ES3 takes first place in Microsoft TV apps contest

[Microsoft Mediaroom]The best and the brightest in the world of interactive television descended on Microsoft's Silicon Valley Campus last month for Microsoft's 3rd Annual Mediaroom Developers Conference.

Microsoft Mediaroom is a software platform that powers broadcast-quality television and video services over IP networks. The platform is licensed directly to network operators including AT&T, BT, Deutsche Telekom, Swisscom, Portugal Telecom and others enabling them to deliver connected entertainment services to consumers. With more than 4 million subscriber households worldwide, Mediaroom is the world's most deployed IPTV platform.

Attendance at the conference was higher this year than ever before, with more than 120 developers and operators from over ten countries worldwide attending the conference to hear about the future of Mediaroom and its application development platform, Mediaroom Presentation Framework.

Over the course of the two-day conference, 14 different sessions were offered ranging from basic overviews of Mediaroom technologies to deep technical presentations on features in the Application Developers Kit.

The conference focused on the Mediaroom Presentation Framework as a development platform and toolset that provides the building blocks for rich interactivity and seamless blending of Web content and services with broadcast TV. By opening TV up to developers worldwide, Mediaroom Presentation Framework can drive rapid and efficient TV innovation.

Attendees also got to cast the deciding vote in the Mediaroom Application Contest from a shortlist of finalists selected by a panel of five expert judges

The judging panel included: Dale Herigstad (Chief Creative Officer, Schematic), GW Shaw (Executive Director - Product Marketing Management, AT&T), Rahul Chakkara (The BBC's Controller of TV Platforms), Tracy Swedlow (Founder and Editor, ITVT) and Enrique Rodriguez (Corporate Vice President, TV, Video & Music Business, Microsoft).

The goal of the contest was to recognize and showcase the diversity and innovation of the thriving Mediaroom Application Developer community.

ES3 of Toronto, Canada was voted as the first prize winner for its application "Interactive Workout". ES3's application allows Mediaroom users to craft a personal workout routine and follow videos that demonstrate each exercise. Users can set reminder timers to exercise and receive a daily healthy recipe, all as part of the beautifully designed application.

First Place: "Interactive Workout" by ES3

Doug Edwards, CEO of ES3, commented, "Mediaroom offers a fantastic developer environment for TV applications and this contest was a great opportunity to show how creative we could be in designing new and exciting TV experiences. The competition attracted a lot of really interesting and innovative entries and so we are delighted to be awarded first prize for the Interactive Workout application."

Second prize went to Pushbutton of London, U.K. for its "Time Capsules" application which presents users with a unique navigational tool for exploring time-based video content. It can be used to present archive material of historic events, or as a time-stamped record of a live and unfolding event such as the Olympic Games, or a major breaking news story.

Second Place: "Time Capsules" by Pushbutton

And the third place prize went to Accedo Broadband of Stockholm, Sweden and its "ZapClub" application. ZapClub is a TV community application that features live tweets and Wikipedia information on any show, and allows viewers to rate and share shows.

Third place: "Zap Club" by Accedo Broadband

"The first Mediaroom Application Contest was a huge success," said Shari Barnett, marketing director of applications for Microsoft Mediaroom at Microsoft. "Mediaroom has a large and growing developer community and I was thrilled with the quality and variety of contest entries. Consumers want more from their TV service and applications like these will play an increasingly important role in enabling our Mediaroom customers to differentiate their service and grow their TV businesses."

The first place winners received a $25,000 award and free admission for two people to the Developer's Conference (a $500 value); second place received $10,000 and free admission for two (a $500 value); and third place received $5,000 and free admission for one person (a $250 value).