Alcatel-Lucent unveils interactivity for Microsoft Mediaroom

Alcatel-Lucent today announced that its digital media suite of products will support Microsoft Mediaroom Presentation Framework, the multimedia application environment Microsoft recently enhanced for its Mediaroom IPTV platform. The announcement paves the way for companies such as AT&T, which have deployed Microsoft Mediaroom to more easily add interactive advertising and other applications to their IPTV service.

Separately, Alcatel-Lucent announced that Telefonica is using the Alcatel-Lucent digital application enablement solution to conduct an interactive IPTV advertising proof of concept pilot for its Imagenio IPTV service, available throughout Spain. Telefonica has been using the Alcatel-Lucent interactive technology to increase interactivity and bring Web 2.0 features to its IPTV service since mid-December 2008 and is now engaged in letting TV viewers use their remote controls to access interactive content linked to specific consumer brands featured in commercials.

Alcatel-Lucent’s digital media suite of products includes the Multimedia Content Manager and Interactive Media Manager, which together enable more rapid, flexible and easier development of interactivity, whether for advertising or content purposes, said Rudi Broos, head of Marketing for the Digital Media and Advertising division of Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Software Group.

“Interactive Media Manager is a template-based solution where either the media agency representing a certain brand – say, Coca-cola or BMW – or the content producer making a show, like [American] Idol or Big Brother, can now develop interactive TV applications,” Broos said. “So consumers can vote for contestants on Idol, or they can watch TV commercials and push a button and get additional information or win a bottle of Coke or get an SMS with a discount for 50% off at a shop. Whatever you want to do, we have made this available based on templates. The agency or content producer doesn’t have to know anything about the digital capabilities of IPTV platform.”

The templates are Web-based and application-specific – the creative agency or content producer just picks the one best suited for their application, fills out the template and hits a publish button, Broos said. “It always works, and the template doesn’t allow you to break the system. It makes the process of creating new interactive TV applications less expensive by 80%.”

Using templates also enables rapid changes to interactive programs to be made easily by the content creators or media agencies.