Dish Network Launches Google TV

Dish Network has launched Google TV, an open platform designed to integrate multichannel television with Web media content.

Dish Network subscribers using Google TV will have the ability to simultaneously search for content across Dish Network, the Internet and their DVRs while overlaying related online content and linking it back to multichannel TV.

Google TV integration is the outcome of a joint development process between Dish Network and the search engine company, which began more than a year ago with trials and beta testing the technology with Dish Network and Google users.
 

OnAir Delivers Russian In-Flight Connectivity Services

OnAir will offer in-flight connectivity services in Russia following a license agreement with Russian mobile network operator MegaFon to operate the services on Aeroflot Airbus fleets.

Passengers on Aeroflot A330 and A320 jets will be offered mobile communication packages based on Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband and will include GSM/GPRS and Wi-Fi Internet and voice/text communications.
 

Schlumberger Provides VSAT Service for Offshore Industry

Schlumberger has launched a VSAT service for the offshore industry. The service, SeaConnect, aims to provide VSAT services using a portable marine 60-centimeter C-band antenna and related technologies based on a fixed-fee unlimited data access.

Schlumberger tested the service for six months on a number of vessels operating in Southeast Asia. The service is available in Southeast Asia and will expand to South Asia, Africa and Latin America.
 

Yes Adds Satellite TV VOD; Plans Cell Phone Service

Israel’s Yes satellite TV provider launched video-on-demand (VOD) and broadband services using OnDemand, an add-on module that supports multiplatform on-demand services within Pilat Media’s IBMS broadcast management system.

IBMS controls content re-ingestion in MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 formats and inserts extra metadata that enables searches of the VOD content.

The service is part of the MaxTotal package combining HD, VOD and personal video recorder services.

In the next phase, Yes will introduce a cellular phone service for mobile viewing and expand its library of VOD content.