Siemens unveils OTT link-up at TV Connect

Technology company Siemens has unveiled a line-up of smart-TV apps for the Ditto TV OTT service it powers for India’s Zee Entertainment, along with new swipe technology that will let users easily transfer content from their mobiles to the big screen.

During his keynote speech at TV Connect, Stefan Jenzowsky, the head of Siemens’ communication, media and technology division demonstrated the developments to the one-year old Ditto TV service, which already lets users access live TV and video-on-demand content from their computer, mobile or tablet.

The new smart-TV apps will bring Ditto TV to sets made by Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic, while the new OTT swipe technology will connect the TV apps with Ditto’s mobile apps, to allow the screens to interact seamlessly with each other.

“All of these apps – on smartphones, tablets and on the TV – are now interconnected by what you call a swipe server. You just take the movie you have on your smartphone, and swipe it up with a flick of your finger onto, let’s say, your Panasonic or your Sony TV,” Jenzowsky told DTVE.

The exec said Siemens was striving for this technology to become widely adopted, claiming that as the choice for content expands “our philosophy really is that people will [increasingly] not use their remote control for selecting content anymore.”

“Instead we give you the chance to snack videos from various sources on your phone. Once you like something, then you bring up to the main screen TV while you can look for trailers and previews on your personal and handheld device,” he said.

The news comes as Siemens prepares to deploy its OTT platform outside of India, with European and a Middle Eastern partnerships due to be announced imminently. This will see Siemens’ technology used to power services for a Hulu-style service in Europe and an Arab mobile operator offering.

“We have gone totally out of IPTV and into OTT deployment, and we are very proud that the new OTT product we have built. This is a totally new product we’ve built from scratch,” said Jenzowsky, adding that consumer enthusiasm for OTT threatened to put the traditional pay TV industry at risk.

“I think that the cable and satellite industry has to react within the next five years, because they will see and they will feel what we call OTT-based cord cutting. We like the cable operators and the satellite industry, we work with them, but we still see that there’s a clear, immediate threat – and opportunity at the same time – for these players.”