Motorola Adds Gotuit TV Personalization
By JEFF BAUMGARTNER -- Multichannel News, 3/19/2001
Motorola Broadband Communications Sector said it plans to incorporate a new software application into its DCT-5000 advanced set-tops that promises to take personal video recorder personalization to a whole new level.
That software, dubbed Gotuit TV, is the brainchild of Gotuit Media Inc., an Andover, Mass.-based company new to the television sphere.
Resting on top of PVR software from the likes of TiVo Inc. or SONICblue Inc. (the new owner of ReplayTV Inc.), Gotuit TV can "slice and dice" a program into digitally-labeled segments, essentially enhancing the PVR experience, Gotuit Media CEO Jim Logan explained.
For example, the software is designed to divide a 30-minute Cable News Network newscast into the separate stories that ran during the show. When a viewer retrieves the time-shifted show via the PVR, a table of contents appears, automatically listing each story.
Gotuit TV also could sort out a baseball game inning-by-inning, Logan said.
Gotuit's software accomplishes this by incorporating metadata, a technique that identifies and describes electronically stored content. That metadata can be inserted automatically, using closed-captioning technology, or added manually by Gotuit staffers, Logan said.
"Today, viewers have to surf through [time-shifted programs] aimlessly," Logan said. "TiVo personalizes content very well already, but we offer intrashow personalization." The company's PVR software is slated for commercial release by the end of 2001.
Logan also noted that Gotuit has talked with other hardware manufacturers and some MSOs about adding Gotuit TV to their PVR plans. On the revenue front, the company is exploring personalized advertising and subscription-based models.
Gotuit is also beta testing an audio-centered time-shifting application called Songcatcher. That software bundle, which also employs metadata techniques, captures entire radio programs via the Internet, and lists songs by artist and title for future listening.
Put more simply, Songcatcher is "an automated party-tape generator," said Logan.
In addition to agreeing to incorporate Gotuit's software, Motorola also made an undisclosed investment in the budding software company.
Motorola Broadband's base spec for the DCT-5000 does not call for a PVR hard disk, though that capability could be added rather easily, a company spokeswoman said.
Enhancing set-tops with PVR capabilities has been on Motorola Broadband's mind for some time. The company presently is collaborating with Charter Communications Inc. and SONICblue on such a project.
Scientific-Atlanta Inc., a Motorola Broadband competitor, inked a similar licensing deal earlier this year with Metabyte Networks Inc. At the time, S-A said it plans to fuse Metabyte's PVR software with its Explorer 8000, which features a hard drive.
