Motorola’s been showing off a reference UI for the TV since The Cable Show back in May. The demo got a few updates at IBC last month, and now at SCTE it’s gone through another upgrade. The goal here is to show what’s possible when you shift to HTML to design a program guide. Suddenly there are a lot more options, both visually and functionally. Note the widget-like boxes you can use to drill down through different features: a recommendation engine, new content highlights, and content categories, to name a few. It’s also a lot easier to port the whole experience to multiple screens when the guide is HTML-based. Here’s a mobile version.
Finally, it’s worth noting that in this demo Motorola is using its SecureMedia technology to protect the TV content being accessed on different devices. We’re talking software-based security. A little different from the CableCARD approach.
This is really slick. The modern UI elements that can easily be designed and customized using HTML is the way to go. As we move more towards IP based delivery, and even hybrid through DOCSIS Set top Gateway, hopefully in time MSO’s will adopt this level of modernization using easy to understand web and IP based standards for quick delivery, customization and updates.
The next generation of customer whom grew up in the HTML based web era, will feel right at home with a modernized UI that mimics their experience from other avenues.
[...] and a major pain point among consumers. Expect the wars to heat up in 2011, however. Between new IP-based guides and regulatory wrangling over who controls the interface when new CE devices have broader access to [...]