From TelcoTV

We're at the TelcoTV show in Anaheim this week, and getting updates on the trends in telco/IPTV services on a global basis. Some of the things that have caught my eye include:

• Web integration of VoD and remote DVR services. Everyone seems to be talking about a Facebook integration and recommendations for VoD titles. I saw an interesting demonstration from SeaChange, where their Affinity recommendation engine allows users to recommend things like VoD titles. That could enhance the VoD take rate.
• Also, interesting to hear of strategies that put IPTV content on PCs. Cisco has worked with Adobe to provide a solution to Telecom Italia, where their content is available on the Telecom Italia yalp.it portal. Working with Verimatrix, SeaChange is offering a "soft set-top box" application for PCs. They are aiming this at universities, where students may be less inclined to have TVs, but still want to view premium TV content on their laptops.
• All kinds of interesting social networking applications built around Facebook applications and enabling features such as recommendations, chat, etc. Nortel announced a number of social networking and interactive services, including Digital Vault, where subscribers can upload their personal content to secure network-hosted storage solutions.
• There are all kinds of multi-screen demonstrations, where viewers can watch DVR content and then move it to a mobile device to continue watching. You can bet that telcos are looking to leverage their mobile assets and add a new dimension for viewing.
• Delivering non-linear advertising (interactive, VoD, etc.) is a big topic this year. It will be an interesting area to watch.