Understanding Interactive Television Newsletter - August 2003

August 2003

UNDERSTANDING INTERACTIVE TELEVISION (UITV.INFO)
Academic and research resources about interactive television
http://uitv.info/



Editorial
http://uitv.info/editorial/

*Building a TiVo, a Step at a Time*
Despite the TiVo system being based on open source software
(http://acmqueue.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=printer_friendly&pid=53
) and despite the wide availability of information on hacking the TiVo
box (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59028,00.html), there
is also an increasing availability of hardware and software for building
a custom DVR by yourself. The hardware specification assumes a nowadays
inexpensive high-end PC, but it can become quite expensive by adding
high performance digital tuners, video cards, storage, hi-fi audio and
silent/cooling cases
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1124144,00.asp. On the other
hand, thanks to the Linux system and to the open source movement, the
software for enabling the DVR functionality comes for next to nothing,
in terms of price. You will still have to feel comfortable with the
Linux system and to put in considerable amounts of time and effort,
before you have a DIY DVR up and running
(http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59088,00.html). For the
majority of the consumers, there is still the original TiVo service,
alongside with an increasing number of TiVo powered devices
(http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-1020879.html). Finally, in the context
of academic research, computer entertainment applications in the home,
open up numerous issues for research (http://uitv.info/topics/hms/).



Articles
http://uitv.info/articles/

*Usability evaluation for interactive television prototypes on a budget*

http://uitv.info/articles/2003/08chorianopoulos/
A common thread in previous interactive television research is the use
of PC and Web technology for the development and the usability
evaluation of prototypes, instead of commercial digital television
platforms. The majority of those implementations are presented within
the PC or Web modalities. It usually follows that input devices are the
desktop mouse and the keyboard for interacting with the ITV
applications. This is an approach that is quite expected, since there is
a scarcity of ITV authoring and simulation tools, and most of the time
ITV platforms come at a high price, because they are targeted to
broadcasters and follow different pricing schemes compared to office
software and hardware packages. Yet, academic researchers and budget
constrained practitioners should exploit the familiar PC platform, in
order to mock-up an interactive television system. Next, I will specify
an affordable configuration for seamless user testing at domestic
settings, using off-the-shelf components.



News
http://uitv.info/news/

TiVo Offers Remote TV Programming to AOL Users 
http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-21328356-0.html
TiVo agreed to allow subscribers to America Online's Internet system to
program their home TiVo television recording service remotely, via a Web
site.

Lots of Programs in Can for 'ETV'
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59765,00.html
Interactive TV, Enhanced TV -- call it what you want. But after 20 years
of false starts, producers and technologists say souped-up TV is about
to catch on. Really.

DVR Myths and Facts
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/technology/circuits/29POGUE-EMAIL.html
People often cite myths or outdated Facts, which is especially dangerous
in a field that changes so quickly.

TV Sets Getting Bigger and Better 
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,58979,00.html
TV holds steady as the largest consumer-electronics product category.
And for good reason say electronics makers.



Events
http://uitv.info/events/

2nd EuroITV: 2nd European Conference on Interactive Television:
Enhancing the Experience
http://www.it.bton.ac.uk/staff/lp22/euroitv2004/
Brighton, UK, March 31-April 2, 2004
Deadline: 19 December 2003

2AD: The Second International Conference on Appliance Design
http://www.appliancedesign.org/2ad/
HP Labs Bristol UK, May 11-13, 2004
Deadline: 15 December 2003

DIS2004: Designing Interactive Systems 2004
http://www.sigchi.org/DIS2004/
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1-4 August 2004
Deadline: 28 November 2003 

CHI04: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
http://sigchi.org/chi2004/
Vienna, Austria, April 24-29, 2004
Deadline: 6 October 2003




Edited by Konstantinos Chorianopoulos
ELTRUN, EBusiness Center, Athens University of Economics and Business
http://www.eltrun.aueb.gr/





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