PowerTV Inc, developer of software and hardware for internet- enabled television, has licensed Spyglass Inc’s Device Mosaic web browser technology for incorporation into the PowerTV HTML Engine. The engine is being blended in at the operating system level and will enable HTML web content to be incorporated for television broadcast by cable companies to the television set. In addition, developers will be able to use standard web tools to create value-added applications for cable providers, including electronic programme guides and on screen billing data for the customer. The engine will first appear in the Scientific-Atlanta Inc’s latest digital set-top box, the Explorer 2000, due out sometime in the middle of this year. Toshiba and Pioneer will also make boxes that use the engine. Spyglass Device Mosaic will act as a code foundation for the development of the PowerTV HTML Engine, a new open application platform for developing interactive and on-line television services. The agreement with PowerTV follows a deal Spyglass struck with Nokia Oy earlier this month.
