Star-Studded Industry Group Develops Open iTV Standard

More than 40 of the world's leading equipment manufacturers, research organizations and regulatory bodies from the broadcast, telecommunications and IT industries have combined to develop a new open standard in interactive TV. The Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) is designed to consolidate the fragmented digital TV sector into a single, open marketplace, and make it easier for smaller companies to enter the iTV market.

MHP provides a single common platform for the provision of multiple interactive services from different sources. Also, the enabling technology used in this carrier system is designed to accommodate future products and services. In addition, MHP will enable broadcasters to create customized multimedia content and interactive services.

Some of the high-profile participants in the program include Nokia, Panasonic,Philips, Pioneer, Sony, and Samsung.

Nokia, Panasonic, Philips and Sony have jointly set up an open consortium with the goal of specifying and developing the necessary tests to ensure conformity and interoperability amongst all digital receivers in the market. The first phase of the program -- the specification of the test suite -- is already completed and will be introduced to the DVB project. This group is open for additional participants.