Canoe turns to S3 to test EBIF apps

Canoe Ventures today signed S3 Group to test how interactive TV applications deployed by the top U.S. cable MSOs (multiple system operators) run on a variety of set-tops, from boxes deployed more than 10 years ago to advanced high-definition DVRs.

S3 is supplying Canoe with its StormTest Development Center, which can track the performance of Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF)-based applications. S3 director of product management Ian Harris said S3 can run tests simultaneously on up to 16 different set-tops, including hardware from Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) , Motorola (NYSE: MMI), Pace (LSE: PIC) and Samsung.

Canoe is using StormTest's gear at a facility in Denver to ensure that interactive applications and content perform consistently on a wide range of set-tops. In addition to monitoring the audio levels in interactive ads and the color of images contained in overlays, S3 is testing how long it takes for interactive overlays to load in a subscriber's home.

"If it takes five or 10 seconds for the app to load, you're running out of time for people to take interest in it," Harris said. Canoe has been using S3's StormTest gear since last year, he added.

Canoe reaches about 20 million cable homes from its MSO partners, including systems owned by Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR), Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC), and Cox Communications. The company has been running interactive ads on several cable networks that allow subscribers to press the select button on their remotes to receive more information about the product being advertised.

For more:
- see the news release

Related articles:
Canoe backs concept of expand TV
Canoe CEO Verklin departs, Timko in
Advanced TV advertising stall points and solutions