Sun Direct TV has selected OpenTV to provide the platform for its new direct-to-home satellite pay-television network in India. Open TV will provide interactive television applications, including a new electronic programme guide, interactive cricket and multi-stream interactive news service. OpenTV has also finally settled a patent dispute with Liberate Technologies.
The Sun TV direct-to-home satellite service in India will use MPEG-4 video encoding and PIsys conditional access provided by Irdeto. The company has placed an initial order for half a million smart cards.
“The Indian market, in which OpenTV gained its first foothold in 2006, represents a tremendous growth opportunity for us and serves to reinforce our strong market position in Asia Pacific and around the world,” said Ben Bennett, the chief operating officer of OpenTV. He took over from chief executive Alan Guggenheim who left the company in August.
OpenTV reported a loss of $8.2 million in the last quarter on revenues that were down 5% on the previous year at $23.7 million. Ben Bennett described the performance as “soft”.
The company expects to sell its PlayJam games unit by the end of the year to concentrate on its core middleware and technology business.
Patents
OpenTV has finally settled a lawsuit against Liberate Technologies, originally filed in 2002. The patents involved concern the repeated carousel broadcast distribution and the loading, execution and termination of interactive applications.
As part of the settlement, Liberate acknowledged that OpenTV’s patents are valid and enforceable. Liberate is permanently restrained from further infringement.
Liberate sold most of its North American business to TVWorks, a joint venture between Comcast and Cox, which paid OpenTV $1.5 million to release it from any previous liability it acquired from Liberate.
“We are pleased to reach a favourable settlement that acknowledges Liberate’s infringement of two of our key patents relating to the delivery of interactive television,” said Mark Beariault, general counsel for OpenTV.
“We believe that this amicable resolution with the active involvement of TVWorks puts OpenTV in a better position to focus its energies on expanding its commercial relationships. At the same time, OpenTV will continue to use all necessary means to vigilantly defend its intellectual property portfolio.”