DiscVision and Osnabrück University present SocialTV application on Hybrid PVR

Introduction

DiscVision and Osnabrück University presented an innovative Social TV application based on the Hybrid PVR system eviado at CeBIT 2011 from March 1 to 5. The biggest innovation is a "Social Recommender" system that integrates social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and revolutionizes TV programming.

Hybrid PVR eviado

The eviado system combines the reception of broadcast content via the DVB system with the provision of web and video content over IP. System features include:

Integration of a web portal with CE-HTML for TV-optimized web services
Intelligent recommendation system "watchmi" that automatically selects TV programs based on user interests
Elimination of time-consuming programming of the PVR

Social Recommender System

The Social Recommender complements the watchmi system and enables:

PVR programming of friends on Facebook (with their permission)
Sharing interesting TV programs via Twitter, with the option to schedule recordings for followers
Creating virtual recording channels by opinion leaders who automatically schedule interesting content on users' PVRs

Integration with Mobile Devices

The Social Recommender features are currently available as an iPhone app and can:

Schedule recordings on one's own PVR or the PVR of a Facebook friend
Share recommendations for TV content with followers on Twitter
Set up virtual recording channels based on Twitter accounts

The iPhone app will be available in the App Store in mid-2011. Further integrations with devices such as iPad and Android are in progress.

Technology: connectTV

The technical foundation of the remote features is the connectTV technology from DiscVision, which enables:

Transparent access to the STB at home via iPhone or web
Remote programming of recordings
Maintenance tasks by the system provider

The connectTV technology will be expanded to more mobile devices in the coming months.

Event Information

The application was presented at CeBIT 2011. For further information, please contact office@discvision.com or visit the project pages at www.connected-living.org.