of data to be shared to everyone, including the hotel… giving them more opportunity to build better services.

Want to book a restaurant? Do it on the TV. Add it to your bill in the Hotel’s Property Management Software (PMS) program and don’t worry about pulling out a credit card. Feel like going to a concert or sporting event while you are in town? Click or type and buy.

Want to download an iPhone or mobile map application with directions from anywhere back to the hotel and listings of all the offerings of the city you are visiting? Plug your PDA or mobile phone into a USB port and suck it down. Need to book the conference room? Do it on the TV. Need to order some food? Pick up the TV remote and choose from room service or an array of restaurants that deliver in the area.

I could even see, in the foreseeable future, a Wii or Xbox network for gaming and sports in hotels. Why not? Feel like a bit of tennis but can’t book a court? Play your neighbor in room 602. Or shoot at the guys in rooms 562 and 788.

It’s only a matter of time before television becomes social in Hotels because it’s a perfect space for rolling out this technology.

I’d be intrigued by a system that automatically feeds me information about what is the most popular Video on Demand flick in the hotel… what others are watching and even reviews of the movies from other guests. A good recommendation engine built into a social TV hotel network could take care of a lot of things… including which restaurants are hot, bars are not, and where are the cool places that tourists don’t normally go.

Based on demographic data built up by the hotels social TV network, hotels could easily build up relationships with local strategic partners that are popular with their guests – offering discounts and other deals.

Want a taxi? Francois, the friendly, is the best in Brussels. Everyone raves about him on the network.

Or imagine you could reach out externally vis a vis the Hotel’s social TV network with Skype (VOIP and chat application) or Facebook and share with you family at home.

Watching television or listening to music together is often a shared activity with co-located family members and it is something to gather around. But can technology support this kind of experience while apart?

Yes. It’s possible. But I am not sure anyone in the industry is going in this direction yet.

When turning your social TV presence on in the hotel, you could also expose you current status on media usage to those at home and in the hotel (what music you are listening to, what program you are watching or game you are playing). Others could join in on the media session that you are currently running and can then scale to other levels of connection.

If the hotel industry manages to adhere to one or two IPTV system which includes social TV, preferably open source, or finds another way to standardize the product, then your social profile can even be ported to multiple hotels, saving you time and work plugging your details into every hotel you stay in.

Orca Interactive’s recent deal with SoftAtHome and Viaccess looks to be a strong contender for setting a social TV standard for the entire broadcast industry. Backed by France Telecom aka Orange, there’s over 200 million subscribers worldwide on the books and, though a minority are on the digital TV program, there’s still strong potential to set the bar in the European industry in particular.

Orca and Viaccess were smart to tie the knot with Softathome. Their Open API and plug in, plug out architecture promises to facilitate easy development and rapid scaling with an easy frame not only for third party developers to innovate and create revenue streams, but also the system is built to hitch up to almost any existing IPTV box or configuration. Their attitude is reminiscent of online open source leaders and if it plays out right, a rather large developer community will be built up fast – such as open source CMS Joomla has done over the past five years in the web world – to literally hundreds of thousands of builders and users driving innovation and knowledge sharing to build a better product for everyone.

Building blocks of the SoftAtHome Operating Platform are deployed today in more than 6 million Home Gateways and one million Set Top Boxes on the Orange network across Europe.

Putting it in hotels will be simple.

It looks like, on paper, Orca Interactive will go after the ISP’s and other IPTV suppliers and SoftAtHome will be targeting the home and possibly the hospitality and hotel markets.

SoftAtHome is a software company created by Orange, Thomson and Sagem Communications to deliver total convergence through a home operating platform for the home digital environment. It fosters a new ecosystem made up of service providers, 3rd party application developers, integrators and hardware vendors to accelerate the advent of the Digital Home. The company is headquartered in France with development and sales teams in France and Belgium. The Home Operating Platform enables Service Providers to deliver and monetize convergent applications for the digital home.

Orca Interactive (LSE-ORCA) is a leading provider of IPTV middleware and applications, empowering broadband operators and service providers to deliver broadcast TV, video on demand (VOD), personal video recording (PVR), home media and other compelling interactive services.

Viaccess SA, a France Telecom company, delivers solutions for digital pay television and secured content distribution. Its mission is the development, production and marketing of conditional access and DRM-based systems for all types of networks, broadcast (satellite, cable, terrestrial, MMDS, DVB-H, etc.) and broadband (DSL,FTTH, 3G, etc.). The constant growth of the pay TV market and digital content not only boosts direct to home distribution by satellite, cable, terrestrial and broadband over IP networks, but it also represents an enormous opportunity for the entertainment industry.

Richard Kastelein, a social media strategist and publisher, is CEO of new startup, Agora Media Group LLC (link), a new creative and innovation agency based in London, UK. He works with partners in the global travel industry and in emerging technology such as Social TV. Kastelein has been building online communities for over a decade and is an Open Source evangelist. He’s an adept team player – a publisher, writer, photographer, marketing director, web developer and graphic designer with more than 20 years experience in the development and operation of newspapers, magazines, web media and marketing of multinational, companies in international settings.

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