Sausalito firm tests interactive TV site – Jan 18, 2001
By Carolyn R. Saraspi
Sausalito’s MetaTV has revamped Ford Motor Co.’s Web site into a version for interactive television – an emerging technology that eventually will allow consumers to shop for cars, clothes and other products right from their sofas.
MetaTV, which has created software and services for interactive television since 1999, has done similar work for entertainment network E! Online and for Internet brokerage firm E-Trade.
“A lot of e-businesses that have Web sites can now reach an audience other than using a PC,” said Ramon Chen, MetaTV’s vice president of worldwide marketing.
The Ford TV site is in the testing stages and is a much simpler version of Ford’s Web site, with brighter colors and larger text, but fewer click-through features.
For example, users can select any of Ford’s products, build a model with specific features, and see the price on the company’s Web site. On the TV site, consumers get information on just the new Ford Escape sports utility vehicle. While viewers can’t customize a product like they can on the Web site, they can choose to see the Escape in different colors.
MetaTV officials say the limited features on the television version make it easier for viewers to navigate with remote control rather than a mouse.
In addition, Chen says interactive TV is still in the early stages both in its availability to customers and in the way it’s put together.
Just as there are different platforms for computers, there are about 40 to 50 iTV equipment manufacturers whose products aren’t necessarily compatible with the local digital cable provider. It’s also up to individual digital cable providers to decide what kind of programming and advertisements they will offer.
The inconsistency has made it difficult for iTV services to create sites that can be carried across different platforms. As the technology advances, companies should be able to offer more sophisticated sites and extend their services.
“We provide a technology that enables sites to be created for clients and also run on different kinds of platforms – satellite, cable,” Chen said.
In addition, MetaTV’s Universal Portal Platform links a company’s Web site with its iTV site so that the television version is updated as soon as the Web site changes.
“MetaTV’s enabling technology is unique in the market because it has the power to take us across multiple platforms with one design,” said Sara Hall of J. Walter Thompson, the advertising company working with Ford and the Sausalito firm. “Previously, we had to redesign the content for additional platforms.”
Aside from saving time, the technology also cuts costs because companies won’t need two different departments to maintain both a Web site and an iTV site.
Although the Ford site isn’t available in Marin, Chen says residents are curious about interactive TV.
“People are already asking what kinds of additional services are coming,” he said. “I think it’s interesting that (other) people are able to preview what’s coming for people in Marin.”