Oracle Corp says it has rallied 20 television set-top hardware manufacturers and related technology vendors into an Oracle Set-Top Alliance, which will promote interoperability and speed the delivery of interactive television services to consumers. The company has also set up a certification programme to ensure compatibility of television set-top boxes with Oracle’s interactive multimedia software. The company made the announcement at the Innoventions Showcase at Walt Disney Co’s Epcot ’95 in Orlando, Florida, where an interactive television demonstration is to go on show using a video server based on nCube Inc massively parallel systems. Oracle’s interactive multimedia software is currently in use by Bell Atlantic Corp, BellSouth Corp, British Telecommunications Plc, SIP SpA and US West Inc; it reckons that these triallists have potential access to 75m homes, making it the leading provider of software for interactive services. The new Alliance is intended to complement the standards efforts under way in other industry associations such as the Digital Audio Visual Council.
