IP Video Getting More Personal, Portable

According to Infonetics Research, IP video providers -- including telcos, cable ops, and DBS ops -- are moving beyond basic video offerings and beginning to provide a highly personalized, highly integrated and portable on-demand viewing experience. Multiscreen viewing, interactive applications and social networking are some of the services expected to be implemented over the next year. Among the research house's findings:

• By 2012, 63% of IPTV service providers interviewed plan to support multiscreen viewing across PCs, tablets and smartphones.



• The two most widely deployed IPTV applications now and next year are widgets, such as for weather and traffic updates, and caller ID on the TV.



• About half of the surveyed IP video operators plan to offer targeted or interactive advertising by 2012.



• IPTV operators continue to approach social networking for TV cautiously, with only 26% offering it now, growing to 41% by 2012; among those that do, Facebook and Twitter are most popular.