Toshiba Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have announced their plans to form the Advanced Interactivity Consortium (AIC), an open forum aimed at the promotion of superior interactivity for a wide range of next-generation consumer devices, digital content and distribution scenarios. The newly formed organization's mission is to maximize consumer satisfaction worldwide by accelerating industry-wide adoption of advanced interactivity and interoperability across a broad array of HD DVD products.
HD DVD is the first platform to include advanced interactivity as a basic feature in high-definition movies and players, substantially expanding the possibilities of high-definition home entertainment. AIC will also focus attention on ways to bring these advanced scenarios to other services and platforms, including digital downloads to DVD players, PCs, TVs, Cell phones, portable media players and game consoles.
"Creating attractive consumer experiences with advanced interactivity is critical to bringing digital home entertainment to the next level," said Hisatsugu Nonaka, corporate executive vice president at Toshiba. "In order to create these ecosystems, we wanted to bring together a group of companies committed to extending these scenarios across a wide variety of platforms. The Advanced Interactivity Consortium will advocate for these platforms as well as help ensure interoperability of HD DVD players and services."
Based on easy-to-program Web standards, HDi technology naturally lends itself to cross-platform implementations and integration in online content services. For content owners, HDi provides a simple development environment, resulting in a seamless and visually consistent experience from device menus to Web-based applications.
"The Advanced Interactivity Consortium has its roots in the work we've done with HDi and HD DVD, but is open to all companies interested in bringing a broader set of connected experiences to consumers on different platforms," said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "We look forward to contributing to this effort with HDi, our implementation of HD DVD's interactive layer, and to collaborate with AIC members on how to extend interactive compatibilities to the consumer electronics market. The goal is to ensure a high-quality experience not only through optical discs but also through new digital download services."
Source:
Press Release
"Creating attractive consumer experiences with advanced interactivity is critical to bringing digital home entertainment to the next level," said Hisatsugu Nonaka, corporate executive vice president at Toshiba. "In order to create these ecosystems, we wanted to bring together a group of companies committed to extending these scenarios across a wide variety of platforms. The Advanced Interactivity Consortium will advocate for these platforms as well as help ensure interoperability of HD DVD players and services."
Based on easy-to-program Web standards, HDi technology naturally lends itself to cross-platform implementations and integration in online content services. For content owners, HDi provides a simple development environment, resulting in a seamless and visually consistent experience from device menus to Web-based applications.
"The Advanced Interactivity Consortium has its roots in the work we've done with HDi and HD DVD, but is open to all companies interested in bringing a broader set of connected experiences to consumers on different platforms," said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "We look forward to contributing to this effort with HDi, our implementation of HD DVD's interactive layer, and to collaborate with AIC members on how to extend interactive compatibilities to the consumer electronics market. The goal is to ensure a high-quality experience not only through optical discs but also through new digital download services."
Source:
Press Release
