Understanding Interactive Television Newsletter - November 2003

November 2003

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



Editorial
http://uitv.info/editorial/

*Educators Turn to Games for Help*
Interactive television and video games have been developed to offer more
entertainment options for consumers in the living room and to create new
revenues for media companies. Since entertainment can be also used to
create engagement, motivation and stimulation in the learning experience
there is an increased interest to investigate the impact of interactive
television and video games on education
(http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,59855,00.html). The
Games-to-Teach Project (http://cms.mit.edu/games/education/) is a
partnership between MIT and Microsoft to develop conceptual prototypes
for the next generation of interactive educational entertainment. Future
TV: adaptive instruction in your livingroom
(http://uitv.info/topics/its02ftv/) was a workshop about interactive
television and learning. Finally, Henry Jenking notes that playing
computer games doesn't shorten kids' attention spans-it helps them to
manage competing demands in the new era of "continuous partial
attention."
(http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_jenkins080103.asp)



Articles
http://uitv.info/articles/

*Interactive Television Platforms and Development Tools*
http://uitv.info/articles/2003/11chorianopoulos/
The digital television marketplace is currently dominated by simple
digital STBs, also known as integrated receivers/decoders (IRDs) that
run each manufacturer's real time operating system. IRDs market
dominance is followed by a few competing, incompatible, and proprietary
application programming interfaces (APIs). In an industry that is driven
by sheer volume, application developers have to either develop the same
application for multiple APIs or license a higher level middleware that
supports the target platforms. There are also a few independent
organizations that define standards for ITV application development,
like the TV-Anytime forum, although member organizations are not
obligated to conform. Despite the many alternative choices, researchers
and engineers with an information technology background will find more
flexibility and familiarity with the Microsoft TV (MSTV) platform, the
Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) and Linux that we review next.



News
http://uitv.info/news/

TVs Join The Wireless Grid
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2003/09/02/cx_ah_0902tentech.html
The next step for wireless Internet access has less to do with your
notebook PC than it does with your TV.

Nvidia loses Xbox Microsoft turns to chipmaker's competitor
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/15/BU190365.DTL
Microsoft said it is dumping Nvidia Corp. in favor of the graphics
chipmaker's main rival, ATI Technologies, for the software giant's
next-generation Xbox video game console.

Digital TV growth continues
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3150345.stm 
One million British TV viewers switched to digital services in the first
half of the year, according to figures compiled from the main digital TV
companies. 

Tired of the Telly? Reprogram It
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59690,00.html
A startup is selling a digital entertainment center that can easily be
upgraded by its owner. To some, Interact-TV's Telly looks like the
perfect marriage of living-room ease of use with PC upgradability.



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

Idec: The 1st International Design and Engagability Conference 
http://www.uce.ac.uk/web2/releases/3328.html
Birmingham, UK, Institute of Art and Design, July 6, 2004
Deadline: December 1, 2003

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





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





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http://uitv.info/


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http://uitv.info/newsletter/


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