On the heels of a successful December launch and a $15 million investment from Motorola, Inc. and Liberty Satellite, LLC, San Diego based Aerocast Inc. hit full stride today by teaming with ACTV, a provider of digital interactive programming.
The alliance will combine ACTV’s patented technologies, programming, and media content with Aerocast’s platform for delivering broadband streaming video across the Internet.
The companies will initially focus on delivering entertainment-quality streaming video on demand to broadband customers during the trial deployment of the Aerocast service throughout the United States.
“Key to our service is providing unique and interesting content,” said Dario Santana, president of Aerocast. “With partners like ACTV, we believe we are offering compelling content to which broadband subscribers might not otherwise have access.”
Of particular benefit to Aerocast’s broadband platform is ACTV’s patented technology HyperTV, a process for enhancing a television program or advertisement with related and synchronized content. HyperTV embeds a stream of web page addresses into a video or audio signal or transmits the addresses directly over the Internet to the user’s computer, matching web content with a particular television channel or video.
Aerocast will also offer its broadband customers ACTV’s eSchool, a technology that creates virtual learning communities that integrate streamed educational video, synchronized web content, collaborative exercises, and assessment for students and teachers.
“Broadband offers networks, content providers, advertisers, and operators a lucrative new vehicle for reaching customers,” said Kevin Liga, ACTV’s chief technology officer. “But until now, the technical and financial parameters for streaming high-quality video content to a mass audience were prohibitive. Aerocast’s ability to deliver the highest quality streaming video over the Internet with a viable financial model will be a powerful delivery mechanism for our programming technologies and services.”
Headquartered in New York City, ACTV has strategic relationships with key players in the Internet, television, and digital technology industries, including Liberty Digital, Motorola Broadband Communications Sector, OpenTV, and Liberty Livewire Corporation.