Video2Go from Motive Television
November 8, 2011
By Colin Mann
Described as the combination of a social TV application with the ability to stream and record video to watch when and where you want, digital television technology, software and services provider Motive Television has launched Video2Go, designed to provide broadcasters and pay-TV platforms with opportunities to extend their content reach beyond the TV set to the iPad and many other devices.
Video2Go brings the personal home cloud environment into the consumers’ home, and can be provided as a stand-alone product, or as an enhancement to Motive Television’s existing Television Anytime technology platform.
According to Motive, Video2Go provides viewers with a unique feature in the market: the ability to watch programming from a broadcaster or pay-TV operator on their iPad without the need for an Internet network connection. With Video2Go connected, viewers can also interact with social media to enrich their viewing experience and access relevant content and commentary from other users.
Where Internet-connected, the iPad application allow viewers to stream instantly and watch any content they choose; Interact with social networking sites while simultaneously watching content; Record content on the iPad for viewing when no Internet connection is available, and access the catalogue of available content, both already recorded on the iPad and ready to be downloaded from the STB or OTT source.
In locations where no Internet connection is available, such as on an airplane or a train, viewers can playback content that has been recorded on an iPad.
Video2Go also supports contextualised advertisements, both as pre-roll video clips and as banner adverts within the set-top box User Interface (UI).
Leonard M Fertig, CEO of Motive, said that Video2Go was a natural extension of Motive’s Television ‘Anytime Anywhere’ software which makes it possible for broadcasters and pay television platforms to offer new viewer services and generate added income while using their existing distribution infrastructure. “This is a good example of how Motive adds value to its customer’s business. We believe Video2Go will have widespread global appeal,” he declared.
“There are other ways of getting content to iPads and such devices,” said Fertig, “but the difference with Video2Go is that the cable or satellite operator, or broadcaster can utilise an existing set-top box. He doesn’t need a new distribution network. Additional software can be downloaded to the STB, which then becomes ‘The Cloud’. There’s no requirement to secure additional rights or provide data feeds. Tony Combe, Motive’s CTO, confirmed that Video2Go was interoperable with existing operator client CA/DRM implementations.
The solution is aimed at broadcasters, pay-TV operators and content owners to work with their existing or new STB-based deployments, delivering content over existing DTT/DTH/Cable distribution networks, or directly to their iPad, through OTT deployments (without the need of a STB at the viewers’ home).
Motive says that Video2Go also addresses ‘vertical markets’, such as hotels, retailers and other outlets, who have no STB infrastructure and wish to directly reach their customers with a take-away video service.
Video2Go is currently being market tested in the United States with the broadcaster KOFY in the San Francisco Bay region, with Fertig revealing that Motive is in discussions with operators and broadcasters across three continents regarding deployments, including existing Anytime Anywhere customer DigiTurk, and Central European broadcaster CME.