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Liberate made set-top-box software that competed with Microsoft but they seem to have fallen on hard times. When I interviewed there back in 2001 it looked like they had a chance of actually competing.

Today their web site is basically an e-tombstone.

Anybody out there know what led to their demise?

-S

> [Interactive TV] just is never going to happen.

Maybe iTV is never going to happen in the States, but just as with cellphones, DAB and many technologies that gain momentum through standards and cross-border co-operation , the US is being left behind, as Interactive TV is thriving in Europe, especially in the UK, and I'm amazed that many tech-savvy Americans don't seem to realise this

~45-50% of UK households *with a TV* have digital TV, and of them 65 percent of have access to ITV

In simple numbers ,that's about 8 million households have Interactive TV in the UK. As a comparison, there are about 10 million Uk households with access to the Net.

There are about 6.25 million households with digital satelite alone. All of them have access to very, very advanced interactive services. There are about 2 million households with digital cable, using Liberate middleware

The new Free to air DTT boxes are selling like hot cakes, and there are many Interactive services available through the BBC and others

Here's a wide range of iTV screenshots

In europe as a whole 'interactive TV was estimated to be available in 31 million European households at the end of 2002, creating a potential audience of 72 million viewers'

Well we got excited about ATVEF, then MHEG, then MHP, somewhere in there OpenTV developed their own proprietary system, as did Liberate. And that's not even including the TV over ADSL guys...

iMagicTV, one of those TV over ADSL middleware providers uses HTML with 'tv in the browser' as does others like Minerva and Orca...

Don't forget about hardware vendors who are already shipping and this includes the big boys like Thomson/RCA

So why yet another dtv standard.. I'm getting dizzy...

The most interseting comment in that i/v -
that he thinks the PC desktop market is dead, and that other markets (embedded, appliance-led products, networked devices) are the way forward, was not picked up by the interviewer IMHO.

'...all show high projected growths, except for PCs. Tiemann taps the dismal PC projection] That is what I'm saying is dead..'.

How is RH addressing these markets? I am sure they are, but more clarity would be nice. I work with Interactive TV boxes in the Uk, and we dont care about the OS, and neither do the consumers.

It's the middleware that counts. Pace boxes running Liberate middleware run VX Works OS, but as a developer for the Interactive box I'm not allowed anywhere near that level of code. So, is RH gonna go for the OEM market, or is it going to what is the *equivalent* of the desktop and build OSs that fit nicely with higher level code?

Nope, I'm not making much sense, but as this is, after all, as he has said, an entirely different market than the one he's used to, I'd like to know more.

Heres a training class from Liberate.
It states: This course provides the basics for developing Java applications for the Motorola DCT-2000 set-top box running Liberate's Compact client software.

Now I don't know if thats what your looking for, but it sounds like it may be a new lead to chase down at the very least.

Even if your box doesn't use the Liberate software, they may be able to give you some helpful info. Call em a few times if you need to. It's been my exp. that if guy A doesn't know/can't help/won't help you usually need to call back no more then 4 more times before someone out there will give you a new lead to chase. Check it out.

/me Kisses his DirectTiVo

The basic idea of 'interactive TV' is the ability to provide a web type experience while watching TV . Yes, it may not be what everyone thinks is the killer application, but it is feasible and it can work today. Both Microsoft, Intel, and Liberate (formally NCI, formally Network Computer, spun off by Oracle) are using the ATVEF standards as a basis for their work. Companies like PowerTV, OpenTV, and Wink are attempting to use proprietary formats and software to achieve the the same goal.

The ATVEF group have developed a set of extension s to HTML that allow an ATVEF enabled device to display TV and web type images simultaneously. You can see a real example of this by watching Jeopardy on a WebTV box. You can play along with the show.

Part of the ATVEF standard calls for the inclusion of triggers and javascript type information to be actually sent with the video in the VBI (vertical blanking interval). This type of triggering allows synchonized events without worrying about the latency of the TV path.

A company called Mixed Signals does this type of TV enhancement for other comapnies.

Another type of enhanced TV is the 'two screen' type. Two screen means haivng your computer and TV in the same room. ABC has been doing this with Monday Night Football and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. If you watch a MNF or SNF game and see a play dispute instant replay, you will see the internet users actually voting on wether the play should stand or not. The count is updated in realtime on television. You can try it ABC's enhanced TV the next time one of their shows is on.

I's suggest reading the ATEVF site a bit. It's the standard supported by most of the content providers. They are the ones going to pay the big bill to enhance TV.

Let me know if you need to know more. I have the connections to find out pretty much any answer about this stuff.
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AOL bought NetChannel Inc yonks ago (search for NetChannel on news.com for the background), and the AOL TV service is built, in part, by ex-NetChannel people. Blah, blah, blah... Whatever.