OpenTV Inc, the Sun Microsystems and Thomson Multimedia joint venture, has won two new orders for its OpenTV interactive TV software platform. Spanish satellite broadcaster Via Digital, Distribuidora de Television Digital SA will launch an interactive TV service in the fourth quarter of 1998 based on OpenTV and offering features such as home banking and shopping and weather forecasts on demand. Via Digital launched a digital TV service last September which now has 300,000 subscribers. Stream, the digital satellite and cable TV arm of Telecom Italia, has agreed to develop enhanced interactive TV services in Italy based on OpenTV. It too launched a digital TV service last September. Last week, the second generation version of the Open TV software, OpenTV EN, was released to the dozen licensees of the technology which include France’s Television Par Satellite (TPS), British Interactive Broadcasting and Sweden’s Telia. So far, 750,000 set-top boxes have been shipped worldwide supporting the first release of the product. OpenTV claims that most will be capable of receiving the new version through an over the air update mechanism. It says OpenTV EN makes it easier for programming developers and broadcasters to integrate interactive services with digital video and audio content.
