Multichoice Africa added the final technological ingredient to its interactive television meal last night with the launch of a keyboard and modem built specifically for the DSTV decoder.
This offers users a return path to Multichoice`s sister company, M-Web, which allows for full interaction on the digital television platform.
Initial services on the system include TV-mail (e-mail sent and received through the TV) and home shopping, with new services expected to roll-out shortly.
M-Web`s digital mall partners include Incredible Connection, Kalahari.net (another Naspers-held company), Vodacom, Mr Delivery, Look & Listen, and Expert.
Future offerings will include SMS services and interactive television with some of Multichoice`s programmes, including Big Brother 2.
M-Web has been moving in this direction for quite some time, with its "M-Web everywhere" strategy envisioning Internet connectivity to its ISP services from handheld devices, cellphones and television sets.
This service should not be confused with the Internet, even though it runs on the Internet protocol (IP). Unlike other set-top boxes, the DSTV platform will offer only a limited number of M-Web-based services, in the "walled garden" AOL-like strategy that the company kicked off a little over a year ago. M-Web`s inclusion back into the fold last year after delisting from the JSE has helped the different Naspers divisions work more closely on such combined projects.
The service is a culmination of two years work, combining satellite broadcast technology, IP, and M-Web`s e-commerce and e-mail platforms. OpenTV, a US-based company recently sold by the Naspers group, provided the middleware for the system. Multichoice`s iTV uses a conventional IMAP protocol to send mail and M-Web`s own SafeShop 3 e-commerce environment for secure transactions.
DSTV users will also be able to access their e-mail accounts through the Internet, as they will not be able to send or receive attachments on their television systems.
Multichoice and M-Web are betting that the broader reach of television, the lure of pseudo-Internet in the lounge and the trusted nature of the TV will encourage non-computing users to make use of the service.
"When we launched Interactive television services in March, we were sure that viewers would undergo a new experience in television consumption, as they were for the first time truly able to interact with their television sets by e-mailing to friends and transacting on the platform as they shopped in the convenience of their living room," says Multichoice CEO Nolo Letele. "This has been proven, not only by the reaction of the initial launch group, but also by the interest that has been shown in Interactive television."
The user can dial in through a conventional phone line or through an ISDN line to one of M-Web`s countrywide points-of-presence, but should be aware of the extra cost that they will incur on their phone bills.
The modem and keyboard, both in a see-through blue that Letele describes as "space-age", will work with the 720i and newer decoders. To check whether a decoder is capable of running the new service, users can use channel 99 to test their boxes. Some decoders require only an over-the-air software upgrade while others may have to have the decoders physically modified for a cost of R50. Others may have to replace their decoders to make use of the service, but Multichoice says this will only be a "small percentage" of users.
The keyboard and modem retail for R299, excluding installation. The box also includes a 10-metre telephone cable, a nine-pin cable to connect the modem to the DSTV decoder, and instruction manuals. According to the stickers on the equipment, it is manufactured in China.
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