A new design by Pininifarina for the VideoStation and the remote control enhancing the browsing and selection of the 100 channels and 5,000 titles offered by FASTWEB's on-demand digital TV
Milan, 25 November 2005. After four years of expertise in the Internet Protocol (IP) television, FASTWEB presents its new TV browser and interaction tools for video clients: on the software side, a new graphical user interface; on the hardware side, a brand new design by Pininfarina and enhanced functionalities for the VideoStation and remote control pad.
The new tools aim at increasing the usability and intuitiveness of browsing and selection of contents on the most advanced and innovative television in the market: FASTWEB has been the first player to launch Internet TV back in 2001 and today, with more than 160,000 subscribers, the company is still the only IP TV provider in the Italian market, the largest provider in the European market - which has a total of 658,000 IpTv clients - and the number two worldwide. As an example of the scale of the offer, every month FASTWEB's TV clients view more than 1 million on-demand videos, record more than 400,000 programmes with the VideoREC virtual video recorder and spend on average over 300 euro per year in video content.
In order to simplify the access to the growing offer of content and interactive services - 100 channels and more than 5,000 titles consisting of traditional and thematic TV channels, on-demand or pay per view content, music, education, games, value-added services - FASTWEB has designed and "broadcasted" on the TV screens of its video customers a browsing and interactive menu with new graphics and a new browsing approach.
The graphical icons associated to the several TV areas available, use symbols based on everyday experience that facilitate the recognition of the related content.
The viewer can use the new menu while watching full-screen any content/programme. Content and services are organised on the menu following criteria based on spontaneous perceptive and mental patterns, i.e., by type of content (theme-based) or type of use (on demand, multicast or pay per view).
- VETRINA (new features and promotions for the current month)
- CLASSIC (general TV channels)
- VIDEO ON DEMAND (ONtv and Rai Click)
- CINEMA (all the SKY cinema channels, RaiSat Cinema World, Studio Universal)
- CALCIO E SPORT (SKY sport and soccer channels, etc.)
- RAGAZZI (a broad range of on-demand content for younger viewers, Disney's Magic English, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel)
- NEWS (national and international news)
- MUSIC & FUN (music, games, quizzes, Internet browsing)
- MyFastTv (information about the user's TV subscription and tariff plan)
A further feature available is the clear distinction between the video content and the services offered on FASTWEB TV (on MyFastTv channel, clients access to their mailbox and to their billing information, with the opportunity to change the tariff plan directly from the TV screen).
By clicking the blue (or Info button) on the remote control, clients access to an electronic mini programme guide on the TV screen, reporting information about the programme on line, the next programmes on the channel and the TV programming of other channels. From the same menu bar, the user may record content with VideoREC, the innovative virtual recording service launched by FASTWEB in 2001.
Along with the renewed graphics and browsing philosophy of its TV menu, FASTWEB appointed Pininfarina Extra, the Pininfarina Group company that specialises in product design, to design the new VideoStation and remote control that address the same need of usability of "traditional TV". The new remote control facilitates the interaction of users with the VideoStation through a more ergonomic shape that allows instinctive manual movements, main browsing buttons and dedicated video on-demand buttons, in addition to new functions such as back-light for darkness usage.
"This new investment in the TV business enhances the quality of graphical interface of our platform, and improves and simplifies the viewer's relationship with the television set," said Stefano Parisse, head of the FASTWEB Business & Residential Division. "New technologies should bring benefits and new functionalities to the customer without increasing the complexity of home-devices. The second-generation of Internet TV is technologically more advanced and, with respect to usability, it maintains the values of simplicity and familiarity associated with traditional television, marking the distance from the typical PC interface."