In response to the mobile video trend, Rovi Corporation says its new TotalGuide xD extends the cable video experience from set-top boxes to mobile devices.

TotalGuide xD is powered by the Rovi Media Cloud Web service, and the platform can be deployed by MSOs that want to leverage their own brand identities and to expand their user experiences to other connected devices, starting with an iPad application.

Many large multichannel providers, including Comcast, Verizon FiOS, Dish and DirectTV, already have created their own customized iPad apps to use the Apple tablet as a remote control and as a second screen, but Rovi is targeting smaller providers that don’t have the resources to create their own apps.

Rovi is known for its interactive program guides (IPGs) in the cable space, where it delivers two primary guides: the iGuide and Passport Guide. (For more, click here). With TotalGuide xD, the iPad can be used as a guide, offering integrated search for linear TV, VoD and authenticated broadband content. It also can change channels.

"It gives the service provider an opportunity to engage with their subs beyond the home TV," says Sharon Metz, vice president/Vertical Markets at Rovi.

Although the iPad app is the first for TotalGuide xD, Metz adds, "It has the ability to scale across a wide range of devices. It’s supported by Rovi’s back office and Rovi Media Cloud.”

TotalGuide xD on the iPad will be available for trials in the second quarter to support MSOs that license Rovi i-Guide and Passport Guide services. Additional reference designs for other devices are expected to be available throughout 2011. Pa.-based cable provider Armstrong has said it will trial the app.

-Linda Hardesty

The Daily

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